Lin Jie didn't expect that the person curled up at his doorstep, looking pitiful, lonely, and helpless, would be Ling Mengjiao.

He quickly let her into the house, warmed a cup of milk for her, and asked with concern, "Mengjiao, what exactly happened? Is a family member or friend sick? Why didn't you call me?"

Sitting on the sofa, Ling Mengjiao kept her head down and shook it.

She took a big gulp of milk, put down the cup, took out her phone from her pocket, unlocked the screen, and handed it over without raising her head.

Lin Jie took the phone and saw that it was an email.

He glanced at the content and immediately became furious.

The email read: "You have twelve hours to prepare a hundred thousand in cash. Do not call the police, or your nude photos will be plastered all over the streets and your workplace — Anlin Charity Fund."

Seeing that the email also had several attachments, Lin Jie realized and asked, "Are these photos from when you took out the nude loan?"

Ling Mengjiao nodded, her head almost dropping to her knees.

"Brother, what exactly is going on?" Lin Miao asked, full of confusion from the side.

Lin Jie handed the phone to Lin Miao and said to Ling Mengjiao, "Mengjiao, you don't have to worry. I'll take care of this matter!"

After reading the email content, Lin Miao hugged Ling Mengjiao angrily and said, "Mengjiao, these people are really bad. Don't worry, brother will surely find a way to catch them."

Ling Mengjiao leaned against Lin Miao, slowly looked up at Lin Jie, biting her lip, and said, "Actually, I'm not really worried about myself. You know about my past, and President An knows it too."

"I'm just worried it might affect the charity fund."

"It hasn't been easy for the charity fund to develop to this stage, I... I..."

Lin Jie waved his hand and advised, "You don't have to worry about that. Our charity fund truly does charity work; it's not used for financial operations or even accounting."

"Each patient we treat is its calling card. Besides, who hasn't made mistakes when they were young."

He thought for a moment and asked, "Mengjiao, have you encountered anything strange or anyone suspicious recently?"

Ling Mengjiao slowly shook her head, "I don't think so."

"I've only been promoting the treatment of those conjoined twins recently..."

Suddenly, her expression froze, and she bitterly said, "Maybe someone saw my photos or name online or through other channels because of this publicity..."

Ling Mengjiao's face gradually turned pale, "Back then, when those photos and videos were spread online, quite a few people must have seen them, possibly even downloaded them."

"Perhaps someone recognized me and then..."

Lin Jie nodded, "That's a very likely possibility."

He pondered for a moment and said, "Mengjiao, I have a friend who's a detective in the city bureau. Qin Gang's uncle also has some influence in the community; I'll ask them for help."

"Just in case..."

Ling Mengjiao understood what Lin Jie meant, wiped her eyes forcefully, and said, "What you saw just now was a softer side of me because I thought my life had turned a new page, but I didn't expect this to drag me back to my past."

"I was just momentarily shaken."

She took a deep breath and said, "Lin Jie, if it spreads again, I'll still be fine."

"I once died for it, but I am no longer the person I used to be; I've become strong enough."

Lin Jie understood that such an incident would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to a girl.

Ling Mengjiao was just putting on a brave face.

"I'll do my best to keep this from spiraling into the worst-case scenario."

After saying this, Lin Jie took out his phone and called Kong Mingqing.

The call connected quickly, and he explained Ling Mengjiao's situation in detail over the phone, then said, "Brother Kong, we've only received one extortion email so far."

"This involves a girl's reputation, do you have any good solutions?"

There was a moment of silence on the phone, then Kong Mingqing's voice came through, "There's a computer expert in the police department. I'll ask him for a favor; he should be able to find something from that email."

"Is the girl at your place now?"

"Yes, she's at my place!" Lin Jie replied.

"Alright, I'll bring my colleague over as soon as possible."

Lin Jie hung up and then called Qin Gang.

Upon learning of the situation, he also said he would return as soon as possible...

Within an hour and a half, Qin Gang, along with Kong Mingqing and his colleague, arrived at Xiangtai Apartment.

Kong Mingqing's colleague was named Liu Chi.

He looked about twenty-four or twenty-five, slim, pale, with thick-rimmed glasses and a head of messy hair, which matched Lin Jie's impression of a computer expert.

Liu Chi connected Ling Mengjiao's phone to his laptop and, with just a few simple operations, some information appeared on the screen.

He pointed at the information on the computer screen and said, "This is the mailbox that sent the email, the mail server, the sender's computer name, and IP address, among other data."

