The 3 B's- Beauty, Brains and Bravery

Chapter 498: "Without a backup plan, we'd never let you fall"

"So what was this? A social experiment?!", Xi Yuan questioned the men, his tone filled with disbelief, "Xinghe was so worried about all of it, you know?"

"Oh, come on, Yuan!", Mo Zixuan joined in, "We went on with it just because we were aware of the fact that you were with her. Don't we know our Kiddo, but at all?"

"Care to explain what exactly happened, by the way.", the man inhaled a sharp breath. Of course, they had thought it through. They were the Superfamily, for hell's sake. One of the world's most calculative and sharp-minded lot. Even under impulse, their plans had never failed. Xi Chongkun and Li Jungah's announcements at the Press Conference a few minutes ago simply proved the damn point, didn't it? 

"Al, you go first.", Mo Zixuan smiled at the man beside him. 

"Alright.", Zhi Al chuckled, as he leaned forward a tad so that the man could hear him, "Well, I have access to all your systems' software. And I must tell you, you gave me a challenge hacking into it. The lines of code were pretty strong and intricate."

"I programmed the software... myself.", Xi Yuan furrowed his brows, a bit taken aback, "And what's with the privacy intrusion?"

"Please.", Zhi Al tilted his head to one side, "Privacy is a myth. Just like the concept of absolute democracy. You just have to be gutsy enough to do it."

"Go on.", the man sighed. 

"So that night... when the other hacker tried to pass through your system, the alarm on my desktop went off. It was about 02:32, to be exact, by then. I was engineering one of the security software projects for the National Sports Committee and Zixuan had this huge meeting to prepare for, so we both were awake.

"When I went through the issue, I realized that someone was attempting to hack into your laptop. But even though the guy seemed finely trained with computers, there was no way he could've gotten into a system as sensitive as yours without making any mistake. I was all prepared to let your device self-destruct itself, but then... an idea popped up in Zixuan's mind. 

"Now, most of your business plans, Bro Wei and Bro Xi are known to, so we had to let them in on it as well. And as it turned out, of all your projects, this Soulagement Pharma was the most insignificant one. 

"So as to distract this hacker buddy of mine, I wrapped a few more layers of codes in your stead, and by the time he got through those childish barriers, I got into your system and transferred all your important documents into my hard drive and erased them from your laptop entirely. Everything, but the Soulagement Pharmas' file. And then, I disabled your alarm and self-annihilation mode.

"Hence, when mah coder homie finally made it to your system, he had just one document available to steal from there. Only after he had exited your device did I readjust your system along with your old software. So if you look at it positively, I kind of saved you from losing billions of dollars. You should thank me, you know?"

"Thank you very much.", Xi Yuan remarked sarcastically. 

As the man burst out laughing, Mo Zixuan added, "And as far as rumors concerning Xinghe are concerned, we didn't fabricate those too. We were going to, yes. But on a much mild scale. Whoever this rival of yours was, must have been holding a grudge against Xinghe as well. He or she was too quick to react, you see. The person aimed at both of you within a matter of 24 hours, and the intensity at which the word spread was unbelievably smooth. 

"We just didn't act on it, since your dear enemy was executing our plan anyway. I must say though, this hater of yours felt awfully familiar. I mean... it was as if--"

"We'd known this guy all our life.", Zhi Bo cut in, nodding at the man in agreement, "I sensed so too." Strangely, almost all the Six tigers concorded on that note as they exchanged doubtful gazes among themselves. 

Xi Yuan listened to the men in silence for a few seconds before he finally spoke up, "So we still don't know the real perp...", he concluded.

"I wouldn't say that.", Zhi Xi shook his head, "We have the second hacker."

"Come again?"

"Yeah.", Zhi Al smirked, "While I waited for the guy to transfer the Soulagement file into his drive, I did a little research on him. His location showed to be in Earlston itself that night, and that too, in some goofy cafe. So Bo pulled some strings and got some men to capture him. He is on his way to City A right now."

"Why Country X?", Xi Yuan questioned. 

"Because... that's not the kind of stress-free situation Kiddo needs right now.", Lu Wei replied as a matter-of-factly, "And as for the guy's treatment, believe me, Yuan, I can torture my prey just fine. All you need to do right now is take care of our sister and prove your worth in Xi Corporations by doubling the original deal's price."

"We're family, Yuan. You are the man our Xinghe has chosen. Without a backup plan, we'd never let you fall. It was just necessary this time. So, we good?", Zhi Xi laughed. 

The man thought for some time before his lips curled up in a helpless smile, "We are great.", he answered, "But I don't understand. Whether my family stands up for her or not... how is it even important? She will always have me and you guys backing her up eventually, won't she?"

"Obviously.", Lu Wei said, "But that's not why we did it."

"So?"

It was Zhi Bo to speak this time, "Xinghe hasn't had a normal life, Yuan. She didn't have parents. And for most of her childhood, she didn't have us. We cannot even begin to describe the endless and inhuman atrocities the Rongs unleashed on the twins while they were little. And then, the train incident, and the coma. And if that wasn't enough, Zhou Che happened. Life has never been fair to her. She deserved to smile, and laugh, and dance, at such a tender age. But we were there, watching her weep quietly every night. 

"So call us irrational for doing this, but we really believe that she should have a 'normal' now. And that's you, Yuan. With the life she has had, we never thought she'd muster up the courage to love someone or dream of a future, ever again. And yet, she let her guard down for you. She let you in, young man. 

"You became her friend, her boyfriend, and then her fiance. And it's beautifully normal. We just needed to know that she'd have someone looking out for her amongst the Xis as well, once she marries you. That she would have a family to go to over there too. And thanks to this incident, now we know."