"Tell me, were the things she accused you of true?" Tian Hua let go of Du Yifan's sleeve and took a step back, his gaze heavy and serious.
"Honestly, when you pursued her back then, it wasn't because you truly liked her, was it? Shu Lanzhou might have seemed naïve, but she's sharper than anyone. She was right not to accept you."
Du Yifan opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. He knew — Shu Lanzhou had been right about everything. Back then, he hadn't pursued her out of genuine affection.
She had seen through it all.
She had understood everything!
Frustration and defeat flooded him. Gripping his hair with both hands, he crouched down by the roadside, utterly dejected.
He regretted it. He truly regretted it now.
Tian Hua found it all bitterly ironic and let out a cold laugh.
"Regardless of how you feel, after everything that's happened during the campus competition, I finally realized something:
All the achievements our team made over the past few years were deeply tied to Shu Lanzhou's efforts."
"But think about it — what did she ever get in return?
An undernourished body, chronic sleep deprivation, and a pitiful amount of prize money?"
Du Yifan jerked his head up.
"She was never shortchanged on prize money! Compared to when she first started college with barely a few hundred yuan a month, she's earned a decent sum now!"
"You're forgetting all those gifts she bought us?" Tian Hua rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"I borrowed money from her quite a few times myself. She probably doesn't have much left."
"Otherwise, why would she still wear such plain clothes? Why would she skimp on meat when eating?"
Guilt washed over Tian Hua.
"You asked me for money last time... was it to pay her back?" Du Yifan's expression darkened, a flash of contempt crossing his eyes.
"How could you even ask a girl like her for money?"
"You've got no right to criticize me!" Tian Hua sneered, jabbing a finger at Du Yifan.
"Search your heart — have you ever truly treated her like just a girl these past few years?"
His voice grew colder:
"We wronged Shu Lanzhou. We owe her, all of us!"
He regretted it deeply.
But there was no turning back now.
He was too used to a life of luxury, too indulgent, too wasteful — and now he owed Lin Muyao far more than he ever owed Shu Lanzhou.
Tian Hua patted Du Yifan's shoulder heavily.
"Forget it. Let's go. Don't forget — we're on opposite sides now."
Was there really no way back?
Du Yifan was unwilling to accept it.
He realized now that he genuinely liked Shu Lanzhou — truly liked her, couldn't stand the thought of anyone else getting close to her.
It wasn't until he saw Yi Ming carrying her backpack that it hit him like a punch to the gut.
The gnawing regret and stifling resentment were suffocating him!
Turning toward the campus gate, Du Yifan muttered, "I'm going to the bar. You coming?"
"I'm not going to drown myself in alcohol like you. Go if you want."
Du Yifan let out a scornful laugh and strode off without looking back.
Meanwhile, not far behind, Lin Muyao, who had been secretly following them, pulled out her phone and made a call.
—
Inside the restaurant.
Shu Lanzhou sat down next to Ding Yuejiao, with Yi Ming on her other side.
"You okay?" Yi Ming poured her a glass of water and asked, "What's with that Du Yifan guy?"
Shu Lanzhou thanked him calmly.
"It's nothing. He used to chase after me, but I turned him down.
He probably saw you carrying my bag and got the wrong idea. Guess he couldn't handle it."
"Seriously?" Yi Ming gave a helpless laugh.
"I was just being polite! And your bag's pretty heavy — carrying it for a bit seemed only natural."
Shu Lanzhou smiled lightly.
"Yeah, he's just petty."
"Haha... Junior sister, you're hilarious!" Yi Ming chuckled. As the dishes arrived, he even started serving her food.
He genuinely found her refreshingly fun to be around!
They ate and chatted until the city lights came on.
On the way back to the dorm, Ding Yuejiao, a little tipsy, kept pulling Shu Lanzhou along, laughing and bouncing all over the place.
By the time Shu Lanzhou finally dragged her into the dorm room, she was completely exhausted and collapsed onto her bed.
"Where the heck did you guys go? How did Ding Yuejiao end up this drunk?" Dong Anlan and Zhang He rushed over to help put Ding Yuejiao into bed.
Shu Lanzhou lay there panting for breath.
"Just at the restaurant near campus — the same one we went to last time.
I guess Ding Yuejiao was too happy tonight. Plus, Senior Wu was there, so she ended up drinking a bit too much."
"Oh right — we ate with Senior Wu's team members too.
Their project has officially secured a collaboration with the Central Research Institute. They'll be signing the agreement soon."
She turned toward Dong Anlan.
"Anlan, you've been helping out with our project all this time. Want to consider interning under Professor Mu along with Yuejiao?"
Dong Anlan froze for a second, panic flashing across her face.
"Uh... no, it's fine. I've already found an internship."
"Huh?" Shu Lanzhou sat up, surprised.
In her previous life, Dong Anlan had tried every way to get noticed by Luo Jialin, aiming to join the Central Research Institute.
When that failed, she ended up interviewing at Luo Family's hospital.
Could it be... she was working for the Luo family again?
Shu Lanzhou frowned slightly.
"When did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?"
"This afternoon. You guys weren't in the dorm," Zhang He chimed in with a grin.
"She didn't mean to keep it from us — she just didn't have the chance yet. Don't be mad!"
Hearing that it involved Ke Beichen, Shu Lanzhou's worries eased a bit.
"So you're interning at the Ke family's company?"
She remembered the Ke family had built their fortune in foreign trade and were pretty well-known in Shen City.
In recent years, they had tried expanding into the medical field, which was why Ke Beichen studied medicine.
She had learned all this from the news during her time in prison in her previous life.
However, Ke Beichen didn't end up following the family plan.
Instead, he started his own tech company.
Later, after Dong Anlan's accident, he had used AI to "revive" her — though what happened afterward, she didn't know.
Dong Anlan shook her head.
"Not exactly. Senior Ke is starting his own business. He wants me to help with some tasks.
Besides, I was never that passionate about my major anyway, so I agreed."
"That's great!" Shu Lanzhou's eyes lit up.
"Startups are always busy — if you need anything, just ask."
If Dong Anlan stayed busy enough, maybe she wouldn't get caught up thinking about Luo Jialin anymore.
Time always breeds affection. Sooner or later, she and Ke Beichen were bound to spark something, right?
After all, Ke Beichen's feelings were obvious — pulling her to his side so insistently, how could he let her go?
Shu Lanzhou was musing over all this when Dong Anlan interrupted her thoughts:
"Don't worry. I'll definitely be shameless about asking you guys for help.
But... I'm sorry I can't assist with your project anymore."
Shu Lanzhou shook her head.
"Of course not. As long as you're happy, that's what matters."
"Exactly! Even though we all studied medicine, not everyone ends up working in a hospital after graduation," Zhang He chimed in, handing over her resume.
"Can you help me check it? I'm thinking of applying to a pharmaceutical company."
Shu Lanzhou glanced over her resume.
"I remember there's a campus recruitment event coming up.
You should give it a try.
Even for internships, you shouldn't just settle for any random company."
As she spoke, she grabbed a pen and scribbled down a few company names.
"I don't know much about other companies, but I really hope you don't apply to these ones."
Zhang He peeked at the list.
"These are some pretty big names in Shen City! Why don't you want me to apply there?"