As he murmured passionately, his eyelashes drooped slightly, revealing the mad longing hidden in his dark eyes.

In this rare moment of alone time with just the two of them, he could finally find her role in this one-man show.

Even though the female protagonist was already asleep at this moment.

He wished time could slow down, or could stand still at this moment forever.

I would rather he wasn't Shu Chuanran.

She is not Shu Yi either.

If they were just ordinary young people.

If they are childhood sweethearts who grew up together, it's a youthful crush during their student days, a passionate and lingering romance during their university years, and a respectful and considerate relationship during their marriage.

Will their fate be any better?

And he, is he free from the constraints of family, the obstacles of lineage, the misunderstandings of blood, and the struggles for power among others?

Unfortunately.

There are no "what ifs" in this world.

The fingertip that had been resting on her lips suddenly stopped when a cell phone rang beside her ear.

He quickly composed himself, got up, and sat back down on the sofa.

After his enthusiasm waned, his tone also lost its luster: "Second sister, your phone is ringing."

A male voice, devoid of any emotion, suddenly appeared beside her ear, and Shu Yi abruptly opened her eyes.

Subconsciously looking in the direction of the sound, I saw Shu Chuanran sitting seriously on a sofa to one side.

He was holding some documents in his hand, and there were several clothing bags on the other side of the sofa.

She actually fell asleep like that, and Shu Chuanran caught her red-handed. Not caring about being impolite at the moment, Shu Yi took out her phone; it was Zhang Youye calling.

"Hello, is everything alright at the research institute?" Shu Yi quickly answered the phone.

"Why did it take you so long to answer? Is Grandpa unconscious? Are you still in the hospital?"

It sounded very quiet on Zhang Youye's end; his echo could be heard through the receiver.

Shu Yi nodded, subconsciously glancing at Shu Chuanran, who remained as steady as a mountain.

"Yes, Grandpa is in the hospital, and I'll be there for the next few days too. How are things on your end?"

"Don't worry about me. Are you there alone? Is Uncle Wei there? You don't have any clothes or food, do you? I left in a hurry and didn't have time to tell you. I'll have someone send you clothes and food now."

"Um, over here, over here,"

"What's wrong?" Zhang Youye asked warily, as if he had caught something.

"It's nothing. Uncle Wei went back to get me some clothes. He'll bring food, so it's just Chuanran and me in the ward now," Shu Yi answered honestly.

"Is that kid still here? Where's his sister?"

"he..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shu Chuanran stood up and interrupted him.

Taking her phone, Shu Chuanran said emotionlessly, "Brother You, don't be nervous. I've prepared Second Sister's clothes, and the food is on its way. Just focus on your business and come over when you're done."

On the other end of the phone.

Not only was his wife's phone suddenly snatched, but she also dared to expose it in front of him. Zhang Youye's expression changed.

His entire being was enveloped in an indescribable aura of malevolence, and his tone instantly transformed into a chilling and sinister one.

"You little brat, do you want to die in my hands? Give her back her phone."

"Brother You, don't be afraid, I won't do anything to Second Sister."

Turning his gaze away from the laboratory behind him, Zhang Youye clenched his fists and closed his eyes briefly to calm himself. When he opened them again, all emotion had vanished from his eyes.

He spoke slowly and deliberately, issuing a stern warning.

"I'll say it one last time, Shu Chuanran. If you don't want to die by my hand, give her back her phone."

Whether she was intimidated by his tone or simply snatched the phone back, it's unclear.

When Zhang Youye came to his senses at the sound of a gentle female voice, the fierceness in his eyes vanished instantly, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curled up again.

"Honey, you stay in the ward. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done here."

"No need to rush, you go about your business, come over when you're sure everything's alright," Shu Yi tried to reassure her.

Just as he finished speaking, he heard Xu Lao's urgent shout from beside him. There was no point in talking to Shu Yi now; getting things settled in the lab was the priority. Zhang Youye hurriedly hung up the phone.

Putting his gas mask back on, Zhang Youye strode into the laboratory and took over the tasks assigned by Professor Xu.

Seeing that Lu Kechen's brows were always furrowed, he asked, "Is it that troublesome?"

"Hmm." Lu Kechen nodded. "But it can be resolved. The main thing is to find out who leaked the poison gas."

Laboratory No. 3 conducts experiments in medicinal chemistry year-round, and occasionally, incidents of improper operation by laboratory personnel leading to toxic gas leaks occur.

However, thanks to the state support for the laboratory and Professor Xu's personal presence, such a serious toxic gas leak had never occurred before.

In the previous cases of improper operation, Xu Lao and Zhang Youye took control of the situation at the time of the incident.

This leak, however, occurred out of nowhere during an experiment in which no one was present.

I want to access the surveillance footage.

Unfortunately, the surveillance cameras were broken.

Even more coincidentally, the time when the surveillance cameras were damaged happened to coincide with the Shu family's banquet.

On Zhang Youye's way to the research institute, the staff and security guards who accidentally inhaled the toxic gas had already been sent to the hospital for treatment by Xu Lao's orders.

By the time Lu Kechen arrived from Jiaxing overnight, Zhang Youye had already brought the toxic gas in the laboratory under control.

With Lu Kechen handling the finishing touches, Zhang Youye can finally relax a bit.

He pushed the instrument toward the other person, and before he could even open his mouth, he heard the other person making sarcastic remarks.

"What? In a hurry to leave?"

"No." Zhang Youye shook his head. "Before you arrived, I handled all of this by myself. Now that you're here, can't I even rest for a bit?"

A slight smile curved Lu Kechen's lips beneath the gas mask as he glanced at the crowds moving about outside the laboratory.

"You handled it very well, saving a lot of trouble. Go ahead and leave, no one can stop you anyway. All that's left is to clean up the mess, leave that to me."

Before Zhang Youye could even open his mouth to speak, the cell phone in his pocket rang again.

He took out his phone and saw it was a call from Zhang Huaiyi.

After nodding to Lu Kechen beside him, Zhang Youye left the laboratory.

"How's the company doing?" he answered the phone.

"Things are fine at the company, no major problems. How's it going on your end?"

"My situation is similar. With Ah Chen cleaning up the mess, there shouldn't be any major problems."

"Okay, I'll call and ask. Also, you know that Grandpa Shu is in the hospital, right? Your sister-in-law is definitely in the hospital. So many things happened in one night, so be careful and watch out for these people trying to harm her again."

He was taken aback by Zhang Huaiyi's kind reminder.

I was rushing around all night and almost forgot the most important thing.

The fact that this group of people could devise so many troublesome things in one night is no small feat.

The other party will definitely receive the news that Grandpa Shu was hospitalized due to anger.

So what will they do next?