Do you remember Xu Jiang? Yeah. He's the one from the Public Security Bureau who got into a fight with Chen Xu after a disagreement... yeah, Chen Xu beat him up and gave that princeling of the National Security Bureau a good beating.
Later, this guy went to the art school with Tian Fang to pick up girls, and by sheer bad luck, he ended up with Wang Mingmei, and by sheer bad luck, he ran into Chen Xu.
Although Xu Jiang didn't suffer any loss that time, Chen Xu remembered this guy... because this guy was really despicable! To use a popular term now, he was like a "false tooth".
Regardless of who was right or wrong in that incident, Tian Fang took him to find a girl. But after things went wrong, he completely absolved himself of any responsibility and pushed all the blame onto Tian Fang, even turning against him at the last minute.
Chen Xu despised such people. Later, when he chatted with Wang Xiang, the son of Director Wang, Wang Xiang also expressed his dissatisfaction with Tian Fang's actions that day, saying that although such people had high status, they were too disloyal, and no one dared to befriend them now.
To put it nicely, Xu Jiang is someone who can take things in stride and endure temporary humiliation. But to put it bluntly, Xu Jiang is a bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong. He betrays his brothers and is extremely disloyal. Therefore, a person like him can't make any friends at all.
So this guy actually came to Dubai, which made Chen Xu very unhappy... What's this kid doing here?
Xu Jiang, on the other hand, adopted a businesslike demeanor: "Our leaders heard that you were ambushed on the ship and were worried about your safety. So they specially sent me and a few colleagues to protect you."
Chen Xu glanced at the group of guys who had come with Xu Jiang. They were all young, probably like him, princelings who had climbed the ranks in the organization. So Chen Xu frowned and said, "Isn't this unnecessary? We're safe now. Besides, I don't want a few of you guys following me around while I'm traveling; it'll spoil the mood."
These words were quite impolite. But Xu Jiang wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "Director Deng said that young people are easier to communicate with, so he didn't come. To be honest, we really didn't want to see those two murders happen. After all, Wang Jinian and Xu Xuliang both have certain family backgrounds, and it really took a lot of trouble to handle them. But now that the matter is over, Director Deng asked me to pass on a message to everyone: everything should be done in moderation."
Chen Xu snorted, unsure whether he was referring to the phrase "enough is enough" or to Xu Jiang himself. But seeing Xu Jiang's businesslike demeanor, he had no choice but to shake his head and walk into the elevator, leaving behind the words: "Follow us if you want, it's your own legs. By the way, we didn't expect you all to come, so we didn't book hotels for you in advance. Please make yourselves at home... pay your own room."
In the elevator, Chen Xu couldn't help but pout, like a child who never grew up. Huang Anping saw this and smiled, "It's not worth getting angry with this kind of person. I've heard of this Xu Jiang. He's ambitious but incompetent, but very shrewd. Don't worry. With me here, he can't cause any trouble."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu suddenly felt that Huang Anping and Xu Jiang were somewhat similar... Both were the kind of smiling tigers who could endure a lot, but the difference was that Huang Anping gave people a much more comfortable feeling than Xu Jiang, perhaps due to preconceived notions.
Chen Xu had booked the most prestigious presidential suite in the Burj Al Arab, a large suite with three bedrooms and a large living room. Stepping on the soft carpet and looking around at the opulent gold... it didn't look like a bedroom at all. Chen Xu felt that he had to turn off the lights to sleep at night, otherwise, with the light shining in and the surroundings reflecting gold, he might as well not sleep at all.
These past few days, everyone has been intentionally or unintentionally avoiding mentioning the murder that happened on the ship. Since that day, Gao Xiaojie hasn't slept well at night. In Zhan Jing's words, she's like a little child, always scared and hiding under her blankets… Zhan Jing had no choice but to turn the air conditioning to its lowest setting; otherwise, in this sweltering heat, wouldn't the two of them slept together and die of heatstroke?
To be honest, this whole incident really ruined their good mood. Although Chen Xu had been happily taking the three girls around Dubai every day for the past two days, spending money like crazy and buying lots of local specialties and nice things, and Gao Xiaojie was always laughing and joking, the occasional hint of fear on her face couldn't hide the shadow in her heart.
It's not fair to blame her for being weak; after all, most girls are quite timid, and Gao Xiaojie is especially so. Despite her usual fierce and unruly demeanor, like a little wildcat, she actually has many fears. She's afraid of the dark, ghosts, horror movies, ghost stories, and even thunder. She just keeps putting on a brave face. In contrast, Guan Yi and Zhan Jing are much better at this.
