Not only was the model of the car identical, but even the license plate number was exactly the same. If Jiang Zhou hadn’t switched the surveillance feed in time, she would have certainly mistaken the subsequent vehicle for Xia Shang’s.
Jiang Zhou’s brows furrowed tightly. Her intuition told her that someone was targeting Xia Shang. Leaving the hotel one after another like that—if the car with the fake plates committed some crime, wouldn’t it be perfectly framed on Xia Shang?
With no time to overthink who was behind it, Jiang Zhou immediately copied this segment of the surveillance footage. She also intercepted all available footage from the surrounding area of the hotel just in case.
The road surveillance cameras were directly linked to the relevant law enforcement departments. Given Jiang Zhou’s skills, hacking in wouldn’t be impossible, but current conditions didn’t allow for it, and time was running out.
After copying the footage, Jiang Zhou immediately called Xia Shang.
Xia Shang was leaning back in her seat dozing off. When she saw the call from Jiang Zhou, a slight smile touched her lips.
“Hello, it’s me.”
“Mhm, are you back yet?” Jiang Zhou asked.
Xia Shang checked her watch. “On my way. I should be home in about twenty minutes.”
“Okay, be careful on the road. Remember to turn on the dashcam and save tonight’s footage—the entire journey,” Jiang Zhou urged.
“Alright.” Although Xia Shang didn’t know Jiang Zhou’s reasoning, she followed her instructions and told the driver to save the driving records from the last few days as well.
Once she calmed down and thought about it, Jiang Zhou realized something was wrong. If she remembered correctly, one of the scandals that broke out later involved Xia Shang making life difficult for an elderly person in poverty who had accidentally scraped her car?
“System, how long until Xia Shang’s accident?” Jiang Zhou felt something was off. It was supposed to happen after she became the richest person, but there wasn’t even a shadow of that yet. How were the framing and setups already starting?
【Because of the Host’s arrival, the timeline has changed. There is currently no accurate data.】 The system replied quickly.
“The timeline changed?” Jiang Zhou’s brow twitched. “Is it because of the change in repair progress?”
【Yes. Current repair progress is 45/100. Please keep it up, Host.】
Jiang Zhou wanted to continue asking about Xia Shang’s future encounters and ending, but the system shut her down with the same excuse of the timeline changing.
【Host, this is a real world. No one can control the thoughts in everyone’s mind. The previous data was only for the Host’s reference. I hope the Host does not rely excessively on past information.】 After saying this, the system vanished again.
A real world, huh? Jiang Zhou felt it was a bit tricky. She had originally intended to use a reverse-deduction method, working backward from Xia Shang’s future misfortunes to find potential culprits and deal with them in advance.
If everything was changing at any moment, then her so-called foresight wouldn’t be of much use.
After frowning and thinking for over ten minutes, Jiang Zhou finally managed to suppress her turbulent emotions.
Thinking on the bright side, if everything could change, she was fully capable of ensuring Xia Shang never faced any cyberbullying or danger.
The prerequisite was that she dealt with the culprit first.
“I’m back.” Xia Shang returned a few minutes later than expected. To let the smell of alcohol dissipate, she had deliberately stood outside in the breeze for a while before coming in.
“Welcome home.” Jiang Zhou gave Xia Shang a hug. “Did anything happen on the road?”
“No, the driver is very skilled.” Xia Shang released Jiang Zhou. “I’m going to shower first.”
“Mhm.”
Since nothing happened to Xia Shang, then the accident likely involved the other car.
Jiang Zhou didn’t hack into road surveillance, but writing a small program to capture information from public platforms was simple.
While Xia Shang was showering, Jiang Zhou finished the script and set it to run on her computer, waiting for it to snag relevant news for her.
“The dashcam data has been sent to my email. Do you need it?” Xia Shang held her phone in one hand while using a dry towel to wipe her hair with the other.
“Forward a copy to me.” Jiang Zhou stood up, took the towel from Xia Shang’s hand, and started drying her hair for her.
“Okay.” Xia Shang didn’t ask why, and Jiang Zhou didn’t explain. The file was forwarded with a single click.
“Sit down, I’ll use the hair dryer to help you finish it.” Jiang Zhou hung the damp towel aside.
“Mhm.” Xia Shang sat still, placing her phone on the desk.
The hum of the motor started, and warm air blew out. Jiang Zhou’s movements were gentle and slow, drying Xia Shang’s hair bit by bit from the roots.
It was already quite late when Xia Shang returned. By the time the shower and hair-drying were done, it was nearly 11:00 PM.
“Goodnight.” Jiang Zhou leaned her head on Xia Shang’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
“Goodnight.” Xia Shang stroked Jiang Zhou’s hair. Due to the alcohol in her system, she fell asleep quickly.
Once the breathing of the person beside her became steady, Jiang Zhou slowly opened her eyes. She reached out and gently traced the contours of Xia Shang’s face with her fingertips.
