Chapter 1566 Stolen Footage
Chapter 1566 Stolen Footage
"I've spoken to AJ," Iris said. "She's still busy doing errands for the headmaster but confirmed that she'll attend Orchidia Germany's launch. Amanpio has also confirmed that he's coming. I haven't heard yet from Theresa. I think that she's still in America for the convention."
"I see," Ashandra Knightson said. "Florence said that she won't be able to attend the launch in Germany, right?"
"That's right. She's still in India. But she did say before that she'll attend one launch in Asia. She's still not sure yet which one, though—the Philippines or Singapore. I hope that she can attend both, but she's too busy with her humanitarian work."
"I wish I could attend all," Ashandra sighed.
"Don't worry about it anymore, Ashandra
," Iris said before changing to a more light-hearted topic.
She didn't want her friend to dwell too much about what happened in Paris, so she refrained from talking about the murders. She still wanted to chat with Ashandra but her twins started getting too rowdy.
The nannies tried taking them, but they refused. Iris signalled to the nannies that it was fine.
Little Mochi hugged her leg and wouldn't let go.
Even Little Matcha, for some reason, was acting very clingy today. Although he wasn't hanging on her leg, he still grabbed her trousers and refused to let go.
"I'm sorry, Ashandra," Iris said. "I have to go. My sons are becoming too restless."
"Okay, Xiulan. Please kiss the twins for me. I already miss them so much."
"Here, talk to them." Iris put the call on loudspeaker and held it close to her sons. "Sweethearts, come say hello to your Auntie Asha."
"Hi, Mochi and Matcha! Auntie Asha misses you so much!"
The twins were extremely familiar with Ashandra's voice because their mother frequently spoke to her on the phone.
Little Mochi: "Asha yah!" (Auntie Asha, hello!)
Little Matcha: "Uh." (Hi.)
Ashandra's beautiful laughter sounded. "Don't be too naughty, boys. Take it easy on your mommy."
Little Mochi: "Yah yah yah!" (I'm a good boy!)
Little Matcha: "Uh." (Sure.)
Iris and Ashandra didn't know what the babies' babbles meant but just listening to them was enough to make the women smile. Finally, the phone call ended after another round of reluctant goodbyes.
Jin Liwei arrived. "Ready, love?"
"Yes." Iris nodded.
He tried taking Little Mochi but the little guy howled, refusing to let go of his mommy's leg. "Jin Haoyu!"
Iris sighed, feeling a little helpless. "I'll take him."
Jin Liwei gave a stern look at Little Mochi who hid his face behind his mother's leg. "Come, Jin Lingyu."
Little Matcha was extremely reluctant. He also wanted to go with his mother.
"Jin Lingyu, come to Dad," Jin Liwei said in a stern tone. "Your mom can't carry both you and your brother at the same time." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Little Matcha pouted but still obeyed. He let go of his mother's trousers and reached up to his father to carry him.
The husband and wife were both relieved. They each carried a baby in their arms.
"Oof." Iris adjusted Little Mochi in her arms.
Jin Liwei noticed. "The twins have gotten heavier. Next time, I'll carry both of them. Little Mochi has to learn that not everything will go his way. Let him cry. He'll get over it."
"I'm fine, darling. I want to carry our babies while I still can. They're growing up so fast. The day that they'll be too big for us to carry will come sooner than we think."
The two of them sighed at the thought.
Everyone gathered, ready to depart. Dom, Chen Fei, and Grandpa Lu. The nannies, Iris' entourage including her glam team, the family's large security team. And of course, Iris, Jin Liwei and twin sons.
Much later, the jumbo plane, LX Air, cruised in the night sky. Everyone had already eaten the prepared dinner in the plane.
Iris and Jin Liwei left the now sleeping babies to the nannies in the plane's bedroom.
This was a quick flight, only an hour or so. Only the babies fell asleep. The adults didn't bother taking a nap as they would be landing soon.
The husband and wife chose a comfortable spot to lounge together. It was quite private with a half-wall separating the cozy space from the rest of the area.
Jin Liwei was half-lying on the seat. Iris sat beside him, almost sitting on his lap but not quite. Her head and upper body rested on Jin Liwei's chest.
"What happened?" she asked. "You excused yourself during dinner and was gone for a while."
