Shulan Zhou smiled.
"Of course it's a good thing. This is a significant step forward for the Mu family's acupuncture research. The National Hospital is the leading medical institution in the country—there's no better place to begin promoting it."
"Traditional Chinese medicine has been suppressed at the National Hospital for far too long. If it weren't for Elder Long's persistence in keeping the TCM clinic running, it might've been shut down years ago."
"Now those two at the top of the National Hospital obviously don't support traditional medicine. If we can use this research breakthrough to push TCM into the spotlight there and raise Director Long's profile, it'll benefit both our industry and the future of medicine."
He Xin chuckled.
"You've always been a sharp one. Do what you think is right—but just remember the Mu family's rules: never break the law or your morals. Beyond that, it's your call."
"Thank you, Professor." Shulan Zhou bowed and left the office. After stepping outside, she planned to stop by the Traditional Medicine Hospital. There were things she needed to discuss with Mu Yanning.
As she descended the stairs, she ran into Tian Hua and his group.
It had been two years. Everyone had changed quite a bit.
"You first," Tian Hua pulled Du Yifan and Fang Ruoshi aside to make way for her.
Shulan Zhou was a bit surprised.
"I saw the announcement about your team's new drug getting approved. Congratulations. I didn't expect your research to move so quickly in just two years."
"Of course," Du Yifan said coldly. He still remembered how he'd once begged to join her team, and how she hadn't even given him a glance.
Later, he'd manipulated Huang Tiantian's situation to get Lin Muyao's mother to pull strings for him to enter the institute. Though that too had been tipped off by Shulan Zhou, he knew full well she hadn't done it out of kindness.
She had always looked down on him. She never believed his team would achieve anything noteworthy—certainly not anything that could surpass He Xin's team.
For the past two years, he had tried to make amends, tried to get back on her good side. But all he ever got in return was cold indifference. That resentment had been building up inside him ever since.
Now that their team had received approval for their new drug ahead of hers…
What would she say?
Was she not even the least bit embarrassed?
"You've underestimated plenty of things, Shulan Zhou. Don't think that just because you're thriving in the Mu family now, you can look down on your seniors. We've always been stronger than you."
"Now that our drug has launched, you just wait—Mu Corp is going to take a serious hit—"
"Yifan," Tian Hua interrupted, flashing Shulan an apologetic look.
"Don't listen to him. The drug's success is thanks to Professor Han's efforts. You know how capable he is. He put a lot into this project."
Shulan smiled faintly.
"From the way you said that, it's like he never put effort into his previous projects."
"Cut the sarcasm," Du Yifan snapped, shaking off Tian Hua.
"I'm telling you, Shulan Zhou, we already paid for the way we treated you before. I've apologized countless times. But how did you respond?"
"Now our drug is on the market, and don't pretend you're not jealous. Han Wei Cheng has always been more capable than Professor He."
"You only managed to succeed a bit earlier because you started sooner. If our project had launched a year earlier, none of this would be yours."
Shulan nodded.
"Fair point. Then I wish you continued success—and many more breakthroughs to come."
"You—" Du Yifan was boiling. Her cool attitude, her dismissiveness—it still made his blood boil.
She was just an orphan. What right did she have to look down on him?
Tian Hua grabbed his arm.
"That's enough, Yifan. Let her go."
"Thanks," Shulan nodded politely at Tian Hua and moved past them.
"Oh, by the way, Tian Hua," she added, pausing to look over her shoulder, "like you said—I know exactly how capable Professor Han is. So really, you didn't need to go out of your way to remind me."
Unless, of course… you're guilty.
And guilty they clearly were.
Anyone with even a basic understanding of the medical field knew how long it took to develop and approve a new drug.
Even with the shortest clinical validation period, they simply hadn't had enough time.
No matter how much they praised Han Wei Cheng's talent, it didn't add up.
Their boldness only stemmed from one thing—they were certain Shulan Zhou's team wouldn't be able to prove anything.
She found that laughable.
"Wait!" A voice called her back—it was Fang Ruoshi, his tone dark and brooding.
Among the group, he had changed the most. Once a simple, hard-working student, now he was dressed head to toe in designer labels, his once-kind face twisted by something colder.
He stared at her.
"Did you know Lin Muyao's gone mad?"
"Lin Muyao?" Shulan raised an eyebrow. "Why would I know that? And what does her madness have to do with me?"
There was a flicker of something—guilt? panic?—in Fang Ruoshi's eyes. As if she could see right through him. He felt exposed and uncomfortable.
"She was your fellow student. And she ended up this way because of you. Don't you feel the slightest bit of guilt?" Fang's fists clenched as rage burned in his voice.
Shulan smirked, her voice calm and cutting.
"Why should I feel guilty for something I didn't do? And who are you to come lecture me?"
"If you care so much, maybe look into the real reason she lost her mind. Or be like Guo Jialiang—stay by her side, take care of her, even treat her."
"But if you can't do that, then keep your distance. Don't play the saint in front of me. Let me be perfectly clear—I don't know who she is, so why should I feel guilty?"
With that, Shulan Zhou brushed past him and headed downstairs.
Moments later came a loud thud—Fang had slammed his fist against the stair railing.
His voice rang out, furious and trembling:
"You cold-hearted woman! How can you be so cruel and unfeeling? Everything that's happened to them is your fault—all of it!"
"You'll pay for this. You will get what's coming to you!"
What he really wanted to scream was:
Everything that's happened to me is because of you! It was your indifference that drove me into Ji Chuyun's trap. It's your fault I'm living this miserable half-life, neither human nor ghost!
But he didn't dare say it.
He couldn't bear for anyone to know what his relationship with Ji Chuyun was really like.
Clearly, he hadn't hit rock bottom yet.
Shulan Zhou glanced back and smiled faintly.
"Classmate Fang, let me leave you with a thought—everyone has to take responsibility for their own choices. If you can't accept the consequences, then give up what you've gained and walk away."
"If you can't let go, then endure it quietly. Shouting won't change anything. Shifting blame only proves your weakness."
Her words struck like a whip.
Fang Ruoshi flushed a deep red, speechless. He stood there stunned until her silhouette disappeared down the stairs.
Du Yifan cursed under his breath.
"What the hell is she even talking about? Lin Muyao lost her mind and she still has the gall to say it has nothing to do with her?"
Tian Hua gave him a long, unimpressed look before slinging an arm around Fang Ruoshi.
"Enough, Yifan. I know this hits hard. Lin Muyao was the reason you even got into the Ji family. I get that you're angry on her behalf."
"But let's be real—you can't pin this on Shulan Zhou. She didn't force Lin Muyao to cheat on her thesis. She didn't make her mom beat her. At the end of the day, it was all Lin Muyao's own doing."
Fang Ruoshi's face went deathly pale. He pushed Tian Hua's arm off.
"I need some air."