Having said all that, Gu Zhiyun and Shen Jingyan knew that further persuasion was futile.

If Jiang Shu plagiarized Liang Junsheng's paper without his knowledge, there might still be a chance for things to turn around.

But Jiang Shu's cunning lies in the fact that he has grasped Liang Junsheng's Achilles' heel, which is equivalent to silencing him.

The parties involved will not admit that their papers were plagiarized, so what can they do?

Before leaving, Gu Zhiyun reluctantly offered a word of advice: "Have you ever thought that once it happens, it will happen again? If Jiang Shu keeps buying your papers and experimental projects at low prices, you'll have to sell your intellectual property for the rest of your life?"

Liang Junsheng's eyes flickered slightly, and he stammered:

"Gu Zhiyun, you have a bright future, but I have nothing left. I just want to survive. What do I care about intellectual property rights?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhiyun could only silently take Shen Jingyan's hand and lead her downstairs.

On the way back, both of them felt heavy-hearted.

The next day, they told Old Man Xu about the situation.

Old Xu sighed after hearing this, his face showing deep sorrow.

Liang Junsheng was once his most prized student and a talent he had painstakingly cultivated, but who would have thought he would end up like this.

"Where does he live? I'll go find him myself tomorrow!"

Gu Zhiyun and Shen Jingyan exchanged a glance, unsure of what to do.

Xue Hongmei came over with a cup of tea and reminded him, "Grandpa, you have a medical check-up scheduled at the hospital tomorrow morning. Your health is the most important thing. Put other things aside for now."

Old Xu insisted, "The physical examination won't take a whole day. I'll finish it in the morning and go see Liang Junsheng in the afternoon!"

He looked at Gu Zhiyun and Shen Jingyan and said, "You two are still too young. When it comes to reasoning, it has to be this old man, me!"

Tomorrow is Saturday, and Gu Zhiyun and Shen Jingyan don't have classes. Shen Jingyan said, "Grandpa, we'll accompany you to your medical check-up first, and then we'll go to Liang Junsheng's house."

The next morning, Gu Zhiyun and Shen Jingyan arrived at the Xu family home early to pick up Old Man Xu.

As a result, Old Man Xu completely forgot about the good things that happened yesterday. As soon as the two of them entered the door, he asked them if they had found out any news about Liang Junsheng.

Old Xu's forgetfulness wasn't a one-off occurrence, and the two of them were used to it. However, they still had to go through the trouble of repeating yesterday's events once again.

As luck would have it, they accompanied Old Man Xu to the hospital for a physical examination. Just as they arrived at the internal medicine clinic, they saw Liang Junsheng helping a thin, frail old man out of the clinic.

While coughing, Liang's father said, "Junsheng, I heard from the patient in the next bed that the medicine I'm taking is some kind of imported medicine, and it's incredibly expensive. I've been taking it for so long, but it hasn't had any effect. Maybe you should stop taking it."

Liang Junsheng reassured him, "Don't listen to what others are saying! Our family can afford it, so just relax and go to the hospital."

Old Xu was somewhat moved when he saw this scene.

Putting everything else aside, Liang Junsheng is quite filial. If he hadn't made that big mistake because of a momentary lapse in judgment, he would have achieved great success by now.

He coughed lightly, which caught Liang Junsheng's attention.

Liang Junsheng looked up, his pupils almost dilating.

"Professor Xu...?"

Old Xu walked up with a smile and said, "Little Liang, you brought your father to see a doctor?"

Mr. Liang asked, "Junsheng, is this your teacher?"

The fact that Mr. Liang asked this question clearly shows that he was unaware that Liang Junsheng had been expelled from school.

Old Xu said, "Yes, I am Xiao Liang's tutor at school. You know, Xiao Liang's family is so poor, but he doesn't say anything and doesn't want to trouble anyone at all."

When Liang Junsheng saw Old Man Xu again, he felt both regret and shame.

Fearing he would give himself away, he quickly said, "Dad, let me take you back to your ward to rest."

Old Xu patted Liang Junsheng on the shoulder and said, "Come over here later, I want to say a few words to you."

Upon hearing the professor's instructions, Liang's father urged Liang Junsheng to hurry up and leave.

Liang Junsheng lowered his head, slightly hunched his shoulders, and walked past Old Man Xu.

Watching the father and son walk away, Shen Jingyan had doubts: "Grandpa, do you think he will come back to find you?"

Old Xu wasn't worried at all: "If he doesn't come back, won't we go looking for him? It looks like his father will have to stay in the hospital for a long time. You can run away from the monk, but you can't hide from the temple."

Old Xu found a relatively quiet corner and sat down.

Unexpectedly, Liang Junsheng arrived 20 minutes later.

Yesterday, when they went to Liang Junsheng's house, the lighting was dim, so Gu Zhiyun and Shen Jingyan couldn't see Liang Junsheng's face clearly. Now that they saw him, they found that he looked haggard and had gray hair on his head.

He's only 45 years older than Gu Zhiyun, but they look like they're from two different generations.

As soon as Liang Junsheng arrived, Old Man Xu gave Shen Jingyan and Gu Zhiyun a meaningful look.

"Grandpa, we're going to get the lab results."

Gu Zhiyun understood immediately and left with Shen Jingyan.

Shen Jingyan said, "Brother Yun, let's go ask about Father Liang's condition and see if we can help in any way."

Liang Junsheng mentioned last night that his father had lung cancer. They went to the ward area and inquired around before finally getting some information from the nurses.

Mr. Liang is already in the late stage of lung cancer. There are currently no effective treatments available, and he can only rely on expensive imported drugs to sustain his life.

Even so, Liang's father only had less than six months left to live.

On the other side, Old Man Xu invited Liang Junsheng to sit down, but did not immediately mention the thesis. Instead, he asked about Liang's father's condition.

Liang Junsheng told the truth.

Old Xu sighed and said, "Xiao Liang, you must hate me to death. If I hadn't kicked you out of the research group, you wouldn't have impulsively reported Gu Zhiyun, which led to the exposure of the theft of experimental data. If it hadn't been exposed, you could have graduated smoothly and found a good job. But because of what I did, you have nothing left."

Liang Junsheng hurriedly shook his head and said sincerely, "Professor Xu, I have never hated you! It was my own fault, I truly regret it now. If only I had listened to even a little bit of what you said back then..."

He covered his face with his hands in anguish, overwhelmed with deep self-blame and remorse.

Old Xu waited until he calmed down before continuing:

"I unintentionally ruined a student's future, but I don't regret it at all. Do you know why?"

Liang Junsheng looked up and listened attentively.

"Because from the perspective of a teacher, as well as from the perspective of national interests and the greater good of the nation, I have not done anything wrong."

Old Xu said frankly, "But Xiao Liang, you keep making the same mistake and you're still stuck in the mire."

Liang Junsheng murmured, "I know I was wrong."

Old Xu said calmly, "No, you don't know. If you really knew, things wouldn't be like this now."