She is the most beautiful rose

Chapter 368 Do you want me to accompany you?
Thick clouds shrouded the sun, and the morning air was still chilly. Shen Manzhi watched Aunt Lan help the old lady into the house, then raised her hand to rub her slightly dizzy forehead.

She stood in the courtyard for a long time before going out.

Qin Yanfeng waited for her outside the courtyard.

The man stood at the back of the car, quietly watching the cat rolling around on the lawn ahead.

The black overcoat made him look tall and languid, and when he turned his head to look at me, his gaze, which shifted from indifference to tenderness, was inexplicably alluring.

Shen Manzhi wasn't in a good mood, but when she walked out of the courtyard and saw the other person, she finally softened a little.

Qin Yanfeng noticed that her face was a little pale and reached out to touch her forehead.

Shen Manzhi was somewhat greedy for such silent thoughtfulness and gentleness.

She leaned closer, wrapped her arms around him from inside his open coat, tilted her head back to kiss his chin, nuzzled against him a couple more times, and let out a sigh.

Qin Yanfeng was taken aback, and the hand that was on her forehead loosened and circled her lower back. "What's wrong?"

Shen Manzhi smelled the fragrance on him and said listlessly, "I'm sleepy."

Qin Yanfeng lowered his eyes slightly and hugged her tighter.

Shen Manzhi didn't linger for long before letting go of him. She glanced at the time; it was almost eight o'clock. She casually asked, "Do you have any plans for later?"

Qin Yanfeng tidied her hair, which had been ruffled by the wind. "We have to go to the company today for the year-end meeting."

Shen Manzhi's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded, "It's close to the city center here. I'll go back to Jingwei to catch up on some sleep, and then have dinner with Jingmo tonight before heading to Beijing tomorrow."

Qin Yanfeng readily agreed, and Shen Manzhi breathed a sigh of relief. Then, remembering something, she said, "You haven't slept for long either. Why don't we go back to Jingwei and rest for a while?"

He lowered his eyes, put his arm around Shen Manzhi, and walked out. "It's alright, I need to go and prepare in advance."

It sounds like everything was arranged perfectly.

Qin Yanfeng noticed the obvious change in her demeanor after talking with Shen Duanwen and the old lady.

She was keeping it from him.

A fire broke out at the Shen family's residence, and Shen Duanwen was seriously injured. Xie Yulan blamed and complained that the old case was being investigated again, and the grudges and entanglements involved all parties.

For example, Shen Manzhi's investigation into the truth behind Zhan Yunqing's car accident, the mastermind's ruthless pursuit of the truth, and the involvement of the Qin family behind it all.

They broke up last year because of this too.

Qin Yanfeng knew that her concerns and concealment were to protect him, but he wanted to share the burden with her.

So when the car reached the end of the city, and Shen Manzhi took off her seatbelt, Qin Yanfeng grabbed her hand.

As she turned her head, he stroked her neck and pressed down with a kiss.

He released her again at a slight distance, his gaze lingering on her lips before slowly moving to her slightly moist eyes.

"Shen Manzhi, do you want me to come with you?"

His calm and profound gaze held no questions, only a gentle acceptance, carrying a weighty sense of security unique to the elderly.

Shen Manzhi's heart suddenly raced, and the emotions she had been holding back burst like bubbles.

He wanted to share the burden with her, but also respected her choices.

So when such a light and unimportant remark came down, her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and the hint of grievance that was about to overflow in her eyes was forcibly suppressed. Then she simply smiled and said, "No need, you go and do your thing."

Qin Yanfeng then stroked the back of her hand and whispered, "Be careful."

Shen Manzhi agreed and took the initiative to kiss him.

Qin Yanfeng watched her get on the elevator, a hint of disappointment still lingering in his eyes.

He actually had nowhere to go.

He wasn't the one hosting the year-end meeting. He had a falling out with the old man a couple of days ago, which resulted in the removal of his management authority and the transfer of his duties to others. He's actually quite free.

But he knew that Shen Manzhi needed some time.

He made a phone call via the car's Bluetooth, "Check on the fire at the Shen family villa in the early hours of the morning."

He can wait, but he won't leave her to handle this alone.

The first thing Shen Manzhi did upon returning to her room on the fifth floor was to turn on her desktop computer and then open the memo app, which contained a string of numbers.

More than 20 years ago, when the old lady was still in charge of the Shen Group, she knew as much about the once sensational scientific research case as the person involved.

She first asked Aunt Lan to fetch something, and then told Shen Man, "Back then, this research project was initially a collaboration with a team of professors from abroad. Not many people knew about it, after all, it was a classified project."

Your mother was one of those few people. This professor's team can prove that the research results belonged to the Zhan couple, and that the investors framed them to steal the results, leading to the tragedy.

Aunt Lan came over carrying a photo album. The old lady first sent her away, then flipped the album to the back, where Shen Manzhi saw the young and beautiful Ms. Zhan.

The old lady ran her fingers over the face of the beautiful woman in the photograph.

