After Chen Qizhao hung up the phone, he had already walked downstairs of the teaching building and was heading out of the school.

This period of time is quite special, and coupled with the information obtained more or less from Shen Yuhuai's mouth, it is speculated that He Shuhang should take action during this period of time. If we wait until Shen Yuhuai's team submits the project information to the competition, by then the organizer of the competition will have Shen Yuhuai's project information, and it will be too late.

In the laboratory scandal that broke out later, the paper information used by the company that stole the secrets to apply for a patent was highly consistent with the research content of Shen Yuhuai's team. This can only mean that the stolen information should have been taken when Shen Yuhuai's team had completed the project and before participating in the competition. After integrating and comparing it with He Shuhang's available time table, there are actually only a few times that can be determined.

He Shuhang is a student, and there are regulations on the time students can use the laboratory. If someone leaves the institute overtime during a special period of time, and there happens to be no one in Shen Yuhuai's laboratory at that time, then it is most likely that He Shuhang did it.

What's more, the institute's machines are undergoing regular maintenance during this period, and the period of time when no one is in the laboratory has been extended.

After leaving school, Chen Qizhao took a taxi to the Ninth Institute.

He could only rely on the existing clues to know that He Shuhang would most likely take action at this time, but he couldn't be sure whether he had stolen anything, so he could only call Shen Yuhuai.

Shen Yuhuai had just left the apartment when he received Chen Qizhao's call. He stopped for a moment in the parking lot, "No, I'm here in the city. What's wrong?"

"No... I just happened to pass by the institute and wanted to ask if you were there today so we could have dinner together tonight." Chen Qizhao got in the car and gave directions to the driver while talking on the phone. "Aren't you at the institute this afternoon?"

"The equipment is under maintenance today, and the laboratory can only be used at 4 pm." Chen Yuhuai got into the car, frowned slightly and listened to the changes in the voice on the other end of the phone. Just as he was about to ask a few more questions, Chen Qizhao said he had something else to do and hung up first.

Shen Yuhuai hesitated slightly, and then his friend who entered the car asked, "What? Didn't you say you were going to the downtown library to borrow some information? We have to hurry now, otherwise we might be late for the lab."

"Let's not go to the library." Shen Yuhuai changed the itinerary, "Let's go back to the institute first."

-*

When He Shuhang came out of the laboratory, his gloved hands were almost covered in cold sweat. He closed the door of the laboratory and looked around for a while before he came face to face with the boy who had hurried over. The two looked at each other for a moment and walked towards the elevator together.

"Have you handled the surveillance?" He Shuhang whispered.

The boy said, "Don't worry, I'm good at surveillance... But if we do this, can we get a prize? And about the money, is the company you mentioned reliable? Don't let it fail to cover us when the time comes."

"Why are you in such a hurry? We won't be careless about things that have been decided." He Shuhang glanced at the other party. The person who was in contact with him this time was a company he had visited during his extracurricular internship. The other company got the news from somewhere that Shen Yuhuai's project was of the same type as the project done in their company's research laboratory, and finally found him, saying that they could promise him subsequent research funds and a graduate position, and also connect him with a mentor in the university he wanted to go to.

This means that as long as he succeeds, his admission to graduate school will basically be confirmed.

We can't blame him this time. Judging from the current situation, Shen Yuhuai's group is indeed their biggest opponent. If we want to blame someone, we should blame them for signing up for this competition.

Finally, he contacted a boy in the same group. They both had passes and deliberately chose today when there were many people around to take action.

"I've got all the surveillance footage from the past few days." The boy said, "Even if something is lost, they won't be able to find out when we did it. I'll find time tomorrow to get the rest of the surveillance footage and blur the time."

He Shuhang patted his shoulder and said, "You are still reliable."

He put the USB drive with the copied data into his pocket, and his expression was inevitably a little nervous: "Let's go quickly, they will come back to the laboratory in the afternoon."

Outside the Ninth Research Institute, there were more vehicles passing by today, but fewer people walking.

He Shuhang's back was covered in cold sweat when he came out of the research institute. He and his friend had just left the institute not long ago, and they didn't feel completely relieved until they were out of the institute's surveillance range. However, as soon as they turned out of the path, they suddenly saw a boy standing under a tree leading to the road.

There was only one boy there, wearing a black coat, leaning against a tree by the roadside. When he saw them, his eyes suddenly glanced over.

He Shuhang's friend asked, "Are the people over there looking at us?"

As soon as they met, He Shuhang remembered who this person was. It was his junior fellow student from the finance department, and his name seemed to be Chen Qizhao.

He adjusted his expression and said, "It's okay. He's a student from S University. I know him."

