"Shu Lanzhou!" Lin Muyao gasped sharply, completely unprepared to run into Shu Lanzhou at a time like this.
She quickly lowered her head and glanced at her clothes—thankfully, it was winter, and she was bundled up enough to conceal any obvious signs.
Then she turned to look at Guo Jialiang.
Guo Jialiang's face wore an awkward expression, a hint of embarrassment tightening his features.
That expression stirred a trace of irritation in Lin Muyao's chest.
Even though she didn't want Shu Lanzhou to get the wrong idea about her and Guo Jialiang, his look—like being seen with her was some kind of disgrace—made her fume.
"What's wrong, huh?" she snapped, kicking Guo Jialiang lightly. "Got caught by your junior and now you feel ashamed to be seen with me?"
Without waiting for his response, she strode off toward the curb to hail a cab.
Guo Jialiang gave Shu Lanzhou a stiff nod before quickly chasing after Lin Muyao.
The two tugged at each other briefly before both getting into the same taxi.
"Let's go," Shu Lanzhou said flatly, withdrawing her gaze and stepping into the car.
Mu Side leaned over and buckled her seatbelt for her. "Wanna listen to some music?"
"Sure," Shu Lanzhou smiled faintly and turned to look out the window.
Shencheng—a first-tier city. Every year, thousands of fresh graduates dreamed of staying here, carving out a future.
In her past life, Guo Jialiang had graduated smoothly with his master's degree. With Han Weicheng's connections, he'd landed a position at the Central Research Institute. To secure his footing there, he'd gone to great lengths—even sacrificing his body.
More than once, Shu Lanzhou had caught him coming out of Lin Jiayi's office late at night. She often stayed late monitoring experiments, and every time Guo Jialiang went in, it wasn't long before ambiguous sounds drifted from inside.
They were all adults—it wasn't hard to guess what had transpired.
In this lifetime, because Lin Muyao had exploited him, Guo Jialiang was forced to drop out of school. Lin Muyao must've promised him something to keep him quiet.
Knowing Guo Jialiang's nature, she could guess: probably a promise to help him stay in Shencheng. Maybe even marriage, moving his household registration here—anything to make him a legitimate Shencheng resident.
But Lin Muyao's heart was set on marrying Luo Jialin. There was no way she'd truly let Guo Jialiang get his way. Which meant the entanglement between the two was far from over.
From what she'd just seen, Guo Jialiang was already making his move. Whether Lin Muyao would eventually cave… that was hard to say.
Shu Lanzhou couldn't help a sigh. Thinking of Guo Jialiang's past involvement with Lin Jiayi, and now Lin Muyao, made her feel a bit sick.
When they got out of the car, Mu Side noticed the grim look on her face and assumed it was because of Guo Jialiang.
"Word about his dropping out hasn't spread yet," he said. "He might still be trying to find work in Shencheng. If you don't want to run into him again, I can—"
"No need." Shu Lanzhou shook her head. "Don't waste your connections on someone like that. Even if it doesn't cost you much, it's not worth it."
If Lin Jiayi was determined to help Guo Jialiang land a position, they wouldn't be able to stop it.
Besides, she didn't intend to eliminate him completely.
They were a team—for better or worse, their fates were tied together. Dropping out wasn't nearly punishment enough.
She had died in prison in her last life because of them, after all!
Shu Lanzhou turned to Mu Side. "Tomorrow I'll write up a list of essential lab equipment. Don't negotiate prices with Saiwen yet—wait until we confirm quantities; it'll be easier to push for discounts."
"You know this much?" Mu Side looked genuinely surprised. He placed his palm gently on her head. "Tell me—what elsedo you know? Are there even bigger surprises waiting for me?"
Shu Lanzhou grinned. "You could reach out to Senior Ke's aunt for this. I remember seeing her talking to the foreign medical suppliers at the international medical conference a couple years ago."
If they could loop in Ke's family, they'd definitely have insight into fair pricing. She knew the supplier contact, sure, but she lacked experience negotiating deals. Having a middleman would make bargaining easier.
Saving even a little for the Mu family was worth it.
"You know Beichen's aunt?" Mu Side wasn't just surprised now—he was amazed. "How come I didn't see you at that conference two years ago?"
Shu Lanzhou stuck out her tongue playfully. "Ke Ling, the business star of the Ke family—she's their youngest daughter. Since Senior Ke's from their family, it wasn't hard to piece together the relationship."
"You didn't see me because I wasn't anyone important back then. I only got to attend because I was good at foreign languages—they needed someone to help translate for the upperclassmen."
Mu Side was filled with admiration. The more he interacted with Shu Lanzhou, the more he realized—this petite girl was a treasure trove.
She wasn't just smart. Her thinking was sharp. Her observational and analytical skills were far beyond the norm.
He made up his mind—he had to bring her home. A gem like this couldn't be left for others to snatch away.
"I'll visit the Ke family first thing tomorrow," he said. "You don't need to go into the lab for the next couple days anyway. I could use an assistant—want to come with me?"
Shu Lanzhou thought about it. Given her second-life knowledge, she actually understood the situation with Ke Ling and the medical suppliers even better than Mu Side. Negotiating directly would definitely improve their chances.
"Alright," she agreed with a bright smile. "See you tomorrow, then."
Mu Side felt an unexpected reluctance. He didn't want her to leave just yet.
But seeing how late it was, he couldn't bear to keep her up either. He raised his hand in a wave. "Go on up—I'll watch until you're safely inside."
At the dorm entrance of the hospital, outsiders weren't allowed upstairs. Shu Lanzhou swiped her keycard, climbed the stairs, then paused at the window to wave down at him again.
She hadn't even realized it herself—but bit by bit, she was starting to rely on Mu Side.
The next morning, Mu Side was already waiting downstairs bright and early.
Shu Lanzhou rushed down with her bag and handed him a sheet of paper as soon as she got in the car. "This is a list of equipment I drafted for our upcoming experiments."
"I talked it over with Senior Wu—some equipment doesn't need to be top-of-the-line. But for a few critical pieces, if possible, it's best to go with the most advanced models."
"And of course, wherever we can use the institute's existing equipment, we should."
Mu Side tucked the list away, chuckling softly. "No need to save me money. Prioritize the research."
"Ge," Shu Lanzhou shifted in her seat, her smile fading slightly. "Aren't you afraid? If we fail, your entire investment will go down the drain."
Mu Side reached over and pinched her cheek gently.
"Do you underestimate yourself that much? Or do you think I'm clueless? I've evaluated this project too—I know exactly what I'm putting my money into."
"Good." Shu Lanzhou patted her chest. "I was worried you might not make a return on this."
Mu Side paused, a flicker of surprise in his gaze. He'd thought she was doing all this purely for the research, to compete against Han Weicheng's team, to prove herself.
But now he realized—she was thinking much farther ahead.
"You're really that worried about me not making money?" Mu Side asked as he started the car.
Shu Lanzhou nodded. "I am. You can't afford to lose. And neither can the Mu family."
The last part she said so softly that Mu Side didn't quite catch it.
In her past life, the Mu Corporation had been acquired by Luo Jialin a few years down the line. After that, the Mu family's legacy of traditional medicine vanished from Shencheng. Even the Mu Family Hospital was merged into another chain.
She didn't know what Mu Side had felt back then. But years later, when she'd attended an alumni event, she'd run into Mu Yaning.
Even then, Mu Yaning hadn't given up fighting to preserve their family's medical heritage. But that day—under Han Weicheng's pressure—the acupuncture department was officially shut down.