CH 33

Chen Qizhao hung up the call with the other person. He had already walked down the teaching building and was rushing out of the school.

This period of time was relatively special. Combined with the news he obtained from Shen Yuhuai’s mouth and he could speculate that He Shuhang was acting right now. If the competition started after Shen Yuhuai’s team submitted the project materials then it would be too late once the competition organizers had Shen Yuhuai’s project materials.

Regarding the laboratory scandal that broke out in later generations, the patent application materials of the company that stole the secrets were highly consistent with the research content of Shen Yuhuai’s group. It could only be said that the stolen information must’ve been completed before Shen Yuhuai’s group project was perfected and before the competition started. Once this information was integrated and compared with the timetable when He Shuhang could act, there were only a few times that could be determined.

He Shuhang was a student and there were rules for students to use the laboratory. If he was staying in the research institute overtime during a special time period and there was no one in Shen Yuhuai’s laboratory, then He Shuhang would probably act.

In addition, during this period of time, the institute’s machines were being regularly repaired. The time period where the laboratory was emptied was extended.

Chen Qizhao left the school and called a car to head to the Ninth Research Institute.

He could only rely on the clues he already knew to figure out that He Shuhang would probably act during this time. However, he couldn’t be sure whether He Shuhang would steal it or not so he could only call Shen Yuhuai.

Shen Yuhuai had just left the apartment when he received a call from Chen Qizhao. He paused for a moment in the parking lot. “No, I’m in the city. What’s wrong?”

“No… I just passed by the research institute and wanted to ask if you were here today. If so, we could have dinner together at night.” Chen Qizhao got into the car and gave directions to the driver while making the phone call. “Aren’t you at the research institute this afternoon?”

“The equipment is being repaired today and the laboratory can only be used from 4 p.m.” Shen Yuhuai got into the car. He slightly frowned as he listened to the change in voice of the person on the other end. He tried to ask a few more questions but Chen Qizhao said he would hang up first.

Shen Yuhuai hesitated a bit. Then his friend who got into the car with him asked, “What? Didn’t you say you were going to the downtown library to borrow some materials? We have to hurry or we’ll be late to the laboratory.”

“I’m not going to the library.” Shen Yuhuai changed his itinerary. “Let’s go back to the institute first.”

—

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 away for a while. Then he saw the boy rushing over in a hurry. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before walking together in the direction of the elevator.

“Have you dealt with the surveillance?” He Shuhang whispered.

The boy said, “Don’t worry. I’ve handled the surveillance… if we do this, will we be able to win the prize? In addition, there is the money thing. Is the company you mentioned reliable? It won’t trick us when the time comes?”

“Why are you in a hurry? The things that have been settled won’t be sloppy.” He Shuhang glanced at the other person. This time, the person who contacted him was a company he had been to during his extracurricular internship. Shen Yuhuai’s project was the same type as a project they were doing in their company’s research office. Finally, the company came to him and said they could promise him follow-up research funds and a graduate position. At the same time, they could also connect him with a mentor at the college he wanted to go with.

He just had to succeed and the exam-free graduate quota was basically decided.

This time, he couldn’t be blamed. Shen Yuhuai’s group was indeed their biggest opponent. If someone needed to be blamed then blame the fact that they also signed up for this competition.

In the end, he contacted a boy who was in the same group as him. Both of them had access cards and they deliberately picked today to mix in with the personnel.

“I’ve got all the surveillance for the past few days,” the boy said. “Even if they lose the data, they won’t be able to figure out what day it happened. Tomorrow, I will find a time to get the later surveillance and blue the time again.”

He Shuhang patted his shoulder. “You are reliable.”

He put the USB disk with the copied information into his pocket and his expression was inevitably a bit nervous. “Let’s hurry up. They will come back to the laboratory in the afternoon.”

Outside the Ninth Institute, there were more vehicles passing by and fewer people walking.

He Shuhang came out of the institute with sweat covering his back. It wasn’t long since he and his friend left the institute. IT wasn’t until they completely walked out of the surveillance range that they could relax their minds. They had just turned off the path when they saw a boy standing under the tree on the side of the road.

There was only one boy who was dressed in a black coat. He leaned against a tree by the side of the road and his eyes swept over them when he saw them.

He Shuhang’s friend wondered, “Is the person over there watching us?”

He Shuhang met the other person’s eyes and remembered who this person was. It was the junior on the finance side. If he remembered correctly, his name was Chen Qizhao.

He organized his expression. “It is fine. He is a student of S College. I know him.”

