ORCBRB – Chapter 27
Chapter 27
The experimental stand propped up to the side was covered in chemical formulas Sang Shi'an couldn't understand. Jian Cenyu's experiment results seemed unsatisfactory, and for a long time afterward, she didn't speak to Sang Shi'an again, repeatedly performing calculations and deductions on the whiteboard with a marker.
The chemical formulas were intricate and complex, with many special symbols she couldn't decipher. Seeing the marker's ink fade, Jian Cenyu went to the side to unwrap a new one and found that Sang Shi'an had already fallen asleep, resting her head on an empty desk.
The heating in the laboratory was set lower than in other classrooms. After falling asleep, Sang Shi'an had curled herself into a ball. Jian Cenyu went to the wardrobe, took out a coat, and walked over with light steps.
Sang Shi'an was a light sleeper and woke up quickly, murmuring, "Is it morning?"
Jian Cenyu couldn't help but chuckle. "It's noon, and you're in the lab."
Sang Shi'an blinked slowly. Her gaze fell upon the white laboratory equipment, and after two seconds of silence, she was completely awake.
Jian Cenyu tucked a strand of hair from her face behind her ear and suggested, "If you're sleepy, go back to your dorm for a nap. I remember you have a full schedule of classes this afternoon, right?"
"I am a bit sleepy." Sang Shi'an yawned and wrapped the coat tighter around herself. "I'll be going then."
As she reached the laboratory door, Sang Shi'an turned around and saw Jian Cenyu pick up the marker and start calculating again.
Jian Cenyu had fair, cool-toned skin. Her slender fingers held the marker, leaving behind black characters, mixed with the clean, bitter scent of chemicals in the lab. She was serious, focused, exuding an overwhelming sense of asceticism.
Sang Shi'an paused to admire the sight for a couple of seconds, having to admit that the people who had voted Jian Cenyu as the campus belle certainly had good taste.
She asked, "Jian Cenyu, do you have any plans this week in the evenings?"
She asked tactfully, mainly wanting to know if Jian Cenyu would still help her practice driving after agreeing to an online relationship.
After all, she was also a girl, which aligned with Jian Cenyu's sexual orientation. According to how people acted after getting into a relationship, she should automatically distance herself from people of the same gender as her partner.
Jian Cenyu stopped writing and turned her head. "What kind of plans are you referring to?"
Sang Shi'an fell silent. She couldn't just directly ask Jian Cenyu whether she would be practicing driving with her or video-chatting with Kitty, could she?
As this thought emerged, a very subtle emotion flashed through Sang Shi'an's mind.
It was as if she had completely monopolized Jian Cenyu.
Jian Cenyu put down the marker and walked over. "If you're asking about my lab schedule, my aunt won't be back at the university until this weekend. I'll schedule my lab time during the day as usual."
Sang Shi'an nodded, waiting for Jian Cenyu's other plans.
"If you're asking about other things, I can't decide my schedule for the next few days just yet. It depends on someone else's time."
Sang Shi'an was confused. "Someone else?"
Jian Cenyu nodded, mentioning without any hesitation, "I recently met a new junior student. If she's willing, I can introduce you two someday."
The air seemed to freeze.
Sang Shi'an asked abruptly, "A junior student?"
Before Jian Cenyu could answer, Sang Shi'an turned and opened the door. "I don't want to meet her. You can just go hang out with your junior student."
As the last syllable faded, the laboratory door slowly closed automatically.
Jian Cenyu stood in place until Sang Shi'an's figure completely disappeared. After a long while, she let out a low laugh.
Twenty minutes later, the complex formula in the center of the whiteboard was finally connected. As the last letter was written, the ink left a dark, heavy dot on the board.
After leaving the laboratory building, Sang Shi'an walked along a path through the woods, finally letting out a sigh of relief after a good while.
She had promised to teach her how to drive, and she hadn't even learned parallel parking yet, but she was already thinking about setting aside time for Kitty.
Prioritizing a lover over a friend.
It was too much.
So that night during driving practice, Sang Shi'an treated the brake pedal as Jian Cenyu, deliberately slamming on it hard many times.
The next day, when Su Ningyue finally came to school, it was already the second period.
As a rational adult, Sang Shi'an's indignation from the previous night had subsided. She had adjusted her mood and was now messaging Jian Cenyu using her Kitty account.
【I saw you when I passed the academic building, Jiejie. I couldn't stop thinking about you during the last class.】
【If only you were my teacher, Jiejie. You would look so beautiful in a black suit holding a teaching pointer.】
【I can't, I can't think about it anymore. Just thinking about it makes my legs go weak.】
【I really want to see you in a suit, Jiejie.】
Jian Cenyu: 【You really want to see?】
Kitty: 【Would I lie to you?】
【People who keep 'kitties' wear very formal suits. I want to see you wear one too, Jiejie.】
Jian Cenyu: 【I'm busy in the evenings recently. Maybe in a few days.】
Kitty: 【Are you busy with your studies, Jiejie?】
Jian Cenyu: 【No, I have to take care of a younger sister.】
Sang Shi'an: ...
