Choice

Ivy used the little allowance she had left to buy some painkillers and the remaining blood-replenishing and nutritional supplements - of course not the military-grade ones that Lorraine had given her, as those were too expensive. Ivy only used them once and gave the rest to her parents.

As her parents get older, she hopes that these drugs can provide them with appropriate help.

But in the "New Safe Zone", these drugs are too expensive, almost twice the normal price.

Ivy felt a pang of pain as she paid, and couldn't help but confirm, "Is it really six hundred dollars?"

"The blood-replenishing potion you took is second only to the one supplied to the army," the pharmacy clerk said. "It originally cost three thousand dollars, but the United Government reimbursed two thousand four. You only had to pay six hundred dollars. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?"

The words were so beautifully said, so beautifully that Ivy had an illusion that she would be a fool if she didn't buy it now.

For the first time, she silently calculated in her mind how much money the drug company could make.

There was no other way. Captain Wei Xi went to ask several friends in the expedition team, but none of them had any extra blood-replenishing medicine. Iris did have some, but when Ivy went to ask, she told her after checking: "Song Feng took them all."

Ivy was stunned for a long time before asking, "Is he injured?"

"Oh, no. Alice from our team just finished her menstrual period and she has obvious symptoms of anemia... so Song Feng gave her the blood tonic."

Ivy said, "Thank you, I understand."

She didn't go look for Song Feng because it wasn't appropriate.

Song Xu had mentioned long ago that the degree of match between Song Feng and Alice was only second to the previous 89.99 percent... that destined person.

Song Feng is particularly superstitious about this matching degree——

Song Xu once complained that Song Feng had such severe genetic discrimination that if someone who was a close match to him had a D-grade gene, no one knew what Song Feng would choose to do.

——Probably there won’t be such a possibility. If no one with a higher matching degree appears, Song Feng will definitely choose to propose to Alice.

After buying the blood tonic, Ivy walked alone to the infirmary where Yu Mo was. Halfway there, her vision began to go dark.

I could only stop and sit on a bench by the roadside to rest, sit quietly for a while, watch people coming and going in front of me, slow down, and wait for the pain to end, then everything would be fine.

No one knew that her menstrual period had just ended and her recent explorations had greatly exhausted her physical strength.

This is also a mild anemia reaction.

Ivy did not use those blood tonics. She sat for nearly half an hour, and only stood up and insisted on moving forward after the dizziness gradually subsided.

Before I even entered the room, I heard an argument in the room.

Yu Mo's voice sounded very different from usual: "...put away your arrogance, how long do you think you can protect her? She is a warrior."

"I'm solving the problem you left behind," Lorraine said in an unhappy voice, and anyone could hear his sarcasm. "It's really unfortunate for the crow to be regarded as unlucky. I would like to suggest that folklorists define the two words 'Yu Mo' as a symbol of disaster."

"Please try to use fewer adjectives when communicating with me. You know it will affect my misunderstanding of your meaning," Yu Mo said. "What identity can you use to protect her now? Legally or socially, you and her do not have any close relationship now. Don't want her to suffer a little wind and rain? The best way is to lock her up in your secret bases, where the temperature and humidity of the room are controlled by you, or to transplant a uterus and keep her in your body forever to protect her. You are not helping her by bearing the evil of human nature for her, but destroying the birth of a god."

"Your distortion of words is appalling," Lorraine said. "She can understand the evil of human nature, but I don't want to be deliberately framed."

Having said this, Lorraine stopped and turned to look at the glass door.

"Don't hide," he said coldly, "Come out."

Ivy popped up a little head.

She was still wearing her old clothes, which were baggy and old-fashioned, with the cuffs and knees showing signs of wear and tear. The air in the wasteland near District 1 was dry, especially after the forests here were cut down, when strong winds brought dry sand all over the sky.

Now Ivy looks like a poor forest elf wearing clothes made of dry leaves and withered flowers.

In those exquisite picture books, the little creatures drawn stroke by stroke were waving spears made of thorns and rose branches and holding holly leaves as shields.

It didn't look threatening to him, but it soaked him with that soft coconut scent.

Her scent was like a chain around his wrist.

"Admiral...Teacher," Ivy changed her words, "I'm here to deliver the blood tonic."

Having said this, she cautiously pushed open the door and looked in shock at Yu Mo, who was lying on the bed with tears streaming down his face.

Oh my god.

This was the second time Ivy saw Yu Mo cry.

The last time was when she broke up with him. Yu Mo maintained a standard smile and said, "I can't have sexual desire for you" while shedding tears.

