NOVEL WEB Chapter 432
After saying this, she didn't linger any longer and went to find Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi wasn't there, but he had left someone behind.
"I need all the current medical data on the young master's condition, as well as a fully equipped laboratory. I'll list out the materials and instruments I require shortly—please prepare them within an hour."
Ji Nian didn't mince words, stating her demands directly.
The person turned to relay Ji Nian's exact words to Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi paused his work, narrowing his eyes slightly.
He had initially assumed Ji Nian would produce some tangible resource or leverage connections before making such bold claims.
But judging by her tone…
Holding the freshly delivered dossier in his hands, Lu Zhi skimmed through it.
Raised in the Ji Family, suspected to be Ji Tingzhou's illegitimate daughter—though never acknowledged. At five, she was scalded by an overturned kettle, leaving her introverted and withdrawn. Academically inept, perpetually at the bottom of her class. Recently expelled from the Ji Family and her school after hiring thugs to attack the Ji Family's heir—Ji Tingzhou's adopted daughter.
This life resume was nothing short of disgraceful.
Lu Zhi struggled to reconcile it with the composed young woman who had spoken so confidently to him earlier.
"...Do as she says."
Recalling those emerald-green eyes brimming with unshed tears, Lu Zhi gave the order to the subordinate awaiting his instructions.
Of course, the main reason was…
His gaze shifted to the surveillance footage on his screen.
A girl in a cap and mask, speaking flawless, accentless O-country language as she asked a staff member for directions.
Then, glancing back at the dossier's line about her "academically inept" status.
The stark contrast only deepened his curiosity about her next move.
...
[As you predicted, Lu Zhi had someone retrieve all video footage of you after you disembarked.]
Hearing the system's voice, Ji Nian straightened from where she'd been leaning against the railing.
[Good. That means someone will likely escort me to the prepared lab soon.]
Though not a frequent visitor, she'd been here enough times to know her way around. Getting "lost" and asking for directions had been deliberate.
Lu Zhi would undoubtedly investigate her background, and once he compared the discrepancies between the records and her actual demeanor, his sharp observational skills would pick up on the inconsistencies.
That was precisely Ji Nian's goal.
Sure enough, someone soon arrived to fetch her.
...
"This lab's unavailable? Reserved by some VIP?"
John Qiao walked past with a coffee in hand, watching a group busily hauling equipment into the institute's largest laboratory.
"Yes, sent by the Lu Family head."
"Word is, it's for the young master."
John Qiao's expression shifted subtly.
The young master…
Over the years, the Lu Family and His Highness had formed numerous task forces, all ending in dead ends.
Lu Jinghuai's current condition was already the best outcome after exhausting every possible effort.
John Qiao nodded in acknowledgment, asking no further questions.
He held no expectations.
But that indifference soon morphed into something else as senior colleagues voiced their outrage.
"A little girl? You're certain?" John Qiao blurted in disbelief.
"Absolutely. Mary saw it herself—the person the Lu Family head sent to use Lab 1 is a very young girl, probably fifteen or sixteen. And… disfigured."
John Qiao hesitated. "Could she just be a family member—"
But the others dismissed the idea emphatically.
"This is absurd," he muttered under his breath.
A senior professor, more seasoned than him, huffed indignantly. "I understand the Lu Family head's desperation, but this is sheer recklessness!"
"Does this child even know what she's doing? Can she tell a PFA gas-washing bottle from a PFA washing bottle?"
"She probably can't even name a multifunctional flask correctly."
"I saw the equipment being moved in earlier. If that OI gets damaged—what's the director thinking, allowing this?"
Nearly everyone speculated whether the director had lost his mind, letting just anyone waltz in.
The novelty of the situation drew idle staff to loiter near Lab 1, hoping to catch a glimpse of its occupant.
Yet no one anticipated that once Ji Nian entered, she wouldn't emerge for days—only empty meal trays left outside as proof of life.
Unaware of the curiosity she'd sparked (or perhaps indifferent to it), Ji Nian focused on peeling off the gauze from her face.
Days earlier, she'd administered local anesthesia and made incisions on the left side—the half ruined by burns—to test her experimental treatment.
"The scabs are shedding. Progress looks promising."
Checking the time, she realized several days had passed. If she didn't show herself soon, Lu Zhi would likely send someone knocking.
But first, she needed sleep.
Over the past week, she'd barely rested, sustained only by a makeshift energy serum. Pushing further would risk collapsing for good.
She crumpled to the floor, dead to the world, not even stirring when her head bumped the ground. Loose papers snowed down from the desk, nearly burying her.
When she finally awoke, groggy and disoriented, she asked the system for the time.
She'd slept nearly two days straight and now felt faint with hunger.
Fortunately, the staff outside had kept delivering meals despite her silence.
After wolfing down a few bites, strength gradually returned. Sitting up, she steadied herself before storing the serum in a secure case and stepping out.
It was lunch hour, the halls bustling. The moment she appeared, all eyes locked onto her.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"That's her? The one they mentioned? They said fifteen or sixteen—she looks fourteen at most!"
"Idiot, she's clearly Asian. They age slower. She's probably seventeen or eighteen."
"John Qiao, look at her face."
John Qiao, book in hand, happened to glance over as he passed. His eyes widened at the sight of her.
"Wasn't she supposed to have burns? Those look like fresh wounds."
Yet where the scabs had fallen away, the skin beneath was unnervingly smooth.
From a distance, the patches resembled smudged dirt rather than scars.
Too stunned to move, John Qiao stared openly.
Ji Nian, fiddling with her dead phone, caught his gaze and raised a brow in recognition.
"John Qiao, got a charging cable? Lend me one."
Hearing his name roll off her tongue so familiarly, John Qiao's glasses slid down his nose.
Gaping, he nonetheless fished a cable from his coat pocket and handed it over, tossing in a power bank for good measure.
"Thanks."
She patted his shoulder, plugging in her phone.
The long-depleted device flickered to life—only to bombard her with a flood of missed calls and messages.
At this moment, the only person who could still message her was Gu Xiuyuan.
: Where did you get that medicine?
: It's quite effective. Shen Qingtang's wounds are healing quickly.
: That person you asked me to find, He Xiang—no leads yet. After all these years, he might have changed his name.
Things were still relatively calm then.
Until three days ago.
: Sent the medicine to Bruce.
: What the hell is in that medicine? Answer me.
: Pick up my call.
: PICK UP THE PHONE!!
: Where are you? Answer the damn phone!
: Ji Tingzhou knows it was you.