Sang Shi'an stared at this line of text, a strange sense of satisfaction washing over her, as if she had won this round.
It seemed Jian Cenyu didn't prioritize her lover over her friends after all.
Kitty: 【Okay then, Jiejie, you have to take care of yourself too. Don't get too tired, heart heart.】
Jian Cenyu: 【Heart】
Su Ningyue had originally wanted to ask if any homework had been assigned in yesterday's class, but as she leaned closer, she saw the ever-changing expression on Sang Shi'an's face.
She tilted Sang Shi'an's phone toward her and saw the heart emoji sent by Jian Cenyu.
Although it was the most common system emoji, this was Jian Cenyu! Shocked, Su Ningyue scrolled up a few lines.
No way.
She had been absent for just one day, how had things developed into something she no longer recognized?
Fortunately, Sang Shi'an was generous and scrolled the chat history directly to Sunday night.
"I blacked out later. When I woke up, it was already like this. You weren't at school yesterday, so I didn't even know how to message her. Help me take a look, this attitude should be okay, right?"
Sang Shi'an truly didn't treat Su Ningyue as an outsider. Su Ningyue read through the messages one by one, feeling increasingly jealous.
"Yesterday I asked her to practice driving with me, and she was so hesitant, saying she couldn't set a time. I thought she was prioritizing her lover over her friends." Sang Shi'an leaned on Su Ningyue's shoulder, pointing to the message where Jian Cenyu said she had to accompany her younger sister. "But she just told Kitty she has to accompany me. Do you think she's not taking Kitty seriously as a partner?"
Su Ningyue: ???
Sang Shi'an: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"When she gives her time to that... Kitty, you think she's prioritizing her lover over her friends. When she gives her time to you, you think she's not taking Kitty seriously." Su Ningyue was practically speechless. "Baby Sang, what exactly do you want from her?"
Sang Shi'an also realized her words were a bit contradictory, but she was shameless. If someone had to be embarrassed, it definitely wouldn't be her.
"So according to you, Jian Cenyu is serious about Kitty?"
Su Ningyue looked at the upward curve of her lips, held back for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist poking Sang Shi'an's forehead. "You've confirmed it so many times yourself, how could it be fake?"
Sang Shi'an was satisfied. As the professor walked into the classroom, she placed her phone face down on the desk and began to listen to the lecture.
Su Ningyue: ...
Had Sang Shi'an forgotten that the first thing to do after confirming the relationship with Jian Cenyu was to package the chat logs and expose her sexual orientation?
The unfinished words were stuck in her throat. Su Ningyue had planned to remind Sang Shi'an during lunch, but she didn't expect another accident to happen first.
After class, Sang Shi'an was bumped into the moment she stepped out of the classroom.
The girl who bumped into her hurriedly said 'sorry' and ran off in one direction with her companion.
"What's going on? Isn't the cafeteria in this direction?" Su Ningyue shielded Sang Shi'an from the crowd and looked in the direction the girls had gone.
She grabbed another girl who was also running that way. "Excuse me, what happened?"
Without turning her head, the girl said quickly, "A lab in the Chemistry College exploded! I heard it's full of blood, and the ambulance and firefighters are here!"
Su Ningyue didn't know much about the Chemistry College. She was about to ask Sang Shi'an if she wanted to go take a look, but when she turned, she saw Sang Shi'an's frozen expression.
"Jian-Jian Cenyu didn't reply to my message asking if she wanted to have lunch together."
Su Ningyue clearly hadn't connected the two events. "Senior Jian might be busy. Let's go eat by ourselves..."
Before she could finish, Sang Shi'an had already squeezed into the flow of the crowd.
Su Ningyue was stunned, then belatedly realized that Jian Cenyu seemed to have significant ties to the Chemistry College. She immediately chased after her.
The area outside the laboratory building had already been cordoned off by firefighters, keeping all the students out. The fire in the lab had been extinguished. Looking in from the outside, one could only see a messy corner.
Just yesterday when Sang Shi'an had come to the lab building, it had been newly renovated and looked brand new.
Jian Cenyu's phone was off. Su Ningyue asked around for a while before running back to tell Sang Shi'an the news. "There was indeed an explosion inside, but the specific cause is unknown. The school has blocked the news, casualties are unknown, and we don't know which hospital they were sent to."
"Let's go eat first, and then wait for more news. Senior Jian might not be injured; maybe her phone was just inside and got damaged."
But Sang Shi'an kept her head down until a new message appeared on her phone—
"Yanjing University Affiliated Second Hospital, they were sent there," Sang Shi'an said to Su Ningyue while calling a taxi.
Su Ningyue was surprised. "I just asked several teachers and none of them would say. Who did you get the information from?"
Sang Shi'an's steps faltered. "My brother."
Su Ningyue gasped. "So Senior Jian was really sent to the hospital?"
