So-called Justice

It was already the early morning of October 17th. He quietly asked the Senior Sister, 'Someone's coming to pick me up in a bit, do you want a ride?'

"Shuyi gossiped with me a little…" Xu Zhenqing smiled. "He said a handsome guy is pursuing you. If I'm there, won't I be intruding? I'm not as thick-skinned as him, to want to be a third wheel."

She stubbed out her cigarette.

"It won't be an intrusion. And it's not entirely that he's pursuing me."

"Is that so?" The Senior Sister didn't press for details. "Then thank you, Junior Brother. I really don't feel like going back alone today."

Once a stranger, twice an acquaintance. Cheng Shuo didn't refuse.

On the way, Xu Zhenqing didn't talk much. After the two exchanged names, the car fell silent.

After the Senior Sister waved goodbye, Cheng Shuo asked, "What's wrong? You two both look so tired."

He wanted to say it, but then found it funny. He was already relying on the other person enough.

'Must I keep relentlessly dumping my emotional trash?'

"Something happened at the laboratory," Cen Zeng said. "It's about Senior Brother Song Shuyi, whom you met last time. It's put both of us in a bit of a bad mood."

Cen Zeng was clearly downplaying a major issue again.

Cheng Shuo just wanted to sigh. "You're in a very bad mood, aren't you?"

"Did it affect you?"

"I'm sorry."

He always forgot, when approaching the lighthouse, that he was soaking wet. At any moment, he could douse the flame.

"Do you have absolutely no experience dealing with people who care about you?" Cheng Shuo sighed. "You're not allowed to say sorry."

"Then what should I say?" Fortunately, this person at least knew to ask.

"You should say, 'I was waiting for you to ask. I'm going to tell you everything, down to the last word. Then, once you're done listening, you should quickly find a way to make me feel better.'"

After Cheng Shuo finished speaking, Cen Zeng, who was opposite him, broke into a smile. "That's too hard."

"Then learn," Cheng Shuo said. "Is it harder than going to school and doing research every day until you're dead tired?"

"Much harder..." Cen Zeng replied. "So hard."

And yet, he was actually still smiling when he said this. His smile was quite handsome. His brow was etched with exhaustion, and the smile mixed in like rain, almost as if he were being coquettish.

Cheng Shuo shook his head, driving the strange thought away. "What are you laughing at?"

The one who asked 'What are you laughing at?' pretended to be serious and glared at Cen Zeng, but couldn't hide the delight in his own eyes. Cen Zeng watched him, shook his head, and said, "Nothing."

It was just that the person opposite him was very good-looking when he smiled, very good-looking when he was worried and gentle, and very good-looking when he was teaching him how to accept care, that's all.

Cheng Shuo had originally wanted to ask him if he wanted to open the letter on the evening of the seventeenth. Now, seeing that Cen Zeng's weariness hadn't faded, the words on the tip of his tongue changed. "You've been so busy lately. How about this, on the eighteenth, I'll just book a private room, and we can eat out?"

Cen Zeng shook his head and said, "I'm free on the eighteenth. Let's talk tomorrow about the specific number of people and what dishes to make."

He said it with certainty.

"My advisor won't be in tomorrow, so I'll make you dinner first to see if you like it. If not, we can still book a place. Is there enough time for that?"

How could it not be.

Cheng Shuo sighed. "I'm just worried you'll be too tired."

"I'm fine." Cen Zeng smiled. "Don't worry. The work is almost done. I specifically cleared out some time."

"No wonder you've been so busy these past few days." Cheng Shuo just smiled, looking down to start the car. "Then get to sleep early tonight."

Li Aimin had always had a knack for being disgusting. After dropping a bombshell, he disappeared again the next day, invited to the neighboring city for an expert consultation, leaving Xu Zhenqing to preside over the group meeting.

She assigned tasks as usual.

Considering Song Shuyi's mood, she mostly assigned him collaborative projects and tried to slow down the pace.

"Yuhao, if you have any problems with this week's experiments, you can come to me first," Xu Zhenqing added. "Just find me anytime."

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Zhang Yuhao asked. "Brother Song has always been the one supervising this."

"It's fine. I was the one who initially proposed this project to Director Li, and I was quite involved in the early stages," Xu Zhenqing said.

"Then did you ask for Brother Song's opinion?" Zhang Yuhao asked. "Or did you two already discuss this in private?"

His gaze darted between the two of them.

Song Shuyi, who was already in a foul mood, cut in sharply, "If you have something to say, say it directly. Stop beating around the bush. I'm still here, I'm not dead."

He spoke without mercy.

"Then, Brother Song, what do you think?" Zhang Yuhao wasn't scared; instead, he leaned in closer.

"I think Sister Xu's arrangement is fine," Song Shuyi replied. "If you have a problem with it, you can go and tattle to Director Li again."

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Xu Zhenqing coughed and said, "We're all fellow students here, let's talk things out properly. If there are no objections, then we'll continue—"

"Brother Song, what do you mean by that?" Zhang Yuhao asked.

