Life Plan

Chapter 14, Chen Bin's Death

The next morning, Liu Chichi stepped into the office in a good mood, planning to leave work early and then go to the inpatient department to see Hao Jia.

As Liu Chichi passed Shen Shuyi's workstation, her face was gloomy, and her bun was askew. "What's wrong?" she asked instinctively.

"Chen Bin was admitted to the hospital last night and is still undergoing emergency treatment."

Liu Chichi remembered him, the eighteen-year-old test subject with red hair, who took the money from his mother and left.

"What's wrong with him?"

"All I know right now is that he fell into a coma after drinking and hasn't come out of the emergency room yet. His parents have arrived. I heard from the nurse on shift change that his mother is looking for you."

Liu Chichi was confused. They weren't familiar with each other, having only briefly contacted each other during the first phase of the trial. "Looking for me? What does this have to do with me?"

"I don't know, but you should stay out of the office today."

Liu Chichi was unaware of what had happened and could only huddle at her workstation. Even her lunch was brought to her by Shen Shuyi. She held her phone, noting that Shen Shuyi was unusually quiet today and hadn't even assigned her any work.

Everyone was busy moving around in the office. Despite the air conditioning, she felt uneasy. She put on a white coat to keep warm, but her hands and feet still felt cold.

At 3:30 PM, a notification popped up. Liu Chichi quickly opened her phone. The message from Shen Shuyi was brief: [Chen Bin is dead.]

She suddenly stood up, her phone falling to the ground. She crouched down, trembling, to pick it up. Chen Bin had never participated in drug trials before, and she didn't know what she was afraid of.

Perhaps it was because that fiery red hair was too vibrant, and the sudden death of someone she had known made it hard for her to accept. She didn't think she had reached the point where she could take life and death lightly.

The CRC members around her looked at her with pity. A short while later, the sound of police sirens came from downstairs. Looking out the window, she saw a haggard middle-aged woman grabbing a policeman and shouting agitatedly.

Liu Chichi couldn't hear her voice; she could only see her face contorted in pain.

There's no escaping it now.

The thought had barely crossed Liu Chichi's mind when she instinctively put on a mask. Soon after, the police opened the office door, and Wang Lan, who was in a state of emotional collapse, rushed towards her screaming, but was caught by the police.

The police showed her a chat log and a photo of Chen Bin, asking, "Do you recognize this person?"

"know."

Did you say these words?

The chat log was between her and Chen Bin. She first verified Chen Bin's information, and then sent him the trial time, address, and precautions.

Chen Bin replied: 【So you've chosen me?】【Can I quit anytime?】

Liu Chichi: [The total compensation is 8,000, paid at the end of each phase. No compensation will be given for any uncompleted portion.]

Chen Bin: [I'll think about it some more.]

Liu Chichi: [If you don't come, we'll have a backup plan.]

It was indeed what she said, but it wasn't the same. "It was me who said it, but there were some omissions. I didn't say these things to him on my own initiative; he asked me and I answered."

"Could you show me your chat history?"

Liu Chichi instinctively gripped her phone tighter, her mind blank. The metal edge of the new phone pressed against her knuckles, the slight pain bringing her back to her senses.

She wanted to call Liu Chunhong to ask if the old phone had been repaired and if the records were still there.

Her nervous hesitation fueled all suspicions, and the police asked her again, "If it involves privacy and you are not comfortable showing it here, you can hand over your phone to us, and we will protect your personal privacy."

Liu Chichi's voice trembled: "It's not on this phone."

"We're sorry, but someone has reported you for inducing others to participate in clinical trials. Please cooperate with our investigation."

Liu Chichi looked around. The window was crowded with onlookers, holding up their phones. Wang Lan was yelling at her to die. It seemed the only safe place was near the police.

As she stepped out the door, someone ripped off her mask. Liu Chichi instinctively looked up, but couldn't see a face at all, only countless cameras pressed against her face, like black-eyed monsters closing in and devouring her.

She hid behind the police, and at that moment, the image that came to mind was Shen Shuyi with her hands on her hips. In the past, Shen Shuyi was always the one who rushed to the front to solve these tricky problems.

Shen Shuyi, where are you?

Liu Chichi called Wang Lan from inside the police car. Unfortunately, after carefully reviewing her records, Wang Lan found nothing important and took her phone to a repair shop before work. Liu Chichi's phone was a bit old, and the shop assistant suggested she restore it to factory settings for smoother operation, which Liu Chunhong agreed to.

Chen Bin's story happened a long time ago to her, and Liu Chichi didn't have the habit of saving all chat logs, so she couldn't produce any evidence to prove her innocence.

Chen Bin died from brain death caused by brain herniation resulting from acute intracranial hypertension. Before being admitted to the hospital, he was attending a freshman party with his new classmates. He had just finished drinking two glasses of wine when he fainted.

Doctors told Wang Lan that drinking alcohol could potentially increase intracranial pressure, but Wang Lan posted photos online of Chen Bin having dinner with his high school classmates, proving that his alcohol tolerance was far more than "two glasses of wine," and that his health only deteriorated after participating in clinical trials.

In this era of rapid internet development, that chat log spread like wildfire, with countless eye-catching headlines emerging: the 18-year-old college-bound student who died after participating in a clinical trial, the college-bound student who was lured into a clinical trial and died, the drug trial participant who valued money over life...

In early September, the phrase "prospective college student" became a trending keyword, carrying with it the little-known "clinical trial" that propelled it to the top of the trending searches.

The illegal human experiments depicted in the film and television works were used as illustrations. Liu Chichi's face, hiding behind the police, and Chen Bin's black and white photo were displayed below the title, with the background sound of Wang Lan's painful cries.

In just half a day, Liu Chichi became a human trafficker who selects test subjects and operates in a gray area. Many opinions suggested that Chen Bin's death was intentional on the part of the hospital, in order to buy and sell his body and organs. The compensation of eight thousand yuan became a handle for many people to attack Chen Bin, believing that he valued money over his life and was now bearing the consequences.

People in the clinical research industry tried to refute rumors in the comments section, which attracted a lot of abuse and misunderstandings. The commenters had to delete their comments, and public opinion spiraled into silence.

As public opinion veered toward conspiracy theories, many professionals stepped in to explain the difference between "clinical trials" and "illegal human experiments," amplifying the debate between medicine and ethics.

People drawn by the traffic stormed into the hospital to livestream. Wang Lan sat at the hospital entrance holding a portrait of her deceased son, crying to all the people filming her that the hospital had killed her son.

On the other side, Shen Shuyi was separately outputting all the records about Chen Bin, which might be the last thing she could use to save Liu Chichi.

Liu Chichi started assisting Shen Shuyi after the initial screening and enrollment in the Phase I trial. Shen Shuyi had all the preliminary project information and recruitment details. She was aware of Chen Bin's application, but having worked there for over two years and seen many participants of different ages, she didn't pay him any special attention.

She never expected to leave such a big hidden danger. She heard the sound of police cars. She was holding her laptop in the stairwell, applying to print various documents, without glancing out the glass window.