CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54 INVALIDATED

Lin Qiming got Rong Zhi’s WeChat from Zhao Hecheng and then shamelessly bothered Rong Zhi, tasked with persuading her to join the Engineering College, and incidentally building a good teacher-student relationship in advance.

The message had just been sent when a reply came from the other side.

Rong Zhi: [No rush.]

She wasn’t someone who meddles, so she naturally wouldn’t ask what Lin Qiming had been delayed by, but Lin Qiming, feeling bored, thought that since the other party was going to be a big shot in the Engineering College sooner or later, she would find out about it anyway, so he briefly explained.

After sending it, there was no reply for a long time, and just when Lin Qiming was about to exit, her name turned into "typing."

Rong Zhi: [Who did you say plagiarized? Lu Si? No way, he’s not like that.]

Lin Qiming was surprised: [Teacher Rong knows Lu Si?]

Rong Zhi: [Yes, he wouldn’t plagiarize, there’s something wrong with this matter, check it thoroughly.]

Since she spoke, Lin Qiming, who had originally come only as a witness, immediately got serious and called Teacher Chen, asking him to help find Lu Si’s transcripts from recent years.

Teacher Chen assumed he wanted to verify something, so he pulled up Lu Si’s transcripts.

Lin Qiming glanced over them roughly, but still was amazed by the series of grades.

Every written test was above 95, all experiments were S and even S+, a whole row of them, extremely impressive.

With grades like these, is plagiarism even necessary?

Lin Qiming felt that even if Lu Si didn’t participate in the assessment, he would still be a surefire candidate for the Engineering College!

Then he retrieved Rong Qichuo’s transcripts, finding his expression growing stranger with each look.

Lu Si came back, and Lin Qiming noticed his somewhat gloomy and despondent face; seeing him empty-handed, his mind was filled with curiosity.

"Where’s your manuscript?" Teacher Chen asked.

Lu Si pressed his lips together, shook his head with some helplessness and bitterness, "The manuscript is missing."

Lin Qiming was astonished: "How could that be?"

Rong Qichuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was worth spending a lot of money to bribe Lu Si’s roommate; the other party handled it well enough.

He sneered sideways, casting a sideways glance at Lu Si, "Now there’s no evidence; if you didn’t plagiarize me, Lu Si, then what did you do?"

Lu Si: "Impossible! The Protective Heart Device manuscript is a result of my two months of hard work; each design draft was done stroke by stroke by me..."

Rong Qichuo interrupted Lu Si, "I know you want to join the Engineering College, but you’ve chosen the wrong method. No matter how you look at it, you shouldn’t have plagiarized."

Lu Si clenched his fists, irritated by his shameless accusations.

But he indeed had no evidence.

The manuscript vanished without a trace, and even the calculation data in his notebook was completely destroyed.

Even a fool could tell he was being framed.

Teacher Chen was also filled with disappointment: "Lu Si, I understand your desire to join the Engineering College, but... plagiarism is truly wrong; considering your usual good grades, I won’t report this to the school this time."

At Jing University, plagiarizing others’ work is something that leads to major demerits, or even expulsion in severe cases.

Lu Si was stunned, his mind blank.

But Teacher Chen’s words were already a settled matter.

Teacher Chen: "Apologize to Rong, your assessment score this time will be voided, don’t make the same mistake again."

Lu Si’s body and mind were trembling.

He hadn’t! He didn’t plagiarize!

He did nothing wrong, why should he apologize?

This was clearly the result of two months of his hard work!

Why did no one believe him?

"Send me the analysis data and the project diagrams."

In the midst of the awkward silence in the office, a low and raspy voice suddenly sounded.

The three of them turned simultaneously to the source of the sound.

Lin Qiming held up his phone sheepishly, "I felt there were some inconsistencies in this matter, so I contacted a teacher in the Engineering College, who agreed to help take a look."

