“You damn brat, how dare you come back! Tell me now! Was it you who brought that girl from the Jiznev family to pressure the Clem family into helping you get the equipment your lab needed?”

“Didn’t I tell you that the favor the Jiznev family owes us should only be used at a critical moment? You can’t even handle such a trivial matter. Worse still, you had to make use of the Jiznev family. What’s the point of raising you all these years?”

Maxwell Monroe then flung his son down before giving an angry kick to his butt.

Jaden wailed in pain. “It’s not a trivial matter! Do you have any idea how important our research is? It could very well change the fate of humanity. Besides, I did ask for your opinion before going out to secure funding, and you gave your approval previously. So why are you hitting me now?”

“Damn brat, how dare you talk back?” Maxwell was on the verge of exploding with anger. He had only given approval to fund the research, but not the lab equipment. If it weren’t for David Lawson, he wouldn’t even invest a single cent in this good-for-nothing brat whose ideas made no sense!

“Get your ass over here! Speak! Who from the Jiznev family did you approach?”

Jaden received another kick. Afraid of being hit again, he didn’t dare get too close to his father. “Don’t… don’t hit me. I’ll come over, alright?”

“Still trying to bargain with me?” Maxwell, who had barely contained his temper, became incensed once more. He pulled off his belt and started whipping Jaden.

After the whipping and interrogation, he then called the Jiznev family. Following that, he called Lindsey Clem to apologize. He did not get any satisfactory reply from either side. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he whipped Jaden again. They had used up the favor the Jiznev family owed them, and they had also offended the Clem family. What a lousy deal this was!

However, Jaden didn’t understand. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong. If the Reedshaw family hadn’t intervened, he would have helped the other party and earned their gratitude. On what grounds was his father hitting him?

That night, Jaden had to sleep on his belly.

A few days later, the new academic term officially commenced. The research institute also announced that two research projects were launched, and the list of principal research members.

One research project was led by Jeremy Wilcourt, jointly conducted with Aloville Traditional Medicine Hospital and the traditional medicine outpatient department of the National Hospital. There were also other research projects led by Audrey Kinberg, in collaboration with Professor David Lawson and numerous renowned professors.

In Jeremy Wilcourt’s team, apart from himself, Delilah Wilcourt, and Xandrov Longley, who were slightly more well-known, the other members are not recognized researchers in the medical field. It was an unspoken fact that though both Delilah Wilcourt and Xandrov Longley were professors of traditional medicine, they had not made any notable research achievements to date.

As for Audrey Kinberg’s team, she herself was the Vice Dean, while David Lawson and the other members were renowned professors who had been featured in local medical journals. They were not only well-known but also had an extensive body of research publications. Their academic papers frequently appear in medical journals of leading universities.

It was clear that Audrey Kinberg’s team had more research talent and better research resources. As a result, after the list of research team members was published, David Lawson was in high spirits. However, this only lasted until he returned to the university and saw his students‘ grades for the previous semester.

“Did all of you take the exam with your eyes closed?” David slammed the grade reports down in front of Aiden Brown and the rest. His eyes were blazing with fury as he tried to contain his anger. “You have the gall to show me these results? Was the earlier Third Prize not humiliating enough that you must rub this disgrace in my face?”

He slammed his hand on the desk, and the mug on top nearly fell off the desk. Then he pointed at one student, “Aiden, you go first. What happened exactly?”

Aiden picked up his grade report. He had always placed first in his cohort from his freshman year to the third year of his graduate studies. He had never been surpassed. Now, with only half a semester left before graduation, he was unexpectedly overtaken near the finishing line.

Fourth place… he had dropped to fourth. How did things turn out like this? Aiden stared at his ranking on the grade report in disbelief. His hands were trembling, and he couldn’t utter a single word. It was well known that Prof Lawson’s students had always placed first in their cohorts every semester. There had never been any exception.