Xiao He reported it to the police!
When this news broke, many people were still confused, not knowing what had happened.
Even Qin Mubo, who was far away in Beijing, felt his mind go blank for a moment upon learning about this in the first instance, unable to figure out what trick Xiao He and his group were playing.
His first thought was the same as Liu Rulan's—how dare Xiao He do this?
Upon inquiring further, it really was related to hacking!
Reportedly, it was because Xiao He's phone had been hacked, with a lot of private data stolen. Xiao He and his team suspected it was a stalker fan spying on his privacy, so they reported it to the police as soon as it was discovered.
Now, the police had already taken Xiao He's phone away in the first instance, preparing to investigate the matter.
After understanding the general situation, Qin Mubo immediately called the hacker he had hired, but the other end seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, never responding to his messages again, and the contact number had directly become a dead line.
An ominous premonition arose in Qin Mubo's heart. He sat dazed at his desk, his mind filled with confusion.
He really racked his brains but couldn't figure out how Xiao He dared to report it to the police and let the authorities intervene in the investigation!
With matters like hacking, once the police and cybersecurity teams step in to investigate, if Xiao He himself had any issues, they would absolutely be uncovered too!
Where did Xiao He get the guts to bring the authorities into the game?
Wasn't he afraid of being exposed himself? Could it be that the hacker on Xiao He's side was so skilled that they could erase all traces, making even the cybersecurity team unable to detect them?
Hehe, how could that be possible? Did they really think the cybersecurity team were pushovers?
Or... had he overestimated Xiao He? Was Xiao He completely open and aboveboard from start to finish, simply not afraid of a police investigation at all?
The more Qin Mubo thought about it, the more his head ached. His sharp intuition from years in politics told him that this Xiao He definitely had problems, yet the actual development of events was completely different from his conjecture...
Qin Mubo had already envisioned it clearly: if the hacker he hired wasn't discovered and didn't find any relevant information from Xiao He's side, it would temporarily indicate Xiao He had no issues; but if the hacker he hired was discovered, then it would definitely mean there was an expert around Xiao He, and the Qin family's current predicament was caused by Xiao He! Especially those unsavory secret documents!
But Xiao He's side simply refused to play along, not following the usual script at all, instead making a huge fuss and directly asking the police to investigate.
Even according to the information Qin Mubo had learned, the hacking virus in Xiao He's phone was dealt with with the help of the cybersecurity team, and Xiao He had even lost many important files and documents because of it.
—These were all situations already confirmed by the police side; Xiao He couldn't possibly have deceived the investigation!
There simply was no hacking expert around him.
Qin Mubo began to doubt himself.
Could it be that Xiao He not only had a hacker with skills comparable to the national team, but also possessed superb acting skills that could completely fool the police?
Haha, how could that be possible? If he had that, he wouldn't have missed out on the Best Supporting Actor award...
...It shouldn't be possible, right?
-
In Shanghai, Xiao He was still unaware that his unconventional, chaotic move had truly left the old master in Beijing dizzy and disoriented. He was still very earnestly explaining his discovery to the police.
"I kept wondering why my phone's battery was draining so mysteriously fast! So it was some scumbag secretly invading my phone, running processes in the background to upload my private data! It's just infuriating!"
Xiao He slammed the table, looking absolutely furious. Sitting across from him was none other than Officer Zhang, with whom Xiao He had dealt several times before.
Only this time, the person accompanying Officer Zhang was no longer the now-formalized Officer Li, but another unfamiliar young police officer.
"Alright, alright, calm down first."
Officer Zhang hadn't expected Xiao He to react so intensely. While comforting Xiao He, he also tentatively asked, "So, do you currently have any other important data on your phone?"
"What isn't important? It's all important! My contacts, my photo albums, my chat messages... he even looked at my browsing history. Don't you think I should be angry?"
Xiao He slapped the table again, putting on a 'nothing to lose' demeanor, his face filled with grief and indignation.
"I'm somewhat of a public figure now. What if some of my messy private matters get embellished and spread online? I'd really have no face to show anyone!"
"Ahem—"
The young police officer beside him had a strange expression, using a cough to cover himself up.
