Accompanied by Song Feifei, Mai Xiaoshu returned to the ward after taking an X-ray. When he picked up his mobile phone and saw the text message popping up on the screen, he was so shocked that he almost jumped out of the bed.
"He...how did he know that I was sick?" And the caring tone...Mai Xiaoshu couldn't believe his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Smelling some gossip, Song Feifei came over quickly.
"It's okay, it's okay. It's our class counselor, the cool middle-aged uncle. He knew I was sick and sent a text message to express his condolences on behalf of the whole class." Mai Xiaoshu hurriedly concealed the joy in his heart and fooled Song Feifei with a laugh.
"Tsk, are you so excited? I've been guarding you for the whole day and you haven't expressed your gratitude?" Song Feifei put her hands on her hips and pouted, pretending to be dissatisfied.
Mai Xiaoshu immediately pounced on Song Feifei, hugged her, and said coquettishly: "Fei Fei, you are the most important person to me in the world, I love you the most!"
What Mai Xiaoshu, who had just recovered from a serious illness, didn't know was that at this moment in the laboratory's conference room, An Chengye was engaging in a verbal battle with the board members who opposed the project.
After the two of them were excited, Song Feifei was called by the nurse to get medicine. When Mai Xiaoshu picked up his phone to reply An Chengye, he received another text message.
This time it was from Jiang Xingye. Mai Xiaoshu thought that everyone was concerned about her and clicked on the message:
The board of directors proposed to suspend the project, and we are meeting with the directors to discuss it. Although Cheng Ye didn't say it, I know he didn't notify you to do the on-site interaction because he was worried about affecting your recovery. Although he is confident that he can handle it alone, the situation on site is not optimistic. You are a core member of the project and have the right to know that the project is in crisis, but it is up to you to decide whether to participate or not. I support you.
After reading the text message, Mai Xiaoshu's face darkened and he immediately ran to the changing room to take off his hospital gown and put on casual clothes. When Song Feifei came back after getting the medicine, she saw Mai Xiaoshu rushing out the door in a panic.
"What's wrong with Xiaoshu?" Seeing that her expression was not right, Song Feifei pulled her and asked.
"You go back first, I'm going to the company." Without explaining, Mai Xiaoshu said this and rushed to the laboratory.
She finally managed to stop a taxi, but encountered a huge traffic jam. She had to drive a few steps and then stop, like a turtle crawling slowly on the ground.
Oops, it’s almost four o’clock!
She anxiously looked at the time on her phone. If she continued wasting time, the meeting would probably be over by the time she arrived at the lab.
After getting in the car, Mai Xiaoshu sent a message to Jiang Xingye: "What's going on? Why would the board of directors suddenly ask to suspend the project?"
Jiang Xingye quickly replied: "Opponents noticed that there were several suspensions during the project. They used this to question An Chengye's lack of management ability, which led to a serious delay in the project progress. Several older board members, relying on their seniority, are attacking him together."
Mai Xiaoshu: "When is your meeting? Can I go back in time now?"
Jiang Xingye: "Three o'clock, I will try to delay the time. Are you okay?"
Mai Xiaoshu: "Yeah, I'm fine."
Knowing that An Chengye, who had always been so high and mighty, was treated like this, Mai Xiaoshu's heart suddenly "skipped". Wasn't it because of her that the two "stoppages" were caused? She actually became the culprit for the project's near bankruptcy.
She knew that attending the meeting might not save the situation, but she had to give it a try anyway. For her, she had been getting along well with everyone and had a better understanding of each other. The Reiki ZOO project was more than just a job. It was the result of the hard work of An Chengye and his team members. She couldn't just watch the project being stopped and do nothing.
Thinking of An Chengye's lost look, her eyes became sore.
Mai Xiaoshu anxiously said to the taxi driver: "Master, please go faster!"
The driver turned around and said helplessly, "Girl, you can see there's a traffic jam. I can't go faster even if I want to. The place you want to go is two blocks away. According to the current traffic conditions, I'm afraid I'll have to wait another half an hour to get there. There's no point in getting anxious."
No, we will definitely be late if we continue like this!
At this point, I can only rely on myself.
"Then I'll get off and run over. I'll pay you for the fare." Mai Xiaoshu threw a hundred-dollar bill to the master, opened the door, and ran towards the laboratory without looking back.
