A skin-thirsty episode occurred, in her brother's arms.

"Senior Sister, where is the key to the warehouse? I'd like to retrieve some materials."

Xu Xingchen's voice was not loud, and it was slightly hoarse.

He leaned against the door frame, his white coat draped loosely over his arm.

The lab wasn't deserted; a dozen or so people were engrossed in their research projects.

Upon hearing the voice, several heads turned up, and when they saw it was him, they smiled and nodded or waved.

"The stars are here? The key is in the second cabinet on the left in the first row, the one labeled 'Universal Consumables'."

The senior sister didn't even look up, but her pipette was very steady, and a drop of light blue liquid fell precisely into the centrifuge tube.

She paused, turned her head to the side, and smiled gently. "Just write down what you took in the book."

"it is good."

Xu Xingchen smiled and walked over to greet everyone.

As I walked to the first row of cabinets, the metal keychain made a slight clinking sound.

He found the warehouse door, unlocked it, and walked into the cool space filled with various instruments and reagents.

After receiving the materials and signing them, I returned to my seat by the window.

The eldest sister finally had a moment to spare and looked up with concern, saying, "You have a new idea now? Judging by your energy, you're going to stay up all night."

Xu Xingchen carefully arranged the materials, then turned around and smiled.

"I have an idea, I'll give it a try, it might not work."

"Go, Star!"

A senior student at the next table, who was usually quite talkative, immediately chimed in, shouting from a few steps away.

"We're waiting for you to take off, so we can at least latch onto your coattails and get a second or third authorship! Don't just focus on your own advancement, take the rest of us with you!"

The others burst into laughter.

Xu Xingchen chuckled as well, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

This busy work lasted for a full five hours. By the time it was almost done, everyone else had already left.

I got up to tidy up the table, picked up my phone, and saw two unread messages, both from Qin Ge.

The first message was posted around 5 PM: "Where are the stars?"

The second message followed immediately: "[You've gone into the lab? When will you come out? Should I come pick you up?]"

Your fingertip lingers on the screen for a moment.

Xu Xingchen lowered her eyelashes and replied with a message: 【No need, I'll be there for a while, I'll go back by myself later.】

His tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

After the message was sent, it disappeared without a trace for more than ten minutes.

Just when he thought Qin Ge wouldn't reply, his phone vibrated.

【it is good. 】

Just one simple word.

Xu Xingchen pursed his lips and put his phone back in the lab.

He walked towards the school gate.

The number of pedestrians on the campus paths is gradually decreasing.

As he approached the school gate, a figure dragging a suitcase ahead of him made him frown slightly.

The man stood there deliberately, carrying a suitcase in his hand, and the person next to him was also carrying a bunch of things.

She kept her eyes fixed on the direction he was coming from.

Even as Xu Xingchen approached, he continued to stare at him.

Out of basic politeness, Xu Xingchen nodded to him as a greeting.

Deng Tong immediately seemed to have grabbed something, and almost rushed forward, dragging the wheels of his suitcase, which scraped against the ground, making a screeching sound.

"Star!"

His voice was low, but he couldn't hide his urgency. "Do you have time to talk? Just a few minutes!"

Xu Xingchen stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with genuine doubt.

They didn't seem to have much in common.

He looked at Deng Tong quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"Qin Ge is a madman!"

Deng Tong spoke quickly, his eyes wide and bloodshot, "He's not normal. You should leave him, the farther away the better!"

A man who seemed to be Deng Tong's friend quickly came over and pulled him away: "Ah Tong, stop talking, let's go, don't cause trouble..."

His tone was full of embarrassment and dissuasion.

Deng Tong shook off his companion's hand, as if he had nothing to lose, and poured out his heart.

"Haven't you noticed? Anyone who appears near you gets taken away by Qin Ge! He wants to make sure you only have him by your side!"

"Li Jie, who wanted to team up with you on a project last semester, was assigned to an internship at a remote campus, right?"

"And then there's Wang Shuo, who always sits at the same table as you in the cafeteria, and Lin Kainian, who's in your class. I only exchanged a few words with him, and he immediately moved my dorm to Building 11."

He took a breath, staring at Xu Xingchen, his eyes filled with a mixture of almost delusional "sense of justice" and a desire to save him.

"He's a monster, he's completely abnormal, he's a dangerous element in society!"

"Call the police! I'll help you! My dad has connections in the provincial government; he won't let Qin Ge be so arrogant and lawless! Restricting personal freedom is illegal; he's just relying on his family's money—"