ORCBRB – Chapter 28

Chapter 28

By the time Sang Shi'an's emotions stabilized, five minutes had already passed.

Sang Shi'an seemed to finally realize they were at the entrance of an operating room. She abruptly pushed Jian Cenyu away, taking several frantic steps back. "I... I was just..."

"You thought I was going to die." A sharp pain shot through Jian Cenyu's right shoulder. Having been bumped twice, the bandaged wound seemed to have reopened.

Seeing Sang Shi'an's rapid change in expression, she pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, suppressing the myriad of thoughts that had just raced through her mind. "As you can see now," she said expressionlessly, "I'm still alive."

She had voiced Sang Shi'an's true thoughts, and Sang Shi'an felt a pang of guilt. She mumbled, "It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay."

Sang Shi'an spotted Su Ningyue waiting nearby and clung to her like a lifeline. "Jian Cenyu, you probably haven't eaten yet, right? I'll go buy you some food. Wait for us."

Jian Cenyu said, "Come back."

Sang Shi'an stopped in her tracks and turned around reluctantly. "...Huh?"

"Junior, could you go buy us food by yourself?" Jian Cenyu looked at Su Ningyue and pointed to her back shoulder. "My wound might need to be re-bandaged, and I also need someone to help carry my personal belongings."

Su Ningyue had wanted to leave the moment Sang Shi'an had thrown herself into the hug but couldn't find a suitable excuse. Now, hearing Jian Cenyu's words, she immediately broke into a smile. "Of course, I'll let Sangsang stay with you, Senior. Do you have any dietary restrictions? For example, is there anything you can't eat because of your injury?"

Jian Cenyu smiled gently. "No restrictions. Thank you for your trouble."

Jian Cenyu's jacket was stuffed into Sang Shi'an's arms. Sang Shi'an followed behind Jian Cenyu and asked in a low voice, "I heard them say the lab exploded. You just said you need to get re-bandaged, were you caught in the explosion too?"

Jian Cenyu smiled. "An'an, if you don't know what to say, you don't have to say anything."

Sang Shi'an let out a soft 'oh,' her restless eyes darting around behind Jian Cenyu.

That gaze was too intense for Jian Cenyu to ignore. To stop Sang Shi'an's mind from wandering, Jian Cenyu used her left hand to pull Sang Shi'an to her side. "I happened to be getting new reagents, so I wasn't at the center of the explosion. I just have a scrape on my right shoulder. The other students were more seriously injured."

When they reached the consultation room, Jian Cenyu knocked on the door and went straight in without needing to register.

The one treating the injuries was a professor from Yanjing University. The university didn't want to escalate the matter and had specially brought in an experienced doctor to handle the students' injuries.

When the doctor asked Jian Cenyu to go behind the curtain to undress, Sang Shi'an tried to follow but was stopped by Jian Cenyu. "Wait outside. And while you're at it, please tell my family that it's nothing serious and they don't need to come to the hospital."

Sang Shi'an was surprised. "You knew I contacted them?"

Jian Cenyu had naturally guessed. It was only through Jian Zhiyan that Sang Shi'an could have gotten into the hospital so quickly. She said, "Wait for me outside," and followed the doctor behind the curtain.

Ten minutes later, after her dressing was changed, Jian Cenyu went to a hospital room. It was a private room, and other students with minor injuries were in the adjacent rooms.

Normally, such an injury wouldn't require hospitalization, especially at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Yanjing University where beds were scarce. However, these few students were now under special observation. Firstly, to prevent new infections in the wounds caused by the chemical explosion, and secondly, to allow the university to handle the explosion case entirely and avoid further complications.

When Su Ningyue returned with the food, she also brought a phone, which Sang Shi'an had asked her to get. "You can get a replacement SIM card online. I'll go to the service center to pick it up for you."

Jian Cenyu took the phone and said, "Thank you."

Only then did Sang Shi'an ask about the cause of the explosion. Jian Cenyu shook her head. "I'm not sure either. We have to wait for the university's investigation results. A newly installed light tube fell from the ceiling and knocked over the reagents on the table. I don't know which two reacted."

At this, Jian Cenyu's brow furrowed deeply. "That lab bench is the one I usually use for my experiments. Even if my aunt's students borrow it, they wouldn't mess with the reagents on it. No one knows the chemicals on that bench better than I do."

"On the way to the hospital, I went over all the reagents in my head. There are some that can have a violent reaction when mixed, but none that could cause such a massive explosion."