This is understandable. Among these three women, in terms of appearance, each has their own unique charm, like spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums. But in terms of personality, they are roughly equal in Chen Xu's opinion. Generally speaking, Guan Yi is too strong and independent, unwilling to talk about many things; Zhan Jing is too bland. There are some things she doesn't want to say. Only Gao Xiaojie is like a girl with a real, feminine personality, outwardly fierce but inwardly rich and incredibly endearing.
Looking at Gao Xiaojie's expression, Chen Xu thought for a moment. He had experienced something similar before, and to be honest, it had given him nightmares for a long time, though time had faded the feeling. He believed that in a few days, once no one mentioned it anymore and the impression had passed, Gao Xiaojie would stop acting like this. However, in the next few days, Chen Xu thought he should find something to distract her and prevent her from overthinking.
So Chen Xu picked up the computer and said, "Jiejie, haven't you always wanted to study Chinese language and become a hacker? Well then, I'll start teaching you today."
Upon hearing this, both Guan Yi and Zhan Jing couldn't help but slightly open their mouths.
Seriously? Are you out of your mind?
When is it not okay to teach her? Why do you have to teach her while you're on vacation in Dubai?!
However, both of them were extremely clever and immediately understood Chen Xu's intention... Indeed, Gao Xiaojie's constant thoughts about the dead man were probably due to her current leisurely and relaxed state on vacation. With nothing else on her mind, it was natural for her to think about that bloody scene.
Learning hacking techniques naturally requires using your brain, and you'll definitely spend a lot of time doing so.
This way, her mind is filled with computer knowledge, and she naturally won't be thinking about other things.
However, only someone with Chen Xu's talent would go to such lengths to come all the way to Dubai to study computers.
Actually, Chen Xu has done this kind of thing before, and this isn't the first time.
I remember once when we went on a class trip to an amusement park in elementary school, all the other kids were excitedly bringing lots of snacks, but Chen Xu, that unreliable kid, brought a badminton racket instead…
His classmates all asked him, "Why are you bringing a badminton racket? Do you want to play badminton at an amusement park?"
Chen Xu smiled but did not answer, but he was actually quite frustrated inside.
That period coincided with the worst time for his father's pharmaceutical factory, and the family had little spare money left, unlike now, when he spends hundreds of millions of yuan at a time. Back then, Chen Xu had to beg and plead to get twenty yuan from his father. Ten yuan was for the company-funded car rental and entrance fees, and the other ten yuan was for his trip to the amusement park.
Think about it. That's an amusement park! A single ride there costs more than ten yuan. Chen Xu figured he couldn't just go there and do nothing, right? So he brought a badminton racket and went to play with his best friend Wu Yu... Wu Yu's family wasn't rich at the time, and he didn't have as much cash as Chen Xu.
"And then what happened?" The three women became interested when Chen Xu talked about his childhood. Guan Yi rested her chin on her hand and looked at Chen Xu with great interest, saying, "I didn't expect you to have such embarrassing stories from your childhood?"
Chen Xu wasn't ashamed at all; if he were, he wouldn't have brought it up. As the saying goes, fortunes change. Never underestimate a young man's potential!
Chen Xu's family wasn't well-off when he was young. But later, his father's pharmaceutical factory took off, making them quite wealthy. And now... hey, back then he envied others, now others envy him. That's just how fortunes change; there's nothing shameful about it.
"And then? When we got there, we found that many other students were in the same boat as us. Although they had more money than us, they spent it all just playing around. In the end, a group of people were fighting over my badminton racket to play badminton, while I ran to the roller skating rink next door. I rented a pair of roller skates for five yuan and skated for the whole afternoon... That's where I learned to roller skate. Of course, when I got home, my butt was so swollen that I didn't dare sit on a hard bench for three days!"
The three girls laughed when they heard what Chen Xu said was funny. Guan Yi patted him and said, "It seems you've always been unreliable since you were a child. No wonder you're like this now."
Chen Xu chuckled, not refuting. "So what if I'm like this? I'm lucky. I have a promising grandson!"
The group laughed for a while, then Guan Yi said, "Alright, fine, if you're going to be silly, then so be it. Anyway, we've already toured Dubai a bit, and there's really not much to do. Mostly, it's just shopping and experiencing a different culture. Since you say so, I'll join you in your craziness this time. How about I learn too? Xiaojie, let's see who learns faster?"
"You?" Chen Xu's eyes widened. Zhan Jing, standing beside him, covered her mouth with her hand, a smile on her face.
Yes, Guan Yi is indeed very intelligent; her intelligence is reflected in every aspect, from handling emergencies to the smallest details of daily life… but there's one exception! This woman's talent in computers is utterly appalling…
Oh right, not just one, but two... Her two utterly pathetic talents are: 1. Computers, 2. Cooking...
