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Although Zhu Yingwei often appears carefree and uninterested in politics and economics, being born into a noble family inevitably exposes her to such matters. And the current situation her senior's family is facing clearly indicates they're being targeted…
Considering the series of events at Fengsui Fortress and the fact that the higher-ups are deliberately concealing the unsuccessful deep space exploration jump test, she could easily guess why her senior sister was going through these things. However, she did not expect that the other party would actually use supernatural powers!
If my senior sister weren't a cultivator, then perhaps she really would...
She wanted to warn her senior, "Your family is being targeted... be careful!" But she hesitated and swallowed the words back, as it would be too offensive.
Wei Chengguang, however, was unaware of the intricacies of the situation. But when he heard that the matter involved a cabinet minister, he realized the seriousness of the problem.
After all, he came from a merchant family. In his memory, let alone cabinet ministers, the people his father tried his best to befriend were just some ordinary officials in the city. As for nobles, unless they were low-ranking nobles who had fallen on hard times, his father could not even get close to them.
This is why my parents were so happy when I told them last time that I had met Xun Gui’s classmate.
The pressure that a cabinet minister could bring was immense, but he quickly thought of his mentor and realized that... perhaps this matter wasn't so difficult to resolve.
"Senior sister, if needed... my father should be able to help..." After thinking for a moment, Zhu Yingwei finally spoke up. After all, since she had heard about this matter, she felt she should have an opinion. Whether she had an opinion or not was her own business, and whether her senior sister needed it was her business...
"Yingwei is so kind, but it's not necessary for now," An Huiling said with a smile.
Zhang Jing, however, calmly turned his gaze to Li Jingxin, who seemed hesitant to speak.
Seeing Zhang Jing looking at him, Li Jingxin didn't hesitate and cupped his hands, saying, "Actually, this matter isn't difficult to resolve. I do have a solution..."
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Just as everyone was discussing An Huiling's journey to the underworld, a faint chime sound suddenly rang out in the distance. The sound was long and clear, with a faint aftertaste, spreading outwards like ripples on water. The brothers immediately stopped their conversation.
"The teacher is calling, so go and listen to the lecture," Zhang Jing nodded to the group.
The group immediately responded respectfully, seeing this as a signal that Zhang Taihe was about to begin his lecture. Without lingering, they headed towards the direction from which the sound of the chime came…
* * *
承和三十七年 2016年4月7日21:40 伦巴德王国圣卡拉布里亚市
Santa Calabria is a typical coastal tourist city with beautiful scenery and a wealth of historical sites. It is only a two-hour drive from the city of Bergopelli. The city has a large number of ancient sites, as well as many churches and sculptures with distinctive Catholic culture. Many tourists who go on pilgrimage to Bergopelli will include Santa Calabria as an important part of their trip.
Due to the time difference, when it was 21:40 PM in the Jokhang Temple, it was still 14:40 PM here. It was past the locals' lunch time, and there were still about two hours before afternoon tea. Even so, there were still quite a few tourists lazily drinking coffee and chatting in some of the open-air cafes.
At this moment, in an open-air café called Estrola, a young man dressed in light blue denim, with the black curly hair common among locals, was holding a cup of coffee, taking sips now and then. His eyes would occasionally scan his surroundings, observing the pedestrians passing by on the street, looking very cautious.
After a while, as his gaze swept around again, a young man walking out from a street corner not far away caught his attention. The man was a black-haired man dressed in a smart light-colored casual suit, wearing a top hat, sunglasses, a neatly groomed mustache, and cream-colored leather shoes. He walked towards him leisurely with his hands in his pockets.
Upon seeing this, the black-haired young man quickly raised his hand and waved to the man, who simply smiled and continued walking towards him at a leisurely pace.
A moment later, instead of going directly to the young man, the man went to the bar in the distance. After a short while, he returned with a cup of coffee, pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the young man, snapping his fingers casually: "Hey, Pete, what was that important thing you mentioned on the phone?"
As he spoke, he glanced around with a disgruntled expression, saying, "I turned down a date with a nice girl just to come to this chilly place for coffee with you..."
"You always have so many good girls, come on, Oliver..." The young man named Pete curled his lip, leaned closer to the other man, and said seriously, "Hey, listen, I'm really not kidding this time, I've really found something amazing..."
"Alright, alright, tell me, what did you find? Did you discover some state secret while fixing the computer?" The young man called Oliver took off his top hat and placed it aside, then casually picked up his coffee and took a sip.
Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 815 State Secrets
"How did you know?" To her surprise, as soon as she finished speaking, she saw Pete's eyes widen, his face full of astonishment.
"Hey? You're serious? I was right?" Seeing his expression, Oliver became interested as well.
Pete then realized that the other person had just said it casually, so he frowned and asked, "I'm asking you, was it true or false when you said you joined an internet celebrity's team?"
“Of course it’s true…” Oliver said, taking out his phone and searching on it before handing it over: “Paul’s Wikipedia page has 300 million followers, take a look.”
Seeing the other person take the phone and start scrolling through it, he explained, "I'm in charge of filming there. Let me tell you, I often see some pretty girls. If you're interested, I can introduce you to them next time..."
"Come on, girls these days are so materialistic. Who's going to play with you if you don't have money..."
"You don't understand. Let me tell you, you rent a Peroca 321, and I'll say you're a rich kid. I guarantee those girls will be more proactive than you..." Oliver said, sounding like he'd been there all along.
Pete hesitated for a moment, clearly somewhat persuaded, but quickly shook his head: "Let's not talk about that now, let's get down to business. I've made a truly remarkable discovery this time."
"Alright, what is it? Stop keeping me in suspense." Oliver took another sip of coffee and waved his hand.
“You know, I’ve been helping out at Uncle Charles’s shop lately; we also do computer repairs on the side,” Pete said, glancing around again before lowering his voice.
“Yes, I know.” Oliver nodded. He knew that his childhood friend had been working at a relative’s computer store since dropping out of high school.
“Yesterday, a customer brought in a laptop for repair. He was a respectable-looking stranger, probably a tourist from out of town,” Pete said, describing the man’s attire: “He had gold-rimmed glasses, his clothes looked expensive, and the computer was a high-end WF machine. We agreed that he would pick it up the next day, but he said he needed it urgently and wanted it repaired as soon as possible. So Uncle Charles asked me to take it apart and take a look.”
"I took it apart and checked it. The problem wasn't complicated; it was water inside. Someone must have spilled water on the machine while drinking. I just used a hot air blower to blow it out, and it was back to normal," Pete gestured. Then he looked around again, saw someone passing by, and stopped talking, picking up his coffee and taking a sip as a cover.
Only after the man left did she continue, her voice even lower than before: "Uncle Charles had gone out on something, and I was minding the shop by myself. After fixing the laptop, I thought I'd play with it for a while..."
"Originally, I just wanted to check if there were any notebooks or anything like that on the computer. You know, a lot of people have those kinds of things on their computers. Sometimes I can even find some funny selfies..." As he spoke, he subconsciously swallowed. "You know, rich people sometimes have really extravagant hobbies..."
“Yes, I know…” Oliver shrugged. “Because my boss is like that. Sometimes he’ll invite a dozen or so girls to rent out a swimming pool for a party, the kind where they don’t wear clothes…”
As he spoke, an envious look appeared on his face, but he quickly changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that. By the way, it seems you've discovered something interesting?"
But Pete nodded, then whispered, "I used a small program to search for video files on that computer, hoping to find some interesting videos..."
"Then... I found a folder with some videos in it." He then simply took his phone, opened a video, scrolled to a certain section, and handed it over: "Take a look at this..."
Oliver picked up the phone with some curiosity, only to find that it was playing a video of what appeared to be a meeting. A balding, middle-aged man sitting at the conference table was speaking: "...What we can confirm at present is that subspace travel carries significant uncertainties and risks. Although the Suifenhe incident is still under investigation and debriefing, it is certain that humanity previously knew far too little about subspace..."
"Previously, there was much hype surrounding deep space exploration as the next great age of exploration for humankind. However, it now appears that the assessment of its inherent dangers has been far too simplistic..."
"...The subspace is not the ocean as we know it, but a dangerous and unfamiliar region teeming with monsters. We need a more accurate understanding of it..."
"This accident involving the Suifenhe test ship has opened a new chapter in humanity's understanding of subspace, and the safety of subspace travel must be reassessed."
"Major powers have already begun reassessing and studying this issue; however, based on the information I have, this is not a problem that can be solved in the short term..."
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"...We need everyone to provide sufficient advice and projections on the future economic situation...We need to offer suggestions based on an objective basis..."
Oliver watched, his mouth gradually widening. Then, he stopped the video, staring wide-eyed at Pete in front of him: "This is what you found?"