"Let's talk in private if you have something to say," Xu Zhenqing interjected.

"Alright, stop pretending to be such a nice person. Speaking of Director Li, I'm not the one who's closest to him. Sister Xu, I call you sister, but who knows what kind of shady business you have with Director Li?"

For a moment, the room fell briefly silent, the air seeming to freeze.

After a few seconds, many people looked up, the corners of their mouths twitching, while Song Shuyi was about to slam his hand on the table.

But the little junior brother to the side was the first to speak up: "Why don't you ask that to Li Aimin's face?"

He started by using Li Aimin's full name.

"And what right do you have to speak?" Zhang Yuhao sneered. "Just because Director Li praised you after you've only been here a few months, you really think you're something?"

"You should say that to his face, too." Cen Zeng, on the other hand, was calm, slowly closing his laptop. "Want me to record it for you and play it for him later?"

He really took out his phone and calmly opened the voice recorder. "Go ahead."

Zhang Yuhao didn't say anything.

"If you won't say it, then I will." He put his phone face down, staring straight at the senior brother's face in front of him.

"You don't dare to make things difficult for me or for Sister Xu because you think Li Aimin holds us both in high regard."

Cen Zeng sneered. "You can't stand us, but you don't dare to say it to our faces, so you secretly report someone you know has been marginalized and is easy to push around."

"Cen Zeng..." Xu Zhenqing said softly, but with no intention of interrupting him.

"What, you think you have a lot of integrity?"

His tone was still calm, even his rhetorical question wasn't harsh. "It's obvious who the coward is, isn't it?"

Xu Zhenqing sighed.

"You're just resentful that you weren't the one who was chosen, aren't you?"

Zhang Yuhao replied: "You people who climb up by using connections actually have the nerve to laugh at me?"

"Climbing up by using connections?" Cen Zeng obliged him and actually let out a smile.

He rarely showed any expression. When he smiled, it was vivid and charming, but unfortunately, he was sneering, and his eyes were filled with bitterness.

"You don't know how the authorship for Sister Xu's paper was ultimately assigned? You know it very well. The corresponding author was Li Aimin's teacher, the first author was Li Aimin, the second author was his senior brother, and Sister Xu was listed as a third author alongside his own daughter. You think that's Li Aimin holding her in high regard?"

"Or is it that after I refused the opportunity you dreamed of, I've been dragged away by Li Aimin to do odd jobs and hard labor every day, so busy that I get off work later than a graduate student like you—is that what you call being held in high regard?"

"Whether you're actually jealous or upholding justice, you know better than I do." He looked at Zhang Yuhao.

"Senior Brother, when we entered the laboratory, who didn't have ideals? Why do you think Brother Song helps other labs run data and do research? Do you think he's hoping to get his name on the paper?

"Taking a huge step back, even if he did get his name on it, that's what he deserves. You can see what his situation here is like as long as you're not blind."

"Cen Zeng..." Song Shuyi spoke up. "Don't talk to him anymore."

But Cen Zeng didn't stop. The little junior brother rarely spoke, and when he did, the entire Laboratory fell silent.

"We're all victims, Senior Brother. The only way you're luckier than us is that Sister Xu and I aren't obedient enough. Li Aimin needs someone sufficiently fortunate to demonstrate the price of our disobedience."

"You should be the one thanking us. If we were really held in high regard, and if Sister Xu really started forming her own clique, do you think you, with your abilities and emotional intelligence, could still stay in the laboratory peacefully?"

No one said another word.

Song Shuyi shook his head, a helpless 'I really can't control this guy' expression on his face.

In the end, it was Xu Zhenqing who smoothed things over. She cleared her throat. "Alright, that's enough fighting. Everyone has a lot to do this week. If you're willing to continue listening to my arrangements, then stay seated. If not, I'll tell Director Li to find someone else to lead the meeting."

Senior He, at the side, replied, "We'll listen to you."

No one else spoke, but no one moved either.

"Fine, then let's go one by one." Xu Zhenqing continued to lead the meeting as if nothing had happened.

When the meeting was over, Zhang Yuhao was the first to storm out the door.

Song Shuyi remained seated and patted Cen Zeng's shoulder. "You really dared to say all that."

"He deserved it," Cen Zeng replied.

"I don't even know what to say." Song Shuyi smiled. "To think I've ended up in a state where I need you to speak up for me."

Cen Zeng paused his packing and said, "It's nothing."

But the senior brother opposite him didn't show his usual smile. He just replied calmly, "I need to think this over carefully."

He said it seriously, but there was no light in his eyes.

Cen Zeng's lips moved, but in the end, he only said, "Okay."

[Author's Note]

Entering Xiao Cen's perspective in this arc has actually made me a bit nervous the whole time.

Because I have no idea how everyone will see him.

Especially since his appearances in the previous arcs were in a state of severe numbness.

It's different from when it wasn't so serious, and from when it was gradually worsening.

I was very anxious while writing it, but since there will be even more anxiety-inducing plots to come, I just bit the bullet and wrote it.

All in all, welcome to Xiao Cen's inner world.