Online Friends Finally Meet, What Is Verbal Torture

Lin Yu was utterly dumbfounded after hearing it:

"Doxing? You didn’t just stalk her online, but also cyberbullied her?"

Mo Shangying quickly defended herself:

"Not really, I was the only one doing the bullying."

Lin Yu: "..."

Is this supposed to be a client meeting?

This is straight-up a showdown between enemies!

At this point, the other party was probably lurking somewhere with a gang of thugs, ready to teach him a brutal lesson, right?

Lin Yu snapped irritably:

"Shangying, you’re ruthless. How much am I even getting paid to risk my life like this?"

Mo Shangying gently reassured him:

"Master, don’t panic. I promise nothing will go wrong. Trust me."

Lin Yu clenched his fists:

"Trust you? Yeah right. Alright, where are you? Let’s meet up and have a chat."

"You pissed someone off but don’t dare show your face, so you just keep hiding online, huh?"

"Not only did you agree to meet them in person, but you even picked a spot right near their turf."

"What, did they offer you an insane amount of money?"

Mo Shangying’s confident voice came through the headphones:

"Absolutely not. I have no interest in money."

"Ever since I started, I’ve barely touched a single cent."

Lin Yu: "..."

Oh, wonderful.

What a damn internet tycoon!

What a damn rebellious hacker apprentice!

What his little apprentice said next

left Lin Yu completely stunned.

"Master, the reason I agreed to meet offline this time

is because the company hiring me and her has… a rather unique background."

"You’ve heard of 860, right?"

Lin Yu: "The client you’re meeting is… 860?!!"

860 Security Guard, 860 Antivirus, 860 Browser…

Who hasn’t heard of them?

In 2006, a free security software took the world by storm.

Within just over a year, it seized most of the market from paid antivirus programs.

By 2014, its adoption rate had reached 99.7%.

No competitors remained in the market.

And now,

in the small city of Pingchuan,

Mo Shangying’s so-called "client" was none other than 860!

For the next five minutes,

Mo Shangying explained the entire backstory of this meeting to Lin Yu, stripping away all the technical jargon.

Even so,

it still sounded incredibly convoluted and lengthy.

In short,

this past April, 860 Cloud officially launched.

Aside from serving large corporations and small-to-medium businesses, it also secured government contracts.

As a result,

for the last two months, 860 Cloud had been under relentless cyberattacks from overseas.

Nonstop assaults around the clock.

About a month ago,

860 Cloud experienced a brief two-day lull.

During those two days,

no matter how intense the attacks were, they were swiftly and efficiently neutralized.

860’s headquarters realized that a "world-class expert" was helping them.

The truth, however, was…

Mo Shangying and that "bitch" had been locked in an online battle.

The two of them were like two Peashooters in Plants vs. Zombies, competing to see who could take down more "zombies."

In the end,

the results were practically neck-and-neck.

860’s in-house cybersecurity experts managed to track down the two rivals’ online communication channels

and extended an invitation to hire them for network security management.

Mo Shangying and her nemesis, unwilling to back down,

agreed to accept the offer together and help 860 Cloud survive the peak attack period.

They even made a pact—whoever chickened out would be a coward.

Lin Yu had imagined a hacker war like something out of a movie:

Whoosh, bang, lines of code flying across multiple screens…

Then, in some corporate high-rise, the internet cuts out, the power fails, phones suddenly lose signal…

Planes malfunction midair, missiles launch on their own, and everyone’s inbox gets the same email: "There’s a mole. Abort the mission."

But in reality,

a hacker war was no different from kids wrestling and cursing at each other!

860 was a major company with government ties.

Collaborating with them as freelance hackers naturally wouldn’t fly.

So, the company sent representatives from headquarters to invite the two to discuss cooperation in person.

Their future work location wouldn’t be restricted.

As for why they chose Pingchuan City for the meeting,

it was because Mo Shangying and her rival had clashed too frequently last year.

In various online competitions, they were always evenly matched.

Both were desperate to uncover the other’s real identity.

