The Favored Heiress
Chapter 224: Baby

Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Baby

Li Qiao did not conceal her suspicions and, after a moment of silence, she shared her conjecture, "Our tests have found that a certain chemical element can cause chromosomal mutations, very similar to what your sister is experiencing.

Think carefully if, when you lived in the countryside, you had ever come into contact with pesticides or herbicides.

If you’re certain you have, please tell us the details, as that would significantly clarify the direction of our research."

Though the mutation was suspected to be caused by the element arsenic, with many chemical elements to consider, it was not yet possible to definitively attribute it to a single element or a reaction caused by a mixture of substances.

At this, Guan Mingyu and Guan Mingchen exchanged puzzled looks, both their faces a picture of confusion.

Guan Mingyu spoke up solemnly before Guan Mingchen could get a word in, "I haven’t touched any of these things. I studied chemistry and I know that pesticides are chemical agents.

Moreover... we are not from Zhao Family Village; we haven’t been allotted any land or homesteads there. My brother and I have been living in a farmhouse at the edge of the village all these years, and we don’t have such substances at home."

Guan Mingyu recounted their past with clear thought and a pale face.

Seeing her tense expression, Lian Zhen gestured for her to take a sip of water and asked gently in return, "Have you done any chemical experiments at school?"

Guan Mingyu, holding her cup, gave a wry smile, "I’m currently in my third year of high school. We don’t have many chemistry experiments, and even when we do, they’re carried out under the teacher’s guidance. I’ve never done an experiment myself."

She was isolated at school and had no friends, so even during class experiments, no one wanted to be her partner; at most, she was just a bystander.

At that moment, the conference room fell silent once more.

Li Qiao, with her fingers propping up her forehead, glanced at the research report, her gaze somewhat profound.

Lian Zhen sighed as well, "If that’s the case, we might need some more time.

However, Miss Guan doesn’t need to worry too much. The lab’s drug development team is already researching control medication tailored to the changes in your body. I’ll inform you as soon as we have updates."

Guan Mingyu nodded absently, her heart filled with a mix of fear and unease.

She had never imagined that her body could contain chemical elements, and her and her brother’s simple lives offered no channels for such exposure.

After a while, the siblings prepared to leave.

They had just stood up when Li Qiao raised her head, looking at Guan Mingyu with a calm gaze, "Do your best in the college entrance examination."

The college entrance examination was just a week away.

Guan Mingyu’s shoulders trembled and she nodded quickly, "I will, thank you Miss Li, thank you Big Brother Lian."

She bowed to them, her appearance altered and her figure swollen, yet she was still filled with conscience and gratitude.

After the siblings left, Li Qiao exhaled deeply and closed the report. Tapping on the desk, she murmured thoughtfully, "Arsenic is a toxic element, and even trace amounts can be lethal. If Guan Mingyu really had arsenic poisoning, she couldn’t possibly have survived until now."

Lian Zhen also furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"

Li Qiao pondered with narrowed eyes, tapping progressively faster on the table, "She’s not suffering from arsenic poisoning; it must be mutations caused by arsenical compounds.

Senior Brother Lian, we might have been looking in the wrong direction. Arsenic can indeed cause chromosomal mutations, but it’s definitely not this element alone."

With that realization, Lian Zhen’s eyes brightened, and he slapped his hand as if suddenly enlightened, "Right, Xiao Li, you’re correct. We’ve been fixating on the substance arsenic but overlooked the physiological mutations arsenical compounds could cause.

Let’s compile a list of both the common and uncommon arsenical compounds right away, and start testing them immediately."

With a new direction for their research, the two dived back into their experiments.

...

At eleven o’clock at night, Li Qiao dragged her weary body back to the dormitory.

She lay back on her bed, still contemplating the lab work.

Something seemed missing tonight.

Li Qiao got distracted and then noticed that her phone wasn’t by her side.

After a careful recollection, she remembered that she had left her phone in the pocket of her white lab coat and forgot to bring it back.

Li Qiao sat up on the bed, rubbed her temples, and stared at the wall expressionlessly. Three seconds later, she reluctantly got up to go back to the laboratory to fetch her phone.

If she had known, she would have brought the spare phone that Shang Yu gave her to the dorm as well.

In the information age, being without a mobile phone felt just like not wearing any clothes, so awkward.

Back in the lab, Li Qiao rummaged through her white lab coat to find her phone, turned on the screen, and saw a dozen WeChat messages and two missed calls.

The calls were from an unknown number, which Li Qiao didn’t pay attention to. Going back to the WeChat page, she immediately looked at the pinned chat.

Shang Yu: Remember to eat on time.

The message was sent at six in the afternoon, when she and Lian Zhen were still immersed at the research bench, focusing on the test results.

Li Qiao used her toes to push the chair back to sit down, thought for a moment, and replied with an OK gesture.

It was nearly midnight, and she suppressed the urge to chat with Shang Yu. After closing the chat window, she continued to check other WeChat messages.

Apart from Tang Yiting’s usual nonsense messages, there were also two from Duan Yixuan.

Li Qiao’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she smiled as she opened her chat page.

It seemed the three-day repayment period had passed, but her account had not received any money.

The two messages from Duan Yixuan were asking if she was free and reminding her to answer her phone.

Oh, was the call from that unknown number hers?

Li Qiao nonchalantly curled her lips and deleted Duan Yixuan’s WeChat page, just as her phone happened to ring.

Remark: Baby.

Upon seeing these two words, Li Qiao first paused, then her eyes filled with a gleaming twinkle.

She had been so busy these past few days that she almost forgot she had changed Shang Yu’s contact name to "Baby".

The reason traced back to the incident with the emoticon pack.

Li Qiao cleared her throat and leaned lazily against the back of the chair to answer the call, "Bab... cough, Master Yan, haven’t you gone to bed yet?"

After a busy day, her mind wasn’t very clear. She nearly blurted out the words "Baby".

Li Qiao touched her nose and coughed several times trying to cover the awkwardness.

On the other end of the line, the man was silent at first, then his deep voice, tinged with amusement, asked, "What did you just call me?"

Li Qiao’s ears heated up, she blinked and feigned ignorance, "Master Yan, right?"

The words "Baby" seemed hard to say out loud because... they were too mushy.

At this moment, Shang Yu swirled the ice in his glass, producing a crisp clinking sound, and stopped teasing Li Qiao. He changed the topic and asked, "Did you eat on time?"

Li Qiao let out a sigh of relief, leaned back against the headrest, and responded lazily, "I ate a little after eight."

"That’s too late," Shang Yu sipped his brandy, his voice growing richer and smoother, "No matter how busy the experiments, you should take care of your health."

Li Qiao sighed deeply, not wanting to continue the topic. Looking at the ceiling above, her voice softened a bit, "Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?"