Xia Shang was hers. No one was allowed to touch her.
…
Three days later, the small program Jiang Zhou had placed on the platforms finally captured some useful information.
A few netizens were exposing a hit-and-run case. The location of the accident was only two blocks away from the hotel. Because the person posting was vague and the only evidence was a highly blurred photo, it hadn’t attracted much attention.
Jiang Zhou’s finger hovered over the mouse. After a moment of thought, she began to track the IP address of the account.
In this era of big data, even if the apps on your phone belong to different companies, as long as you use your phone number for registration, countless invisible threads of information are connected.
Privacy doesn’t exist to big data brokers, and similarly, it doesn’t exist to Jiang Zhou.
Using this, Jiang Zhou easily identified the whistleblower. Based on the location data pulled from their apps, she pinpointed their exact position.
She had the backup of the surveillance and the dashcam footage. If someone tried to frame Xia Shang, the evidence in her hands was enough to turn the tables.
After encrypting the files once more, Jiang Zhou felt slightly more at ease. Leaving the program running in the background, she started on her work.
Jiang Zhou had been so focused that she hadn’t noticed Xia Shang’s gaze. Xia Shang had been staring at her for several minutes, yet Jiang Zhou remained oblivious.
“President Xia, this is the new personnel arrangement for the Marketing Department. Please review it.” Liu Chen handed over the job planning document.
Xia Shang hummed in response, took the file, and began flipping through it.
The total headcount in the Marketing Department hadn’t changed; only the roles and responsibilities had been redistributed. The extra workload had been spread out, averaging the individual tasks.
“Has Manager Wan seen this?” Xia Shang asked.
“Yes, he has. Manager Wan and I discussed this together to ensure changes to individual roles are kept to a minimum.” Since Manager Wan was the head of the Marketing Department, Liu Chen naturally had to consult him.
“Alright, let’s arrange it this way then.” Xia Shang gave it a cursory glance and didn’t see any issues.
“President Xia, can I take a look at this job planning document?” Jiang Zhou suddenly spoke up.
“Assistant Jiang wants to see it?” Liu Chen was surprised. Such a document was considered confidential; she rarely even showed it to her subordinates. Jiang Zhou was just a presidential assistant—she shouldn’t have that much authority, right?
Liu Chen glanced at Xia Shang. Seeing her slightly furrowed brow, she thought, Oh no, did Assistant Jiang just overstep?
“You want to see it?” Xia Shang’s tone was purely inquisitive.
But in Liu Chen’s eyes, it looked like Xia Shang was staring at Jiang Zhou with a cold, emotionless gaze.
This is a precursor to an explosion! Assistant Jiang! DANGER!!!
“Mhm, I want to see.” Jiang Zhou, unaware of Liu Chen’s internal drama, walked straight to Xia Shang and stood beside her office chair.
The file was still on Xia Shang’s desk. Seeing that Xia Shang didn’t object, Jiang Zhou picked up the document under Liu Chen’s shocked gaze. She leaned against the desk and started reading it right then and there.
Holy crap! What is going on? Assistant Jiang just touched President Xia’s things like it was nothing! Isn’t she afraid President Xia will be furious?!
Would President Xia be furious? Of course not!
Not only was Xia Shang not angry, but she even asked in a consulting tone, “Is there something inappropriate with this arrangement?”
Jiang Zhou didn’t answer immediately, instead examining the job adjustment document even more closely.
Liu Chen stood to the side with her head down, not daring to say a word except for a few cautious glances from the corner of her eye.
After about five minutes, Jiang Zhou finished browsing. “It seems there are no issues.”
“Mhm.” Xia Shang took the file back calmly. Seeing Jiang Zhou still leaning against the desk, she simply grabbed her hand and pulled her toward herself.
Jiang Zhou didn’t resist. Following the force, she sat directly on Xia Shang’s lap. “Is this document going to be publicized?”
“No. HR will give it to the Marketing Manager, who will convey it to the team leaders, who will then tell the individuals,” Xia Shang stated the process.
“I see.” Jiang Zhou looked down at her waist, where Xia Shang’s hand was resting. “Can we change it to a public notice? The kind everyone in Marketing can see. And leave a three-day feedback period—if someone is unhappy, they can voice their opinions to HR or their superiors.”
“Sure.” Xia Shang didn’t overthink it. Since the document was finalized, whether it was publicized didn’t matter much.
“Liu Chen, do as Jiang Zhou says. Make it a public notice.”
“Ah… Oh! Yes, alright. I-I’ll discuss it with Manager Wan in a moment and set it up.” Liu Chen instinctively rubbed her eyes.
Good Lord, am I seeing this right?! President Xia let Assistant Jiang sit on her lap?!
Is that really President Xia? Has she been replaced by an impostor?!!!