Chapter 14: I Want to Surrender!

"CPU: Intel Pentium III processor

Memory: 512MB SDRAM

Hard Disk: 20GB IDE hard disk

Graphics Card: ATI Radeon graphics card

Optical Drive: CD-ROM optical drive

System: Windows XP"

Wang Wei looked at the equipment list in his hand, feeling a bit confused.

He glanced at Song Han, who was haggling with the internet café owner, then looked at the document bag filled with cash in his own hand. Thinking about the brief conversation he had just had with Song Han, he was clearly here to give Song Han money, but in the blink of an eye, why was Song Han asking him to spend the money on his behalf?

"How much is it?"

"Five thousand yuan per unit!"

"How many units do you have in total?"

"Twenty-six units!"

"What about the area?"

"The total area of the upstairs and downstairs is 240 square meters!"

"How much is the monthly rent? Does the landlord allow subleasing?"

"I am the landlord! I'm saying, young man, are you planning to take over this store, or is it your son?

Are you sure you're letting this kid who hasn't even grown up properly negotiate such a big deal with me?

Are you two just making fun of me?"

Standing aside, Wang Wei blushed with embarrassment as he was mocked by the landlord. He stammered but didn't know what to say. 

Song Han interjected from the side,

"Brother, my dad doesn't know much about computers. He just thinks that running an internet café is a good business, so he's planning to take it over! For such a big deal, of course, we need to ask clearly."

Hearing this, the landlord was a bit surprised and said,

"Last year, I also thought this was a good business!"

The landlord's words piqued Wang Wei's interest to some extent.

"What's wrong? Isn't it good this year?"

The landlord sighed and started talking non-stop, his desire to pour out his feelings fully awakened.

"With such a large storefront like mine, the minimum monthly rent for renting it out is 2000 yuan! Plus depreciation, maintenance, and labor costs!

At the current internet access price, I'm losing 3000 yuan net every month!

Tell me, why should I endure all this trouble? It's better to transfer the business and just collect the rent!

I've finally figured it out. If you don't know anything about computers or maintenance, you'll be completely ripped off just by the equipment maintenance!

You have no idea. A young guy came to do the maintenance. He just opened the computer case and blew a breath, and he charged me 200 yuan! The worst part is that I didn't dare not to pay!"

Upon hearing this, Song Han found it a bit funny but didn't dare to laugh.

"Is there a story behind it?"

The landlord nodded and said,

"I was ripped off once before, so I learned my lesson and changed to another repairman. 

As a result, the computer kept having problems every few days. Either something was broken or some parts needed to be replaced. After two or three times, the cost was enough to buy a new computer!

In the end, there was no other option but to change the repairman back."

Hearing this, Song Han couldn't help but laugh.

Opening an internet café in 2002 with this mainstream configuration and without knowing much about computers, one would surely be ripped off. The competition among internet cafés was quite fierce during that time.

"Let's sign the contract!"

Holding a pen, Wang Wei looked at Song Han several times, hesitating to speak. Finally, seeing Song Han's determined gaze, he signed his name in the guardian column.

As the saying goes, "When the wind blows the eggshells away, one feels at ease after spending money."

Song Han twirled the key in his hand. Although it was a bit of a pity that most of the money was spent before he could even keep it warm in his hands, considering the situation in 2002, exchanging the money for such an internet café with complete certificates was definitely not a loss.

In the internet café where only the two of them were left, Wang Wei looked at Song Han and asked, "Can you tell me now how many more system vulnerabilities you have?"

Song Han said indifferently, "Not many, just ten. Excluding the one you already know, there are nine left."

"Are they all high-risk vulnerabilities like the one you provided last time?"

"More or less. They are the top ten classic vulnerabilities. I think they should all be of the same level!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Wei immediately squatted down, moved Song Han's shoulders, and looked at him with a serious expression.

"Classmate! The country needs you!!!!"

Wang Wei left, taking the documents, the sense of responsibility, and Song Han with him.

"Put me down!!!"

Driving at full speed all the way, they rushed back to the base. The moment they arrived, Wang Wei dashed into their director's office. 

"Director, I think we need to re-evaluate Song Han's personal technical abilities and raise the confidentiality level for specialized technical talents!

We should file a police situation record in advance!"

"Nonsense!"

The director's forehead twitched as he looked at the impulsive special commissioner from Beijing who didn't even knock before entering.

"Just because of a possibly true or false joke from a minor, you went to such great lengths to bring the person back by force?"

Wang Wei didn't give up and said,

"But he said he still has many major security vulnerabilities in the XP computer system in his hands!

If these vulnerabilities are leaked, it will have a great impact on our country's network security!"

The director retorted,

"Has he leaked them? If he's not willing to cooperate now, how can you be sure that what he said is true?

I've already told you all to avoid rough working styles and pre-set positions in your work. What have you done!

He's just a minor. Since we're already keeping an eye on him, what harm can he possibly do!

What are you still standing there for!

Let him go now!" 

 The next day, the sun rose as usual.

