Chapter Sixteen: Shen Zhuoran’s Humbling Admission and Apology
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“All right, I’m finished.”
Shen Zhuoran had only just received Zhao Song’s notification that all of Yu Lan’s permissions had been revoked.
The next second, the sound announcing that Yu Lan had completed the test rang out.
His brows drew together slightly. He rose from his seat and walked over to Yu Lan.
“Is that so? Let me take a look.”
Shen Zhuoran, a man who prided himself on his intelligence and strategic brilliance, was likewise capable of scanning a problem once and quickly arriving at the answer.
As his gaze swept across the test paper, the intelligent question-bank system produced its results at the same time.
A cold, mechanical voice rang through the air.
[Test taker: Yu Lan]
[Score: 100]
[Congratulations to research assistant Yu Lan for passing the senior researcher examination.]
All Yu Lan needed to do now was complete the relevant experiments in the laboratory and prove her abilities. Then she would be qualified for the position of senior researcher.
The other researchers present exchanged glances.
They had all watched Yu Lan take the test and had already formed a faint guess about her score.
Now that their suspicions had been confirmed, an enormous sense of unreality surged through them.
Someone had actually managed to reach such a level.
Before Yu Lan, the highest score ever achieved in the senior researcher examination had been only ninety-six.
More importantly, she was a female.
And she had actually accomplished this.
At that moment, Zhao Ping was no longer angry as he had been when he first learned that a female had applied for the position of senior researcher. The strong were always able to earn the respect of others, no matter the time or place.
He rose from his seat of his own accord.
“You’re Yu Lan, right? Come this way. We’ll conduct the senior researcher experiment now.”
“Have you worked with similar experiments before? Some of the machines in the laboratory were only installed recently. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask us at any time. I can explain what the machines do and how to operate them.”
Yu Lan nodded. Her lovely little face remained as calm and composed as ever. She stepped away from Shen Zhuoran.
“Thank you, Professor Zhao.”
Shen Zhuoran pressed his lips together as he stared at the perfect score of one hundred. For a moment, this elite institute director wore a rare, blank expression.
Yu Lan was nothing like the spoiled, arrogant, foolish females he had encountered before.
Her mind was every bit as remarkable as her beautiful face, which was lovelier than the finest rose.
He had misjudged her.
For once, Shen Zhuoran felt defeated.
There was no one else left in Laboratory 308.
The tall male stood alone in the center of the room.
After steadying his emotions, he headed toward the laboratory. Just as he reached the doorway, he heard the delighted voices of the people inside.
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“Oh my goodness, Lanlan, you’re incredible!”
“That experiment was so difficult, and you completed it in one go.”
“You even extracted a new compound. We had never imagined taking this route before.”
“By the way, Lanlan, when a newcomer becomes a senior researcher, they first have to join one of our research groups and learn for a while. That includes learning how to initiate projects, lead a team, assign tasks, and so on. After that, you can apply for funding and form your own team to conduct research.”
“Why don’t you join my project team? I work on genetics…”
“Lanlan, come to my group! Come to mine! I work on…”
A female this beautiful and intelligent was practically unheard of in the Empire’s entire history.
Having finally encountered one, several senior researchers immediately invited her to join their teams, eagerly promoting the advantages of their respective laboratory projects.
At that moment, amid the clamoring researchers, Yu Lan’s eyes met Shen Zhuoran’s as he stood at the door.
She raised her chin slightly. Her beautiful little face displayed unmistakable, modest pride.
Shen Zhuoran did not find it irritating. Instead, he thought she looked rather adorable.
The strings of his heart trembled faintly. Without even realizing it, Shen Zhuoran’s heartbeat quickened in that instant.
Yu Lan had every right to be proud.
She had proven her ability.
Now that Shen Zhuoran had appeared, the researchers who had been competing to promote their projects hurried over with the results of Yu Lan’s experiment.
“Director, this is the experiment Lanlan just completed. She succeeded on her first attempt, and the four of us unanimously agree that she has passed the senior researcher examination.”
For the senior researcher examination, a candidate was considered to have passed if three out of the five evaluators agreed.
But they had noticed that Shen Zhuoran’s attitude toward Yu Lan earlier had seemed somewhat unfavorable. Now they wanted to speak up on her behalf.
“Well, Director? You wouldn’t dare deny what you said earlier, would you?”
Yu Lan strode over to Shen Zhuoran and stared directly at the mature, handsome man.
His figure was reflected in her clear eyes.
Under her focused gaze, Shen Zhuoran felt a rare touch of embarrassment. He blinked and shifted his eyes away slightly.
He gave a soft hum.
“Yu Lan, welcome to the Research Institute. You are now one of its members.”
How could the cold and principled director of the Research Institute, a man who kept his word, ever go back on a promise?
The next moment, having received the answer she wanted, Yu Lan lowered her head and took out her phone. She was preparing to send Zhao Song a message. He was the first kind male she had met at the Research Institute, and she wanted to share the news with him.
But then—
Yu Lan tapped on the Research Institute’s newly downloaded in-house application, and a red warning appeared on the screen:
[Insufficient permissions. You do not have access to this resource.]
Yu Lan’s expression changed instantly.
At the beginning of the examination, she had still been able to enter freely.
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Why was the system now telling her that she lacked permission?
Yu Lan remembered seeing Shen Zhuoran handling some work matters during a brief pause in the examination.
Could he have been dealing with this?
The next second, Zhao Song sent her an apologetic message.
Zhao Song: [Lanlan, what happened? Why did the director order me to delete your permissions?]
Zhao Song: [I’m sorry, Lanlan. I can’t disobey the director’s orders. I…]
Yu Lan did not finish reading the rest of his messages.
But she understood better than anyone that this had nothing to do with Zhao Song.
The greatest culprit was standing right in front of her.
When Yu Lan raised her eyes to Shen Zhuoran again, they blazed with anger, mixed with a trace of disgust. She abruptly lifted her phone and thrust the glaring red access-denied notice before him.
“So from the very beginning, you never believed that I could pass the examination, did you?”
“Shen Zhuoran, you’re disgusting.”
Yu Lan spoke each word distinctly.
When her soft, beautiful face turned toward Shen Zhuoran, it was cold and razor-sharp.
Shen Zhuoran’s pupils contracted violently.
Only then did he suddenly remember what he had done.
But Yu Lan had already lost the patience to say another word to him.
It was only a job.
Although important, it was not so important that she could not live without it.
She had proven her ability. It was Shen Zhuoran who had lacked judgment—not that she, Yu Lan, was unworthy.
She could simply find another job.
Yu Lan turned and walked away.
The beautiful, gentle little female had become sharp, bristling with thorns, and she was looking at him with unmistakable disgust.
Although Shen Zhuoran was standing so close to her, his entire body immersed in her soft, sweet fragrance, he felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss. Cold seeped through him from head to toe.
Only now did he realize that he absolutely could not bear to see even the slightest trace of dislike for him on Yu Lan’s face.
His body reacted faster than his mind.
Shen Zhuoran abruptly reached out and seized Yu Lan, his expression urgent.