Upon hearing Gu Xi's words, Gu Shao's pen-wielding hand froze in mid-air.
"Serious matters?" Gu Shao looked at Gu Xi with a flicker in his eyes.
Was this girl trying to tell him that she had secretly gotten to know some shady netizens online and was even planning to meet them?
Or was she trying to confess to him that she had secretly signed up for the 'Heavenly Creation Competition' using her ID card?
Gu Shao thought to himself, This girl seems to have done a lot of things behind my back.
Or is there something I don't know yet?
— —
Under Gu Shao's calm gaze, Gu Xi inexplicably felt a little guilty. She felt that Gu Shao's gaze seemed to be saying, "The organization has already seen through you. If you confess and I convict you, it's completely different."
However, Gu Shao shouldn't have known that she had dreamt of the novel.
Gu Xi muttered in her heart. After thinking for a while, she looked at Gu Shao sincerely and asked tactfully, "Dad, is the Gu family rich and powerful? Is it the kind of family that is rich and imposing, uh … has an extraordinary status that ordinary people don't dare to provoke? "
Gu Shao never expected that the 'serious matters' that Gu Xi would ask would be this. His expression froze, and a rare look of surprise flashed across his face.
"Why do you ask?" Gu Shao raised his eyebrows and asked Gu Xi.
Gu Xi did not answer Gu Shao's question. Instead, she asked eagerly, "Is it true?"
"Sort of." Gu Shao replied. The Gu family had always had a strong foundation. Even though they had gradually restrained themselves and kept a low profile in recent years, the Gu family was still the same Gu family.
Upon hearing this, Gu Xi thought for a while and asked again, "In that case, are there many people who are watching the Gu family?"
Gu Shao, "…"
He originally thought that Gu Xi's next question would be something like, "Is she considered a rich second-generation heir?" Unexpectedly, Gu Xi's focus was actually on this.
Gu Shao frowned.
Without waiting for Gu Shao to speak, Gu Xi continued with a serious expression, "For example, an enemy retaliates, or some other family is jealous of the Gu Family, afraid that the Gu Family will steal the limelight, or that the Gu Family will threaten their interests and status. So, they will use underhanded means to destroy the Gu Family?"
"There will be," Gu Shao said in a deep voice, his expression serious.
A tall tree attracts the wind. There were not many people who dared to make a move against the Gu family. However, there were many who wished for the Gu family to fall apart. It was just that they did not have the ability to do so.
Although it was the truth, looking at Gu Xi's serious face and frowning eyebrows, Gu Shao really did not know why this little girl would think of such things.
However, Gu Shao soon thought of Gu Xi's wariness towards the outside world, no matter how well he hid it.
Was he uneasy?
Are you afraid that you will lose the protection of your family again and return to your life in the Lin Family?
"The Gu Family will not collapse," Gu Xi said with a sigh.
After a pause, Gu Shao looked at Gu Xi and said seriously, "No matter what happens to the Gu Family in the future, as your father, I will protect you."
This was Gu Shao's promise to Gu Xi.
Upon hearing Gu Shao's words, Gu Xi widened her eyes. Although she wanted to say no, Gu Shao's words still touched her heart.
"No." Gu Xi shook her head. "I just want to remind you, Dad, Eldest Uncle, Youngest Uncle, and Grandpa, to be careful. Whether it's the people around you or those who seem to have known you for many years, they can't be trusted. On the surface, they may seem to be friendly, but they may be secretly trying to harm the Gu Family."
Upon hearing this, Gu Shao's mouth twitched.
"You must be careful of these people, and the Gu Family's secrets and so on, uh …"
Before Gu Xi could finish speaking, Gu Shao knocked on her forehead.
Gu Xi covered her forehead. "I haven't …" Before she could finish speaking …
"Some things are not for you to think about," Gu Shao interrupted Gu Xi and said with a slightly stern expression.
Upon closer inspection, Gu Shao could see a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
Although Gu Xi was not wrong and the things she was worried about did exist, Gu Shao did not want her to worry about these things at such an early age.
"It's true. I had a dream one day. I dreamed that someone was trying to harm my family," Gu Xi said. As if she was afraid that Gu Shao did not believe her, she added, "My dream was accurate!"
Although, to be precise, it was a plot in a novel and not a dream.