Even though she felt an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach and sweat was dripping down her forehead, it couldn't stop her from running forward.
After running for an unknown amount of time, the huge book-shaped building finally appeared in front of us. At this time, the inside was in chaos. Everyone seemed to realize that this board meeting was a little unusual, and they gathered in a small circle to discuss with each other.
When she ran into the laboratory panting, she attracted the attention of Miyamaru Satoshi. He hurried over to her and saw that her face was pale and pitiful, as if she was frightened. He asked in a daze, "What's wrong with you? You look sick?"
"There's no time to explain. Please call Xiaoyuan over for me..." Mai Xiaoshu was out of breath when she spoke. She just wanted to arrange everything in the shortest time possible and go into the office to help An Chengye prevent the project from being aborted.
Miyamaru Satoshi was a smart man. He knew that something big must have happened when the directors gathered in the conference room, and the constant sounds of arguments coming out of it further confirmed his guess, so he nodded: "Okay, I understand." Then he turned around and ran towards the animal accommodation area.
Mai Xiaoshu adjusted his state, walked towards the conference room, and knocked on the door of the conference room.
Jian Jun opened the door from the inside and saw that it was her. He was stunned and said, "Xiao Shu, aren't you in the hospital?"
"Take me in."
Mai Xiaoshu's serious expression made her look like she was well prepared. Jian Jun nodded and led her into the meeting room.
When being stared at by a pair of experienced eyes, Mai Xiaoshu didn't know what to do. She looked around nervously, nodded when she looked at Jiang Xingye, and finally met An Chengye's gaze. His eyes were like two bright stars in the night sky, distant but unable to conceal their brilliance.
From his flashing eyes, she understood what he meant: Why are you here?
Just this unexpected eye contact made her heart tremble suddenly. How could this happen?
Without time to think about it, she hurriedly looked away, met the curious eyes of the board members, and introduced herself seriously: "Hello everyone, my name is Mai Xiaoshu, and I am one of the staff members of the Reiki ZOO project."
"Mai Xiaoshu?"
Sitting on the right side of An Chengye, a white-haired but energetic old man shouted, "Are you the amazing girl who can talk to animals?"
Although the other party was old, the aura he had forged from years of experience in the business world was very strong. Mai Xiaoshu's heart began to beat fast, and she nodded calmly.
The old man raised his eyebrows and continued, "An Chengye said you are amazing and understand a lot of animal languages. Now that you are here, why not demonstrate it live!"
Mai Xiaoshu clenched his hands, which were shaking unconsciously, and said in a deep voice: "I don't dare to say that I am so great. I just lived with animals since I was a child, and I learned how to communicate with them by osmosis. For example, I can chat with the common animals: gorillas, monkeys, pandas, elephants...
This was the first time An Chengye saw Mai Xiaoshu like this. She looked confident and spoke naturally. Others, including Jiang Xingye and Jian Jun, also showed surprised expressions. The three board members, on the other hand, did not look particularly surprised. They just thought she was a staff member and did not know that she was still a sophomore.
An Chengye's mouth curled up slightly. He was very happy to see her ability proved at this moment. Standing in front of these shrewd "old foxes" without showing any fear, she was completely different from the reckless girl when he first met her.
Although she said she was not worthy of the title, Mai Xiaoshu showed all her strengths in just one sentence, and everyone's eyes and attention were firmly captured by her.
"I've asked my colleagues to bring an animal up here. It's at the door. If everyone is ready..." Mai Xiaoshu paused deliberately, glanced at everyone in the office, and after arousing everyone's interest, he raised his voice and said, "How about inviting it in now?"
"Ah? What animal?" A middle-aged man in a suit and tie, dressed fashionably and sitting next to the old man, looked at Mai Xiaoshu strangely. He had some resistance and seemed to be afraid of animals.
"Uncle Yin, you just complained that you couldn't believe there were people who could communicate with animals without a live demonstration. Now that the people are here and the animals are here, of course we have to perform a live show for you. Otherwise how long will we have to wait?" An Chengye said to the middle-aged man with a smile, and then glanced at the white-haired old man and the short, fat and very low-key man on his left. "Uncle An and President Wei, what do you think?"
