Since you have shown no mercy, do not blame me for being ruthless in return!

“Dad, what are you talking about? Didn’t I already turn it down a long time ago?” Fu Lin was speechless.

Without missing a beat, he changed the subject, glancing at the e-reader resting beside his grandfather. “Hey? Grandpa, you’re reading the entertainment section now?”

He was certain that his grandfather had never been interested in such things. Had the old man really started following the entertainment news with the times?

“Your grandfather isn’t reading the entertainment section,” Fu Jiahua interjected from the side. “He’s following up on the girl who almost became your wife.”

That’s right.

Su Yunjin was originally supposed to be part of the Fu family.

The Seven Sects and the Fu family were as close as life and death itself. Back in the day, the Fu family had been true patriots, supporting the war effort with substantial supplies. The Seven Sects had come down from the mountains to fight, and the Fu family had backed them both financially and physically. When peace finally returned, the Fu family continued to help the Seven Sects rebuild. To this day, the Fu family still possessed half of the sect’s token, a testament to the deep trust and friendship between the two families.

Unfortunately, the Fu family’s line had dwindled. By the time Su Yunjin was adopted by the Seven Sects, the Fu family had no heir. When Fu Lin was finally born, Su Yunjin had already been claimed by the Lu family.

Even now, whenever the old man heard someone mention the engagement between the Lu family and the Seven Sects, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Today, with Su Yunjin making headlines, the old man had finally started following the entertainment news.

“My wife? Which one?” Fu Lin asked, eyes wide with curiosity as he sat down beside his grandfather and picked up the e-reader.

He meant to have the old man point her out, but the moment he opened the device, he froze.

On the e-ink screen, the headline “Center Stage Girl Group Live Broadcast Incident” stood out at the very top.

But that wasn’t the most important thing—the real shock was the face on the cover photo: a girl in a tea ceremony dress, her black hair pinned up with a hair stick, her aura languid yet radiant, her features strikingly beautiful, a contrast so intense it drew the eye and refused to let go.

In that instant, the gates of memory in Fu Lin’s mind swung wide open.

Wasn’t this the very Su Yunjin who had helped him save that person the other day?

“Su Yunjin? She’s in the entertainment industry?” Fu Lin gasped sharply, stunned.

Their team hadn’t even had the chance to present her with the banner for her bravery. What seemed like searching for a needle in a haystack had ended so abruptly, and here she was, found so easily.

“Lin, you know Yunjin?” Fu Xingguo, watching his grandson’s astonished expression, couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course! Isn’t she the girl I just told you about—the one who helped me save someone? And…” Fu Lin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, grinning. “If she didn’t already have a boyfriend, I’d want to pursue her myself. Grandpa, did you know? She can paddle a bamboo pole across water! That day, she drifted right over to me; if not for her, I’d have ended up at the bottom of the lake.”

The room fell silent once more.

Fu Jiahua shot him a glare sharp as a knife, but before he could say a word, the old master burst out laughing. “Fate! This is truly fate. My grandson has excellent taste!”

“Hm?” Fu Lin looked confused.

Fu Xingguo smiled. “Lin, do you know who this is? She’s the very girl whose engagement your grandfather turned down all those years ago—the one who almost became your wife. Back then, she was already two years old while you weren’t even born. Your grandfather didn’t want to keep the little girl waiting, so he declined the arrangement. Later, the Lu family happened to save Old Master Qi of the Seven Sects, so Su Yunjin was promised to them as their eldest grandson’s future wife. Hmph, the Lu family really lucked out. But now, things are different. Since you like Yunjin, you should just pursue her openly. Arranged marriages are old news. Besides, you don’t have to worry—Yunjin knows nothing about any of this, and times have changed. We elders have opened our minds. Besides, Lu Yiqing doesn’t even want to marry Yunjin; rumor has it he’s infatuated with some internet singer. Since he doesn’t know how lucky he is, let’s not give him another chance.”

Although the Fu family’s local influence couldn’t match the Lu family’s, in terms of pedigree and heritage, they left the Lu family far behind. The Lus were mere profit-driven merchants, incomparable to their own legacy as red-blooded entrepreneurs. In the past, since Fu Lin had never mentioned it, they hadn’t pressed the matter. But now that their own grandson had admitted his feelings, what was there to wait for?

Pursue her!

The old master raised both hands in support.

He’d watched Su Yunjin grow up—a clever and lovable child who’d blossomed into a dignified beauty. He’d be a fool to let such a granddaughter-in-law slip away.

“Really? She doesn’t have a boyfriend?” Fu Lin’s eyes gleamed.

Fu Xingguo patted his shoulder, chuckling, “No, she doesn’t. I can guarantee it a hundred times over—she’s still single.”

“Great, that makes things easy then.” With his grandfather’s assurance, Fu Lin was over the moon, but for now, he turned his attention back to the news story. After all, they’d only met once—he needed to see if there was a suitable opportunity to get acquainted.

Meanwhile, as Fu Lin was happily plotting how to meet Su Yunjin again, in her hotel room, Su Yunjin’s phone rang.

She picked it up. The message was a string of Morse code.

Translated, it read: “The item is ready, sent to your email.”

The sender was a string of code.

Even if it leaked, an outsider wouldn’t have a clue what it meant.

But…

Su Yunjin smiled and dialed the sender’s number.

The call was answered almost immediately. “Password, codeword!” came a robotic voice, unmistakably from a voice changer rather than any real AI.

Su Yunjin burst out laughing. “You little rascal, is that how you talk to your boss? Don’t you remember? The boss doesn’t need a password!”

“Then why’d you call?” The voice reverted to that of a child, sounding barely twelve.

But anyone familiar would never take this twelve-year-old lightly, for this child was number 07 in the Red Alliance—the largest hacker organization in China.

Within the Red Alliance, the lower the number, the greater the skill.

To rank as 07 at such a young age foretold a limitless future.

But right now, this kid was someone Su Yunjin had personally mentored, so he called her boss. Her own number in the Red Alliance was 01.

“I’m just telling you, for simple videos like these, you don’t need to encrypt them. Spare me the hassle of decrypting every time.” Su Yunjin shook her head helplessly.

She’d only asked the kid to find her the backup from Camera 4 in the recording studio, but he’d staged the whole thing like a spy thriller, even using Morse code. It was almost laughable.

“No way! I have principles. I always follow the Alliance protocols—communicate strictly in code!”

“Pfft.” Su Yunjin couldn’t help but giggle.

The protocols were meant for special circumstances, but this kid applied them all the time.

She smiled and let it go. “Alright, suit yourself. I’m hanging up now. Keep an eye on the Alliance and learn from your seniors. By the way, your code was a dead giveaway.”

Teasing him on purpose, Su Yunjin ended the call.

She then opened her laptop, glancing at the headline dominating the news. Her eyes gradually turned cold.

She had originally intended to let Zhang Chuchu and Luo Zizhen off the hook.

But now…

If you show no mercy, then don’t blame me for being ruthless in return!