Chapter 362 - 451: Leukemia
Hearing Landon Sinclair say that, Chloe felt a wave of relief.
Landon Sinclair would also start working on quantum communication in three years, and he would make massive breakthroughs in less than five years after that.
But for now, there were very few researchers studying communication technology.
For one, it wasn’t a mainstream field yet.
"Second Brother, don’t worry. I promise I won’t let you down," Chloe Sinclair assured him.
Landon Sinclair smiled. "And I won’t let you down, either."
With that, Landon Sinclair gave Chloe Sinclair a tour of the lab.
After returning home, Chloe slept for a while.
She woke up early to the sound of Tiana Warren knocking on her door.
Chloe frowned. She had just woken up, and her head was still a little fuzzy.
She searched the floor for her slippers and finally found the missing one under the bed.
"What is it?"
Tiana Warren seemed uneasy. "Miss, there’s... there’s someone outside looking for you. He says he’s a classmate of yours."
Chloe was taken aback and didn’t register it for a moment.
Chloe quickly found something to wear. Halfway through buttoning her shirt, she suddenly turned her head. "By the way, is this classmate a man or a woman?"
"A m-man... with orange-dyed hair."
As Tiana Warren spoke, she subconsciously averted her gaze, avoiding Chloe’s eyes.
Chloe didn’t comment on it, but she had a good idea who Tiana Warren was talking about.
When she reached the doorway, Chloe saw a man with short, orange hair sitting in the living room, his back to her.
Chloe said, "Summer Beckett."
The man turned. The moment he saw Chloe standing at the foot of the stairs, he was thrilled.
"Chloe!"
Summer Beckett shot up from his chair and rushed toward her.
Chloe deftly sidestepped him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Chloe, long time no see."
Summer Beckett’s bear hug met with empty air. His hands froze in midair before he awkwardly wiped them on the back of his pants.
Chloe looked him up and down, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "We haven’t seen each other in half a year, and the first thing you do is dye your hair yellow?"
"You sound just like my dad! It’s not yellow!"
Summer Beckett grew flustered and quickly explained, "It’s platinum blonde! The most popular color this year!"
Chloe burst out laughing.
Still, she glanced at Summer Beckett and didn’t argue.
"You know, it’s actually not a bad color."
Summer Beckett’s skin was already fair, and the golden-blonde hair made it look even more so.
She went to the fridge, took out a carton of milk, poured it into a glass, and brought it to the coffee table.
’Don’t go to all this trouble,’ Summer Beckett thought. But when Chloe handed him the glass, he didn’t dare say a word.
They sat on the sofa, their eyes meeting.
Chloe was the first to speak. "So, what brings you here today?"
Summer Beckett nodded, then shook his head. "Well, it’s nothing major."
He glanced at Chloe’s expression. Seeing her shift her posture in a silent cue for him to continue, Summer Beckett finally said, "Our class is having a reunion in a week. A lot of people sent you messages, but you never replied. I came today to ask if you’re planning on going."
Chloe paused, thinking about her phone. When she realized many of her classmates had tried to contact her, her eyes filled with regret.
"Sorry, I don’t really check my QQ messages much these days."
Summer Beckett quickly waved his hands. "No need to apologize, we all know you’re busy. If you decide to go, I’ll let everyone in the class group chat know."
The reunion was organized by a few of the former class officers, and more than half of their old classmates were expected to attend.
As for the rest, they were mostly either out of town and couldn’t make it back, or had last-minute conflicts.
Chloe thought for a moment. She figured it would be the day before Jasper Shaw was due to arrive in Kennet, so she nodded.
"Alright. Just let me know once the place is booked, and I’ll be there."
Summer Beckett nodded. "But I should give you a heads-up. The main purpose of this get-together is to raise money for one of our classmates."
Chloe was a little surprised.
"What happened?"
"You might not know since you went to university in Emberfall, but one of our class officers was diagnosed with leukemia right after school started. Her family doesn’t have the money for treatment, and the online donations dried up pretty quickly. We were hoping to raise some more money for her."
"In the past six months, her family has sold everything they have and spent several hundred thousand. There’s no suitable match for a transplant, so they can only rely on medication to slow the disease’s progression. But the medicine costs nearly 100,000 a month. How can an ordinary family possibly afford that?"
For an average working-class family, 100,000 was a fortune.
"How could it be so much?" Chloe was stunned to hear the medicine cost nearly 100,000 a month.
Summer Beckett sounded helpless. "It’s imported. The price is fixed, non-negotiable."
As he spoke, his eyes grew red. "Her parents are both fifty-five. And right now, they’re out there washing windows on high-rise buildings."
The safety equipment is basic, so accidents can happen easily.
But the immense financial pressure was crushing her parents.
Chloe was moved. She looked up. "How much are you planning to donate?"
Summer Beckett looked a little sheepish. He scratched his head and said in a low voice, "I earned some money from my writing recently. I’m planning to donate all of it."
With leukemia, hundreds of thousands could be spent in the blink of an eye.
A year’s supply of the imported drug could cost a family hundreds of thousands—their entire income. An ordinary family of three could be completely torn apart within a year.
Immense pain and endless pressure weighed invisibly on the grief-stricken family.
But when disaster strikes, everyone wants to live!
Summer Beckett knew that even if they donated again, twice, countless times, as long as the illness wasn’t cured, the money was like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.
Chloe knew that everyone was aware of this, but they would still hold private fundraisers time and time again.
"Alright, I’ll definitely go to the reunion then."
Summer Beckett let out a sigh of relief. "Chloe, I didn’t intentionally hide this from you earlier. Please don’t be mad."
Chloe was taken aback for a second but quickly understood.
"Of course we should help a classmate in need. In fact, I should be thanking you for letting me know. Otherwise, I would have shown up completely unprepared."
Chloe’s words made Summer Beckett feel even more ashamed.
Before he left, he told Chloe they should hang out sometime when she was free.
Knowing that Summer Beckett was into parkour, Chloe agreed.
Back in her room, Summer Beckett’s words echoed in her mind, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.
"Eight, look up how much a box of leukemia treatment costs right now."
"Master, I’ve just checked the official website. One box sells for approximately 30,000."
Chloe’s heart clenched, and a tremor ran through her. "That’s an astronomical price!"
She finally understood the saying, "When one person gets sick, the whole family collapses."
Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all of creation as disposable.
Chloe’s heart grew heavy. She couldn’t help but ask, "Are there any cheaper domestic drugs?"
"There are, but they aren’t as effective as the imported ones."