Great Power Reclamation

Chapter 2936 The Man Huang Shanshan Has Her Eye On
In the following days, Huang Shanshan made full use of her "technical advantages".

Qin Zheng needed to access certain restricted web logs? She secured the permissions within three minutes, delivered them personally, and casually "asked" a couple of unimportant investigation questions, staying an extra five minutes.

Qin Zheng's encrypted communication channel was occasionally unstable? She immediately took her equipment to his home to inspect and fix it, quickly resolving the problem with her fingers flying across the keyboard, and then "incidentally" shared some local delicacies from the military reclamation town.

She even "unintentionally" used the surveillance system (of course, with Ye Yuze's tacit permission for security purposes) to learn that Qin Zheng had a habit of jogging in the morning. So the next morning, in the same park, Huang Shanshan "happened" to be jogging as well, and "happened" to be exhausted and needing to rest, and "coincidentally" met Qin Zheng, who was stretching after finishing his run.

"Investigator Qin, what a coincidence." She was panting, her cheeks flushed, and a few strands of hair were stuck to her forehead with sweat, making her look a little more delicate than usual.

Qin Zheng looked at the girl who had single-handedly carried a server in the server room yesterday, but was now almost collapsing after running two kilometers. A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he still nodded politely.

"Good morning, Comrade Huang... Shanshan."

"Just call me Shanshan," she corrected again, handing over a bottle of water. "I just bought it; I haven't drunk it yet."

Qin Zheng hesitated for a moment, then accepted it: "Thank you."

The two walked side by side on their way back to the dormitory. Huang Shanshan started chatting about some light topics, from the weather in Junken City to which dish in the canteen was the best. Her thoughts jumped around, and she spoke very quickly, with a unique kind of vitality.

Qin Zheng mostly just listened, occasionally offering a brief response.

Huang Shanshan's direct attacks are becoming increasingly apparent. She will ask directly on the internal communication software:

"Captain Qin, the cafeteria is serving braised pork ribs tonight, want to come along?"

Or, after helping him solve a technical problem, he might jokingly say:

"Captain Qin, you've been so helpful, how about you buy me a milk tea? It's the one over there by the door."

Qin Zheng initially always made excuses to refuse or change the subject, but Huang Shanshan seemed not to understand the hints and would still come over enthusiastically the next time she was rejected.

Her pursuit was bold, direct, and full of energy, like a strong ray of sunlight trying to penetrate his cold and austere exterior.

Rumors began to circulate in the military reclamation town. Some said Huang Shanshan was throwing herself at him, while others said she was overestimating herself, since Qin Zheng seemed like an unapproachable figure.

Yang Geyong couldn't help but secretly ask Ye Yuze, "Old Ye, is Shanshan obsessed? Qin Zheng looks like a quiet, cold-faced guy, he's not interesting at all."

Ye Yuze smiled and said, "Shanshan is like her father. Once she's made up her mind, nothing can change it. Let her be. That girl knows what she's doing. Besides, Qin Zheng... might not be as indifferent as he seems."

Indeed, Qin Zheng's heart was not without turmoil. He was used to order and rules, and he was never short of admirers, but no one had ever barged into his territory so recklessly and arrogantly as Huang Shanshan.

She was incredibly intelligent, yet sometimes ridiculously naive; serious and composed at work, but like an enthusiastic college student when pursuing him.

This stark contrast and immense energy troubled him, yet also stirred a subtle sense of novelty and…attraction.

The turning point came a week later. The investigation had reached a stalemate; "Narcissus" was too well hidden, and the lead on the internal IP seemed to have gone cold.

Qin Zheng was under immense pressure and had been staying up late for several nights in a row, making him look terrible. Huang Shanshan felt sorry for him, but knew that offering words of concern would be useless.

She locked herself in the server room for an entire night, using every available resource and technology—including some methods operating in the gray area—to frantically mine and cross-compare massive amounts of data.

As dawn approached, she finally detected an extremely faint anomaly: the spoofed IP had attempted to send a tiny data fragment disguised as a normal system heartbeat packet to an abandoned mail server in Europe sometime during the night.

This timing coincides with a small-scale operation that Qin Zheng and his team conducted without making it public!
The mole was among the key personnel involved in that operation! The pool of suspects narrowed down to three people instantly!
Huang Shanshan immediately rushed into Qin Zheng's temporary office with the evidence. At that time, he was rubbing his temples and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Qin Zheng! Look what I found!"