"You can also see that this email was scheduled to be sent at exactly 2:29:31 PM."

"Let me check this IP address first..."

Liu Chi tapped on the keyboard again and said, "The IP address is registered to Xinghai Internet Cafe, located at No. 347, Liangguang Road, Lower District!"

Hearing this, Qin Gang immediately stood up and said, "I'll take two people there to investigate!"

Kong Mingqing stopped him with a hand and said, "No need to trouble yourself, a phone call will suffice."

He called the city bureau's dispatch desk, first inquiring which patrol car was near Xinghai Internet Cafe, and then was transferred by the dispatch desk to contact that patrol car's officer.

Over the phone, Kong Mingqing asked them to go to Xinghai Internet Cafe and retrieve the computer associated with this IP address and the surveillance video from 2:30 PM plus or minus half an hour.

It's undeniable that the police efficiency was quite high.

In less than half an hour, the video was sent to Liu Chi's computer.

Seeing the person appear in the surveillance video, Ling Mengjiao was visibly shocked, pointing at a girl in the video and said, "It's her! She was my classmate during a public lecture at university."

"Not long ago, I ran into her on the street, and we chatted for a while!"

Kong Mingqing pointed to a man next to the girl, operating a computer, and asked, "Do you know this person?"

Ling Mengjiao leaned closer to the computer screen, looked carefully, and shook her head saying, "I don't know him!"

Kong Mingqing nodded and said, "Besides well-known public figures, most kidnapping and extortion cases are committed by acquaintances. You know this woman, and she happened to appear in the video."

"The mastermind behind this is very likely her."

"Now, tell us everything you know about her in detail..."

A few minutes later, Kong Mingqing left with the information provided by Ling Mengjiao, along with Liu Chi and Qin Gang.

Lin Jie comforted, "Mengjiao, it's so easy to find clues in this matter. Brother Kong will definitely catch them overnight, so you don't have to worry."

"Are you hungry? I'll fix you something to eat."

"No, no!"

Ling Mengjiao quickly refused and explained, "It's so late, and besides, I really don't have an appetite..."

Before she could finish, her stomach growled a few times.

Lin Jie laughed and pointed at her stomach, "You say no, but your body is being honest."

"It's already past one o'clock in the morning, let's eat some midnight snacks together..."

The next morning, just past eight o'clock, Lin Jie received a call from Kong Mingqing.

"Lin Jie, after overnight interrogation, these two have confessed everything."

"That female classmate of Ling Mengjiao, after running into her and seeing she's doing well, got greedy."

"Then, she conspired with her boyfriend to plan this incident."

Hearing this news, Lin Jie breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Brother Kong, thank you, and your colleague as well. I'll treat you both to something another day."

The phone conveyed Kong Mingqing's laughter, saying, "Lin Jie, no need to thank me. This time, I should be thanking you for providing me with another chance to catch a big case."

"Oh, how so?" Lin Jie curiously asked.

Kong Mingqing said in a low tone, "This female classmate is also involved in a campus loan shark scheme."

"To repay the loan, she was forced to comply with their demands and spent nights with several men."

"According to her confession, two of those men are actually higher-ups in the loan shark business."

"With her testimony, we have the leads and evidence to take down that loan shark company completely."

"The leadership has already approved my request to officially file the case, and I've been appointed to take full charge of it."

Lin Jie excitedly said, "Good, good!"

"Nowadays, these loan shark companies specifically target students with weak self-control and heavy vanity; it's a mess and must be dealt with properly."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Jie went to the kitchen to share the news with Ling Mengjiao and Lin Miao, who were preparing breakfast.

Ling Mengjiao looked at Lin Jie excitedly and said, "This is truly good news."

"Lin Jie, thank you. Without your help, I don't know how this would have ended!"

"No need to thank me, after all, we're friends!"

Lin Jie then asked, "Mengjiao, when were you planning to return to your hometown?"

Ling Mengjiao's face showed a slight hesitation, then she forced a smile and said, "I'm not going back this Spring Festival, there's a lot of work waiting to be done."

"Work is never more important than going home..."

As Lin Jie was saying this, he noticed that Lin Miao was giving him significant looks and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Since you're not going back, then stay in Binhai and have a good holiday."

"Today, don't go to work at the company either."

"I'll talk to Kexin, and you can go with us to the hospital to have an early festive dinner with Nannan."

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