"What… what did you say?" Luo Jialin stared at his father in disbelief. "Xiao Anning was fired?"
So much for "resigning." That liar.
Luo Jialin was so furious he clenched his teeth. "I'm going to find him!"
"What's the use of confronting him?" His father grabbed him back forcefully.
"I'm warning you—if you insist on starting your own company, I won't stop you. But don't you dare get involved with him again. If something goes wrong, no one can save you."
"If you think you can't make anything out of this mess, you might as well come with me to the branch office, work hard, and maybe you'll earn back your grandfather's trust and return to the head office."
"No!" Luo Jialin rejected the offer without hesitation. "I can't live under Luo Corporation's protection forever. This disaster was of my own making—what face do I have to return to the family?"
He stood up and wiped his face with a trembling hand. "Dad, give me three years. I'll bring this company back to life. I won't bring shame to the Luo name again."
Ignoring his father's advice, Luo Jialin left the house.
The startup money came from years of savings. As the former heir to the Luo family, he held considerable assets. He never cared for Xiao Anning's small investment.
He rushed to the research center. When he found Xiao Anning, the man was discussing something with Han Weicheng.
Without a word, Luo Jialin stormed up and punched Xiao Anning hard in the face.
"You bastard! You dared to trick me!" He grabbed Xiao Anning by the collar and threw another punch.
"How much did the Luo family pay you to stab me in the back like this? Did you really think if you kept it hidden, I'd never find out? Scum! Trash!"
"Xiao Anning, scum like you—why don't you just go to hell?!"
Xiao Anning was dazed, too stunned to react. It wasn't until Han Weicheng yanked Luo Jialin away that he came to his senses.
Staggering, Xiao Anning steadied himself against the table. He looked up at the seething fury in Luo Jialin's eyes—and suddenly, he laughed.
"There are worse monsters in this world living just fine. I was just a little selfish, and for that, you think I should die? Compared to your Luo family, I merely told a convenient lie."
"They're the ones who truly wanted you ruined. Tell me, Luo Jialin—what are you really mad about? That I lied to you, or that you were too incompetent to see through it?"
"You son of a—" Luo Jialin's eyes went bloodshot. He broke free like a madman.
Han Weicheng stumbled from the force but then snapped, flipping over the table in fury.
"Enough! Look at yourself—what do you think you're doing?"
"I think Xiao Anning was completely right. He may have lied, but the people who really wanted you destroyed were your so-called family—your uncles, cousins, all of them."
"What was he supposed to do? Stand up to the Luo family? And during the contract process, it's not like he didn't try to warn you. You were the one who ignored the drug list."
"You didn't even bother to learn what your own company produces, and yet you think you can play in the big leagues? Luo Jialin, you really think you have what it takes?"
Even Han Weicheng had seen through everything.
Luo Jialin suddenly felt like the biggest fool in the world. A pathetic joke.
"Arghhh!"
He let out a furious scream, kicking the overturned table, then grabbed a chair and smashed it to the ground. He destroyed everything in sight.
"So it's all true. If I weren't a Luo, you'd never have looked at me twice. If that's the case—then let's end this right here!"
"Han Weicheng, as far as I'm concerned, I never knew you."
Storming out of the research center in rage, Luo Jialin soon sent a payment notification to Xiao Anning's phone.
"He's refunded my entire investment," Xiao Anning said with a bitter laugh. "Which means I'm no longer a shareholder in his company. He's cutting ties with us completely."
Han Weicheng calmly picked up a fallen chair. "He won't get far on his own. Don't worry—he'll have to sell our products in the end."
"But our research center has no direct link to his company. If he refuses to work with us, there's nothing we can do." Xiao Anning sounded genuinely concerned.
Han Weicheng smiled faintly. "Who else is he going to cooperate with? You think he can find reliable, well-known products elsewhere? He doesn't have the patience."
The research center was under Xiao Anning's name. He used to rely on his prestigious title as a senior doctor at the National Hospital—but now that he'd been fired, he couldn't flaunt that anymore.
If they wanted to get their product to market quickly and gain recognition, leveraging the Luo name was the best option. If Luo Jialin truly refused to cooperate, things could get tricky.
Still, seeing Han Weicheng's unshaken confidence gave Xiao Anning a bit of peace.
—
While Luo Jialin was busy changing the company's equity structure, Tian Hua arrived at the Traditional Medicine Hospital.
It had been a few days since he last visited Du Yifan, and he still hadn't figured out how to persuade Shu Lanzhou. After much thought, he finally came up with this plan.
Shu Lanzhou had spent days holed up in the lab. She finally made some headway on her uncle's poisoning case and had arranged to visit the old family home with Mu Side that evening to look for detox methods in the attic.
But just as she stepped out of the hospital, she saw Tian Hua waiting.
He held a food bag, wearing a gentle smile.
Shu Lanzhou wasn't unfamiliar with that expression. Back when they were in the same team, he always made that face when he wanted to borrow money.
"It's the spicy hotpot from the alley by the school. I asked the owner to add extra broth—tastes better hot!" He offered the bag to her.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want?"
When she didn't take the bag, Tian Hua's smile dimmed slightly. "I remember you used to love that hotpot. Have your tastes changed?"
"My tastes have never changed," Shu Lanzhou replied coolly. "You just never knew the real reason I liked it."
Under Tian Hua's stunned gaze, she continued, voice calm and slow:
"When I first joined the team, you all welcomed me so warmly. Everyone acted like big brothers—after our first experiment, you even took me to eat that hotpot."
"I was too naive back then. I didn't notice Luo Jialin and Du Yifan's disdain for the tiny food stall, didn't notice your indifference, or Guo Jialiang's manipulative charm."
"I actually thought I was lucky to have met you all, to join this family. I thought I had mentors and senior brothers who cared about me—for someone who never had affection growing up, that meant everything."
"I was afraid of not working hard enough, of disappointing you, of being cast aside. I tried so hard to keep up, always putting you first."
"But eventually, I realized I had lost myself. I had become nothing more than a tool. And all of it—just because I craved the tiniest bit of warmth from you all."
"But that warmth? It vanished the moment Lin Muyao showed up. And if that were all, I could've moved on. But you didn't stop there—you accused me of plagiarism."
"Heh… after years of working together, you all knew what kind of person I was. Yet every one of you chose to turn a blind eye, because that was the outcome Han Weicheng wanted."
"That's when I finally woke up. I realized how foolish and ignorant I had been. I didn't even know I could love myself."
"I could grow strong and give myself the warmth I needed. The care and love I never received—I could give it to myself. Why should I grovel and beg for someone else's scraps?"
"Because if a person can't even love themselves, how can they expect to be loved by anyone else?"