"I just saw Lan Zhou's name on the competition registration site—did you guys run into her? Senior, did you try to talk to her? Did she agree to help me?"
Fang Ruoshi looked at Luo Jialin with excitement all over his face.
In his mind, as long as Luo Jialin asked, there was no way Shu Lanzhou would refuse!
Finally, he could stop worrying about his research data. No need to beg Du Yifan anymore, or stay up all night stressing.
But Luo Jialin's expression darkened. He had no interest in answering this idiot's question.
"Didn't I already tell you? She's no longer part of the team. I warned you to stop pestering her. Why are you still so persistent? Do you want me to tell Professor Han that you're unfit?"
"N-No! Please don't tell Professor Han!" Fang Ruoshi paled, completely bewildered—where had things gone wrong?
Why was Luo Jialin so angry? Could it be… because of Shu Lanzhou?
No, that couldn't be! There's no way Shu Lanzhou would turn down Luo Jialin. Maybe he didn't even ask her at all?
After Luo Jialin walked off, Fang Ruoshi muttered resentfully to himself:
"He clearly promised to help me! If he changed his mind, fine, but why blame me for it?"
Lin Muyao pursed her lips and tugged at his sleeve.
"Senior, don't blame Brother Jialin. He really did try talking to her. But not only did she refuse, she even said some awful things. It's only thanks to Brother Jialin's good temper that he held it in."
"Impossible!" Fang Ruoshi flat-out refused to believe it. "Lanzhou might say harsh things to others, but never to Senior Jialin. She's always listened to him the most."
Lin Muyao looked troubled, as if the truth pained her deeply.
"But she's changed. If you don't believe me, go ask her yourself. I'm not lying to you."
She wore a wronged, hurt expression. "But let me give you a piece of advice: don't get your hopes up. She's really not the same anymore—even her style has changed!"
"She wears makeup now, puts on skirts... the kind of look guys would fall for at first glance. I have to admit, she really is beautiful."
"But I'm genuinely worried about her. Back then, she had all of you looking out for her, and she liked to keep a low profile. No one dared to mess with her. But now…"
"Pretty girls always seem to attract trouble, you know?"
She was practically spelling it out: Shu Lanzhou was dolled up, flaunting herself and seducing men!
"Anyway, I won't say more. If you want to talk to her, go ahead. If you can persuade her, great. I don't want anything bad to happen to her either."
"I need to focus on the innovation competition. Brother Jialin told me I should pour my energy into my studies—stay humble in life, but shine in my work. I want to wow everyone in that competition!"
Lin Muyao saw Fang Ruoshi's face grow gloomier by the second, and knew her words had landed right where she wanted. She didn't press further, only gave him one last concerned, gentle glance before heading upstairs.
"I'll be back soon. Don't worry too much about the innovation part—I'll give it some serious thought later!"
Fang Ruoshi felt utterly useless. He'd been so distracted these past two days by Shu Lanzhou, he hadn't spared a thought for the competition. Not like Lin Muyao, who had just joined but was already pulling ahead!
He gave Lin Muyao an apologetic glance, then turned and walked out.
He swore this would be the last time he tried persuading Shu Lanzhou. If she still refused to return, then she'd have no one to blame but herself. From then on, he'd dedicate himself fully to helping Lin Muyao.
That heartless Shu Lanzhou didn't deserve his kindness!
And yet, the fact that she wouldn't even listen to Luo Jialin… Fang Ruoshi didn't know why he was still going to see her. Maybe because he just couldn't let go—after all, they had years of friendship.
He'd always seen her as a sister.
Meanwhile, Lin Muyao returned to her workstation.
This was a specialized lab the school had provided for their team. Besides the experimental space, each team member had their own computer and workspace.
She glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then moved the mouse and opened a certain website…
The moment she read the message in her inbox, her face lit up. She quickly copied the content into a desktop document.
After trimming and tweaking it a bit, Lin Muyao stood up and headed straight for Luo Jialin's private office.
"Brother Jialin, I've come up with an innovation idea!"
Luo Jialin didn't take it too seriously. "What is it?"
"The application of nanorobots in surgeries for cellular diseases!" Lin Muyao's eyes sparkled with pride. She was confident no one else would've thought of this!
Luo Jialin's eyes lit up noticeably.
"That's actually a great concept. Nano tech is becoming increasingly relevant in medicine, and there's already been some integration in surgeries."
"But using it specifically for cellular diseases? That's definitely new. Very innovative. Think it through thoroughly and give me a detailed proposal later."
"But no pressure. I'll also post this in the team group chat, let everyone brainstorm their own plans."
Lin Muyao beamed. "Got it!"
But as she exited Luo Jialin's office, a flicker of cold calculation crossed her eyes.
What kind of brain does Shu Lanzhou have? She'd just joined some obscure team and came up with such a brilliant idea?
Still, obscure was obscure. All Lin Muyao had to do was tweak it, add in some trendy buzzwords, and she could totally crush Shu Lanzhou without breaking a sweat.
She curled her lips in a sly smile. Shu Lanzhou, I should really thank you.
She could already picture it—the look on Shu Lanzhou's face when she stood alone on that winner's podium!
Would Shu Lanzhou regret her choices then? Come crawling back, begging the seniors for help?
No way. Lin Muyao would never give her that chance.
Originally, she had planned to use the seniors to lure Shu Lanzhou back as free labor.
But after seeing her at the event today, all dolled up and shockingly beautiful, Lin Muyao had changed her mind.
Men were visual creatures. Even if Luo Jialin acted indifferent now, he was clearly reluctant to let Shu Lanzhou go—probably still scheming to bring her back.
And let's not forget Fang Ruoshi, Du Yifan, that pervert Tian Hua, and the fence-sitter Guo Jialiang!
Lin Muyao wasn't about to take any chances. She couldn't allow Shu Lanzhou even the smallest opportunity to return.
She needed to ruin her completely—reputation, support network, everything!
Only then would Shu Lanzhou be reduced to a plaything for men, no longer qualified to compete with her!
Returning to her desk, Lin Muyao was about to log back into the site—an innovative idea was just the beginning. She needed a full development plan to back it up.
But before she could open the page, Tian Hua walked in from outside.
"Junior, can you do me a favor?"
Lin Muyao looked up at him. He was the most serious, no-nonsense member of the team—extremely rigorous in his research, never a single mistake in his experiments.
In some ways, his achievements in their field even surpassed Luo Jialin's. But he was so modest and low-key, no one paid much attention to him.
Lin Muyao was happy to help. "Sure, what is it?"
"I want to buy a few sets of reference books, but I'm a bit short on cash. Could you lend me some?"
Tian Hua was testing the waters. If she was generous, he'd know he could ask for more next time.
Lin Muyao giggled. "That's it? No need to borrow. What books are they? I'll just buy them for you."
"N-No, just lend me the money," Tian Hua said, secretly pleased. Lin Muyao was way more generous than Shu Lanzhou, who even kept a record when lending money.
Lin Muyao pulled out her phone. "How about five hundred yuan—wait, probably not enough, right? I heard from Brother Jialin that full sets of professional books cost thousands."
"How many sets do you need? Tell you what, I'll transfer you twenty thousand first. If it's not enough, just let me know!"