Ivy thought that she had really made him suffer to this extent, and she felt extremely guilty, and she couldn't express it in words.

"You..." She hesitated.

"I didn't bully him," Lorraine said. "Where did you get the blood tonic?"

His tone changed again to "Teacher Lorraine who is strict with students."

"… I bought it," Ivy explained. "The safe zone is short of medicine. Song Xu said Yu Mo is suffering from severe anemia, and he is actively looking for other blood supplies."

She saw Yu Mo quietly stop crying, and the bleeding on his hands also stopped, but his palms were pale, damaged, and he looked haggard and pitiful.

"You look like you need blood, too," Lorraine said. "Your lips are pale, your clothes are torn—"

Ivy said: "The clothes were torn because I underestimated the extent to which the wasteland would wear and tear on the clothes."

Lorraine: "The expedition team has an obligation to take responsibility for your clothing issues."

"It's okay, actually." Ivy said hastily, fearing that he would hold Team Green responsible for this. "After all, this is my personal problem. I can't ask the expedition team to buy these clothes for me again..."

"It is necessary," Lorraine said sternly. "The nature of your work is special. The expedition team needs to take care of food, clothing, shelter and transportation. Do cows need to bring their own ropes when plowing the fields?"

Ivy was stunned for a moment.

She felt that what Lorraine said made sense, but his words were too cruel and hurt her heart as an ordinary worker.

Ivy said, "Teacher, your metaphors are sometimes really cruel."

"If saying nice things can make your life better, I can say those things for you," Lorraine pointed at Yu Mo, "Ask him, did his fingers hurt when you consoled him? What's the use of sweet words? Can they stop the pain?"

Ivy felt unable to.

Yu Mo was crying because of the pain just now.

She was entangled in Lorraine's logic and stared at him blankly for a while, unable to say anything.

——Yeah, sweet words are really useless.

Why does she want to listen?

"No," Ivy responded quickly, "but making those scathing comments doesn't help—"

"At least you won't refuse the clothes provided by the expedition again," Lorraine said. "I remember we once had a debate about the value for money of words."

Ivy remembered.

Lorraine really does...put achieving her goals first.

Yu Mo, who was lying on the bed next to him, suddenly couldn't help laughing twice.

He said, "Now I finally understand why you are getting divorced."

Lorraine narrowed her eyes.

Ivy was shocked: "Didn't you agree to keep it a secret? Have you already told Yu Mo about our divorce?"

Lorraine said, “He’ll know it when he sees you.”

Ivy didn't realize what this meant.

She was stunned for a moment and heard Xin Lan's voice behind her.

"Excuse me," Xin Lan said in a friendly and gentle voice, "Can I say something? The brain scan results of the silver ring snake are out - do you want to see them?"

Ivy really wanted to see it.

Luo Lin glanced at her and told Xin Lan: "Okay."

Xin Lan quickly showed them the scanned film, projected it on the wall, and showed them part of the video.

These were beyond Ivy's knowledge, but she tried hard to understand.

Fortunately, the final conclusion is very clear.

The silver ring snake has no inner ear and auditory bones, and relies on low-frequency sound waves to receive information. Based on the snake's body reaction and simulation inference, it was determined that it was indeed "feeling uneasy", so it escaped from the cage where Yu Mo rescued it, and then accurately bit the person in charge, A Che.

Ivy said nothing.

She vaguely sensed a problem.

Lorraine rarely asked any further questions, and took a last look at the blood tonic in Ivy's hands and her old clothes.

"This report will not be handed to Tseri, and the snake bite will be classified as an accident," Lorraine said, "assuming it doesn't happen again."

Ivy said: "Teacher..."

Before he could finish his words, Song Xu came running over breathlessly, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and holding the lunch box like a treasure.

"Although the blood tonic is gone, I asked the cafeteria sister to make pig liver." His dazzling hair was like the golden sun. "I remember that Brother Yu Mo doesn't have any dietary restrictions, so he should be able to eat... right?"

At this point, he looked around in confusion: "You are all here? What happened?"

"Nothing," Ivy said quickly, "I'm here to deliver the medicine."

Song Xu didn't dare to ask why Lorraine was also here.

He placed the lunch box filled with pork liver next to Yu Mo, and was shocked when he saw the other's fingers inadvertently: "Ah! Why do your nails look more serious? Oh my God, it seems that more meat has been turned out..."

Yu Mo coughed twice and smiled weakly: "I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Ivy glanced.

The nail bed, which had lost its protection, was covered in blood. The flesh of two nails was particularly obvious and slightly raised, as if it was pinched and hooked by something.