He Shuhang didn't know why Chen Qizhao was here at this moment. He had his hand in his pocket holding the USB flash drive and his emotions had slowly calmed down. No one in the lab noticed it, so it was just a passing student and there was nothing to be afraid of.

When he saw Chen Qizhao walking towards them, He Shuhang's face was already covered with his usual smile. He pretended to be surprised and said, "Hey, isn't this Junior Brother? Why are you here?"

Chen Qizhao was wearing a black and white coat today, and rarely wore a hat, revealing his handsome face.

With this kind of looks and appearance, he would be regarded as a good student that teachers like in school, and he would not be aggressive at all.

"Just waiting for someone here." Chen Qizhao smiled and stopped his gaze on He Shuhang: "Brother, did you just come out from the experiment?"

The friend gently pulled He Shuhang's sleeve, signaling him not to waste too much time with this guy.

He Shuhang received a hint from his friend next to him, "Yes, I finished the experiment with my classmates and was planning to go back to school."

"That was quite hard work." Chen Qizhao's eyes stopped at He Shuhang's hand, and he continued in his normal voice, "I saw your classmates leave earlier. It turns out that you stayed in the lab for so long?"

He Shuhang's face changed a little when he heard this, but he still said: "The project is coming to an end, there is nothing we can do. We will leave first, and we have to rush back to school for classes, otherwise it will be too late..."

He and his friend hurriedly tried to pass by Chen Qizhao.

When brushing shoulders with Chen Qizhao, Chen Qizhao, who had been motionless, suddenly reached out and grabbed He Shuhang's hand hidden in his pocket.

Chen Qizhao smiled and said, "Of course it's too late. If I remember correctly, the first class at S University starts at 2:30 in the afternoon. It's already past 3 o'clock. Brother, you are late."

"We've asked the teacher for leave." He Shuhang wanted to pull his hand away, but the hand that was clamping his wrist was so strong that he couldn't get free at all.

He tilted his head slightly and met Chen Qizhao's eyes that seemed to be smiling.

The boy still had the humble smile of a junior on his face, but his actions were particularly unreasonable.

He clamped He Shuhang's hand and pulled him out. "Brother, have you forgotten something? I remember that the Ninth Institute's lab has a set usage time. This time has exceeded the usage time, right? Or do you have a good relationship with the administrator? Ask him to open the lab for you for half an hour longer."

The friend next to him changed his expression slightly, and came up to press Chen Qizhao's hand, "What are you doing? Let go of your hand."

He Shuhang pressed down his hand, but the other party's grip was very strong and he could only watch his wrist being pulled out inch by inch until he was finally pulled out.

The silver USB flash drive sparkled in the sunlight. When Chen Qizhao saw the USB flash drive, his eyes suddenly turned cold. He pressed He Shuhang's hand and went straight to grab the USB flash drive from He Shuhang.

Chen Qizhao pushed He Shuhang against the wall and snatched the USB drive without saying a word. He asked with a smile, but his tone was particularly cold: "Is there anything in it? Why are you in such a hurry?"

He Shuhang met Chen Qizhao's eyes and gritted his teeth: "Give it back to me!"

“Fuck!” He Shuhang’s friend’s face changed and he immediately rushed over to grab the USB drive.

Seeing the person next to him rushing over, he let go and blocked the other person's hand with his wrist, then pushed him away swiftly. He Shuhang didn't care about anything else. The information in the USB flash drive was of great importance and he couldn't lose it in this place. He wanted to snatch it from Chen Qizhao, but was repeatedly swept away by the other party.

The two men were afraid that the matter would be exposed, so they hurried over to fight with Chen Qizhao.

Don’t be fooled by Chen Qizhao’s good looks, he is extremely ruthless and even his blocking attacks are done in painful spots. Two people were fighting over a USB flash drive, and not only did they fail to get it, they were also beaten by the other party and their hands and feet were hurt.

He Shuhang's friend couldn't help it. He glanced at the stone on the ground and immediately picked it up to use as a tool.

He raised a stone and smashed it at Chen Qizhao's head, but was stopped by the other party's hand before he hit him, and was then kicked away by Chen Qizhao.

“What are you doing!?”

A familiar voice came from a distance. Chen Qizhao was stunned for a moment, and his peripheral vision caught sight of Shen Yuhuai running over from a distance.

Why did Shen Yuhuai come here?

The man holding the stone was unwilling to give up, and immediately threw the stone at Chen Qizhao when he saw this situation. Seeing this, Chen Qizhao pushed He Shuhang away. He was scratched on the forehead. He restrained his movements and shouted without thinking: "He hit me!"

He Shuhang was stunned by this shout. What do you mean by beating people?

It was clearly them who had their things robbed and were beaten!

Before He Shuhang's friend could even throw the stone he was picking up to hit someone, his wrist was clamped by another person.

