Qi Hui glanced sideways at Liu Qian with his hands behind him. He slowly walked back to the desk and sat down before he said, “Prof Liu gave me this draft. I reckon he wants me to take a look at it before he approves it.”
Liu Qian raised his head and saw the confident look on Qi Hui’s face. It was no wonder he would have the cheek to ask a teacher to assist a student. Even if Liu Qian was adamant about helping, he had to do it.
Without the funding, things would get even harder at Bioinformatics.
Liu Qian inhaled deeply. He walked up in front of the desk, placed the document on the table and leaned slightly towards Qi Hui . He looked Qi Hui in the eye, and said with his teeth gritting, “I will help your student with her research.”
Qi Hui leaned into the seat lazily the moment he heard this. “In that case, thank you for helping out with the experiment.”
He should have just promised at the get-go. In that case, things wouldn’t end up so awkward.
Liu Qian clutched the edge of the table slightly as he continued. “But I have a request.”
Qi Hui knew just what he wanted to say, so he said straightforwardly, “Don’t worry. I will ask Prof Liu to give you government funding.”
“Also, I want to bring a student over to watch and learn,” said Liu Qian firmly.
Qi Hui frowned. “Can you guarantee that the student will keep the research data a secret?”
“Of course. After all, this is basic decency,” sneered Liu Qian.
Qi Hui knew Liu Qian was implying he was unethical, but he could not be bothered about it. He pondered for two seconds before he said, “Fine.”
Since Liu Qian’s students were dumb, they probably wouldn’t even know what the experiment was about.
After Qi Hui agreed, Liu Qian straightened his back and turned to leave without speaking further.
Qi Hui watched from behind as Liu Qian left before pursing his lips and veering his eyes. He picked up the piece of paper and looked at it profoundly.
Before long, he placed the piece of paper back in the drawer.
**
Huo Yao’s phone rang in her pocket when she got to the university entrance.
She took out her phone and saw it was her mother calling, so she answered the phone and said, “Hi, Mom.”
The moment Song Ning heard her daughter’s voice, the coldness on her face dissipated as she said gently, “Yao, are you coming home for the national day holidays?”
Chen Ming had already pulled over with the car. Huo Yao answered as she walked over. “I don’t think so. It is just a short break and I am quite busy now that the term has started.”
“Fine.” Song Ning nodded. She hesitated for two seconds and said, “Oh yes. Did you get approached by any strangers?”
“Mom, are you talking about the people from the Song family?” Huo Yao walked up to the roadside and nodded politely to Chen Ming before getting into the car.
Song Ning held her breath. “Have they already come looking for you?”
“Uh huh. Just a few days ago,” replied Huo Yao nonchalantly.
“What did they say to you?” Song Ning felt a little annoyed. It was one thing to visit her uninvited, but it was an entirely different matter for them to reach out to her daughter. She was appalled by their behavior.
“Not much. They asked me to see someone, but I did not go,” said Huo Yao candidly.
Song Ning felt relieved and said, “If they look for you again, just ignore them. They are up to no good.”
“Okay,” acknowledged Huo Yao softly as she touched the manila envelope on her lap.
Song Ning chatted with Huo Yao briefly before hanging up the phone.
Song Ning sat in the seat angrily for some time before picking up her phone once more. She swiped through her phone records and redialed a number.
