Are You Even Going to Let Me Eat? (Seeking Recommendations)

Old Wang chose a parking lot near Roxxon Power Plant as the teleportation destination. Robbie's Dodge Charger was parked nearby.

Robbie drove Old Wang and Skye to Fifth Street Hospital, not far from the repair shop.

There, they met Robbie's younger brother, Gabe.

He was a cheerful high school boy, somewhat thin and frail, reclining halfway on his hospital bed as he read a book.

He was not in great spirits and yawned from time to time.

It was already late at night.

Normally, patients should get plenty of rest, but Gabe had been forcing himself to stay awake while waiting for his brother.

The moment he saw Robbie, Gabe broke into a smile.

"Robbie, Dr. Cumberbatch said I'm doing pretty well. After a few more days of observation, I can be discharged. Luckily, I've been studying on my own, so I haven't fallen behind in school. What do you think about Stanford or Berkeley... Are they your friends?"

Seeing Old Wang and Skye, Robbie introduced them.

"Hi, Gabe."

Carrying a bag, Skye walked over and gave Gabe a lovely smile. "I'm Skye, Robbie's high school classmate, and this is Wang, my friend. Robbie said you like durian, jackfruit, and canned herring. Too bad you can't eat them here, or no one in the whole hospital would get any sleep... You'll have to hold back for now."

As a fellow orphan, Gabe clearly had a special place in Skye's heart.

"Thank you."

Gabe thanked her politely, then blinked at Robbie. The meaning was obvious:

Since when did you have such a pretty high school... female classmate?

What's your relationship?

With your personality as a straight-up steel man, I thought you'd never find a girlfriend in your life...

"It's not what you think, Gabe..."

Robbie glanced at Old Wang.

Only after seeing that Old Wang looked calm and showed no intention of beating him up did he breathe a sigh of relief. Leaning close to Gabe's ear, he whispered, "No need for more observation. We're getting discharged today... Mr. Wang is a kung fu master from China. He can heal you."

A master from China?

Like those frauds in Los Angeles Chinatown who pretended to be mystical?

Using so-called "inner power" and "True Qi" to scam people?

Gabe immediately took a dislike to him.

Had that idiot Robbie been scammed?

Ever since they were kids, Robbie seemed to get tricked all the time...

Right, Robbie had withdrawn money a few hours ago. A lot of it. Their savings had nearly been wiped out.

Could it all have been swindled away by this so-called "Master Wang"?

Gabe glanced at Old Wang and suddenly found this seemingly kind older brother utterly detestable.

Even the way he looked at Skye became a little strange.

These two were friends?

Could they have teamed up to scam Robbie?

Still, getting discharged early was not necessarily bad. At least it would save them some money.

Robbie was not young anymore. Marriage and children would cost money too. Saving whatever they could was best...

"Fine." Gabe decided to wait and see.

He would find a chance to have a serious talk with Robbie. If necessary, he would call the police.

Why had Robbie come to believe in some supposed master?

You weren't like this before. You always believed in science. You believed that only science could explain the world, and that only modern medicine could heal my legs.

Robbie, you've changed!

Dr. Cumberbatch naturally recommended a few more days of observation, but the patient had the right to decide.

That night, while Old Wang and Skye were away, Gabe pulled Robbie into an all-night heart-to-heart talk.

"Robbie, broken legs are no big deal. Stephen Hawking had it even worse than I do! If he could become a world-famous scientist, so can I! I've already planned it out. I'll go to Stanford or Berkeley. Once I'm in college, I'll apply for internships at Stark Industries or Hammer Industries. Then I'll focus on exoskeleton armor technology. One day, I'll stand up on my own!"

Gabe was strong-willed, but Robbie was equally resolute.

"Don't worry, Gabe. Mr. Wang isn't a fraud. His abilities are beyond anything you can imagine. I've seen them myself. And I withdrew that money because I needed it, not because I was scammed..." Robbie suddenly could not continue.

Because that money really did seem to have been taken by Old Wang.

And Old Wang did not seem to be planning to give it back.

So, in truth, he really had paid someone to heal Gabe's legs. Gabe was not wrong...

Of course, Robbie was not worried about being scammed.

After seeing Old Wang in action, he knew Old Wang was not one of those useless "masters," but a real master, like Po's master in Kung Fu Panda.

No, he was even more impressive than a kung fu master. He was more like one of the immortals from Chinese mythology!

Well, a fat immortal.

He did not look much like Po's master. He looked quite a bit like Po himself...

Early the next morning, they arrived at Robbie's home—

It was actually Eli's home. Robbie and Gabe had lived there ever since they were little.

It was not large, but it was cozy.

Robbie carried Gabe onto the bed, then looked pleadingly at Old Wang. "Wang, Gabe's legs..."

Old Wang felt helpless.

