Chapter 97: Permanently Deleted

At this moment, Qin Ze finally understood why Lin Xiaoxi was so afraid of these things being released.

If these things were leaked, it would be a devastating blow to Lin Xiaoxi.

Qin Ze pulled out the USB drive and picked up another one to plug in.

The content on this drive was similar to the first, but some of the photos were taken without Lin Xiaoxi's knowledge.

Qin Ze's face darkened.

He pulled out the second USB drive as well, without looking at the rest.

He could already confirm that these things belonged to Lin Xiaoxi.

Qin Ze leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to calm down.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Brother Qin, it's me."

It was Lin Xiaoxi's voice.

Qin Ze stood up, walked over, and opened the door.

Lin Xiaoxi stood at the door, having changed into a black T-shirt, and her hair was tied up again; she looked more energetic than before, but her eyes were still a bit red.

"Come in."

Lin Xiaoxi walked into the office and saw the pile of things on the desk at a glance.

Her footsteps faltered.

"Brother Qin… are these all…"

"Yeah, all retrieved from Wu Hao's house."

Qin Ze closed the door and pointed to the pile on the desk.

"Two hard drives, three USB drives, two memory cards, one mobile phone, one laptop."

"And the tower…"

"Anything that could be plugged in and store data, I had them bring it all to you."

Lin Xiaoxi looked at the pile of things, her lips pressed tightly together.

She walked slowly to the desk, reached out to pick up a USB drive, her hand trembling slightly.

"These things… have you looked at them?"

"I didn't let anyone look."

Qin Ze said.

"But to be safe, I got the passwords, so you can open and check them yourself."

Qin Ze paused and added.

"I was curious just now and looked at the contents of one USB drive."

Lin Xiaoxi's body trembled slightly.

"I'm sorry," Qin Ze said. "I should have waited for you to arrive before looking."

Lin Xiaoxi shook her head, her voice a bit hoarse.

"It's okay, Brother Qin, it's the same whether you look or not… anyway… anyway, it's already like this…"

"As long as it wasn't anyone else, it's fine!"

Her eyes turned red again, but she tried hard to hold back the tears.

Qin Ze pulled up a chair and placed it next to the desk.

He knew that Lin Xiaoxi trusted him absolutely now!

"Sit down, confirm it yourself, and see if everything is there."

Lin Xiaoxi nodded and sat down on the chair.

She picked up a USB drive and plugged it into the computer.

The image on the screen flickered.

She clicked open the folder, looked at the files, and her finger paused on the mouse for a few seconds.

Then she began to flip through them one by one.

At first, her movements were very slow, as if she had to summon great courage to click on each one.

She looked at the photos with little expression on her face, but the hand holding the mouse was trembling slightly.

After a while, her movements became faster.

It was as if she was confirming, and also as if she was saying goodbye.

Qin Ze didn't disturb her; he leaned against the table nearby, waiting quietly.

The atmosphere in the office was silent.

There was only the sound of mouse clicks and her occasional deep breaths.

After about fifteen minutes, Lin Xiaoxi had finished looking through all the USB drives and memory cards.

She opened the two portable hard drives and scanned them quickly.

There wasn't much in the hard drives; most were work documents and some messy movies.

Finally, there was the old mobile phone.

Lin Xiaoxi opened the phone and flipped through the photo album and chat history.

After finishing, she put down the phone and was silent for a few seconds.

Then she turned around to look at Qin Ze.

"President Qin, everything is here."

Her voice was very calm.

"Everything he had is here."

"I guess he doesn't have any other way to back them up."

Qin Ze nodded.

"Then delete them all."

Lin Xiaoxi was stunned for a moment.

"Delete them all?"

"Yeah," Qin Ze said. "Why keep these things?"

Lin Xiaoxi looked at him, and her eyes turned red instantly.

She didn't speak; she turned back, her hand holding the mouse trembling slightly.

She opened the USB drive and selected all the files.

Right-click.

Delete.

Permanently delete.

*Click*—the sound of the mouse button being pressed was exceptionally clear in the quiet office.

Then the second USB drive, the third, and the two memory cards.

She formatted them one by one.

Finally, the two portable hard drives and the old mobile phone.

She flipped through the contents of the hard drives, confirmed there were no photos or videos of herself, and deleted those files as well.

Then she performed a factory reset on the old phone.

