Chapter 518 An Unexpected Accident

Listening to the sound of rain, Fang Hua muttered, "It's raining so hard! The weather forecast said it would be light rain. This weather forecast is so inaccurate. But, this weather is perfect for hot pot."

Then he called on Zhou Chengyu to cook some tofu in the pot.

Seeing Jiang Zhizhi in a daze, she called out, "Zhizhi, hurry up and eat! The mutton I bought today is good; it doesn't have any gamey smell at all."

Jiang Zhizhi snapped out of her daze and saw that Xiao Zhouji had already started eating on his own, grabbing pieces of meat coated in sesame sauce and stuffing them into his mouth. His little mouth was covered in sesame sauce, and his eyes were bright and sparkling.

While eating, she pointed to her little bowl and said, "Put meat in, Grandma, put meat in."

She smiled as she put meat on Xiao Zhouji's plate, and then on Shang Shang's plate.

I planned to go to the lab when it got light.

The rain lasted all night, only lightening down in the morning.

Jiang Zhizhi got up early in the morning. Fang Hua and Zhou Chengyu were playing with the two children in the living room. When they saw her get up, Fang Hua smiled and said, "It's just in time for breakfast. After breakfast, if the rain stops, we'll take Shangshang and Xiao Zhouji to the yard to dig up earthworms to feed the chickens."

Jiang Zhizhi checked the time: "I'll go to work in a bit."

Fang Hua was puzzled: "Isn't today a day off? Why are you going to work?"

Jiang Zhizhi smiled and said, "It's okay. With such heavy rain, I'm afraid the rainwater will seep in through the window."

Fang Hua was still very supportive of Jiang Zhizhi's work: "Then go ahead and get busy. It's raining today, so the roads will definitely be difficult to travel on. I'll call the logistics department later and ask them to send a car to take you there."

Jiang Zhizhi didn't refuse: "Okay, I'll go take a look and come right back."

After having breakfast and playing with the children for a while, Jiang Zhizhi took the file folder and got on the bus to go to school.

As soon as she arrived at the office building, she saw a large crowd gathered downstairs, mostly from the school's security department.

Chu Fenghe was among them, speaking anxiously to the others.

Seeing Jiang Zhizhi arrive, Chu Fenghe was somewhat surprised and didn't bother to greet her: "Teacher Jiang, you've come at just the right time! Last night, the wind and rain were so strong that they blew the windows open and scattered all over the lab equipment... your experiments..."

She spoke with a look of deep heartache.

Standing next to him was Wang Wenzhong, the lab technician who worked the night shift with him.

Wang Wenzhong was also anxious: "Teacher Jiang, it's my fault too. Last night when it was raining, I checked everything, and all the windows were closed properly. Who knew... I fell into a deep sleep after I got back, and by the time Team Leader Chu went out to check, the accident had already happened."

What's even more regrettable is that "the petri dishes were overturned, and many of them were mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish them."

Jiang Zhizhi listened with a stern face and asked, "Which laboratory?"

Wang Wenzhong was distressed: "All the petri dishes used in the pertussis vaccine research have been messed up."

Jiang Zhizhi glanced at Chu Fenghe: "There's nothing we can do about it. We'll tidy up, reorganize the data, and redo the experiment."

Chu Fenghe still felt guilty: "It's all my fault. If I had checked the windows more carefully, all your hard work over the past month wouldn't have been in vain."

The security guards didn't understand, but they were also disappointed: "We just checked, the windows are old and in disrepair, and the wind was strong last night, so they were blown open."

Jiang Zhizhi nodded: "This is a natural factor that we can't control. We can just do the experiment again."

The security personnel said a few more words and said they would have the logistics department send someone over to fix it immediately.

After everyone left, Chu Fenghe asked Jiang Zhizhi, "Teacher Jiang, why did you come to the lab today when you're off?"

Jiang Zhizhi said with a straight face, "I was checking some data at home and found some discrepancies, so I came to the office to check if I copied it incorrectly."

Chu Fenghe still felt guilty: "Even if you hadn't come, I would have gone to apologize to each of you one by one. All the hard work you put in was ruined by my carelessness."

Jiang Zhizhi sighed: "It's okay, no one could have predicted this. Just be more careful in the future."

She sneered inwardly, however. She had checked the windows and knew that unless there was a typhoon, it was impossible for them to be blown open.

Wang Wenzhong, however, was standing by as a witness for Chu Fenghe: "It's really not Chu's fault. I was careless. When I saw the window blown open, Chu was frantic and tried to save it, even cutting his hands in the process."

Jiang Zhizhi frowned with concern: "Is it serious? The wound is deep, so you should get it bandaged."

Chu Fenghe quickly waved his hand: "It's nothing, it's just a minor injury. I'm not that delicate. I'll go call my colleagues to come back and help me."

Feeling both guilty and regretful, I sighed for a long time before leaving.

After Chu Fenghe left, Jiang Zhizhi went to see the laboratory that had been damaged by the wind. It was a mess, with broken glassware scattered all over the floor.

There was also a large puddle of water in front of the window.

The glass cabinets were blown over and smashed on the ground; the wind was really strong.

Jiang Zhizhi looked around, didn't say anything, and picked up a broom to sweep.

Wang Wenzhong quickly said from the side, "Teacher Jiang, I have already checked it, and most of them are unusable. We need to do the experiment again."

Jiang Zhizhi nodded once: "It's okay, it's just a matter of time. Just keep the previous data."

Wang Wenzhong looked troubled and pointed to the window: "It was placed on the windowsill last night and got completely soaked by the rain. The data on it is all blurry."

Jiang Zhizhi then noticed a pile of tattered paper in front of the window.

I walked over, picked it up, and flipped through it. The penmanship on it had all blurred and smudged, making it impossible to read what was written.

Jiang Zhizhi put it back and looked at Wang Wenzhong with great regret: "It's already like this, it really can't be used anymore. It's okay, we'll do the experiment again and record it again."

Wang Wenzhong was still somewhat saddened: "Originally, these vaccines were supposed to be available in the fall, but now it seems we'll have to wait."

Jiang Zhizhi comforted her, "It's alright. Luckily it was this lab. If it were that virus lab, the consequences would be much more serious."

Chu Fenghe quickly called over several colleagues who lived nearby to help clean up the broken laboratory.

Xiao Zhang also rushed over from home. While working, he was puzzled and leaned close to Jiang Zhizhi, whispering, "Teacher Jiang, what happened? Didn't you call the logistics department to repair this window before?"

Jiang Zhizhi smiled and said, "Maybe it wasn't repaired properly. Oh well, what's done is done, let's not discuss it anymore."

Chu Feng worked by the river while keeping an eye on Jiang Zhizhi.

Jiang Zhizhi remained calm and composed, as if she had anticipated everything that was happening.

Suspicion began to creep into my mind.

Does Jiang Zhizhi already know that he was the one who did all of this?

It wasn't until noon that the lab was finally cleaned up.

Chu Fenghe called out to everyone, "You've all worked hard this morning. I'll treat you all to lunch, and then we can discuss what to do next."

Then, looking at Jiang Zhizhi, he said, "Teacher Jiang, you should also think carefully and see what else you need. Make a list of people for me, and I will apply for it for you."