She was having trouble breathing: "They not only pulled out your nails, but also used tweezers to pinch your flesh? ... Beasts, beasts, so cruel!!!"

Xin Lan looked at Lorraine quietly.

Lorraine acted as if she hadn't heard anything: "Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, I will leave the wasteland with Ci Li."

Ivy's eyes were still on Yu Mo's bloody nails. It takes three to six months for new nails to grow. This is different from regenerating or reattaching a limb. Even with special drugs and catalytic treatment, it will take at least two months. In the two months without nail protection, Yu Mo had to wear special finger gloves and endure the pain of flesh and blood being attacked every day and night.

Song Xu looked at Lorraine and listened attentively.

"If you have any questions," Lorraine said, "you can contact me before ten o'clock tonight."

Song Xu was full of confidence. Thinking about his departure, he was overjoyed: "Teacher, we can solve the problems by ourselves. You can go without worry."

Lorraine looked at Ivy.

Ivy asked, "Why before ten o'clock?"

"Because I have to go to bed after ten o'clock," Lorraine said, "Pay attention to your schedule, Ivy. I don't want to see you still jumping around delivering medicine to someone after ten o'clock - your own anemia problem is also worth paying attention to."

Ivy said: "I was born with anemia."

Lorraine said, "I remember you didn't believe in the whole 'genetic evaluation' thing. Why do you give up on this?"

"...Yes, teacher," Ivy said, "I'm sorry, I will try my best to adjust my schedule and take good care of myself so as not to let you down."

Yu Mo listened quietly without blinking. His skin, which covered his thin muscles, became red and swollen with anger, but he did not move. His tsavorite green eyes were silent and still, like a deep ocean, suppressing the surging tide.

Song Xu was extremely jealous.

...So Ivy likes teacher-student roles every day, right? No wonder she likes Lorraine, because he is a teacher, and he is so good-looking; the point is that Teacher Lorraine looks so serious, but he is actually quite cooperative... He always calls her "classmate Ivy"...

After hesitating for a while, Song Xu saw Luo Lin leave, then he whispered to Ivy: "Ivy."

"What?" Ivy replied in a low voice, "Something?"

"It's okay," Song Xu continued in a low voice, "Do you like reading Xiao Ma's literature?"

Ivy: “…Ah?”

…

Ivy didn't understand what Song Xu meant and was even very confused.

Many people came to visit Yu Mo. He was a doctor, and unlike Lorraine, who had a bad face, he was very popular. Those who had been treated and helped by him brought things to see him, such as drinks, snacks, and even medicines borrowed from other expedition teams...

Captain Wei Xi even brought blood tonics for two armies, one for Yu Mo and the other for Ivy.

She kindly told Ivy that it was given by Xin Lan.

"Xin Lan said that you and Yu Mo both look bad. Ci Li is a soldier. Admiral Hector is also responsible for his mistakes," Wei Xi said, "The two armies are using powerful blood tonics as compensation."

Tiger was going crazy with envy.

"It's a military blood tonic," he said with emotion. "This is the first time I've seen the real thing."

Ivy didn't drink it. She held it in her palm, lowered her head, and smelled Lorraine's scent on it.

Cold and chilly, with his unique decisiveness.

She woke up one day and smelled this scent on her neck and wrists. The feeling was very strange. His scent was like a collar, marking her firmly and invisibly.

Until her divorce, this residual smell was difficult to dissipate and always appeared in her life.

Somehow, there are always various things tying them together, and the ties are so entangled that they are difficult to cut.

Congcong also touched the hemostatic agent with envy: "This morning, Songfeng was still running around, and Alice was asking for this powerful blood tonic... but there is none. Few people can afford its price... It's great."

Dangdang coughed, and Congcong came to his senses. Seeing Yu Mo's bloody hand, he immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant."

"It's okay," Yu Mo said tolerantly, "Tiger, come here, let me see your knees."

Tiger's leg has not been completely healed, and Yu Mo, who is still lying on the hospital bed, even re-diagnosed him and gave him reminders.

"It's best not to take the stairs recently," Yu Mo warned, "It's easy to hurt your knees."

Tiger sighed and said in a distressed tone: "It's not impossible, but it's more tiring if I don't take the stairs..."

Yu Mo asked: "It's all for a pair of healthy legs - Xiaobao, where are you going?"

Ivy had already walked to the door. When she heard the words, she froze and half turned around.

"It's almost ten o'clock," she said. "I want to go to bed early because I have to get up early tomorrow morning for exercise."

"Go ahead," Yu Mo showed a pale smile, "rest early."

Ivy said yes.

She lied, even unconsciously.

It’s not that I want to go back to sleep, but I want to go see Lorraine.

