Marrying My Bestie's Ferocious Brother - He Calls Me His Baby!-Chapter 173: Laboratory Explosion! She Risked Her Life to Protect the Blueprints!
Beijing City University of Technology, abandoned warehouse.
The air was filled with the smell of burned rubber.
"Don’t move!"
Jiang Zhou shouted loudly.
With two huge dark circles under his eyes, his hair was as messy as if he’d been struck by lightning, gripping two wires firmly in his hands.
Gu Lan was so frightened that her hand trembled, and the bun she was holding nearly fell to the ground.
"Why are you yelling at me!"
Gu Lan’s eyes widened, "I haven’t eaten for an entire day and night, and I’m kind enough to bring you food, do you take me for a fool!"
Jiang Zhou didn’t even hear her.
He stared at the grey cathode ray tube on the workbench, his eyes bloodshot.
This was the fifth test.
Also the most critical one. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
If it succeeded, this would be the first homemade color television tube in the country.
If it failed...
All those US Dollars, those blueprints painstakingly drawn by the sister-in-law, would be for nothing.
"Voltage, three thousand volts."
Jiang Zhou’s voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping across a table.
Gu Lan dared not contradict him anymore.
She put down the bun, held her breath, and stood two meters away from the table, watching intently.
"Zzz—zzzz—"
The sound of current buzzed like a poisonous snake wriggling through the air.
The oscilloscope on the workbench, with its green light flickering madly.
"Stay steady... keep steady for me..."
The veins on Jiang Zhou’s forehead bulged.
He gently turned the knob in his hand one millimeter to the right.
Suddenly.
The once steady humming noise became abruptly sharp and piercing.
Like fingernails scratching across glass.
"Beep---!!!"
Jiang Zhou’s expression changed dramatically.
"Not good! Overload!"
He reached out to pull the electrical switch.
Too late.
"Bang—!"
A huge explosion sounded.
It was the sound of glass shattering under high pressure.
The expensive cathode ray tube on the workbench exploded.
Countless sharp glass shards, wrapped in high heat, shot out indiscriminately like bullets.
"Ah!"
Jiang Zhou instinctively raised his arm to shield his head, shrinking back.
In that split second.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an incredible sight.
Gu Lan, who was originally standing two meters away.
The Miss Gu who would scream at the sight of a cockroach.
Didn’t run.
Didn’t dodge.
She lunged at the workbench like a madwoman!
She spread her arms, pressing herself over the desk.
Desperately protecting those few thin pieces of paper on the table.
"Crash—"
Glass shards flew.
They viciously pierced into the back of her hand, slashing her arm.
Blood.
Red blood, instantly soaked through her white sleeve.
A buzzing noise erupted in Jiang Zhou’s head.
It exploded.
Louder than the explosion of the cathode ray tube.
He rushed over like a madman, grabbing Gu Lan’s shoulders, pulling her off the table.
"You’re crazy!"
"Are you insane!"
Jiang Zhou shouted hoarsely, veins on his neck about to burst.
"That’s glass! That’s high voltage! Do you understand you could have died!"
Gu Lan winced in pain, tears welling in her eyes, her face pale.
On the back of her hand, a two-inch-long cut, flesh rolled back, blood gushing out.
But her other hand was still gripping those sheets of paper tightly.
She held up the papers in front of Jiang Zhou.
Cracking a smile harder to bear than crying.
"What are you yelling for..."
"The drawings... are fine."
"These were drawn by sister-in-law... we can’t afford to buy paper again..."
Jiang Zhou looked at the blood on her hand.
Looked at that foolish smile.
He felt a fist punch him hard in the chest.
Hurting him so much he couldn’t breathe.
"To hell with the blueprints!"
Jiang Zhou snatched those dearly priced papers, casually flinging them on the glass-littered ground.
He bent down.
In this wreck-filled warehouse, he scooped Gu Lan up in his arms.
"Shut up!"
"Say one more word and I’ll throw you off the second floor!"
He carried her, kicking away obstructive iron shelves, like an enraged beast, charging out of the warehouse.
...
School infirmary.
The old school doctor held a pair of tweezers, picking glass shards out of Gu Lan’s wounds.
"Hiss—"
Gu Lan winced in pain, tears streaming down.
Jiang Zhou stood nearby.
His work clothes were covered in grease, his face still blackened with the explosion’s soot.
He stared fiercely at the old doctor’s hands.
His fists clenched, creaking.
If that stance meant the old doctor faltered a second, he’d demolish this clinic.
"Gentle!"
Jiang Zhou snapped, "Can’t you see she’s in pain?!"
The old doctor shot him an annoyed look.
"Don’t show off if you’re afraid of pain."
"Luckily, there’s no damage to the tendons or bones, just flesh wounds, will take half a month to heal, can’t get wet."
The wounds were bandaged.
Her hand wrapped in thick gauze, like a bear’s paw.
Gu Lan raised her hand, glanced at Jiang Zhou.
This fool.
Hadn’t spoken a word since earlier, his face dark as a pot bottom.
"Hey."
Gu Lan reached her uninjured hand, poking his arm.
"Don’t be too upset."
"The cathode ray tube’s gone, but we can save up for materials again..."
"I really did protect the drawings, they’re completely fine, still usable."
Jiang Zhou suddenly lifted his head.
Something was surging in his eyes.
Like fire.
Or ice.
He looked at Gu Lan, his voice terrifyingly low.
"Are you stupid?"
Gu Lan was stunned.
"They’re just bits of paper."
Jiang Zhou pointed outside, his finger trembling.
"They’re inanimate."
"Even if you lost a single hair, I’d burn those to ashes without blinking."
"You’re alive! Don’t you understand!"
Gu Lan opened her mouth, dumbfounded.
Her face inexplicably heating up.
Was this still Jiang Zhou, who would fight to death for a single component?
Jiang Zhou took a deep breath.
He turned away, no longer looking at her.
"Stay here."
"Even if the sky falls, don’t move."
After saying that.
He strode out briskly.
His back was resolute, with a devastating aura of determination.
Abandoned warehouse.
Jiang Zhou kicked open the door.
The floor was covered with shattered glass.
The papers stained with Gu Lan’s blood still lay desolately on the ground.
Jiang Zhou walked over.
Picked up the papers.
The bright red blood stain pierced his eyes painfully.
He slapped the papers on the table.
Took out a pen from his pocket.
He didn’t bother with complex formulas anymore.
Nor pondered those deep theories.
In his mind, only the scene of Gu Lan lunging at the table replayed.
Only the image of blood on her hands.
"Unstable voltage..."
"Feedback loop too slow..."
"Just need to add a quick-break mechanism..."
Jiang Zhou muttered.
The pen danced wildly on the wall.
All obstacles.
All impediments.
Under that scarlet stimulus, were instantly unblocked.
One hour.
Just one hour.
Jiang Zhou dropped the pen in his hand.
He looked at the brand new circuit structure on the wall.
The problem that had tormented him for three full months, kept him sleepless, caused countless explosions of the cathode ray tube.
Was solved.
He leaned against the wall, his body sliding down slowly.
Looking at the chaos around him, there was no trace of joy on his face.
Only an almost fierce determination.
"What I create."
"In this lifetime."
"Will never again make you shed a drop of blood."
