The True Face Revealed

"I wasn't arguing with her!" Du Yifan kicked a stone on the ground, fuming.

"Damn it, how did I not realize before how good Lin Muyao is at putting on an act? If it weren't for her, Shulan Zhou wouldn't hate me this much!"

"Enough already!" Fang Ruoshi shoved him hard. "Look at yourself right now—completely out of control, like a lunatic! You keep saying it's her fault that Shulan Zhou despises you. But have you ever thought about how you treated her before Lin Muyao even joined the team? Based on what you did back then, even if Lin Muyao hadn't lifted a finger, Shulan Zhou would still never forgive you!"

"And now, when we're finally supposed to be pulling together as a team, you let someone else's words manipulate you into unleashing all your anger on Lin Muyao. How's that any different from what you did to Shulan Zhou?"

"All you're doing now is making a public joke of us. You're tearing our team even further apart. In the end, we'll lose completely—and Shulan Zhou will be the one who wins!"

Du Yifan stared at Fang Ruoshi in shock. He had never been yelled at by him like this before. Was it his own incompetence that gave Fang Ruoshi the nerve to talk down to him?

His father had never seen him as good enough, and just a few harsh words would earn him a beating. Now even someone like Fang Ruoshi—who came from a less privileged background—looked down on him just because he had more talent?

Suddenly, Du Yifan felt hollow inside, completely deflated.

"What's left to lose?" he muttered bitterly. "The project's gone. Guo Jialiang's been arrested, Luo Jialin went back to the Luo family, Tian Hua's staying at the research institute. That just leaves you, me, and Lin Muyao. Do you really think Professor Han Weicheng still believes in us?"

"Don't kid yourself. He's already recruiting new people. He's not going to care what happens to us. If you want to keep protecting Lin Muyao and staying in this mess, be my guest. I'm done!"

He turned to leave, but Fang Ruoshi grabbed him by the arm.

"Senior, Lin Muyao isn't as bad as you think. She can be willful and maybe she was jealous of Shulan Zhou—but that's human nature. Think about all the things she's done to help us. The study materials for my grad school prep, your thesis references—didn't she help compile those?"

"Plus, her mother's a deputy director at the institute. We really don't need to fall out with her over this!"

"Just listen to me—cool your temper. We're still part of the same team. I promise you, Lin Muyao can still help us. As long as she's around, the professor won't completely abandon us."

Du Yifan let out a cold laugh and flung Fang Ruoshi's hand away.

"Heh… If you want to suck up to her with your spineless flattery, that's on you. I won't. I'm going back to the Du family. This shitty team? Whoever wants it can have it."

"…"

Fang Ruoshi stood watching Du Yifan's back as he walked away, his expression bitter. Yeah, the team really was falling apart now. But what else could he do?

Du Yifan and Luo Jialin had backup plans. Guys like him and Guo Jialiang only had one option: fight tooth and nail to rise to the top—or sink back into the kind of life they'd crawled out of. Back to the bottom of society.

No. He couldn't let that happen. He hadn't worked so hard, climbed so far, just to fall back to where he started.

He had to stay in Shanghai. He would stay. He would change his fate—he had to join the upper class.

Behind him, Tian Hua was dispersing the gawkers and pulling the still-sobbing Lin Muyao aside.

"Alright, they're gone. You can drop the act now," he said impatiently, glancing at her as he handed her a tissue.

Lin Muyao instantly cut the waterworks and snatched the tissue, pressing it to her eyes.

"What, now you're like Du Yifan too? You think it's my fault Shulan Zhou walked out on you?"

Tian Hua shook his head. "I'm not that dumb. I know even without you, our relationship with Shulan Zhou was a ticking time bomb."

"Heh…" Lin Muyao sneered, eyes full of coldness.

"Exactly. Only two outcomes were ever possible: either she kept letting you all squeeze her dry until there was nothing left—or she couldn't stand your hypocrisy anymore and left quietly. All I did was speed things up."

"So what, only you get to use her, but I can't? Because I'm a woman?"

"What, is Shulan Zhou a glutton for abuse? She only likes it when guys step all over her?"

She rolled her eyes. "If she'd stayed obedient like before, quiet and cooperative, I wouldn't have needed to keep targeting her."

"It's her fault for changing. What does that have to do with me? That idiot Du Yifan has no right to dump all the blame on me."

"I'm not Shulan Zhou. I won't let you people walk all over me."

Tian Hua looked at her soft, delicate face—and felt a chill. She looked like a completely different person from the gentle, calm girl she'd first pretended to be.

That angelic appearance had been nothing but a mask. Underneath was a calculating, venomous soul. Even Luo Jialin hadn't been this good at faking it.

He suddenly chuckled. "So this is the real you. I wonder… does the professor know? Or does he know and choose to support you anyway—because of your mother?"

"Heh… Must be nice, having a powerful family. Makes you impossible to hate."

"And what right do you have to hate me?" Lin Muyao scoffed, tugging at her sleeve.

"Don't forget how much money you owe me." She shot him a look of pure disdain.

"Your last paper performed pretty well. When's the next one due?"

Tian Hua's brows furrowed deeply. "The data Luo Jialin gave you is already structured. A bit of editing and it'll be ready for publishing. Don't tell me you can't even manage that much."

"Or… is it that you don't actually understand what his paper says?"

Lin Muyao raised her hand in fury. "You—"

But when she saw the indifference in Tian Hua's eyes, she slowly lowered it again.

"Don't test me," she snapped. "I got into this university. I earned Professor Han's recognition. My ability is no worse than yours."

"Those papers? I don't bother with them because they're trivial. Background noise. I'm working with Professor Han on major projects. I don't waste my time on crumbs."

"So hurry up with the paper. Don't try to pull anything clever—your next loan payment is almost due."

She gave a cold, smug smile. Tian Hua was completely under her thumb—she had no fear of betrayal. Unless he wanted to end up like Guo Jialiang, rotting in a cell.

"I'll get it done in a month," Tian Hua said through clenched teeth. His chest rose and fell with a suppressed storm.

"I'll finish the rest of the papers and hand them over."

"You said it—don't you dare fall short!" Lin Muyao sneered.

Tian Hua didn't bother arguing. "I won't."

But just before turning to leave, he paused and asked,

"That club I go to often… was that your doing too?"