Fishing 1

Recalling the most difficult period of his life?

Lin Yuan naturally understood his mentor's intention. He immediately began to recall.

Images instantly surfaced in Lin Yuan's mind: waking up in a cramped rented room in the suburbs. The walls were covered in black-grey mold, peeling off in flakes with a slight force when closing the door. The bed board was as hard as a plank, and the wood at the headboard even had splinters.

An open suitcase in the corner, clothes haphazardly thrown inside, and occasionally a pill bug would crawl out.

The dirty, yellowed squat toilet required waiting in line, and showering needed precise timing, otherwise, there would be no hot water.

Clothes needing to be dried could only be hung casually on a few wires strung across the ceiling.

In the dead of night, when it was quiet, he could only gaze at the digital humans on his phone screen, enhanced by beauty and body-shaping algorithms...

...

It was better not to recall; thinking about the past filled Lin Yuan with a surge of suppressed anger.

He took a few deep breaths to finally calm himself, so as not to appear overly eager due to excitement during the subsequent conversation with OCR.

"Don't be nervous," Dean Li was still comforting Lin Yuan, thinking he was breathing heavily due to nervousness. Little did he know, Lin Yuan just didn't want to appear like a desperate rebel.

Lin Yuan then picked up his phone. "Hello, are you there?"

"Lin Student, don't you have class today?"

"I'm in class right now," Lin Yuan lied, "I can accept your follow-up call."

"What is your evaluation of the performance of the computing equipment we provided?"

...

After a round of routine questions about the computing equipment's user experience, the OCR application specialist asked a seemingly casual question, "Lin Student, have you received any honors? For example, have you ever received a scholarship?"

The reason given was that they needed to register comprehensive information about users, so it was natural to ask about campus awards and certificates. The topic, through scholarships, finally touched upon "money."

"It's finally here," Dean Li couldn't help but blurt out.

Professor Zhang immediately pulled him aside. "Don't disturb him."

Who knew Dean Li had a screw loose and suddenly blurted out, "Are kings, nobles, and generals born to be so? You need to show the resentment in your heart."

"Shut up," Professor Zhang almost literally reached out to cover his mouth.

"Lin Yuan, continue at your own pace. Don't be affected by him."

"Li Youcai, if you say another word, I'll kick you out."

Dean Li finally suppressed the urge to speak further, picked up the tea on the table again, and took a deep sip of strong goji berry tea.

Lin Yuan really wanted to say "RNM" to this old man named Li. 'I just managed to calm myself down, and you're asking where my resentment isn't strong enough? Do I need you to fan the flames?'

"I am applying for a student aid," Without Dean Li watching from the side, Lin Yuan could finally play it freely.

"Then it seems Lin Student is facing some financial difficulties."

"Yes, that's why I need to borrow your free computing equipment."

"We understand Lin Student's difficulties, but Lin Student cannot abuse our equipment just because of financial hardship."

Lin Yuan already sensed a hint of the truth being revealed.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Picture" "Picture" "Picture"...

The other party didn't argue much with Lin Yuan, just sent several pictures.

Lin Yuan clicked on the original images to examine them closely; they were all abnormal backend records of his use of their computing equipment over the past three months.

From the other party's tone, it was clearly a 'we already have evidence of your illegal activity' kind of attitude.

Lin Yuan typed several paragraphs, but ultimately deleted them all.

"Teacher, can I block him?"

Professor Zhang pondered for a moment, then quickly nodded. He and Lin Yuan exchanged only a glance, but understood each other's meaning.

Lin Yuan wanted to act flustered and confused.

But Dean Li immediately jumped up, "No..."

He hadn't fully stood up before the prepared Professor Zhang pressed him back down. Looking at Professor Zhang's determined gaze, Dean Li finally suppressed the unease in his heart.

One minute...

Two minutes...

...

Five minutes later, Lin Yuan's phone still hadn't rung.

Dean Li was already anxiously standing up, "What did I tell you..."

"Shut up," Professor Zhang shouted, "Your impatient nature, how many things did it ruin back then? Have you forgotten?"

Lin Yuan, however, was quite calm. If OCR didn't contact him again, he would be happy to legitimately withdraw from this mess. Withdrawing in this manner would give him a way to explain things to his mentor.

Looking at Dean Li and his mentor, it was strange. Normally, Dean Li's face would almost never show anxiety; he was always calm and composed. In contrast, his mentor would often puff out his beard and glare, like an old hothead.

But at this moment, it was his mentor who was as steady as an old dog, while Dean Li was anxiously watching a cooked duck about to fly away.

Lin Yuan even began to imagine, 'Could this old man surnamed Li have been a drag back then? Is that why, despite his eagerness for a career in officialdom, he's still stuck at the position of Vice Dean after all these years?'

'If OCR really doesn't call, that would be interesting.'

Lin Yuan struggled to suppress a laugh.

But not long after, his phone finally rang.

When Lin Yuan's phone rang, Dean Li's eyes instantly lit up. "Answer it quickly!"

It was an unfamiliar local Purple Gold number. Lin Yuan didn't think much of it and simply hung up.

"Why did you hang up? Call back quickly..."

"Lin Yuan," his mentor had a look of disappointment, "Come with me to the office next door." The 'iron' his mentor was disappointed in was certainly not Lin Yuan.

"Okay."

Lin Yuan was now truly enlightened, witnessing how a man nearing sixty could become so agitated when seeing room for advancement. The hat of Vice Dean, for Li Youcai, felt like a curse he wished to shed immediately.

"No, no, I won't say anything, I'll just watch from the side, okay?"

"I shouldn't have made that call to inform you," Professor Zhang chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I never thought that after all these years, you'd still be like this. As soon as you see a benefit, you become possessed, your eyes glazed over!"

Afterward, Dean Li finally stopped interjecting.

Lin Yuan hung up the call from that number again and casually added the caller to his blacklist.

Then another number called, and it was also added to the blacklist.

Finally, the third number sent a text message.

"Lin Student, don't deceive yourself. The materials have just been sent to you. We really don't want to go that far. Please think about how to solve the problem."

Lin Yuan deliberately waited five minutes before calling back. "Hello..."

"Lin Student, hello."

"I..." Lin Yuan feigned a panicked expression, "I really didn't do it on purpose."

"Heh~~, young man, whether it was intentional or not isn't important. What you need to consider now is how to solve the problem."

Lin Yuan's "not on purpose" was, of course, pure nonsense. How could someone accidentally mine for three months straight?

"Then, I'll give you all the bitcoin I mined, okay?"

"Haha~~," a chilling laugh came from the other end of the phone, "I didn't say you were mining!"