Chapter 256 Framing someone to their face?
Just then, there was a knock on the study door.
"Please come in."
The door was pushed open, and Qin Zheng walked in with a middle-aged man around fifty years old and with a large belly.
The man, with an official smile on his face, was a vice minister of the Ministry of Health, surnamed Li.
"Mr. Qian, it's quite lively here," Vice Minister Li said with a smile, glancing around the room. "We've come to check on the progress of key projects."
That sounds very high-sounding.
But when he saw Academician Qian's ashen face and the report scattered on the table, he immediately put on a heartbroken expression.
"Oh dear, what's wrong? Why are you so angry, Mr. Qian?"
He walked over, picked up the report, glanced at it, and then let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Comrade Su Yue, you...you have disappointed me greatly!"
Vice Minister Li turned to Su Yue, his face full of regret and disappointment.
"At such a young age, and as a promising junior valued by both the Gu and Huo families, how could he make a mistake on such a fundamental issue? Academic fraud is a crime deserving of shame! This matter must be dealt with seriously and without any leniency!"
A huge label was simply slapped on their heads.
Qin Zheng, standing to the side, remained silent, simply watching like a cold-blooded judge.
Gu Nanxing and Chen Xinyue's hearts sank to the bottom.
It's over.
This is a trap.
The other party has both witnesses and physical evidence, and even the process for conviction has been arranged.
Faced with this seemingly inescapable situation, Su Yue suddenly smiled.
She didn't try to explain, nor did she look at the fake report. Instead, she turned around and looked at Qin Zheng, who had remained silent.
"Comrade Qin."
Her voice was soft, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire room.
“I remember that three days ago you went to our archives where the reports are kept, under the pretext of learning about materials on heroic deeds. You also saw this report at that time, right?”
Qin Zheng's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
He didn't expect that Su Yue's first words wouldn't be to beg for mercy, but would drag him into the mess.
"I only skimmed through it," he replied, adjusting his glasses with impeccable composure.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Su Yue calmly took out another document from the cloth bag she had brought with her.
It was the flawless and correct report that Chen Xinyue had written down overnight.
At the very top of the report was a “Correction Note” signed and fingerprinted by Chen Xinyue.
"Academician Qian, Minister Li."
Su Yue respectfully handed the new report to Academician Qian.
"This is a new report that we corrected overnight after discovering errors in the original data during our internal review last night, along with a related explanation. Our team member Chen Xinyue has an exceptional memory; she was the first to spot this tiny mistake."
“We originally intended to submit this to the ministry first thing this morning, but considering the significant impact of this matter, we would like to come to you in person first to apologize and await your criticism and decision.”
Her words were spoken with utmost sincerity and utmost humility.
Academician Qian picked up the correct report and errata, and the anger on his face slowly faded, replaced by a hint of suspicion.
Vice Minister Li's smile froze on his face.
He never expected things to take this turn.
Su Yue didn't give them time to react. She abruptly changed the subject, her gaze like two sharp scalpels, piercing directly at Vice Minister Li and Qin Zheng.
"I'm just curious."
"We haven't even had time to submit our internal correction report yet. How could Comrade Lin Wan'er, who is recuperating in a ward at the General Military Region Hospital, have known in advance that there was an 'error' in our report?"
"Are you so resourceful that you, Minister Li, and Comrade Qin, would have to make this special trip at the right time to help us 'catch them in the act'?"
A single sentence, like a thunderclap, exploded in the quiet study.
Time seemed to have been paused at that moment.
Academician Qian's anger froze. He wasn't stupid; he had been in the political arena for decades and had seen all sorts of underhanded tactics.
He just didn't expect that someone would dare to bring such shady dealings to his doorstep.
The Vice Minister Li standing next to him, whose face had been adorned with a pained and official expression, instantly turned a deep purplish-red.
Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead, almost soaking his collar.
"This...this..." he stammered, trying to defend himself, "I also...I also heard some rumors that there might be some...some controversies in the report from Hainan Island. Out of a sense of responsibility to scientific research and the project, I thought...I thought I would come to verify the situation."
This explanation is weak and full of loopholes.
Would a vice minister of health personally come to an academician's home to "catch him red-handed" because of a few "rumors"?
If you said that to a three-year-old, even the child would shake their head.
Academician Qian didn't bother with a single extra movement, directly shifting all the pressure of scrutiny onto Qin Zheng, who hadn't uttered a word from beginning to end.
Qin Zheng stood there, as if he were being suppressed by an invisible mountain.
He could feel that Academician Qian's imposing questioning, Vice Minister Li's implied pleading and threatening remarks, and Su Yue's seemingly calm yet all-knowing analysis were like three invisible nets, trapping him from all sides.
He knew that if he couldn't give a reasonable explanation today, he would not only completely offend the academic giant in front of him, but also completely lose all trust in Su Yue and the unfathomable Gu and Huo families behind her.
In a ward at the General Military Region Hospital, Lin Wan'er anxiously looked at the wall clock.
Every tick of the second hand felt like a needle piercing her heart.
More than an hour has passed, why is there still no news?
Logically speaking, with Vice Minister Li and Qin Zheng presenting irrefutable evidence in front of Academician Qian, that bitch Su Yue should have been completely ruined long ago.
But now, everything is eerily quiet.
An ominous premonition, like a cold, venomous snake, began to creep up her spine, inch by inch.
In the suffocating silence, Qin Zheng made a move.
He stepped forward and, under the astonished gazes of everyone, bowed deeply to Academician Qian and Su Yue.
"Academician Qian, Comrade Su Yue, this matter was my oversight."
His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable decisiveness.
"When Comrade Lin Wan'er was chatting with me during her illness, she did mention this data to me 'unintentionally.' She was not a professional; she just mentioned it casually out of concern for the country's project construction. I did not investigate it at the time, assuming that her memory was faulty."
"It was me who, after hearing this information, did not verify it immediately. Instead, I informed Vice Minister Li, who is concerned about the project, which led to today's misunderstanding."
"I sincerely apologize to everyone for my oversight and recklessness."
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