Hidden Master

“Can you stop practicing?”

Zhang Yan, bored from waiting, had gone through military boxing, Tai Chi, and Wing Chun. Her jacket was long since off, and beads of sweat had already appeared on her forehead.

“What else can I do? It’s a shame there’s no gym equipment here.”

At this moment, the three big shots who were fishing had not yet arrived.

“Can’t you be a little quieter? Look,” Lin Yuan pointed at the stone table, “you’ve splashed mud onto the table.”

The ground of this imitation farmhouse courtyard wasn't cemented, and Zhang Yan's whip kicks sent dust flying.

“You said it. There’s no need to hold back when you’re with acquaintances.”

“Don’t tell me this is your hobby.”

Zhang Yan’s hands and feet didn’t stop. “It’s not a hobby, it’s a part of my life.”

“Can we stop and scroll through DY for a bit?” Lin Yuan wanted the other party to numb her brain with DY.

“DY is for work.”

“What?”

“Collecting online public opinion.”

“What do you mean? You collect online public opinion using DY?”

Zhang Yan finally stopped, walked over to Lin Yuan, and stared at him. “Senior Brother, why do you always ask such strange questions? Watching trending videos on DY is part of online public opinion monitoring. Don’t you even know that?

Moreover, you are a senior engineer at Good Group. With your IT skills, I originally thought you were involved in the internal public opinion control system.”

Lin Yuan constantly exposed his true nature in daily life. Seeing Zhang Yan look at him suspiciously, Lin Yuan shrugged, “Do I need to explain?”

“You tell me.”

“If I still say ‘I’m not your Senior Brother,’ will you hit me?”

“I really want to try torture.” Zhang Yan said, showing off her biceps again.

“Stop showing off, sit down, open DY, and do your work.”

“Senior Brother.” Zhang Yan’s tone deepened, “The trending videos pushed to us can only be viewed on the internal system, and they involve public opinion analysis reports. How could I possibly watch them anywhere with just a phone?”

“Your Senior Brother here is a sieve, leaking everywhere. You don’t need to keep trying to prove my unprofessionalism. OK?”

“Then just leak a little to me.” Zhang Yan said, leaning close to Lin Yuan’s ear, “Why exactly are you speculating in stocks?”

Being so close to his ear. If he were to say she had bright eyes and white teeth, she did. If he were to say her fragrance was like orchids, that was also true. But this couldn’t compare to Xia Ye whispering in his ear.

If Xia Ye did that, Lin Yuan would clench his fists and silently recite ‘restrain yourself’. But with Zhang Yan doing it, Lin Yuan just wanted to punch her right now. ‘Damn, she’s so annoying, always like a curious baby.’

“Not easy. At least you know secrets need to be whispered. Then this time, I’ll change my story.” Lin Yuan didn’t even wait for the other party to retort, improvising a story on the spot. “I’m about to be sent to The Other Shore of the Pacific. To raise enough funds behind enemy lines, where dangers lurk everywhere, the organization arranged for me to learn stock trading in advance.

Are you satisfied with this answer?”

Zhang Yan actually fell into thought. “I seem to have heard elders in my family mention that such a person actually existed in the organization…”

“Damn!” Lin Yuan was forced to curse. He immediately pulled out his phone, opened DY, and handed it over.

“Here, let your brain be programmed. Don’t think about dissecting Senior Brother.”

“What, brain, programming?”

“DY short videos. They stimulate your brain quickly and directly through algorithms, specializing in anxiety, depression, and your kind of hyperactivity. Guaranteed to cure the illness with the right medicine.

There are also a bunch of mathematical formulas supported by papers endorsing it. Whether it's theoretical verification or clinical data, it’s more convincing than any medicine in the world.”

Zhang Yan was stunned. “Can DY be interpreted like that?”

“Hmm, why not?”

A moment later, Zhang Yan suddenly gripped Lin Yuan’s arm tightly. “Senior Brother, you’ve given yourself away. You said you weren’t involved in the public opinion control system, but you’re much better than the teachers sent by the higher-ups to train us.

Just that one sentence from you made me understand why the higher-ups insist we monitor things like DY.”

“It seems I’ll have to bother you more in the future. Who knows what else I can get out of you.”

Lin Yuan flung her arm away. “Oh my goodness! If you keep this up, I’m going to call for help.”

“Why are you making such a fuss, it’s always like this…”

“Junior Sister, Senior Brother has a favor to ask. Senior Brother is not a frog, nor a lab mouse. Please don’t always look at me with dissecting eyes. Try to interpret Senior Brother’s behavior in a simple way. If you insist on thinking about it in a complex way, then please keep it to yourself and don’t say it. It’s best not to even show a hint of it in your eyes.