Shen Yuhuai had a cold face and pressed the other person's hand, "Let go."

The stone fell to the ground, and the two people were stunned when they saw Shen Yuhuai, as if they did not expect Shen Yuhuai to appear in this place at this time.

A middle-aged man with two guards ran over from a distance, panting as he ran, "Brother, there's a fight going on here. I don't know why these students started fighting. I can only ask you for help." He glanced at Chen Qizhao and explained after a while, "Two people fighting one person, aren't you ashamed?"

The boy who was picking up stones cursed: "You are talking bullshit!"

"What foul language? I'm calling the police!" Shen Yuhuai's friend also rushed over at this time. Seeing this situation, he immediately said, "He beat people and used foul language. We are now in a society ruled by law."

When He Shuhang heard the call for help, his expression changed immediately. He exclaimed, "You can't call the police!"

Shen Yuhuai pulled Chen Qizhao up from the ground, and noticed the scratched skin on his forehead. He reached out and patted the dust off Chen Qizhao's body, "Are you okay?"

Chen Qizhao glanced at He Shuhang, and when he faced Shen Yuhuai, his tone was a little weaker, "It's okay."

Shen Yuhuai pulled open his sleeve and saw a red patch on his fair arm. His voice was a little lower: "Come with me to the infirmary later."

Chen Qizhao glanced at the people around him. They should be the ones in trouble because he didn't hold back when he attacked just now.

But when facing Shen Yuhuai, he said: "It was just a little scratch."

"Fuck you!" He Shuhang's friend was about to come over but was stopped immediately.

The guard saw the institute passes hanging on the chests of the two men and asked with a sullen face, "Still fighting?"

The fight could not be resolved peacefully. Shen Yuhuai's friend did not call the police, but the middle-aged man who called the guard did. Not long after the few people arrived at the research institute, people from the nearby police station had already rushed over. The section of the road where the accident occurred happened to be a blind spot for surveillance, so the incident could only be restored through the testimonies of the parties involved and eyewitnesses.

He Shuhang was already panicking when he saw the guards from the research institute. He didn't expect that there would be police coming, and his face changed immediately.

His friends were still trying to argue that they were fighting because Chen Qizhao was stealing something.

The police station officer asked, "Who did you see doing it?"

"How would I know? I'm just an online car-hailing driver, waiting for orders on the roadside." The middle-aged man glanced at Chen Qizhao. "When I saw them, the three of them had already started fighting. I had no choice but to call the police. Isn't there a research institute nearby? I saw two big brothers in the guard booth, so I called them over to help."

He was originally only responsible for keeping watch, but the boss came over and gave him a few instructions, telling him to call the police if a fight broke out. As a result, a fight really broke out after a while, and he could only hurriedly call the police to deal with it. As for how the fight started, he really didn't know.

The police station asked: "What was stolen from you?"

He Shuhang explained, his voice a little weak: "...I just took a USB drive."

The people present were stunned when they heard this, as if they didn't expect that the fight would be caused by a small USB flash drive.

Shen Yuhuai looked at Chen Qizhao, "Are there any other reasons?"

The wound on Chen Qizhao's forehead had not been treated yet, and he said nothing while He Shuhang and the other person were talking.

Several people in the room couldn't help but look at him. They saw that the boy in the black and white jacket had a bruised arm under his rolled-up sleeves. Coupled with his fair skin, it was even more shocking at first glance.

It was two against one. From the scene it looked like Chen Qizhao was indeed the victim, and the other two just had dirty clothes, while Chen Qizhao had a scratch on his forehead. According to other people's explanation, the two men threw stones at people on the spot, and when the guards arrived at the scene, it was Chen Qizhao who was being beaten.

At this time, facing the gazes of everyone around him, he lowered his head slightly, paused for a moment, and then took the initiative to say: "I did take their things, and then they took action."

Before Chen Qizhao had finished speaking, He Shuhang couldn't wait to explain, "It contained my information about the competition. I asked him to return it to us, but he refused. The USB drive is very important, and I stole it because I was worried that he might damage it."

Worried that the matter would get out of hand, he added, "We didn't fight, there was just a little friction."

People around couldn't help but look sideways, is this just a minor friction? They all threw stones at people.

Compared to He Shuhang who was anxious to explain, everyone else's attention was mainly focused on Chen Qizhao.

The police station asked, "Why did you take their things?"

He Shuhang also looked at Chen Qizhao with a very nervous expression.

Chen Qizhao raised his eyes slightly and looked at everyone with a bit of uneasiness in his eyes.

He quickly lowered his head, half-closed his eyes, and glanced at He Shuhang with a cold look in his eyes. His voice was weak and uncertain: "Because they are weird."