"I know," Gu Shao said.
"But you should be thinking about how to study or how to make yourself happy. You shouldn't leave these things to the adults."
"Oh." Seeing that Gu Shao did not seem to take her words to heart, Gu Xi nodded.
"But you must be more vigilant."
"Go to sleep."
"Uh …" Meeting Gu Shao's stern gaze, Gu Xi shrank her head.
"I'll say one last thing, just one." Gu Xi made a "1" sign with her fingers and said. Without waiting for Gu Shao's consent, she hurriedly said, "I think Gu Yaobai, I mean Third Uncle, is not a human."
It took a lot of effort for Gu Xi to say this to Gu Shao.
However, if she did not say it, she was afraid that Gu Shao and the Gu Family would not be wary of Gu Yaobai and be plotted against.
"Okay, I'm going to sleep." Under Gu Shao's gaze, Gu Xi gave in and prepared to go to sleep obediently.
However, after taking two steps, Gu Xi stopped again and turned to look at Gu Shao guiltily.
Gu Xi: "Really, it's the last thing!"
Gu Shao: "Go ahead."
Gu Xi: "Dad, can you give me some pocket money?"
"…" This time, Mr. Gu felt that he could not keep up with the child's brain circuits and thoughts.
Seeing that Gu Shao did not reply, Gu Xi was a little nervous. She bit her lower lip and said, "I don't need much. Just a thousand, uh, two thousand yuan will do."
Before coming here, Gu Xi had thought about it. Although she had reminded Gu Shao to be careful of Gu Yaobai and the unknown adult behind him, she still had a backup plan.
She still had to continue with her plan of "saving up a small fortune".
She did not use the pocket money Gu Shao gave her and saved it all. Together with some of the prize money she won from the competition, she should save it until she and the Gu Family went offline in the novel, which was when she was almost an adult. She should have a large sum of money.
Even if the Gu Family inevitably went bankrupt in the future, as long as this money was not included in the Gu Family's and Gu Shao's assets, it would not be liquidated. It should be enough for her to survive.
Therefore, she would treat it as a pension for Gu Shao. No, it was a risk-prevention fund.
—
Gu Shao did not know what Gu Xi was thinking. Although he was surprised that Gu Xi suddenly asked for pocket money, it was reasonable for parents to give pocket money to their children.
However …
Gu Shao seemed to have thought of something and frowned slightly.
"I'll give it to you tomorrow," Gu Shao said and said, "Now, go to sleep."
Seeing that Gu Shao had agreed, Gu Xi did not have any more questions and obediently left the study. After she left, she happily said to Gu Shao, "Good night."
—
After returning to her room, Gu Xi did not sleep. Instead, she took out her phone and opened the group chat of [Battle of Tianchang Peak].
In the group chat, Big Brother [AAA] had already built another '99 +' hundred-story building on his own.
Gu Xi ignored the previous content and saw the latest few messages sent by the other party.
[AAA]: The notice just came up. Not only did our team's project enter, but it was also directly assigned to Category A after the evaluation!
Before the other party mentioned Category A, Gu Xi had glanced at it on the competition's official website. Because there were many competing projects, after an expert evaluation, the competition team divided all the projects into categories A, B, and C according to their scores.
Category C was the project with the lowest score and was the main focus for some projects that were not of high value or were not feasible. If the project could not come up with a better or more reasonable design in the next evaluation, it would be directly eliminated.
As for the other projects with decent design ideas, but the submitted information was incomplete and insufficient, they were categorized as Category B.
Only projects related to creativity, design, feasibility, and data would be categorized into Category A.
Although there were as many as 100 teams that entered the competition after several reviews, in reality, there were only 12 teams that received the 'A' tag from the four directions.
Below, [AAA] was a series of self-congratulatory comments.
[AAA]: Congratulations.
[AAA]: Great joy!
…
[AAA]: Haha, I think it's mainly because Brother X is creative in the topic X.
[AAA]: Of course, my design skills are not bad either.
[AAA]: It's just that those red-eyed people are annoying.
After the competition team announced the results of the evaluation, they also put up the information of each participating team.
Although the content of each project and the data submitted were still confidential, and the contestants' personal information was also confidential, basic information such as the name of each participating team, the number of members, and the name of the project could be seen.
