Gu Ziming was still staring at Qin Feifei, who was asleep on the desk.
Ring, ring, ring—
An alarm suddenly sounded.
“Time for separation!”
Qin Feifei jolted upright and shouted.
As she stood up, she finally noticed Gu Ziming watching her.
“CEO Gu, when did you arrive?” Qin Feifei asked, rubbing her eyes in confusion.
“Why not call me Senior Brother Gu anymore?” Gu Ziming replied calmly, suppressing the turmoil in his heart before speaking.
“Senior Brother Gu,” Qin Feifei said softly as she rubbed her eyes again.
“Feifei, how far has the graphene progressed?” Gu Ziming asked.
Now fully awake, Qin Feifei replied clearly, “Senior Brother Gu, we’re currently at the carbon molecule pressurization and heating stage of the fourth batch.”
“We’ve completed three batches of Special Graphene so far. The first two had some flaws due to equipment calibration issues, so the results weren’t ideal. The third batch fully met our expected standards. Now we’re producing the fourth batch to verify whether the third batch’s production method is reliable. If it passes verification, we can standardize the method and accelerate production.”
As she spoke, she skillfully operated the control panel on the experimental platform.
Watching her precise and confident movements, Gu Ziming could not help but sigh inwardly. As expected of a female lead-level figure. In her professional field, her talent was truly extraordinary.
In the original novel, to highlight his protagonist halo, Lin Fan simply collected beautiful women like stamps and kept them around. The women did nothing but eat and sleep, their greatest exertion limited to trivial matters. Their talents and strengths were never truly utilized.
Even Zhao Xiaoyu, who had shown some brilliance, had only taken up a bow under pressure to save the protagonist.
Thinking of that, Gu Ziming felt even more responsible for rescuing each female lead from Lin Fan’s grasp.
Villains are not always the ones doing wrong, right?
“How long does it take to produce one batch of Special Graphene, and how much does one batch yield?” Gu Ziming suppressed his sudden urge to “do good” and asked seriously.
“One batch yields about 1,600 square meters and takes roughly a day and a half,” Qin Feifei answered.
Understanding what he wanted to know, she continued explaining, “I’m using the stacking method. It may look like just a small lump here, but once unfolded, it spans nearly 1,600 square meters.”
She pointed to a dark mass displayed on the computer screen. “This is the Special Graphene you requested.”
“The most time-consuming steps are the pressurization and heating, as well as the separation stage that follows. The raw material is already completed. Now we need to cut it into 3-millimeter-thick films.”
After entering a series of commands, a mechanical arm appeared on the screen, performing precise laser cutting. The rotating platform beneath the graphene turned slowly to assist the mechanical arm in slicing evenly.
“How long will this process take?” Gu Ziming asked, watching the graphene cascade down like black silk.
“To prevent fractures in the middle, the cutting speed must remain controlled. It takes a little over two hours,” Qin Feifei explained.
“No,” Qin Feifei shook her head. “Under normal circumstances, this graphene has extremely high toughness. An average person pulling it by hand wouldn’t be able to tear it. However, we’re using laser cutting, which generates substantial heat. If the cutting speed is too fast, the heat won’t dissipate properly. Once it reaches the graphene’s thermal tolerance threshold, it can fracture.”
“I understand,” Gu Ziming nodded, completely reassured.
He smiled faintly and said, “Impressive, Junior Sister Feifei. In the field of science, you’ve completely surpassed your senior brother.”
“That’s not true,” Qin Feifei replied modestly. “You just chose to focus your attention elsewhere. If you had stayed in the scientific field, your achievements could have rivaled our mentor’s.”
She had heard about Gu Ziming’s past scientific talent. Even their professor had praised him highly.
Unfortunately, after his parents passed away, he had abandoned his studies to inherit the family business.
Gu Ziming knew that was merely the talent of the original body. The current Gu Ziming was just an ordinary college student who had coasted through experiments whenever possible.
He did not continue the topic and instead changed the subject. “Since we have over two hours to wait, why don’t we grab dinner? It’s about mealtime anyway.”
Qin Feifei glanced at the laboratory clock. It was 6:15 p.m.
After a moment of consideration, she said, “Alright. I’ll check the results when I return tonight.”
In the city center, outside a high-end restaurant, Gu Ziming and Qin Feifei arrived.
Qin Feifei had originally intended to eat somewhere simple, but Gu Ziming insisted on celebrating the successful production of Special Graphene and brought her here.
Because she was still thinking about the graphene, and because the food was delicious, both of them ate quickly.
An hour later, they walked out of the restaurant chatting and laughing.
Next to the restaurant was a large department supermarket.
Lin Fan had just finished “shopping” inside.
Yes, Lin Fan had finally grown tired of eating instant noodles every day and decided to use his space ability to take what he wanted.
After all, what the protagonist does cannot be called theft.
In Lin Fan’s mind, this was robbing the rich to help the poor. Taking others’ wealth to relieve his own poverty seemed perfectly justified.
He first went to the deli section and packed three roast chickens and three roast ducks. Then he grabbed a case of beer and pushed his cart around the supermarket, scouting for areas without surveillance cameras.
Five minutes later, he found a blind spot with no cameras and transferred everything into his space.
After that, it felt as if some internal meridians had been opened. He began grabbing items more boldly.
Beer, sunflower seeds, peanuts, spicy snack sticks, various sandwiches, and two packages of bread.
He avoided expensive and bulky items, targeting inconspicuous yet edible goods.
To be honest, this was his first time using his superpower to take things.
He would be lying if he said he was not nervous. But as time passed, he grew increasingly bold.
He limited himself to three carts for now because he planned to return after closing time to take larger items.
He was leaving because he had not eaten properly for several days and could no longer resist the temptation of roast duck.
Now he intended to find a secluded spot and devour a few ducks first.
As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into Gu Ziming and Qin Feifei.
Seeing them emerge from the high-end restaurant together, Lin Fan did not explode in anger as he had before.
He simply glanced at them and hurried past.
“Isn’t that the neighbor who called out to you the other day?” Gu Ziming asked, pretending not to recognize him.
“It’s him. But now we’re practically enemies,” Qin Feifei replied calmly, without the emotional fluctuation she had shown before.
“What happened?” Gu Ziming asked.
“My mother told me that Lin Fan seems like a completely different person lately. He stays home tinkering with something all the time,” Qin Feifei said. After glancing at Gu Ziming’s calm expression, she continued, “One time my mother went to check on him. They got into an argument, and he slapped her.”
[Ding! The relationship between the male and female leads has completely ruptured. Host Destiny Points +6,666.]
???
“System, if I hadn’t known about this, would I still have received these Destiny Points?” Gu Ziming asked silently.
[Yes. The system has determined at this moment that the relationship between the male and female leads has completely ruptured. The reward has been issued immediately.]
“Oh. So Lin Fan must be quite dissatisfied with Qin Feifei,” Gu Ziming thought. Qin Feifei’s indifferent attitude earlier clearly showed that she no longer cared about her childhood friend.
A complete rupture required mutual detachment.
Just as Gu Ziming had guessed, Lin Fan was filled with resentment.
In Central Park, Lin Fan sat on a bench, holding a roast duck in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other.
He lowered his head, taking a bite of duck and a swig of beer. Passersby swallowed unconsciously at the smell.
Yet Lin Fan felt none of the joy he had imagined while inside the supermarket.
There was only one reason.
That brief glance earlier had shown him the indifference in Qin Feifei’s eyes.
And that indifference had completely enraged the pride he held as the self-proclaimed protagonist.