You won't even let me fill my stomach before making me work. Robbie, you're definitely never finding a girlfriend at this rate.

He put down the Master Kong noodles and Lao Gan Ma in his hands, then walked over to Gabe.

He had to keep his word. Besides, Old Wang had long planned to bring Robbie aboard the chariot headed for Purple Sweet Potato Head.

Gabe was a good kid too. His grades had always been among the best at school, or he would not have had the confidence to aim for Stanford or Berkeley. There was no need to intern at Stark Industries or trashy Hammer Industries. Darkhold Laboratory in Puerto Rico welcomed him...

He raised a hand.

And placed it on Gabe's leg.

A thread of True Qi entered it, probing the situation.

Hmm, the bones had been set, the blood vessels reconnected. The main issue was nerve necrosis, but it was not serious... Old Wang guessed.

It was not serious. At least there was no need to reset or reconnect any bones. American medicine was pretty good after all.

Old Wang's fingers twitched slightly.

A pale green mist appeared and seeped into Gabe's body.

Mist of Revival plus Mist of Soothing—reviving injuries and soothing his wounded young soul.

Done.

Old Wang clapped his hands and stood up.

"Wang, how is he?" Robbie thought Old Wang had merely been checking Gabe's condition and hurriedly asked.

"The treatment is complete. He'll be fine soon."

Old Wang took out the Well of Eternity Bottle from his pocket, picked up a cup from the table, and carefully dripped a single drop into it.

After thinking for a moment, he added another drop.

"Pour in some water and have him drink it."

Old Wang handed it to Robbie. "This is a bonus... I'm taking a huge loss here."

He really was taking a huge loss.

There were only two drops, but the Well of Eternity Water essence mixed inside had to amount to at least... 0.001 grams, or one milligram—one hundred micrograms.

That was equivalent to dozens of boxes of quantum batteries.

He had specifically asked Eli about it before.

Quantum batteries were expensive. The manufacturing cost of a single battery was tens of thousands of dollars.

One hundred micrograms of Well of Eternity Water essence was worth at least a million dollars—enough to buy a house.

The Mist of Revival and Mist of Soothing from a Grandmaster Monk who cultivated three paths were more than enough to heal Gabe.

These two drops of Essence Wine really were a bonus...

"Wang, thank you!" Robbie hurriedly thanked him.

Earlier, he had seen Old Wang drink. He only took tiny sips at a time, so he knew the stuff had to be precious. Besides, the Spirit of Vengeance had muttered in his mind several times that Old Wang was drinking too much and wasting it. One drop was enough each time—how could he take an entire sip?

Seeing Old Wang's pained expression over dripping two drops, this stuff was probably far more expensive than Rémy Martin or Moutai. Maybe it was some secret tiger-bone medicinal wine or ginseng medicinal wine?

The kind that cost hundreds of dollars for a small bottle?

Gabe watched Old Wang with a skeptical expression, completely unwilling to believe that this mystical fraud could heal his legs.

I've watched Hong Kong movies!

Even if you're pretending to be a master, could you at least make it convincing?

Gabe sneered, ready to expose Master Wang's true face and let Robbie see the truth.

Suddenly, he felt his legs becoming warm, warmer than home.

It felt so good!

Eh, now they were itchy again.

So itchy. He really wanted to scratch them!

A few seconds later, they felt sore, then painful.

The changing sensations tormented Robbie's nerves—

Wait, I can feel them?

The nerves in my legs have recovered?

This is strange. It isn't scientific!

Gabe was shocked and delighted, excited yet afraid that it was all fake, merely a hallucination.

He cautiously tried moving his legs.

They moved.

He pinched himself.

It hurt!

He hurriedly tried to stand. His legs trembled.

He fell down. He was not used to it yet.

He waved off Robbie's helping hand and tried again.

This time, he stood steadily.

Then he took two steps.

Then several more.

He really could walk. He could even run!

How, how was this possible?

Gabe turned to look at Old Wang.

Could there really be people in the world with such miraculous abilities?

"Here, drink it."

Old Wang took the cup Robbie had filled with water and handed it to Gabe. "Don't worry. No payment is required."

Gabe looked at Robbie.

Robbie smiled and nodded, his eyes full of encouragement.

Gabe no longer hesitated. He drained the cup in one gulp and nearly choked.

Powerful arcane energy, accompanied by life force that nourished all things, flowed continuously through Gabe's body.

He became healthier than ninety-nine percent of the people in this world.

And as time passed, as he continued absorbing the Well of Eternity Water essence, his constitution would only grow stronger.

"You can compete in the Olympic Games now."

Old Wang smiled, picked up his Master Kong noodles, and tore open the paper lid.

Suddenly, his eyebrows lifted, and he sighed.

Are you even going to let me eat?

Ten seconds later, there was a knock on the door.