Are You Safe Episode 21 Recap
> Are You Safe Recap
Zhou You meticulously attempted to recover the data he had accidentally shredded, determined to prove himself and undo his mistake. During this intense effort, he received an urgent call from Grey Heron, who identified himself and expressed his distress. Zhou You, still frustrated, angrily questioned Grey Heron about the decryption software he had sent, which had led to all the files on their server being deleted.
Grey Heron explained that he had obtained the software from a forum, had never used it himself, and had only just learned of its issues. He apologized profusely and offered assistance, but Zhou You, dismissing his offer, asserted he would handle it himself and abruptly ended the call. Later, Chen Mo observed Qin Huai's remarkably calm and understanding reaction to Zhou You's blunder.
Chen Mo noted that the old Qin Huai would have severely reprimanded Zhou You, perhaps even reporting him to the authorities. Qin Huai admitted that he had indeed changed significantly over the past two years. He confessed that during the period Chen Mo was missing, he had become consumed by self-blame and lost all faith in people. However, Zhou You's arrival had altered his perspective.
He emphasized that mistakes are part of growth and expressed gratitude for having Chen Mo and Zhou You by his side, making challenges easier to face. Just then, Qin Huai received a message from Mo Yizhong, informing him that the Super Shepherd scanning system had detected a new bug related to Hupo's HuCloud system. Meanwhile, Ma Pingchuan received a call from a man identified as "General."
General inquired about Ma Pingchuan's well-being and hinted at needing his support for a comeback. Ma Pingchuan quickly explained that all his money had been taken by a man named Mazi, rendering him unable to help. General seemed to understand and promptly hung up. Later that night, Ma Pingchuan was awakened by a message informing him that Mazi had died. He then called Mo Yizhong to discuss the news, and Mo Yizhong informed him Mazi had been run over.
Ma Pingchuan immediately suspected General was responsible, especially given their earlier conversation. He conveyed his concerns to Mo Yizhong, emphasizing that General was a far more formidable adversary than Mazi, and advised Mo Yizhong to put their current business on hold while he tried to uncover General's intentions. Zhou You continued to work tirelessly in the secret room, successfully parsing out the deleted files. He presented his progress, confident he could painstakingly recover the shredded fragments.
However, Qin Huai and Chen Mo revealed they had already found a solution. They had recovered server MAC codes from the fragments, and while Arsenal's data was lost, they could retrieve the original encoding by finding the initial server. Qin Huai highlighted that Hupo, being a major security company, would likely keep such backups for research, making it their only viable option. Chen Mo and Zhou You both vehemently offered to go to Hupo, acknowledging the risks with Ma Pingchuan.
Qin Huai insisted he was the right person, citing his previous conflict with Ma Pingchuan over Shepherd and emphasizing that the newly discovered Hupo Cloud bug was his leverage. Before they could leave, Chen Mo received an urgent call informing him that Mu Tong had fainted, forcing him to depart. Qin Huai and Zhou You then headed to Hupo.
Upon their arrival at Hupo Technology, Qin Huai, accompanied by Zhou You, whom he introduced as Kai Gua Le's Technical Director, met with President Xu. Qin Huai wasted no time, stating directly that Hupo's HuCloud system had a long-standing vulnerability that remained unaddressed. Ma Pingchuan swiftly interjected, asserting that such a claim was unlikely given the system's recent upgrade.
Qin Huai countered by explaining that their investigations into several companies troubled by "deal robbers" consistently revealed they used HuCloud security systems, and two specific bugs were found. These bugs, while not always affecting normal operations, could create a backdoor for criminal acts if exploited by someone with malicious intent. He offered to fix this vulnerability for Hupo.
Ma Pingchuan attempted to divert the conversation by suggesting that Vincent (Hu Dezheng), who was in charge of that department, would have reported any bugs immediately. President Xu then offered to pay Qin Huai a maintenance fee and a generous contract for his team if he could prove his claims. Qin Huai declined the money, clarifying his real purpose: he had lost critical data that only Hupo's servers might retain a backup of.
He assured President Xu that this was ordinary data and posed no conflict of interest for Hupo, requesting only to access the system logs. President Xu confirmed that Qin Huai sought to examine Hupo's logs in exchange for a free bug fix. He then challenged Qin Huai, asking what collateral he would offer if HuCloud had no bug, or if Qin Huai failed to fix it. Qin Huai, without hesitation, pledged Kai Gua Le to President Xu.
Impressed by Qin Huai's conviction, President Xu agreed to the terms. Qin Huai and Zhou You were led to the technical department. Zhou You encountered a cyber cloud security program, SafeDog, blocking his access, but Qin Huai quickly advised him to use coding to bypass it. Working swiftly, Zhou You sorted the data, while Qin Huai handled uploads. Together, they efficiently located and repaired the bug.
President Xu, visibly surprised and displeased, summoned Vincent (Hu Dezheng) and questioned his department's oversight. Following the successful repair, Qin Huai and Zhou You were granted access to Hupo's logs. Zhou You expressed his excitement, believing they were close to vindicating Chen Mo. Qin Huai called Chen Mo to share the good news, reassuring him about Mu Tong's health and promising to analyze the logs back at the office.
Moments after Qin Huai and Zhou You departed, a Hupo employee reported a major cybersecurity attack. Core servers were failing, and the attack had occurred precisely when Qin Huai was checking the bug he had found. Ma Pingchuan immediately recommended initiating a Level 1 emergency response, while President Xu instructed Vincent (Hu Dezheng) to investigate quickly and discreetly.
Back at Kai Gua Le, Qin Huai and Chen Mo meticulously analyzed the Hupo logs but found no useful information, speculating that the data might be too old. Meanwhile, news of Hupo's hack spread rapidly, causing a media frenzy around the company. Under immense pressure from the media and company directors, President Xu publicly announced that Ma Pingchuan would be taking charge of the investigation, assuring everyone that Hupo would find the truth.
Ma Pingchuan later addressed shareholders, reiterating that the situation was under control and evidence was being gathered, while hinting at the possibility of false accusations. Vincent (Hu Dezheng) reported that the attack originated from within the company, a "time bomb" planted precisely when Qin Huai was fixing the bug, and the malicious code was uploaded from the very computer Qin Huai had used. Ma Pingchuan further claimed that the online articles slandering Hupo were posted by Qin Huai's company.
Vincent, however, questioned why Qin Huai would expose himself so obviously. Ma Pingchuan theorized it was a "thief shouting thief" tactic to feign innocence and deflect suspicion. President Xu, convinced by Ma Pingchuan's explanation, instructed Vincent to gather solid evidence to sue Qin Huai. At Kai Gua Le, Lin Shuo arrived, bringing alarming news. She informed Zhou You that an article detailing Hupo's system breach had been posted from his social media account and was now trending.
She warned him that he could be sued for spreading false information. Zhou You was utterly shocked, denying he had ever posted such content and insisting his account must have been hacked. Qin Huai supported Zhou You, pointing out that the article's sophisticated and eloquent writing style was beyond Zhou You's usual abilities. He acknowledged that Hupo would likely pursue this aggressively and assured Lin Shuo that their immediate priority was to identify the person who had hacked Zhou You's account.
