sbdcsierra Chapter 223 Explosion
Chapter 223 Explosion
Zhang Qian was a meticulous person, and he thought a lot in such a short time. After repeated consideration, he felt more and more that he shouldn't report Senior Yin's message to Professor Zhou.
So he quickly found a brown paper bag, stuffed the stack of calculation papers and messages into it haphazardly, and carried it back to the dormitory.
As soon as I stepped out of the office, I bumped into Ban Ning, who had rushed back overnight.
Banning asked, "Hey, where are you going?"
Zhang Qian seemed flustered, clutching the brown paper bag tightly to his chest, and stammered, "You're back so soon."
“Today is the Lantern Festival. Shen You left yesterday. If I hadn’t rushed back, Qiu Chunliang would have been all alone, and Professor Zhou would have found out.” Ban Ning pointed to the paper bag in Zhang Qian’s arms and asked curiously, “What’s this?”
“Novels, I read them to pass the time when I have nothing to do at night,” Zhang Qian replied, then added, “You’re here just in time, I’ll go back to my dorm to change.”
"Don't rush off. I bought some breakfast, and I also brought some tofu stir-fried with meat sauce from my hometown. Don't you especially love it? Let's eat together before you go back. Don't come over this morning, just get some rest." Ban Ning pulled Zhang Qian back.
Back in the office, Ban Ning handed the bag in her hand to Zhang Qian, saying, "Take out the food, I'm going to check the lab."
Seeing that he was still holding the paper bag with both hands, Ban Ning snatched it away and put it on the table. "Why are you still holding the book? Have you been too tired these past few days and not sleeping well? You look so listless. I'll thank you properly later. You really helped me a lot."
Zhang Qian set the food on the table; it was quite a feast, including fried dough sticks, sesame seed cakes, a jar of stir-fried tofu with meat sauce, and a lunchbox containing sliced sausages.
Banning walked out of the lab, sat down at the table thoughtfully, and said in confusion, "How could this be?"
Zhang Qian asked with concern, "What's wrong? Have you taken care of everything at home?"
Ban Ning replied, "I took my son to the provincial hospital for a checkup. The doctor said it was acute pneumonia caused by a viral infection. He has been hospitalized. I feel relieved that there are doctors there. I can't be of much help at the hospital, so I came back as soon as possible."
Zhang Qian comforted him, "It's good that the child is alright. But why do you seem so downcast? You were fine just now."
Banning frowned and said, "I was in charge of the second batch of feed when I left. It's been three or four days, why are the numbers so low? This is the third phase of the experiment, the data should be increasing exponentially. Could it be that I made a mistake with the amount when I added the feed?"
Zhang Qian said, "Maybe you were thinking about the child when you left, and you were a little distracted."
"Hurry up and eat, it's already past six o'clock. Professor Zhou and the others usually arrive around seven o'clock," Ban Ning said anxiously. "I need to find out what went wrong before they arrive."
Then, Banning asked Zhang Qian, "Do you have the key to the materials room? Also, you should have the material requisition forms, right? I want to check the material requisition status."
Zhang Qian blinked and blurted out, "I've already entered the material requisition form into the books and bound it. It's not with me now; it's been sent to the archives."
“Oh no, the archives won’t be open until 8:30.” Banning thought for a moment and then said, “Then leave me the key to the materials room first.”
Zhang Qian ate a couple of bites of food, then said he was sleepy and needed to go back to his dormitory to catch up on sleep. So he left the experimental center with the paper bag in his hand.
Zhang Qian's headache wasn't an excuse; it was genuinely caused by getting drunk the day before. He returned to his dorm and fell asleep on his bed without even taking off his clothes.
A loud bang jolted Zhang Qian awake. He was stunned for two seconds before realizing that it was the sound of an explosion.
He jumped up and rushed out the door.
He saw thick smoke billowing from the direction of the experimental center and realized that there was a fire.
He ran to the experimental center and saw that the central laboratory had been blown down to only half of its walls, and the surrounding rooms were engulfed in flames from the explosion.
Without hesitation, he rushed in to rescue the person. He knew Banning was inside, but he wasn't sure if the others were there, nor did he know the exact time. If it was after seven o'clock, there might be more than just Banning inside...
When Zhang Qian woke up, he felt pain all over his body. He felt as if he were lying flat on the bed, his whole body tightly bound, unable to move. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was a white expanse, like the ceiling of a hospital.
"Can you hear me? If you can, move your eyes." A pleasant and gentle female voice came from behind.
Zhang Qian blinked hard, and a burning pain immediately struck him. He tried to scream but couldn't open his mouth; only gurgling sounds came from his throat.
"Okay, don't move, you've been burned," the pleasant and gentle voice quickly stopped him.
Zhang Qian lay there for a month, and every time he changed his dressing, it felt like his skin was being peeled off; the pain was so intense that he wanted to die.
What made him feel even worse than death was that when he removed the gauze and saw himself in the mirror for the first time, he was greeted by a distorted and ugly face.
Xiao Yan, the caregiver arranged by the school, came over. "Oh, the bandages are being removed." When she looked up and saw him, she was so startled that she dropped the letter in her hand.
Xiao Yan quickly bent down to pick up the letter, turned to Zhang Qian and said, "A letter has arrived from your hometown. Do you want to open it yourself, or..." Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Never mind, I'll open it for you and read it to you."
Xiao Yan thought that since Zhang Qian had removed the bandages, he should be able to read the letter himself, so that he wouldn't feel inexplicably sad for Zhang Qian every time he read the letter to him.
It has been almost three months since Zhang Qian was injured, and his family has never visited him. School leaders have contacted his family multiple times, but his father, as the head of the family, has always made excuses, saying, "Our family doesn't have money to treat his injuries; the school has to take care of it."
Zhang Qian understood his father; he worried that once he came to the school, the school would shift all responsibility to his family and abandon him. Therefore, his father chose not to show up, believing that only in this way could the school not ignore him and watch him die.
Indeed, the school couldn't bear to leave him to die on the street, but his family could be so indifferent.
......
Jian Zheng cleared his throat, interrupting Zhang Qian.
He said coldly, "Enough, stop playing the victim, stop downplaying the issue."
Shang Yibo waved his hand at Jian Zheng and said in a deep voice, "Jian Zheng, can't you speak properly? Can't you see he's already upset enough?"
"Listen to what he says next, don't be merciful here. You're involved in this too. Don't be gritting your teeth and itching to get back at him later."