Chapter 181 — Secrets in the Computer

Wei Zhao hurried up the stairs and, sure enough, found a concealed data box on the wall between the first and second floors. It had been pasted over with wallpaper; unless one looked closely, it was impossible to spot.

Wei Zhao opened the data box. Though he did not understand much about network matters, the labels inside were all clear and distinct. Clearly the people living in this villa district were wealthy, and few of them understood anything about wiring. The developer had taken this into account when building: the control switches in every room were plainly marked, and one needed only to follow the instructions to operate them.

Sure enough, his own room's phone and network ports had not been activated on the data box. Wei Zhao switched on the network; as for the telephone, never mind—he had a mobile phone and had no need of a landline.

This done, Wei Zhao closed the data box and went downstairs. Gu Mengyao merely glanced at him. Seeing him come down so quickly and Mighty General showing no particular reaction, she concluded that Wei Zhao had certainly not gone up to the second floor, and so paid him no more attention. Her gaze returned to the television, and she and Shen Yushu excitedly twisted their bodies in imitation of Xu Shilan on the screen...

Wei Zhao was not interested. He went back to his room and began examining Shen Yushu's computer.

It was a branded machine, good in both configuration and appearance, only a little feminine. The case and monitor were both in a vivid, flashy style, and even the mouse and keyboard were fashionable—the sort of thing girls liked.

Wei Zhao was not particular about such things; making do was good enough. He connected the computer to the power, switched it on, and quickly booted into the system.

Shen Yushu's desktop was very clean, with almost no software installed—only a few common programs like QQ, Feixin, and a video player. Nothing professional at all.

Wei Zhao opened the D drive. Inside were two folders: one labeled "Videos," the other "Photo Album."

Seeing these two folder names, Wei Zhao was suddenly a little excited. Could it be that Shen Yushu amused herself at home by making some kind of steamy self-shot videos? He turned his head to glance at the door, already locked, and with a trembling hand first clicked open the "Videos" folder.

Toward Shen Yushu, Wei Zhao had always felt a rather harmonious fondness. She was a girl who made it easy to like her: she seemed careless and scatterbrained, but was in fact quite shrewd.

Compared with Gu Mengyao's arrogance, Shen Yushu seemed far more approachable. She was basically the bridge of communication between him and the eldest daughter of the Chu family. Unconsciously, it was only natural that Wei Zhao had developed a bit of fondness for her.

Thinking of Shen Yushu's rather striking figure, Wei Zhao nearly drooled.

Heh heh, little Chen girl, who would have thought you'd leave a hold over me too?

Wei Zhao lewdly stole a look inside the opened "Videos" folder, and was immediately disappointed... Good grief—it was all downloaded music videos or concert footage of the big star Xu Shilan. Where were any self-shot videos?

His interest flagging, Wei Zhao randomly clicked a couple. They were exactly the same as the program on television just now. Though the girl singing was quite pretty, Wei Zhao had no intention of wasting his precious feelings on some intangible idol. With that time, he would rather do something of his own—for instance, tease Tang Zhi and exchange glances with Shen Yushu, bicker with Qiu Lingshan, or even watch the eldest daughter of the Chu family glare at him. Ha ha, at least that beat watching idol videos—at any rate, those were real people right in front of him...

Closing the "Videos" folder, Wei Zhao pinned all his hopes on the "Photo Album" folder. But this time he did not hold out much hope either; after all, he had been disappointed once already. In all likelihood, this "Photo Album" folder also contained photos of the big star Xu Shilan—if one judged by the contents of the "Videos" folder.

Wei Zhao clicked open the "Photo Album" folder, his mood no longer as excited as before. But when it opened, his eyes went wide!

For inside the "Photo Album" were two subfolders: one called "Xu Shilan," the other called "My Album"!

Wei Zhao's disappointed mood flared with excitement once more. He automatically filtered out the "Xu Shilan" folder and clicked open "My Album"!

Inside were indeed a scattering of image files. From the file names alone he could tell they had been taken with a digital camera or mobile phone. Wei Zhao's heart surged with excitement...

He hastily double-clicked the first image file, waiting anxiously for the computer to respond. It was only a matter of a second. Wei Zhao's eyes were fixed intently on the screen. In truth, Wei Zhao was fundamentally the same as any normal young man... a little bit lecherous.

The photo opened. It was not the "self-shot" style Wei Zhao had been hoping for, but an ordinary slice-of-life photo. Shen Yushu sat on the sofa, looking somewhat languid and fresh-faced, yet just as pretty. Judging by the date on the photo, it had been taken three years ago—back when Shen Yushu had just started her first year of high school?

Wei Zhao flipped forward through the album. Besides Shen Yushu, there were photos of Gu Mengyao, and some of the two of them together. A few showed them in pajamas, but nothing at all beyond the bounds of propriety. They could count as private photos, perhaps, but fell far short of that kind of self-shot.

Even so, Wei Zhao looked with relish. Living under the same roof as two young beauties, Wei Zhao was ordinarily too embarrassed to stare at the two of them closely. Now that he had the photos, it was rather more convenient to look.

From the timestamps on the photographs, one could plainly see Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu grow from two somewhat raw young girls into the graceful young women they were now; these photos were a record of their growth and their friendship, and truly precious.

Photos of the two of them out playing together made up a sizable share; every winter and summer vacation, the two would travel somewhere, though who had taken the pictures was anyone's guess. It couldn't be Uncle Qing, could it? Wei Zhao thought with a touch of malice of Uncle Qing trudging breathlessly after the two young misses with a camera slung over his back, playing the errand boy...

"Uh"—hadn't part of Uncle Qing's duties already been handed over to him? Wasn't he the young miss's errand boy now? At that thought, Wei Zhao's smile died. Next time, the one lugging a camera and trotting along after them would probably be him, wouldn't it?

A chill of revulsion ran through Wei Zhao. Here he was, laughing at Uncle Qing, when the one who should be laughed at was himself—no match for the man he mocked!