Zhong Yan never expected to be held hostage.
Aside from the incident when he was abducted by human traffickers as a child, his twenty years had been smooth sailing. In recent years, while managing his own laboratory, he occasionally encountered unpleasant situations due to the researchers' actions, but they were always within his control.
This was because the laboratory was his.
He had Zhuo Ran behind him, and she could solve anything for him.
Yet today, he was held hostage by a complete stranger without any warning.
"Is this person crazy?"
"This is a plane belonging to yL Group. How did someone like this get on board?"
"This is terrifying. Everyone, think of a way, did someone call the police?"
"He's holding our chairman's fiancé hostage..."
A flight attendant in uniform negotiated with him from the front, "Sir, please calm down. There are over 200 people on this plane. If you have any demands, you can tell us, and we will do our best to meet them. Please stop what you are doing immediately."
"Shut up!" The man, bordering on madness, pressed the tip of his knife against Zhong Yan's neck. "Don't come any closer, or I'll stab him!"
He yelled at the onlookers, "Don't film me! Be quiet! What do you know! They use living people for experiments, to test drugs, and have killed so many people. I am acting on behalf of heaven. Can money allow you to do whatever you want?"
A young man shouted, "Those people were already on the verge of death, and they all volunteered for the experiment. You..."
"You shut up! Ah!"
A male flight attendant stepped forward to stop the young man who was speaking his mind, leading him to the back.
The man was clearly somewhat deranged, and reasoning with him was futile.
"Okay, you're right. So what are your demands now? You're holding Mr. Ran hostage; you wouldn't do it just to kill him, would you? Then what's the difference between you and those executioners? Moreover, even if he dies, the laboratory's work won't stop, and nothing will change. Why don't you state your intentions first..."
"I am acting on behalf of heaven!" The man's bloodshot eyes glared fiercely at the person who had just spoken, his gaze savage, like a demon's. "Who says killing him is useless? He's the one who opened this laboratory. If he dies, everything will end. What are you saying! Are you scolding me?"
The girl being glared at was startled but showed no outward reaction. She calmly said, "What if he opened the laboratory? Others invested in it. What difference would the death of one researcher make? They'll just recruit another. He's also just following orders. Don't you know this laboratory is under yL Group? If you have the guts, go kidnap the chairman of yL! He's also innocent, and everyone else on this plane is even more innocent. For your so-called justice, you want to endanger everyone on the plane. There's a cause for every effect. If you truly want to act on behalf of heaven, go arrest Zhuo Ran."
The man actually showed a thoughtful expression.
While everyone else was trying to figure out how to save him, Zhong Yan wasn't idle.
He was confident he could escape the man's grip. However, with so many people on the plane, a disturbance could easily injure others, and he wasn't sure he could escape and subdue the assailant simultaneously.
Therefore, it would be best to wait until they landed.
The plane had been in the air for nearly two hours and was about to begin its descent. If he wanted to avoid injury and prevent chaos, subduing the man during this time would be optimal.
Just as he thought this, the plane jolted. The man's grip on the dagger loosened, and it drew a line across Zhong Yan's fair neck, from which bright red blood flowed, a rather chilling sight.
Simultaneously, those watching on video were all filled with dread.
Due to the unclear audio and shaky footage, some even believed he had been throat-slashed.
"What are you doing! Don't move, or I'll kill him!"
"No one is moving. The plane just hit some turbulence," the flight attendant shouted. "Sir, please calm down."
The man's forehead beaded with sweat, his hand trembling as he held the dagger. Although his clothes were neat, his hair was dry and disheveled, his eyes bloodshot. He looked both mad and bewildered.
"Is he crazy?"
"The families of those people didn't say anything, and he's a complete stranger pretending to be a hero."
"Maybe he's just a vengeful lunatic trying to gain sympathy with this excuse. The plane is about to land. If he delays it too long and causes an accident, then he'll be the one deserving of death."
"yL donates so much money to charity every year, hires disabled employees, and offers such good benefits. They've solved so many employment issues. They're much better than a vengeful lunatic like him..."
"How do people who are clearly mediocre and degenerate yet consider themselves extraordinary manage to live?"