She excitedly rushed to him, turned her laptop screen towards him, and didn't even realize that she had called out his name.

She quickly explained her discovery, her eyes shining brightly from staying up all night and excitement, as if she were glowing.

Qin Zheng stared in shock at the data on the screen, then looked at the girl in front of him with slightly disheveled hair but a radiant spirit.

She always provided the key to breaking the deadlock in such an incredible way when he needed her most. At that moment, the focus, wisdom, and powerful strength emanating from her were almost dazzling, making it difficult to look directly at her.

The ice in my heart seemed to crack open with a tiny fissure at that moment.

"Thank you, Shanshan." He spoke, his voice a little hoarse from staying up all night, but for the first time, he dropped the word "comrade" and his tone carried genuine warmth. "This is so important."

Huang Shanshan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled brightly: "I'm glad I could help you!"

She paused, looking at his dark circles, and her tone suddenly softened:

"However, Captain Qin, shouldn't you take a rest now? Solving the case is important, but health is the foundation of everything. This is an order, from your chief technical advisor."

Her words carried a rare touch of playfulness and an undeniable concern.

Qin Zheng looked into her bright eyes, where the worry and sincerity were genuine. He remained silent for a few seconds, then smiled very slightly, almost imperceptibly.

"Okay," he heard himself say.

Although it was just one word, and although the smile was fleeting, for Huang Shanshan it was nothing short of a huge victory. She knew that she had finally cracked the first fissure in this impenetrable wall.

"It's a deal! Once you've rested, I'll help you analyze the detailed online behavior of those three people!" Huang Shanshan pressed her advantage. "As a reward, next time you have a break, you have to buy me that milk tea you owe me!"

This time, Qin Zheng didn't refuse immediately. He looked at the bold, intelligent, and slightly cheeky girl in front of him, and finally just sighed helplessly, almost inaudibly.

"Ah."

Huang Shanshan was overjoyed. She knew that her "infiltration" plan had made significant progress.

She wasn't just going to act in this drama of a woman pursuing a man; she was going to act it out spectacularly and win beautifully. How could the man Huang Shanshan had her eye on possibly escape her grasp?
Qin Zheng's almost inaudible "hmm" was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples in Huang Shanshan's heart.

She knew that this highly vigilant and unapproachable "alpha wolf" had finally loosened its clenched teeth slightly, revealing a soft belly that perhaps even it hadn't noticed. Strike while the iron is hot—that was Huang Shanshan's motto. She immediately used her technical expertise to conduct in-depth analysis and visualization of the three suspects' online activity, presenting Qin Zheng with a clear, concise, and to-the-point report.

"At a suspicious time, account A accessed an obscure database that seemed unrelated to that operation but was actually connected to the underlying permission logs.

Account B's terminal has an unusually high frequency of hardware information read records, as if it is checking some kind of environment.

"Account C..." Huang Shanshan pointed to the graph on the screen.

"His network traffic had a very brief outbound surge during that period, disguised by encryption protocols, with the destination going through multiple hops, but ultimately pointing to... that abandoned server in Europe. Although it can't be 100% certain, C is the prime suspect."

Her analysis was accurate and efficient, saving Qin Zheng a lot of investigation time.

Qin Zheng looked at the report, his gaze deep. He looked up at Huang Shanshan, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "These... are very difficult to find using conventional methods."

Huang Shanshan tilted her head and smiled, a hint of smugness in her eyes:

"So, Captain Qin, isn't it a great deal to have a 'chief technical advisor' like me?" She deliberately emphasized the word "chief," her eyes gleaming mischievously.

Qin Zheng didn't smile, but his taut jawline seemed to soften slightly. "Thank you." He paused, then added, "I will study this report carefully. You... take care and get some rest too."

He said the last sentence somewhat awkwardly, clearly not used to caring about others.

But for Huang Shanshan, this is already a huge step forward.

"Don't worry, my battery life is amazing." She patted her chest, then changed the subject, "However, if Captain Qin could treat me to some milk tea to replenish my sugar levels, my battery life would last even longer!"

Here she comes again.

Qin Zheng felt a familiar headache, but strangely, this time he didn't feel much aversion; instead, he felt a kind of...

