Chapter 41 Grassland Market - 6 The door to the stone house is...
The door to the stone house was covered by a thick oilcloth. A large crowd of people were gathered around watching the spectacle, but were blocked by Wan Bing's six tall orcs. Lu Yi took the lead, walked over, lifted the cloth, glanced inside, and then gestured for Tang Bufan to go in.
Tang Bufan then entered the stone house, and Lu Yi stood at the door and said to Wan Bing, "Please wait outside for a while, Mr. Wan."
Wan Bing was a smart man. He knew that Lu Yi wouldn't let him go in, so he readily told Lu Yi that he understood and then instructed his six men to push the crowd of onlookers further away.
A large area around the stone house was suddenly cleared up.
Lu Yi then lifted the curtain and entered the stone house.
The stone house was quite large, cluttered with many things, and in the corner, a stove was burning firewood, on which sat a pot of blackened medicine. The bitter smell of medicine in the air came from this pot of medicine.
A thin old man sat on a small stool, holding a long pipe in his hand, puffing away as he stared at Tang Bufan, who had just entered. Only after Lu Yi also came in did he put down the pipe, grin, and reveal a set of brownish-yellow old teeth.
"Oh, a rare guest." The old man remained seated on the small stool, not getting up, and asked with surprise, "What brings the young master of the Western Federation to my little shop?"
"Hello, Mr. Wang." Lu Yi walked over politely and obediently and extended his hand to the elderly sub-beastman.
Mr. Wang was quite satisfied with his attitude, so he sat down and shook hands with him.
Tang Bufan had been standing there waiting for Lu Yi since he came in. When he saw the two shaking hands, he immediately cursed himself for being stupid. He was even less polite than Lu Yi, who was a child. He quickly walked over and shook hands with the old man to show his friendliness.
"Hello, sir." Tang Bufan smiled through the black cloth covering his face, but before he could react, his hand was grabbed and turned over by Mr. Wang.
Tang Bufan's hands were also wrapped in black cloth. He was startled, but when he thought that the other party was an old man who was frail and weak, he did not struggle and signaled Lu Yi to step back.
Lu Yi hesitated for a moment, then stood down next to Tang Bufan.
Mr. Wang put down his long pipe, untied the black cloth from Tang Bufan's hands, and looked at his bloodless hands with bluish-black veins.
"Look at your hands, you must have been wandering the ground for at least three or four years, right?" Old Mr. Wang touched Tang Bufan's palm with his old, rough fingers.
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi exchanged a glance, and both knew that this old man was quite capable.
"Yes," Tang Bufan admitted.
Seeing a worn-out stool in the corner of the stone house, Lu Yi went over and picked it up, letting Tang Bufan sit down as well.
Tang Bufan thought for a moment. It wouldn't be good for the old man to be sitting while he was standing, as the two of them were of different heights, so he sat down on the old, worn-out stool.
Mr. Wang's fingers had already touched Tang Bufan's wrist, and he was taking Tang Bufan's pulse. Tang Bufan's brows furrowed.
Tang Bufan knew his health was already very poor, so he remained silent. However, while the old man was taking his pulse, he glanced around the stone house and was surprised to find a small radio, about the size of a palm, on the bed in the corner, with a cassette tape inside.
Three blurry Chinese characters could be vaguely seen on the radio: 步步高 (bù bù gāo).
"You recognize that one?"
Tang Bufan came to his senses and found that the old man had raised his eyes at some point and was staring at him thoughtfully.
Tang Bufan hesitated for a moment, then honestly admitted, "The radio."
Where are the words on it?
"Rising higher and higher step by step".
Mr. Wang smiled and said, "You can read Chinese characters, so you must be from the underground city in the East District."
The world now uses English as its common language. Although Chinese has been preserved thanks to the large number of Chinese people in the East District Underground City, it has become more like a dialect. The situation is the same in the North District Underground City. Russian is only used by people of Russian descent.
As for the underground city in the western district, the situation was even worse. All the minority languages were wiped out, including French, German, Italian, and others, which were all lost and only preserved in the data hangar.
While some people in the East District Underground City still speak Chinese, very few can recognize Chinese characters, and it has become a research major in universities.
Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then said to the old man, "I am a Chinese language teacher. I majored in Chinese literature in college."
"Are you part of the resistance faction?" Mr. Wang then asked him.
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi were both slightly taken aback, not because of Mr. Wang's question, but because he had switched to Chinese.
