Don't Cry, I'm Not in Pain Anymore

Doctor Zhou was in his fifties. He had previously been an attending surgeon at a top-tier hospital, but had quit and returned to the shantytown to open this private clinic so he could care for his elderly mother.

After examining the knife wound on Tong Zhao's back, he confirmed that it needed stitches if it was to heal quickly without getting infected. He deftly took out his tools and said to Tong Zhao, "The anesthetic injections will hurt a little. A wound like yours might need two or three shots."

Tong Zhao's lips trembled. He buried his head in despair, wanting nothing more than to jump up and run away.

A sudden warmth slipped into his tightly clenched hand. Shu Sizhuo was holding it firmly. He was even more nervous than Tong Zhao, but he lowered his head and soothed him, "Don't be afraid, Tang Xu."

Tong Zhao felt that, ten years older than Shu Sizhuo as he was, looking scared was really embarrassing, so he stubbornly replied, "I'm not that scared."

But Shu Sizhuo's little face remained solemn, and when he saw that the needle Doctor Zhou took out was thicker than usual, his palm broke out in a cold sweat.

Sure enough, when the first needle went in, Tong Zhao gripped Shu Sizhuo's fingers hard enough to break them. At the second injection, Tong Zhao rubbed his forehead against the sofa and turned inward. At the third, he couldn't hold it in any longer. His muscles tensed, and he let out a low cry.

Fuck, I was so busy running for my life when I got slashed that I didn't even feel it. Why do these anesthetic shots hurt so much?

The anesthetic soon took effect, and Tong Zhao's body gradually relaxed. He could feel the needle and thread tugging at the skin on his back, but he no longer felt any pain.

Tong Zhao turned his head back and stared blankly at Shu Sizhuo's tear-streaked face. It was as though the wound being stitched up was on Shu Sizhuo rather than himself, and the pain had broken his tear ducts.

Tong Zhao stared at Shu Sizhuo's tears, and a soft part of his heart caved in. The child hadn't cried when he was abused at Ode Mountain House, when he came back and applied medicine to Tong Zhao's wound, or when they encountered people trying to kill them at the bus station. Yet now he was crying because of Tong Zhao's injury.

Tong Zhao reached out and wiped his face, saying softly, "Don't cry. I'm not in pain anymore."

Shu Sizhuo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and murmured, "Mm."

Doctor Zhou caught sight of them and laughed. "You two brothers are really close. Crying like that makes me look like the bad guy."

"Not at all." Tong Zhao tugged at the corners of his mouth through the pain. "You're saving lives and tending to the wounded, Doctor Zhou."

Doctor Zhou had strong medical ethics and didn't ask how Tong Zhao had gotten the knife wound. After stitching it up, he prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine and gave him a few instructions. Finally, he glanced at Shu Sizhuo and couldn't help adding, "You're living on your own, so you still need to be careful. Your little brother is young, after all."

Tong Zhao promptly agreed. "Yes, yes. Thank you, Doctor Zhou." With Shu Sizhuo's help, he sat up and asked, "How much is it, Doctor Zhou?"

Doctor Zhou named a sum.

Tong Zhao nodded and reached for his jacket. Seeing this, Shu Sizhuo immediately handed it to him.

The jacket pockets had zippers. Before going out, Tong Zhao had put his wallet in one so he wouldn't lose it, and had zipped it all the way shut.

But when he put his hand on the zipper, he froze. It was open, and the wallet was gone.

Tong Zhao thought it might be in the other pocket, but that zipper was open too, and there was nothing inside!

Tong Zhao sat up and glanced at the floor, then got to his feet, intending to check the sofa.

Shu Sizhuo immediately understood what had happened. Worried about Tong Zhao's wound, he hurriedly stopped him, then bent over and searched the sofa before lying down to look underneath it. There was nothing.

The two exchanged a glance, knowing something was wrong. Doctor Zhou's expression changed subtly as well.

Tong Zhao hurriedly said to Shu Sizhuo, "Go get a hundred yuan from under the pillow for Doctor Zhou."

Shu Sizhuo froze, then turned and ran into the room. He came running back out shortly afterward, a hundred yuan in his hand. "Thank you, Doctor Zhou."

After Doctor Zhou left, Tong Zhao ignored the pain in his wound and anxiously turned his jacket over and over, searching it. He also checked the cracks in the sofa and under the table. Suspecting he might have left without his wallet, he ran to the bedroom to look there too.

Shu Sizhuo was terribly worried about his wound. Whenever Tong Zhao made a big movement, he stopped him and did the searching himself.

In the end, Tong Zhao finally had to face a cruel reality: his wallet had been stolen. He knew it hadn't fallen out while they were running away because his jacket zippers were open. He figured the pickpockets had struck while he was sleeping against the pillar.

Almost everything Tong Zhao owned had been in it. Now, all he and Shu Sizhuo had left was the two hundred yuan under the pillow that they usually used to buy groceries!

The two looked at each other for a long time. Tong Zhao slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, but his back hurt, so he lay on his stomach instead. As he lay there feeling emo, he turned his head and saw Shu Sizhuo still standing by the bed, looking at him worriedly.

Shu Sizhuo was so smart that he understood without being told.

Tong Zhao immediately hid his dejection and pretended not to care. "It's just a lost wallet, isn't it? It's fine. Your big brother has more than just the money in his wallet."

Shu Sizhuo knew adults generally had savings, but looking at the shabby rental and remembering how devastated Tong Zhao had been after losing his wallet, he didn't quite believe him.

"I'm so thirsty. Sweetheart, go boil some water, will you? Be careful not to burn your hands."

Shu Sizhuo nodded, looked at him a couple of times, then turned and went out.

After sending Shu Sizhuo away, Tong Zhao immediately propped himself up a little and called softly, "'You only regret how little you've read when you need it,' system."

The world fell silent for a moment. The system didn't respond.

Tong Zhao called again. "'You only regret how little you've read when you need it,' system!"

By this time, noisy voices could already be heard downstairs, but around Tong Zhao, it was frighteningly quiet.

Tong Zhao stared blankly for a while, wondering if this trash system depended on signal strength too.

He walked quickly to the window and called out several more times.

All that answered him was silence, silence, silence...

Tong Zhao broke down.

He had never imagined that the system of an institution as authoritative as the General Institute could have a bug!

The sky had fallen.

He had originally planned to ask the system: if his uncle's phone number cost twenty thousand, what about his aunt's? Or one of his uncle's subordinates? Would those be cheaper?

It was simply too dangerous outside now, and he was injured. He couldn't take Shu Sizhuo out to risk their lives again. If he could contact his uncle, his uncle could come find them.

Then, while waiting for his uncle to rescue them, he could ask the General Institute for an advance on his salary.

After all, his wallet had been stolen, and all they had left was the two hundred yuan under the pillow. Were he and Shu Sizhuo supposed to live on thin air with two hundred yuan?

But at this crucial moment, the lousy system had crashed and stopped responding!

The General Institute had several "orphanages" in every small world, but the "orphanages" were a long way from this shantytown...

Tong Zhao paced irritably around the little shabby room, shouting, "You only regret how little you've read when you need it," until Shu Sizhuo came in carrying water. Only then did he abruptly stop.

Faced with Shu Sizhuo's worried and suspicious little face, Tong Zhao hid what was on his mind, reached up to scratch his cheek, and managed a smile. "The water... is it boiled?"