Upon hearing it was someone from the Engineering College, and who Lin Qiming esteemed as a teacher, both Lu Si and Rong Qichuo’s expressions changed.

Lin Qiming exchanged a look with Lu Si, giving him a reassuring gaze.

Lu Si was taken aback, a bit puzzled by Lin Qiming’s reaction.

After getting consent from the two present, Lin Qiming sent their analysis data and project diagrams over.

Rong Qichuo’s expression showed a momentary panic, then covered it up.

He was confident that not even an Engineering College teacher would notice anything wrong, as the revised design draft he made was more perfect and precise.

Maybe the teacher, upon seeing it, might even be impressed with his work.

Rong Qichuo calculated internally, yet remained a bit perplexed.

He thought he recognized the voice of that teacher.

But dismissing it, he figured that similar voices were common, possibly he was mistaken.

"Lu Si didn’t plagiarize."

The group waited a few minutes before hearing a voice coming from Lin Qiming’s phone again.

Mixed with the slight mechanical sound from the earpiece, it was cold and indifferent, "Get me the notebook."

Lin Qiming asked curiously, "Teacher, what do you need the notebook for?"

"To recover the data."

Now Lin Qiming understood, he hurriedly instructed Lu Si, "Lu, quickly bring your notebook, let’s go find the teacher."

Although uncertain about what Rong Zhi wanted to do, Lin Qiming now followed her orders without question.

Below the Jing University Mechanical Department teaching building.

A white car with the Jing A license plate was eye-catching.

Rong Zhi sat inside, her eyes closed for rest, biting down on a lollipop with her thin lips.

An hour ago, Zhao Hecheng called to report a problem with the Mechanical Engineering Institute’s latest research project, asking her to take a look, so she took a leave and left the campus.

She happened to come across Lu Si’s situation, and thinking Mrs. Lu had been good to her, and considering Lu Si was her son, she decided to resolve it on the side.

The car window was tapped on.

Rong Zhi lowered the window halfway, her voice indifferent: "It’s unlocked."

Lin Qiming responded with two sounds of acknowledgment, carefully got into the passenger seat with a nervous and respectful demeanor.

My god, no wonder she’s a big shot; this license plate—I bet only people of that calibre in the country have it!

The anti-peep window was rolled up, blocking the prying eyes from outside.

Lin Qiming handed over the notebook with both hands.

Rong Zhi lazily lifted an eyelid, her brow and eyes showing signs of weariness, and her movements at the keyboard were casual and light.

Lin Qiming just felt dazzled, completely unable to see her actions clearly as the screen was filled with a mass of code, a minute later the code disappeared, replaced by complex and intricate calculation data.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, damn!

The big shot can code too?!

Rong Zhi returned the notebook to him, waved her hand, already a bit impatient, "Get it done fast."

Soon she’ll be forced to answer a barrage of urgent calls.

Lin Qiming disembarked, still in a daze.

To get the result sooner, Teacher Chen and the others were all waiting below the teaching building.

Seeing Lin Qiming, they asked, "How did it go?"

Lin Qiming had regained his composure, he turned the notebook screen around, first smiled at Lu Si, said, "The data’s recovered, Lu, take a look for yourself."

Lu Si scrolled through the pages, becoming more and more excited as he repeatedly nodded, "Yes! This is my data! Thank you, Senior Lin!"

Upon hearing this, Rong Qichuo was taken aback.

Only to hear Lu Si continue, "Teacher Chen, please take a look, this is the calculation data for the Protective Heart Device, marked with dates, continuously recorded from two months ago until a few days ago when the final draft of the Protective Heart Device was completed."

Teacher Chen hurriedly leaned in for a closer look.

Beside him, after Lu Si finished speaking, a glimmer of astonishment crossed Rong Qichuo’s face, which then turned slightly pale, yet he still held his proud demeanor.

After reviewing the calculation data, Teacher Chen frowned slightly, his expression somewhat strange.

Rong Qichuo’s body stiffened, "Teacher..."