"With Brother."

"Xiao Jing," the voice on the other end of the phone sounded serious, "don't you have a friend named Fang Ning?"

Shi Jing was taken aback; why was Rong Yu suddenly mentioning Fang Ning? She replied, "Yes. Has something happened?"

"Yes. I just received news that Fang Ning is involved in academic fraud, and the matter has already caused a stir in the industry."

"Fang Ning, academic fraud? That's impossible!" Shi Jing had known Fang Ning for so many years and considered herself to understand his character well. Fang Ning was talented and hardworking; he would never do such a thing. "Do you know the specifics?"

“I don’t know the specifics, but I do know that he published a paper in Nature that highly overlaps with a paper published by his supervisor, and now he is being accused of plagiarism,” Rong Yu said, explaining what he knew.

"When was his advisor's paper published? How can you be sure that he plagiarized his advisor?"

"There must be some evidence, but that's all I've found out so far." Rong Yu sighed. It's hard for outsiders to understand these kinds of things.

"I understand, thank you for telling me."

"Don't worry too much. I've already asked Senior Brother Sun for help. Their circles overlap quite a bit, so he should be able to find out more information."

"Okay, contact me if you have any news."

Shi Jing frowned, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

She still remembered how happily Qian Ning had talked to her about publishing her paper before the holiday, never expecting things to turn out this way.

Fang Ning's research was almost entirely conducted in his advisor's lab, a situation that is inherently difficult to prove. Under similar circumstances, people generally assume the advisor is more capable than the student, making it even harder for Fang Ning to prove his abilities.

She called Fang Ning, still worried, but no one answered.

During her university years, Shi Jing met Fang Ning a few times, but never inquired about his life and didn't know any of his friends.

Unable to reach the other party by phone, she was momentarily at a loss as to how to contact them.

Shi Jing thought for a moment and then made a phone call to Lin Yu.

"There are a few bodyguards in the company who are not currently on duty. Contact them and have them all go to Beijing. We may need to use them later."

"Okay, boss," Lin Yu replied, then asked hesitantly, "Young boss, is something wrong? Do you need any help?"

Shi Jing thought for a moment. The bodyguard industry involves contact with many people, so perhaps it could be of some help. With that in mind, Shi Jing explained the problems he was currently facing to the other party.

“I have a friend who has recently been embroiled in an academic fraud scandal and needs to find evidence that he has been wrongly accused.”

“Liang Qiu should be able to help with the technical aspects,” Lin Yu replied. “Liang Qiu is a technician at the company; she’s here right now. I’ll go talk to her about the situation.”

"Okay, thank you for your help."

After contacting Fang Ning, Shi Jing tried to reach her again, but the call still went unanswered.

"I'm sorry, Jian Rong, my friend had an accident and needs to return to the capital first. I'll take you to your cousin's shop, and he can take you back." Shi Jing suggested apologetically.

Jian Rong had already heard Shi Jing's phone call and knew that the matter was quite urgent.

She quickly waved her hand: "It's okay, I'll call my cousin and have him come pick me up. You can go ahead and do what you need to do."

“It won’t make a difference to take a little more time. We were going to pass through the county anyway, and it’s inconvenient for you to carry all this stuff yourself.” Shi Jing said as he put the packages and other things he wanted to take back into the car.

Seeing this, Jian Rong stopped refusing and got into the passenger seat.

To make it easier to send packages, Shi Jing left all her personal documents in the car today, and didn't need to go out to get anything else, as she had spares in Beijing.

After making a slight detour through the county town, Shi Jing dropped Jian Rong off at Jian Li's shop, where she unloaded all her belongings. After saying goodbye to Jian Li and Jian Rong, Shi Jing immediately drove back to the capital.

On the way, Shi Jing tried twice more, but still couldn't get through on the phone. He wondered if something had happened to Fang Ning.

Fang Ning is studying alone in Beijing, and her social circle is already small. If something really happens...

She had no connections at the Beijing research center, but Zhao Xunkun might know some people.

With this in mind, while taking a break at the service area, Shi Jing directly called Zhao Xunkun.

"Time Mirror?"

"Brother Xunkun, I'm sorry to bother you. I wonder if you have any connections at the research center? I have something I'd like to ask you for help with." Shi Jing was anxious and asked directly.

After collaborating with Zhao Xunkan, she maintained a good relationship with the Zhao family. Zhao Xunkun was no longer as unfamiliar with her as he had been at first; in fact, he treated her somewhat like a younger sister.

Upon hearing Shi Jing's question, Zhao Xunkun did not hesitate for long: "I know him, but the relationships there are complicated, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help."

"I don't want to do anything dangerous. I'd like to ask them to help me find my friend's address. I can't contact him right now, and I'm worried he might be in danger."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xunkun immediately said, "Okay, send me the name."

Shi Jing quickly sent Fang Ning's name and basic information.

After making the call, Shi Jing continued driving towards Beijing.

Fang Ning's confidentiality wasn't high; finding her address wasn't difficult. Before even exiting the highway, Shi Jing had already obtained Fang Ning's address.

After exiting the highway, she drove directly to this address.

Fang Ning's address, listed in the register, wasn't far from the research center, just a bit out of the way. It was only a few bus stops away.

Shi Jing exited the highway and went directly onto the elevated road. The address was in the outer city, and the road was not congested. Shi Jing drove smoothly to his destination.

This is a somewhat old-fashioned residential area with congested streets and alleys, and many extended corrugated steel sheds on both sides.

The alleyway bears heavy traces of daily life; damp sewage and household garbage are frequently visible on the ground. Even when pedestrians are careful, they inevitably step on some of it, making the alleyway even dirtier and more chaotic.

In both her past and present lives, Shi Jing had never encountered such a living environment, nor did she expect that such a place would exist in the glamorous capital city.

She carefully walked into the address Zhao Xunkun had sent her, and finally followed the door number to a building.

Unit 3, 4th floor, room 405.

The old apartment building had no elevator, only a staircase. She entered the building according to the apartment number and climbed to the fourth floor.

Apartment 405 is an east-facing unit. Shi Jing knocked on the door. After a while, footsteps came from inside.

The person who opened the door was a boy with blond hair. He paused for a moment when he saw Shi Jing and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Hello, does Fang Ning live here?"

"Fang Ning? Who's that?" The boy thought for a moment and called out into the house, "Hey, is there anyone around here named Fang Ning?"

The open door reveals a very narrow interior space; the living room is not visible, as the room has been partitioned into separate rooms.

This appears to be a house specifically for rent.

After the boy shouted, a head popped out of the open room a moment later: "Fang Ning?"

He thought for a moment and then said, "Is it that slow-talking man? I think his surname is also Fang."