Chapter 2085: Chapter 1791: This Is the Kind of Case We Fear Most_3

"Professor Yang, what do you want to know?" Li Xiong sat down, a bit tense.

Yang Ping sat down: "Let’s let Jingguan ask these questions. I’ll just listen from the side."

Officer Yu asked, "Li Xiong, how many years have you been with Professor Zhou?"

Li Xiong said, "I was a chemistry undergraduate at Nandu University, joined Professor Zhou’s laboratory for my senior year graduation project, then pursued a combined master’s and PhD for a total of seven years. After graduation, I stayed at the university, and it’s been another five years now. So altogether, twelve years with Professor Zhou."

Officer Yu nodded: "Twelve years, that’s not short. You must know Professor Zhou well."

Li Xiong lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, then said, "I thought I knew him. But now... I’m not sure."

Officer Yu looked at him: "Tell me about Professor Zhou."

Li Xiong raised his head, thought for a moment, then said, "Professor Zhou is a very meticulous person. He demands extreme rigor with experimental data; every single data point must be verified repeatedly and confirmed accurate before being included in a paper. His expectations for students are also high; revising a paper ten times is not uncommon. But he’s not a teacher who intimidates; he’s very gentle, never raises his voice, and when he criticizes, it’s in a very calm manner."

He paused and added, "But in recent years, he’s changed a lot."

Officer Yu asked, "How has he changed?"

Li Xiong said, "About five or six years ago, he became increasingly silent. He used to have lunch with students, chat, joke around. Later, he hardly spoke, he’d come to the laboratory just to do experiments and leave when done. When you talk to him, he just nods or says hmm."

Officer Yu asked, "What do you think the reason is?"

Li Xiong hesitated for a moment, then softly said, "I think it’s related to Chen Wei."

Officer Yu’s expression didn’t change, but Zhaxi noticed his fingers move slightly.

Li Xiong said, "Chen Wei was one of Professor Zhou’s most prized students early on. I heard from senior students that while Chen Wei was in the laboratory, Professor Zhou valued him greatly, almost teaching him hand-in-hand. Chen Wei indeed was smart, good at experiments, wrote great papers; Professor Zhou thought he could take over his work. Later, Chen Wei was to graduate and start a business, and although Professor Zhou was reluctant, he supported him, even transferring several of his research results to him."

He stopped, his voice lowering further: "But later, due to issues over the technology transfer fee, they fell out. Chen Wei sued Professor Zhou, claiming the transferred technology was problematic, leading to his product development failure, demanding compensation. Professor Zhou was very hurt, feeling betrayed by his student. Although Chen Wei eventually withdrew the lawsuit, their relationship was completely severed."

Officer Yu asked, "How was Professor Zhou’s relationship with other students after that incident?"

Li Xiong thought for a moment and said, "On the surface, nothing changed, but I could sense he no longer trusted students like before. He stopped having deep conversations with them, stopped sharing his thoughts, and isolated himself."

Officer Yu was silent for a while, then asked, "In the last six months, has Professor Zhou exhibited any special behavior?"

"For example, has he been particularly focused on certain books? Or has he said anything unusual? Sorry, let me interject," Yang Ping added at this point.

Li Xiong thought for a moment and said, "Books... He indeed frequently takes books from the shelf to read. But which specific books, I’m not very clear. He has his own bookshelf in the corner of the laboratory, filled with his commonly used reference books."

Yang Ping’s eyes flickered slightly: "His bookshelf? In the laboratory?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Yes!" Li Xiong said, "A metal bookshelf against the wall in the laboratory, with around forty or fifty chemistry books. Every time he comes to the lab, he takes a few books from the shelf to read."

Yang Ping and Zhaxi exchanged a glance, Zhaxi’s heartbeat accelerated, books in the laboratory too?

Officer Yu realized what Professor Yang wanted, immediately stood up: "Take us to see it."

Li Xiong led them out of the meeting room, through the corridor, to Professor Zhou’s former laboratory. The lab door was locked; Li Xiong used a key to open it and pushed the door open. The lab looked about the same as last time, with equipment neatly arranged, a clean tabletop. Against the wall, there was a metal bookshelf with dozens of books organized neatly.

Yang Ping stepped to the bookshelf, didn’t touch anything, just stood there watching. Zhaxi noticed the spines of the books appeared normal, without obvious stains or damage. But Yang Ping’s gaze was intense, as if searching for something.

"Which of these books does Professor Zhou often look through?" Yang Ping asked.

Li Xiong pointed to the second and third shelves: "Mainly these; above are textbooks and monographs, below are literature compilations and conference proceedings."

Yang Ping crouched down, took out a book from the second shelf, a thick, hardcover "Organic Phosphorus Chemistry". He opened the front cover and glanced at the front page, with Professor Zhou’s signature and the purchase date, 2005. He flipped through a few pages; the pages were clean, no notes, no creases.

He put the book back and took out another. Also a professional organic chemistry book, similarly pristine.

Yang Ping suddenly asked an unexpected question: "Li Xiong, in the last six months, has Professor Zhou asked you to purchase anything for him? Like organic solvents, reagents?"

Li Xiong thought for a moment and said, "Yes! About four or five months ago, he asked me to buy a bottle of toluene for an experiment requiring toluene as a solvent. I helped him apply for it, picked up a bottle from the reagent library. After he used it, he asked me to buy another bottle."