But... Lorraine, is he asleep now?

Ivy looked at the time anxiously and found that it was already nine fifty.

...It will take at least ten minutes to walk there. If it takes more than one or two minutes, Lorraine won’t have time to rest, right?

She wanted to apologize to the other party in person.

For these two hemostatic agents and his unexpected tolerance.

At nine fifty-five, Lorraine had just finished an argument with Xin Lan.

Xin Lan spent ten minutes telling Lorraine that she shouldn't speak to Ivy in that tone.

"Oh my God, it's hard to imagine that you can get married smoothly - oh, sorry, I forgot, you are already divorced," Xin Lan repeated the conversation she overheard, "'The nature of your work is special, and the expedition team needs to bear the cost of food, clothing, housing and transportation - do cows need to bring their own ropes when plowing the fields?' - Master, are you complaining about Ivy's shabby clothes? Why don't you change this sentence to 'You are sacrificing for this country, and the expedition team belonging to the country should take responsibility to provide you with good food, clothing, housing and transportation - the treatment you are experiencing now is unfair, and I feel sorry for you'."

Lorraine tries a new injection.

The empty bottle on the table was tilted and tilted. He had tried it twice, but to no avail.

After ten o'clock, the predicted sensitive period is coming again.

He couldn't contact Ivy, but now that Cialis was here, he couldn't just walk away.

Xin Lan continued, "'If saying nice things can make your life better, I can say those things for you' - what you want to say is, 'If it can make you happy, I am willing to learn to say sweet words for you'!"

Lorraine commented on him: "What a hypocritical remark."

"Don't forget, Ivy likes this!" Xin Lan said, "Yu Mo is her first love. Do you know how important first love is? Her emotions are always stimulated by Yu Mo and fluctuate the most. Maybe she subconsciously-"

"Xin Lan," Lorraine interrupted him, "I don't want to listen to you now."

"...That's exactly how Ivy reacted when she faced you," Xin Lan said, "Why ask Yu Mo if it hurts? You attacked him like this because you were jealous, didn't you just say you were jealous? You're always like this. You could have communicated in a gentle way, but you always made it so sharp... She won't make the same mistake again, but she only remembered it after being hurt so badly - you really -"

"Don't forget, we're already divorced," Lorraine said calmly. "She's repeatedly asked for a divorce and is obviously very unhappy about it. Should I tie her up in shackles at home? Or use threats and inducements to coax her into staying in a marriage she doesn't love? I won't fall to that point."

Xin Lan was surprised: "...You don't plan to remarry?"

"The first Chinese proverb I learned was 'A forced melon is not sweet,'" Lorraine said calmly, "I don't like to use force. If she doesn't like it, forget it - as for Yu Mo, it's just an instinctive rejection - you know, Ivy and I have a strong attraction."

Xin Lan didn't expect to hear such words.

"These medicines are useless," Lorraine threw all the bottles to Xin Lan, "Take them all away and keep watch at night. Don't let Ivy come over. Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, if Ci Li doesn't want to leave, you go and knock him out and tie him to the car - and take that Robert with you. Don't let them stay and cause trouble."

Xin Lan: "Alas..."

There was no other way, so he silently took the medicine bottle and left.

Ten o'clock.

Xin Lan had just left the special officers' rest area when she saw Ivy being held back by the guards. Her marriage with Lorraine had now ended, and the guards would not let her in again without receiving orders, nor would they notify Lorraine.

Xin Lan was stunned for a moment.

Ivy waved at him vigorously.

In her hand she held a military-grade hemostatic agent.

"I know this thing is very precious," she said with sweat on her forehead. "Lorraine won't get much. He may only have these last two left. He shouldn't give them all to me. His situation is more dangerous, and I have to return to the safe zone to rest soon. It would be a waste to give them to me..."

Xin Lan is entangled.

Smart and naive Ivy, you don't know that if I let you in tonight, you will deliver more than just this army of blood tonic to Lorraine...

Lorraine is very conservative in terms of sexual relations and firmly disagrees with premarital or extramarital sexual behavior. Now that he and Ivy are divorced, his attitude just now was also very firm, even saying "You watch over Ivy and don't let her get close to you." Obviously, he is very reluctant to be controlled by genes and hormones at this time, and what will happen next...

He also doesn't seem ready to remarry Ivy.

Xin Lan held the potions that had no effect on Lorraine, the cold glass pressing on his hands. A few steps away was Ivy, who was unaware of what was going on. She might have run all the way here, her face was covered in sweat, and her lips were pale due to anemia.

He faced a dilemma:

Should I let her in or not?