God knows why this woman chose this profession!
Chen Xu had asked Guan Yi this question, and Guan Yi replied, "Because there's really nothing else I can learn, except for computers, where I still have a lot of potential." ...How could she not have great potential? Chen Xu had helped her copy answers during the exam a few days ago, otherwise she would have failed miserably!
Some people may be born with extreme tendencies. For example, someone who is tone-deaf might insist on studying vocal music, or someone who becomes the world's number one basketball player might choose to play baseball...
That's the only conclusion Chen Xu could draw!
Because Guan Yi then added, "Well, actually I have another hobby: cooking. Why don't I just drop out of school and go to New Oriental to learn how to cook!"
Chen Xu said expressionlessly, "You should just stick to studying computer science! At least it won't kill you..."
In fact, Gao Xiaojie already had a certain foundation. In fact, it could be said that her learning over the past year had made her foundation much stronger than some hackers who casually download a few tools from the internet and start calling themselves experts. This was also thanks to Zhan Jing, because... how to put it... Zhan Jing's foundation was extremely solid. It could be said that she had been practicing authentic martial arts since childhood, building a strong foundation from a young age. Although the results were slow, the foundation was solid, and the achievements were great... Moreover, Zhan Jing was exceptionally intelligent; being able to hack into the predecessor of the Red Hacker Alliance at such a young age was an extraordinary miracle.
Moreover, there's a saying in the hacker community: "If you don't study for a year, you'll go from being a top-notch hacker to a mediocre one."
Because computers are updated and replaced so rapidly, computer knowledge is constantly evolving. Even software is frequently updated, and these updates are not fixed in time. Perhaps someone will suddenly discover a very powerful vulnerability that can solve a major problem in the computer field. Therefore, we take a year to summarize... Every year, computer technology is updated and replaced. If you don't learn for a year, you will already be falling behind.
Only those with a solid foundation can achieve twice the results with half the effort when learning. The stronger the foundation, the stronger the ability to absorb information, and the faster the learning will be.
However, the fundamentals are often difficult to learn, which made Gao Xiaojie quite depressed. He started by learning C, but after more than half a year, he learned Chinese programming. Fortunately, Chinese programming was a very easy-to-use computer tutorial, and he learned it quickly.
To be honest, Chen Xu is really a spendthrift.
Living in an expensive presidential suite... Although he doesn't have to pay for it, attending classes in such a luxurious place... this is probably the most expensive classroom in the world.
Several times Gao Xiaojie said that since we weren't going to play in Dubai anymore, let's go back. We've already ridden on a luxury yacht, so we can just take a plane back... But then she added, "I've never been on a plane before!"
Actually, Chen Xu had never flown before. But he's not staying because he's afraid of flying. It's because he still has things to take care of.
The matter of the Imperial Seal of the State absolutely cannot be left unresolved. At the very least, we must wait for Xiaomin's investigation results! If we search everywhere and still find it, at least we can put our minds at ease.
In the past few days, Xiaomin has selected several places that are similar to the beach in Miwad's memory.
However, Xiaomin also reminded Chen Xu that the similarity was only in certain aspects.
Because of the beach. Especially the deserted beaches, aren't they all pretty much the same... bare coastlines, full of sand and stones, a few coconut trees, some rocks and the like...
Moreover, in Xiaomin's information, Miwad's impression of that beach was that it was usually there when he was there, while the image that Xiaomin is examining is a view from high above!
Does that mean they're the same?
However, Xiaomin had her own methods.
She calculated and simulated the shape of the coastline in Miwad's memory, then reconstructed it into an aerial view, followed by satellite photography, and finally selected similar landforms.
Using terrain features to locate objects was actually a function of a terrain exploration software in Xiaomin's materials. I never expected him to use it here.
Some might have doubts. How many years ago was this? How could someone possibly remember the exact shape of the terrain? If there's even a slight mistake, wouldn't Xiaomin have worked for nothing?!
However, it's important to understand that this memory was forcibly extracted by Xiaomin from Miwad's memories, not something Miwad recalled himself!
The human cerebral cortex is a truly fascinating thing. To this day, humanity has not been able to fully understand itself.
Human memory is a strange thing. For example, when we recall things from the past, many things are just a very vague outline, even the faces of very familiar people are remembered vaguely. But does this mean that human memory can only remember vague things?
That's certainly not how it is.
Human memory is incredibly powerful; even Xiaomin, this supercomputer, may not be able to match the full capacity of the human brain.
However, human thought processes are not like those of computers, where things are clearly defined.
