When Shu Lanzhou stepped out of the car, Mu Side pressed her back into the seat and kissed her deeply. If they hadn't been running so late, she never would have made it out at all.
Her cheeks flushed, Shu Lanzhou protested, "My makeup's all smeared—how can I possibly face anyone like this?"
"Who says?" Mu Side swept a finger across her lips. "You look even more beautiful now."
He drew her into his arms and squeezed her tight. "You little flirt—dare to tease me like that? Just you wait!"
Leaning down, he brushed a kiss across her forehead, then reluctantly eased himself out of the car.
Hand in hand, they hurried toward the hotel entrance. As they approached, a row of wedding cars came to a stop beside them.
Shu Lanzhou glanced over in surprise just as one of the cars' doors opened. A sharply dressed man with a red boutonnière labeled "Groom" stepped out—and her heart skipped a beat. It was none other than Guo Jialiang.
For a moment, their eyes locked and both froze.
Mu Side slipped an arm around her waist. "Let's go."
Shu Lanzhou tore her gaze away, but in her periphery she saw Guo Jialiang turn back to the car. He opened the door, bent down—and lifted out the bride.
Waiting for the elevator, they heard raucous laughter from behind. Guo Jialiang was carrying his bride into one of the ground-floor banquet halls. Although the hotel was vast—its small halls alone numbering four—the Guo family's wedding occupied only one.
Through the glass doors they could even see the welcome poster: "Bride: Lin Muyao Groom: Guo Jialiang." The bride, resplendent in white, smiled with sweetness; the groom's gaze was tender, a faint, blissful smile playing on his lips.
In that moment, Shu Lanzhou thought, perhaps both of them truly were happy.
When the elevator whisked them to the top floor, the commotion below already felt distant—if it registered at all, it was only in a soft pang of regret.
Yi Ming had truly gone all out for this celebration: an opulent private suite with three full tables inside. By the time they arrived, many had already taken their seats. Zhao Huanhuan jumped up and waved excitedly.
"Seniors, over here—I saved you both seats!" At her call, heads turned and everyone rose to greet them.
Their table by the window also seated Yi Ming, Wu Cheng, and a few others. "Grab a seat; I'll go welcome Professor He and the others," Yi Ming said, then strode out of the private room.
The moment he left, Zhao Huanhuan visibly relaxed and leaned in, whispering, "Senior, did you see that wedding downstairs? I heard the Lin family brought in a live-in son-in-law. Elder Lin drew up a will leaving all the family assets to his granddaughter, Lin Muyao."
She went on, "They even got it all notarized, with other relatives and lawyers present. During the marriage he has full access to the Lin family resources, but if they divorce, he walks away empty-handed. And—get this—I heard Lin Muyao isn't in her right mind right now. She's completely dependent on Guo Jialiang. Who knows if she'll regret marrying him once she comes to? I mean, everyone says she's really in love with Luo Jialin!"
Shu Lanzhou stared at Zhao Huanhuan in disbelief. "Wait—aren't you just a third-year undergrad? Where are you hearing all this? You really know your gossip."
"Heh…" Zhao Huanhuan flushed, covering her grin. "I joined several alumni chat groups—there's always someone sharing exactly these kinds of stories. Want to hear more?"
Shu Lanzhou laughed, shaking her head. "No thanks—stranger-sourced gossip isn't worth my time. So, how's your needle technique coming along? If you've got nothing to do, why don't you join me at the outreach lecture?"
"Sure!" Zhao Huanhuan beamed. A good student, she always worked hard; even Mu Yaning had praised her multiple times.
…
By the end of the banquet, quite a few people were tipsy. Yi Ming toasted Shu Lanzhou multiple times, declaring her the reason for his success and how happy he was to have her as a friend. The moment he called her "friend," Yi Ming felt—somehow—that he had truly let her go.
Not long after, he became He Xin's assistant—a title that basically meant "student apprentice"—and his future seemed boundless.
Before Shu Lanzhou began her second year of graduate studies, news circulated in their circle that Guo Jialiang had opened a private hospital in Shen City, with Lin Muyao as its legal representative. The hospital's location and operations had been decided jointly by him and Elder Lin; all the family's property and savings were under Lin Muyao's name, while he held only usage rights.
As for Lin Jiayi, she was ultimately not sentenced. Upon release from detention, she moved out of the Lin family villa—and nobody knew where she went. Rumor had it that Lin Muyao fell ill every time she returned to the old villa, so Guo Jialiang sold it and moved both of them into Elder Lin's residence.
He was now, in effect, the Lin family's public face.
Within their circle, many scoffed that he'd married a madwoman and wasted his life—and that he must be utterly spineless to live off her. Others argued he was playing the long game: outwardly successful, married to a young, obedient wife; with Elder Lin's full trust, the family fortune was effectively his to manage. A poor scholar from a small town who'd been to prison, yet he'd now achieved a leap in social status. In a few decades, his children would be firmly among the elite—who'd remember his origins or his past mistakes?
Shu Lanzhou felt little about any of it. Guo Jialiang had long since paid his debts: from the moment he was expelled and jailed, their chapter had closed. From now on, he could live his life—good or bad—independently of her. If he chose to be a good man, why shouldn't he be happy? If he chose otherwise, surely he would end up back in prison one day.
Since Yi Ming's experiment succeeded and He Xin's team took over the research, progress had accelerated astonishingly. Combined with Ni Sheng's and Shu Lanzhou's efforts, they completed the second phase's results. Yet, for scientific rigor, He Xin insisted on multiple rounds of practical verification.
They quietly recruited a small group of volunteers, filed the necessary reports, and began pilot applications of the new technique in the hospital—using it to treat select patients. Meanwhile, large-scale clinical data on efficacy and safety were collected over the next year, alongside Ni Sheng's new drug, which had progressed through all regulatory stages.
Only after amassing substantial real-world cure data did they formally publish their findings the following September. Almost overnight, He Xin, Mu Yaning, Long Xingyue, and the rest were headlined across medical journals and the media, thrusting their entire team to the forefront of the medical community. Newcomers like Wu Cheng, Yi Ming, and Shu Lanzhou found their names on everyone's lips.
Rumor had it that numerous private research institutes were extending lucrative offers—internships, fellowships, even full-time positions—to members of He Xin's project, the invitations dropping like autumn leaves. Mu-style Traditional Medicine was now the hottest topic in medical circles…