Chapter 132: A Stroke of Serendipity

Zhong Yi was momentarily stunned, then lowered his head and said plaintively, "I was studying."

Shen Qing responded with a hum, then added, "Teacher Qi is your mentor. From now on, speak to him with more respect."

Teacher Qi, who had been mentioned, was taken aback, his eyebrows lifting sharply. Ha, Shen Qing was standing up for him.

"Alright, I'm sorry, Teacher Qi," Zhong Yi said, sitting on the bed and bowing his head to Teacher Qi.

"What happened?" Shen Qing asked, directing the question toward Zhong Yi and the situation in the lab.

"Uh..."

Seeing Zhong Yi hesitate, Teacher Qi took over. "Let me explain. Your boy Zhong Yi sneaked into the top-floor laboratory. The machine malfunctioned, and he inhaled a lot of toxic gas. He was in a mild coma with slight heart failure. Other health indicators still need to be monitored during rest. If he hadn’t triggered the alarm, he would have been done for long ago."

Zhong Yi smiled sheepishly, and Shen Qing shot him a glare, muttering that he deserved it.

"Shen Qing, when will you go check that machine? The experts arrive the day after tomorrow."

Hearing this, Zhong Yi was annoyed. "My sister just got here and is already bossing me around. Teacher, don’t you have any conscience?"

"Hey! Didn’t you break my machine?" Teacher Qi retorted.

"If I hadn’t risked myself, those experts would have been poisoned for sure the day after tomorrow."

Shen Qing rubbed her temples. "Stop arguing."

She stood up. "Let’s go check the machine first."

"Sis!" Zhong Yi pulled back the covers.

Teacher Qi glanced at Zhong Yi with satisfaction. "Stop calling out, your sister won’t be able to sleep anyway."

Shen Qing paused at the door. "Teacher Qi."

"Ah! Here I am."

Zhong Yi pursed his lips, put on his shoes, draped a coat over his shoulders, and followed.

***

The top-floor laboratory had already been cleaned up. Shen Qing, wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, circled the half-man-high machine.

"Hand me a wrench."

"Right away." Zhong Yi took the wrench from the assistant and passed it to Shen Qing.

Shen Qing swiftly removed a metal panel with a few quick moves, and within minutes, the machine was stripped down to its core components.

"Miss Shen, can you put it back together after taking it apart like this?" the assistant exclaimed in alarm.

Zhong Yi glanced up at the assistant with a mixture of pride and disdain.

The assistant was baffled by the look. Meanwhile, Shen Qing had already dismantled the core parts.

"What’s this?" The assistant looked toward Teacher Qi, who smiled warmly as he observed Shen Qing’s work, clearly in good spirits.

"Give me a magnifying glass." Shen Qing bent down and pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Here." Zhong Yi was quick to react, tossing the magnifying glass to her.

"Hey..." The assistant was startled again and lunged to grab the magnifying glass, but in a blink, Shen Qing caught it firmly.

With the magnifying glass, it was clear that the gears inside were rusted, and several small screws were loose.

"Teacher Qi, besides Zhong Yi, has anyone else been in here?" Shen Qing stood up and placed the magnifying glass on the lab bench.

Teacher Qi thought for a moment. "No."

The equipment in this lab was very expensive; he didn’t even allow the cleaning staff to come up here.

"Oh." Shen Qing took off her glasses, and Zhong Yi quickly brought over a stool for her to sit.

Shen Qing glanced at the assistant, and Teacher Qi spoke up, "This assistant has been with me for over a year. You can trust him."

"Yes, someone tampered with the machine. The screws were replaced with slightly smaller ones. It wasn’t obvious at first, but over time it caused problems. The small gears inside show unnatural rust."

Teacher Qi stiffened. This was clearly aimed at the experts from R Country, intended to sabotage him!

"Then... have I made a contribution?" Zhong Yi asked timidly.

He had experimented without permission but had accidentally hit the mark. Surely he wouldn’t be punished this time.

Shen Qing glanced at him. "You could say that."

"What about this machine?"

Teacher Qi was most worried about the exchange meeting the day after tomorrow. The medical organization had always been at the forefront of international medicine, and this machine, capable of purifying polluted gas, attracted the attention of authoritative experts worldwide.

"I’ll make some modifications and give you the blueprints tomorrow."

Teacher Qi checked the time; it was already late.

"Alright, get some rest early."

The assistant locked the lab electronically and took the elevator down with them, stealing a few more glances at Shen Qing.