He Shuhang didn’t know why Chen Qizhao was here. His hand held the USB disk in his pocket and his mood slowly calmed down. No one in the laboratory had found him and there was no need to be afraid of a passing student.

He Shuhang had a smile on his face when he saw Chen Qizhao walking toward him. He pretended to be surprised. “Hey, isn’t this my junior brother? Why are you here?”

Chen Qizhao wore a black and white coat today and didn’t wear a hat for once, revealing a good looking face.

This look and appearance would be a teacher’s favorite good student appearance in a school. It wasn’t the slightest bit aggressive.

“I’m just waiting for someone here.” Chen Qizhao smiled and his eyes paused on He Shuhang. “Senior Brother, did you just finish your experiment?”

The friend pulled at He Shuhang’s sleeve slightly, signaling him not to waste too much time with this person.

He Shuhang received the hint from his friend next to him. “Yes, after doing the experiment with my classmates, I am planning to go back to school.”

“It must be very hard.” Chen Qizhao’s eyes stopped on He Shuhang’s hand before his voice continued as usual. “I saw Senior Brother’s classmates leave first. It turns out that Senior Brother has been in the laboratory for so long?”

He Shuhang’s expression changed a bit when he heard these words but he still said, “The project is over and there is no way. We have to go first. We need to rush back to school or we’ll be late…”

He walked quickly with his friend and tried to pass by Chen Qizhao.

He had just rubbed shoulders with Chen Qizhao when the still Chen Qizhao suddenly reached out and grabbed He Shuhang’s hand that was hidden in his pocket.

Chen Qizhao said with a smile, “It is naturally late. If I remember correctly, the first afternoon class of S College starts at 2:30. It is already 3 o’clock now. Senior Brother is late.”

“I have asked for leave from the teacher.” He Shuhang wanted to pull his hand away but the hand that clamped onto his wrist was extremely strong. He couldn’t break free at all.

He cocked his head slightly and met Chen Qizhao’s smiling eyes.

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

He grabbed He Shuhang’s hand and pulled it out. “Did you forget something, Senior Brother? I remember that the laboratory of the Ninth Institute has a set time of use. This has exceeded the usage time, right? Or do you have a better relationship with the administrator? This allowed him to accommodate you and open the laboratory for you for a further half an hour.”

The expression of the friend next to him changed. He came up and grabbed Chen Qizhao’s hand. “What are you doing? Let go of your hand.”

He Shuhang pressed against the hand but the other person was very strong. He could only watch as his wrist was pulled out inch by inch. Finally, it was directly dragged out.

The silver USB flashed in the sunlight. Chen Qizhao’s eyes suddenly turned cold when he saw the USB disk. He pressed on He Shuhang’s hand and grabbed the USB disk.

Chen Qizhao pressed He Shuhang against the wall and silently grabbed the USB. Then he asked with a smile, but his tone was exceptionally cold. “Is there something on here? You are so anxious.”

He Shuhang gritted his teeth at Chen Qizhao’s gaze. “Give it back to me!”

“F*k!” The expression of He Shuhang’s friend changed and he immediately rushed over to grab the USB.

Chen Qizhao saw the person rushing over and released his hand to block the opponent’s hand with his wrist, neatly knocking away the other person. He Shuhang couldn’t care about anything else. The information in the USB was very important and he couldn’t lose it. He wanted to grab it from Chen Qizhao but was repeatedly blocked by the other person.

The two of them were afraid that this matter would be exposed and hurried to fight with Chen Qizhao.

Despite Chen Qizhao’s beautiful appearance, he was particularly fierce when attacking. Even his blocks were a pain. The two of them grabbed at the USB. Not only did they fail to grab it but they were hit in return.

He Shuhang’s friend couldn’t bear it any longer. He saw a stone on the ground and immediately picked it up to use it as a tool.

He held up a stone and smashed it toward Chen Qizhao’s head. Before he could touch the other party, he was stopped by Chen Qizhao’s hand and kicked away.

“What are you doing?”

A familiar voice was heard from the distance. Chen Qizhao was stunned for a moment and saw Shen Yuhuai running over out of the corner of his eye.

Why did Shen Yuhuai come here?

The person who held the stone wasn’t willing to give up. He saw this and immediately threw the stone at Chen Qizhao. Chen Qizhao saw this and pushed He Shuhang away from him. His forehead was scratched but he restrained his movements and shouted. “They are beating me!”

He Shuhang was directly blinded by this shout. What beating?

Obviously, they were the ones robbed and beaten!

Before He Shuhang’s friend could throw another stone, his wrist was grabbed by another person.

Shen Yuhuai had a cold expression as he gripped the other person’s hand. “Let go.”

