"Mom, we can talk about the savings account later. I'm a little thirsty, could you get me a glass of hot water?"
In this emergency, Sun Tiantian had to come up with a temporary excuse to get Zhang Meihui out of the way.
Upon hearing Sun Tiantian say she was thirsty, Zhang Meihui quickly slapped her head, "Look at my head! It's so hot, you must be thirsty. Mom will go get you a glass of water right now."
Zhang Meihui's face always showed love for her child. She took a paper cup with unsteady steps and walked towards the water dispenser in the far corner of the cafeteria.
While she bent down to get water, Lu Sheng stared at her back, his mind racing.
First of all, Zhang Meihui is definitely alive.
The hand she touched, Zhang Meihui's, was warm, and the blood flowing from the wound was red; it definitely wasn't a mutated zombie.
As the only NPC in the entire steel plant who is not trapped in the cycle, Zhang Meihui is most likely the root cause of the steel plant's anomaly.
She must possess special abilities, most likely a mental mutant, which is why she was able to maintain the entire steel plant in a relatively stable cycle.
"Go along with what she says first, and see if you can break the cycle," Lu Sheng quickly instructed Sun Tiantian.
Sun Tiantian was already sweating profusely, and hurriedly nodded, "Okay, I'll try my best."
Everyone's hearts were in their throats, and they held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
Soon, Zhang Meihui returned with a paper cup filled with hot water.
"Xiao Hong, Mom was worried you'd get a sore throat, so I made you some orange peel tea."
As she spoke, Zhang Meihui handed over a glass of dirty water.
The paper cup was half full of warm water, with two moldy orange peels soaking inside.
Sometimes the elders in Lu Sheng's family would dry orange peels and soak them in water to drink, saying it was to reduce internal heat. But how could anyone drink water with these hairy orange peels soaked in water?
Sun Tiantian immediately noticed the moldy and rotten fruit peel inside, and her face turned pale.
"Mom, I suddenly feel less thirsty. Maybe I should drink it later," Sun Tiantian suggested, her face pale.
"How can you not drink it? You need to drink more water in autumn. Mom even added rock sugar for you. Drink it while it's hot." Zhang Meihui's tone left no room for refusal as she directly pressed the paper cup to Sun Tiantian's lips.
It seemed as if she wouldn't let go until Sun Tiantian drank the water.
Sun Tiantian closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and shakily accepted the cup.
Fine, I'm just an accessory every day, so I have to do something. I might as well drink, it's not like I'll die from drinking!
Let's do it!
Just as she took the water glass and was about to drink it all, Xiao Yu suddenly snatched it away and tilted her head back to pour all the water into her mouth.
He then put on a mask of pain, his features contorted in pain, and forced himself to speak while suppressing his nausea, "Auntie, she's not thirsty, but I am. Give me a drink first."
Everyone: "..."
Whoever's partner it is, they'll feel the most heartache.
Seeing that Xiao Yu had finished drinking the water, Zhang Meihui was also taken aback for a moment, and then took out another cup from behind her. "It's okay, Xiao Hong, you can drink this cup. Mom was worried that it would be too hot for you, so I prepared an extra cup."
Everyone: "..."
"Give them all to me, I'm so thirsty!"
Without saying a word, Xiao Yu picked up the cup and drank the rest in one gulp.
Seeing this, Sun Tiantian hurriedly stopped Zhang Meihui, who was about to pour water, "Mom, don't bother, let's talk about seeing a doctor."
Zhang Meihui nodded and gently put her arm around Sun Tiantian's shoulder. "Then come with me. I have something to tell you."
Sun Tiantian gave everyone a reassuring gesture and silently followed Zhang Meihui to the stove.
Just as Sun Tiantian was tense and at a loss, Zhang Meihui suddenly squatted down and rummaged through the cabinet under the stove. After a while, she took out a tin box that was used to store cookies in the supermarket.
Zhang Meihui hugged the box to her chest, pulled Sun Tiantian to her side, and gently patted her head.
"It was your birthday a while ago, and Mom called home but you didn't answer. I prepared a birthday present for you. See if you like it."
As she spoke, she opened the box with a smile and took out a red jewelry box.
Inside the box was a tiny gold bead, no bigger than a grain of rice, strung on a thin red cord.
Zhang Meihui grasped Sun Tiantian's wrist and put the gold bead on her wrist. "Mom is not capable enough, so I can only leave you this little keepsake. Don't think the bead is too small."
“I’ve given you the bankbook, and this is also the property certificate for our old house. Mom brought you out to work because she was afraid that when I wasn’t home, those relatives would take advantage of your young age and deceive or bully you.”
"Mom is sick and may not be able to stay with you. Keep all of these safe and don't give them to anyone who asks for them."
Sun Tiantian was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to accept the offer or not, and remained frozen in place, unsure of what to do.
But Zhang Meijuan forcefully pushed everything into her arms, saying, "Take it, go to the hospital with the doctor first, and Mom will raise the rest of the money soon."
"Take good care of yourself after your eyes get better, and don't worry your mom."
While Zhang Meihui and Sun Tiantian were shoving each other, Xu Yi's gaze fell on a small plastic medicine bottle next to the stove.
Lu Sheng also noticed the small bottle in the corner. "What's that?"
"The cheapest cancer drug," Xu Yi replied solemnly.
Upon hearing this answer, Lu Sheng felt as if a heavy stone was pressing down on his chest.
Zhang Meihui saved all her money for her daughter's eye treatment, most likely because she couldn't bear to spend it on treating her own cancer.
So after she treated Sun Tiantian as her daughter Xiao Hong, she gave Sun Tiantian the property certificate and bankbook as if she were making her final arrangements.
There's a saying from before the apocalypse: almost all of humanity's troubles stem from a lack of money.
Cancer was like adding insult to injury for this already impoverished family.
The exorbitant medical costs meant that only one of the mother and daughter could receive treatment.
As a mother, Zhang Meihui was reluctant to spend the money she had painstakingly saved over the years to treat her daughter's cancer. She only hoped that she could use her savings to take her daughter to get eye treatment after receiving her salary.
"Xiaohong, you wait here. Mom will go to the factory's finance department to get your wages back. We can't delay any longer today."
After Zhang Meihui finished speaking, her expression changed, and she stormed out of the cafeteria.
Before leaving, he seemed worried about Sun Tiantian and actually locked the cafeteria door from the inside!
Zhang Xiaojuan rushed over to try to open the door, but found that it wouldn't budge.
"I'll do it!"
Lin Xiaobei, a strength-based student, rushed over and kicked the door, causing the entire door frame and the wall to tremble slightly.
Bang bang bang.
With a few kicks, Lin Xiaobei kicked the door down.
Several people rushed out, but froze on the spot after seeing the situation outside the door.
The walls were greasy with cooking fumes, the stove was still warm, and the pork on the cutting board was moldy.
The room outside was exactly the same as the one in the cafeteria!
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