I can’t stand constantly being stared at by a pair of eyes and being asked strange questions.”

“Alright, you find me annoying then?” Zhang Yan even looked wronged.

“Forget it.” Lin Yuan gave up. He turned and picked up Zhang Yan’s jacket, brushed off the dust clinging to it, and then draped it over her.

“It’s winter now. Be careful not to catch a cold after sweating. Your brain is already not working properly, so don’t let your body catch a cold too.”

Zhang Yan’s touched expression lasted only a second before she immediately pushed Lin Yuan away with a palm.

Cough, cough~~, Lin Yuan stumbled back three steps, coughing repeatedly.

“Are you alright?” Zhang Yan hadn’t had time to put on her clothes properly and hurried forward to grab Lin Yuan.

“I’m fine.” Lin Yuan waved his hand, “It’s my problem. I’ll slowly adapt to your true face.”

Zhang Yan could only smile awkwardly.

It was strange, though.

When he first met Zhang Yan and heard her singing under the sun, Lin Yuan had felt a strange emotion towards her.

But now, it was completely gone. Even when he personally draped the jacket over her, his mind wasn’t affected in the slightest by her sweat or her shapely figure.

To be fair, Zhang Yan, who exercised regularly, had a very tall and straight figure, especially after taking off her jacket.

But after this girl exposed her true nature, she was truly far from the word ‘gentle’. And Lin Yuan liked the gentle-as-water type like Xia Ye. Zhang Yan was really not his type.

—

When the three big shots returned, Lin Yuan and Zhang Yan were chatting and laughing.

Upon seeing this, Dean Li’s lips curled into an almost imperceptible smile.

Seeing the three approach, Lin Yuan and Zhang Yan quickly went to greet them, helping to carry things from their respective Masters.

“You three didn’t catch a single fish?” Zhang Yan stared at the bucket originally intended for fish, which didn’t even have a single fry in it.

“My luck wasn’t very good today.” Director Wang chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“Master, you used to fish so much that Old Mo’s family would eat fish for days. Eh, where’s Old Mo?”

“I sent him to order food.”

Professor Zhang also looked at Lin Yuan with a smile at this moment, and Lin Yuan returned the same smile. The Master and disciple exchanged knowing glances. ‘Today was clearly not about fishing.’

After the items were put away, everyone took their seats. Soon, a pot of clear tea was brought out, followed by dishes being served one after another. They were all common home-cooked meals.

There weren’t too many plates on the table, and it wasn’t overly extravagant.

Director Wang picked up his chopsticks and motioned for everyone to start eating. “The fish are caught, the dishes are ready. It’s time to talk about serious business.”

Lin Yuan mused inwardly, ‘You’ve probably already finished discussing the serious business. But I wasn’t idle either.’

Because he had a hunch, as if his playful interactions with Zhang Yan were the real business.

“The current cybersecurity situation is severe…” Director Wang began his performance.

“I heard from an old colleague at GuoAn that their tasks are very heavy now. We can’t just throw the burden on them at the slightest sign of trouble; we need to proactively share the burden with our brother units…”

What followed were just perfunctory pleasantries.

Professor Zhang chimed in occasionally, but the real show was a two-man act between Director Wang and Dean Li. They talked back and forth, spitting saliva.

But they had just had a hidden battle. Old Li resented Old Wang for interfering.

As for why this OCR matter attracted the attention of these big shots, Lin Yuan finally learned a few things from the scraps of information on the table.

It turned out that the guy with the online name “Bloody $ong1024” had been investigated.

The big shots naturally didn’t remember the full nickname, but when they praised Lin Yuan, they mentioned that Lin Yuan had caught someone from an overseas website.

And Lin Yuan didn’t usually have a hobby of catching people from overseas websites. The only one he had mentioned previously was that guy. During the process of disclosing information to his mentor, he naturally pushed “Bloody $ong1024” out as well, because the other party played a crucial role in his discovery of the OCR problem.

Lin Yuan could already imagine the unseen drama behind the scenes.

Once someone’s account on an overseas website was known and targeted, it was only a matter of time before their background was thoroughly investigated.

These three big shots probably focused their investigation on that unlucky fellow to prove that the OCR matter was worth pursuing.

As for when and by whom the process of proving “OCR was worth pursuing” was completed, Lin Yuan naturally didn’t know.

But he knew that if Zhang Yan could access internal systems because she was responsible for network work, then Director Wang wouldn’t lack authority in network security investigations.

Even his own mentor and Dean Li might have relevant investigative methods.

Who knew?

But what was certain was that his own mentor clearly hadn’t fully disclosed everything to him.

