Ji Chuyun looked at Shu Lanzhou with clear suspicion in her eyes, still unconvinced.
"You left Professor Han Weicheng's team because of her. Don't you hate her?"
Shu Lanzhou let out a bitter laugh. "I wasn't as skilled as others. Professor Han wasn't satisfied with me, and the senior brothers didn't like me either. What good would hating her do?"
She shrugged lightly, voice tinged with self-mockery. "Besides, I'm just a countryside girl with no power, no connections, and not even a relative to back me up. Do I really have the luxury of wasting my energy on hate?"
"If I had that kind of energy, wouldn't it be better spent focusing on how I can rely on my knowledge and skills to earn the professor's recognition and secure a place for myself in Shen City?"
"Don't you think that makes more sense, Miss Ji?"
Ji Chuyun fell into thoughtful silence. What Shu Lanzhou said did make sense. To establish a foothold in society, real ability was essential. Sweet-talking could only take you so far.
As the heir to the Ji family, Ji Chuyun knew this truth well. She hadn't expected a so-called backwater girl like Shu Lanzhou to see things so clearly too.
But… Lin Muyao hadn't lied to her either. So who was telling the truth?
"A lot of things are like this," Shu Lanzhou continued with a calm smile. "Just like earlier—when I offered to show you the way out of kindness, and you didn't believe me."
"This world makes it hard to be a good person. People's hearts are unpredictable. Who knows if someone's words are just lip service?"
She turned and began walking away.
"But real skill—that's something you can't fake. Even if I did want to compete with Lin Muyao, I'd first need the strength to win."
"…"
That… actually made a lot of sense.
Ji Chuyun suddenly found herself agreeing. Lin Muyao had always said Shu Lanzhou lacked real ability and had only managed to stay in Professor Han's team because of a few seniors helping her out. She claimed that after being kicked out, Shu Lanzhou held a grudge and would stop at nothing to get back in.
But judging from Shu Lanzhou's current attitude, she didn't seem like someone desperate to rejoin that team.
Although Ji Chuyun didn't know much about this academic circle, she had been keeping an eye on recent news. After all, Shu Lanzhou had saved Elder Long—an incident that had made headlines. And that paper she published not long ago...
Her father had even mentioned that it could be key to reviving the Mù family's acupuncture technique!
Twenty years ago, a scandal had nearly buried that technique. Since then, most of the Mù family had withdrawn from the field. Only Mù Yǎníng remained active.
If Shu Lanzhou really lacked skill, why would Mù Yǎníng choose her?
Maybe… Lin Muyao's words weren't entirely reliable. Who knew what motives she was hiding?
Ji Chuyun's expression darkened. She suddenly lost the desire to see Fang Ruoshi. Just as she was turning to leave, her phone rang—it was Du Yifan.
She'd called him earlier, planning to meet at the campus gate. And now, this guy was just getting back to her?
Ji Chuyun picked up the call, and Du Yifan came trotting over.
"Fang Ruoshi wouldn't come. I couldn't drag him out either. Seriously, what do you see in that guy?" Du Yifan complained as he approached.
"Come on, I'll buy you dinner. I have something to ask you anyway."
Ji Chuyun's face clouded further. "Who does he think he is? Acting like some big shot. It's just dinner. What, does he think I'm going to eat him or something?"
"You wouldn't, but he thinks you might," Du Yifan joked. "He's from the countryside, timid as a rabbit, all he cares about is studying. Right now he's working on his graduation thesis."
He tugged at her sleeve, steering her toward the gate.
"He's also prepping for grad school. Seriously swamped. Just let it go for now, come back for him after this busy period."
"Next time, I swear I'll drag him out. But honestly, if he's this hard to get, maybe you should consider chasing someone else?"
Ji Chuyun gave a cold snort. "If he were easy to chase, I wouldn't bother."
Since he was working hard on his studies, she decided not to press the issue for now. She handed a small bag to Du Yifan. "Give this to him later. I'm not staying for dinner. If you have something to say, say it now."
"Hey, don't go so fast!" Du Yifan had made a special trip to the university today, and there were things he needed to clarify. They were both heirs to prominent families—so why did Ji Chuyun seem to have it so much easier?
He found a restaurant nearby and dragged her in, pouring her a glass of water like a devoted waiter.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask for a while. Remember at the start of the year when you took me to the Ke family's place? Did your dad know about that?"
Ji Chuyun raised an eyebrow, amused by his slowness. Nearly six months had passed, and he was only now asking?
"Of course he knew. It was a big deal. I was cashing in on his favor with the Ke family—you think I wouldn't give him a heads-up?"
"You're not telling me you went to see me without informing your dad?"
"…What's the big deal?" Du Yifan looked completely flustered. "Wasn't the idea that I'd get it done first and show him the results later?"
Ji Chuyun's face twisted in a mocking smile. "And did you succeed? From what I heard, your family lost quite a bit of money because Han Weicheng's project got scrapped. Bet you got a nice beating for that, huh?"
"Can you not bring that up?" Du Yifan looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. "It's all Shu Lanzhou's fault! If she hadn't been going against us all the time, our project would've gone through!"
"You really believe that?" Ji Chuyun's expression was cold, as if she couldn't even be bothered to look at him. "You think a regular university student with no background and no power could sink a major investment project? Du Yifan, you're giving her way too much credit."
"If you ask me, Han Weicheng just lost to He Xin. Blaming a student is a pathetic excuse."
"If Shu Lanzhou is really that capable, doesn't that suggest your team's past achievements were thanks to her too?"
That set Du Yifan off. "No way! Our achievements came from our own hard work! She had nothing to do with it—don't go making wild accusations!"
"Then tell me," Ji Chuyun leaned in with a smirk, "why did your team start falling apart the moment she left? Now the project's scrapped, and Luo Jialin's already gone back to the Luo family. What about you? What are you planning to do?"
Du Yifan froze. Yeah… what was he going to do?
Should he return to the Du family and inherit the business, or stick with research? Without Shu Lanzhou… Only now did Du Yifan realize just how much she'd done for him back then.
Ji Chuyun lowered her eyes slightly. "Du Yifan, be honest with me. Why do you hate Shu Lanzhou so much? Did she really do something so unforgivable to you? Or is it…"
Or is it just because someone whispered too many bad things about her in your ear?
Du Yifan began to reflect on everything that had happened since he met Shu Lanzhou. Thinking carefully, he realized… he didn't actually hate her that much. If anything, he used to find her pretty cute—until…
Right, it all started after Lin Muyao joined the team. That's when his attitude toward Shu Lanzhou changed.
But why?
He couldn't even recall a specific incident.
First, they accused her of plagiarism. Then they believed she falsely accused Lin Muyao online. Then… it was always something.
And each time, it was because Lin Muyao appeared so wronged, so pitiful, so hurt—that they just assumed it was all Shu Lanzhou's fault.
But in the end, none of it had anything to do with her.
Du Yifan might be impulsive and short-tempered, but he wasn't stupid.
He'd just never thought it through before. Now, with Ji Chuyun pulling back the curtain, he could suddenly see everything clearly.
"It was Lin Muyao," he muttered. "After she joined, that's when I started disliking Shu Lanzhou. Before that, I was just mad she turned me down, but I never really hated her. In fact, I thought she was kinda cute. I…"