Lin Muyao had been in a great mood lately. Not only had she successfully joined the research team, but she'd also won over Luo Jialin, officially becoming his girlfriend.
As long as their research team could achieve results before Shu Lanzhou's team, she'd be one step above Shu Lanzhou. She couldn't wait to see how Shu Lanzhou would even dare to compete with her by then!
And conveniently, today marked the end of the first phase of their research. Rumor had it they'd already made some progress. Once the validation meeting concluded, their findings could be published in a paper.
To Lin Muyao, it was practically set in stone—Shu Lanzhou was destined to be trampled underfoot. She was itching to humiliate her, to make up for all the times Shu Lanzhou had embarrassed her in the past.
Just as she was wondering when she'd get the chance, fate handed it to her on a silver platter—Shu Lanzhou had walked right into her territory. This research institute wasn't a place a mere undergraduate could just waltz into!
Lin Muyao was certain Shu Lanzhou wasn't qualified to be part of the institute's research. After all, she herself was a special exception.
"Shu Lanzhou, what are you doing here?" Lin Muyao approached, arm-in-arm with Luo Jialin, smiling as she blocked Shu Lanzhou's path.
"You must be looking for someone, right? I'll help you call them. This is a restricted research area—you shouldn't be wandering around. If someone mistakes you for trying to steal research data, that'd be… unfortunate."
She added with a falsely concerned tone, "Honestly, the security's been too lax, letting just anyone in. I'll be sure to mention it to my mom later so they tighten things up."
"Oh, by the way—you probably haven't heard, but I've joined the institute's project team. I'm officially an intern researcher now. You see that building next door?" She pointed smugly.
"The institute was able to lease that space thanks to my help. It's because of that favor they made an exception and let me into the team."
"But you… you're not so lucky. Even though you've got a new advisor and they've started a new project, as a senior undergrad, you probably don't qualify to join the project team. Such a shame."
"But don't lose hope, Shu Lanzhou! If you're patient, maybe one day you'll get the chance to join a team. It's just… with your major being so niche, I wonder what you'd even research?"
She babbled on happily, never once giving Shu Lanzhou a chance to speak. Her entire purpose was to flaunt and belittle, plain and simple.
Shu Lanzhou didn't rush to interrupt—she simply waited for Lin Muyao to finish showing off.
"Are you done?" Shu Lanzhou finally checked her watch.
"I'm about to be late for my meeting. Next time, why don't you set up an appointment? That way I can sit and properly listen to all your bragging—and maybe hear what other good news you've got to share."
She pressed her lips together, eyes gleaming with cold ridicule, her smile carrying a trace of disdain as she swept her gaze lightly over Luo Jialin.
That look—deep, penetrating, dismissive from the very core—made Luo Jialin's face flush with shame and anger, as if someone had ripped the skin from his face, leaving it raw and bleeding.
Shu Lanzhou looked down on him. No matter his privileged background, his prestigious education, his usual lofty demeanor—she simply didn't respect him.
That realization stung Luo Jialin like a blade to the heart.
He couldn't understand—what gave Shu Lanzhou the right? What qualifications did she have to look down on him?
But when he met her gaze again, she had already turned, walking calmly around them and stepping into the large conference room next door.
The team led by He Xin occupied that room. Their project was a joint effort of three research groups, with participants from both the traditional Chinese medicine hospital and the national hospital. Naturally, they used the institute's larger conference room.
"What meeting is she attending?" Lin Muyao was still basking in her imagined victory, expecting to see Shu Lanzhou jealous and fuming, maybe even humiliated.
Instead, Shu Lanzhou hadn't shown even a flicker of emotion—hadn't been flustered in the slightest. She'd just strolled into that conference room like she belonged there.
Why was she allowed in? She wasn't even part of a project team!
As Lin Muyao stood dumbfounded, Luo Jialin suddenly shook her off.
"You're embarrassing," he snapped, his voice filled with disappointment. "Could you maybe think before you speak for once?"
Casting her a withering look, he turned and strode into the smaller conference room, almost as if he couldn't distance himself from her fast enough, afraid of being seen by others alongside her.
Lin Muyao fumed, her face burning with humiliation. "What did I say that was wrong? How am I embarrassing? I was telling the truth—Shu Lanzhou, she—"
"Enough." Tian Hua sighed in exasperation. "If Shu Lanzhou was able to get in, she's obviously qualified. The institute's security isn't going to just let anyone walk in."
"The institute publicly posted two project team rosters a while back. Shu Lanzhou's name was on one of them. She joined the research institute's team long before you did."
"Their project is a collaborative effort between three different topics. One of them is the clinical application of acupuncture—which happens to be her specialization."
"Her major might seem niche, but it's far from useless, and certainly not 'awkward.' Honestly, Lin Muyao…"
Tian Hua sighed again, thinking he'd love to scold her properly if he weren't indebted to her financially.
She had connections to get into the project. Yet she dared flaunt in front of someone who'd earned their spot with real ability? Did she have no sense?
But now wasn't the time. He shook his head, quickly catching up with Luo Jialin.
"If you're going to try to humiliate Shu Lanzhou," Fang Ruoshi added coolly, "maybe next time you should do your homework. Know your enemy if you want to win."
"Luo Jialin cares a lot about his reputation—especially in front of Shu Lanzhou. Next time, don't make him angrier."
Otherwise, no one's life would be easy.
With that, Fang Ruoshi also walked off, leaving Lin Muyao standing awkwardly outside the conference room, her face burning hotter by the second.
She wished she could erase the entire scene from existence.
Why was the universe so unfair? When had Shu Lanzhou joined the project team? Why hadn't she heard a word about it?
And how had their research project turned into a joint collaboration of three topics? How had she missed all of this?
Really, if Lin Muyao had spent even half the effort she poured into chasing Luo Jialin on actually paying attention to the project, she wouldn't have ended up embarrassing herself so thoroughly.
—
Inside the institute's large conference room, Shu Lanzhou and the others had just taken their seats when Long Xingyue, He Xin, and Mu Yaning arrived one after another.
To everyone's surprise, the meeting was chaired by Qin Dongming.
Word had it he'd taken an unpaid leave of absence to fully commit himself to the research institute, officially on loan from the hospital.
After a brief update on each team's research progress, He Xin stepped forward with a research report in hand.
"This is the research outcome from our first phase. I've already verified the data once. For the sake of rigor, we'll now proceed with a second round of validation."
Soon, Shu Lanzhou received the data sheet.
She scanned the report and mentally compared it to the figures she remembered from Tian Hua's paper years ago. Two indicators stood out—there were subtle discrepancies.
She circled them, then pulled out her own experimental data from earlier that week for comparison.
And she discovered something critical.
"Professor," she spoke up, "I'd like to request immediate access to the lab so I can run an on-the-spot experiment to test the compatibility of these two data sets."
Mu Yaning turned to her. "Did you find something?"
Shu Lanzhou handed her the documents.
"These are my experimental results from a few days ago. I'd originally planned to wait for today's research findings before proceeding with a joint experiment."
"But if we combine the data and test them together now, we won't just be validating Senior Wu's research—we'd also be verifying my experimental data."
"If successful, we'd have two research breakthroughs in one."
Originally, her findings still needed another week of confirmation to ensure their accuracy. But with Wu Cheng's data supporting them…
Mu Yaning's project could succeed a whole week ahead of schedule.