Chapter 223 A Million-Dollar Milestone
The Raptor flew back to its territory in Emerald Lake.
Su Wei did not go inside immediately, but sat in the garage for five minutes.
The engine shut off, and the surroundings instantly fell into darkness and silence.
He touched the confidentiality agreement in the inner pocket; the creases in the paper were digging into his ribs.
Parsons' last words are still on my mind.
No one knows this process better than me.
The old fox had already smelled the blood.
Su Wei pulled out the car key, and the little bear pendant on the key ring wobbled twice.
That was written by Emily.
He got out of the car and picked up Cotton Candy, who was fast asleep in the passenger seat.
He stepped into the wooden house, the snow crunching under his feet.
The fireplace was out, and the indoor temperature had dropped below ten degrees Celsius.
Su Wei did not light a fire.
He put the Cotton Candy on the wool mat and went straight upstairs.
She pulled back the covers and lay down, quickly falling into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, the sunlight was already streaming through the bulletproof glass, casting a grayish-white glow on the ceiling.
Su Wei turned over, took out her phone from under her pillow, and turned it on.
9:17 AM.
Full signal strength; satellite network connection completed automatically.
He lay there for another thirty seconds, quickly reviewing yesterday's events in his mind.
The law firm confirmed the ownership, signed the agreement, and sent the rock sample for testing.
All three lines have been launched; all that's left is to wait for the reports.
The faint sound of claws scratching at wooden planks came from downstairs.
Cotton Candy is hungry.
Su Wei threw off the covers and went downstairs, stepping barefoot onto the cold wooden floor.
The woolen cushion next to the fireplace was empty.
The albino red fox was squatting at the kitchen doorway, its blue eyes fixed intently on the wall cabinet.
"Wait."
Su Wei opened the refrigerator, took out a piece of thawed minced venison, and poured it into the food bowl.
He added half a cooked egg yolk, mashed it with a fork, and mixed it well.
The moment the food bowl hit the ground, Cotton Candy buried her entire head in it.
It ate with rapid, gurgling sounds in its throat, its tail tip held high.
Su Wei squatted down beside it and watched for a while, then reached out and ruffled the fluffy white fur.
"Slow down, no one's going to take it from you."
Cotton Candy raised its head, with bits of egg yolk still stuck to its lips.
It licked its nose, then lowered its head and continued to devour its food.
Su Wei stood up and brewed himself a pot of black coffee.
[ Cooking LV3 - Weak Feedback Triggered.]
[ Simple Dietary Supplementation are effective: They refresh the mind, improve concentration by 15%, and last for three hours.]
Su Wei, holding a mug, sat down at the long wooden table.
He opened the computer, the screen lit up, and the desktop loaded quickly.
I tapped the touchpad twice, and the browser automatically redirected me to the TikTok creator backend.
Su Wei's gaze fell on the upper right corner of the page.
Number of followers: 1.017 million.
Three days ago, the number was 983,000; the video of the crevasse rescue caused it to rise by 34,000.
The million mark has been crossed just like that.
There was no celebration pop-up or system notification.
There was only a quiet number ticking in the background, but Su Wei stared at it for a full five seconds.
From bear hunting videos of the Pillar Mountain to the skeletal specimen of the Kodiak brown bear.
Then there's the child in the crevasse of Pyramid Mountain.
Every frame of the video represents a bullet worth real money, contributing to the current million-dollar sum.
Scroll down with the mouse.
[Hardcore Survival 14: Three-meter Ice Crevice, Bare-handed Resuscitation and the Forefront of a Blizzard.]
Views: 8,234,607.
Comments: 62,418.
Su Wei took a sip of scalding hot coffee, dispelling the lingering drowsiness in his mind.
He opened the comments section.
The top comment is a highly-rated, pinned comment.
The poster is named Anchorage Grizzly Bear, and the account has a professional hunter certification.
"I've watched it seven times. I've been hunting in Alaska for twenty-three years. At the bottom of a crevasse at minus thirty degrees Celsius, a man performed a closure repositioning procedure on a child with his bare hands. Fools, this isn't a movie. This is a real thing."
This comment has 142,000 likes.
Scroll down, and you'll find a much higher density of comments than ever before.
In the keyword cloud, the terms "reset by hand" and "blizzard vanguard" are marked as trending searches in red.
A link to WildernessHub, North America's largest outdoor forum, is being repeatedly pasted with the title, "Who is this Asian hunter?"
Su Wei didn't click the link; he continued scrolling down.
The reviews on the first thirty pages were almost entirely positive.
Someone captured a screenshot of his hand, veins bulging, as he climbed the rock wall, and turned it into a meme with the caption. "When you think your limit is the limit."
Starting from page 31, the wind shifted.
A comment with a blue verified "V" logo popped up.
The certified information indicates the individual is a trauma surgeon at Seattle Harborview Medical Center.
"As a trauma surgeon with eleven years of experience, I must point out that performing closed reduction of the tibia on a child without X-ray or CT imaging guidance is an extremely dangerous and irresponsible act."
"If the severed ends puncture the common peroneal nerve or anterior tibial artery, the consequences could be permanent foot drop or severe bleeding."
"The dissemination of this video is sending a fatally false signal to millions of viewers—that fractures can be reduced on their own in emergency situations. Creators are urged to immediately add medical risk warnings to their videos."
This comment has 37,000 likes and over 2,000 replies.
Su Wei's finger paused on the touchpad.
The comments section has exploded, with supporters of both sides fiercely divided.
Someone posted a manual from the America Wilderness First Aid Association, pointing out the compliance of on-site repositioning in extreme environments.
Some people also captured footage of the boy's right leg with a reverse joint, questioning whether it would have been safer for the doctor to wait for the helicopter in minus thirty degrees Celsius.
Scrolling down, there are more than a dozen similar questions.
Most of these accounts originated from medical-related accounts, and their wording escalated from suggesting the addition of warnings to alleging that they were misleading the public.
One comment was particularly jarring, saying that he wasn't a professional rescuer, but rather using the child's leg as a tool for generating online traffic.
It has zero likes, but it's still there.
Su Wei leaned back in his chair, holding a coffee cup.
The living room was a bit cold, but he didn't get up to start a fire.
He was thinking about whether to respond or not.
No matter how professionally worded the response, it will be interpreted as a guilty conscience's defense.
The involvement of the person directly involved is always a negative factor.
Especially when faced with questions about medical expertise, any debate can easily devolve into a narrative of online celebrities confronting doctors.
Not responding, the controversy itself is a catalyst for traffic.