Tong Sui retained the memories of the original owner and recognized them as former employees of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, the original owner had only been a temporary worker, responsible for menial tasks, and in terms of seniority, he had to call them both “uncle.”
“Uncle Zhang, Uncle Li,” Tong Sui politely addressed them.
The two men, being called by name, felt even more embarrassed. Who would want to do such a thing if it weren’t for the need to survive?
“Are you still pretending? From the moment you met Jiang Hua, I knew your intentions were not good. Do you think just pretending can fool everyone?”
Jian Lexian was angrily smashing the laboratory instruments and reports, shouting, “You don’t know anything. You have no right to be here!”
Just as Jian Lexian raised a stack of experimental reports, his wrist was suddenly grasped.
Tong Sui looked at him.
Though Jian Lexian’s figure was slender and his grip was almost a light touch, without much strength, there was still an unexpected tremor in Jian Lexian’s heart, yielding a fear he found unbelievable.
The surrounding commotion quieted down.
“The one who has the least right to be here is you,” Tong Sui said coldly, his tone more indifferent than usual, making others feel inexplicably chilled.
Jian Lexian’s hand froze in mid-air.
Realizing something was off, Xie Guohong hurriedly called Lou Yeling.
Everyone inside and outside the laboratory heard Lou Yeling’s furious shout, “Is he crazy? Bring him back!”
Tong Sui released his grip.
Jian Lexian stumbled out of the laboratory in embarrassment, leaving a mess behind—
Scattered glass instruments and drenched experimental reports lay everywhere. Additionally, there was a simple bed set up in the small partition of the laboratory.
When did Tong Sui move in?
It seemed that things they had previously overlooked were slowly coming to the surface, shattering the inertia of their subconscious thoughts.
Everyone finally came to their senses.
Why had they only just noticed that Tong Sui had indeed been working too hard lately? How could someone like him be just pretending?
They all crouched down to help Tong Sui clean up the mess, comforting him, “Don’t worry, Xiao Sui, we won’t listen to that person’s provocations.”
“Yeah, you don’t need to take it to heart.”
One of the researchers picked up a water-soaked research report, casually glancing at the contents, and suddenly froze.
He quickly read through it, his eyes lighting up, “Is this… is what’s written here true? Have they already discovered a method to inhibit the virus?”
Others heard the commotion and gathered around.
Upon seeing that experimental report, everyone’s eyes sparkled with the same excitement.
They all turned to the author of the report.
Tong Sui leaned one hand on the laboratory table, his face pale. The crisp white lab coat he wore was clean, but it hung loosely on him, making him appear as fragile as a piece of paper that would blow away with the slightest gust of wind.
It was not hard to imagine the difficulties he had faced to reach this point.
Tong Sui felt dizzy and weak as he looked at the overturned instruments and reports, grateful he had moved the final experimental samples into storage ahead of time. Otherwise, all his efforts would have gone up in smoke.
He initially wanted to crouch down and help clean up with them, but as he leaned against the table, his strength gave out, and the scene in front of him blurred.
Tong Sui felt like all the energy in his body had been drained.
He collapsed to the ground like a soft mudslide, causing a gasp of alarm from those around.
The others quickly surrounded him.
They soon realized that Tong Sui’s face was even paler than usual, his soft bangs damp with cold sweat, sticking closely to his skin.
“What just happened?”
“Xiao Sui, are you okay?”
They rushed to help Tong Sui up. However, when they touched his thin wrist, they felt its icy chill penetrate to the bone.
They helped him to his small bed.
Covered with a thin blanket, Tong Sui trembled unconsciously, feeling the cold as a warning of his body’s energy depletion.
“Is it low blood sugar?”
“Quick, does anyone have chocolate or glucose?”
They searched frantically and finally pulled out a chocolate bar. They hurriedly unwrapped it and held it out in front of Tong Sui.
The chocolate emitted a faint scent.
Yet Tong Sui had little appetite.
The researcher holding the chocolate became anxious, “This is my private stash that I’ve been saving; I took it out for you, you have to eat it!”
Tong Sui believed it wasn’t that serious at first.
During this time, he had been pulling all-nighters for experiments, often experiencing palpitations, dizziness, or tinnitus, with various small ailments continuously creeping in.
Yet, under their urging, Tong Sui finally accepted the piece of chocolate, saying thank you.
His fingers trembled slightly as he held the chocolate.
It seemed to be more serious than he had thought…
Tong Sui forced himself to finish the whole piece of chocolate, feeling its sweet and greasy taste clogging his throat.
A cup of warm sugar water was offered to him.
He reached out to take it but soon realized he had overestimated his current physical state.
The cup wobbled, spilling some water onto his collar.
He couldn’t even hold a cup of water steadily now.
Eventually, Tong Sui had to lean on his colleague’s hand to drink the overly sweet sugar water.
He felt as if he was steeped in syrup; his entire being felt sticky, but the panic and coldness diminished significantly.
Along with that came overwhelming fatigue.
The lights on the laboratory ceiling transformed into distant, blurry dots, and he inadvertently closed his heavy eyelids.
Tong Sui felt as if he was sinking deeper and deeper, plunging into an endless deep sea, his breathing becoming increasingly difficult.
But soon, the originally icy seawater seemed to boil, submerging him in a relentless heat, continually cooking him until his throat felt dry and painful, and his eyelids burned.