"Ah, I was going to talk to you about it, but I didn't want to worry you and ruin your good mood," Jin Liwei said. "So I originally planned on telling you about it tomorrow instead."
She straightened. "You must tell me now."
He sighed but still nodded. "En."
"What is it?"
Jin Liwei also straightened. He felt a little bad that they couldn't continue cuddling. "Ketchup and Bacon contacted me during dinner to share their latest findings."
She listened, gesturing for him to continue.
"Ketchup first detected some abnormalities in the art gallery's CCTV system. They had been tampered with. She tried hard but couldn't recover the missing footage. The person who deleted the footage made it so that it wouldn't be noticeable to most people. It was only because it was Ketchup that she discovered that the CCTV system had been tampered with in the first place. She asked for Bacon's help. But even with the two of them working together, they still couldn't recover the stolen footage.
"There's another thing. Bacon discovered it by directing the Shadow Winds agents who joined our security team. Someone apparently disguised as a cleaner at the gallery and destroyed a few of the registration forms to enter the special wing of the art exhibition. It's too suspicious to pass up as a coincidence. We believe that it's connected to the murders."
Iris had a deep frown.
Jin Liwei didn't want to stress his wife out, but he knew that she would want to know everything. So he had to continue with the dreadful topic.
"Ketchup also checked the CCTV systems at the hospital and the streets surrounding it. Same thing. They were all tampered with. But this time, the person who did it didn't bother to conceal that it was tampered with in the first place. The footage was directly stolen, leaving a gaping hole in the day's recording."
Iris finally spoke. "Ketchup and Bacon also failed to recover the footage from the hospital?"
"En."
She took a few deep breaths. "If even our cat AI children can't do anything about it, this tells me that a world-class hacker is involved."
"Does this mean that a criminal organization is involved?" Jin Liwei asked.
She shook her head. "Not all world-class hackers are involved in organized crimes. A lot of them are rogues. I consider myself as one, too, even though I was a Vetrov. I never used my hacking skills to aid the Vetrovs in the past. Maybe that was why my mother back then always criticized me."
He pulled her into a tight, comforting embrace. Fortunately, his wife didn't dwell on her painful past as a Vetrov this time. She was more focused on Ketchup and Bacon's new discovery that the CCTV systems at the gallery and hospital had been tampered with, and that their AI cat children failed to recover the stolen footage.
"I want to try recovering the lost footage myself," she said. "I'm curious why Ketchup and Bacon couldn't recover the footage themselves."
"But you're already too busy, love. Do you have time?"
She sighed. "That's the problem. I'm pressed for time. If the other side is really a world-class hacker, then I'll need all my wits with me. I can't be distracted."
"You know what?" Jin Liwei said. "Don't worry about this incident for now. Focus on your business affairs first. You've been working so hard to get to this point. I don't want you to regret anything. I know that you're worried about Ashandra, but she's not your average person either. She has Cross Academy behind her. If the academy can't handle it, then you can always help them out later as Drakon."
She didn't reply right away. Indeed, she was worried about her friend's safety.
The more Ketchup and Bacon discovered about the murders of the curator, docent, and the nurse, the more concerning the developments were becoming. If she could help, then she would gladly do so.
However, her husband was also right. She might be a world-class hacker, but she was only one person. Not only was she busy with her business affairs and the preparations for her upcoming showbiz comeback, but she also needed to prioritize her family, especially her babies who were still too young to spend away from their parents.
Sighing, she made a decision with great reluctance.
"Fine, I'll put Ashandra's matter on the back burner. For now. Also, tell Ketchup and Bacon to withdraw from their own investigations. Until we know for sure the extent of the other hacker's skills and abilities, I don't want Ketchup and Bacon to risk exposing their existence. I have to be the one to personally test the waters when I have the time and 100% focus on the matter."
"En, that's for the best." Jin Liwei was relieved that his wife decided to back down this time.
If this were before, he was certain that Iris wouldn't listen to him and would definitely conduct her own investigations to the detriment of her health.
She wouldn't abandon her business affairs and celebrity work, so she could only forego sleep and rest to do everything at the same time. She already had a history of neglecting her health before and locking herself inside her computer room whenever something piqued her interest as a hacker.