A safe?
Jiang Demin actually installed a safe in the lab?
In an instant, Liu Chen thought of the recording Jiang Huai had previously made of Jiang Demin accepting bribes. Jiang Demin was a cautious person. For a dangerous job like espionage, he wouldn't bring anyone he usually ordered around, his students.
After all, if the students noticed anything, given his usual character, they would definitely report him.
Therefore, the money and items he earned as a "spy" were most likely stored in this safe.
Just as Liu Chen had this thought, he heard the voice of the administrator from behind him:
"Hey? Girls' dormitory, boys stop!"
Huh? More men?
Liu Chen turned around to see two men standing tall with resolute expressions at the dormitory entrance.
Almost at the first glance, Liu Chen felt that familiar...
aura of positive energy.
Wait! They wouldn't be here for...
Before Liu Chen could figure it out, he saw Jiang Demin, who had been guarding his door moments ago, being escorted out of the elevator by two men on his left and right. They were dressed casually but exuded an undeniable sense of righteousness.
As Jiang Demin emerged, his head was slightly bowed. Likely due to nervousness, he was sweating profusely. One of his remaining sparse hairs slowly fell off under Liu Chen's gaze...
Jiang Demin probably saw it too. He slightly raised his hand to touch the treasure on his head, but as soon as he moved, the man on his left sternly reprimanded him in a low voice:
"Stay still!"
At this scolding, Jiang Demin trembled all over and buried his head even lower.
The sight of four burly men handcuffing a middle-aged bald man and leading him out of the female doctoral student dormitory immediately drew curious glances from the students entering and exiting the dormitory building.
At some point, a low-key sedan stopped outside the dormitory building. The four men, escorting Jiang Demin, got into the car.
Outside the dormitory building, the pale yellow sunset glow was gradually swallowed by the deep blue sky, and the streetlights uniformly illuminated, dispelling all darkness.
Liu Chen, who had probably guessed the reason for their presence, felt exceptionally happy. Humming a tune, he went upstairs to change his clothes and finally got into Dong Tian's car at the school gate, heading straight for the hospital affiliated with Shuimu University.
Yes.
If Jiang Demin truly cared about Qin Cancan, he would definitely have guessed which hospital the 120 ambulance usually took students to upon entering the school.
It would, of course, be the affiliated hospital of the university!
Upon arriving at the hospital, Liu Chen shared the dinner he brought with Qin Cancan and also shared the major news that her doctoral supervisor had been taken away.
"Taken away???"
Upon hearing this, Qin Cancan first repeated it in a loud voice, then lowered her voice under the disgruntled stares of nearby patients' families:
"Could it be that the old bald man finally ran into a tough opponent? He bullied a prominent third-generation figure with connections? And now their family has come to seek revenge?"
Liu Chen: ...
Admittedly, Qin Cancan, your imagination is indeed quite vivid.
"I don't know, but I don't think it's what you're thinking."
-
Tonight was a wonderful night for Liu Chen. After dinner, he took a car back to Shuimu University. With his hands in his coat pockets, he strolled along the tree-lined avenue, where the streetlights on both sides cast an orange-yellow glow.
Where the light fell on wet patches on the ground, it reflected a shimmering brilliance, as if hundreds of diamonds were hidden within the dampness.
Jiang Demin was put away. Although he didn't gain anything directly, he had at least eliminated a scourge for the people.
Thinking of this, Liu Chen's lips remained curved upwards, unable to fall.
Fortunately, with the system's sleeping pillow, Liu Chen quickly fell asleep upon lying down.
The next morning, Liu Chen received a message from Professor He Long.
He Long: Come to the lab.
Upon seeing this message, Liu Chen immediately got out of bed, washed up, changed his clothes, and rode his bike to the laboratory building.
He jogged upstairs to the corner laboratory on the third floor. At first, Liu Chen thought Professor He Long had been marginalized to such a secluded laboratory.
However, after seeing the laboratories next door and downstairs, Liu Chen understood. Professor He Long had forcefully secured the largest, best-ventilated, and most well-lit laboratory.
Seeing Liu Chen arrive, the grave expression on He Long's face finally eased.
"Teacher, what were you thinking just now? You seemed so serious. I thought our experiment couldn't proceed."
