Chapter 12
Nina's voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of childish excitement. She ran over and stopped beside William's wheelchair, her little hand gently resting on the armrest.
William reached out, groping to hold her little fingertips. They felt slightly cool. He asked in as gentle a tone as possible, "Nina, I just heard you say you think your brother seems different today. Is that right?"
Nina tilted her little head, thinking hard for a long time, her brows furrowing into a knot. "I can't really explain it. I just feel something's off. He's been clinging to Mommy all day, and even when I talk to him, he barely pays attention to me. Plus, we agreed to build a block castle together, but today he won't play with me again."
In the end, her little pout showed that she was feeling down.
William's heart sank, his suspicions growing stronger.
He lowered his voice, telling Nina not to make a fuss about it.
William asked her to quietly keep an eye on Aiden and report back if anything seemed unusual. Nina nodded, half-understanding, and ran off.
Meanwhile, at the Brown Mansion, Oscar sat quietly on the living room sofa, waiting for the teacher to arrive.
He had only mentioned wanting to learn programming-related knowledge that morning, and by afternoon, the Brown family had already arranged a teacher.
Their efficiency was impressive.
"Aiden, will your bodyguard be with you during the lesson?"
The tall, burly man forced a stiff smile, looking at Oscar with a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.
"No need."
Oscar refused decisively, casually surveying his surroundings as if by chance.
When the teacher arrived, Oscar grabbed his hand and bounded upstairs.
This teacher was a big name in the programming world. Oscar blinked his eyes and spoke in a sweet childlike voice, "Teacher, let's have a competition. Five years ago, Azure Palace Hotel was already a famous five-star hotel. I heard their surveillance system is extremely high-end, but the technology is also top-notch. Let's compete to see who can break through their firewall first. Whoever wins, wins."
The teacher, hearing this, became interested. "You want to compete with me on this? You're way too green."
"We'll see once we try. Only if you beat me will you be qualified to teach me." Oscar tried hard to imitate Aiden's tone and style, hiding a bit of anticipation in his heart.
With his abilities alone, he couldn't hack into this hotel's surveillance system right now.
He had already tried before and was certain that this hotel's surveillance system consisted of multiple parts, requiring someone to work with him and access it simultaneously to crack it.
If not for this, he wouldn't have borrowed Aiden's name to specifically request another teacher.
The teacher, seeing his confidence, pulled out his laptop, which had a program he'd written himself.
"If you can break through this program, I'll compete with you."
"Okay." Oscar agreed immediately, his chubby fingers flying rapidly across the keyboard.
Before long, the computer displayed a skull icon.
The teacher watched from the side, his surprise gradually growing.
Although the program he'd written wasn't very difficult, according to the Browns, Aiden hadn't had any exposure to programming knowledge.
Yet he'd just cracked his code so easily?
Was this some kind of joke?
But wait, why did his cracking method look so familiar?
The teacher stroked his chin, his suspicious gaze wandering back and forth over Oscar.
"King?" He asked tentatively, and saw Oscar's body suddenly stiffen.
"Teacher, what are you talking about? I don't understand." Oscar pulled out a smile that, combined with his appearance, looked completely harmless.
However, how could the teacher miss that momentary reaction? "So the teenage genius King is actually a five-year-old kid!"
"Who exactly are you?"
Before the teacher could say anything more, Oscar directly covered his mouth with his hand.
Oscar's eyes lost their earlier obedience, filled instead with wariness.
"Don't make a sound!" His voice was extremely low, the childish tone fading somewhat, replaced by a composure beyond his years.
The teacher froze, then understood, slowly raising his hand to signal he wouldn't talk. Only then did Oscar slowly release his hand, his little face full of seriousness.
"I'm not some King, and you can't go around saying that." His deliberately stern face and reddening ear tips still betrayed some panic.
The teacher chuckled, tapping the skull on the computer screen. "Your method of cracking code is identical to King, who appeared out of nowhere three years ago. Especially that string of code at the end—no one but you could write that."
Oscar pressed his lips tightly, saying nothing. The code he'd casually worked on back then was still remembered by people now.
"Don't worry, I absolutely won't tell anyone. But with your level, do you really need me to teach you?"
Though he was considered a big shot in the industry, King's skills weren't far behind his own.
Oscar helplessly tapped his forehead, feeling somewhat frustrated.
If it weren't for finding someone to work with him, he wouldn't risk exposing his abilities.
Oscar's eyes rolled, and he leaned in closer. "I can teach you, but you need to help me hack into the hotel's surveillance system."
The teacher's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed, then briefly introduced himself.
"My name is Jeffrey Adams. Just call me Jeffrey."
"Okay." Oscar didn't stand on ceremony with him. The two immediately opened the interface to crack Azure Palace Hotel's surveillance system, their fingers flying as he said in a low voice.
"I need to copy all the surveillance footage from this hotel from September 27th, five years ago."
Seeing him be so specific, it was clear he'd planned this in advance. However, Jeffrey didn't ask many questions, just nodded lightly and focused on helping him build the cracking framework.
Two heads huddled in front of the computer, one large and one small, showing quite a bit of coordination.
Setting aside the Brown family for now, Emily had also run into trouble on her end.
Seeing Sophia appear in her yard yet again, Emily was instantly displeased. She grabbed a broom that was sitting nearby and swung it directly at her. "You really think I have no temper?"
Sophia dodged backward awkwardly while shrieking, "I'm not here to cause you trouble today. I'm here to find a father for these two little bastards."
That one sentence made Emily stop.
Sophia felt triumphant, casually straightening her clothes.
But the next second, someone grabbed her hair hard, and a hand kept getting bigger in front of her eyes. Sharp pain came from her cheek.
"You dare hit me!" Sophia was furious with embarrassment, waving her hand at the bodyguards behind her.
She hadn't brought James today, so naturally she didn't need to put on an act of sisterly affection with Emily.
The tall bodyguards restricted Emily's position from both sides, each grabbing one of her arms.