Yuan Xu's laboratory was brightly lit, yet it exuded an unusual deathly silence.
When Yu Jiuyuan and Xie Zhecheng arrived, the security team had already set up a cordon.
Several researchers in white lab coats were gathered around the incubator, their faces grave. Yuan Xu was squatting on the ground, holding a broken petri dish in her hands, her fingertips stained with the residue of the culture medium, her eyes empty as if her core had been hollowed out.
"What happened?" Yu Jiuyuan walked over quickly, her voice filled with suppressed anger.
Yuan Xu looked up and saw it was her. His eyes instantly reddened: "The strain... my strain is gone." He pointed to the incubator that had been pried open. "They also destroyed all the data backups."
Yu Jiuyuan's gaze swept across the laboratory. The door lock showed signs of being violently damaged, and the computer mainframe was dismantled into pieces.
Most importantly, the petri dish containing the bacterial strain was dropped on the ground, and several rows of experimental samples next to it were also damaged.
The person who carried out the attack clearly knew what the target was; their movements were precise and ruthless.
"It was the Su family who did it." Xie Zhecheng's voice rang out from behind. He had just spoken with the security captain, and his face was as cold as ice. "The surveillance cameras captured three vans without license plates, and the crime took no more than ten minutes."
Ten minutes is enough to ruin Yuan Xu's years of hard work.
Looking at Yuan Xu's trembling shoulders, Yu Jiuyuan felt a surge of anger that almost burst from her chest. Of all the people the Su family had to target, they had to pick on the purest one, Yuan Xu. This was a blatant provocation against her bottom line.
"Don't panic." She crouched down, gently pressing Yuan Xu's hand, her voice extremely soft. "I have another copy of the data backup. You sent it to me last week, remember?"
Yuan Xu suddenly looked up, a glint of light flashing in her eyes: "Really?"
“Of course.” Yu Jiuyuan took out her phone and pulled up the backup file in the cloud drive. “As for the strain, we can reculture it. You must have the original sample here, right?”
Yuan Xu nodded subconsciously, her fingers gripping her sleeve tightly as if she had grasped a lifeline.
Yu Jiuyuan could feel the coldness and trembling of his fingertips. The hard corner of her heart suddenly softened. This boy, who was obsessed with the laboratory, should have been living in a sterile world, but he was caught up in these dirty conflicts.
“Xie Zhecheng,” Yu Jiuyuan stood up, her tone regaining its composure, “Could you please have someone send me a backup of the surveillance footage here? Also, could you please check the movements of all the biotechnology companies under the Su family?”
"We're already investigating." Xie Zhecheng handed over a cup of hot cocoa, which he had just asked his assistant to buy. "Let Yuan Xu have something to drink first. I've already arranged for a psychologist to come and take a look at her later."
His arrangements are always so thoughtful, like precise gears that can still mesh and operate even in the most chaotic times.
Yu Jiuyuan took the hot cocoa and handed it to Yuan Xu. Her fingertips touched the warmth of the cup, and the slight irritation she felt because of Rong Shenghan seemed to be soothed by the perfect temperature.
After finishing up in the lab, it was already past midnight when I took Yuanxu back to her dorm.
As the car drove away from the suburbs, the night sky after the snow was exceptionally clear, and the stars, like frozen diamonds, were sparsely embedded in the dark blue velvet.
"I'm sorry," Yuan Xu suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse, "I've dragged you into this."
"It's none of your business." Yu Jiuyuan ruffled his hair, her gesture meant to comfort him. "It's my fault for not protecting you."
Yuan Xu shook her head, burying her face in her knees like a wounded little animal: "They said... if I hand over the strain, nothing will happen. But it was cultivated with my mentor, it's for making a cancer vaccine..."
“I know.” Yu Jiuyuan interrupted him, her tone firm. “I will avenge you.”
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable power.
Yuan Xu looked up at her icy profile and suddenly realized that this young lady, who always had a smile on her face, actually had a sharp claw hidden inside, but she never showed it to anyone easily.
After seeing Yuan Xu off, the car drove back to the city. Xie Zhecheng suddenly spoke up: "Do you need my help? The person in charge of the Su family in the biological field is Su Mingyu's cousin. I've dealt with him before, and his methods are very shady."
"How do you want to help?" Yu Jiuyuan turned her head to look at him, the light and shadow of the street lamp flickering on his face, outlining his clear jawline.
"The Xie family has a biopharmaceutical subsidiary, which happens to overlap with the Su family's business."
Xie Zhecheng turned the steering wheel, his tone calm, "I can have them tamper with the supply chain, at least keeping the Su family from having the energy to cause trouble for the time being."
His help was never tainted by emotion; it was more like a collaboration based on mutual benefit, yet it somehow made people feel reliable.
As Yu Jiuyuan watched him focus on driving, she suddenly remembered the 77 favorability rating on the system panel. This number seemed to make her feel more at ease than Rong Shenghan's 100.
"Okay," she smiled. "Then I'll gladly accept."
Xie Zhecheng's fingertips paused on the steering wheel, a faint smile flashing in his eyes, so quick it was almost an illusion: "Pleasure doing business with you."
The car stopped in front of the villa. Yu Jiuyuan opened the car door, and Xie Zhecheng suddenly called out to her, "Wait." He took out a file folder from the back seat, "This is dirt on my cousin Su. It's from when we were working on a project before. It might come in handy."
Yu Jiuyuan took the file bag, her fingertips touching his fingertips. Neither of them spoke, but it felt as if a faint electric current was running through them.
Looking at the Xie Group logo printed on the file folder, she suddenly realized that Xie Zhecheng's "perfectionism" actually had another meaning: he never did anything unprepared and never left anyone room to refuse.
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