Therefore, there were many voices of doubt about Team One on the competition's forum.
['Battle of the Top of Tianchu'? What kind of name is that? It's probably a chuunibyou.]
[The name sounds like it was given by a primary school student.]
[Didn't the competition system change so that anyone below the age of 16 can participate? Maybe Team One really only has a few underage members.]
[Are you sure that Team One can really get Category A?]
[To be honest, after seeing the team's information, I'm also doubtful.]
Gu Xi's Team One only had three members, and judging from the team's name, it was not the same as the previous teams that had already become famous on the forum. They had a studio, a professional school, and a professional company supporting them.
It was really difficult to convince the public that such a 'wild chicken' team had actually stood out and squeezed into Category A after the first evaluation.
Therefore, the number of people discussing in the forum gradually increased, and their words were also full of doubt.
[Don't you think it's strange that a small team with no background and no ability can create a Category A project?]
[Also, I've seen the project, 'Companion Artificial Intelligence System'. To be honest, I don't think there's anything special about it.]
[That's right. To put it bluntly, isn't it just a small machine that's a fraction of artificial intelligence? My family's Xiao Zhi, a certain cat fairy, can do the same.]
[It's really not novel. At the very least, it doesn't make sense for them to get Category A.]
…
Seeing the discussions on the forum, [AAA] tried very hard to resist the urge to argue with the other party. She only used a sockpuppet account and replied: [Idiot.]
However, when she saw the group chat, [AAA] couldn't hold it in anymore.
[AAA]: A bunch of idiots. The highlight of our project is the emotional artificial intelligence. What the hell do you know?
Seeing [AAA]'s words, Gu Xi felt a little amused, but she also felt a little angry.
What surprised her was that even [Lin] actually popped up and scolded: [Indeed, idiots.]
[Lin]: I've carefully looked through the design drawings and submitted materials that you two came up with. It's feasible.
It's more than feasible. From a professional point of view, this project can be said to have great prospects.
It's a prospect, especially in terms of the market and users.
[Lin]: Don't worry, I'll start contacting my partners and start working on it. We'll definitely come up with a basic model in the report in two weeks. Then, we'll use our strength to show those idiots what it means to crush them.
When she saw [Lin]'s words, Gu Xi raised her eyebrows slightly. This was the first time she had seen this guy send such a long conversation.
It seemed like he was really angry.
Gu Xi muttered to herself.
[X]: Whatever you need to do, just let me know.
Gu Xi sent a message.
After self-studying for a period of time, at least Gu Xi wasn't as inexperienced as she used to be.
If she really couldn't do it, she could just ask Gu Shao and Gu Yanlin for help.
— —
When she thought of this, Gu Xi was slightly stunned. She suddenly remembered what Gu Yanxiao and Gu Chenyi had told her this afternoon: Gu Yanlin seemed to specialize in electronic technology, right? He was the same as Brother [Lin] in the group, and he was also a genius.
Gu Yanlin was also called [Lin]. Could the two of them be the same person?
"What a coincidence!" Gu Xi secretly sighed.
However, Gu Xi quickly shook her head and denied this conjecture.
This [Lin] was a man of few words. Even through the phone, Gu Xi could imagine that the other party was definitely a cold and aloof person.
As for her Gu Yanlin, although he looked cold and aloof, in fact, he was a chatterbox and gummy.
Last night, Gu Xi was at her grandfather's house. She was waiting on the sofa for Gu Shao to come out, but Gu Yanlin was muttering beside her and she fell asleep.
"Impossible, impossible." Gu Xi shook her head and denied it.
Thinking of something, Gu Xi sent another message in the group. [X: By the way, I have a question for you. Is there a way for me to sneak into someone's phone or computer and then delete some things on the phone or computer?]
This was an idea that Gu Xi had accidentally come up with. If Gu Yaobai had taken some photos of Old Master Gu and his friends' letters, then those photos would definitely be on the phone or some kind of storage device. According to the novel, when Gu Yaobai and the male protagonist worked together, they should not have handed over the photos to the person behind them.
If she could hack into the phone and delete it, wouldn't that solve a big problem?
[AAA] quickly replied: Of course you can. You're the only one who's awesome enough.
After that, [AAA] directly threw a folder in the group.
