Chapter 90: The Breakthrough

The task had been accepted, but Jiang Zheng was stumped by one critical issue—how to get in touch with this group of scammers.

This was crucial. Without making contact, no matter how skilled Jiang Zheng was, there was no way to locate them. Only by establishing a connection could he use his hacking skills to track down the scammers’ IP address.

The problem was that there was simply no way to reach these people. If he could contact them, things would be much easier, but they had already erased all means of communication and vanished.

How was he supposed to find them now?

All his skills were rendered useless.

The system hadn’t given him much time—only three days. He needed to make contact and catch the scammers within those three days.

After thinking it through, Jiang Zheng decided to consult Zhou Quanyi, hoping to find a breakthrough.

That was exactly what he needed right now—a breakthrough. Otherwise, he was just fumbling in the dark, utterly clueless.

The call connected quickly, and Yang Po’s weary voice came through, “Fourth, what’s up?”

“I wanted to ask if there’s any way to get in touch with those people?” Jiang Zheng inquired.

“No way. I’ve tried—couldn’t find them at all,” Yang Po replied.

“You’ve tried everything?” Jiang Zheng pressed.

“I’ve tried it all,” Yang Po replied with certainty.

Jiang Zheng ran a hand through his hair. This was becoming a real problem.

Was there truly no breakthrough with Yang Po either?

Still unwilling to give up, Jiang Zheng asked, “Do you remember their WeChat ID?”

“No, I only remember the name on their WeChat,” Yang Po said.

Usually, people add contacts by searching for their names; hardly anyone bothers to remember the actual WeChat ID, which is rarely useful.

“Did you try searching for their WeChat name?” Jiang Zheng asked.

“I did,” Yang Po replied.

Jiang Zheng was getting a headache, but suddenly, inspiration struck. He quickly asked, “Wait, you’ve done fake orders before, right? Since they assigned them directly to you, those merchants should be able to get in touch with them. Have you asked those merchants involved in the fake orders?”

The more Jiang Zheng thought about it, the more he felt this was a possible lead. To organize fake orders, there had to be communication with the people placing them.

It might be tough for him to contact them directly, but the merchants probably had a way.

Unless the scammers had already quit entirely, in which case the trail might go cold. But would they really stop?

Jiang Zheng didn’t think so. Human greed knows no bounds.

“I did ask, but none of them are willing to say anything,” Yang Po replied.

Jiang Zheng pressed, “Are they unwilling, or do they really not know?”

There was a fundamental difference between the two.

“They really don’t know,” Yang Po said.

Jiang Zheng was speechless. How could they not know?

“How did you ask? Tell me,” Jiang Zheng said.

Yang Po did not hesitate and briefly explained how he had questioned the merchants.

After listening, Jiang Zheng quickly spotted the key issue.

Yang Po had asked them directly.

You couldn’t approach things like this so bluntly—no wonder he got nowhere. Merchants least of all wanted to get involved in such matters, and fake orders weren’t exactly something to advertise.

If you wanted to ask, you had to be subtle, use a roundabout approach.

Realizing this, Jiang Zheng said, “Second, send me the contact details for those merchants.”

“What do you want them for?” Yang Po asked.

“I have a friend who’s a hacker. I’ll ask him to see if he can catch those scammers,” Jiang Zheng replied.

“Really?” Yang Po’s tone suddenly lifted.

“Yes, but there’s no guarantee we’ll catch them, and even if we do, we might not get the money back,” Jiang Zheng warned.

He had to make things clear from the start, so Yang Po wouldn’t get his hopes up only to be let down.

“I understand,” Yang Po sighed. “Just catching them would make me happy.”

He had already come to terms with losing ten thousand yuan. Even if the money couldn’t be recovered, he’d be satisfied as long as the scammers were caught.

“Alright, as long as you understand. Send me the merchants’ contacts, and I’ll ask my friend to see if he can find those scammers,” Jiang Zheng said.

“Okay, I’ll send them right away,” Yang Po replied.

Finding these merchants was simple enough. He had records of the fake orders, so he just had to look them up.

Yang Po hung up and began compiling the contact list for Jiang Zheng.

Jiang Zheng didn’t have to wait long before he received a list of merchants involved in the fake orders.

Staring at the list, he fell into deep thought again.

A plan was slowly taking shape in his mind—a way to obtain the scammers’ contact information.

...

Jiang Qianyue let her hands fall, and the melodious sound of the guzheng ceased abruptly.

“What’s wrong, Yueyue?”

A beautiful girl spoke up.

This was Zhang Nian, Jiang Qianyue’s close friend.

“It’s nothing, it just didn’t feel right as I was playing,” Jiang Qianyue replied.

“What didn’t feel right? I thought it sounded lovely,” Zhang Nian said.

Jiang Qianyue shook her head and remained silent, her fingers gently brushing the strings.

Zhang Nian didn’t press further. Instead, she said, “Yueyue, could you help me out with your account?”

Jiang Qianyue looked up from the guzheng and said, “If I remember, your account is a storytelling one, right? Its style doesn’t match mine. How am I supposed to help?”

Zhang Nian had created a short video account focused on storytelling. She hadn’t been at it for long, so her traffic wasn’t great.

Jiang Qianyue also had a short video account, but her style was different from Zhang Nian’s.

“It’s simple. I just want you to cameo in my short video,” Zhang Nian said.

Jiang Qianyue hesitated, not agreeing right away.

Zhang Nian clung to her arm, shaking it as she pleaded, “Come on, Yueyue, please help me out, I’m begging you!”

“It’s not that I don’t want to help, but I’ve never shown my face before. How can I make a cameo in your video?” Jiang Qianyue said, a little helpless.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to show your face. I’ll give you a role that keeps you off camera,” Zhang Nian said.

What she really wanted was Jiang Qianyue’s popularity, not her face.

Seeing her friend plead so earnestly, Jiang Qianyue’s heart softened. “Alright, I’ll make a cameo.”

“Great, thank you, Yueyue! Love you!” Zhang Nian said happily.

“Okay, stop it,” Jiang Qianyue said helplessly.

“Yueyue, as thanks, I’ll introduce my brother to you,” Zhang Nian said with a mischievous grin.

“No, I’m not in the mood for that now,” Jiang Qianyue refused.

“Just meet him once? He’s asked me about you so many times. Just this once?” Zhang Nian started to plead again.

“Anything else is negotiable, but not this,” Jiang Qianyue said firmly.

“Sigh… fine,” Zhang Nian sighed and dropped the subject.