"It's really bustling in here," Fang Yixing pushed the door open and walked briskly to the young man with glasses. He put down the suitcase and opened it directly. Glancing at Ren Qiao, he said casually, "Here, the gene-modifying liquid you wanted. If you can't wait, feel free to use it."
Ren Qiao's crying stopped momentarily, and He Yu sat up in surprise, "Senior... Senior Brother, the gene-modifying liquid in the safe, is it still intact?"
"That box is empty."
Fang Yixing's simple sentence left everyone in the meeting room bewildered. Jiang Guolong was momentarily stunned, then his expression relaxed. After suppressing the cheers from the rest of the project team, he asked, "What about the modifying liquid..."
"Xiao Ye took it home."
Jiang Guolong breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Just as Ye Zhizhou walked in, he slammed the table and shouted, "Second, do you treat the institute's rules and regulations as nothing? You actually took the research results that haven't been officially put into use home! This must be punished! Furthermore, you took it away, and your actions were not careful at all. You even carelessly adjusted the temperature setting of the safe, causing chaos for everyone. I know you came back to work overtime without giving your body proper rest after the car accident, and it's exhausting, but that's no excuse for your negligence. Today, you must be penalized. I'll deduct one month's bonus from you. Do you have any objections?"
Fang Yixing glanced at his master and cleared his throat to suppress the laughter rising in his throat. He maintained a serious expression. This scolding may have sounded like a reprimand, but it was actually all about defending him. He first scared everyone by scolding loudly, then categorized the issue of the wrong safe temperature as carelessness. Finally, he subtly mentioned Ye Zhizhou's previous car accident, hinting that his disciple had worked hard and suffered to obtain the modifying liquid, which was a great sacrifice. Making a small mistake was forgivable, and he had already deducted one month's bonus. Others should not get involved; they should just go home and rest.
"That's right, Senior Brother, you're completely in the wrong here. I advised you to take a break when you had headaches a few days ago, but you didn't listen. Instead, you insisted on working overtime to monitor the progress of the experiments. Now, see, there's a problem. Next time, don't sacrifice your health for saving someone else's life. You might end up suffering without any gratitude." He Yu also sensed Jiang Guolong's bias and hurriedly chimed in, reinforcing the idea that Ye Zhizhou's "dedicated research despite illness" was praiseworthy, while also taking a dig at the young man with glasses.
The young man with glasses understood the implication in her words and couldn't help but glance at her.
Ren Qiao didn't expect the situation to take this turn. She bit her lip in frustration. She glanced at Lou Yi, whose expression was unclear, and her mind raced to find a way to turn the situation around.
Ye Zhizhou, who had walked in with a somewhat heavy heart, had his feelings completely alleviated by Jiang Guolong and He Yu's words. Although he felt warm and touched, he still needed to quickly get rid of the blame that didn't belong to him.
"The matter of taking the research results home was indeed my fault, and I have no objection to the deduction of my bonus. However, I did not set the safe temperature incorrectly," he said, opening his communicator and walking to the projector in the meeting room. He began transmitting a video while addressing the group, "Last night, after work, I did go to the institute. At first, I only went to the main conference room to adjust the surveillance video in the lab. Then I noticed this. To be cautious, I went to the lab and took the modifying liquid."
Ren Qiao's thoughts came to a halt, her expression changed drastically, and a sense of panic washed over her. She anxiously said, "Senior Brother, since the modifying liquid is fine and the mentor has already penalized you, let's just disperse. It's quite late now."
"It's not urgent, just a few minutes of surveillance footage. It won't take up much of your time," Ye Zhizhou opened the projector's player, glanced at Ren Qiao with a smirk that wasn't quite a smile, and pressed play. "Miss Ren, take your time to think about how to explain this."
Jiang Guolong and the young man with glasses exchanged thoughtful glances upon hearing this, then both turned to look at the two of them. Fang Yixing also caught on and, leaning against the meeting table, gave Ren Qiao a cold look before turning his attention to the projector.
The video remained black for a few seconds before the image became clear. A graceful figure entered the laboratory, glanced in the direction of the surveillance, and then walked straight to the safe. After entering a password to retrieve a storage box, the figure entered the password again, but it was incorrect, and the box did not open. After several failed attempts, the figure grew impatient and used a communicator. After a few seconds, they shouted, "The password has been changed! How would I know? He must have changed it!" There was a response from the other end of the communicator, making the figure even more agitated as they yelled, "Stop rushing me! I can't do anything about the password being changed! If you hadn't failed to kill him back then, I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble!"
