Ruan Chen hadn't been to the lab building for almost half a month. With less than ten days left until the competition, Feng Shuang was getting restless and kept asking Ruan Chen when she would finish her personal matters, as she had questions she wanted to ask Ruan Chen in the lab.
Although Nan Jing never came to the school to pick up Ruan Chen again, he would always wait for her at the gate of No. 1 Middle School every day after school without fail, or have Secretary Liu come to wait for her—he even sent a male student from one of his subordinates.
As April drew to a close, Feng Shuang, her voice trembling with tears, asked in front of the whole class, "Ruan Chen, haven't you forgiven me yet? I knew you hated me and didn't want to be in a group with me. I'm going to tell Grandpa right now that I'm forfeiting, so I won't get in your way." Ruan Chen sighed helplessly.
She stood up, polite and gentle, "What's wrong? I'll go to the lab with you now, and we'll try to resolve it before eight o'clock."
It's 6:30 now.
Tomorrow is Saturday, and she invited Fu Jianzhi to go to the zoo together. To make it easier for them to leave early in the morning, Fu Jianzhi said he would come to Ruan Chen's house to sleep after his class tonight, and the two of them could also buy some snacks for the journey together.
So she needs to be home before eight o'clock.
Before leaving the classroom, Ruan Chen quietly took a USB drive from the side pocket of her backpack and placed it on Yu Xiaoya's desk. Yu Xiaoya understood perfectly and put it away without making a sound. Ruan Chen and Feng Shuang left the classroom, and Yu Xiaoya took the USB drive to Feng Yuankai's office right after.
She ran all the way to get the things into the old man's hands before he got off work, panting as she said, "Principal, Ruan Chen begs you to look at this today... no, right now."
"This child." Feng Yuankai had not yet recovered from the immense grief of losing his only son, but he still forced himself to keep a straight face and carry out his work in an orderly manner every day.
He returned to his office alone, plugged in the USB drive, and the screen lit up. Feng Yuankai's expression instantly turned serious.
As Feng Shuang and Ruan Chen left the lab, filled with doubts, a man with gray hair sat on a bench by the door. He coughed softly when he saw the two of them come out.
Ruan Chen knew that Feng Yuankai must have already seen what she had given him, which was why he was waiting for her outside the laboratory.
"You guys chat, I'll go first." Ruan Chen consciously prepared to leave.
But Feng Yuankai stopped her, "Ruan Chen, stay here, I have something to tell you."
Ruan Chen: That's not a good idea.
Feng Shuang's expression changed immediately, but only for a moment. The next moment, she smiled sweetly, grabbed Feng Yuankai's hand and said coquettishly, "Grandpa, I'll stay too. Let's go home together later."
Feng Yuankai looked at his only granddaughter, his eyes filled with tenderness and a helpless disappointment. He frowned and waved his hand, "Xiao Shuang, go down and wait for Grandpa."
Feng Shuang persisted, determined to find out what her grandfather wanted to talk to Ruan Chen about.
So much so that she forgot to continue thinking about why none of the tricks she had used against Ruan Chendong in the lab a few days ago had worked.
Ruan Chen changed her backpack and asked calmly, "Principal, is it still about the summer camp spots? Did the teachers from the First Affiliated Hospital talk to you again?"
Feng Yuankai immediately understood and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's it. I want to ask you what you think. Do you want to enroll in September?"
Seeing that the topic the two were discussing was not of interest to her, Feng Shuang stopped listening and left.
Feng Shuang's figure disappeared at the bottom of the stairs. Ruan Chen pointed to the laboratory behind him, "Professor Feng, shall we go inside and talk?"
Feng Yuankai glanced at the laboratory, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but didn't.
"Don't worry, the cameras have all been turned off," Ruan Chen shrugged. "They haven't been on all day."
The two went inside, and Ruan Chen poured him some water, saying, "There's no tea, so please make do with this."
Feng Yuankai took the water, and just as he was about to drink it, he hesitated again when he brought it to his lips.
"It's been changed, it's clean now." Ruan Chen said with a half-smile.
In the video she gave to Feng Yuankai, she recorded in detail how Feng Shuang meticulously and tirelessly set up traps throughout the laboratory during the time she handed over the laboratory key to Feng Shuang, just waiting for Ruan Chen to fall into them.
While Feng Shuang was away, Ruan Chen was doing bacterial culture in the lab. She was too lazy to eat and live in the lab, so she simply set up the lab's power adapter to use as a monitor.
Then they filmed a very exciting scene.
This includes, but is not limited to, Feng Shuang putting a suspicious white powder in Ruan Chen's cup, and the same powder being sprinkled into the kettle and water purifier filter.
And they follow online tutorials to synthesize strange gases, liquids, and solids to replace the chemicals in the original laboratory.
She even nailed two nails into the side of Ruan Chen's chair.
Of course, before Ruan Chen arrived, she had already reported to the school's laboratory management, and requested laboratory cleaning and replacement of all chemicals. Feng Shuang's little tricks were naturally wiped out by the professionals.
However, Feng Yuankai knew in his heart that if Ruan Chen really wanted to pursue the matter and file a case with the video recording, Feng Shuang would at least be charged with attempted murder.
Feng Shuang is already fourteen years old—she was born in the same year as Ruan Chen, but is a few months older than Ruan Chen—at an age old enough to go to jail.
The matter is currently under control and could be escalated to a minor or major level; the key issue is Ruan Chen's attitude.
"You've nurtured countless talents, but how could your only granddaughter have to..."
Ruan Chen's words were subtle, but Feng Yuankai understood them perfectly.
He did indeed teach many outstanding students, and the first of his long list of titles was the three words he was most proud of: "educator." But it seemed as if fate was playing a joke on him, as it deliberately inserted Feng Shuang into his destiny.
He sighed, "This child showed a very bad personality when she was young, but it wasn't the kind of superficial evil. She was very good at hiding her true thoughts, and she did have excellent grades before entering high school. So at first, we thought the things she did, such as stealing and leading the bullying of classmates, were misunderstandings."
“It wasn’t until her third year of junior high that a student who frequently lost things secretly installed a surveillance camera in his dormitory, and we saw her true nature—our whole family, including many of her teachers and classmates over the years, had been deceived by her for many years.”
"It was around that time that I began to waver in my long-held belief that human nature is inherently good. My family is a scholarly family, and her parents taught her to be upright, kind, and sincere from a young age, but she still turned out this way."
Tears welled up in Feng Yuankai's eyes, and he looked somewhat pained.
“I thought she would change her personality and become more restrained after her father’s death, but I was wrong.”
Ruan Chen said, "Feng Xiao, I have a suggestion for you from an outsider's perspective. If you really care about her, hand over the video."
Feng Yuankai's body trembled.
In fact, he had long understood that this was the best choice. Over the years, he had taught countless students and knew that this kind of temperament could not be controlled by family alone.
But how could he... bear to do it?
Ruan Chen understood just by looking at his expression.
"Don't worry, I don't have a backup of this video. I'm just fulfilling my obligation to inform you. I won't interfere with your choice."
"But, you should understand, by closing the school, that your love is harming her."
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