"..."
The surrounding voices were no more than whispers, but his mind was highly taut. Every rustle of wind outside made him cautious, and those words pierced his heart like needles.
Had he really done wrong?
Impossible!
So many said yL was committing heinous crimes, conducting live experiments, killing people under the guise of drug trials, and then settling the matter with money, bribing the victims' families. The head of this laboratory deserved to die a thousand times over.
They were the ones who said it, so why were they blaming him now?
"Ah!" he couldn't help but roar. "All of you, shut up! You were the ones who said they were harming people. If I kill him now, aren't I acting on behalf of heaven? Why are you blaming me?"
There was a moment of silence from the crowd, which was soon replaced by intermittent murmurs.
"Who would say something like that?"
"Everyone just says whatever online. It's not illegal to post on the internet."
"He's too serious. If saying something casually meant wishing for someone's death, then everyone in the world would have died long ago."
"It's all just talk..."
"What 'acting on behalf of heaven'? Is he a chuunibyou?"
"..."
At this moment, the plane shook a few more times, showing a clear tendency to descend. Everyone fell silent again, sitting in their seats, too afraid to move.
Zhong Yan received a signal from the captain, scanned the cabin, and his gaze landed on the position of the man holding him hostage nearby.
"Don't move, don't move!"
Just as the man reached out to steady himself, Zhong Yan sharply threw his head backward, simultaneously grabbing the man's wrist and squeezing hard. The assailant let out a cry of pain, nearly dropping the dagger. With his other hand, Zhong Yan clenched his fist and struck the man's head.
Zhong Yan felt instantly dizzy and disoriented. Before he could react, a scream came from behind him.
A man beside him had, at some point, stood up and struck the assailant on the head with his wife's backpack. This finally made the man loosen his grip. A girl nearby kicked the dagger away, and two others rushed forward, pinning the man to the ground.
By the time Zhong Yan stood up, the man was already pinned down by three or four people, unable to move.
The crisis was resolved with remarkable speed.
Zhong Yan was taken to the front to treat his injuries. Several passengers, flight attendants, and stewards kept watch over the man until the plane landed. The man was then apprehended by the police who were already waiting.
Outside the airport, besides the police, there were countless reporters.
Over 30 bodyguards swarmed forward, pushing through the intrusive reporters, surrounding Zhong Yan tightly, and escorting him out.
Finally in the car, Zhong Yan let out a deep sigh of relief. As someone leaned in beside him, he slumped against her, feeling exhausted.
Zhuo Ran wrapped an arm around his back and patted him gently in a comforting gesture.
"Are you alright?"
He took a shallow breath and replied, "I'm fine."
If it had been a one-on-one fight, or in a different setting, that man would not have been his match.
Besides his excellent academic performance over the years, he had also learned many survival skills. He was more than capable of dealing with someone weak and relying solely on anger.
However, his life had been too peaceful, and he had encountered such situations too rarely. For a moment, he didn't know how to react, which resulted in him being cut.
Zhuo Ran didn't say much more. They returned to their residence, where she more thoroughly treated the wound on his neck. The bump on his head would likely take a couple of days to subside, but thankfully, it wasn't serious.
By the time everything was settled, it was already evening. Zhuo Ran had some matters to attend to, so she told Zhong Yan to go rest for a while and then wake up for dinner.
Zhong Yan obediently returned to his room.
But he couldn't sleep.
It wasn't fear or shock. In fact, even when he was suddenly taken hostage on the plane, he hadn't felt particularly scared. The man hadn't killed him immediately, indicating his purpose wasn't solely to kill, or perhaps not to kill at all.
In that case, his chances of dying were slim.
She would save him.
Just like every other time.
He wasn't afraid at all; he was simply pondering the reason for the man's actions and the questions he had long understood but had been unwilling to face.
Was drug testing wrong?
No. Without drug testing, even with the highest probability, errors would occur. Continuous testing and adjustment were necessary to achieve one hundred percent accuracy, to validate their years of effort, and to save more families and more people.
He had made the greatest compensation possible for the harm caused to others in this process. He never intended to cover up anyone's death, nor did he ever intend to conceal anything from their families. There was no element of trickery involved.
