"No, of course not!" Shu Lanzhou's cheeks flushed. "Living together isn't something you go announcing to the world! It's not like we got married or anything…"
Who throws a party just because they moved in together?!
"Huh? You didn't register your marriage?" He Sixin looked genuinely surprised. "When that kid said he was moving out, I thought he was getting ready to marry you right away."
Then she seemed to realize something and chuckled, "Ah, well, he wouldn't treat you so unfairly. At the very least, he should propose first. Besides, you're still in school—there's no rush."
Shu Lanzhou's heart skipped a beat. For reasons she couldn't quite explain, her chest felt tight with both anticipation and fear.
The two walked ahead, talking quietly, but even so, Yi Ming and the others trailing behind could hear their conversation.
Wu Cheng gave Yi Ming a pat on the shoulder.
"Cheer up. I heard Shu Lanzhou planned this dinner for you, to celebrate your paper. Don't act ungrateful—at least she sees you as a true friend!"
"…"
"Yeah," Yi Ming's voice was bitter. "How could I not be grateful? Just the fact that she published the paper under my name alone proves she's a true friend."
Now that is loyalty.
Even Wu Cheng and Shen Mo looked slightly stunned.
"We really didn't expect that. Shu Lanzhou didn't take any credit at all—just made sure you succeeded."
Exactly. Who would have guessed?
Why did she do it?
For anyone who didn't know the full story, they might've assumed Shu Lanzhou had feelings for Yi Ming. But she was clearly involved with Mu Side, and their relationship was completely out in the open.
Was it truly just for the sake of friendship?
When everyone finally settled into the private dining room, Shu Lanzhou got up to order a bit more alcohol at the front counter. On her way back, she ran into Lin Muyao stepping out of another room.
"Well, well, you really showed up, huh?" Lin Muyao flashed a wide, mocking grin. "You're really shameless—betraying the Mu family just like that, all so you can climb a little higher?"
"Trying to crawl back to Professor Han's team? Hoping we'll take you in again? Tell me, back then, did you also beg the senior students like a pitiful little thing?"
"I'm not them, and I'm not so easily moved. If you want me to help you, then get on your knees and beg. Maybe I'll consider it."
She crossed her arms, her expression arrogant and smug.
But Shu Lanzhou couldn't help but smile—Lin Muyao clearly had no idea Yi Ming's paper had been published. She was still in the dark, still gloating.
Well, that made sense. Muyao had probably been too busy organizing her own celebration banquet all day to notice what was happening online.
She wondered… how many people had actually shown up to Lin Muyao's party? At this hour, surely everyone should've arrived by now?
Or maybe no one had come at all?
Shu Lanzhou lifted her chin and gave a bright, amused smile.
"Let me guess—your private room's still empty, isn't it? Honestly, Lin Muyao, I don't know what you're so pleased about."
"Want to guess why they haven't shown up yet? Maybe they just don't think much of you. Or maybe… something else happened?"
Her smile deepened. "Such a shame. You're young, but your mind's clearly not well. You must be pretty sick."
If not, why would she believe Shu Lanzhou would ever come begging?
Just as her words landed, Mu Side opened the door to their private room and called out:
"Come on in, everyone's waiting."
"Coming!" Shu Lanzhou responded cheerfully, skipping inside without sparing Lin Muyao another glance.
Lin Muyao, meanwhile, stood frozen, shocked the moment Shu Lanzhou said no one had shown up to her banquet—how did she know that? Had she orchestrated this?
But how? What power did she have to keep everyone away from Muyao's celebration?
It didn't make sense—unless… the Mu family helped her?
But why would the Mu family get involved? What would they gain?
Lin Muyao was completely baffled.
No, no—it couldn't be that. If the Mu family had interfered, there was no way even Professor Han wouldn't have come.
How could Han Weicheng skip it? He was the one who suggested the celebration in the first place!
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Panic rising, she pulled out her phone and dialed.
"Professor, everything's ready at the restaurant. When will you arrive?" she asked with a forced smile.
On the other end came a heavy sigh.
"At a time like this, you're still worried about the restaurant? My phone's been blowing up all day. I've been putting out fires nonstop. We'll have to cancel the celebration—for now."
"What?!" Lin Muyao latched onto those three words: cancel the celebration.
"Shu Lanzhou is eating in the room right next to mine! She's clearly here to humiliate me. If none of you show up, I'll be completely trampled under her foot!"
"Professor, you said I would rise above her. You promised. You can't abandon me now, not when it matters most!"
She was too flustered to think straight. Just remembering the look on Shu Lanzhou's face made her blood boil. She couldn't accept this defeat—not in front of Shu Lanzhou.
More than anything else, she cared about appearances. She couldn't lose this public battle.
She had to look dazzling tonight—to utterly outshine Shu Lanzhou!
There was a long pause on the other end.
"You said Shu Lanzhou is eating in the room next to yours? Who else is there? Is Yi Ming with them? Why would they book the room next to yours?"
"How would I know?!" Lin Muyao exploded.
"She must've done it on purpose. She even asked me about the address for my celebration. She's been plotting this all along!"
"Professor, maybe she got help from the Mu family to block people from coming. She just wants to embarrass me. She's jealous of me—jealous of all the papers I've published!"
"She's even jealous that I'm going to the competition! She's desperate—using this petty trick to get your attention."
"You can't fall for it! You have to show up for me!"
"That's enough!" Han Weicheng snapped, losing his patience.
"Stop thinking about the celebration. Go wait for me in your room—I'll be there soon."
He hung up the call, his face dark with fury.
You've got some nerve, Shu Lanzhou—setting me up like this.
But he wasn't Lin Muyao. He wasn't stupid enough to believe this was all just for show—to humiliate someone for a laugh.
No, this had been planned.
He had read Yi Ming's paper. The starting point was nearly identical to Lin Muyao's research, but the conclusions were entirely different.
The truth was glaring now: Lin Muyao had never done the actual experiments. Every paper, every data set she wrote about had been theoretical extrapolations.
But medical research wasn't math. You couldn't rely on equations alone to reach the truth. A tiny decimal miscalculation could flip the entire outcome.
Yi Ming's paper didn't just have experimental data—it had video evidence of the whole process. Clearly, they had done a full round of trials.
If he remembered correctly, this exact research assignment had been something he gave to his student team years ago. Only Luo Jialin had begun the first stage of testing.
Later, they'd all moved on to more significant research, abandoning the project after writing a rough theoretical outline.
The potential value of the experiment had seemed too trivial at the time. He hadn't taken it seriously.
When he read Lin Muyao's paper, he'd thought it was a great opportunity—a bonus project that could boost her profile as an undergraduate.
With his endorsement, she could build some clout.
But who would've expected—
Shu Lanzhou. That ungrateful traitor.
If it weren't for her, Yi Ming never would've taken on that project. He never would've had the data.
Han Weicheng grabbed his keys and stormed out, headed straight for Dexin Tower…