Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 509: Chapter 489: Who is the person behind the scenes? (Part 2)

”Are you delirious from the heat?” Qin Wen couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at Luo Qianqian and casually closed the window. ”Have you heard of honey reacting with anything?”

”Lots of things—for instance, eating it with tofu can cause deafness, and soy milk is a soy product, right?” Luo Qianqian said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, which left Qin Wen momentarily startled. But Qin Nuan frowned—deafness? Then she listened as Luo Qianqian continued, ”Honey shouldn’t be taken with soy milk because the organic acids in honey can combine with proteins to form an indigestible precipitate.”

They all knew about the reaction between proteins and acids and were stunned to hear this.

”So, brother, you’re saying what you found isn’t a denatured precipitate but honey?” Qin Nuan also realized something was off. Although her high school knowledge was a distant memory, she still had an impression of it, and after decades, Luo Qianqian’s reminder brought it all back. Her expression darkened but also took on an odd shade.

”Yeah.” Qin Wen said naturally. ”There was no fusion at all.”

”How could that be?” Luo Qianqian furrowed her brow.

”Moreover, it seems like the soy milk you bought is all past its expiration date,” Qin Wen continued.

Qin Nuan looked surprised. ”Huh? Expired?”

Qin Wen nodded, then took out some photographs. Qin Nuan looked and saw what appeared to be curdled soy milk resembling a pudding made of yogurt and intact drops of honey.

Luo Qianqian, however, was astonished, ”Isn’t this just tofu pudding?”

Qin Nuan was also taken aback, and upon a closer look, it indeed resembled that.

”To coagulate tofu, you need to use brine or gypsum,” Luo Qianqian said after a moment of silence. ”The main component of brine is magnesium chloride, while the main component of gypsum is calcium sulfate.”

After hearing this, Qin Nuan seemed puzzled. ”Adding brine or gypsum to soy milk and then adding honey? Maybe for a slightly sweet taste???”

”Is there nothing else in the soy milk, I mean tofu pudding?” Luo Qianqian asked, her brow furrowed tight. That wouldn’t make sense.

It was then that Qin Wen also seemed to have a thought, flipping through the report in his hand: ”There’s something else.” He handed it to Luo Qianqian with a look of surprise. ”It can’t be what I’m thinking, can it?”

Qin Wen’s expression made Qin Nuan pause in confusion. ”What are you guys talking about?”

”Calcium sulfate can be used as a filler in medications,” Qin Wen said slowly, his face serious. Does this mean that whole tablets of medicine were powdered and injected into it?

He then shook his head. No, that couldn’t be— if so, why inject honey?

Luo Qianqian lifted her head from the report, her face clouded with gloom, ”Calcium tablets.” This was obviously a prank—why inject calcium tablet powder into soy milk?

”What? So what’s going on now?” Qin Nuan was bewildered.

”I don’t know,” Luo Qianqian replied, her complexion not looking good. She dared not take the risk herself. After a moment’s thought, she picked up her phone and called Hu Si.

After exchanging pleasantries with Hu Si and sharing the situation, to her surprise, Hu Si joked that perhaps they were trying to give her calcium supplements to help her grow taller because she was too short. The tone was clearly teasing.

But there was no concern in his voice, clearly implying that it wouldn’t cause a bad reaction, which allowed Luo Qianqian to breathe a sigh of relief.

Yet who could guarantee this wasn’t a test? Everything happening around her seemed strangely eerie.

Qin Nuan also looked uneasy. ”Shouldn’t we just go back to our own homes? Even living with Lu Simiao would be okay, right? This all feels too scary.”

Qin Nuan looked at the two with their odd expressions and finally asked slowly, ”What exactly is going on?”

Luo Qianqian shook her head:

”Dormitory girls are having a conflict.”

Qin Nuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said nothing more.

This issue, if they left, it wouldn’t be a solution but rather a postponement of the problem, which might erupt at any given time.

Seeing that both were unwilling to speak, Qin Wen didn’t force them, simply nodding instead.

After the meal, the two held hands and said their farewells. They didn’t have afternoon classes and didn’t plan to return to school, instead heading straight for Lin Jiayou’s school. Pigs’ feet were far more important than these trivial matters, but surprisingly, they witnessed something that astonished them both.

”Is that Zhang Yun?” Qin Nuan and Luo Qianqian hadn’t left the taxi yet, eyes wide as they stared at the woman in a dress at Lin Jiayou’s school entrance, incredulously asking.

Luo Qianqian nodded. It sure looked like Zhang Yun, the height, figure, complexion, and hair all matched, except today she was obviously all dolled up.

”What do you think is going on?” Qin Nuan had a gossip-hungry look that left Luo Qianqian speechless.

Luo Qianqian appeared composed, yet it was hard to decipher the worry that seemed to flicker in her eyes.

”At this particular time, I’ve got a feeling we should pretend we didn’t see anything,” Luo Qianqian sighed and leaned toward the driver:

”Master, please stop at the front of the coffee shop.”

At the coffee shop, the two ordered food and drinks and casually chatted, undisturbed as they had already arranged to meet Lin Jiayou on Friday.

Who knew that the next second, Luo Qianqian’s phone would ring. Was it Lin Jiayou?

A frown crossed Luo Qianqian’s face. Don’t tell her that the fool Zhang Yun had claimed they came together and that she had left beforehand due to some sudden matter or some such excuse?

”Brother Jiayou, what’s up?” Luo Qianqian cleared her throat and answered the phone.

”Where are you guys?” He said ’you guys’, and Luo Qianqian arched an eyebrow.

”Us? I’m sleeping in the dormitory, ah. Who’s ’we’ are you talking about?” Luo Qianqian’s voice was calm and slightly lazy, as though just woken from sleep.

The coffee shop was quiet, with only soft murmurs of conversation, sounds that wouldn’t carry over as background noise on the phone.

”Huh? Ah, it’s nothing. When are you coming over? I have pigs’ feet here, and I’ll buy some more later to take to your grandfather’s house,” Lin Jiayou sounded confused for a moment but quickly recovered.

Feigning a languid tone, Luo Qianqian replied:

”Why don’t you come pick me up? My third brother is picking me up from school later.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment before he agreed and reminded her to close the windows to avoid catching a cold before hanging up.

”Hey, wasn’t he checking where we were by any chance?” Qin Nuan teased.

Luo Qianqian looked gloomy:

”Didn’t you hear everything?”

”You mean, using your excuse to ask out your brother? Clever,” Qin Nuan said approvingly:

”I like his go-getter attitude, but how is she going to explain it to you?”

”I don’t know.” Luo Qianqian had barely finished speaking when her phone rang with a message from Zhang Yun.

Qianqian, I’m at Lin Jiayou’s school. I just saw him. I was just trying my luck, didn’t expect him to see me... In a panic, I said I came with you guys...

Luo Qianqian didn’t read the rest of the explanation, her focus caught by the words ”trying my luck.” She handed the phone to Qin Nuan, a slight smile on her face:

”What do you think, what kind of luck is she trying?”