The meeting room fell deathly silent, and everyone turned to look at Ren Qiao. He Yu exploded, "Ren Qiao! What were you doing in the lab? What do you mean by 'if you hadn't failed to kill him'? Who are you trying to kill, Senior Brother? Did you cause Senior Brother's car accident? You... you heartless person! Senior Brother hasn't done anything to you, why would you harm him like this?"
"Xiao Yu!" Jiang Guolong restrained He Yu, who was trying to rush forward, and looked sternly at Ren Qiao. His forehead veins bulged, indicating his obvious anger, but he was trying to control it. "Miss Ren, I hope you can provide me with an explanation for this."
"I... I didn't... I just drank too much after our gathering... Lou... Lou Yi...," Ren Qiao didn't expect that Ye Zhizhou had been at the institute at the time, recording real-time surveillance footage, and her panic grew as a result. She reached out to tug on the sleeve of the young man with glasses next to her and said urgently, "Brother Lou Yi, please believe me. I didn't touch those modifying liquids. You saw it for yourself, I didn't know the password at all. I was just worried about Brother Lou's illness, so I came to check on the status of the modifying liquid after getting drunk..."
Lou Yi, who had seen all sorts of conspiracies and intrigue from a young age, easily understood the situation. He gently pulled his hand back and shook his head softly, saying in a low voice, "Qi Qi, you've disappointed me. I thought you were the only one among them who was innocent... I made a mistake. You said you came to check on it because you were drunk, but then you sent me a message saying that Mr. Ye had damaged the modifying liquid. Was that also just a drunken rant?"
Ren Qiao began to cry again. "I didn't, I really just came to check..."
In the surveillance video, Ren Qiao hung up the communicator in frustration and left the scene angrily. Then the screen went black, and the video ended.
"After watching this surveillance footage, I took the modifying liquid from the lab and left the institute," Ye Zhizhou turned off the communicator, glanced at everyone, and continued, "The video I captured didn't show who changed the safe's temperature settings, but you can compare the timestamps. After I took the modifying liquid, I went straight home and didn't come back, so it wasn't me who altered the safe's temperature. In other words, someone entered the lab after I left. It might be Miss Ren, or it might not be. But regardless, there's a problem with the surveillance video."
The underlying meaning of his words was that even if Ren Qiao wasn't the one who changed the safe's temperature, she was definitely involved with the people in the surveillance room, and her intentions to harm someone were certain. When deduced to the end, even a fool could understand who had altered the safe's temperature setting.
The institute's high-ranking officials all had darkened expressions. Fang Yixing immediately took out his communicator and called the surveillance room. He shouted, "Everyone from the surveillance room, come to the top floor conference room right now. Not a single person missing, all of you!"
After hanging up, he dialed another number. "You go to the surveillance room immediately and keep an eye on it. Then report to the police that someone intentionally attempted to steal and damage our research results."
"No, please don't call the police," Ren Qiao was in complete panic, tugging on Lou Yi's sleeve again. "Brother Lou Yi, I really didn't mean to. I was just drunk. Please, don't let them call the police. It's all a misunderstanding."
Lou Yi's eyes flickered with reluctance, but he quickly regained his composure. He gently pulled his sleeve away from her grasp. "Qi Qi, if it's a misunderstanding, then go to the police station to clear it up. Calling the police is the institute's decision, and I have no authority to interfere."
[The probability of Lou Yi falling in love with the protagonist has decreased to 30%. Please try harder, host.]
[The probability of Fang Yixing falling in love with the protagonist has decreased to 10%. Please try harder, host.]
The screen suddenly popped up, and a mild headache began to creep in. Ye Zhizhou pressed his temple and walked over to Fang Yixing, patting him on the shoulder and handing him the communicator. "You'll take care of the rest. Thanks for your help."
"Don't say such polite words, it's my fault," Fang Yixing took Ye Zhizhou's communicator, exported the surveillance video, and sent it to himself. His face turned dark. "If I hadn't sent Ren Qiao, this troublemaker, to your project team, you wouldn't have been put through this ordeal. If it weren't for your quick thinking, I would not only have faced criticism but also continued to be manipulated by this cockroach Ren Qiao. Just for this, I owe you a big red envelope!"
Ye Zhizhou patted his shoulder again, offering silent comfort.
Ren Qiao, who had been called a cockroach, tightened her fingers and could only use her tears to conceal her various emotions. The situation was not in her favor now. She couldn't go to the police station, and her plan had completely failed. She had to come up with a new plan, and there was also Lou Yi. She had worked hard to get close to him using the incident with Lou Qian's gene collapse, and she couldn't afford to lose that advantage.
