The moment Qin Ningyi lowered his head, a pop-up window suddenly appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Chi You."
Huo Rou's sharp gaze fell on the pop-up window. As her eyes narrowed, she reached out and closed it.
The other party, realizing someone was operating the laptop, became even more interested.
"Chi You?"
Huo Rou's fingers flew across the keyboard, closing the pop-up. The laptop screen was then filled with several windows.
When Qin Ningyi looked up again, he saw a screen full of windows and didn't see any pop-up messages from the intruder, which allowed him to calmly ask, "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," Huo Rou replied faintly, her actions unwavering.
The situation wasn't actually very good, but she was accustomed to handling things with a calm demeanor. Moreover, besides Xia Qingxue's games and a few commonly used software by An'an, all her important data had been re-encrypted. Cracking it would take time, which would buy her some opportunities.
Hearing Huo Rou's utterly calm voice and seeing her swift typing, Qin Ningyi was about to say something when suddenly, a commotion erupted from outside, and simultaneously with the sounds from the door, an alarm blared inside.
"There are bad guys!" An'an tugged on Qin Ningyi's sleeve.
He had heard this alarm sound before. It had gone off when a homeless man tried to bully him and his mother while Uncle Shen and the others were away. He couldn't clearly recall what happened afterward, but the alarm sound was deeply etched in his memory.
As An'an spoke, Qin Ningyi had already quickly moved to the surveillance monitor to check the situation outside.
Several burly men were wielding axes and sabers, madly smashing the door.
Huo Rou's peripheral vision caught Qin Ningyi's movement. Although her hands were occupied, she still spared a moment to ask, "How is it?"
The monitoring sound was muted by default. She briefly explained to Qin Ningyi how to turn on the monitoring sound.
The sounds of smashing and voices came through the speakers, "Can we trust what that couple said? We've smashed this hard, why isn't anyone coming out?"
"Those two obviously are cowards, and they have grudges against this family, so how could they lie?"
"Someone's definitely inside, probably scared out of their wits. Hahahaha!"
The men laughed as they continued to smash the door with all their might, their expressions frenzied, as if they had thrown all caution to the wind.
"The police are coming soon, right?"
Their eyes were bloodshot. Although this question should have conveyed worry and fear, it was spoken with a sense of anticipation and arrogance.
Someone swore, "I'll take someone with me even if I die! Smash! Harder!"
With that, the man charged at the door with his axe, seemingly impervious to pain or fatigue.
Qin Ningyi watched the monitor. There were many attackers, and their emotions were abnormal.
If it were only him being cornered, it would be one thing. But An'an was here, and Huo Rou was also...
He glanced back at Huo Rou, who was rapidly typing on her keyboard. At this moment, Huo Rou was on a different battlefield.
He vaguely knew how important the contents of Huo Rou's computer were, and she couldn't afford to be distracted.
Huo Rou watched the progress bar on her screen, listening to the conversation from the monitor, her brows furrowed. She said in a low voice, "There are some hidden traps set up at the door. If your men haven't arrived, you can use them first."
It was a battle of wits and speed, and she didn't even have time to explain how to control the traps. She called out, "An'an!"
Hearing Huo Rou, An'an quickly went over and led Qin Ningyi to the mechanism's control switch.
Huo Rou had told him about all the arrangements here, just in case he was bullied by bad guys at home alone. The activation of the mechanisms would also trigger an automatic alarm.
Because these were defensive devices, none of the mechanisms were lethal; they were only meant to delay.
The people at the door were momentarily stunned by the sudden spray of mist. It was only when the pepper spray got into their eyes that they belatedly covered their faces and cursed loudly.
"Damn it! Bitch, she must be home!"
"Shit! My eyes! I'm going to kill her!"
Amidst their curses, the emergency call was connected. Qin Ningyi explained the situation to the operator, while outside, his subordinates had also arrived.
He watched the situation on the monitor. Three of his subordinates, highly trained, rushed to the door to engage the enemy. Normally, they could fight ten men at once, but now, they seemed unable to exert their full strength.
The attackers were tireless, felt no pain, and seemed determined to inflict eight hundred points of damage at the cost of a thousand.
Qin Ningyi only watched for a few moments before realizing something was wrong. Recalling the way those men were smashing the door...
"An'an." Qin Ningyi's brow furrowed. He crouched down, meeting An'an's eyes, his gaze filled with seriousness. "You handle the mechanisms inside. Protect Mom!"
"An'an will protect Mom!" An'an, entrusted with such an important task, knew that his mother was doing something crucial and couldn't be disturbed. He patted his chest and assured him, then looked at Qin Ningyi, "Dad, you..."
His father's appearance at this moment was somewhat frightening.
Qin Ningyi stood up straight, his gaze fixed on the door outside. "Dad will protect you."
Those men's conditions were very unusual, and he needed to go and see.