"What could I have done?" Professor Tang scoffed. "If there had been a way back then, your parents wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't be resented by that fool. For so many years, we've kept to our own affairs. I have no desire to meddle in the Tang family's business. You should leave." Professor Tang turned his head away, no longer looking at Tang Youxi and Erya.
Tang Youxi seemed to have anticipated this outcome. With a sigh of helplessness, she said no more. Her grandfather's decision back then had been too rash, and it was natural for her great-uncle to be upset. If there had truly been a solution then, her great-uncle wouldn't have left the Tang family, and her grandfather wouldn't have... Tang Youxi felt that fate and fortune were cruel.
At that moment, Professor Miao, standing nearby, let out a sarcastic chuckle.
"What are you laughing at!" Professor Tang snapped. "Do you want to fight!" He was already feeling extremely irritated and wished he could pick a fight to vent his anger. This darn Miao fellow had to provoke him at a time like this, truly asking for a beating!
"I'm laughing at you for pretending to be cool when you're not strong enough," Professor Miao mocked without mercy. "You clearly haven't given up after all these years, yet you act like you're above it all. What are you glaring at me for? You're incapable, and you don't allow others to laugh at you? I told you long ago to give up, but you wouldn't listen! The Supreme Yang Seven Poisons and Supreme Yin Seven Poisons are sacred treasures passed down through the Tang and Miao clans for thousands of years. With your half-baked knowledge, you think you can find a way to break them? It's laughable! Look at how much money has been invested in this laboratory. What's the point in the end! It's all been wasted. It would be better to invest all that funding into my research."
"Shut up!" Professor Tang's eyes widened. "You're just a loudmouth! You talk too much! Your so-called research, even dogs wouldn't want it!"
"Tang, are you looking for a fight!" Professor Miao was also enraged. This old fool who didn't know a good deed when he saw one! "You, who were kicked out by the Tang family, are still eagerly researching an antidote for them. You're going to spend your whole life on something that will never be completed, and you still have the nerve to mock my research? I think *you're* the one! You're the ghost that even dogs wouldn't want!"
"Fight me! Come on! Who's afraid of who!" Professor Tang's face flushed red as he rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight Professor Miao.
"Come on! Whoever flinches is a dog!" Professor Miao rolled up his sleeves, also ready to fight Professor Tang.
Seeing this, Tang Youxi and Xia Qingtian immediately stepped forward to mediate, trying to reason with them.
"Great-Uncle! Great-Uncle, please stop! Great-Uncle!" Tang Youxi was deeply moved by what she heard from Patriarch Miao, surprised that her great-uncle still cared so much about the Tang family. She held onto Professor Tang, genuinely worried that the old man would strain his back.
"Professor Miao! Please stop, stop! At your age! Professor Miao!" Xia Qingtian's head was spinning. Were these two old professors always this hot-tempered? If she had known, she would have asked Li Xiaoxiao to bring more herbal tea. Honestly... their antics were giving her a headache!
At this moment, Erya also joined the fray, becoming the main offensive force of the third party. Fortunately, she knew that both professors were old and didn't actually lay hands on each other. She simply stood with her hands on her hips and said, "Miao is the loser!"
"Erya!" Xia Qingtian and Tang Youxi exclaimed in unison. Why did Erya have to cause trouble at such a critical moment!
Called out simultaneously by Xia Qingtian and Tang Youxi, Erya shrank her neck, then pouted stubbornly and said, "But... but Professor Tang's experiment... succeeded... It's not something that can't be completed in a lifetime... Miao is just talking nonsense..."
Hearing Erya's words, everyone froze. The tense atmosphere between Professors Miao and Tang immediately quieted down.
"Erya! What did you say?" Tang Youxi asked in disbelief. "It succeeded? You said... it succeeded!" Did this mean her poison could be cured? Was there hope for her?
"Erya, you can't just say things like that!" Professor Tang said with a stern face. His experiment succeeded? He didn't know!
"Erya, what's going on?" Xia Qingtian knew that while Erya wasn't always reliable, she never lied.
"Well... that person who's about to die." Erya pointed towards the adjoining compartment and said, "Professor Tang said the poison in her body was very potent and had infiltrated her organs. So I used her blood for an analysis, thinking that such a powerful poison must be researched... and I found it was indeed very potent, even comparable to Professor Tang's experimental samples. So I thought, why not try to fuse them, to see if poison could counteract poison or something... As soon as I fused them, I discovered that the virus's activity disappeared, and the infected proteins began to recover."
"Where is the sample?" Professor Tang immediately asked.
"Over there," Erya pointed to the workbench where she had been conducting her experiments.
Professor Tang rushed over and, after carefully comparing them, handed a knife used for cutting samples on the table to Erya. "Go to the compartment and give her another cut. Collect some blood. I need to do an experiment!"
"Alright!" Erya grabbed the knife and excitedly headed for the compartment.
"No need for that!" Xia Qingtian quickly stopped her. "I'll do it. Finger blood should be enough, right?"
"Mm," Professor Tang nodded.
Xia Qingtian then took the short knife that Erya had given her for self-defense and returned to the compartment.
The loud voices outside were clearly heard by Gou Wen and Tang Ruiyang. At this moment, Tang Ruiyang stood sternly in front of Xia Qingtian and Gou Wen, his expression complex. If it were for the sake of the Tang family, he should have stepped aside. But the person behind him was Gou Wen... Therefore, he would rather betray the Tang family.
"Don't be so nervous. I'll just collect a little finger blood," Xia Qingtian said with a chuckle. "If I really had to stab her, I would have let Erya come in."
Tang Ruiyang knew Xia Qingtian was right, but he still didn't move aside. Instead, he raised his hand, holding the knife, across his body. "Then, if the experiment is truly successful, will you drain Gou Wen's blood and give it to her?" Gou Wen had been exploited her entire life. He didn't want Gou Wen to die such a miserable death.
Xia Qingtian couldn't answer this. She looked at Gou Wen, only to see her gaze was calm. "If the experiment succeeds, it doesn't matter if my blood is drained," Gou Wen said to Xia Qingtian. "I'm betting my life against you on this, Xia Qingtian. Will you bet with me?" She was already a dying person. What difference did it make how she died? If she could use her life to protect Shen Ying one last time, she was willing.
"You're betting your life with me," Xia Qingtian said, looking at Gou Wen, her eyes shifting slightly.
"Yes, it's always been like this," Gou Wen smiled. She had gambled her way through life like this.
"I promise you, no matter the final outcome, I will find a way to get her out of that organization," Xia Qingtian said to Gou Wen. "Gou Wen, you win."