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The AED was still connected to Sun Yunchao to monitor his heart rate, and Zhang Xinjie's hand remained on Sun Yunchao's neck in case his heart stopped beating again.
Soon, paramedics arrived, and Wu Meng and other high-ranking leaders also came.
Seeing the two girls kneeling and crying on the ground, and Zhang Xinjie kneeling on the side as well, and thinking about the mess after the sudden incident, Wu Meng asked Han Wenqing and Zhang Xinjie to stay, while he accompanied Sun Yunchao to the hospital.
The paramedics acted swiftly and efficiently, quickly transporting the injured to the hospital. The online gaming department seemed to have survived a disaster, and everyone was caught between conflicting emotions of fear and joy, feeling bewildered and helpless.
Han Wenqing helped the two girls up. Their knees were in so much pain that they staggered and fell onto the sofa to rest.
Then Han Wenqing and Zhang Xinjie, disregarding everything else, worked with Jiang You to calm everyone down. At the same time, they summoned those who hadn't stayed up too long and were still relatively calm back to their workstations to continue working. Those who had been working non-stop, like Sun Yunchao, were to immediately return to their dormitories or homes to rest. Those who hadn't calmed down yet were to take a break and confirm that they were physically fit before resuming work.
Then the shifts were rearranged to ensure that everyone could get at least 6 hours of sleep.
Perhaps because the person was ultimately saved, everyone's emotions calmed down quickly, and they returned to their work as usual.
Han Wenqing and Zhang Xinjie then turned their attention back to the two girls.
Someone brought them water, and the two of them gulped down more than half a bottle in one go.
Shen Ning rolled up his trouser leg, looked at his knees which were already bruised from kneeling, pressed them, and winced in pain.
“You also bumped into something, so it must have been more serious than mine.”
Xu Xin Nuan was wearing a knitted dress and pantyhose, which were difficult to take off here. Chen Ning tilted her head and said, "Go back and let the captain put some medicine on you."
Xu Xinnuan pouted and nodded pitifully.
This made Shen Ning laugh again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the two of them walking over and deliberately said sarcastically, "At crucial moments, we girls still have to be relied on. Sigh."
"Thank you so much."
This was the first time Han Wenqing had ever witnessed something so close to death, and even with his strong will, he was still filled with lingering fear.
He was genuinely grateful to the two brave girls. Glancing at Chen Ning's bruised knees, he knew Xu Xin Nuan wasn't in much better shape either, and he felt genuinely bad: "Does it hurt a lot?"
Xu Xinnuan nodded, her eyes still misty.
"Captain, take your wife to the dormitory first, check the situation, apply some medicine. If there's no broken skin, apply some Voltaren; if there is, apply iodine," Zhang Xinjie said from the side. "Shen Ning and I can stay here; I have medicine in my office."
Han Wenqing turned to Shen Ning and asked, "How are you? Are you alright?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing. You and Xin Nuan can go back."
"I'll be going now. I'll take her home after I'm done, and then go straight to the hospital. You can go home once you're done here. I should be fine tonight. Thank you for your hard work."
"good."
Han Wenqing helped Xu Xinnuan away. After a while, Zhang Jiale and the others came up to see what was going on, and they felt bad seeing Chen Ning's disheveled appearance.
Two large departments, dozens of people, a bunch of grown men, none of them were of any use in critical moments except for the deputy team leader, leaving two girls to rescue people under tremendous pressure.
Shen Ning was still shaken and didn't want to listen to their nagging, so she coaxed them to leave quickly because she found it annoying.
Jiang You also said that he could keep things under control and told Zhang Xinjie and Shen Ning to hurry back.
Shen Ning didn't let Zhang Xinjie help her, and gritted her teeth to walk on her own.
The two returned to the team's rest room. Shen Ning sat down without any ceremony and started eating a small cake. Zhang Xinjie silently took out a first-aid kit, squatted down, and was about to apply medicine to her.
Shen Ning instinctively tried to dodge, but Zhang Xinjie gently pressed down on her leg and said, "Don't move."
Shen Ning's heart trembled slightly, and she obediently let him apply the medicine.
Whether it was because the medicine was a little cold or because Zhang Xinjie's hands were cold, Zhang Xinjie couldn't help but shudder when he touched her knee.
He applied the ointment very lightly and carefully, not missing a single tiny bruise.