He felt a mix of helplessness and curiosity, wondering what other tricks she might pull. He looked away, focusing on the report: "We'll talk about it when there's progress in the case."

Huang Shanshan didn't push too hard and knew when to stop:

"Okay, I'll wait for your good news! I'll provide technical support anytime!" She waved casually and left the office humming a tuneless little tune.

Over the next few days, the investigation proceeded intensively. Based on the directions provided by Huang Shanshan and combining them with traditional investigative methods, Qin Zheng quickly identified the most likely suspect as a mid-level manager—

Sun Peng, deputy head of the Technical Support Department.

However, Sun Peng was extremely cunning and possessed strong counter-surveillance capabilities, making it difficult for conventional surveillance to obtain substantial evidence. He almost never used any personal communication devices that could be recorded to discuss sensitive topics.

"A precise operation is needed to catch him red-handed while he is transmitting data."

Qin Zheng devised a trapping plan, but it required extremely high technical coordination to ensure that his actions could be captured in real time without alerting the enemy.

“Leave it to me,” Huang Shanshan said without hesitation. “I can deploy ‘ghost mirrors’ on several of his frequently used terminals and network nodes, and all his operations will be synchronized to our monitoring environment without our knowledge. As long as he moves, we will be able to see it.”

On the eve of the operation, Huang Shanshan was making final arrangements in the server room. Qin Zheng came over to check on the progress.

The only sounds in the server room were the faint hum of the servers and the tapping of keyboards. Huang Shanshan stared intently at the screen, her profile illuminated by the screen light, appearing exceptionally serious, even exuding an aura of unapproachability.

Qin Zheng stood behind her, not disturbing her. He realized that he seemed to have gotten used to the girl's presence beside him.

She was noisy, direct, and sometimes overwhelming, but her abilities, her enthusiasm, and her genuine concern shone like a bright light into his world, which was originally just about work and rules.

"Done!" Huang Shanshan breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, meeting Qin Zheng's gaze. That gaze was no longer purely scrutinizing and evaluating as it had been at first; it contained some complex emotions that Huang Shanshan couldn't understand.

"Captain Qin, are you peeking at me?" She immediately laughed, with a hint of provocation.

Qin Zheng immediately looked away and regained his composure: "How are the preparations going?"

"Absolutely foolproof," Huang Shanshan said confidently. "We're just waiting for the fish to bite. But..."

She suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice, "Captain Qin, if this operation succeeds, the credit is yours, but the milk tea... has to be upgraded to a full meal!"

She was very close, and her unique, mixed scent wafted over him again. Qin Zheng's heart skipped a beat, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly. He found himself unable to look directly into her excessively bright eyes.

“…Complete the task first.” He answered with a straight face, but his ears were slightly burning.

The operation proceeded as planned the next day. Sun Peng fell for the trap; he was caught red-handed while attempting to transmit encrypted data packets using a carefully designed vulnerability. Caught red-handed, he had no way to deny it.

The capture of "Narcissus" signifies the complete removal of a deeply lurking mole. Both the soldiers and the security department breathed a sigh of relief.

The celebration party was a lively affair. Huang Shanshan was naturally one of the heroes, surrounded by everyone offering her juice. But her eyes kept searching for that figure.

Finally, in the corner of the terrace, she saw Qin Zheng standing alone by the railing.

She walked over with a glass of juice. "Captain Qin, looking for some peace and quiet by yourself?"

Qin Zheng turned around. In the night, he was less cold and hard than during the day, and more tired and... gentle? He looked at Huang Shanshan with deep eyes.

"This time, it's all thanks to you again." He raised his glass in a gesture of thanks.

"It's my duty." Huang Shanshan leaned against the railing beside him, looking at the myriad lights of the military reclamation city. "However, you can't go back on your promise of a big meal."

Qin was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "Why did you..."

"Why did I fall for you?" Huang Shanshan finished speaking for him. She turned her head, looked directly into his eyes, her smile vanished, and she became unusually serious.

"Qin Zheng, I've seen too much code and data. They're logically rigorous, but cold and uninteresting. You, on the other hand, are the most complex and sophisticated 'living system' I've ever seen—powerful, calm, disciplined, and full of challenges. I want to understand your 'core code,' and I want to become a 'process' that can run in parallel with you. Is that reason enough?"