This was also within Lin Yuan’s expectations. He didn’t resent his mentor. After all, the other party was truly good to him and didn’t try to brainwash him. Moreover, he also had reservations about the other party. Agree to disagree, right?

The most tragic unlucky fellow among them was the guy “Bloody $ong1024,” whom Lin Yuan had never met.

Lin Yuan was certain that the other party’s resume had been thoroughly investigated by now, but the other party didn’t even know it yet. He was on a blacklist without realizing it.

The three big shots obviously wouldn’t act on him now. Otherwise, pulling out the radish would bring out the mud, startling the snake was one thing, and once OCR was found to be problematic, the investigation work would likely not fall into their hands. If they didn’t get the work, they naturally couldn’t expect any credit.

So, that guy might still be eating hotpot and singing songs right now.

‘Sigh, don’t randomly babble online. I don’t have such a bad habit.’

—

After lunch, the matters were discussed, and everyone dispersed.

While his mentor went to the restroom, Dean Li said to Lin Yuan with deep meaning, “I see that little girl really wants you to ride in her car.”

Lin Yuan looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“No need to pretend with me. I’m not as pedantic as your mentor.”

“Dean, what are you talking about?”

“What did you call me?” Dean Li raised his voice.

Lin Yuan immediately reacted, “Master, what were you just saying?”

“That’s right, Old Zhang isn’t here.”

With the word ‘Master’ spoken, the atmosphere of their conversation immediately became much more harmonious.

“That little girl probably has a crush on you.”

Lin Yuan didn’t know how to answer, so he just smiled evasively.

Dean Li patted him on the shoulder twice. “Seize the opportunity. Don’t learn from your muddled mentor. Maybe you can save yourself decades of detours.”

Now Lin Yuan was curious. “Master, what exactly are you talking about?”

“Your mentor married a wife with a background, but for decades he stubbornly refused to use his father-in-law’s influence. Don’t learn from him.”

“There’s such a thing?”

“We used to envy him. But he was addicted to being incorruptible. So, don’t expect him to consider everything for you.”

Lin Yuan said weakly, “My mentor is very good to me, and he considers a lot for me.”

“You, ah…” Dean Li looked at him with the pained expression of an elder. “You are still too young. Following Old Zhang, you’ll easily pick up his stubborn temper. Take Zhang Yan, that little girl. Old Zhang clearly knows she comes from an extraordinary background. She was placed with him for training by Director Wang’s superior. Otherwise, why would she, a clumsy little girl, be allowed to participate in this matter?

Do you understand?”

Lin Yuan frowned. “Is it to gild Zhang Yan?”

“Teachable. Although Director Wang didn’t go into detail with us, we did manage to extract some information. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be at ease. What kind of thing is this, letting a little girl get involved? So, consider it. Do you want to be a consort?”

“Huh?”

“Your mentor isn’t doing his job, so I’ve created an opportunity for you. The Master leads you through the door, the rest is up to you.”

Lin Yuan was getting more and more confused. “Master, can you explain in more detail?”

“Isn’t it clear enough? I suggested to your mentor to create opportunities for you and Zhang Yan. Didn’t he ask me to find a match for you before? Well, here’s one right in front of you. Old Zhang is worried that since you’re from the countryside, even if it works out, you won’t adapt to a family like Zhang Yan’s, which has had officials for generations.

But I don’t see it that way. I think that little girl is quite rare. Despite her background, she hasn’t picked up any arrogant habits and genuinely wants to be a good police officer. So, I found an opportunity to introduce you to her. Now it seems you’ve done well. During dinner just now, her eyes never left you.”

“You introduced me to Zhang Yan? Introduced what?”

“A young talent working on the covert front, the hope for the nation’s future.”

Lin Yuan inwardly exclaimed, ‘My goodness!’ No wonder Zhang Yan immediately treated him as her Senior Brother. It turned out Dean Li was behind it.

This once again proved that there was rarely any pure luck in this world.

“Alright, no more talk. Old Zhang is coming.” At this moment, Professor Zhang returned from the restroom and was walking over from afar. “In short, you must remember. My performance as a Master is not worse than his.”

After Professor Zhang arrived, he didn’t say much, and the three got into the car to return.

Lin Yuan replayed the conversation in the car.

His own mentor was indeed a bit aloof. Perhaps because things went smoothly for him when he was young, he didn’t care for those tricky maneuvers.

But Lin Yuan was different. He had worked his way up from a delivery rider. Although he never thought of actually pursuing Zhang Yan or truly climbing the social ladder, holding onto a powerful connection wasn’t just about marrying her. Building a good relationship with her might bring endless benefits in the future.

From this perspective, Dean Li, this hidden Master, was indeed competent.