Chapter 26
“Where’s Gu Yuetong?”
Now that they weren’t at the company, Chen Hao couldn’t be bothered to pretend anymore. President Gu, President Gu, what President Gu? Wasn’t she just a little brat who had the good fortune to be born into the right family?
If Gu Hezhu had given birth to a boy, or if he himself were that boy, would there even be a place for Gu Yuetong?
Women were nothing but money-losing goods, only to be used, not to be entrusted with great responsibility, let alone a position like general manager.
His father had taught him this since he was a child. It was a pity his mother was a good-for-nothing; otherwise, he and his father would have already ascended to the heavens and become kings, instead of working here and having to read people’s faces.
The moment he saw Qi Baizi’s gloomy face, Chen Hao was reminded of the kick he had received earlier. If it weren’t for the crowd and the security guards with electric batons at the entrance, he would have definitely hit back.
“Are you mute? I’m asking you a question. Where is Gu Yuetong?”
“Is Gu Yuetong a name you can call?”
Before Qi Baizi could even open her mouth, she saw a familiar person approaching: Zhou Qin, the group leader of the Administration Group.
Zhou Qin had been with the company for some years and had always been one of Gu Hezhu’s people. The news of Gu Yuetong’s sudden illness and being taken away by ambulance had alarmed many people. Even though Gu Hezhu was at home, there was no shortage of people rushing to inform her.
So, she had sent Zhou Qin over to check on the situation.
The moment Chen Hao saw Zhou Qin, his bravado vanished. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and respectfully greeted her, “Hello, Sister Qin.”
Zhou Qin grunted and walked past him directly to Qi Baizi. “Is the money enough?”
Qi Baizi flinched slightly, her gaze fixed on the bank card Zhou Qin was holding out.
Zhou Qin explained, “This is approved by the company. President Gu fainted during work hours, so the company should cover the medical expenses. Don’t worry, it’s a proper disbursement.”
Qi Baizi nodded, took the bank card, and continued to queue. Chen Hao’s eyes lit up at the side, and he sidled over. “Let me do it. I’m a man, I shouldn’t trouble you with such small tasks.”
“Hold on.” Zhou Qin stood between him and Qi Baizi, narrowing her eyes. “It’s working hours right now. You’ve left your post without permission, which constitutes absenteeism. What, do you want to be fired?”
Chen Hao froze, rubbing his hands on his pants, looking a bit awkward. “I was just worried… Oh, right, it was her. She kicked me. My chest hurts badly right now. I’m here to see a doctor…”
Zhou Qin didn’t know about this part. She looked at Qi Baizi, who readily admitted, “He was deliberately approaching President Gu. I only acted out of desperation.”
“Weren’t you by President Gu’s side?”
“I was, but he pushed me away.” As Qi Baizi spoke, a sudden idea struck her. She hunched her shoulders and said, “He’s quite strong too. I can’t even lift my arm right now. I was planning to ask President Gu for leave to get an X-ray later.”
Zhou Qin let out a meaningful “oh” and looked at Chen Hao again. “Did you ask for leave?”
Chen Hao shook his head, wanting to make an excuse, but he chose to remain silent under Zhou Qin’s sharp gaze.
“Then it will be counted as absenteeism. I’ll inform your department head.” As Zhou Qin spoke, she took out her phone to make a call. Seeing that she was serious, Chen Hao immediately tried to snatch the phone. In the struggle, the phone fell to the ground, the screen shattering into a spiderweb of cracks.
Chen Hao was stunned, his tongue tied. The hospital security guards heard the commotion and immediately came over to inquire.
Qi Baizi had already moved from the back of the line to the front. Only after paying the fee did she come over to watch.
The security guard asked if they could handle it privately, but no matter how much Chen Hao blustered, Zhou Qin remained expressionless throughout, saying only one thing: “Call the police.”
The police were called. The officers stationed at the nearby hospital didn’t even need to drive; they were there in less than three minutes.
Both Chen Hao and Zhou Qin were taken away, leaving Qi Baizi to take care of Gu Yuetong.
About half an hour later, Gu Yuetong’s blood test results came out.
Although Qi Baizi couldn’t see her, she could tell from the report that she was not in any serious danger. The doctor who had been in the emergency room came out, took off his mask, and asked Qi Baizi, “Does the patient have a history of allergies?”
Qi Baizi shook her head. She had never heard of any.
The doctor was silent for a moment, then said cautiously, “Based on our results, we can preliminarily determine that she is allergic to a certain type of pollen, which triggered allergic asthma.”
“But we may need to do further tests to determine which pollen is the allergen.” The doctor asked, “Has she experienced this situation in the last two months?”
Qi Baizi thought for a moment. “I don’t think so.” The two of them usually entered and left the company together. It was common for them to open the windows for fresh air when stuck in traffic during rush hour. Jingzhou City was full of flowers, and at this time of year, some flowers had bloomed and withered, while others were in full bloom with pollen flying everywhere. She had never seen Gu Yuetong have any unusual reaction to this.
“Then you should investigate where she went and who she came into contact with before the attack today as soon as possible, to avoid this happening again.” The doctor advised, “It’s also best to have common medications on hand to prevent accidents.”
The doctor’s words served as a reminder to Qi Baizi. Gu Yuetong had been fine before the meeting. As for who she had come into contact with… Xu Li?
During the ten-minute break, Qi Baizi had gone downstairs for some fresh air, used the restroom, and then returned to the break room near the conference room to get water. She had seen the crowd gathered at the conference room door from a distance, and the door was tightly closed. She heard someone discussing that the Deputy Director of Human Resources, Xu Li, had been kept behind by Gu Yuetong for a private talk.