“But after your maternal grandparents had their accident, all traces of this professor’s team’s involvement in the research were erased. Your mother somehow found out about this professor’s team and asked me for help, hoping to spread the news quickly through the media and the internet.”

The old lady's emotions fluctuated as she spoke, "But just a few days later, a car accident happened."

Shen Manzhi's fingers tightened slightly.

"Your mother didn't say anything back then to protect the Shen family. That's the only thing I know. If you want to continue investigating, this might be a breakthrough."

The old lady pulled out the photo and showed the back, where a string of elegant handwritten English characters was displayed. "This is the name and address of the professors' team that your mother wrote down back then." Shen Manzhi took the photo.

"There's one more thing." The old lady picked up the book on her lap again and turned to a certain page.

Shen Manzhi then noticed that the book in the old lady's hand seemed to have never changed, whether in the Shen family or now.

"Your mother used to correspond closely with someone, but after she passed away, these letters were taken away overnight and all traces were erased. However, that person left a number, saying that it should not be given to you unless absolutely necessary."

She asked in confusion, "Was it left for me?"

The old lady nodded. "I think the other party definitely doesn't want to reveal their identity. Even you... even he doesn't know about this."

Shen Manzhi nestled in the sofa chair, rubbing her temples wearily.

She took the photo out of her pocket.

My gaze lingered on the beautiful woman's face for a moment before turning to the English characters on her back. It was a professor's team named Daniel, and the address was the University of California, San Francisco.

She entered the university and professor's name into the search engine, and many similar tags popped up.

That's true. Daniel is generally a foreign name, so it's easy for people to have the same name.

She lightly tapped her fingertips on the keyboard, then added the word "Biology" after Daniel's name.

Zhan Yun and his wife are professors of biology.

The number of related tags that the search engine displayed was reduced by a third. After browsing through them one by one, she still couldn't find any relevant clues.

This method of searching is not a solution.

She added the names of the Zhan couple, and the smooth keyboard clicks suddenly stopped.

Shen Manzhi's thoughts froze for a moment, because there had always been a very strange point.

This profitable research result seems to have never been disclosed in terms of its specific research content, and even the old lady has never mentioned it. Could this be a key point?

Just then, her phone vibrated. She glanced at the unfamiliar number on the screen and answered it after about half a minute. She then returned to the original webpage and browsed it again by the names of the school's professors.

"what's up?"

Qin Juan's voice was low, but his tone was as flippant as ever, "I heard the Shen family's house caught fire in the early hours of the morning. I hope nothing bad happened?"

It was meant to be caring, but the way he said it carried a hint of mockery.

Shen Manzhi, resting her forehead on her hand, browsed the webpage and said coldly, "How did you know?"

Qin Juan chuckled, "Given our current relationship, I care about you and everything around you."

"Thank you very much," Shen Manzhi said expressionlessly. "If it has nothing to do with you, then don't meddle in other people's business."

"Of course it has nothing to do with me," Qin Juan said casually, "but it seems you also think there's something strange about this fire, right?"

Shen Manzhi paused slightly as he slid the touchscreen.

Qin Juan seemed to sense her silence, and asked with a smile, "Who do you think they're warning?"

"Qin Juan".

Shen Manzhi called out to him in a deep voice.

Qin Juan clicked his tongue slightly, "Don't be so rude."

"You'd better have nothing to do with you or the Qin family in this matter."

The other person chuckled softly, "I told you it has nothing to do with me, but as for the Qin family..."

He paused deliberately for half a second after saying this, then softened his tone, "You'll be coming tonight, right?"

It was agreed that he would take her to the central experimental base in the basement.

Shen Manzhi's hand on the table tightened slightly.

“It seems we didn’t finish our conversation last time. There were three time points, and I haven’t finished talking about the things related to the Qin family more than 20 years ago. I think you must be very interested.”

With a truly irritating tone, Shen Manzhi sneered, "The premise of cooperation is that you, in your military capacity, thoroughly investigate the hospital's illegal experiments. What, are you afraid of implicating the entire Qin family, and afraid of leaving a stain on your own record? Now you want to make a deal with me?"

Qin Juan remained calm and composed. "Shen Manzhi, think it through. Now your situation is even more unfavorable. They can't touch you, but they can touch the Shen family. You should be able to guess where they'll go next."

Shen Manzhi's eyes instantly turned cold.

Both the old lady and Shen Duanwen have made it clear that the fire at the Shen family home was not an accident, and that the other party's purpose was to prevent the re-examination of a case from more than 20 years ago.

But Qin Juan's words implied that the other party was targeting her.

Should we warn her?

What did she do that made the other person so afraid?
Who did it?

Qin Juan chuckled, "8:40 tonight, at the intersection of Liuxi Road."

The call was interrupted, and the opponent turned the tables on them.

Shen Manzhi cursed under her breath, tossed aside her phone, got up, grabbed her coat, and walked out.

The computer screen in the bedroom was a profile of a professor named Daniel, whose profile was entirely in English, which she had just opened.

The project funding list is extensive, with the "Hiro Foundation" listed at the end.