Gu Xi opened it. There were a few documents inside: How to Master a Hacker, How to Master a Hacker, Information War …
Before Gu Xi could rejoice, another message from [Lin] popped up in the group.
[Lin]: Don't even think about it. It's against the law.
It was just four words, concise and comprehensive.
Sure enough, it couldn't be the Gu Yanlin at home.
However, the other party's words made Gu Xi sober up. Sure enough, she was too naive.
This was no longer a novel, so she couldn't do anything illegal.
Gu Xi patted her head and dismissed the idea.
— —
However, Gu Xi didn't stop thinking about it.
In the novel, the reason why Gu Shao was convicted was because a set of heavy security systems developed by NTN was alleged to have been leaked.
In fact, it was a conspiracy set up by Gu Yaobai, Lin Yize, and the person behind them.
Originally, the system developed by NTN should have been highly confidential, but because the other party was in a high position and had many connections, it took a lot of effort to get the core content of NTN's security system.
Gu Yaobai used overseas channels to pass some of the core content to Country A. He also forged a series of evidence to frame Gu Shao for betraying his country.
Although the evidence wasn't completely conclusive and wasn't enough to convict Gu Shao of treason, as the person in charge of NTN, Gu Shao still had to bear the responsibility for the core information being leaked.
Later, the male lead used some unknown method to fabricate photos of Gu Shao's improper behavior and illegal activities and published them to the public. There was an uproar among the public.
Gu Shao's original reputation and high school tutor was falsely rumored to be a beast-like existence on the Internet overnight.
Therefore, whether it was the evidence, the butler's attitude, or the public's opinion, they all stood against Gu Shao.
Everyone kicks a man who's down.
…
The best way to stop all of this was to prove that Gu Shao didn't leak the secret.
Actually, it wasn't difficult.
She knew that Gu Yaobai would get his hands on the information. In fact, NTN could make two parts of the security system, one real and one fake. The fake needed to rely on the real system to operate.
Later, she would first submit the fake system to confuse the public. That way, only the real system would be produced in the end to prove that NTN didn't leak the secret.
She might even be able to turn the tables and prove that the person behind this was a mole.
The method was simple, but it wasn't so easy to implement. At least, with Gu Xi's current status, if she ran over and asked NTN to make a fake security system in the future, others would definitely take her words as a joke.
However, according to her calculations, she still had two years.
In these two years, she might be able to find a way to enter NTN and then participate in the secret project. This would be much more convenient.
It wasn't that NTN didn't recruit underage students.
For those who had outstanding professional performance, outstanding results, or amazing talent, NTN would recruit them under the name of "trainee students" and improve their skills through participating in the project.
Therefore, as long as Gu Xi's grades were good enough and she could win many technological innovation awards, just like Gu Yanlin, she would be able to pass NTN's test.
Gu Xi silently planned her way into NTN in her mind.
—
In the study, Gu Shao was talking to Wang Wu.
"Go and check if Xixi was bullied in school or somewhere else," Gu Shao said.
It was hard not to be concerned when Gu Xi suddenly ran over and said those words. Gu Shao also noticed that the nervousness and fear in Gu Xi's eyes when she said those words didn't seem to be faking it.
Other than the Lin family, there might be some external factors that could make a girl so worried.
"Also, check on the netizens," Gu Shao emphasized.
What if Gu Xi really contacted some shady netizens?
Gu Xi frowned.
"Yes, I'll arrange for it to be checked immediately," Wang Wu replied over the phone.
"Okay." Gu Shao responded. Just as he hung up the phone, a certain girl, who should have gone to bed long ago, ran to the door of the study. She leaned against the door and poked her head in.
"I'll just say one thing." Before Gu Shao could frown, Gu Xi quickly said, "Dad, if you have nothing to do, you can take care of the flowers and go to the park. Don't go to any strange places."
After saying that, Gu Xi ran back to her room as fast as she could.
Gu Shao was left behind with a puzzled look on his face. "…"
What did she mean by strange places?
Gu Xi's eyes darkened, and his yang acupoint throbbed.
—
After running back to her room, Gu Xi jumped onto the bed and buried herself in the blanket.
Gu Xi was about to turn off her phone and go to bed.
Then, she saw that [AAA] had sent her a message a minute ago.
[AAA]: Your name is Gu Xi?!
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