Tang Bufan hadn't spoken Chinese since he transmigrated, and he missed it terribly, so he replied in Chinese, "Yes."
Then, showing interest, he asked Mr. Wang, "Are you also from the East District Underground City?"
Mr. Wang grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Yes, but I'm not from the resistance faction. I was 'sold' up here by my dad."
After he finished speaking, Chao Tang Bufan raised his hand and made a gesture: "Five bags of rice, a box of fruit, and ten thousand yuan. This is the price the underground city government 'charged' me."
Tang Bufan was stunned. He really didn't know that the underground city government would "recruit" people in this way. Thinking that they would later send the "recruited" people to the orcs in exchange for resources, this... wasn't this just human trafficking?
He felt a little sad, but to comfort the old man, he smiled and said, "What a coincidence, the reward on my wanted poster is also ten thousand yuan."
"Then you might as well 'sell' yourself to the government, and you'd get five bags of rice and a box of fruit in return." The old man joked, releasing his grip on Tang Bufan's wrist and reaching out to remove the black cloth from his face: "Let me see your face."
"Sir, I don't look very good right now..." Tang Bufan was somewhat self-conscious about his current appearance, so he greeted him in advance.
"Oh, I'm a doctor, what kind of patients haven't I seen?" Mr. Wang said nonchalantly.
Tang Bufan's extremely thin and pale face was then revealed.
Mr. Wang, with his wrinkled hands, gently touched Tang Bufan's face and said with a smile, "I don't think you're that ugly, just thin. You're still better than those drug addicts. They're all rough and dark-skinned, while you're bluish-green."
"Then do you think... is there any hope for me?" Tang Bufan asked him respectfully.
“The ground environment is not suitable for human survival. If you ask me if there is any hope, yes, the antidote is right here.” Old Mr. Wang pointed behind Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan turned his head, and Lu Yi, who couldn't understand the two speaking Chinese, looked at them blankly.
“If he bites you, you’ll be saved,” Mr. Wang said.
Tang Bufan was embarrassed. He turned back and stammered to the old man, "If I had been willing to mutate into a sub-beastman... I wouldn't be in this state now."
“Then there’s no hope.” Old Mr. Wang was an honest man and told Tang Bufan directly, “The human body cannot break down toxins on the ground. No matter how much medicine you take, it will only prolong the time before you die.”
"It's alright, just keep me occupied." Tang Bufan got along well with the old man, and taking advantage of the lack of information in the post-apocalyptic world, he confessed to him, "I'm going to the underground city in the East District. I want to go back down there."
"Wow, you're quite imaginative." Old Mr. Wang was somewhat surprised, then seemed to realize something, lowered his voice, and asked him in Chinese, "The resistance faction has achieved something?"
Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and leaned closer to him: "There have been some results; we've already infiltrated the government."
He figured that if the PhD could conjure up an underground city identity for him out of thin air, then they must have people in the government.
"Is the Yu family going to fall?" Old Mr. Wang asked him somewhat excitedly.
The Yu family? Tang Bufan didn't understand, but he still nodded in a pretentious manner: "Yes, they're about to collapse."
"Hey, that's great!" Old Mr. Wang slapped his thigh happily. "A perfectly good pro-harmony party, but the Yu family has made a mess of it. The education group is gone after twenty years. I was worried about what would happen to the East District Underground City in the future."
It seems that although Mr. Wang was sold by his father, he still cares about his hometown underground.
"It's good that the protesters are in control; humanity has been silent underground for too long." Mr. Wang sighed and slowly got up from his small stool.
Tang Bufan quickly stood up after him, and saw the old man bending over as he walked toward the row of medicine cabinets against the wall.
“Although I don’t have an antidote here, I have plenty of traditional Chinese medicine for detoxification. You can take it home and brew it yourself; the effect won’t be any worse than an antidote,” said Mr. Wang. He took out a large stack of straw paper and straw rope from a drawer and began to generously pack the medicine for Tang Bufan.
“Your hands and feet are cold, and you have insufficient blood and qi, so you can’t take cold-natured detoxifying medicine. Angelica is warm in nature and is suitable for people with blood deficiency and cold constitution. Licorice is neutral in nature and can harmonize various medicines. It also has a certain detoxifying effect…” Mr. Wang switched back to common language so that Tang Bufan and Lu Yi could understand.
"Sir, let me help you." Lu Yi stepped forward and helped the old man tie the medicine with straw paper and rope. The old man glanced at him, smiled, and was very satisfied with this polite and gentle child.
