Help!

Xiaoyu's computer screen had turned pitch black. On it, an image of a massive iron gate with a heavy iron lock appeared, shrouded in an air of mystery.

Above the gate, there was a blood-red countdown. The hint written in Chinese on the screen made the four women's faces go pale.

"It seems like a virus," Zhou Wei said with a somber tone. "It's similar to the last ransomware attack, and the messages are alike."

"Let's try restarting and see if it helps," Li Ruoxuan suggested, hastily rebooting the computer. After half a minute, the computer powered on again, but the same image persisted, and they couldn't access the desktop at all.

"It can't be a virus from the movie, right?" Wang Xiaolan questioned.

All three women turned their gazes toward Li Ruoxuan.

"Impossible, I've watched it myself. It can't possibly contain a virus," Li Ruoxuan defended, her confidence wavering.

"I'll ask my friend from another school for help," Zhou Wei said, quickly reaching out to her social media circles.

"I'll check what kind of virus this is," Wang Xiaolan stated without hesitation.

Xiaoyu and Li Ruoxuan exchanged glances, their worries growing.

"I'll try opening the movie on my computer," Li Ruoxuan declared, walking back to her seat, turning on her computer, and inserting the USB drive to initiate the movie copy.

"I found something! I found something!" Wang Xiaolan's voice rang out just as Li Ruoxuan turned on her computer.

The three women quickly gathered around.

"It's a variant of a ransomware virus, first discovered at 6:30 PM. The first cases were reported in Europe, and it has already infected over 80,000 computers in Europe alone. By around 7:00 PM, it started spreading in North America. According to incomplete statistics, over 50,000 computers in North America have been infected, and the number is still rising. The virus spreads through email attachments, phishing websites, and other means, rapidly infecting regional networks..."

"I have news too." Zhou Wei placed her phone displaying her social media feed in front of everyone. "Many people in our school have fallen victim to this computer virus. Look, this is the most recent update on my feed. It seems that logging into the campus network triggers this virus. It's spreading rapidly."

"No."

Li Ruoxuan hurriedly ran back to her position, unplugged the computer's network cable, and felt a lingering fear. Luckily, she hadn't logged into the campus network, or she would have been affected too.

The three women looked at Zhou Wei, then glanced around at their own computers, only to find that the mysterious iron gate image had taken over their screens as well.

"It seems like I've been infected too," Zhou Wei said dumbfoundedly. "What do we do about this virus?"

Reacting quickly, Zhou Wei leaped up and hurriedly tried random key presses on her computer.

"What do we do? I haven't finished watching my TV series!" she exclaimed, seemingly more concerned about the TV series than the virus situation.

The three women looked at each other, slightly amused by Zhou Wei's reaction, yet still concerned about the situation at hand.

"Just like the last ransomware attack, this time the files aren't locked, but the entire computer system is locked. The hacker's purpose is to demand money, specifically Bitcoin transactions. We have a week to remit the payment in Bitcoin, or else they'll destroy all files on our computer's hard drive," Li Ruoxi explained, feeling relieved that her "little movie" wasn't the cause of this.

"My computer has some important accounting review materials. What should I do?" Xiaoyu asked anxiously.

"In the social media posts, some students said the only solution is to reinstall the system before the virus has time to establish itself," Li Ruoxi replied.

In the next moment, Xiaoyu thought of Chen Mo, who was proficient in computer programming and hacking. She took out her mobile phone to contact him, but noticed the three smirking faces leaning in and eavesdropping on her conversation.

At the same time, Chen Mo was on his way back to his rented house, eager to get there quickly. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

Xiaoyu?

Seeing Xiaoyu's call, Chen Mo smiled and immediately answered.

"Xiaoyu."

"Chen Mo," Xiaoyu replied with a red face. She felt embarrassed because there were three curious women listening to her conversation.

"Missed me?" Chen Mo teased.

Li Ruojun and the three women giggled, their eyes sparkling. Xiaoyu didn't dare to answer directly; her face turned even redder.

"I have a virus on my computer."

"A virus?" Chen Mo's pace quickened. "What happened?"

Xiaoyu explained the ransomware variant virus to Chen Mo in detail.

During this time, she had noticed that Chen Mo was studying computer programming and hacking every day, so she felt that maybe he would have a solution.

"I'm coming to find you now. Give me the computer, and I'll help you," Chen Mo assured her.

After Chen Mo hung up the phone, he rushed back to the dormitory area and used his mobile phone to look up news about the ransomware variant.

As soon as he opened the browser's news headlines, there it was - news about the ransomware virus was trending.

Chen Mo wasted no time and headed straight to Xiaoyu's dormitory.

Inside the female dormitory, after Xiaoyu hung up the phone, the three women burst into laughter.

"Little kitty, do you miss me?"

"Enough teasing, there's a virus on my computer, and he's coming over to help," Xiaoyu explained.

"I'm coming to find you now, uh..."

"Muah."

Wang Xiaolan and Zhou Wei imitated their conversation in an awkward tone and laughed in the dormitory, causing Xiaoyu's face to turn red.

"Oh, that's perfect."

Li Ruoxuan interrupted the laughter. "Are you going to give him your computer?"

"What else can I do?" Xiaoyu replied.

"Did you forget? There are action movies on the computer desktop. What if he opens it and sees them?" Li Ruoxuan reminded her.

Xiaoyu imagined the scenario, her face turning even redder, feeling anxious. If that happened, she wouldn't be able to face him.

"Do you want me to give him my computer?" Zhou Wei suggested.

"I'll give him both. I trust that he won't look at them," Xiaoyu hesitated and said, "If he accidentally opens them, I'll explain it to him then."

Not long after, Chen Mo arrived at the dormitory.

Xiaoyu, along with her three roommates, were already waiting downstairs. curious to see the guy who had captured Xiaoyu's heart.

"This is Wang Xiaolan, and this is Zhou Wei, if you didn't know," Xiaoyu introduced.

"Hello," Chen Mo greeted the three roommates politely.

"Hello there," the three women responded, looking somewhat dazed at Chen Mo's demeanor.

Chen Mo wasn't physically imposing, but his self-confidence, calm temperament, and charm were evident. He exuded a certain aura that many found attractive. At that moment, the three roommates couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

"This one is mine, and this one is Zhou Wei. My accounting information is stored in it. If it's recoverable, great. If not, I'll just reinstall the system." Xiaoyu explained.

"If you manage to fully recover it, there will be rewards," Li Ruoxi chimed in with a smile. "I'll tell you the Xiaoyu last details later."

"Don't listen to her," Xiaoyu quickly interrupted Li Ruoxi, worried that she might say something embarrassing again.

"I know a bit about viruses," Chen Mo said. "I'll do my best to get it fixed for you as soon as possible."

After taking over Xiaoyu's computers, Chen Mo looked at the three women and said, "Please take care of Xiaoyu. Feel free to contact me if you need anything."

"Yes, we'll leave now. You two continue to talk," Li Ruoxi said as she led the other two women back to the dormitory, leaving Xiaoyu and Chen Mo alone.

"Is there a reward?" Chen Mo asked, smiling at Xiaoyu. Now that Li Ruoxi and the others were not around, he felt comfortable asking about it.

"When you fix it, we can discuss that," Xiaoyu replied and quickly hurried back to the dormitory.

Chen Mo returned to his rental house with the two computers. The screens were still showing the black iron gate with a huge lock, giving off a mysterious vibe.

After some thought, Chen Mo lay back on his bed and started delving into the Science and Technology Library