Sang Shi'an explained, "I had him ask Jian Cenyu's aunt for the information. Since... it must be true."
But Jian Zhiyan was currently on a business trip and didn't know the specific situation. Sang Shiyue had only told her which hospital the students had been sent to.
Sitting in the car, Sang Shi'an was still in a daze.
It wasn't just shock and panic, but also a fear and unease in the face of an unknown outcome. Her mind was a complete blank.
Jian Cenyu.
Was just in the lab.
Explosion...
Hospital...
Sang Shi'an's hand trembled, and her phone fell by her shoe. Su Ningyue, who had been watching her, picked it up. "Sang Sang?"
A warm palm enveloped hers. Sang Shi'an composed herself and asked, "Is there any news from the school?"
Su Ningyue opened her photo album and showed it to her. "This was a post on the forum that was quickly deleted. It's one of the first students who was carried out. They look quite seriously injured..."
Sang Shi'an: "..."
Su Ningyue said cautiously, "They're already unconscious, but I haven't found a picture of Senior Jian yet."
As she spoke, she watched Sang Shi'an's expression, noticing that Sang Shi'an didn't seem to be listening to her. Instead, she was zooming in on the photo, as if searching for some clue.
The car stopped outside Yanjing University Affiliated Second Hospital. Sang Shi'an entered and walked toward the corresponding emergency room according to the message Sang Shiyue had sent her. From a distance, she saw school teachers standing in the hallway, the atmosphere oppressive.
Sang Shi'an looked at the lit-up sign that read 'Surgery in Progress' and began to feel unsteady on her feet.
She suddenly felt that the emotions in human relationships were truly strange.
A month ago, she had clearly listed Jian Cenyu as her number one public enemy, finding fault with everything about her. When she learned that the Sang and Jian families were considering a marriage alliance, she tried every means to sabotage it. She had desperately wanted to push Jian Cenyu out of her world.
Now, with this sudden accident, Sang Shi'an felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare from which she couldn't awaken. The mere thought of a one percent possibility of Jian Cenyu disappearing was enough for the intense resistance to nearly swallow Sang Shi'an's sanity.
Sang Shi'an suddenly realized that she and Jian Cenyu had known each other for over ten years, which accounted for more than half of her life.
She slid down against the wall until she was squatting on the ground, unable to stand. Her mind was filled with chaotic fragments—from many years ago, from after their reunion, and from Jian Cenyu's 'okay' to Kitty.
She thought, if Jian Cenyu could be okay, she would...
"Senior Jian, you really scared us to death. Sang Sang was crying so hard she wouldn't respond. Come and see her quickly." At that moment, Su Ningyue's voice sounded from behind her.
Sang Shi'an's train of thought was interrupted the moment she heard 'Senior Jian'. She turned her head in a daze and saw Jian Cenyu walking quickly toward her with Su Ningyue. Her slightly messy long hair was lifted by the wind, making the play of light and shadow on her face unusually vivid.
"An'an?" Jian Cenyu stopped half a step away from Sang Shi'an. Just as she was about to bend down, Sang Shi'an threw herself into her arms.
Her back hit the cold porcelain tiles. Jian Cenyu let out a soft gasp, which was quickly drowned out by Sang Shi'an's crying.
"Why was your phone off?" Sang Shi'an whimpered, gasping for breath. "I was scared to death."
Jian Cenyu's body suddenly trembled.
Sang Shi'an couldn't stop crying, her sobs were intermittent. "The photos were full of blood, all blood."
"Why didn't you answer my call?"
"I didn't even eat."
"The taxi driver was driving so fast I almost threw up."
Jian Cenyu felt as if her entire body had been frozen by these complaints. On the way to the hospital, she had imagined Sang Shi'an's reaction to the news—perhaps she would be anxious and worried for her.
But she had never expected such an extreme reaction.
Jian Cenyu had once thought that the four years in the UK had already made her a stranger to Sang Shi'an. Therefore, after their reunion, no matter how bad Sang Shi'an's attitude was, she felt she deserved it.
She was willing to make up for her past departure and to tolerate all of Sang Shi'an's little tempers.
Even when Sang Shi'an took the initiative to add her as a friend with a side account to show goodwill, Jian Cenyu understood that it wasn't much different from the friendliness Sang Shi'an displayed in front of their parents.
It was all a layer of empty pretense.
Sang Shi'an cared most about her family, so when Sang Shi'an approached her for an online romance, Jian Cenyu immediately thought of Sang Shiyue.
She was willing to patiently play along with Sang Shi'an in this act, holding onto the one-in-ten-thousand hope that Sang Shi'an might actually fall for a woman.
But Jian Cenyu never expected that Sang Shi'an would care about her so much. Care about someone who had once broken a promise and had repeatedly made Sang Shi'an dissatisfied after their reunion.
Jian Cenyu's hands were trembling. She closed her eyes in near surrender, her arms around Sang Shi'an gradually tightening until she held the person completely in her embrace.
She said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid."
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