Chapter 142: For the Person Who Loved Me Most
“What are you wearing? Won’t it get in the way?”
In the promotional video, Nan Guo de Xue handed a prop microphone with no actual function to Black Smoke.
“No, it won’t! The inner layer is our combat suit, which also serves as work safety gear. It has excellent anti-puncture capabilities, significantly reducing the probability of industrial injuries. The outer layer is an exoskeleton, providing an extra few hundred kilograms of strength.”
Black Smoke stood with his hands on his hips, explaining in easily understandable language to the aboriginals.
“Won’t it be hot to wear?”
“No, it won’t! The suit has a built-in temperature regulation system, which is essentially your personal air conditioner. I usually set the temperature between 23 and 18 degrees Celsius, so even when doing heavy physical labor, you won’t sweat easily!”
“That sounds very user-friendly. Then, such advanced clothing must only be available to senior Engineers like you, right?”
“Not at all! All our workers have a set, and our clothing inventory is greater than the number of workers, so when one set is sent for cleaning, they can switch to another.”
“An air conditioner worn inside clothing?”
In Oasis City, air conditioning was a luxury only enjoyed by nobles and wealthy merchants. This concept was too advanced and too shocking for ordinary people.
“Isn’t that similar to the power armor Apollo and his team wear? Such top-tier good stuff, Cangyuan Future Technology actually gives one to everyone?!”
“I don’t believe it—impossible, that’s too strong—”
“More than that, I saw them even using it for the aboriginals.”
“They’re being too generous!”
The promotional video continued, moving on to the benefits for Cangyuan employees.
“This is our dormitory on the industrial ship.”
Nan Guo de Xue introduced.
“When the industrial ship takes off, this is where the workers live; when the industrial ship is on the ground, workers live in their own homes at night, and can take a nap here at noon. They have half an hour for lunch and an hour for a nap every day.”
Unbelievable!
Their lunch break wasn’t just 5 minutes!
And they could even sleep after eating!
“Of course, if you have enough energy, you don’t necessarily have to sleep during your nap.”
The camera shifted to the employee activity room, where some audience members were playing billiards, and in the distance, two Engineer players were wrestling in power armor, surrounded by a circle of enthusiastic bettors. Further away, someone was playing arcade games.
Unbelievable!
This wasn't coming to work; it was clearly coming to live like a noble!
“This is where workers eat daily.”
The camera shifted again, arriving at the restaurant inside the industrial ship.
With the first batch of plump, tender lambs coming out of the pens, Victory Male God was diligently working to restore an extremely important human cultural heritage.
Copper hot pot lamb shabu-shabu.
The raw materials for the copper pot came from stolen Oasis City cables.
“I think the greatest joy of joining Cangyuan is nothing else but being able to eat to my heart’s content every day. Look, check out how fresh these ingredients are!”
He mischievously held a large plate full of meat slices in front of the camera. Ye Xing could almost hear the frantic gulping sounds in the video hall.
“Ah, I’ll treat you next time if there’s a chance. For now, I’ll taste it for you, here we go!”
And when people saw Cangyuan’s aid to Red Iron Town, and saw that those “country folk” were actually living in two-story houses comparable to those of nobles, they could no longer sit still.
They wished they could immediately climb over the city wall and rush to that paradise-like place.
“What are we working ourselves to death for every day?!”
“Don’t get excited, don’t be so loud.” “What do you mean don’t get excited? What if I speak louder? Are you blind or brainless?”
Amidst the heated emotions, the film entered its final section.
On the screen, Nan Guo de Xue stepped forward, introducing the medicine in her hand.
The noisy arguments immediately subsided.
This was undoubtedly the most shocking news of the night.
Even the personnel under Cheng Lei who were carrying out the mission were startled. In fact, until this moment, they didn't know what kind of illness the “medicine” that the Young Miss brought back from outside was for.
That was an incurable disease!
“Cancer—·special medicine?”
“No matter what type, what stage, there’s a cure?”
“It takes effect the same day!?”
To be honest, this was too much of a shock to the citizens’ common sense. If this video had been broadcast at the beginning, no one would have believed it.
But after a comprehensive and systematic demonstration of Cangyuan’s strength, even the most suspicious minds would now seriously consider its authenticity.
“Is there really such a medicine?”
“Where can I buy it?”
Whoosh!
No answer, no further explanation. The film finished playing, and the screen returned to black.
The medicine! Where is this medicine sold! I want to buy it!
Among the audience, a young man named Barry was completely filled with this thought.
Could it be that I have to go to Red Iron Town? Why didn't the film say at the end? Oh, right, the person who rented out the video hall! He must know!
Barry anxiously looked around, unable to find the person.
“Where did he go!?”
He rushed out of the video hall, fearing that in a moment, the others in the hall would recover from their shock and compete with him!
Meanwhile, Ye Xing had already left the video hall and was hiding in the shadows with Cheng Lei, watching the entrance of the video hall.
Target sighted!
Seeing the other person’s expression, he knew it must be someone looking to buy the special medicine.
“Young man,” Ye Xing and Cheng Lei walked over together, “do you want to buy medicine?”
