Chapter 27: A Truly Good Person [Additional Chapter for the Silver Alliance of Master Sanyuan!]
Page 1 of 3
Eleven twenty-three in the morning, at the Miracle Hands Clinic.
Sun Miao, quick-tempered, glared gloomily at the two unwelcome guests.
Yesterday, he’d unexpectedly acquired a “Legendary Gold” grade cancer cell sample. Today, he hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign, taping a sheet of paper to the clinic’s entrance with “Closed This Week” boldly written across it.
He planned to indulge himself in his long-stalled path of dark research.
He’d just carefully prepared the nutrient solution and was about to inject it into the proliferating cells when the door was knocked on, loud and abrupt, startling him so much that he nearly smashed the sampling tube.
He tried to pretend he hadn’t heard.
But the knocking escalated to pounding, like a thousand drums in a gale, threatening to tear the house apart and making it impossible for him to concentrate.
Sun Miao grabbed a knife and went downstairs. He opened the door.
Ha! Lingering spirits, indeed.
Yesterday’s troublesome, unruly patient was back, bringing along a burly man with his chest heavily bandaged.
“Dr. Sun, sorry to bother you. My friend’s injured, and with ordinary medicine from the supply store, it would take nearly half a month for him to recover fully. I thought, given your superb medical skills and noble character, I’d come to you specially.”
Ren Zhong’s attitude was sincere, a stark contrast to his cunning merchant persona from last night’s business discussion.
They weren’t friends, nor even close acquaintances, but the kind of relationship born from transactions not meant for outsiders to know, making Sun Miao almost unable to curse as he intended.
Yet, courteous old Sun managed anyway.
He slapped the door, pointing at the large notice, “Are you blind? Can’t you see these four flowing, majestic characters? Don’t you recognize words?”
Ren Zhong looked at the notice.
Hiss!
This wild calligraphy looked like a child’s scribble. If the Calligraphy Association saw it, they’d be ecstatic.
Impressive.
Between the times and medicine, Sun Miao’s talent was wasted. He ought to be a literary giant.
Ren Zhong hadn’t looked closely before; he genuinely hadn’t recognized those four characters, thinking it was some Taoist anti-evil talisman.
Now, squinting and studying, he cautiously asked, “I really can’t tell. It vaguely seems to say ‘Wood Phoenix Drinks Earth’? Any special meaning?”
Sun Miao: “For heaven’s sake… It says ‘Closed This Week’!”
Honest Wen Lei was a bit nervous at Sun Miao’s fierce demeanor.
He feared offending the town’s only doctor, worried about being blacklisted.
The giant tugged at Ren Zhong’s sleeve, like a timid wife, whispering anxiously, “Ren, let’s go back. Dr. Sun clearly has things to do if he’s closed. I told you not to disturb him. Uh… sorry, Dr. Sun, we’ll just…”
Ren Zhong remained unruffled, ignoring Wen Lei’s tugging. “Dr. Sun, you know how hard it is for scavengers like us to make a living. Time is money—we really can’t wait. If you’d closed for a day, fine, but a week? That’s too much. Is my case really worth you spending so much time on? Isn’t it just some canc—”
“Stop! Just stop! Come in! I’ll treat you, isn’t that enough?”
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Sun Miao interrupted Ren Zhong at lightning speed.
Ren Zhong’s eyes lit up.
He’d sensed a key weakness.
Seizing the moment, he stepped closer, eyes gleaming with sincerity, “Dr. Sun, this won’t trouble you much, just a minor ailment. Compared to my canc… cough, it’s nothing. Given our canc... connection, could you waive the fee?”
That’s extortion!
Sun Miao felt his blood rising.
“Free today! But only this once! Don’t push your luck! Damn, if I’d known you were like this, I wouldn’t have saved you! Should’ve just kept quiet, taken your sample, and let you die outside!”
His frustration was palpable.
He hadn’t asked Ren Zhong to keep anything secret, thinking the less he emphasized, the less likely it would be used against him—but Ren Zhong had noticed anyway.