The scandals in the entertainment industry lately were really getting more and more numerous. He knew of this Xiao He, one of the recent hot search figures, and now at this critical juncture, Xiao He's phone got hacked...
The young officer inwardly tut-tutted.
If some unsavory secrets were dug up by rivals or anti-fans, that would be disastrous.
—It's no wonder the young officer thought this way. Since their jurisdiction included the nearby film and television city, they often encountered tasks related to traffic stars when dispatched. The closer he got to these people's daily lives, the clearer he saw some people's true character.
There were those with a public single persona who actually domestically abused their wives, leading to police calls...
There were innocent-looking young starlets secretly meeting with sugar daddies, getting confronted by the legal wives and beaten until the police were called...
There were seventy-year-old, highly respected artists harassing female employees, leading to screaming matches and police calls...
Having been assigned here for a while, the young officer had really broadened his horizons.
So now, facing Xiao He's worries and breakdown, the young officer's heart was filled with sighs and disgust.
He felt that Xiao He's current behavior was mostly because there were some unsavory secrets on that phone, and Xiao He was afraid of them being discovered.
Officer Zhang, however, remained calm. After comforting Xiao He for a bit, he told Xiao He to go back and wait for notification from the cyber police.
Xiao He's phone had already been taken away by the cyber police for investigation. Officer Zhang wasn't clear on the exact situation, but based on their previous interactions, he still held a favorable impression of Xiao He and didn't harbor too much prejudice against him.
After Xiao He expressed his thanks and left, the young officer immediately voiced his dissatisfaction to Officer Zhang, "This Xiao He definitely has problems. His behavior is too abnormal! Shouldn't we investigate and question him further?"
Using this hacking incident as a lead, perhaps through this matter, they could properly investigate Xiao He and see if he had any illegal or criminal issues!
This Xiao He always gave off a weird vibe! He needs to be treated with caution!
Officer Zhang looked at the young man before him with a smile, as if seeing the young Officer Li from back in the day. He chuckled helplessly, blew on the strong tea by his hand, and said unhurriedly, "Xiao Zhou, that's your prejudice. You can't suspect all actors or people in the industry just because you've recently encountered some rotten apples in the entertainment circle."
"Just like your own phone, can you confidently let me check it freely?"
"Of course I can!"
Xiao Zhou said matter-of-factly, "I've always acted openly and aboveboard. I have no secrets!"
Officer Zhang glanced at him sideways, "Really, everything can be seen? Think about it again. If you say it's really okay to look, I'll really look, you know. Not only will I look myself, I'll call Officer Li and the others to look together."
Xiao Zhou: ...Uh.
Xiao Zhou immediately became somewhat uncertain. He took his phone back, awkwardly smiling at Officer Zhang, "Let me double-check first..."
Officer Zhang helplessly took a couple of sips of his tea, then with his free hand, lightly tapped Xiao Zhou's head, "So, no one can confidently guarantee they have no secrets, let alone stars like them. Their every move is put under the spotlight for judgment. A careless action at the time might later become a magnified stain for criticism, attacked by everyone. What we should do is not generalize based on a few cases."
Xiao Zhou was silent for a moment, then gave Officer Zhang an ingratiating smile, "I know I was wrong."
Officer Zhang sighed lightly, "Well, these people really haven't been behaving lately. Xiao He's incident this time probably isn't just some stalker fan behavior. Let's just hope the cyber police quickly investigate and get results, to at least mitigate Xiao He's future losses."
...
At the police station entrance, Xiao He safely walked out.
Liu Rulan stood under a streetlight with Xiao Chen, waiting for Xiao He.
Meeting Liu Rulan's worried gaze, Xiao He smiled and waved at her, "Everyone worked hard tonight. Let's head back and rest early."
Seeing Xiao He's relaxed and carefree appearance, Liu Rulan felt a surge of irritation. She rolled her eyes at him, "Let's go. Xiao Chen will take you back. Lao Qi will drive me back to the company."
"This late, and you're still going to the company?"
Xiao He clicked his tongue in surprise.
The title of 'workaholic woman' for Liu Rulan really wasn't for nothing.
"Your reporting to the police tonight will inevitably go through the online process."
Liu Rulan said helplessly, "I have to personally keep an eye on it."
Otherwise, she just couldn't feel at ease.