It turned out that the white-haired old man was Uncle An, and the short and fat man was Mr. Wei. They both nodded in agreement. Uncle Yin looked embarrassed, but he couldn't find a reason to refuse. He didn't say anything, which was considered as tacit approval of Mai Xiaoshu's arrangement.
Seeing the situation, Jian Jun opened the door.
Mai Xiaoshu clapped his hands and shouted to the outside of the door: "Xiaoyuan, you can come in now!"
"Chimpanzee!" someone screamed in surprise. When Mai Xiaoshu heard it, he quickly made a "shut up" gesture, signaling everyone to keep quiet.
No one expected that the Xiaoyuan she was talking about was a chimpanzee.
There was a reason why Mai Xiaoshu asked Gong Wanzhi to bring Xiaoyuan over. Since chimpanzees' behavior patterns and IQ are closest to humans, asking them to demonstrate is safer than asking other animals.
"Roar!!!" Suddenly a loud roar shook the entire laboratory. Everyone looked towards the door and saw a chimpanzee about two meters tall appearing, walking towards the ground step by step. Every step caused a huge shock to the ground.
Uncle Yin was so frightened by the vibration that he hugged his head with a look of fear on his face. He seemed to be very afraid of animals.
In order to calm everyone down, Mai Xiaoshu approached Xiaoyuan and gently stroked its back, while speaking to calm everyone's nervousness: "Animals are easily frightened in unfamiliar environments. No matter what happens later, please don't scream. Just watch me and it interact quietly."
Hearing this, everyone nodded and held their breath.
"Don't be nervous, Madoka. They are all my friends. They want to chat with you. I will ask you a few questions later. You just need to nod or shake your head. Is that okay?"
The chimpanzee finally stopped howling after hearing what Mai Xiaoshu said. Surprisingly, it actually nodded obediently.
Uncle An and President Wei smiled at each other, and it seemed that they were very satisfied with Mai Xiaoshu's initial performance.
"I have no problem cooperating with you, but you have to remember to give me some extra food!" The chimpanzee made a deal with Mai Xiaoshu in a language that only she could understand, but to outsiders it was just an animal howl.
"Okay, got it, let's get to work." Mai Xiaoshu patted its arm helplessly, and then asked, "Is Xiaoyuan ready? Nod if you are ready."
Everyone was waiting for the chimpanzee to react again, but then Xiaoyuan glanced over and saw a plate of bananas on the table.
Mai Xiaoshu followed its gaze and his heart skipped a beat. Oh no, he forgot to tell them to put away the food. Animals will lose their minds when they see something delicious.
Sure enough, Xiaoyuan suddenly raised her hand to grab the bananas , but her long arms couldn't reach it. Mai Xiaoshu was about to step forward to stop her, but she was too impatient and rushed to the conference table in two steps, and the plate of bananas was right in front of Uncle Yin.
Uncle Yin was afraid of animals to begin with. When he saw the huge chimpanzee pouncing towards him, he was so scared that he fell backwards along with his chair. A black wig and the man fell to the ground, and the scene fell into chaos for a moment.
"Go away, go away!" Uncle Yin fell to the ground and cried for help. Others wanted to go forward and pull him up, but the way was blocked by the chimpanzee.
"Hurry up and call the veterinarian to give it a sedative." Faced with the panic situation, only An Chengye responded in time. He told Jian Jun, and Jian Jun immediately went to the corridor to call for help.
"Xiaoyuan, stop!" Mai Xiaoshu could only stop her in a stern voice. Xiaoyuan turned around and paused for a few seconds with the banana in her hand. When everyone thought the situation was under control, she was attracted by the wig again and pounced on Uncle Qi. Uncle Yin screamed, "Ah!" and rolled and crawled to the corner.
The loud noise made the chimpanzee mistakenly think that an enemy was attacking, and after being frightened, it raised its arms and waved them around, howling and trying to call its companions. Its arms were extremely long, and it swung them casually and knocked the chandelier down, hitting the conference table with a "bang", and debris flew everywhere.
The conference room was in chaos, with shouts, cries of orangutans, and cries of pain from the injured all around...
Everyone stared at the situation in the conference room in dumbfounded. Mai Xiaoshu stood there in a daze, screaming in his heart: I messed up again!