After a chaotic, indescribable battle,

Mo Shangying managed to dig up some of her rival’s personal info first.

Her nemesis, in turn, confirmed that Mo Shangying was based in Pingchuan.

From that point on,

the two girls reached a "gentlemen’s agreement" to stop investigating each other.

This was also why Mo Shangying could guarantee that Lin Yu’s identity would remain completely safe.

As for sending flowers to apologize to her rival,

Mo Shangying claimed that after doxing her,

she had gloated and "verbally tortured" her from a position of victory.

But as the saying goes, you don’t hit someone who comes bearing gifts.

Even if her rival was still furious, she couldn’t lash out after accepting the apology present.

After all their online battles,

the two could almost be considered frenemies.

……

This kind of convoluted drama could easily fill millions of words in a web novel.

Listening to it gave Lin Yu a headache.

Just this once.

Next time his rebellious apprentice made any request, he was damn well saying no!

"Master, she’s here. Someone’s approaching."

"Second-floor café, window seat, Booth 01 for four!"

Before Lin Yu could even react with complaints or curses,

Mo Shangying alerted him that the target had arrived.

Lin Yu looked up toward the café across the street.

In the first booth by the left window, a figure had indeed appeared.

The distance was too far, and the glare on the glass made it impossible to see the person’s face clearly.

As Lin Yu walked toward the café, he asked:

"Just one person—is it someone from 860, or is it your ‘bitch’?"

Mo Shangying: "The first to arrive is definitely the bitch. 860’s people wouldn’t come this early."

Lin Yu: "I’m honestly in awe of your antics. Also… what do I even call her? I can’t actually call her ‘bitch,’ can I? What a nostalgic term of endearment!"

Mo Shangying: "My online handle is ZerO."

Lin Yu: "Is hers One or something? Gotta keep it all fancy and matching?"

Mo Shangying: "Maomao. She’s called Maomao. Just the Chinese characters for ‘cat.’"

Lin Yu: "..."

That name had zero prestige.

For someone so internationally connected,

couldn’t she pick something more impressive?

Also, two legendary hackers meeting up, and they couldn’t even spring for a private room?

Lin Yu couldn’t help but scoff internally.

Following Mo Shangying’s directions, Lin Yu finally reached the designated seat in the café.

The online-to-offline meetup… officially began!

"Maomao? You’re Maomao, right?"

After Lin Yu called out, the girl sipping her coffee at the table turned around.

She had short, ice-blue hair

and wore an ill-fitting alphabet hairclip that looked like it might fall off any second.

Beneath the blue strands, glimpses of black roots were visible.

So, she was wearing a wig?

Wearing white sports headphones around her neck and a loose, abstract watercolor T-shirt dress, she looked every bit the tech guru.

Her almond-shaped eyes were bright and clear, giving her an elegant, refined appearance.

To Lin Yu, she felt... strangely familiar.

When Lin Yu approached to strike up a conversation, the ageless "Maomao" first flashed a puzzled expression.

"A man?"

"You're ZerO?"

"ZerO is a man?"

Maomao asked, visibly shocked.

Ah, so that was the source of her confusion—fair enough.

Now that he was here, he might as well play this charade to the end.

Lin Yu walked over confidently and took a seat across from her, setting the bouquet of flowers aside for the moment.

He picked up the untouched cup of coffee on the table.

"This is for me, right? Thanks."

"Why can't ZerO be a man? Did I ever say I was a woman?"

With that, he took a small sip of the coffee, pretending to savor it.

Maomao’s astonishment didn’t fade in the slightest. She pressed further:

"You’re really ZerO?"

"This is... this is insane!"

"You mean to tell me..."

"The ZerO who dug up my info, spammed me for three days straight..."

"The one who threatened to have his way with me in the bedroom, the dining room, the car, the bathroom, the bed, the table, even the damn stovetop... is a man?"

Lin Yu choked on his coffee.

Holy shit!!

So that’s the kind of verbal assault we’re talking about?!

The stovetop? That’s just cruel!