Chapter 1683: Chapter 1381: Cooperate With You? No Way!

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying followed Grace into an experiment building and made their way to the elevator.

Grace’s phone vibrated continuously, delivering messages. As she took it out to check, her brows furrowed noticeably and her expression turned rather grim.

“Is something wrong, Miss Grace?” Lin Weiwei asked, unable to hold back when she saw the change in Grace’s expression.

Grace looked a bit anxious, but out of politeness, she replied to Lin, who was younger than her, “It’s from my colleague… Things over there don’t look good!”

Grace did not elaborate further.

However, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying exchanged a glance, and they could roughly guess that the negotiations between Lai Yin and the school representatives were not going well.

When the elevator arrived, Grace was the first to hurry inside, pressed the floor button, and her impatience was plainly visible.

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying followed her in.

In addition, there were other unknown people in the elevator going to other floors.

“Please wait a moment, my friend is coming!” Lin Weiwei raised her voice, directing her words mainly to those she didn’t know.

From a distance, Bai Xiaosheng was still looking down at his phone, approaching slowly.

To Grace, his slow pace was simply exasperating.

“He’s too slow, let’s just go! Besides, there are other people here!” Grace frowned, her eyes showing a hint of coldness, and pressed the close button without hesitation.

Lin Weiwei did not expect Grace to be in such a hurry to close the door and failed to stop it in time, so she could only watch the elevator ascend.

However, seeing Grace’s anxious and restless demeanor, Lin Weiwei sighed and didn’t say much.

Fortunately, Bai Xiaosheng knew which floor Lai Yin and the others were on and wouldn’t get lost.

The elevator ascended, with Grace not saying a word, continually checking her phone.

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, she was the first to step out.

Members of Lai Yin’s team, having worked tirelessly for years, were on the cusp of realizing their results, and encountering such a setback was hard for anyone to accept, leading to understandable frustration and urgency.

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying followed her out as well.

The three of them walked along a corridor, passed through two unattended automatic glass doors, and reached the first room, which was labeled boldly with the words “Reserved Reception Room.”

Though it seemed odd for the first room to be for receiving guests, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying, familiar with Lai Yin and Grace, immediately understood.

This was not a warm welcome; quite the opposite, it was a way to stop visitors from going further in, with a hint of rejection.

Grace reached the reception room’s door and pushed it open without knocking.

Within Lai Yin’s team, including Lai Yin himself, six individuals were close-knit, unconstrained by formalities.

They treated others the same, disregarding the status of any important guests, and followed their own ways.

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying followed her inside.

The reception room was exceedingly simple, with just a long table and two rows of chairs.

At most, there was a water dispenser in the corner.

Spacious and cold.

The whole room exuded an unwelcoming vibe, very much in the style of Lai Yin.

Upon entering, Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying noticed a row of people seated on either side of the long table.

On the inner side were five people, with Lai Yin in the center. Surrounding him were three men and one woman, of different ages and appearances, all in lab coats, members of Lai Yin’s team.

At this moment, Lai Yin’s face was extremely grim, starkly contrasting with his carefree demeanor of previous days, his brow carrying a hint of seriousness.

The people beside him also showed varying degrees of displeasure.

On the opposite side of Lai Yin, another row of six people were seated.

The most striking was the person in the center, with a spherical body, a fat head, and ears, and layers of flesh on his chin.

The atmosphere in the reception room was extremely tense, as if a fierce argument had just taken place.

As Grace, Lin Weiwei, and Lei Ying entered, everyone naturally turned their gaze towards them.

Grace headed straight to Lai Yin’s side and sat down immediately.

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying couldn’t follow suit, so they stood at the door. There was no other reason; the twelve chairs surrounding the long conference table were all occupied, leaving no seats for them.

“You’re here.” Seeing them, Lai Yin’s expression slightly relaxed, and he greeted Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying, glancing behind them, “And Bai?”

“He’ll be here soon,” Lin Weiwei replied.

Lai Yin nodded and told a sturdy man beside him, “Go bring three chairs over.”

The man, a part of Lai Yin’s team, nodded and got up to leave.

“No need, we can just stand here for a while,” Lin Weiwei said.

“We need to! You are my friends!” Lai Yin replied earnestly.

The man instructed by Lai Yin cheerfully smiled at Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying as he passed by, showing a bit of warmth due to Lai Yin’s words.

Lai Yin’s friends were their friends.

The other people beside Lai Yin also softened their gazes.

Only Grace kept her face dark.

The impression Bai Xiaosheng left just now was too poor, and she had no intention of smiling, her eyes filled with hostility as she glared at those seated opposite.

“Oh, we meet again. Big guy, do you remember me?” someone sitting beside the rotund man opposite Lai Yin suddenly called out loudly, his voice tinged with cold mockery.