He then looked at Tang Bufan and switched to Chinese: "I think this kid is good, why don't you consider it?"
Tang Bufan felt a little embarrassed. He glanced at Lu Yi and saw that he was packing the herbs carefully and could not understand their language. He felt relieved and said to the old man, "I have a reason to go back, and... he is too young."
"Going back to the revolution, huh?"
"..." Tang Bufan wanted to say that he wasn't that great, but he couldn't explain the reason to the old man, so he could only pretend to agree.
"Alas, I'm too old. I won't live to see the day when humanity returns to the surface." The old man sighed and continued to prepare medicine for Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan looked at him, who was all alone, and asked with some concern, "Where are your family members?"
“My husband died fighting against the beast tide when I was forty-six. I had five children in total. The youngest one got married more than ten years ago and moved here. He was the one I was most worried about, so I came here with him.”
Mr. Wang smiled as he spoke: "I've lived my life so-so, not too badly. To be honest, the hardest time was when I was in the underground city. But now that I'm old, I still want to go back and take a look."
Of course, he can't go back; once humans leave the underground city, it's virtually impossible for them to return.
Tang Bufan sighed upon hearing this, but he felt somewhat relieved to learn that the man had a child nearby.
"Astragalus is also warm in nature. It replenishes qi and blood, and detoxifies and drains pus."
"Rehmannia glutinosa is slightly warm and can be taken with Angelica sinensis and Astragalus membranaceus."
"Ginseng, ginger, and goji berries—use them all to make soup."
The old man was very generous. Tang Bufan took out the box of gold from his backpack and handed it to him, somewhat worried: "Do you think this money is enough?"
Mr. Wang opened the box, looked at it, and nodded: "That's enough, you can put it there."
"Sir, does anyone in this market accept electronic currency?" Lu Yi asked at this moment. "If they do, I'll go and exchange it for some physical goods."
This old gentleman clearly doesn't use electronic currency.
"Go out and ask Wan Bing," said Mr. Wang, taking out a large sack of Banlangen (Isatis root) from under the medicine cabinet.
"That's enough, that's enough." Tang Bufan knew that these post-apocalyptic medicines were all expensive, and he felt that the gold he and Lu Yi had given might not actually be enough for these medicines.
The old man must have given them too much.
"Take it." Mr. Wang was very generous. He was in good health and just came out to sell medicine for fun.
Tang Bufan hesitated for a moment, but still wanted to live a good life, so he shamelessly accepted the medicine.
The two bid farewell to Mr. Wang with gratitude and left the stone house laden with their belongings. Wan Bing, being the quick-witted man he was, immediately called his men to help fetch the medicine. Tang Bufan looked at the horizon and saw that red clouds had appeared. They had actually stayed in that stone house for two hours.
The market was chaotic, with many pickpockets, and there were no lights after nightfall. Lu Yi said to Tang Bufan, "Let's go back first, and we can explore the rest tomorrow."
It takes more than half an hour to get back to the RV from the market center.
Tang Bufan nodded, and the two of them told Wan Bing that the group was heading back.
"What else does the commander need?" Wan Bing asked Lu Yi warmly.
"I also need to get some gasoline and winter clothes," Lu Yi said, asking as they walked, "Does anyone at your market accept electronic currency?"
“No internet, can’t receive it.” Wan Bing rubbed his hands together in the afternoon, but said to Lu Yi, “My hometown is near Taicheng. My older brother is the mayor of Beishan Town next to Taicheng. If you and Mr. Eberon are going to Taicheng, you will definitely pass through there. How about this, I will deliver the gasoline you want to you later. You don’t need to pay me. When you get to Beishan Town, find my older brother. His eldest son is in the army in Taicheng. You can give the money to his family then, okay?”
Gasoline is an expensive commodity in this post-apocalyptic world. Lu Yi only has the gold necklace around his neck left, which is definitely not enough to buy a can of gasoline. So he thought about it and nodded.
"Okay, then I'll trouble you."
"Of course, it's an honor for the Wan family to have you visit," Wan Bing said with a smile. He didn't really want Lu Yi's money; he just wanted to connect his older brother with someone.
The Wan family had wanted to move to Taicheng for a long time, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Lu Yi looked at the kind-looking middle-aged man and understood his thoughts, but he just smiled gently and protected Tang Bufan as they walked out of the market.
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