After the divorce, my ex-husband and son lined up to pursue me.

Chapter 5 What's the use of an apology?

The corridor on the top floor of the laboratory building was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Jiang Xia followed behind Yan Guozhong, her gaze falling on the familiar yet unfamiliar laboratory at the end of the corridor.

Seven years have passed, and the control panel behind the glass still gleams with a cold light, just as it did when she left.

Jiang Xia's fingertips gently touched the glass, and his heartbeat was exceptionally clear in the quiet corridor.

"Only two research teams remain in the entire Building No. 7."

Yan Guozhong, wearing a white lab coat, had a few gray hairs at his temples, but his tone was still firm: "We've kept the Cortex-7 that you led back then, but unfortunately... progress has been slow in recent years."

Jiang Xia felt a lump in his throat as he looked at the rows of reactors in front of him, where the culture medium quietly glowed with a pale blue light, and the suppressed, dormant memories were rekindled at this moment.

"No one dared to follow your logic of targeting cell metabolism regulation back then." Yan Guozhong stopped, a hint of regret in his voice. "Xu Fei tried it several times, but always..."

Yan Guozhong paused, then sighed, "We can never get around that protein chain computation path... Alas, you left too suddenly."

Jiang Xia's gaze fell on the workbench in the corner behind the glass, which was left behind by her years ago.

A string of faint letter abbreviations was engraved on the table.

JR. Her and Ruan Muhuai's initials have long since faded with time.

She gently raised her finger, her fingertip touching the glass. Through the cold, hard material, her heartbeat seemed to pierce through seven years.

Her voice was calm, yet tinged with barely concealed emotion: "I'm sorry, Teacher Yan, back then... I let you down."

Yan Guozhong shook his head and smiled, then turned around and patted Jiang Xia on the shoulder: "It's good that you're back."

"The school is now preparing to completely cut the 'Cortex-7' project. The project is too expensive. In nine out of ten internal meetings, someone mentioned that it is a bottomless pit."

Jiang Xia lowered her eyelashes and did not respond.

She knew that if it weren't for her sudden withdrawal back then, things might be very different now.

Just then, Yan Guozhong's phone rang.

He answered the phone, listened for a few seconds, frowned, and turned to Jiang Xia, saying, "I need to go to the building next door for a last-minute meeting. Xu Fei has to go too. You stay here and familiarize yourself with the environment until I get back."

Jiang Xia nodded: "Okay, you can go ahead."

After the two left, the atmosphere in the laboratory visibly relaxed a bit.

In a corner not far away, a young girl with a high ponytail walked over with a tray of biological slices, her steps hurried, yet carrying an inappropriate frivolity.

As they brushed past each other, she seemed to lose her balance, and the tray in her hand tipped over, spilling several unsealed slides along with liquid onto Jiang Xia's white coat, leaving a large patch of reddish-brown tissue stain.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, senior!" she cried out, taking an exaggerated step back and blinking her innocent eyes. "I really didn't mean to..."

Jiang Xia looked down at the hem of her clothes, which was stained and disheveled.

She looked up at the girl and saw through the schadenfreude and provocation in her eyes.

Seven years ago, she encountered similar looks in the scientific research community, but at that time she was busy with projects and had no time to pay attention to these little tricks.

"Try to act more naturally next time." Jiang Xia's tone was frighteningly calm, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

She reached out and took off her contaminated white lab coat, throwing it into the nearby trash can, revealing a clean shirt underneath. The girl's expression changed instantly, and just as she was about to say something, the lab door was suddenly pushed open.

A boy in a white coat rushed in and blocked Jiang Xia's way with an unfriendly expression.

His name is Ke Hetai, and he is the youngest researcher in the group. He saw through the little trick just now at a glance.

"Lou Yushi, what are you doing now?"

Ke Hetai instinctively stepped forward and blocked Jiang Xia with his body. He also looked at the girl with the high ponytail, his tone full of warning, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. If you continue like this, you can forget about passing your formal retention assessment."

Lou Yushi's face flushed red instantly from the teasing and warning, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes: "Of course you'd help her! She's Professor Yan's favorite student; once she comes back, she can snatch projects and dominate everyone else!"

She turned to Jiang Xia, her tone full of sarcasm, "Do you know? Back then, you abandoned the project, causing the entire lab to stagnate for nearly three years. The university even started controlling the admission ratio of female graduate students because of it! Because of you! You ruined so many of our female students! How dare you come back now?!"

"Then what do you think this place is? You think you can come and go as you please? This isn't your home! We're not your parents, why should we indulge you?"

These words, though agitated and harsh, are all true.

Jiang Xia's heart clenched, as if it had been stabbed repeatedly.

She never imagined that her choice back then would have such a huge impact on the entire team.

Those stagnant times, those missed opportunities, were all related to her.

"sorry, I do not know……"

Before Jiang Xia could continue, Lou Yushi angrily raised her voice: "What are you pretending for!"

"Do you think you're some innocent little white flower? Pretending to be weak and acting all guilty, does that mean we all owe you something? This is work! Not a game of pretending to be kids!"

Jiang Xia's apologetic words choked in her throat, and her shocked and ashamed face turned pale.

Ke Hetai quickly stepped aside and grabbed Lou Yushi, saying, "That's enough! Stop talking!"

"Why can't I speak? Did I say something wrong?" Lou Yushi was like a bomb, her arrogance rising uncontrollably: "Just because she's pretty and so delicate, you're protecting her?"

Lou Yushi sneered and shook off Ke Hetai's hand, then glared at Jiang Xia and angrily rebuked, "Who are you trying to apologize to? You've already done all the things you were sorry for, what's the use of apologizing now!"

"You think we have to forgive you just because you got married and had a child? Why should we? Just because you're a woman, and you don't want to miss out on your prime years and know to have a child? You want to have both family and career? You don't deserve it!"

Growing increasingly angry, Lou Yushi picked up the tray from the ground. "See these slices? It took me a whole week to cut them, and now you've ruined them all! How are you going to compensate me?"

Each accusation revealed boundless resentment and anger.

Jiangxia had nothing to say.

She silently clenched her fingers, took several deep breaths, and tried to soften her voice: "My mistake, my fault, I know it in my heart without you reminding me."

"An apology is indeed too lenient and useless, but I will try my best to prove myself with my actions."

Lou Yushi listened, her lips curling into a sneer.

(End of this chapter)