Su Ningyue, sitting next to Sang Shi'an, tried to comfort Jian Cenyu. "Senior Jian, you might not know how careless novice experimenters can be. Maybe it wasn't your reagents, but something new that Professor Jian's students brought in? When we did experiments in high school, the teacher's desk even caught on fire. The wood was charred by the time we put it out."

Sang Shi'an chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, there are so many colorless reagents. My eyes were blurry just looking at them yesterday. Maybe someone used the wrong one. Anyway, your family donated that lab building, so they'll definitely inform you as soon as there are results. I just hope the students still in surgery pull through quickly."

Jian Cenyu nodded and said no more.

Sang Shi'an had class in the afternoon. On her way back to school, she stopped by the service center to get a new SIM card with the same number for Jian Cenyu.

After learning about the lab incident, Jian Zhiyan was in no mood to continue with the seminar and immediately booked the earliest flight back to Yancheng.

At five-thirty in the afternoon, when Jian Zhiyan arrived at the hospital, Jian Cenyu's parents had just left. Seeing her aunt, Jian Cenyu said helplessly, "I already said it was nothing serious. Why did you rush back too? Is your work finished?"

"That was a lab explosion! How could I be at ease without coming to see for myself?" Jian Zhiyan moved closer, about to pull at Jian Cenyu's clothes to check the wound, but was repeatedly stopped by her. "You should go check on your students. How are they doing?"

"Do you need to remind me? Of course, your aunt visited the others first, according to the severity of their injuries." Jian Zhiyan sighed as she spoke of it. "Fortunately, they're all alive, but two of them have severe burns. I don't know if they'll fully recover. In any case, our Jian family has to take full responsibility for this."

Jian Cenyu slowly sat back down on the hospital bed, her expression grave. She was silent for nearly half a minute, and when she lifted her eyelids, there was no warmth in her eyes. "Auntie, are you saying this might not have been an accident?"

"The university thinks it was an accident. This is just my speculation." As Jian Zhiyan said this, she glanced toward the doorway. "Isn't that the little one who lives with you?"

When Jian Cenyu turned her head, there was no one at the door. She teased, "She probably came to bring me dinner after class. Unlike my aunt, who comes to see me at mealtime empty-handed."

Jian Zhiyan laughed and pointed at her a couple of times. "Alright, my mistake, Miss Jian. Can I continue with my reasoning now? Should we call her in?"

Jian Cenyu was sparing with her words. "She's shy around strangers."

Jian Zhiyan: ......

Jian Zhiyan couldn't help but add, "I was worried that when you found out about the marriage alliance with the Sang family, you would reject it and make your relationship awkward. It seems I was overthinking things."

Jian Cenyu remained calm and composed. "A marriage alliance with the Sang family is beneficial. Why wouldn't I consider it?"

Jian Zhiyan had rejected arranged marriages since her twenties. She had warned Jian Cenyu in advance precisely to give her a chance to prepare a refusal. Now, hearing Jian Cenyu's words, she thought she was hearing things.

"...You haven't had your eye on Sang Shiyue for a while, have you? He is quite handsome. Have you had a crush on him for years?"

Jian Cenyu coolly uttered two words: "I have not."

So, young people today really don't need love and only consider benefits? The world really has changed.

Jian Zhiyan didn't want to press the matter further and quickly returned to the main topic. "The surveillance footage shows that the explosion was caused by a falling light tube, which triggered a reaction between palladium-carbon and methanol, causing a violent explosion in a short time. This, in turn, caused other reagents to mix and react, increasing the fire."

"Last week, Jian Corporation just allocated funds to the university to replace some basic equipment in the lab. That light tube was one of them. And the palladium-carbon that caused the explosion hadn't been treated with any other auxiliary reagents; it was a completely raw material."

Jian Cenyu: "I—"

"I don't mean to blame you. What I want to say is that the amount of palladium-carbon shown in the surveillance footage doesn't match the quantity you normally use. It was just kept there as a backup, and raw materials lose their maximum effectiveness if left for too long."

"The lab was fine. If he wanted to provide funding, he could have contributed more to the research funds. But Jian Zhenyang just had to insist on a sudden renovation."

Jian Zhiyan lowered her voice. "I haven't told anyone else about this; I'm only telling you. I suspect this was all deliberate."

Jian Cenyu's pupils constricted. "Auntie, you suspect Jian Zhenyang did this?"