It was just that some things, perhaps, should not have been seen by those uninvolved.
People are emotional.
Most people's emotional outbursts might just be a few harsh words or venting online with a keyboard. However, even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance, among ten thousand people, there would inevitably be one who couldn't accept it and would take impulsive, irreversible actions.
Also.
He should have protected himself.
---
"He made a mistake, and we will handle it impartially. As for strict punishment, we must also consider public opinion now."
Zhuo Ran's gaze was so cold it seemed ready to drip ink. "Do the public expect an offender to be forgiven or understood?"
"Of course not. They just feel..."
"Feel that person was acting on behalf of heaven?" Zhuo Ran scoffed. "Do you believe I can make him struck by lightning the moment he leaves your presence? Then tell me, will the public believe he acted on behalf of heaven, or that there is a divine presence watching from above?"
What a joke.
No matter how noble something sounded, upon closer examination, it was merely human selfishness.
That man might not have genuinely wanted to act on behalf of heaven, but rather to vent his inner desires. If he succeeded, it would be acting on behalf of heaven; if he failed, he could use it to mitigate his legal punishment.
He had calculated it quite well.
Unfortunately, yL's legal team was not incompetent. Kidnapping and intimidation, or more severely, attempted murder—these were blatant offenses. There were too many ways to frame him. Zhuo Ran had plenty of methods to make him wish he were dead.
The person in front of her clearly understood this.
However, towards "the weak," most people harbored a strange sense of empathy.
He spoke with a slightly sarcastic tone. "yL has a stranglehold on everything. Don't tell me you can only make the heavens strike him down; I'd believe you even if you said the heavens listen to you. But it's best to leave some room for maneuver; there's no need to be unforgiving when you're in the right."
"If you've come just to spout such nonsense, then I'm not interested in hosting you. Xiao Lu, escort him out."
That lunatic managed to get onto an internal yL flight, so he naturally had someone behind him. Now, this person came to her to engage in moral blackmail, clearly under pressure.
The person in front of her stood up. "We're all in the same circle, and we'll see each other around. Your Mr. Zhong Yan is also unharmed, isn't he? The Yao family said they will immediately send him abroad after he's returned, and he won't be back ever again. Why do you have to..."
"Escort him out!"
The people outside rushed in and dragged him away.
Zhuo Ran felt annoyed.
She issued her first "death order" to the legal department.
If that man were to get out within ten years, none of them would be able to work in the industry again.
The kidnapper was one of the sons of the Yao family from the capital. It was rumored he had mental health issues, but the Yao family had previously denied it. Now, they were desperately trying to prove he was ill, but they had missed their chance.
A few months later, the man was sentenced to 12 years for various crimes.
During this period, a crucial experimental technology in the laboratory broke through its bottleneck, which had been a key area of their focus for several years. With this breakthrough, the laboratory developed several new specialized drugs, all of which were now patented.
Of course, a technological breakthrough didn't mean it was foolproof. Drug development, with the longest feedback period spanning decades, could not be achieved overnight.
Following this technological breakthrough, Zhong Yan decided to no longer disclose the drug trial process publicly. Families could view it if they wished, but others had no right to know the details.
The official reason given was to protect patient privacy and their patented technology.
In reality, Zhong Yan simply did not want to repeat past mistakes.
At the end of the year, the two held a wedding at home.
Compared to his coming-of-age ceremony a few years prior, the Ran family's manor had doubled in size, expanding considerably.
Yang Yun and his wife no longer lived there. They had their own children and rarely returned except for holidays.
Zhuo Ran and Zhong Yan both had their own jobs and did not often return.
The expansion of the manor was entirely for this wedding.
The wedding had been in preparation for over half a year, a full seven months since the laboratory's technological breakthrough, and the preparations were meticulously planned.
The number of invited guests was staggering. The manor transformed into a scenic spot that was currently in its peak season, and upon the guests' arrival, it was a sea of people.
Amidst the throng of guests, a girl in a white party dress stared intently, her gaze fixed on a figure standing out from the crowd. Her eyes were a complex mixture of love and hate.