“Yes, there are several similar ones, they should all be meeting videos…” Pitt nodded.
"This... you brought this out without anyone noticing, right?"
"No, I made a copy and then cleared all my viewing history, so there shouldn't be any problems..."
“This…this says the Suifenhe test ship has returned, but it encountered a major accident…” Oliver also lowered his voice. Even though he was not a professional in this field, the news about the previous subspace navigation test was overwhelming, with various news media bombarding him with reports, making it impossible for him not to know.
“Yes, and it is said that there are still great risks in subspace, and attempts related to deep space exploration will be temporarily suspended for some time to come…” Pieter nodded.
“This is truly something extraordinary…” Oliver nodded. As someone working in the influencer industry, he naturally knew that if such news appeared in the public sphere, the effect would be absolutely nuclear-level.
Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 816 A Big Deal
Then, he, in plainclothes, thought of the true purpose behind Mio's shouting and her coming here to dance, and couldn't help but look at him again, hesitatingly saying, "Pete, you don't mean to..."
"Oliver, I heard you say before that some important news can be sold for money. Do you think it's possible to sell the information I have...? How much do you think it could fetch?"
“Sell it…” Oliver subconsciously took a deep breath, then looked at Pete’s phone again, his eyes gradually brightening: “I’m telling you, bro… I feel like this can really be done.”
"Really? I was thinking, didn't you say your boss is rich? Let's see if he can handle this news..."
Oliver had previously told Pitt that the influencer world is highly competitive, so many news-related self-media outlets are willing to pay for exclusive news, especially major exclusive news with a certain influence.
Oliver's "Paul's Funny Stories Encyclopedia" mainly operates by using nonsensical humor to interpret recent major news events, aiming to achieve both humor and newsworthiness. It can be considered a combination of self-media and sketch comedy/stand-up comedy, and has always had a considerable user base.
“No, no, no… Brother, you can’t think like that. This can be done, but it absolutely cannot be sold to my boss.” Oliver shook his head vigorously when he saw Pete say this.
"Why?" Pete asked, puzzled by his question.
“Let me tell you, my boss seems rich, but this is in a small place like ours. 300 million followers isn't a huge number, but it's not a small number either. He can't afford it.” Oliver patiently explained, “What you're talking about is big news, you know? This is real big news!”
Oliver spread his arms wide, making a "big" gesture, and then leaned closer to Pete: "Pete, I'm telling you, you know about that movie star James having an affair with Princess Anne not long ago, right?"
"Of course I know, heh... who knew that Princess Anne, who looks so innocent, is actually a prostitute who likes to seduce married men..." Pete's face revealed a strange smile. Such gossip among nobles has always been the focus of much public attention.
"I'm telling you, it's that news story. Someone sold it for 5000 million Grand Crowns."
“Oh… Holy Lord…” Upon hearing this, Pete took a deep breath and grabbed Oliver’s arm urgently: “Are you kidding me?”
“Why would I lie to you? It’s absolutely true, the news’s been circulating all over the industry.” Oliver said, glancing around. “When my boss talked about it, he was amazed at how rich those Grand guys are…”
“Let me tell you, my boss just bought a villa and he’s broke right now. Besides, he’s just a nobody in the industry…” Oliver whispered.
"In that case...should we...try contacting those major media outlets?" Pete pondered for a moment after hearing this, then asked.
"No...please don't..." Oliver immediately stopped his friend's idea, leaning forward and getting closer to Pete: "This news is definitely big news, but it's obvious that those big shots are still hiding it. They don't want this news to leak out..."
“Those big media outlets have very deep backing, involving nobles, royalty, and many with government shares… Contacting them is risky… You might end up with the police showing up before you even sell anything.”
"Don't forget, this thing of yours can't stand the light of day..." Oliver pointed at Pete's phone, speaking meaningfully.
"Then...what do we do?" Oliver's suggestion clearly made sense. Although Pete lacked relevant experience, he wasn't stupid. After a little thought, he understood the crux of the matter. So he simply said, "Oliver, you have more experience in this area than I do. Think about how to get a good price. If this information really sells, we'll split it 50/50..."
Oliver's eyes lit up at this, and he patted Pete on the shoulder: "Hey bro, you're a real buddy."
As he spoke, he simply pulled over a chair and moved it from opposite Pete to his side: "Let me tell you, if we're going to sell this news, we absolutely can't do it locally, it's too easy for someone to find out."
"Safety is the top priority in this matter; we must ensure safety..."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Pieter nodded.
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