Human memory is often vague, but that doesn't mean we can't remember things. For example, sometimes in dreams, you might find things you thought you'd long forgotten, or people you thought you'd forgotten, suddenly reappearing in your mind. That person, or that event, you might have forgotten for a very long time; no one has mentioned it, no one has triggered it, so how could you suddenly remember it? The saying "what you think about during the day, you dream about at night" doesn't quite apply here. Moreover, that person, that event, is so vivid and clear that upon waking, you might inevitably see a wet patch on your pillow... Of course, that wet patch could also be from drooling, or it could be from urine... well, wetting the pillow is a bit more difficult. So, human memory isn't so simple; some things can be remembered very, very clearly. It's just that we don't usually think about them.
Now that Xiaomin had the results, Chen Xu went to search each beach one by one. He even bought a metal detector that could detect an iron nail ten meters underground… Of course, Chen Xu suffered quite a bit for this… He dug up a whole bunch of iron nails!
Chen Xu explained his strange behavior to others by saying that he was just playing a treasure hunt game, and even seriously produced a treasure map... Prince Maktoum and Yi Shuihan could only smile wryly when they found out. In their eyes, Chen Xu, this college student, was still a child.
However, several pairs of eyes, like cobras, were constantly watching Chen Xu from behind...
Chapter 272 The Problem of Energy
Chen Xu's treasure hunt has been going on for almost a week, and no one knows what he's looking for. At first, Guan Yi and the others followed Chen Xu out of curiosity, but then they got really bored... Moreover, going out is exhausting, especially since these barren beaches are full of pebbles and rocks, making your feet ache.
However, Chen Xu was quite enjoying himself, not because he wasn't frustrated. Fortunately, the shoes he was wearing—these futuristic shoes—effectively alleviated the fatigue in his feet, keeping him full of energy. As for the others, walking on such a rocky beach for a while would make their ankles ache!
However, Chen Xu has yet to find the location of the treasure.
Although Chen Xu had no treasure hunting experience, Xiao Min had told him many things to be aware of. Actually, Prince Maktoum had considered sending a professional treasure hunting team with Chen Xu, but Chen Xu refused… What a joke! This absolutely couldn't be let by Prince Maktoum. What if he found out and tried to get a share of the spoils?
After all, this is their territory!
So when someone was following him, Chen Xu felt very nervous and conflicted. He was conflicted because what if they unearthed a treasure? But he also definitely wanted to dig up the treasure, even if someone was behind him.
Fortunately, Chen Xu didn't end up in such a predicament. He searched for days with a metal detector, and he didn't find nothing... He found a coin. It was confirmed to be an antiquity from over two hundred years ago, bearing the mark of the Maktoum family... This was one of the earliest gold coins minted by the Maktoum family after they migrated to Dubai, and it's worth quite a bit of money now.
Finding this gold coin excited Chen Xu for quite a while, because the value of this coin was basically enough to ensure that he could break even... Of course, the wasted time cannot be taken into account.
Chen Xu now has another concern: how exactly did the box containing the Imperial Seal of the State come to be?
Logically, the location where Mivad dug for the treasure should be very remote, inaccessible to outsiders. However, the sudden appearance of this box left Chen Xu feeling quite uncertain. Had someone already unearthed the treasure and sold some worthless items to an ordinary jewelry store? Or was the box never actually placed within the treasure?
This mystery, and after Miwad's death, is probably unknown to anyone in the world now.
However, after Chen Xu unearthed the gold coin, Guan Yi and the others became interested again. In Gao Xiaojie's words, "You really can dig up treasure? Hmm. I'll come and see if I can dig up anything good!"
This generation of young people is not lacking in the spirit of exploration. Guan Yi forgot her previous fatigue and came along with great interest... However, they brought their own swimsuits to play in the water at the beach. In Guan Yi's words, "Man-made beaches are really not fun. We've had enough of them. On the contrary, these natural beaches have a unique charm."
Chen Xu retorted, "Be careful of sharks!"
Since the two of them were already here, Zhan Jing naturally couldn't escape either. When Chen Xu's "treasure hunt" was mentioned, Zhan Jing smiled wryly: "Please, do you really need to do this? Although Dubai's history can be traced back to the 3rd century BC, very few people lived by the sea without fresh water resources back then. And Dubai didn't have formal village records until almost the 18th century. What kind of antiques do you expect to find here? At most, they'd be from 1790."
Chen Xu replied, "Well, I didn't say it was definitely an antique. Maybe it's pirate treasure?"
Zhan Jing could only shake her head and smile wryly at his thoughts.
Do you think Chen Xu is depressed or not?
He's absolutely frustrated!