Ren Zhong laughed quietly to himself, thinking, “No way, next time you’ll have to save me again.”
Well, hopefully, there won’t be a next time.
...
The treatment was not complicated.
Sun Miao had Wen Lei lie on the iron-framed bed, performed a full-body scan, then pulled down a mechanical arm from the wall, set the surgical and medication procedures, and let the automation take over.
“Anesthesia, anti-inflammation, accelerate cell division, then stitch and bandage. That’s the basic process. It’ll take about half an hour, so I won’t stay down here long. When the mechanical arm finishes, just leave. The treatment fee is… never mind, Ren Zhong, write me a note.”
Ren Zhong: “What note? Not an IOU, right? Surely not?”
“Rewrite the ‘Closed This Week’ notice and stick it on the door for me. Your handwriting is tidy, not artistic, but easy to read.”
Sun Miao would never admit his own handwriting was ugly.
Ren Zhong grinned, “Alright.”
He never imagined that, after so many years, his brushwork could actually earn him some money.
After finishing, Sun Miao hurried upstairs. Whether he was truly busy or just didn’t want to watch Ren Zhong’s shameless patient downstairs, no one could say.
Wen Lei lay flat, staring at his chest.
The finger-thick mechanical arm fluttered up and down like a butterfly among flowers.
It gently parted the wound, removed dead tissue, then extended fine needles to evenly spray anti-inflammatory medicine.
“Ren, thanks so much today. With Dr. Sun’s skills, I’ll be back on my feet in three days at most.”
Ren Zhong chuckled, “Wen Lei, you’re too polite. Zheng Tian said you’re solid, and I’m counting on you, a genuine mech warrior, to teach me. Recover well, and in three days, give me some live training.”
“Sure! Though we can’t do anything for these three days, I can at least give you some verbal guidance.”
Ren Zhong smiled, “Good.”
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
That was one reason he was so eager to help Wen Lei get treated.
Wen Lei sighed again, “Thankfully it’s only three days. If I had to rest for half a month, it’d be a real problem.”
Ren Zhong: “What problem?”
“Three days is bearable. But half a month? The rest of the team couldn’t wait that long, they’d have to call in a backup. If someone else proved better, and the cooperation went well…”
He didn’t finish, but Ren Zhong understood.
He might be replaced.
Back when Zheng Tian’s team first saw Ren Zhong, they abandoned him without batting an eye.
Now, the team seemed to get along, as if their bonds were deep, but at heart, this world devours people.
Good-natured folks rarely survive well.
Zheng Tian’s climb from ordinary scavenger to her current position surely required ruthless detachment from emotional ties.
Moreover, Zheng Tian’s warmth toward others might not be as genuine as she acted.
The wound left by being discarded and exposed in the wilderness is not easily healed.
To Ren Zhong, Zheng Tian’s enthusiasm always felt performative.
“Never mind, none of that’s happened yet. Don’t dwell on it. Right?”
Ren Zhong was cold at heart, though he wore a cheerful smile.
His coldness was directed at Zheng Tian, not at Wen Lei.
He still remembered, at his lowest and most desperate, this seemingly fierce giant had said, “You’re just an ordinary person but can fight a level-one Ruin Beast—impressive. It’d be a shame for you to die here.”
So Wen Lei was actually the first to suggest saving him, only vetoed by Ou You Ning.
When Wen Lei left then, his eyes held regret—but he had no say.
Among the whole team, Ren Zhong hadn’t spoken much with Wen Lei, but his impression of him was the best.
“Yeah, but Ren, you really are amazing. Normally, an injury like this would cost at least ten contribution points. Dr. Sun is such a penny-pincher, yet he waived our fee. Zheng Tian was right—you’re a big deal.”
Ren Zhong laughed, “It’s nothing, really.”
“No, ten points is a big deal!”
“How so?”
They talked for a long while, and only then did Ren Zhong—who’d spent a fortune yesterday on a magnetic storm grenade—truly realize what ten contribution points meant under extreme deprivation.
Page 3 of 3