Chapter 18: Another Draw

The lottery wheel displayed ten options:

• Apprentice-level Art

• Expert-level Computer Skills

• Apprentice-level Driving

• Expert-level Culinary Skills

• Elite-level Music

• Apprentice-level Business

• Expert-level Military Knowledge

• Elite-level Political Strategy

• Apprentice-level Martial Arts

• Master-level Lock Picking

"Begin the draw!"

The lottery pointer spun rapidly.

"Computer, computer, computer! I need computer skills! To all the gods and deities, Buddha, Guanyin, Jade Emperor, Queen Mother of the West, Taishang Laojun, Taibai Jinxing, Yan Wang, and all celestial beings, please bless me to draw computer skills!"

Watching the spinning arrow, Ye Feng fervently chanted his prayers, much to Guangnao's annoyance.

"Master, if you knew more names, you'd probably call every deity you could think of."

Ye Feng chuckled sheepishly but continued silently praying for computer skills.

"Ding! Congratulations, Master, on drawing Expert-level Computer Skills."

"Yes! Got it! Ha-ha-ha, thank you, divine beings! I'll be sure to burn some incense for you."

"Alright, alright. Master, you finally got the computer skills—no need to get so thrilled," Guangnao muttered, embarrassed.

"Yes, yes, I'll remember next time." Ye Feng scratched his head, reminding himself to stay composed.

"If there's nothing else, please leave; I'm going to sleep," Guangnao said, trying to shoo Ye Feng away.

"I'm going, I'm going! No need for that tone—seriously, who's the Master here?" Ye Feng grumbled, though he was too thrilled with his new computer skills to argue.

Upon exiting the lottery space, Ye Feng touched his keyboard, and a flood of expert-level computer knowledge rushed into his mind: hacking defense, website construction, IP tracking, programming, advanced photo editing…

"Ha! Scandals have stirred the internet before—let's see how clean you and your son really are. Best to hope I'm not provoked further, or I'll make sure the whole world knows," Ye Feng thought, chuckling wickedly.

He quickly opened the Qidu search engine and typed in "Beihai City Police Chief Zuo Ming," causing a flood of search results to appear.

• "New Beihai Police Chief Zuo Ming Takes Office" – Beihai City Government Website

• "Beihai Police Solve National Target Case '23314884'" – Daqing Net, Penguin News

• "…"

Then his eyes caught something:

• "Beihai Police Chief's Son in Hit-and-Run Accident; Driver Identified as Zuo Fei Escapes Unpunished" – Qidu Qike Records

"Yes, this is exactly what I need," Ye Feng grinned, clicking on it.

The page displayed: "Sorry, the content you searched for has been removed due to restricted content. You will be redirected in 3 seconds."

"Well, well, I didn't realize this was now considered restricted content. That Zuo Ming has some influence, it seems. But as they say, the higher you climb, the harder you fall." Ye Feng's smirk grew sharper.

"A small-time police chief's son can afford a twenty-to-thirty-thousand Audi, while ordinary, upright officials can't even afford that themselves, let alone for their children. This alone says plenty about Zuo Ming."

"Whether it's restricted or not, if it was on the internet, I'll find it," Ye Feng muttered to himself, fingers flying across the keyboard as he tracked the deleted post's remnants.

In no time, he had the video and report, safely copied and stored in a new folder. He began fortifying his phone's defenses with his newfound computer skills.

"Just need a few more pieces of evidence, and I'll have everything I need," he thought, grinning sinisterly.

After finishing up, he looked at the clock—it was nearing ten. He created a new QQ account with the username "Ultimate Rich Young Master."

He recalled Lin Shiyun mentioning a QQ group their class used, and she had asked him to join it. He dug through his bag, finding the number scrawled in his notebook, courtesy of Lin Shiyun. Entering the group number, 451288012, he sent a request with the message, "This is Ye Feng," and then logged off.

Ye Feng figured it was likely too late for most of the "scholars" in his class—they were probably either studying or asleep. Shutting down his computer, he prepared to rest, eager to recharge for the new day.

He didn't know that, ten minutes later, his request was approved. The group admin, "Double Woods," accepted it.

"Double Woods," of course, was Lin Shiyun. Fresh out of the shower, she remembered their earlier conversation, checked her computer, and spotted his request.

She was about to initiate a private message when she noticed his "Ultimate Rich Young Master" profile was offline. A faint sense of disappointment crept in, though she didn't fully realize just how much she was starting to care about this boy, whose shy yet mischievous charm made him so different from everyone else.

(End of Chapter)