The Mysterious Night of Beijing

The other members of the project team also began to openly ostracize her, and they couldn't even be bothered to maintain a semblance of politeness.

Lin Chuxiu acted as if nothing had happened.

She still shows up at the lab on time every day, handling her bottles and jars, and recording her data.

Those rumors and gossip seemed to be separated from her by an invisible barrier.

Xu Ziming felt a little annoyed looking at her with that "I'm not afraid of boiling water" attitude.

He thought that with this move, even if Lin Chuxiu didn't run to Professor Zhou in tears to complain, she would at least be thrown into a panic.

To my surprise, she didn't react at all.

This made him feel like he had used all his strength to punch a piece of cotton.

That night, Xu Ziming deliberately stayed in the laboratory.

He wanted to see what Lin Chuxiu was up to.

Only the two of them remained in the laboratory.

Lin Chuxiu is currently performing the final purification step.

She carefully dissolved and transferred the small amount of precursor she had painstakingly collected, preparing for a crucial reaction.

She was completely focused, all her attention concentrated on the small reaction bottle in front of her.

Xu Ziming stood not far behind her, watching coldly.

He wanted to see what kind of tricks they could make from a pile of waste liquid.

Just as Lin Chuxiu was about to add another reactant to the reaction flask...

The laboratory lights flickered suddenly.

Immediately afterwards, the centrifuge in front of her, which was running at high speed, emitted a piercing noise and then suddenly stopped.

The control panel screen above the centrifuge went black instantly.

A burnt smell filled the air.

"What's going on?" Xu Ziming was also startled.

Lin Chuxiu's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

She rushed to the centrifuge and tried to restart it, but the machine did not respond.

This centrifuge is connected to the central temperature control system of the entire laboratory.

If it stops, it means that her temperature-sensitive samples will deteriorate rapidly and become completely ineffective within minutes.

Her hard work over the past two weeks will be ruined.

"Quick! Go check the main switch!" Lin Chuxiu's voice trembled slightly, without her even realizing it.

Xu Ziming realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly ran to check the electrical distribution box.

"No! It's not a tripped circuit breaker! It looks like the wiring is burnt out!"

Xu Ziming's voice carried a hint of panic.

This equipment was imported from Germany and has a very complex structure; the school's maintenance team simply couldn't repair it.

We'll have to wait for the manufacturer's engineers to fly over from Germany, which will take at least two or three days.

By then, the daylilies will be too cold.

Lin Chuxiu's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

She looked at the bottles and jars on the lab table, which held all her hopes, and felt a chill run from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

It’s over.

It's all over.

She leaned against the cold lab table, feeling all the strength drain from her body.

A deep sense of powerlessness and despair overwhelmed her.

Why?

Why is it that every time she sees hope, reality always delivers the heaviest blow?

Xu Ziming stood aside, watching her distraught appearance, but he felt no pleasure whatsoever. Instead, he felt a strange sense of irritation.

Just then, the laboratory door was suddenly pushed open.

Several maintenance workers wearing blue overalls and carrying toolboxes rushed in.

The leader was a middle-aged man who looked very capable.

He didn't even glance at Xu Ziming and Lin Chuxiu, and walked straight to the malfunctioning centrifuge.

"President Gao called personally, saying that the equipment in the national key laboratory had malfunctioned and that we had to fix it within half an hour, no matter what!"

"Stop standing there, get to work!"

The men quickly opened the toolbox, disassembled the machine casing, and began rapid repairs.

Lin Chuxiu and Xu Ziming were both stunned.

Principal Gao?

The president of Yenching University would actually make a phone call personally for a piece of equipment in the laboratory?

Moreover, the repair team arrived far too quickly.

It has been less than ten minutes since the equipment malfunctioned.

As Lin Chuxiu watched the repairmen operate the equipment skillfully, a faint glimmer of hope emerged from the ashes of despair in her heart.

Perhaps... there's still hope?

She watched their every move intently, forgetting even to breathe.

Time passed by, second by second.

Just when she felt her heart was about to jump out of her throat.

"alright!"

The lead repairman wiped the sweat from his brow and closed the machine's casing.

He pressed the start button.

"drop--"

With a soft click, the centrifuge's control panel lit up again.

The machine emitted a steady, humming sound.

It's fixed!

Lin Chuxiu's legs went weak, and she almost sat down on the ground.

She leaned against the lab table, panting heavily, her back soaked with cold sweat.

The repairmen packed up their things and left in a hurry, as if they were just completing an urgent task.

Xu Ziming looked at the equipment that had returned to normal, then at Lin Chuxiu, his expression complex.

"Consider yourself lucky," he said, then turned and left.

The laboratory returned to silence.

Lin Chuxiu walked to the lab bench, looked at the samples that had been lost and recovered, her eyes welled up, and she almost shed tears.

She composed herself and continued the experiment that had been interrupted.

She was busy until 4 a.m. before dragging her exhausted body back to her dormitory.

She took a shower and lay in bed, but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

My mind keeps replaying everything that happened tonight.

What a coincidence!

The equipment broke down at just the right time, and the repair team arrived at just the right time.

She always felt that there was an unseen hand controlling everything behind the scenes.

Could it be him?

As soon as the thought popped into her head, she immediately shook her head.

impossible.

How could he, living far away in Shanghai, possibly know that a piece of equipment in the Yenching University laboratory was broken?

You're definitely overthinking it.

It's normal for a university to attach great importance to a national key laboratory and respond quickly.

She comforted herself with this thought, forcing herself to close her eyes.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, her phone, which was beside her pillow, vibrated slightly.

It was a short message.

It came from an unsigned, unfamiliar number.

The message contained only three words.

【Thanks for your hard work.】

Lin Chuxiu felt a little confused, but she didn't think too much about it; it didn't matter who it was.

She was very tired today. After getting home, she took a nice hot shower and ate the dessert she wanted. Before, in order to lose weight and maintain a perfect figure, she never dared to eat these high-calorie, high-sugar foods.

But now, she doesn't live for anyone else, only for herself, eating whatever she wants and doing whatever she wants.

Looking back on her past life, she even felt like a fool for being fooled by others for so many years.