She suddenly recalled those dark 10 minutes, when no matter how she tried to save her, she couldn't wake up. This was the first time she had faced life and death, and a huge fear suddenly overwhelmed her, causing tears to stream down her face.
Afraid that Zhang Xinjie would see, she tried to apply the same thing as Consort Hua, but the more she applied, the more there was, and she just couldn't stop.
Zhang Xinjie squatted on the ground, watching her, handing her tissues, and remained silent.
Shen Ning disliked this sentimental and emotional time alone, so she picked up the remaining piece of cake on the table and handed it to Zhang Xinjie.
"You should eat some too, it's delicious." Shen Ning's mouth was full of cake, her voice was muffled and tearful.
"No, it's all yours."
"Ugh, I'm so annoyed! Just eat it when I tell you to!"
Shen Ning stretched out her hand, forcing Zhang Xinjie to take it. Under Shen Ning's stubborn and unreasonable gaze, Zhang Xinjie gave in and slowly took a bite.
Seeing this, Shen Ning stopped tormenting Zhang Xinjie, wiped away her tears, and continued eating her cake.
Zhang Xinjie rarely eats sweets because excessive sweets are unhealthy.
He could see cream on the corners of his mouth, and he was eating with great satisfaction and happiness. He liked this look very much, which made even the cake that he didn't usually like seem cute.
Zhang Xinjie's heart skipped a beat; he realized something.
"I'm going downstairs to get something. You rest for a bit."
Zhang Xinjie suddenly stood up, paused for a moment, then remembered that Han Wenqing had said he was going to pick up a package on the first floor, but didn't think much of it.
She finished the little cake she had been dreaming of with great satisfaction, and sent Xu Xinnuan a message saying "super delicious". Her mood finally calmed down a bit. She patted her cheeks, which felt sticky, so she got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face and touch up her makeup.
In front of Zhang Xinjie, she had to maintain an elegant and beautiful young woman's image; she had really messed up just now.
Her leg had recovered and wasn't hurting as much anymore. Shen Ning slowly walked back to the lounge and saw Zhang Xinjie had already returned. He was sitting with something in his hands, and when he saw her coming, he stood up straight like a subordinate seeing his boss.
What's going on here?
Shen Ning asked, "...Are you alright? Did you lose your item?"
Zhang Xinjie seemed to realize that he was a little nervous. He pushed up his glasses with one hand, and then he noticed that what he was holding looked like a drink.
Zhang Xinjie handed the drink to her, his heart churning but his voice still steady: "Here's your milk tea."
Seeing Shen Ning standing there in a daze, he added, "Sweet."
Milk Tea stood between the two of them, staring intently at the plastic cup, neither reaching out nor speaking.
She thought of the first time she went into battle with the team, the night after she recovered from her fever, and the last unspoken promise she made with Zhang Xinjie on the hotel terrace. She felt her heart racing uncontrollably, and her face felt hot.
The air seemed to freeze for a long time before Chen Ning tried his best to speak calmly.
"...Is it the drink you owe me?"
"yes."
"You want me to drink...something sweet?"
"think."
Shen Ning's nose suddenly stung with tears. She quickly turned her back, took a deep breath to suppress her surging emotions, and said, "I just touched up my makeup. Don't make me cry."
"Um."
Shen Ning stood with her back turned, and Zhang Xinjie watched her from behind. The two of them stood there for about two or three minutes without saying a word.
In this short period of time, Shen Ning experienced too much, from mentally stressful all-nighters dealing with public opinion, to the joy of successfully turning the tide, to the life-or-death rescue, and finally to the suppressed release of relief after snatching people back from the clutches of death.
Her emotions were fluctuating, and she didn't want to be influenced by these factors when making emotional judgments.
Shen Ning convinced herself to stay calm, still turning her back to him, her tone devoid of emotion: "It's a bit like taking advantage of me now that you're telling me this."
"……yes."
"You knew that, yet you still did it?"
“I know what I’m doing, and I trust you won’t act impulsively.”
"Then give me a reason not to act impulsively. You said that everything has its own rules, including relationships. Back then you said you hadn't found the right person, but now you have?"
"Found it."
What is it?
Have you read "General Biology"?
"No."
"There's a line in it about the heart that goes like this—"
—The heart appears on day 21, and heartbeats begin around day 30, continuing uninterrupted until death.
The fear of life and death washed over him again. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and forced out the words: "So what?"