Jian Zhiyan raised her hand and patted Jian Cenyu's left shoulder. "I told you a long time ago, our relatives don't care about family ties as much as they appear to. Consider this a lesson learned."

Jian Cenyu pressed her lips together, her figure looking even more frail in the hospital gown.

Jian Zhiyan sighed. "I'll have someone check the other light tubes in that lab to see if this was a coincidence. I'll tell you the results then. I'll also privately provide financial compensation to the innocent students who were involved. I'm leaving now."

The sound of footsteps faded. When she reached the doorway, Jian Zhiyan let out a surprised 'Hey!' and turned back. "This food... the little one from the Sang family must have left it, right? Strange, where did she go?"

Jian Cenyu looked toward the door of the room, her brow slowly furrowing.

Sang Shi'an left the hospital and took a taxi straight to find Sang Shiyue.

At this hour, Sang Shiyue hadn't finished work yet. The secretary took Sang Shi'an up in the private elevator and brought her to the office. "CEO Sang is working inside. Miss Sang, what would you like to drink? I'll go prepare it."

"No need to trouble yourself. I'm just here to talk to my brother about something." Sang Shi'an forced a smile and, without knocking, pushed the door open and went in.

Sang Shiyue sensed the movement and was about to scold the thoughtless employee when he looked up and saw Sang Shi'an. He was taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

Sang Shi'an walked straight to the desk and sat on it. "Can't I come? Am I interrupting my brother's work?"

"Of course not." Sang Shiyue put down his pen, loosened his tie, and leaned back in his large leather chair. "So, little An'an, what brings you to grace me with your presence? Did you run out of money, or have you fallen for some scoundrel and plan to elope?"

"I'm here to ask you about something serious, something important." Sang Shi'an kicked Sang Shiyue's leg in dissatisfaction. "That Jian Zhenyang from the Jian family, how much do you know about him?"

Sang Shiyue narrowed his eyes. "Something's not right. You're not acting like yourself."

Sang Shi'an glanced at Sang Shiyue. "What's not right?"

"Aren't you usually uninterested in company matters? Why are you suddenly concerned about a shareholder from another company? Did you hear about that Huaxing IPO project from Jian Cenyu and want me to do the Jian family a favor?" Sang Shiyue was clearly a little displeased as he said this.

Sang Shi'an shrank back. "I'm not asking you for a favor. I just want to know what kind of person he is. Jian Zhenyang came to see you? Did he want my brother to finance him?"

"He's approached me many times, and I've refused every time." Once he confirmed that Sang Shi'an wasn't there to lobby for Jian Zhenyang, Sang Shiyue's tone softened again. "I don't know much about him, but he's dishonest in his dealings, his hands aren't clean, and he's overly ambitious. Several of Jian Corporation's projects that he handled were unsatisfactory. From a business perspective, I don't want to get involved with him. Can you understand that, little sister?"

Sang Shi'an nodded. "I understand, I understand. I was just passing by and saw your light was still on, so I came up to see you. I also wanted to ask about a name I heard from Cenyu Jiejie, to tell the good from the bad in advance."

Hearing her mention Jian Cenyu, Sang Shiyue asked, "The lab explosion, was she injured?"

"A little scrape on her shoulder. She can walk and jump, so it's nothing serious. She just needs to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation." Sang Shi'an's mind was preoccupied with the fact that Jian Zhenyang had repeatedly sought financing from her brother, so she spoke of Jian Cenyu without her usual pettiness.

She glanced at the nearly finished file in front of Sang Shiyue and suggested, "When you're done with work, let's go have dinner together?"

"All grown up and know how to care for your brother now, huh?" Sang Shiyue sat up straight again and gestured for Sang Shi'an to get off his desk. "Give me ten minutes."

Sang Shi'an nodded repeatedly and, for a rare change, even started massaging Sang Shiyue's shoulders. "I've always cared about you, brother. Is this pressure okay?"

Sang Shiyue turned to the side and ruffled Sang Shi'an's hair. "If you really care, don't just say it. Come intern at the company on the weekend and help me out a bit."

Sang Shi'an continued the half-hearted massage and obediently replied, "Okay, okay, I'll definitely come when I have time."

Sang Shiyue took a sip of coffee, feeling relaxed and content.

It wasn't until the next day, when he had to bail her out of the police station, that Sang Shiyue realized Sang Shi'an's well-behaved act tonight had been just that—an act.

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