The days of busyness always pass the fastest. Before Qin Chuan knew it, he had been in the capital for almost a month.
During this month, all his energy was poured into the laboratory.
For example, helping employees find housing and renovate, as well as recruiting new laboratory members.
A laboratory not only needs a top-tier scientific research team, but also indispensable supporting staff to handle various daily tasks, prepare reports, registrations, and more.
In addition, Qin Chuan had to immediately address any shortages in the laboratory, as delays in research progress would result in the greatest losses.
After a month, the once quiet laboratory became much more lively.
Many previously empty desks were occupied by newcomers, among whom were young and beautiful faces, creating a rather eye-catching scene.
Looking at the fruits of his labor, Qin Chuan was very satisfied and finally felt he could breathe a sigh of relief.
After a total of two months, the laboratory finally began to take shape. The next steps would require patience.
The efficiency was absolutely commendable. Both nationwide and globally, establishing a laboratory of this scale in two months would rank among the top.
However, just as Qin Chuan thought he could finally relax, a phone call shattered the joy that had just begun to bloom.
The call was from Yongnan County, and more precisely, from Deputy Director Xiao Guodong.
"Qin Chuan, where are you?" Xiao Guodong asked directly into the phone.
Qin Chuan told him he was in the capital, filled with confusion. Xiao Guodong was a man who never made a call without a reason, especially after his promotion to deputy director and his sole focus on work.
This sudden call definitely meant something.
As expected, Xiao Guodong said in the next second, "Something big has happened. Han Shifei and his brother have been taken away!"
"Han Shifei and his brother were taken away?"
Qin Chuan couldn't immediately grasp the meaning of the sentence.
Xiao Guodong patiently explained, "Han Shifei and his brother were forcibly taken from our county's detention center by people with more influence. I've inquired, and although the people who took them are from the city, their backing comes from the provincial capital."
His tone grew solemn as he spoke the last sentence.
This time, Qin Chuan finally understood, his brow furrowing deeply.
The news was too sudden and caught him completely off guard.
Since Han Shifei and his brother were arrested, Qin Chuan hadn't paid much attention to their situation. The occasional information he received came from Zheng Chengdao, Bai Xiaoguang, or Yao Dong.
He knew that even though Han Shifei and his brother were arrested, they hadn't been sentenced. Qin Chuan had always assumed it was the lawyers they hired who were obstructing the process.
After all, Han Shifei and his brother were genuinely wealthy. Even after their arrest, no one knew the extent of their hidden assets, making it easy for them to hire a professional legal team.
Now, upon hearing Xiao Guodong's news, Qin Chuan finally realized that the real reason Han Shifei couldn't be sentenced was likely from an unseen hand pulling the strings from behind.
This was definitely not good news, especially when Xiao Guodong continued, making Qin Chuan's expression even more somber.
Xiao Guodong informed Qin Chuan that Han Shifei had been extremely arrogant when he was taken away, vowing that everyone who had targeted him would pay a heavy price and that he would return.
The primary reason Xiao Guodong called Qin Chuan was that Han Shifei had specifically asked him to relay a message before he left, as their animosity was the deepest.
After Xiao Guodong hung up, Qin Chuan sat on the sofa, silent for a long time.
After a considerable pause, Qin Chuan suddenly stood up. He had been away for too long; it was time to visit his hometown.
He found Alisa and the team leader from Qingbei University, whose surname was Shen, and his full name was Shen Anbang.
He informed them that he needed to return to his hometown and that they could contact him by phone for any matters, or directly approach Fang Rumei.
Subsequently, Qin Chuan found Li Chunsheng and Xu Ronghua, told them he was going back to Yongnan County, and asked if they wanted to accompany him.
To his surprise, both Li Chunsheng and Xu Ronghua refused. In their words, the subjects being pursued in the laboratory were what they loved most.
A single day's delay meant losing a lot of knowledge, a waste they couldn't afford.
Qin Chuan found their reasons both amusing and exasperating, but then his heart was filled with admiration.
This was perhaps the way of the older generation of researchers. Once they encountered a cause they loved, they would dedicate their entire lives to it, even the somewhat worldly Xu Ronghua was no exception.
Half an hour later, Qin Chuan, accompanied by Bai Xiaoguang and Yao Dong, drove out of the capital, heading directly towards Longcheng. On the way, he explained the situation with Han Shifei and his brother to them.
Upon learning that Han Shifei and his brother had such a powerful force behind them, Bai Xiaoguang and Yao Dong were also greatly astonished and wore solemn expressions.
Around 5 PM, the "Tiger Head Benz" arrived in Longcheng.
Qin Chuan decided to stay for the night. He hadn't had the chance to visit Fang Rumei's renovated factory yet, and more importantly, Teacher Yang was also in Longcheng.
Qin Chuan went to see Teacher Yang first. Yang Zimo, who ran down from upstairs upon seeing Qin Chuan, was overjoyed, smiling like a flower. They embraced tightly, unwilling to let go for a long time.
"What time do you get off work?"
"Soon, less than half an hour."
"Then I'll wait for you to finish work, and we'll go to Rumei's factory together. I'll treat you to a big dinner tonight."
"What's the point of working for another half hour? Let's go, let's go to Rumei's now."
Teacher Yang took Qin Chuan's arm and got into the Tiger Head Benz.
Unbeknownst to them, this scene was witnessed by a middle-aged man standing by the window, drinking coffee in the Jinmei International Building.
This middle-aged man was none other than Teacher Yang's father, Yang Jingye.
He watched as his daughter left work early and got into a car with a young man who looked somewhat familiar, quickly disappearing down the road.
He had seen his daughter and the young man embracing intimately just moments before.
Yang Jingye instinctively returned to his desk to call his daughter, but after picking up the phone and holding it for a while, he slowly put it down.
His daughter was already twenty-three years old. Her peers were already in relationships, married, or even had children, yet his precious daughter remained unmarried.
As a father, he was secretly anxious, but after the incident a few years ago, his daughter had left home in anger and was gone for nearly three years. She seemed to have completely lost interest in men.
He, his wife, and the rest of the family no longer dared to mention such matters, fearing they might anger their daughter again.
Now, seeing his precious daughter so close to a man, Yang Jingye not only felt no sense of his flower being about to be taken away, but instead, he was filled with excitement.
He dialed another number on his phone: "Hello, honey, I just saw our daughter, and it looks like she's started dating!"
On the other end, Yang Zimo's mother, Chu Xiuying, frowned deeply.
"Are you sure you saw correctly?"
"Of course, I saw them embracing intimately. Your daughter even left work early and drove off in his car," Yang Jingye said quickly.
"Do you know that person?" Chu Xiuying asked again.
Yang Jingye shook his head, "I saw it from my office, seven or eight stories up. How could I see clearly?"
"What's the use of you if you can't even see a person clearly!" Chu Xiuying scolded in exasperation.
"Wife, I think this time it's best if we don't interfere with our daughter's dating." Yang Jingye said.
"Let things take their course. Our family has enough now; there's no need to climb higher, especially at the cost of sacrificing our daughter's marital happiness."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Chu Xiuying burst into a torrent of abuse: "You're talking nonsense!"
"Yang Jingye, you useless piece of garbage! So many relatives on my mother's side, brothers and sisters, who is not better than you!"
"You're a hopeless case!"
"Since I can't rely on you, I can only rely on our daughter! Xiao Mo is our family's last hope. She's exceptionally talented, a blend of pragmatism and integrity. Even her grandparents highly value her and have always wanted Xiao Mo to go to Zhejiang Province!"
"I will absolutely not allow her to be with someone completely unrelated to her!"