He Long shook his head: "Yesterday, a professor from the school was taken away by national security. He was a doctoral supervisor from the computer science department. I don't know his specific name.
Don't worry. The laboratory assigned to me won't be needed this semester, and the students I'm mentoring are actually hoping for a lighter workload. You, as a food science student, are applying to use the laboratory for your graduation thesis, and they're even giving you money. Why would the school refuse!"
Listening to He Long's righteous words, Liu Chen also felt relieved. It seemed the laboratory was indeed secured.
However, the matter of submitting the tip-off material would remain buried in his heart.
-
In the evening, Liu Chen went to pick up Qin Cancan from the hospital. Perhaps because Qin Cancan's health had been severely depleted, the hospital, which had originally said three days, had to extend her stay until today due to her recovery progress.
Auntie Xie, the caregiver, helped pack up the basin, washcloths, and other items used in the hospital during this time and borrowed a wheelchair to push her to the entrance of the inpatient building.
"Auntie Xie, I can walk by myself..."
When Liu Chen arrived, he saw Qin Cancan arguing with Auntie Xie with a blushing face, trying to get out of the wheelchair.
Auntie Xie, having been a caregiver in the hospital for over ten years, naturally wouldn't be persuaded by a young girl in her early twenties.
"Little Qin, listen to Auntie. Your surgical wound may look small, but you've had surgery. You must rest well, otherwise, it could lead to complications later, and you're still young..."
Before she could finish her sentence about youth, a pure black Mercedes-Benz SUV pulled up. The door opened, and a slender beauty wearing a ankle-length cashmere coat in a bright red color emerged, bending slightly.
"Auntie Xie, thank you for your trouble."
The slender beauty in Auntie Xie's eyes was Liu Chen, who had quickly changed into festive clothes to pick up Qin Cancan from the hospital.
"No trouble, no trouble."
Auntie Xie watched as Liu Chen first helped Little Qin into the car, then placed the neatly packed belongings into the trunk. Afterward, Miss Liu, wrapped in a red coat, stood before her.
"Auntie Xie, thank you for your hard work these past few days."
With that, Miss Liu slipped a shopping card into her hand. Auntie Xie intended to refuse, but was firmly blocked by this seemingly delicate Miss Liu.
It wasn't until Miss Liu got into the car and left that Auntie Xie felt comfortable looking down at the shopping card Miss Liu had given her.
"She gave me a thousand yuan!"
In the black G-wagon, Liu Chen was contemplating how to start the next experiment when he heard Qin Cancan's phone vibrate.
"Oh? Could it be that the professor has been released so quickly? And they're urging me to get back to work?"
Qin Cancan said, and then, with a puzzled look, took out her brick-like Nokia phone from her jacket pocket.
Seeing the unfamiliar number displayed on the screen, Qin Cancan hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Hello? Yes, it's me. Yes... Okay."
Liu Chen, hearing Qin Cancan's slightly trembling voice as she answered the phone and her hand shaking so much she could barely hold the Nokia, looked at her with confusion.
After Qin Cancan hung up, she turned her head to look at Liu Chen.
"Ju-just now, national security called and asked if the safe in the laboratory was with me. They are waiting for me in the laboratory with the vice-principal...
I'm a little scared..."
National security?
They were quick. They had already deduced that Jiang Demin had come yesterday to find the key to destroy evidence.
"It's okay, we have to trust them. Besides, think about it, if the old bald man truly betrayed China in front of you, what would you do?"
Qin Cancan immediately replied without hesitation, her expression matter-of-fact:
"Of course, I'd call the police!"
Liu Chen nodded: "Exactly! Don't worry!"
Although he said not to worry, Liu Chen was actually a little concerned. Qin Cancan, his senior student, although he had only known her for about half a month, was very similar to Mi Zhuzhu, which made him constantly feel the urge to take care of her.
What if Jiang Demin had actually made Qin Cancan do something for him?
With apprehension, their steps towards the laboratory were not light. They walked in silence until they arrived and discovered that not only Qin Cancan, but also Jiang Huai was in the laboratory.
Seeing the vice-principal, Qin Cancan handed him the key. The vice-principal quickly waved his hand and gestured to the side.
"Student, please hand the evidence to these police officers."
Upon hearing this, Qin Cancan quickly turned and handed the key in her hand to a tall, upright middle-aged man standing beside the vice-principal.