The stone fell to the ground. The two people were directly stunned stupid when they saw Shen Yuhuai, as if they hadn’t expected Shen Yuhuai to appear at this place at this time.

In the distance, a middle-aged man ran over with two guards. He gasped for breath as he ran. “Big brother, this is the fight. I don’t know why these students are fighting and could only ask you for help.” He finished speaking and glanced at Chen Qizhao twice. Then he added, “Two people fighting one is shameful.”

The boy who picked up the stone let out foul words. “You are talking f*king nonsense!”

“Why are you swearing? I will call the police!” Shen Yuhuai’s friend rushed over at this time and immediately said when he saw the situation. “Hitting people is rude. This is now a society ruled by law.”

He Shuhang’s expression changed when he heard the police being mentioned. He exclaimed, “You can’t call the police!”

Shen Yuhuai pulled Chen Qizhao up from the ground. He noticed where Chen Qizhao’s forehead was scratched and reached out to pat the dust off Chen Qizhao’s body. “Are you okay?”

Chen Qizhao glanced at He Shuhang. Then he faced Shen Yuhuai and his tone became a bit weaker. “I’m fine.”

Shen Yuhuai pulled up his sleeve to take a look and saw that the white arm was red. His voice became slightly deeper. “Follow me to the infirmary to see.”

Chen Qizhao glanced at those behind him. It should be them who was in trouble. He just hadn’t restrained his actions.

Yet when facing Shen Yuhuai, he only said, “My skin was just scratched.”

“You!” He Shuhang’s friend wanted to come over but was immediately stopped.

The guard saw the access cards of the research institute hanging from the chest of the two men and said with a dark expression, “Do you still want to fight?”

The fight couldn’t be better. Shen Yuhuai’s friend hadn’t called the police but the middle-aged man who brought the guards over had called the police. Not long after a few people arrived from the research institute, people from the nearby police station rushed over. The road where the incident happened was a blind spot in the surveillance so the incident could only be reconstructed through the testimonies of the parties involved and witnesses.

He Shuhang was already panicked when he saw the guards of the institute. He hadn’t expected that police officers would also come and his expression changed on the spot.

His friend was still speaking sophistry, saying that Chen Qizhao stole their things so they fought him.

A person from the police station asked, “Who did you see starting it at the time?”

“How do I know? I am just an rideshare driver and was waiting for orders on the side of the road.” The middle-aged man looked at Chen Qizhao. “By the time I saw it, the three of them had already fought. I had no way and could only call the police. Isn’t there a research institute nearby? I saw two big brothers in the guard booth and called them to help.”

He was originally only responsible for following people. Unexpectedly, the boss gave over and gave him a few orders, saying that if there was a fight then he should call the police. AS a result, a fight really started and he could only call the police to deal with it. As for how the fight started, he really didn’t know.

A police officer asked, “What is the matter with robbing you?”

He Shuhang explained in a weak voice, “…He took a USB disk.”

The people present were stunned. It seemed they hadn’t expected this to be due to a small USB disk.

Shen Yuhuai looked at Chen Qizhao. “Is there any other reason?”

The wound on Chen Qizhao’s forehead hadn’t been treated and he said nothing when the He Shuhang duo spoke.

The several people present couldn’t help looking at him. He saw that the boy in the black and white coat had a bruised arm under the sleeve. Combined with the whiteness of his skin, it looked even more shocking.

Two people were fighting one. Based on the scene, Chen Qizhao was indeed the victim. The other two just had dirty clothes while Chen Qizhao’s forehead was bruised. According to the others, the two men had thrown stones at him and Chen Qizhao was being beaten when the guards arrived.

At this time, he faced the gazes of everyone around him and lowered his head slightly. He paused for a moment before taking the initiative to say, “I did take their thing and then they started beating me.”

Before Chen Qizhao could finish speaking, He Shuhang couldn’t wait to explain, “It contains materials about my participation in the competition. I asked him to return it to me but he wouldn’t return it. I was worried that he would break the USB.”

He was worried that things would become bigger so he added, “We weren’t fighting. It was just a small conflict.”

The surrounding people couldn’t help exchanging looks. Was this a small conflict? They were hitting people with stones.

Compared to He Shuhang, who was in a hurry to explain, the attention of the others mainly fell on Chen Qizhao.

The officer from the police station asked, “Why did you want to take the thing from them?”

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 trepidation.

He quickly lowered his head, his eyes half drooping but full of coldness as he glanced at He Shuhang. However, his voice was weak and uncertain when he spoke. “It is because they are strange.”