Save Me!!!

The atmosphere was a little awkward. The old man looked at him as if he were an idiot, while Chen Xi, who had been quite sad to begin with, was holding back her laughter so hard she was nearly internally injured. Her chest trembled as if it were bouncing balls.

Li Yao said calmly, "That's how it is, sir. There's hope for you."

He raised his phone and pointed at a repost on Penguin Space. "It looks like cancer has been conquered."

Chen Xi answered without thinking, "I know you mean KEYTRUDA. This anticancer drug can block the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway, allowing the T Cells in the human immune system to kill cancer cells normally. It is indeed a very effective anticancer drug. We learned about this information back in 2016, but my grandfather's liver cancer isn't among the conditions it can treat."

Li Yao pursed his lips.

What kind of background did the Chen Family have? They really seemed rich.

Reports said that former U.S. President Carter had received this treatment in 2015 and had been clinically cured. Though treatment cases involving people of that stature were hardly universally applicable, the fact that the Chen Family had already made inquiries and attempts in this area in 2016 was enough to show they had considerable influence.

Yet a family like this couldn't return to the provincial capital? Li Yao felt that he really shouldn't get involved in this mess.

After thinking for a moment, he pointed at the medicine he had brought. "This drug can increase the vitality of your body's cells. With proper nutritional supplements, at the very least it won't let the cancer cells consume you to death. Combined with targeted gene therapy drugs, there's a strong chance it can gradually suppress and destroy the cancer cells."

This treatment was like restoring health while taking antidotes. Health would keep draining while taking the medicine, but as long as it was restored quickly enough, one could survive.

Chen Xi's eyes immediately lit up. "Good! How much is this medicine?"

A single dose had improved her grandfather's complexion and woken him up. Its efficacy was beyond doubt!

Li Yao waved his hand. "No rush. Let me finish. This medicine also has side effects. Some of its ingredients can be absorbed not only by the human body, but potentially by cancer cells as well, causing secondary mutations. That would be very dangerous."

It might turn into a magical version of Resident Evil! Although the medicine he had given them was a weakened version not produced through alchemy, the herbs Lin Xiaowei had provided contained spiritual energy. Spiritual energy's stimulation of living cells did not distinguish between normal cells and cancer cells.

Chen Xi gritted her teeth. "At this point, how much worse can the worst outcome get?"

At worst, he would die.

Li Yao said, "Death would be the best outcome. Your grandfather might also mutate into... uh, you know zombies, right? Like the ones in movies."

Chen Xi was stunned.

Are you kidding me? Yet Li Yao said seriously, "I'm not exaggerating. That's why I woke the old man up so we could discuss it together. Hospitals make you sign liability waivers before surgery. I have to make the actual situation clear to you too, right?"

Chen Xi was conflicted.

The old man, however, was quite open-minded. He was rather interested in Li Yao. "Young man, you're not only handsome, but quite capable too."

Of course!

Li Yao modestly accepted the compliment.

The old man smiled and said to Chen Xi, "Xi'er, get me discharged. I want to go for a walk."

There was even a hint of pleading in his eyes—he did not want to wait for death in a hospital bed wearing an oxygen mask. He had once been the Dragon Head of the provincial capital, a ruthless figure of his generation. He could not accept such a pathetic way of dying.

Chen Xi clenched the bedsheet so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

After a long while, she finally squeezed out one word through her teeth. "Okay!"

The old man smiled. "Good girl~"

The discharge procedures were completed quickly. Chen Xi personally drove the old man out of the hospital. Li Yao had thought it had nothing to do with him, but Chen Beixuan unexpectedly asked him to come along. They arrived at a nearby park, and beneath the red glow of the evening sky, the old man struggled forward with his cane. "Heh, that medicine of yours is amazing. I can actually walk now."

But Chen Xi, supporting him at his side, knew that the old man beside her had grown so frail that he seemed to weigh nothing at all.

The old man finally sat down in a corner of the park, panting. "No good. I'm too tired."

He gazed at the hope on the horizon and sighed. "I've committed plenty of sins in my life. I don't know how many people cursed me to have sons with no balls. Honestly, having no balls would have been fine, but instead they're all brainless bastards. They don't have any real ability, but they sure are enthusiastic about fighting over the family property. I'm not even dead yet, and they keep pulling one little stunt after another."

The old man carried the resolve forged through more than thirty years of bloodshed. "Xi'er, don't go easy on them."

"Second Brother really isn't my biological son, but his father was my sworn brother. Back then, he fought alongside me, and this family business was his share too. It's a pity he died early. I never expected even his son to die early too. What kind of bullshit is that? He couldn't even outlive an old man like me. Damn it."

"But..."

The resolve around the old man softened. His mouth opened, and he hesitated several times, but he never managed to speak the words of pleading.

He slowly closed his eyes. "Forget it."

The old man's presence gradually weakened until there was no sound at all.

Beneath the blazing sunset clouds, the old man passed away.

Chen Xi sat silently beside him, somewhat dazed. So when grief reached its deepest point, people did not cry. Her heart simply felt empty, so terribly empty... Before such immense sorrow, people lost the ability to react. Perhaps only later, in the face of trivial everyday things, would they suddenly realize what they had lost—and that it would never return.

For example:

The photos on the refrigerator, the bowls and chopsticks in the cupboard, the calligraphy and paintings left on the walls...

Chen Xi covered her face. The park was very quiet.

Li Yao watched from the side, his heart desolate.

There must have been many stories behind them, but he did not know them. Even if he did, he could not truly share their feelings.

After all, life held many enormous sorrows that even tears could not wash away.

Life was truly too bitter. He had never seen it spare anyone.

That was why Li Yao wanted to make money.

In truth, making money was often not the goal.

Money could simply give him comfort and security. At least when he was sad, he could cry in first class on a flight to the United Arab Emirates, cry on a beach in Sri Lanka, cry beneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris, cry by the blue sea of Santorini... He hoped that whenever someone he loved could not decide between two things they liked, he could say: "Buy them both."

Rather than standing there weighing the pros and cons.

Make things easier to obtain, make love more comfortable, and perhaps life would become a little sweeter.

The fiery clouds filling the sky gradually sank.

A chill spread through the air.

After thinking for a moment, he turned and went back into the park. Chen Xi was still sitting there with her face covered. Beside her was Chen Beixuan, silent and gone, yet still standing upright with his cane. Li Yao took off his jacket and draped it over Chen Xi, then patted her shoulder. "I hope you'll be warmer."

"Goodbye."

"Mm, goodbye."

After leaving the park, Li Yao felt it was probably too late to go to the station and buy a ticket, so he simply used his phone to call a rideshare to the provincial capital.

That was what was good about having money.

Money brought more choices and opportunities, so... who would ever think they had too much money?

Back at his apartment near University City, Li Yao washed up, tidied himself, and meditated in cultivation. Over the next few days, his life suddenly became much simpler. Lin Xiaoxi was still unreachable, and he could not find her even at the dormitory. Lin Xiaowei had not logged in recently either; she was probably on another mission.

Until the day before the holiday ended, Li Yao's peaceful life was shattered.

Lin Xiaoxi finally called. "Holy shit, Li Yao, save me d(д)!!!"

Second update. I'm a little tired.