“Ah? Oh!” The other person recognized him, “Yes, yes, yes! I want to buy it! Huh? Why is she here too—”
Barry recognized Cheng Lei.
She was a well-known figure in Oasis City, a famous rich young lady who was usually the most high-profile and extravagant wealthy person. Commoners naturally didn't have a very good impression of her.
Cheng Lei: “Don’t ask so many questions. If you want to buy medicine, lead the way and take us to your home.”
Barry: “Huh?”
Ye Xing: “Take us to your home, immediately. Just walk ahead at a normal pace, don’t look back or talk.”
Barry: “Okay—then you must keep up.”
Ye Xing followed closely behind Barry, walking towards the crowded residential area, while Cheng Lei kept her distance, following further back to ensure no one was tracking them.
“Big brother, you’re back!—Who is this?”
Opening the door was Barry’s younger sister. Oasis City regulations stipulated that each family must have two children, no more and no less, to maintain relative population stability.
Ye Xing nodded to her in greeting.
“Where is the patient?”
Barry: “Over here, it’s my mom.”
Like most people in the Desert, Barry’s home was small. Upon entering, there was the kitchen and dining area.
Behind a metal partition was the bedroom.
Ye Xing saw a very emaciated middle-aged woman lying on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed, breathing rapidly and constantly emitting faint moans. He couldn’t tell if she was still conscious.
He silently took out a scanner, and the scan results showed that the cancer cells had spread diffusely.
It was indeed a patient in the family, not a scalper.
“My mother’s illness is already very serious, really—very serious. Can it be cured?”
“Yes,” Ye Xing took out the medicine box, “but you have to take the medicine first. Can your mother still swallow normally?”
“She can barely eat, but she can still take medicine.”
“Alright then. One box, 10 tablets, 2500 Oasis Coins, not sold individually.”
The medicine was not free. It had to be priced at a level that was not cheap for the locals but still affordable, as Lu Yuan had specifically instructed.
From now on, everything the citizens of Oasis City hoped to obtain would not be a free handout.
A certain price had to be paid.
This was the first lesson they needed to learn.
Barry: “So expensive?”
Ye Xing: “Brother, this is the most high-tech life-saving medicine. I’m basically selling it at cost, not making any profit from you.”
Barry gritted his teeth: “Alright then! You wait here, I—I’ll go borrow some from the neighbors, I’ll be back soon!”
His younger sister quickly caught up to him from behind.
“What kind of medicine is it? Why is it so expensive?”
“Special medicine for cancer!”
“Special—are you being scammed? Didn’t all the doctors say there’s nothing left for us but palliative care?”
“You don’t understand! I don’t have time to explain in detail. If we’re slow, the Public Order Officer or guards might come investigating, and then everything will be over!”
“No, how did you offend them? Who did you bring home?!”
Barry suddenly turned around, tears welling up in his eyes from anxiety.
“Precisely because there’s no other way, I must buy it! Even if there’s only a tiny bit of hope for a cure—even if it can’t be cured, as long as it can keep her with us for another half a year, that’s enough!”
The same disease had taken his father, and now, it had afflicted his mother.
His younger sister had never seen her brother like this before and was a little frightened.
“You—don’t cry—I just thought, that money was originally for mom’s pain medicine—”
“I know!”
A few minutes later, Barry received the box of medicine.
“Remember to prepare lightly salted water and food that can quickly raise blood sugar in advance,” Ye Xing finally instructed. “After the patient takes the medicine, their body temperature may rise significantly; this is normal. If you’re truly worried, you two siblings can take turns staying up at night.”
“Okay, thank you! Thank you so much!”
Barry felt a little strange.
The person in front of him was nothing like the black market merchants in the city; his demeanor was completely different, and his accent didn’t even sound local. He felt like he was some important big shot.
He and his younger sister together helped their groggy mother sit up and administered one capsule.
“Little Barry, what are you feeding me? I’m not hungry, don’t make me eat if I don’t have to—if I eat, it hurts…”
“It’s not food, it’s a new medicine, Mom. The person who sold the medicine—the doctor said it’s more effective than what we took before. You’ll get better soon!”
“Oh, really—then it must be very expensive, right? Didn’t I tell you not to spend any more money on me? You need to save for your sister…”
“It’s okay, Mom, it’s okay.”
Barry gently embraced his mother, while his younger sister beside him was already choking back tears, unable to speak.
“Phew…”
Ye Xing walked out of Barry’s house with his hands in his pockets, stepped into the alley outside, and looked up at the sky, immediately feeling much clearer-headed.
Inside the house, it was truly suffocating.
Was this, truly just a game—
“Let’s go.” Cheng Lei urged from behind, “We can’t go back to my place tonight. Everyone has to disperse and find a way to make do for the night. There’s a new mission tomorrow morning.”
“Understood! I’ll send a message to the Executive Officer first.”
Five hours later.
The Oasis City Public Order Bureau Chief called and urgently woke up Cole.
“Lord City Lord, this is bad! Someone in the city is spreading very unfavorable news about us, related to Cangyuan!”
Cole instantly sobered up, jumping out of bed in a panic.
“They’ve started their attack!?”
“Not exactly—”
Damn it, you scared me!
“Explain in detail, slowly!”