Lin Muyao wasn't short on money. Her monthly allowance alone was enough to make most people jealous. And for someone as honest and straight-laced as Tian Hua, money was the perfect tool to keep him in check.
She didn't mind lending him a little more—ideally, enough that he wouldn't be able to pay it back. Then one day, when she needed help with a paper or prepping for an exam, Tian Hua wouldn't hesitate to return the favor.
Lin Muyao was well aware of her own academic limitations. If she wanted to stay in Professor Han's team, the knowledge she currently had wouldn't cut it.
She tapped a few times on her phone. Moments later, Tian Hua received a notification—she'd transferred him money.
Tian Hua swallowed hard. This junior seemed even easier to manipulate than Shu Lanzhou. Could this mean he had a brand-new wallet on hand?
This time it was twenty thousand. How much should he ask for next time?
As long as he kept up his image of being humble and honest, how hard could it be to borrow more?
And repaying it? Out of the question. Lin Muyao looked so kind and naïve—she probably wouldn't have the heart to chase him down for it anyway.
Hmph! Why did Shu Lanzhou have to change? If she were still like Lin Muyao, he could've squeezed tens of thousands more from her!
It was infuriating. No—he had to get that money back.
Tian Hua simply couldn't accept returning the funds to Shu Lanzhou.
He tapped his phone to collect the transfer, then looked up at Lin Muyao. "I heard you ran into Shu Lanzhou at the kickoff meeting. Did Jialin try to talk to her? What was her attitude?"
"Don't even mention it!" Lin Muyao sighed, shooting Tian Hua a glance. "Senior Shu was representing her new team at the meeting. Brother Jialin was worried she'd embarrass herself in the competition, so he tried to talk her out of it."
"But not only did she ignore his advice, she actually thought he was trying to sabotage her. She insisted on competing anyway. So Brother Jialin figured—fine, let her do it. Maybe a loss will finally knock some sense into her!"
Lin Muyao studied Tian Hua's expression. When she saw him frown, she assumed he was still worried about Shu Lanzhou.
Worried he might secretly try to help her, she quickly added:
"Senior, Brother Jialin is really upset this time. He said Senior Shu needs to suffer a bit so she can appreciate how kind everyone used to be to her. So you must promise not to go soft and help her, okay?"
"Help her? What for?" Tian Hua clicked his tongue. The worse things got for Shu Lanzhou, the better. That way, he'd finally have an excuse to demand repayment.
Still… if even Luo Jialin couldn't talk sense into her, maybe she was ready to cut ties for good. If she got angry enough, would she expose his debt?
After all, she did have the receipts.
Looked like he'd need to find a way to erase the evidence—make sure she couldn't use it to threaten him.
Satisfied that she'd planted her seed, Lin Muyao didn't push the issue. With Tian Hua holding the money, he had every reason to stay quiet.
The two of them returned to their own thoughts, pretending to go about their business.
…
Shu Lanzhou was busy finishing her new proposal. Only when she finally wrapped up did she notice the dorm lights were on—and the room was empty.
After uploading her draft to the group chat, she grabbed her phone to check messages, thinking she might grab dinner.
Sure enough, the dorm group chat had new notifications.
Ding Yuejiao had messaged earlier:
"Got held back by the professor for a late meeting. No time for the cafeteria—can someone be a sweetheart and grab me a chicken leg rice to-go? I'll eat it back at the dorm tonight."
Zhang He had sent a voice message:
"Still at the hospital, no idea when I'll be back. Ask Anlan or Lanzhou."
Shu Lanzhou glanced at the time. The messages were an hour old.
Embarrassed, she realized she hadn't heard a single ping from the group chat.
Only then did she notice she had muted it.
"..."
She remembered now—back when she first joined Professor Han's team, the dorm group chat had been buzzing constantly. Dozens of messages every day.
But once she got pulled into endless meetings and experiments, the constant pings became a problem. Professor Han had even scolded her in front of everyone, telling her to mute her phone during lab hours.
Later, she missed a call from Luo Jialin due to the silence and got yelled at again. In the end, she just muted all her group chats.
And with that, her connection to her dormmates slowly faded, and so did the group chat's liveliness.
Now, seeing new messages again made her genuinely emotional. That long-lost warmth… it was back.
This was the kind of noise she loved. And if it was for people she cared about, why should she keep silencing it?
The moment she unmuted the chat, a message from Dong Anlan popped up:
"I'll bring it for you. I'll grab one for Lanzhou too—bet she's still buried in her proposal and missed the messages. Probably hasn't eaten either!"
A smile tugged at Shu Lanzhou's lips. She tapped quickly:
"Exactly! Just finished the proposal and saw the messages. Thanks, Lan-jie, I'll be waiting for your delicious delivery!"
She even added a little emoji of a bowl and chopsticks.
"Oh my god, did our Lanzhou just send an emoji?!" Zhang He typed, dramatically.
Ding Yuejiao chimed in right after:
"Finally some human vibes! This calls for celebration!"
"Late-night snacks on me!" Zhang He added, along with a party emoji.
Shu Lanzhou burst out laughing. All that fuss over an emoji?
Then a flurry of food photos popped up—sent by Dong Anlan.
She had not only picked up meals from the cafeteria, but also grabbed several servings of skewers and a mountain of snacks.
Shu Lanzhou's eyes welled up.
"Thank you, Lan-jie… when are you coming back? You're making me so hungry!"
Then the chat went silent.
Maybe everyone got busy again?
She refreshed the page a few times but didn't see new messages. So she headed to the bathroom to shower.
Just as she changed into her pajamas, the dorm door swung open—Dong Anlan stepped inside.
"Hungry? Come eat! He'er and Jiao-jiao will be back any minute."
Shu Lanzhou stepped forward to help with the food. "Didn't they have meetings or overtime tonight?"
"Jiao-jiao said their professor had a rare moment of mercy and ended the meeting early. He'er switched shifts with someone. Don't overthink it—just come eat."
Shu Lanzhou pulled out a table and started laying out the food. "I'll wait for them so we can eat together."
"Alright, I'm gonna go shower first. I've got something to tell you after." Dong Anlan grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom. Before she could even close the door, Zhang He and Ding Yuejiao burst in.
Zhang He shouted as she entered:
"I was lured here by the smell of food! I skipped overtime and even spent twelve bucks on a taxi!"
That was just the base fare, but still—Zhang He usually rode a bike to the hospital. Sometimes she even walked!
No wonder she showed up so fast.
Shu Lanzhou couldn't help but laugh. "Wash your hands and eat. Lanlan brought a whole feast."
"I'm starving," Ding Yuejiao said, heading over with freshly washed hands and digging into her chicken leg rice.
Shu Lanzhou didn't hold back either. She and Ding Yuejiao hadn't had dinner yet, and Zhang He—though full of energy—was just there for the vibes. She munched on skewers while chatting casually.
"Hey, have you guys heard anything going on around campus lately?" Zhang He asked between bites.
Shu Lanzhou and Ding Yuejiao both looked blank. "No? Other than the competition stuff?"
"Not that!" Zhang He shook her head.
"I heard something at the hospital today. Word is someone passed away. A bunch of doctors didn't show up, and several professors from our school were also absent."
That jogged Shu Lanzhou's memory. In her previous life, around this time, a renowned traditional Chinese medicine expert had passed away. Maybe that's what Zhang He was talking about.
She remembered Han Weicheng going to the memorial. But back then, she wasn't studying TCM and didn't pay much attention to outside news.
"If it's something big, it'll be in the news. Let me check!" Ding Yuejiao pulled out her phone. "Look—could it be this?"