Han Weicheng's face darkened with anger.
"That's enough. Let her take it. Anything in this team that still belongs to her—let her take it all."
"As far as I'm concerned, I never had a student like her."
His gaze was as cold as ice, sweeping over Shu Lanzhou with undisguised contempt.
Shu Lanzhou gave a faint smile. "Thank you, Professor Han, for your generosity. I'll be sure to check carefully so I leave not a single trace of myself behind. Wouldn't want to be an eyesore to you."
Clearly, it was he who had lost the bet, yet he still managed to make it sound so dignified and righteous. Han Weicheng truly was selfish to the core—never missing a chance to protect his reputation.
With his permission granted, the group headed for the archive room.
Shu Lanzhou scanned the room.
"All the files marked with large red labels—those are the materials I organized. Please, senior classmates, help me carry them down."
Everyone instinctively looked up. Rows upon rows of filing cabinets lined three full walls, and nearly a third of the folders were marked with bright red tags.
"How… how could she have compiled so much?" Lin Muyao said in disbelief.
Du Yifan scoffed too. "Exactly. Shu Lanzhou, if you want to sneak off with our research, just say so. No need to play this game. The professor's being magnanimous by not arguing with you—but we won't let you get away with it."
"Fang Ruoshi, Tian Hua, Lin Muyao—come help me. There's no way all those red tags belong to her. No way."
He stormed to the filing cabinet, huffing, "We'll see you exposed for lying, Shu Lanzhou. Just wait."
Some people were simply too foolish for their own good. Shu Lanzhou hadn't even planned to humiliate him—but he insisted on handing her the opportunity.
She turned to Mu Side and the others. "Seniors, please keep an eye on them. I don't want any funny business."
"Got it," Ding Yuejiao and the others grinned, eagerly positioning themselves behind Tian Hua's group, keeping a close watch as they opened files.
Shu Lanzhou strode straight up to Lin Muyao.
"You don't believe me? Fine—go ahead, check every folder one by one. But… I don't trust you either. Every folder you open must be seen by both of us at the same time."
"If even one file is opened without me present—no matter what's inside—I won't acknowledge it."
"You—" Lin Muyao's face turned pale with rage. "Why don't you trust me? What reason do you have not to trust me?"
"Ha." Shu Lanzhou chuckled. "You should be asking: what reason do I have to trust you?"
"From the moment you plagiarized—you know exactly what you've done, don't you? Lin Muyao, don't take others for fools. Sure, you might fool someone like Du Yifan, but me? Never."
"Ever since you decided to mess with me—you were destined to live in my shadow. Just wait. Your 'good days' are still ahead. I'll be watching you… happily."
Her voice was quiet, just loud enough for Lin Muyao alone to hear. From the outside, it looked like they were sharing a friendly secret, especially since Shu Lanzhou was smiling.
But only Lin Muyao knew how chilling that smile truly was.
No. Impossible. She had to be bluffing.
There's no way… no way that a mere undergrad, barely scraping by in the team, could have compiled a third of the lab's data. Absolutely impossible!
Lin Muyao convinced herself that Shu Lanzhou was bluffing—trying to scare her away from verifying the files, so she could sneak out materials that didn't belong to her.
"She's trying to scare me! But I won't back down. As Professor Han's student, it's my duty to safeguard our research files!"
She raised her voice righteously, making sure everyone could hear.
"Yeah! Shu Lanzhou, don't think you can intimidate Muyao! Just because you brought backup doesn't mean we're scared. With me here, you're not bullying anyone!" Du Yifan stepped forward with a triumphant smirk. "Such an obvious lie—you really think we'd fall for it? Desperate for our research, huh?"
Shu Lanzhou and her companions exchanged amused glances.
"Is your former senior always this… dense?" Ke Beichen clicked his tongue, his voice dripping with disdain.
Ah, so this was why Ke Beichen had insisted on coming along—he wanted a front-row seat for this mess. Clearly, he hadn't forgotten Du Yifan's earlier insult that had made his aunt so angry she'd smashed a teapot.
Well, Shu Lanzhou wasn't about to ruin his fun. She grinned. "Guess that's why they kicked me out."
Ke Beichen raised his brows. "Oh? Then congratulations are in order, Shu Lanzhou."
"Enough!" Luo Jialin clenched his fists, glaring at Ke Beichen. "If you're here to take the materials, then do it. Stop this sarcastic nonsense—it's meaningless."
"You're right about that, Luo Jialin." Shu Lanzhou stepped forward, her smile vanishing into a cold stare.
"You heard him. Both of you—cut the snide remarks. If you've got proof, bring it. Otherwise, shut up."
Lin Muyao nearly choked with fury. This Shu Lanzhou—still acting tough at a time like this? Fine. She'd make sure Shu Lanzhou ate her words today.
"You want proof? I'll give you proof."
Lin Muyao lunged forward, sweeping every red-tagged folder off the shelves and onto the floor.
One after another, they crashed down until the entire archive was littered with open files.
"You're crazy! How could you treat her materials like this?" Dong Anlan snapped, hurrying to gather them up.
But Shu Lanzhou stopped him. "Don't touch anything. Let her finish. Because however she makes this mess—I'll make her clean it up the same way."
"I will clean it up—because this is our data." Lin Muyao sneered. "Once I've scrambled it, I'll reorganize it properly. What right do you, an outsider, have to interfere?"
She picked up a folder and flipped it open with smug satisfaction.
"See? Everyone take a good look! Don't be fooled just because Shu Lanzhou slapped a red tag on it. These are just basic research documents. What proof does she have that she compiled them?"
Perhaps she was just unlucky. Or perhaps she really thought herself clever.
Because when she flipped to the very first page…
There, in neat handwriting at the bottom right corner, it read:
Compiled and organized by student Shu Lanzhou, [date]
Shu Lanzhou's group couldn't hold it in—they burst into laughter.
Not just a chuckle, but genuine belly laughs.
Was she… was she trying to prove their point for them?
Was she exposing evidence—or helping Shu Lanzhou win?