Mu Wan stared at the familiar “X” logo on her WeChat interface, feeling like the world was impossibly small. The internet hacker she had encountered by chance turned out to be one of Kuang Ye’s friends.

Kuang Ye also caught sight of her phone screen and his voice grew louder. “You even had financial transactions?”

Both Mu Wan and Tang Ce fell silent.

Tang Ce stared at Mu Wan in disbelief. “What a coincidence! So, you’re the internet benefactor—uh, I mean, the client who paid me. Nice to officially meet you!”

Mu Wan felt slightly awkward but composed herself. “Thank you for helping me find information in the past.”

Tang Ce waved it off. “Just business. I was paid to deliver.”

Kuang Ye called the server to bring another pot of tea and pushed the two of them back into their seats. Unlike earlier when they treated him like air, he now sat imposingly between them.

“Stop talking in riddles. Spill it. How do you two know each other?” He crossed his arms and glared at Tang Ce.

Tang Ce thought for a long time before finally dredging up a vague memory. “Look, you know how tough things were when I first started my business, right?”

“To fund my research, everyone on my team took on odd jobs to earn extra cash. I wasn’t an exception.”

“I sold course materials, novels, rare recordings, and all sorts of niche information. I even considered selling… questionable things, and, well, eventually I did.”

“That’s how I added Mu Wan. She was one of my many clients, but she stood out because she only bought high-quality, lossless violin audio files. Much classier than those looking for, um, less refined content.”

“She once asked how I managed to find so many rare things, and I joked that I was a hacker. If it left a trace online, I could find it. After that, my business expanded. ”

“She—”

Tang Ce suddenly felt a sharp kick under the table. He assumed it was Kuang Ye and was about to snap back when he realized it came from a different direction. Looking up, he saw Mu Wan smiling subtly at him.

Tang Ce: “…”

Seriously, why is it always me who gets hurt by you two?

Kuang Ye noticed and asked, “What’s going on with Mu Wan?”

To avoid stirring up trouble, Tang Ce sipped his tea and glossed over it. “Just verifying random online rumors and information.”

“But that’s all in the past. Recently, she only asked me to trace the source of a video and look into a blogger and a streamer.”

Kuang Ye recognized the mention of the blogger and streamer as likely related to O Lan. But the video trace?

After getting Mu Wan’s permission, Tang Ce scrolled back through their chat and showed Kuang Ye the video Mu Wan had sent him. Since there weren’t many messages, Kuang Ye quickly reviewed their entire chat history.

He frowned and asked incredulously, “Tracing a video’s source—a task that takes less than a minute—and you charged my Mu Wan 10,000 yuan?”

Tang Ce felt a pang of guilt. “That’s why I said she was a… uh…” He swallowed the words “foolish spender” under Mu Wan’s sharp gaze.

Raising his hands in surrender, he said, “I’ll refund her right away!”

He silently thought, But it wasn’t my quote; she transferred the money herself!

Mu Wan wasn’t bothered by the money but didn’t want to be called a fool. She quickly said it wasn’t necessary to return it.

Kuang Ye, however, wasn’t ready to let it go and continued chastising Tang Ce for his lack of decency.

Finally, Mu Wan gave Kuang Ye a playful shove. “Isn’t the CEO of Su You worth 10,000 yuan per minute? Stop being so petty!”

Kuang Ye looked at her, aggrieved. “Jiejie, why are you siding with an outsider over me?”

Tang Ce shivered, feeling goosebumps rise. You’re clearly treating me like family now, so why act like I’m the outsider?

He quickly changed the subject by pulling up the video. “Here it is!”

After some white noise, the video played. It showed a dimly lit alley where a young boy ferociously beat up a group of thugs.

The more Tang Ce watched, the stranger it felt. He glanced between Kuang Ye and the video. Finally, he blurted, “Wait a second. Why does this boy look a lot like you?”

Kuang Ye looked at him nonchalantly. “Is it possible that it is me?”

Tang Ce’s jaw dropped. He looked back at the video, where the boy, wielding an iron rod in a faded T-shirt and looking malnourished, fought ruthlessly.

Kuang Ye rarely talked about his past. Apart from Mu Wan and Fu Zeyuan, who already knew, only his ST teammates were aware.

When Tang Ce met Kuang Ye, the latter was already financially successful from professional esports. Although Kuang Ye dressed simply in everyday life, Tang Ce never thought he might have struggled financially.

So seeing this video shocked him.

“Kuang Ye, you used to…”

Kuang Ye shrugged. “Yeah, I was poor. But in the end, didn’t I give you a huge sum to start your company?”

Tang Ce was speechless, feeling deeply moved. He had always assumed Kuang Ye was a wealthy second-generation kid who could afford to invest in his company without worry. It turned out Kuang Ye had truly given him everything.

“Kuang Ye, how about I give you back half of my shares? Otherwise, I’ll feel guilty forever.”

Kuang Ye: “… Get lost. Don’t even think about tricking me into working for you.”

“And by the way, you charged 10,000 yuan for a minute-long task, but you never even opened this video?”

Tang Ce scratched his nose awkwardly. “Tracing the video source doesn’t require watching it. I remember it was eventually uploaded by a dummy account on a forum. Mu Wan, what did you need this for?”

Now it was Mu Wan’s turn to feel guilty.