Chapter 161: Chapter 161

"It’s so dark underground, no water, no food, we’ve been in there for days and nights, we have no idea how we managed to survive... Professor Zhao, being old, eventually..."

Confused words and indescribable grief, even the nurse beside her had red-rimmed eyes.

However, the expression on the young man’s face opposite her appeared even more peculiar. His expression changed several times, and in the end, he stopped making any sound and instead watched with an amused interest at Qin Manman’s sobbing.

"Teacher Zhao said that meeting during a calamity was our fate, and my specialization just happens to be able to carry on his legacy... He said, if given the chance, he hoped I could fulfill what he hadn’t completed, and attempt the experiments he couldn’t finish..."

As Qin Manman spoke, she finally broke down emotionally, throwing herself onto the bed and crying bitterly.

She cried for a long while, but it did not elicit empathy from others, and no one even came to comfort her.

Qin Manman had just woken up, her throat parched. After crying for a short time, her voice began to hurt. In the end, she slowly calmed her own emotions.

She gently wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, gave a strong smile to the visitor, and her whole demeanor suggested stubbornness and resilience.

"I’m sorry, I got too emotional... May I ask, where is Teacher Zhao now...?" His body?

Yet the young man in front of her displayed a half-smiling expression, his gaze sliding contemptuously over Qin Manman from head to toe, with scorn exuding from every pore.

"Miss Qin," his voice was icy cold as he spoke.

"I’m not here to listen to you make up such preposterous stories. Professor Zhao told me, the girl trapped underground with him stole the USB drive from him while he was weak and asleep."

"It contains his ideas for new materials — you know you are committing a crime, right?"

Qin Manman was shocked; at this moment, she no longer possessed the composure from being reborn, instead blurting out:

"How’s that possible? Isn’t he dead?" Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel~fire~net

"Ha!" The young man looked at her coldly, "Sorry, to disappoint you, but with timely rescue, nothing happened to him."

Qin Manman was lost, struggling to remember her memory, confident it hadn’t failed her—

"Impossible, six or seventy hours without food or water, and he was crushed by the slab, how could he still be alive?"

She looked at the young man, her gaze gradually turning suspicious, as if the other party was a liar.

At this moment, the nurse beside her looked at her with a curious expression, then looked at the medical record:

"Young lady, avoiding does no good when you’ve done something wrong. All your body’s indicators are normal—besides, what do you mean by no food or water for 67-70 hours? The rescue team worked tirelessly through the night with swollen hands and feet, yet rescued you all within eight hours—your behavior here is quite despicable!"

A thunderclap on a sunny day! How could this be!

Qin Manman was greatly alarmed!

How could it be so quick, last lifetime they had waited so long! She had heard the rescue team above, but was too scared to make a sound, and could only watch helplessly as Professor Zhao lapsed into unconsciousness and died... only summoning the courage to call for help at the end...

It was not intentional, it was just that in her last life, she was too scared and did not react immediately.

But... but how could it be that they were rescued in just eight hours this time?

She clearly reincarnated—could it be, this isn’t the world from the past life?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but become utterly flustered, looking imploringly at the young man in front of her:

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I was afraid something might go wrong with such important things, so I only helped keep it while Teacher Zhao was unconscious..."

She forced a smile again:

"I was just too worried, that’s why I said those things just now..."

But the young man merely extended a hand:

"Please return the USB drive to me."

Qin Manman’s hand clenched tightly instantly.

They were still at the rescue base where resources were tight, these temporary beds were filled with lightly injured unconscious people, so naturally, there were no hospital gowns to change into, and they still wore their own clothes—her backpack was also beside her.

Qin Manman couldn’t even come up with an excuse.

Looking at the other’s cold gaze, she believed if she claimed she couldn’t find it, the other person would really demand a body search...

Her face was pale, trying hard to manage a smile, and finally, she pulled out a USB drive tied with a shoelace on its zipper from her inner pocket...

Watching as the other party walked out with a mocking expression, Qin Manman’s shoulders slumped, feeling as though the sky was falling.

She lay on the bed, gripping her hair tightly, unable to understand no matter how she thought about it—