Chapter 57: 57. Data fortress

Qing Chen frowned. Who exactly was He Xiaoxiao, to dare setting up a Time Traveler group chat directly?

But his guess wasn’t wrong; the other party indeed possessed some technology from the Inner World and had used it to erase his identity information.

Given the short amount of time everyone had traveled through, how could He Xiaoxiao master the technology of the Inner World so quickly? Had he successfully brought back devices from the Inner World?

The equipment to build a data fortress certainly couldn’t be small, right? How had he brought it back?

Or perhaps!

He Xiaoxiao wasn’t just one person.

It would be difficult for one person to bring back a whole device, but if several people worked together, carrying back parts piece by piece, that seemed feasible.

Qing Chen didn’t know much about information technology, so it seemed he could only consult Uncle Li Dong in the Inner World about this matter.

He dared not join such a chat group, unless… he could also conceal his identity.

Because, in He Xiaoxiao’s video, she only mentioned that outsiders couldn’t intrude, but the key point was that He Xiaoxiao herself could easily obtain most people’s information.

This group chat system was like a crab-trapping cage, and He Xiaoxiao was like an Alaskan Crab Catcher.

All she needed to do was to float around the northern waters of Netherland Harbor in her Time Pirate Ship, tossing iron cages into the deep sea and waiting for the King Crabs to crawl in themselves.

That night, Qing Chen skipped class again.

He went to the dessert shop and bought a cake for Li Tongyun as a gift, along with some fruits and vegetables.

Jiang Xue had washed his clothes several times during this period, and he couldn’t always visit someone’s home empty-handed.

After entering the residential area, Qing Chen casually scanned around with his eyes several times to make sure there were no paparazzi hiding anywhere before entering the building.

In Los Angeles City now, there were over thirty exposed Time Travelers, but Jiang Xue seemed to be the least conspicuous and hadn’t attracted much attention.

When he knocked on the door, Qing Chen heard Li Tongyun’s cheer from inside, “Brother Qing Chen is here!”

She opened the door and asked in a lowered voice, “What about your classmates?”

“Don’t know, don’t worry about them,” Qing Chen said with a smile as he patted her head.

“Come and see my mom’s new mechanical limbs; they’re so pretty,” Li Tongyun, pulling on Qing Chen’s sleeve, led him inside.

Jiang Xue, who had been cooking, reluctantly became the object of observation.

Previously, Jiang Xue’s arms resembled mechanical steel pipes joined together, but now they looked more like real human arms.

The connections at her fingers, wrists, and elbows were seamlessly integrated.

Qing Chen asked curiously, “Is this new? How is its battery life?”

“The battery life is more than ten times that of my previous one,” Jiang Xue said with a smile, “I consider myself quite lucky. Before I traveled through time, my Inner World identity saved someone two years ago, who was a big figure in Li’s Financial Group. All of these are her way of showing gratitude.”

Qing Chen glanced at Li Tongyun nonchalantly. The girl hurriedly pulled him out of the kitchen, “Mom, you go ahead and cook, I’m hungry!”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be ready soon,” Jiang Xue responded with a smile.

Lately, she’d become much more cheerful, as if doing anything was unbounded, and everything was getting better.

In the living room, Li Tongyun lowered her voice, “Brother Qing Chen, are you asking about these to guess my identity?”

Qing Chen shook his head, “No, I was just asking casually.”

Li Tongyun’s eyes darted around, “Brother Qing Chen, you haven’t told me yet, what was your identity in the Inner World?”

“Guess?” Qing Chen had no intention of telling her.

“How about we exchange secrets then? I’ll tell you my identity, and you tell me yours?” Li Tongyun suggested with a smile.

Qing Chen shook his head again, “No deal.”

Actually, he already knew quite well that Li Tongyun was the only daughter of the second house of Li’s Financial Group, so there was no need for an exchange.

“Boring,” Li Tongyun pouted as she sat on the sofa, “You must already know my identity, huh? Not even telling a kid.”

Qing Chen smiled, “You’re not just any kid.”

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

Li Tongyun hopped off the sofa to answer it. She only opened the wooden door on the inside, without even opening the iron security door.

Outside stood Wang Yun and others, who said with a smile, “Hello there, little friend. We are your brother Qing Chen’s classmates, and we’re quite close to him.”

Li Tongyun turned back, “Brother Qing Chen, are you close with them?”

Before Qing Chen could reply, she turned again and said, “He says he’s not.”

With a bang, the door once more separated the people outside from the world within.

The four stood outside, looking at each other in bewilderment. They hadn’t expected to be turned away not once, but twice.

Why could Qing Chen get along so well with this family, but not them?!

Before they could speak, the gentle Jiang Xue reopened the door, apologizing, “Hello, I’m sorry, the child doesn’t understand. You must be the new neighbors, please come in.”

Jiang Xue was wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt with a black apron tied around her waist, perfectly outlining her figure.

However, what caught Hu Xiaoniu and the others’ attention was Jiang Xue’s hand.

Before opening the door, Jiang Xue had deliberately pulled her sleeves tight to hide her arms.

But her hands were still exposed.

All four were Time Travelers, and they had seen many mechanical limbs in City Number 7, yet they felt Jiang Xue’s hands were somehow different from other mechanical limbs.

Now that they were visitors, they couldn’t keep staring at her hands, so the four withdrew their gazes.

Meanwhile, Li Tongyun was sitting on the sofa, looking sulky, with no intention of greeting the guests.

Wang Yun was the first to enter. She asked politely, “Should we change into slippers?”

“No need, no need; just sit anywhere. We don’t have that many slippers to go around,” Jiang Xue replied, “Xiao Yun, go pour some tea for our guests.”

“Oh,” Li Tongyun got up reluctantly.

Hu Xiaoniu and the others placed their items on the dining table. Wang Yun brought a teddy bear as a gift for Li Tongyun; Bai Waner had bought a Paw Patrol toy; Zhang Tianzhen brought two bottles of champagne, and Hu Xiaoniu had brought a bottle of whiskey packaged in a wooden box.

Hu Xiaoniu said to Jiang Xue with a smile, “Hello, it’s our first visit so we’ve brought some gifts. This bottle of whiskey, I brought it back specially from the Island Country; it’s probably not seen on the market here.”

“That’s too valuable,” Jiang Xue politely said, “You should take it back. We’ve never drunk whiskey and don’t know how to drink it either. I’ve heard it’s quite particular. Xiao Chen, have you drunk whiskey before?”

After recalling for a moment, Qing Chen neither feigned poverty nor lied, “I have, there was a bottle at home once. It seems my dad bought it to decorate the entryway.”

Seizing the opportunity, Hu Xiaoniu quickly searched for common ground, keenly saying, “Many people like to add a little water, or drink it neat. But nowadays, young people prefer a more open style of drinking. For instance, I like to mix green tea with my whiskey. What about you?”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, “Then I guess I am a bit different from you, I like to drink whiskey with green tea.”

Hu Xiaoniu: “???”