"From the very beginning, it was a journey of living towards death, struggling to survive in the darkest moments, regardless of the length of life, regardless of which ditch one falls into, until the end, without regret or remorse."
She heard a voice behind her that was both firm and gentle.
"This is the law of the heart, and so it is with emotions."
Shen Ning bit her lip, tilted her head back, tried to open her eyes wide, and gasped for breath.
She didn't want to cry, nor did she like to cry, but she didn't know why she had been crying all day.
She didn't turn around; instead, she stretched out her right hand to her side and behind her: "Give it to me, I'm thirsty."
Zhang Xinjie stepped forward and placed the milk tea in her hand.
Chen Ning took it and bit the straw. After taking two sips, she felt unsatisfied, so she pulled out the straw, painstakingly tore off the plastic seal, and drank it all in one gulp, just like drinking alcohol.
He drank too quickly and choked on the last gulp. He bent over, unable to stop coughing. The more he coughed, the more tears streamed down his face, and the harder he cried, until finally his mental defenses collapsed and he squatted on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zhang Xinjie was still behind her, gently patting her back with his hand.
Shen Ning didn't want him to see her cry, so he wouldn't look.
It was already past eight o'clock, and the neon lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were flashing. The autumn wind, approaching November, was a bit chilly.
Zhang Xinjie draped his coat over Shen Ning, covering her entire squatting body from head to toe.
She hid in this makeshift, safe, and warm dark space, crying for a long, long time. Later, she started sobbing quietly, and then she buried her head in her knees and sat on the ground without making a sound.
“…It was truly terrifying.” After a long silence, he spoke, his voice trembling with tears, “He was about to die right under my nose.”
“I understand, every time I pressed and he didn’t move, I felt the world was cruel,” Zhang Xinjie said in a soft, flowing voice. “But we succeeded, and he succeeded too.”
"Your heart is truly amazing."
"So you have to treat it well and not make it too tired."
"You're so annoying."
"Um."
"So annoying..."
Zhang Xinjie's "hmm" made Shen Ningqi laugh. She braced herself against the ground and stood up, but the sudden movement caused a sharp pain in her knee, and she staggered. Zhang Xinjie quickly caught her from behind, and the clothes she was wearing fell to the ground.
"I'm not dizzy, it's just that my knee hurts from the sudden movement. Don't nag me."
"Um."
"Besides 'um,' can you say anything else?"
"..."
It's so annoying!
"I'm going to wash my face."
After saying that, Chen Ning hurriedly went to the bathroom and touched up her makeup again, but her eyes were still red from crying, and she couldn't wear sunglasses late at night.
Oh well, Zhang Xinjie has already listened to her cry for a long time, so she doesn't care about her image anymore.
Afterwards, Zhang Xinjie drove Shen Ning home. Neither of them spoke in the car. Shen Ning even had a moment of disbelief, wondering if Zhang Xinjie understood what she meant by drinking the milk tea.
"arrive."
When the car pulled up downstairs, Shen Ning deliberately sat still for a few seconds. Seeing that Zhang Xinjie didn't react either, she got a little angry, unbuckled her seatbelt, and was about to get out of the car.
Zhang Xinjie spoke just before opening the car door.
Are you afraid to be alone at night?
Shen Ning turned her head to look at him: "What are you thinking?"
"I have no idea, it's not what you think."
What do you mean?
Zhang Xinjie noticed the mischievous glint in her eyes; she was clearly teasing him on purpose. He leaned forward and hugged her.
"That's it." His breath was warm, falling on Shen Ning's ear and neck, making her feel a little itchy.
The man's presence made Chen Ning instinctively grab his clothes in her panic, but Zhang Xinjie released her at that moment.
Shen Ning's heart was pounding. She looked at Zhang Xinjie as he turned his head, and she wondered if it was because of the streetlights, but his ears seemed a little red.
He said, "If you're afraid of having nightmares at night, drink some milk before bed and play some soft music."
Shen Ning smiled: "Why don't you look at me when you talk to me?"
Zhang Xinjie kept his eyes fixed on the car window, appearing completely unmoved: "It's getting late, let's get in."
This guy, huh.
Shen Ning leaned right up to him, her lips almost touching his face, and whispered in his ear, word by word, "Pretentious."
Zhang Xinjie suddenly gripped the steering wheel, but Chen Ning was in a great mood and quickly got out of the car and went into the building.
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