Han Weicheng pounded his chest in frustration. "I saw her at Old Master Mu's funeral. She was standing with that Mu boy—clearly, she's already latched onto the Mu family!"
"Mu Side!" Luo Jialin's voice dropped, his expression darkened with anger.
"He's always been at odds with me. Helping Shu Lanzhou now is just his way of using her to get at me!"
Han Weicheng nodded solemnly.
"As long as you understand. I know you always thought Lanzhou was obedient and sweet—you've said plenty of good things about her to me in the past. But now you've seen it for yourself: everything before was just a carefully crafted act."
"Don't waste your time on her anymore. I heard she's signed up for the competition too. Maybe she's so used to winning alongside us that she's forgotten her place."
"We might not feel any sense of accomplishment by beating her, but I still want your project this time to completely outshine hers. Let her see clearly that—"
"Her past achievements came from being part of this team, not from her own merit. If she thinks she can make waves in some obscure niche field, she's dreaming."
"I understand, Professor!" Luo Jialin nodded, his voice tight with resentment. "I'll make sure she regrets what she's done to us!"
Han Weicheng gave a satisfied nod.
"Good. And go remind the others—stay away from that girl. She's arrogant and ambitious, and she thinks she can climb her way up through the Mu family? She doesn't even respect me anymore!"
"I want to see what kind of success she thinks she'll have!"
"Understood." Luo Jialin's face was tense as he stepped out of the room.
Lin Muyao hurried up to him. "Jialin-ge, is Professor okay? He looked really mad."
"He's fine." Luo Jialin glanced at her.
"You saw the professor's attitude yourself. Know what's expected of you. There's a lot to do in the lab lately—step up and handle more of it."
Lin Muyao cursed him silently: Why should I do more? Are the rest of them dead?
But she smiled sweetly on the surface. "Got it, Jialin-ge. I'll behave and stay out of trouble. I'll go get to work now!"
She picked up a broom to start cleaning, already planning to drag Guo Jialiang back later—there's no way she'd do all this herself.
Watching Lin Muyao play the obedient act, Luo Jialin felt slightly better. Why couldn't Shu Lanzhou have just stayed this obedient?
Well then—let this competition be the start. He'd make sure to teach her a lesson.
That evening, Dong Anlan and the others burst into the dorm room in a hurry.
"Lanzhou, are you okay?" Zhang He grabbed her hand. "That bastard Fang Ruoshi didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Shu Lanzhou was a little surprised. "You all already know?"
"Of course we do! The whole school forum blew up—it's all videos of you roasting Fang Ruoshi in public. Gotta say, you going all out like that? So badass. You're nothing like you used to be!"
Even Ding Yuejiao looked stunned. Shu Lanzhou had never been sharp-tongued—when had she learned to cut so deep? It was shocking.
"But—" Dong Anlan looked worried. "There's a lot of nasty rumors spreading online too. They're slandering you."
That was what had brought them rushing back. They were afraid Shu Lanzhou had seen the posts and might take it badly.
But Shu Lanzhou had spent the afternoon reading. She hadn't even gone online.
"What rumors? Let me guess—they're saying I didn't make it into Professor Han's team through ability, but by sucking up to the senior guys? That I pandered to them with gifts and flattery to stay on the team?"
The others all nodded.
"You already saw the posts?" Dong Anlan looked at her nervously.
Shu Lanzhou shook her head.
She hadn't seen them. But she remembered them—from her past life.
Those rumors hadn't broken out until a few years later, just before her graduation. At the time, her seniors were starting to see her in a better light, and even Han Weicheng had acknowledged her thesis. She'd had a real chance to turn things around.
But then—bam. The slander hit the internet.
It wasn't until much later that she realized it was all Lin Muyao's doing. Lin Muyao had feared Shu Lanzhou would gain recognition again, feared she'd stay in Shen City and land a good job—so she'd set everything up to destroy her.
Now that she'd left the team and drawn a clear line between herself and the senior members, it made sense that Fang Ruoshi and the rest kept trying to bring her back.
Lin Muyao must be worried she'd return too. Using online videos to frame her in advance? That would be exactly her style.
Last time, Guo Jialiang had helped behind the scenes. But this time… she wasn't sure if he was involved or not.
"What kinds of posts? Let me see." Shu Lanzhou turned to her laptop and opened the school forum.
The others grabbed their phones and scrolled.
"That's weird… They're all gone."
"Yeah, totally wiped. Not even one left." Zhang He handed her phone over.
"But I took screenshots. I didn't have time to clap back at them earlier, but I planned to go off later when I had time. Guess I missed my shot. Look—these are the usernames of the original posters."
Shu Lanzhou glanced at the screenshots and raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second, let me show you something."
She pulled up her phone gallery.
"These are screenshots from that earlier incident where people were flaming Lin Muyao. Look—same usernames." Ding Yuejiao blinked in surprise.
"Are they… the same girls who crushed on your seniors and targeted any female member in the team?"
Dong Anlan nodded. "That'd make sense. Your senior brothers are super popular, and always winning awards—plenty of girls have their eyes on them."
"No," Shu Lanzhou said flatly. She knew very well: the ones stirring up trouble during the plagiarism scandal had been hired by Lin Muyao.
"It was all part of Lin Muyao's plan. She paid people to post those insults—to make herself look like a victim."
If the same posters showed up again now, it'd be rock-solid proof that Lin Muyao was behind these new slanders too.
But why had they been deleted so suddenly?
Did Lin Muyao change her mind? Or did this involve Fang Ruoshi, and Han Weicheng wanted to keep things quiet?
Knowing Han Weicheng's obsession with reputation, it made perfect sense. He wouldn't want to be caught up in scandal. And since she was now Professor Mu's student—and had been defended by Mu Side at the funeral—it was likely Han Weicheng just wanted to steer clear of her altogether.
That seemed far more plausible. There was no way Lin Muyao had had a change of heart.
Dong Anlan suddenly understood.
"Ohhh, so that's why you had those old screenshots—you were already looking into those usernames?"
Shu Lanzhou gave a wry smile.
"I never actually investigated. But if I exposed Lin Muyao for plagiarism, it would reflect badly on Professor Han. One of his students caught cheating? That would humiliate him."
"So even if Lin Muyao was ruined, I'd be totally cast out too. Not worth it."
Besides, Shu Lanzhou had come back with the goal of cutting ties with Han Weicheng and his group. There was no reason to help them clean house. She'd rather leave them tangled up together.
In truth, she hadn't looked into anything at all. Everything she said came from what she remembered from her past life.
The screenshots? Just precautionary, in case something like this happened again. A bit of foresight.
And the plagiarism? She hadn't gotten to the bottom of it yet. What she really wanted to know was—who was still helping Lin Muyao from the shadows?
The others gasped.
"So what are you going to do now? Are you gonna get revenge on Lin Muyao?"