Facing the morning sun, Song Han practiced strenuously on the balcony of the rented house. After the surging qi and blood in his body subsided, he checked the time, grabbed his schoolbag and rushed towards the school.

As soon as he entered the classroom, he heard the chattering of his classmates.

"Song Han, have you heard? Yesterday, someone jumped off a building in the No.2 Middle School next door!"

Someone retorted,

"What do you mean by 'jumped off a building'? I heard that the person was pushed down!"

"It seems to be someone named Song Hai."

Upon hearing the name his classmates were talking about, Song Han, who had been in high spirits, suddenly froze for a moment.

"What's the name? Song Hai?"

"Yes, and he's even of the same surname as you! I heard that he was pushed off the teaching building during the break. They still haven't caught the culprit yet!"

Looking at the corner of the teaching building of No.2 Middle School that could still be faintly seen in the distance, Song Han murmured,

"It must be an accident."

After school, he opened the door of the empty internet café, plugged in the newly bought Zhonghua switch, and sat in front of the computer. The busy figure of Song Han unconsciously quickened his pace a bit.

"Today, there have been multiple cases of harm to teenagers in schools in this city. The suspects carried out illegal infringements on students in schools, which has so far resulted in the death of several people and one person being seriously injured.

The seriously injured person is currently receiving treatment at the Central City Hospital."

"In response to the recent cases of harm to middle school students, our police station has dispatched personnel to conduct key inspections. We will definitely bring the criminal suspects to justice!" 

The radio beside him, which was broadcasting the local news, made Song Han's busy figure suddenly come to a halt. His originally calm face was also flickering with the constantly refreshing raster on the 17-inch AOC monitor.

For a moment, in the empty room, apart from the sound of the radio, it was eerily quiet.

Tap, tap, tap...

The sound of slippers shuffling slowly came clearly into Song Han's ears from outside the door, making his hand that was holding the mouse unconsciously tense up.

Whoosh!

The rolling shutter door, which was originally half-open, was suddenly pulled up.

"Who is it!!"

"I want to surf the Internet."

"It's not open today."

"Damn it!"

The person who came casually pulled the rolling shutter door down again and left, muttering curses.

Song Han, who was startled by the person, no longer had the mood to continue working. He simply tidied up, picked up his equipment, hailed a taxi, and rushed towards the hospital.

'I really want to see what kind of monster you are this time.'

The taxi driver, looking at Song Han's obviously underage height and tender face, asked worriedly, "Little kid, going to the hospital so late? Are your parents really that放心 (reassured) to let you be out alone?"

Song Han said calmly, "I'm just going to find my parents."

After saying that, Song Han hugged his schoolbag tightly and sat in the back seat. His small figure made it difficult for people to feel a sense of security. 

"Little kid, who are you looking for?"

Outside the hospital ward, two on-duty criminal policemen blocked the figure that was about to enter the ward.

The person who came said seriously, "I'm the attending doctor of Song Han in bed 03. I'm here to check on his condition."

With a loose mask, a white coat whose hem dragged on the ground, and a short figure...

This person really didn't treat the two policemen as outsiders!

"Little kid, are you serious?"

The person who came said impatiently, "Get out of the way! I'm going to see the patient."

At this moment, a sudden cry of surprise came from not far away:

"Ah!! Doctor Huang, what's wrong with you?"

Leaning on the handrail on the wall, Doctor Huang pointed at that person tremblingly and said, "Catch him! He, he~~~~"

"Watch out for the stun gun~~~~"

Crack...

"Who is it?"

Amidst the chaos, Song Han, who was not far away, secretly hid the slingshot in his hand behind his back and quietly walked out of the hospital ward building.

He never expected that the amazing skill of shooting birds that he had practiced for many years in his rural hometown could still come in handy. 

"You idiots! Useless fellows! More than a dozen of you, having set up the defense for so many days, and all you caught was a thirteen-year-old kid!

A stun gun was enough to knock down two veteran criminal policemen!

You've really brought me a great deal of 'honor'!!"

The criminal police captain beside him said with shame, "We were too careless. We thought it was just a kid, so we didn't dodge. And we didn't expect the target to be a junior high school student either."

"Stop making excuses!"

The public security bureau chief raged, "Hurry up and interrogate. Find out who the mastermind behind the scenes is!

I'll give you three days. If you can't solve the case, all of you go and sweep the streets!

Also, who is that kid who used a slingshot to knock the stun gun out of the murderer's hand? What's his connection with this case? Bring him back as soon as possible and question him!"

Back at the internet café, Song Han thought about that little kid in the hospital just now who was agile, extremely violent yet calm. Apart from the fact that he seemed a bit crazy in his behavior, he could be regarded as a natural cold-blooded killer!

After all, except for himself, who would be on guard against those little kids from the neighbors all the time.

But now that the other person had gotten close to him again, Song Han could only helplessly pick up the phone:

Ring-ring-ring...

"Hello?"

"Brother Wang?"

"Who is this?"

"I want to turn myself in!"