“Just adjust the data to make it consistent. There’s no need to waste time on verification,” Sophie said casually.
Although Joli had anticipated something like this, hearing it out loud still gave him a shock. “That’s called academic fraud,” he said, emphasizing each word.
Sophie’s face darkened. “Joli, you’re a smart young man. I trust you know which things should and shouldn’t be said. As your mentor, I’m just offering a suggestion for solving the problem. What you choose to do is entirely up to you.”
Joli looked up. For the first time, his gaze was sharp and direct as he stared at Sophie. “Dr. Xander, this isn’t right.” It just wasn’t right….
After Joli left, Sophie watched his retreating figure and sneered. It was fine if he didn’t understand it. People, after all, grew up eventually.
He would come to realize one day that truth or falsehood didn’t matter. What mattered was how many SCI papers one published and how many academic achievements one produced.
Everyone talked about the purity of research, but Sophie found that laughable. Wherever there were people, there was competition–for resources, funding, status, titles. Which of these wasn’t tied to academic output?
Only those who reached the summit had the luxury to talk about “purity.” But to do that, one first had to reach the summit.
Sophie then pulled out her phone. “Tell Tina to come see me.”
It was time for her to prove her worth.
Sophie smiled warmly. “How are you settling in, Tina? Are your seniors treating you well? No one’s giving you a hard time, right?”
Feeling a bit flattered by the attention, Tina shook her head eagerly. “No, no, everyone’s been really kind.”
“That’s good to hear. I asked you to come because I wanted to discuss something regarding the lab.”
Tina’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Does this mean I’ll finally get to work on some real experiments?”
“Of course. You’re one of my students, and there’s definitely a place for you in the research group. However, we’re facing a little issue right now, and I could use your help.”
“Whatever it is, just let me know! I’ll do my best!” Tina exclaimed, her excitement hard to contain.
Sophie’s smile grew wider. “You’ve probably heard that Christine’s group purchased a new, top-of-the-line CPRT machine, right? Unfortunately, our lab doesn’t have that kind of funding, so I’m wondering if you could… help out? But don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get the credit for this. When prestigious projects come along, or if there’s a chance to study abroad, you’ll be the first one I recommend. And if you want to pursue a direct PhD track, as long as your grades hold up, that can be arranged too.”
Sophie painted an enticing picture, though whether those promises would ever materialize remained uncertain.
Eager to make her mark and aware of her mother’s high expectations, Tina immediately agreed. After all, one million didn’t seem too steep, and she could easily charm her way into getting the money from her family.
In just a few days, Sophie’s lab also had a brand-new CPRT machine. But the price?
Tina was nearly in tears. They had promised the machine would cost a little over a million, but it ended up costing over two million!
Her family only provided half, and she had to sell off more than a dozen of her prized handbags to cover the remaining one million. Those bags had been her treasures, and now they were all gone.
Sophie, on the other hand, couldn’t have been happier. She was practically beaming as she imagined flaunting the new machine in front of Christine. She wanted to make it clear that her students were just as capable financially.
However, no matter how many times she strolled around campus, Christine was nowhere to be seen. “Oh, Dr. Young? She’s not around these days. She was invited to Citril to attend an international biology research conference. Didn’t you receive an invitation, Dr. Xander?”
“You should’ve just kept your mouth shut,” Sophie fumed silently.
Not willing to give up, she went to check on lab C116, but the doors were firmly shut. It was as if nothing significant was happening inside.
Meanwhile, just a wall away, Miranda and her team were already deep into their research, making progress on their project.
Time flew by when they were buried in lab work. Before they knew it, a week had passed.
One day, after returning home from class, Miranda noticed something odd. As she glanced toward the apartment across from hers, it suddenly hit her—aside from that one brief encounter at the dining hall, she hadn’t seen Paul for quite some time.
Living directly across the hall from each other, she used to bump into him occasionally, even when he was busy. But lately…
Whether she left in the morning or returned home at night, his door was always shut.
She couldn’t shake the feeling—Paul was avoiding her. He was doing it on purpose!