This was very normal. Qi Baizi didn’t think much of it. It was just a leadership talk; there would probably be a change in the project personnel.
But not long after the meeting resumed, Gu Yuetong had her attack.
Could it be that Xu Li had come into contact with some pollen and then inadvertently passed it on to Gu Yuetong?
That didn’t seem right either… Since Xu Li hadn’t left the conference room during the break, where would she have come into contact with pollen?
It was too strange.
Qi Baizi leaned against the wall, scratching her head in confusion.
Taking advantage of a doctor’s shift change, she approached him again and humbly asked, “If it’s an allergy, can there be a delayed reaction?”
“Usually not,” the doctor said. “Most allergic reactions occur upon initial contact, unless it’s a very, very mild allergy… but she had an asthma attack and went into shock, so it’s hard to say.”
The doctor shrugged and turned to leave.
Qi Baizi pondered for a moment and called Li Yi.
Li Yi was in the middle of enjoying some gossip. It was almost time to get off work, and more gossip had just broken out, so she had no mind for work at all.
She was leaning over another colleague’s desk, watching the ‘insider news’ constantly flooding the group chat. She was actually a bit tempted, even wanting to call Qi Baizi to find out what was going on.
But she was worried about bothering Qi Baizi, so she held back.
Just as she was itching with curiosity, Qi Baizi conveniently called her. “Are you busy?”
Li Yi excitedly said yes, she was busy enjoying the gossip.
Qi Baizi told her to be serious. “Can you help me go to the M-Two Project Team’s office area and see if anyone has flowers on their desk?”
“What’s wrong?” Li Yi held her phone and asked in a low voice, “Is President Gu’s illness related to flowers?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Qi Baizi said. “I’ll trouble you to make a trip for me. I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
“Tsk, such false pleasantries.” After hanging up, Li Yi headed upstairs.
M-Two was a biological research facility construction project. When Li Yi first joined, she was almost assigned there, but she really didn’t understand this field, and after several discussions with the project director, she was assigned to her current team.
Only after going upstairs did Li Yi realize that there weren’t many people in the M-Two office now. Out of dozens of workstations, only a handful of six or seven people were seated.
It seemed everyone was engrossed in the gossip, with no mind for work.
But some of them must have been at the meeting, right? What kind of explosive gossip was it? Li Yi started to feel itchy with curiosity again.
However, the task Qi Baizi had given her still needed to be done. If she could make her happy, maybe she could get firsthand gossip in the future!
A quick scan revealed that there were no green plants in the entire office area, let alone flowers. There was only a money tree in the corner.
She took a picture and sent it to Qi Baizi: Does this count?
Qi Baizi replied: Flowers, not a tree.
She fell silent for a moment, then wandered around their office area again. The team members present glanced at her, wondering what she was doing, which made her a little embarrassed.
But there really were no flowers!
Not even flower tea!
After searching for a few more minutes, Li Yi was about to give up. She casually bought a bottle of Want Want Milk from the vending machine, drank it in one go, and then sent a message to Qi Baizi: Report, target not found yet.
Just after sending it, she bent down to throw away the empty milk bottle and suddenly saw a patch of white in the trash can.
Unsurprisingly, it was a flower petal…
No, it should be a whole flower, but half of it was buried under some discarded tea leaves someone had thrown away.
Li Yi looked around. Seeing that no one was nearby, she bent down and picked up the flower.
It looked like a lily… Li Yi’s knowledge of flowers was limited, but she could barely make out that it was a cut white lily, without a stem.
She took a picture and sent it to Qi Baizi, then threw the lily back.
When Qi Baizi opened the photo, her pupils dilated for a second—this lily had no pollen. The stamen was clean.
It seemed she had found the allergen, but Qi Baizi wasn’t entirely sure. After all, many flower shops would remove the pollen in advance to prevent customers from having allergic reactions. She had delivered plenty of flowers during her years as a delivery rider.
To get an answer, Qi Baizi was about to trouble Li Yi again, but just then a nurse came out of the emergency room and called out, “Gu Yuetong’s family, Gu Yuetong is awake.”
Qi Baizi immediately hung up the phone and went over to ask about the situation.
The nurse confirmed her identity, asked her to wait a moment, and then went back to wheel Gu Yuetong out.
Gu Yuetong was in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube in her nose. The moment she saw Qi Baizi, she gave a weak smile.
Qi Baizi, however, felt her nose sting. To keep herself from crying, she quickly went over and took over from the nurse, pushing Gu Yuetong from behind.
“The doctor said she can be discharged after another bag of oxygen for observation, but it’s best for you to get a more detailed allergy test done.”
After giving her instructions, the nurse left. Qi Baizi pushed Gu Yuetong to a corner of the emergency department hall and stopped.
She asked Gu Yuetong, “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?”
Gu Yuetong shook her head slightly. Her hair had come loose, and a hairpin hung crookedly in it.
After getting her permission, Qi Baizi tried to put her hair up again. However, having had short hair for a long time, Qi Baizi was all thumbs when faced with Gu Yuetong’s waist-length, straight black hair—she didn’t know how to style it.
After a long time of studying video tutorials on her phone, Qi Baizi finally managed to put Gu Yuetong’s hair into an irregular, low-hanging bun… it was barely presentable.
However, she hadn’t taken care of the stray hairs at her forehead, so when she went around to the front to look, she found that Gu Yuetong’s entire demeanor had changed.
It wasn’t because of her illness. Rather, with her forehead covered, she lost some of her sharpness and looked like a big sister from next door.
Qi Baizi was stunned.