Lin Muyao shot Yi Ming a triumphant glance, then turned her attention back to Shu Lanzhou.
"Senior, you're so pitiful. You don't even realize you've been used by the Mu family as a tool. Don't tell me you actually think Mu Side still plans to marry you?"
Yi Ming frowned, his voice tinged with anger. "You—"
"Senior!" Shu Lanzhou grabbed his arm and stopped him. Then, she stepped forward, slowly approaching Lin Muyao.
Despite herself, Lin Muyao felt a twinge of fear. She had always believed that this rural girl wasn't worth worrying about. But maybe it was those two times Shu Lanzhou had hit her—now, the very sight of her cold, icy gaze gave Lin Muyao a psychological shadow.
No matter how vicious her words were, when she locked eyes with Shu Lanzhou and saw her walking closer, Lin Muyao instinctively flinched.
She'd spent her whole life pretending to be weak and pitiful—an act that worked every time. She had manipulated countless people like this. And yet, it completely failed in front of Shu Lanzhou. That was something Lin Muyao just couldn't accept.
"W-What do you want?" she stammered, stepping back, half-ready to turn and run.
Shu Lanzhou grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close. "Why are you scared? I'm not going to keep hitting you. After all—" Her lip curled in disdain. "You're filthy."
She gave a short laugh, cold and cutting. "Whether Mu Side marries me or not—I don't know. But I can say one thing for sure: Luo Jialin will never marry you."
She whispered this right into Lin Muyao's ear, loud enough that only the two of them could hear it.
Then Shu Lanzhou let go of her collar.
"The future is long, Lin Muyao. Let's wait and see."
This lifetime—will you triumph in the end, or will I personally drive you out of the medical world?
Lin Muyao's face turned pale. She fled, barely managing to throw out a final threat: "Shu Lanzhou, just you wait!"
Wait? Sure, she could wait. It's not like she was afraid of her. Why did this girl never learn her lesson? Stirring up trouble without any skill to back it up—what a joke.
Tch!
Shu Lanzhou shook her head and turned around—only to find Yi Ming watching her, curiosity written all over his face.
"What did you say to her?" he asked.
Shu Lanzhou raised an eyebrow. "Just some harsh words between girls. Senior Yi, are you sure you want to know?"
Yi Ming hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Forget it. Anyway, about the experiment—come with me."
He led her into the lab.
"The first phase is basically done. I've followed the improvements you suggested and ran the tests. Turns out, the theory Lin Muyao mentioned in her paper isn't just flawed—it's a major problem."
"There's no way her methods could have produced the second result she claimed in that recently published paper."
Shu Lanzhou didn't look surprised.
"As expected. That experiment was originally an assignment Professor Han Weicheng gave to first-year grad students. I did it back then, too. We ran hundreds of trials before getting accurate data."
"It was too time-consuming and didn't yield immediate results, so Professor Han didn't make it a priority research topic."
She pulled out the data, recalculated a few parts, made some revisions, and then handed it back to Yi Ming. "Next, follow this direction for the second round of testing."
There were five rounds in total. If each one produced reliable data, it would lead to a small medical discovery—not flashy, but significant.
If Yi Ming could complete it and establish a full chain of validation, he might catch up with the final phase of He Xin's current research.
That would give their project a shortcut—one that could elevate their research to an entirely new level.
Shu Lanzhou had been thinking about this ever since Professor Wu Cheng's project landed in He Xin's hands. She'd wondered how to integrate this discovery into He Xin's research. Ideally, she'd participate herself.
But now that she had switched her major to acupuncture, joining the project directly would shift her focus too much.
Yi Ming frowned slightly as he reviewed her revised data. "I can't believe I missed that. Shu Lanzhou, you're brilliant. I'll get started on the changes right away!"
"Don't rush," Shu Lanzhou stopped him. "After the first round of verification, you wrote a paper, didn't you?"
Yi Ming nodded. "Yeah, how did you know? I was actually about to ask you about that. I don't have any connections at top medical journals, but you've published in one. Maybe you know someone?"
"Think you could help me get this paper published? If it gets accepted, it'll be a huge blow to Lin Muyao. Let's see how arrogant she acts then!"
The thought of Lin Muyao's smug face made his blood boil.
If Shu Lanzhou hadn't shown up when she did, his entire experiment might've been ruined today.
Shu Lanzhou shook her head. "That's exactly why I came—to stop you from rushing to publish. Yi Ming, do you trust me?"
"Of course!" he said without hesitation. "This experiment was for you anyway. I wrote the paper, but we can publish it under your name—"
She interrupted him. "That's not what I meant. I mean we should wait until all five rounds are verified before we even talk about publishing."
"I remember the top medical journal has a series called Medical Research Validations. When the time comes, I'll figure out how to get our paper published in that section."
"But first, we have to make sure our entire validation process is airtight—no holes, no mistakes. Don't give anyone a reason to question us. What do you think?"
Yi Ming didn't even need to think. He immediately agreed.
"You're right, I was being impulsive. If I publish too early and a flaw comes to light later, I'll be just like Lin Muyao—nothing but a joke."
"No rush, no rush. I'll follow your lead. Once all the data is solid, we'll deal with the paper."
"But wait… aren't you graduating soon? Won't this delay your thesis?"
Shu Lanzhou blinked. "Don't worry, it won't affect anything. I told you—this side project is just supplementary. My thesis isn't about this topic."
"Ah, that's good!" Yi Ming said, smiling in relief. But deep down, his heart sank a little.
It felt like—maybe he wasn't all that important to her after all.
Shu Lanzhou didn't catch the look in his eyes. She stood up and said goodbye.
"I'll talk to Professor He about the experiment, just to make sure everything's clear. That way, no one else can interfere. You just focus on the lab work. Don't worry about anything else."
Yi Ming's eyes lit up. "Then I'm relieved. And don't worry—I won't let you down. I'll do my best to complete this experiment. I'll make your résumé shine!"
"…This guy," Shu Lanzhou thought. "He's so earnest, so sincere. Willing to help me wholeheartedly, not even afraid of being used."
Fortunately, she had no intention of using him. Instead, she wanted to give him a path to the top—help him rise, until he became an irreplaceable member of He Xin's team.
She gave him a smile, then turned and left to find Professor He.
Not long after she walked out, Shen Mo stepped out of the room.
"So, you heard everything, right? Shu Lanzhou didn't use me. She never even planned to make this her thesis. And she never said she wanted her name on the paper."
Shen Mo looked at him, exasperated. "I get it now. This whole experiment—you're only this invested because you're trying to impress Shu Lanzhou. But I wonder…"
"Whatever the outcome," Yi Ming said, already turning back to his equipment, "I'm willing. As long as she's happy."
What a fool.