"Mr. Ye," Lou Yi turned off the storage box on the table, picked it up, and walked over to Ye Zhizhou. He had a sincere and apologetic expression. "On behalf of the Lou family, I want to thank you for your assistance tonight, and I apologize for the misunderstanding."
Fang Yixing snorted without a friendly face. Ye Zhizhou pulled him aside and offered a smile that was both gentle and distant as he replied, "No need for that. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up." As for the gratitude, he wasn't very eager to accept it. After all, he hadn't created the modifying liquid specifically to save someone. It was just something he happened to do... In fact, he would have been happier if he didn't have to do it.
Lou Yi noticed his reluctance to talk about it further and felt a hint of regret and guilt. After apologizing again, he turned and left. Having witnessed a play he didn't want to see and played a supporting role he had been fooled into, he was feeling extremely unpleasant at the moment.
The police arrived quickly, and Ren Qiao was swiftly taken away for isolation. The sudden drama had finally come to an end.
After a busy process of recording statements and handling procedures, Ye Zhizhou came out of the police station under the rising sun and couldn't help but sigh deeply. He had been living a tough life lately...
"Ye Brother," He Yu, with a disgruntled expression, followed him out and said angrily, "Ren Qiao has some background, and this incident didn't cause any actual losses to the research institute. Plus, there's no direct evidence. It's very likely that it will be swept under the rug."
Ye Zhizhou remained silent. He had already noticed this issue while giving his statement. The police's questioning had been perfunctory and biased, and they didn't have direct evidence of Ren Qiao changing the safe's temperature settings.
He Yu was not willing to accept this outcome and continued, "Brother Ye, please think carefully about the accident. I suspect there's something fishy about it, and it might actually be Ren Qiao's doing. Look, she joined our institute immediately after your accident, and she didn't even know how to handle things, but she became the lead on your project. To put it bluntly, if you hadn't survived, with her scheming and background, this project might have ended up in her hands."
Ye Zhizhou turned to her and smiled gently, trying to reassure her. "There's no need to worry about it. You should go back and rest. Dark circles under a girl's eyes aren't attractive."
"Here you go again. You... sigh, why aren't you worried at all? You're going to be bullied to death!" He Yu, feeling helpless, turned and rushed back into the police station. "No, talking to you is completely useless. I'll find Fang Brother and Master!"
Ye Zhizhou watched her go and tightly held the small mirror in his pocket. The car accident, Ren Qiao, the Lou family, and the matter of his forgotten biological relatives—everything felt like a giant web closing in on him, ready to ensnare him at any moment.
His thoughts raced as he turned and headed towards a nearby breakfast shop, his expression becoming somewhat subdued. The matter of the supposed biological relatives who hadn't shown up since the accident... who could they be?
A week later, Ren Qiao's case was closed. Fang Yixing, unwilling to give up, wanted to continue investigating, but he was suppressed by his family's senior members, and for this, he almost tore down the office of his family's senior. Several people in the surveillance room were fired, and researchers from other departments also faced problems, with several of them leaving. The atmosphere at the research institute was tense for the entire month, with everyone focusing on their work and no longer daring to be as carefree as before.
Ye Zhizhou received a substantial bonus and was then granted a vacation.
"My old man ran into a complicated network of interests, so there's no way," Fang Yixing complained while messing up his hair and clenching his fists. "That Ren Qiao somehow managed to win the favor of the Shao family. Damn it!"
The Shao family, a big player in the federal political arena, and the Lou family in the military were known as the two giants of the federation. The Fang family, which had a good position in the military's research sector, couldn't compare to the Lou and Shao families, and that's why Fang Yixing's hot-tempered father had been so upset this time.
A single incident had managed to rile up two giants, and Ye Zhizhou didn't know what to say about it.
"Lou's family isn't loyal either! You gave them a life-saving thing, but they didn't care about you. They even let the Shao family's influence extend into the military. Trash!" Fang Yixing was so angry he wanted to smoke, but then he remembered the unfinished experiments in the lab and could only suppress his anger.
"Lou's family is probably busy with Lou Qian's situation... Don't get too upset. Taking a break is good for your health. Besides, I need time to figure some things out. Do you remember my biological relatives? My background might be somewhat related to the Ren family," Ye Zhizhou handed him a bottle of pills, calmly dropping a bombshell. "And I also need time to investigate it. Do you remember my acknowledgment of biological relatives? My identity might have some connection with the Ren family."
Fang Yixing's hand shook, nearly dropping the delicate little bottle Ye Zhizhou had handed him. He rubbed his ears in astonishment and exclaimed, "What did you say? You... you have a connection with that disgusting Ren family?!"