Chapter 50: Doesn’t Shen Lu Want Him Anymore?
Cai Su bit her lip hard, telling herself not to dwell on such useless things and to just focus on the work at hand.
With Cai Su’s help, Shen Lu’s haul grew even more bountiful.
Shen Lu had Cai Su focus on finding small, high-value metals, while she herself would take the opportunity to stash away steel plates and the like when Cai Su wasn’t looking.
Before ten o’clock, Shen Lu finished her junk-collecting for the day.
Cai Su handed everything she had found to Shen Lu, who deposited it directly into the System Warehouse right in front of her.
Cai Su wasn’t the least bit surprised to see the items vanish into thin air.
After all, Shen Lu was once a young lady from a wealthy family in the Upper City District. It was perfectly reasonable for her to possess one or two Advanced spatial items, even after being cast out.
As for what Shen Lu planned to do with all those things, it didn’t take a genius to figure out she was going to trade them for food ingredients.
’Otherwise, what would she be selling every day?’
She didn’t ask, and Shen Lu offered no explanation. The two maintained a tacit silence, a perfect, unspoken understanding.
On the way back, Shen Lu said to Cai Su, "I’ll go with you two in a bit. It’s a good chance to take Fu Cheng for a check-up."
Cai Su naturally had no objections. After setting her child down, she helped Shen Lu move Fu Cheng onto the flatbed cart, then placed Xiao Lang next to him. Together, they pushed the cart to the clinic.
Fu Cheng recognized Cai Su, as well as the child lying beside him; he had seen them yesterday.
’But where are Shen Lu and these others taking me at this hour?’
His consciousness scanned their surroundings. This wasn’t the way to Gold Street.
Fu Cheng’s heart suddenly sank. ’Is Shen Lu abandoning me?’
In the Lower City District, aside from the relatively smooth Gold Street, all the other streets were riddled with potholes.
It took a great deal of effort for Shen Lu and Cai Su to push the cart all the way to the clinic.
The clinic’s door was small, so the cart couldn’t fit through. Shen Lu told Cai Su to take Xiao Lang inside for his shot first, while she sat on the cart to catch her breath.
Fu Cheng saw the clinic’s sign, and his heart, which had plummeted, instantly soared.
’Did I misunderstand Shen Lu?’
’She was actually taking me to see a doctor.’
’That’s right. Last night, she did mumble something about taking me to a doctor for a check-up.’
’So that’s what this is about.’
Fu Cheng’s anxious heart finally settled down.
At the same time, he chided himself for having such a misunderstanding about Shen Lu.
’That was completely uncalled for.’
He shouldn’t have habitually assumed the worst of her, not when she had been so, so good to him.
A few minutes later, the female doctor walked out with a cold expression, followed by Cai Su.
"Doctor, could I trouble you to take a look?" Cai Su asked respectfully.
"It’s no trouble, so long as you pay." A stethoscope hung around the female doctor’s neck, and her hands were stuffed in her pockets. She didn’t rush to bend down and check Fu Cheng’s condition. Instead, she addressed Shen Lu. "You were here yesterday, so you should know that I require payment upfront for a consultation."
Shen Lu nodded and handed over the 100-Star-Coin consultation fee.
Only after taking the money did the doctor begin the examination.
She couldn’t be bothered to move him inside, so she just started examining him right there on the street.
The process was similar to yesterday’s. The doctor used her stethoscope to listen here and there, occasionally pressing down with her hands.
Watching her movements, Shen Lu suddenly asked, "Doctor, do you have a superpower?"
’Otherwise, how could she determine a diagnosis just by listening and pressing a couple of times?’
Shen Lu found it hard to believe.
The doctor withdrew her hand. "Not exactly."
She had come very close to successfully awakening one, but for some reason, she had gotten stuck at the final step.
Although she hadn’t succeeded, her senses were still sharper than an ordinary person’s. After learning some medical skills, she opened this clinic in the Lower City District.
"This patient must have come back from the front lines, right? He’s severely injured. His Superpower Level seems to have been quite high before his injury, which is why the concentration of mental toxins is so high. Add to that a mutant beast bacterial infection... there’s no chance of recovery."
The doctor calmly explained Fu Cheng’s condition, "However, you’ve taken good care of him. The bacterial infection is slowly improving. It will probably be completely cleared up in a month or so. But for his other conditions, I can’t offer any advice. You could send him to a hospital for a comprehensive examination and see what other doctors have to say."
Shen Lu pressed her lips together. ’No chance of recovery?’
Cai Su went over and patted her shoulder. ’To think Boss Shen’s fiancé is so badly injured. No wonder she’s working so hard to make money... Sigh...’
Shen Lu took a deep breath and thanked the doctor.
She didn’t believe it. Fu Cheng would definitely get better.
’Isn’t he supposed to become the great villain? How could there be no possibility of recovery?’
The doctor gave Shen Lu a deep look before turning and heading back into the clinic.
She had seen far too many family members like Shen Lu who refused to accept the facts.
’So what if she doesn’t believe it? Can an illness change based on one’s will?’
Cai Su asked the doctor to look after Xiao Lang for a moment and helped Shen Lu push Fu Cheng back home.
"Boss Shen, don’t be so pessimistic. Maybe a miracle will happen?" Seeing her silent and withdrawn, Cai Su couldn’t help but try to comfort her. "You have a knack for making money. Once you’ve saved up enough, you can send him to a big hospital. A big hospital will definitely have a solution."
Shen Lu smiled but didn’t say anything, appreciating Cai Su’s kind sentiment.
Back in the Seventeenth District, Cai Su subconsciously glanced at the spot where Wang Hu had fallen from the building yesterday. The corpse had been taken away by the collectors early that morning, leaving only a dark, dried pool of blood.
She only glanced at it for a second before quickly looking away.
No matter what history she’d had with Wang Hu, it was all over as of yesterday. From today on, she had to focus on how to protect her son and how to properly repay Shen Lu’s kindness.
After moving Fu Cheng back onto the bed, Shen Lu told Cai Su to head back to the clinic and then meet her on Gold Street at eleven o’clock.
"It’s alright, Boss Shen. Doctor Xiao seems cold and not very enthusiastic, but she’s quite responsible once she’s been paid. Xiao Lang won’t be waking up anytime soon, so I can stay here and help you."
Doctor Xiao was the female doctor from the clinic. Cai Su didn’t know her full name, so she just called her Doctor Xiao like everyone else.
"Alright, then." Shen Lu didn’t insist.
She assigned some simple tasks to Cai Su, like putting batches of vegetables into the one-touch washing machine and then taking them out.
Shen Lu peeled what needed peeling, chopped what needed chopping, and put the vegetables into the mala tang machine, turning the heat up to full to cook them through.
This time, she mixed two whole basins of egg puff batter and set them aside. She also prepared two buckets of mint water. The braised snacks were the simplest: she just ladled them out into a food container and poured a little of the braising liquid over them.
She strained the remaining braising liquid to remove any dregs, transferred it to another container, sealed it, and placed it in the System Warehouse.
[DING~ New Task Issued: Please sell 50 cups of mint water, 40 egg puffs, 40 servings of mala tang, 20 servings of fried rice, 20 servings of fried noodles, and 10 servings of braised snacks.]
The day’s task was issued right on time. Looking at the long list, Shen Lu was filled with fighting spirit.
She had prepared double the usual amount of food today, so completing the task would definitely be no problem. She just wondered if she could sell it all in the same amount of time.
Before heading out, Shen Lu poured some millet and pumpkin into the empty rice cooker, added plenty of water, and left it to simmer.
By the time she returned in the afternoon, the millet and pumpkin congee would be ready.