"Thank you for your cooperation, student."
The man said "thank you for your cooperation" while putting on gloves and then taking the key from Qin Cancan. He then bent down and inserted the key into the safe located in the corner of the laboratory.
The safe door opened outwards, and due to the angle, everyone had never seen what Jiang Demin, whom he so dearly cherished, kept inside the safe.
Luo Guoan, however, didn't need to hide anything. He placed everything from inside the safe into evidence bags.
The evidence bags were transparent, so this time, everyone had the honor of seeing.
Eight evidence bags were used to hold the glistening, heavy gold bars, and behind the gold bars were countless contracts, red seals, bank cards, and passports.
In the laboratory, the few trusted students who usually received preferential treatment from Jiang Demin due to their better family backgrounds now averted their gazes slightly upon seeing those items. After all, they had often given Jiang Demin gifts, and even their names were added to experimental projects with inflated figures.
The poor students, who were constantly made to do experiments by Jiang Demin, waking earlier than chickens and sleeping later than dogs, were dazzled by this wealth.
The old bald man was so rich!
After the contents of the safe were confirmed and thoroughly searched, Luo Guoan nodded to the vice-principal and then turned to look at the group of doctoral students standing in the laboratory.
"Sorry to disturb you all. We hope that no one present will speak of today's events. If a potential fugitive were to become aware, we would have no choice but to investigate whether you were complicit."
After the national security personnel left, Liu Chen realized that the sunset outside had, at some point, turned into a dark night with a deep blue background.
The fluorescent lights in the laboratory were on, yet they seemed exceptionally cold.
"Disperse, disperse. No one is to speak of today's events. You are all in your twenties, you should know what to do."
After the vice-principal said this, he sighed and followed them out of the laboratory.
Then, those doctoral students who usually faked their work and used money to get ahead exchanged glances and left together to find a place to discuss.
Finally, only Liu Chen, Qin Cancan, and Jiang Huai remained in the laboratory. However, before anyone could speak, a sound broke the silence.
"Rumble rumble~~"
Qin Cancan had been eating her meals regularly for the past few days, and she hadn't eaten dinner by the time it got dark. Her stomach was so hungry it was rumbling.
Thinking that she was actually growling from hunger in front of Jiang Huai, Qin Cancan wished she could run out immediately. However, despite thinking this, Qin Cancan's face was actually flushed red, and her eyes were fixed on the floor as if there was something world-renowned on it.
Jiang Huai wanted to treat Qin Cancan to dinner, but thinking of the remaining money he had, which he had borrowed from Liu Chen, he felt it was inappropriate to treat someone in front of his creditor.
Liu Chen glanced at the two of them, sighed in his heart, and waved his hand grandly:
"Let's go, dinner!"
-
The next day, Liu Chen woke up and saw a steaming hot breakfast on the coffee table.
Qin Cancan, perhaps worried that he might misunderstand, had even left a note next to the breakfast stating that it was for Liu Chen.
Picking up the hot breakfast, Liu Chen called out loudly in the direction of Qin Cancan's door before leaving:
"I'm taking the breakfast! Thank you!"
Then he went out with his backpack.
After Liu Chen closed the door, Qin Cancan cautiously and secretly opened her bedroom door. Seeing that the breakfast on the coffee table was already gone, her smile widened.
Walking on the paths of Shuimu University, there were many students like Liu Chen eating breakfast in hand. After finishing his breakfast, Liu Chen threw the plastic bag into the trash can and received a call from Professor He Long.
Glancing at the time on his phone, it was just past eight in the morning. Professor He Long calling so early, could it be that there was a problem with the laboratory?
Liu Chen mused to himself as he answered Professor He Long's call.
As soon as the call was connected, Professor He Long's voice, filled with obvious amusement, came through:
"Hello? Liu Chen?"
"Yes! Teacher, I'm here!"
"The production line matter has been approved by the school. Come to the faculty apartments for lunch today after your classes. Your wife woke up early this morning and stewed pig's trotters with soybeans for you."
The production line was approved!!!
Liu Chen's eyes immediately lit up brighter than the brightest diamonds, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards wildly. He tilted his head slightly to look at the bright sun hanging in the sky.
Today's sun was truly wonderful!