After processing everything, Lin Xiaoxi leaned back in her chair, looking completely drained.

Her tears finally couldn't be held back and flowed down.

But she didn't cry out loud; she just shed tears silently.

Qin Ze handed her a tissue.

"Wipe them."

Lin Xiaoxi took the tissue, wiped her tears, and then wiped her nose.

She lowered her head, her voice muffled.

"Brother Qin… these things… were taken two years ago, when Wu Hao took them without my knowledge…"

"I found out later and told him to delete them; he said he had already deleted them."

"I believed him."

Her voice carried self-mockery.

"I actually believed him, damn it."

Qin Ze didn't speak; he just handed her another tissue.

Lin Xiaoxi took it and blew her nose hard.

"Now, to get money from me to gamble, he actually used these things to threaten me."

Her voice was shaking more and more.

"I transferred money to him every month—two thousand, three thousand, five thousand… I gave him half of my income…"

"But I didn't dare to call the police; I was afraid he would really release those things!"

"I was scared to death."

She looked up at Qin Ze, her eyes as red as a rabbit's.

"Brother Qin… I really… I really don't know how to thank you…"

"You not only helped me get rid of him, but you also helped me get all these things back…"

Qin Ze looked at her, was silent for a few seconds, and then reached out to pat her head gently.

Now, for Lin Xiaoxi! 【104】 It could be considered that she had truly gotten rid of this Wu Hao. 【105】 She was completely free. 【106】 "Alright, stop crying." 【107】 Lin Xiaoxi nodded vigorously, but the tears wouldn't stop falling. 【108】 She stood up, walked to Qin Ze, and hugged him tightly. 【109】 "President Qin… thank you…" 【110】 She buried her face in Qin Ze's shoulder, crying until her whole body was trembling. 【111】 Qin Ze patted her back gently without speaking. 【112】 Lin Xiaoxi cried for a long while before slowly calming down. 【113】 She let go of Qin Ze, took a step back, wiped the tears from her face, and smiled somewhat embarrassedly. 【114】 "Brother Qin, I'm sorry, I got your clothes wet." 【115】 "It's fine." 【116】 "It's good to let it all out." 【117】 Lin Xiaoxi took a deep breath and wiped her eyes again. 【118】 Lin Xiaoxi nodded vigorously. 【119】 Then, looking at the pile of useless hard drives and USB drives on the desk, she suddenly asked. 【120】 "Brother Qin, how should we deal with these things?" 【121】 "You decide," Qin Ze said. "Smash them, throw them away, burn them—whatever." 【122】 Lin Xiaoxi thought for a moment, picked up the pile of things, walked to the trash can in the corner of the office, and dumped them all in. 【123】 "Tomorrow I'll go buy a hammer and smash them all to pieces." 【124】 When she said this, her tone carried a hint of ruthlessness. 【125】 Qin Ze couldn't help but smile as he watched her. 【126】 "Alright, you decide." ===== CHAPTER 98 =====

Only then could it be considered, in the true sense, that she had shaken off this Wu Hao.

She was completely free.

"Alright, stop crying."

Lin Xiaoxi nodded vigorously, but her tears could not stop falling.

She stood up, walked over to Qin Ze, and threw her arms around him.

"President Qin... thank you..."

She buried her face in Qin Ze's shoulder, trembling all over as she wept.

Qin Ze patted her back gently, saying nothing.

Lin Xiaoxi cried for quite a while before she slowly calmed down.

She released Qin Ze, took a step back, wiped the tears from her face, and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Brother Qin, I'm sorry, I got your clothes wet."

"It's fine."

"It's good that you let it all out."

Lin Xiaoxi took a deep breath and wiped her eyes again.

Lin Xiaoxi nodded vigorously.

Then, looking at the pile of useless hard drives and USB flash drives on the desk, she suddenly asked:

"Brother Qin, how should I handle these things?"

"It's up to you," Qin Ze said. "Smash them, throw them away, burn them—whatever you like."

Lin Xiaoxi thought for a moment, picked up the pile of items, walked over to the trash can in the corner of the office, and dumped them all in at once.

"Tomorrow I'll go buy a hammer and smash them all to pieces."

When she said this, there was a hint of ruthlessness in her tone.

Qin Ze looked at her and couldn't help but smile.

"Fine, it's up to you."