Back to the Peak

Chapter 47: Pretending to be Sick

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It had been some days since Cheng Xuze returned to Yangtze City.
These days, the Cheng family had been busy.

As soon as he returned to Yangtze City, Cheng Xuze made several trips outside the city walls and brought back a lot of medicinal herbs.
After a while, he rented a piece of land in the north of Yangtze City at a high price and found someone to build a wall.

All this fell into the eyes of many people.
Everyone thought that Cheng Xuze should be preparing for the upcoming pharmaceutical factory.
However, Cheng Xuze didn’t plant common herbs.
No, he didn’t plant any herbs at all.
Instead, he began to dig ditches and plant trees…

Not only that, Cheng Hui, a level-7 powerhouse who had long been extremely capable as head of the family, even went to supervise the work outside the city in person.

When all the forces in Yangtze City were in doubt, the Almighty Elixir appeared.

Everyone in Yangtze City knew Ran Xue’s skills.
She was indeed a senior pharmacist, but she had never been attached to a large family.
Except for releasing a medicinal prescription to the public, beyond that, she wasn’t capable of much else.

Moreover, she had no support, so naturally she had no money.
Could a pharmacist without money still work out new prescriptions?

Because of this, from the start, everyone barely kept the matter of the Cheng family wanting to set up a factory in mind.
Even if the Cheng family held a pharmaceutical conference, they only found some unimportant people to go there.

As a result, this kind of omnipotent medicine that could be produced in large quantities had been recognized by all.
The most important thing was that after studying the ingredients of the medicine delivered at the press conference, it was impossible to analyze which medicinal herbs the Almighty Elixir was made of.

Either the recipe had a very unique method of creation, or the Cheng family had made use of medicinal herbs that had not been previously discovered.

The unobtrusive pharmaceutical factory originally set up by the Cheng family suddenly attracted the attention of countless people.

“Dad, the first batch of medicine will be sold in a month, but the pharmaceutical factory hasn’t reached quality testing yet.
Will we be too late?” Cheng Hui finally got rid of the two brothers-in-law who came to inquire about the news, and then hid here with Cheng Xuze.

“If it’s too late, let’s list less and limit purchases.” Cheng Xuze didn’t care: “It’s really too much.
Where can we get so many guanzhong and bai niuxi?” There were many people under the Cheng family, but there were not many they could really trust.
These days, Cheng Xuze had even made several trips outside the city to find and collect medicinal herbs.
The reason why he rented the land was that there were many guanzhong in the place where the land was located, and guanzhong and bai niuxi grew in a similar environment.
With a little transformation, they could be planted on a large scale.

“Even if the purchases are limited, the matter of supply is urgent…” Cheng Hui was a little helpless.
He had sneaked out of the city several times and was almost suspected by his wife.

“Nothing we can do, this is what the master asked,” Cheng Xuze said.

Cheng Hui stopped talking.
Since he learned the level-7 combat skills from Cheng Xuze, he admired I don’t want to starve.
What’s more, this prescription was originally given by the other party, and the other party’s request was understandable..

“In fact, you don’t have to worry too much.
I told Ran Xue that she can take one bottle for herself after mixing five bottles, so she worked very hard and bought a large semi-automatic medicine pot.
Each pot can produce 30 bottles.” Cheng Xuze smiled.

Cheng Hui had been running outside all the time.
After just learning about this, his eyes brightened: “Dad, is there a lot of money left? I……” He drank some of the medicine every day these days, and also wanted to give some to his wife and daughter.

“Although we have saved a lot, it is still not enough.
How many people are there in the Cheng family? Unfortunately, Ran Xue hasn’t adapted to the large potion pot…” Cheng Xuze sighed.

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“You guys are in my pharmacy.
It’s fine if you don’t help, but you oppress me.
You even look down on me.
What do you mean to do?” With her hair all wrapped up, Ran Xue gritted her teeth.

If she didn’t know that the Cheng family planned to sell this medicine at a high price, would she have to work so hard for her bottles of medicine? She was a senior pharmacist, but now she was here to mix a machine-made medicine!

Were the technicians of the Cheng family really so useless that they found it so difficult to transform the production line according to her requirements? Technology was the primary productive force!

“Ran Xue, if you are tired, you can have a rest…” Cheng Xuze smiled, and Ran Xue’s face softened a lot: “Master, can’t you find me an assistant?”

“This medicine is of great importance…”

“What about the child in the video? Although his handling method is still a little immature, he is methodical and a good seedling.
I have read the experiment report he wrote you.
If he wants to become a pharmacist, he can come to me as an assistant,” Ran Xue said.
She watched the video of Cheng Ran mixing the potions several times and was very impressed by Cheng Ran.

How many people dreamed of becoming an assistant to a senior pharmacist? But Cheng Ran… Cheng Xuze was a little gloomy.
How could Cheng Ran stand Ran Xue’s laboratory full of radiation?

What’s more, he promised Shi Qingyang that he would never disclose Cheng Ran’s information to anyone other than Ran Xue, Cheng Hui, and I don’t want to starve.
These two days, he specially emphasized that Cheng Hong should not know… Could he still take Cheng Ran to be Ran Xue’s apprentice?

“Ran Xue, this child can’t.”

“Why not?” Ran Xue asked curiously, and suddenly thought of something: “Yes, this recipe came from him.
There must be a pharmacist stronger than me around him.”

“That’s not necessarily the case.
Ran Xue, if you like, I’ll give you his contact number and you can communicate with him.” Cheng Ran didn’t have a master.
Sometimes when he had questions, he had to ask someone online.
How could an online teacher compare with Ran Xue? Cheng Xuze thought it would be good if he could find a teacher for Cheng Ran.

As for whether Ran Xue’s teaching would be overqualified, this was not something he needed to pay attention to.

After agreeing with Ran Xue about Cheng Ran, he also told Ran Xue never to tell anyone about it, even Cheng Hong.
Cheng Xuze then left.

Ran Xue was not surprised by Cheng Xuze’s instructions.
She had a good impression of Cheng Xuze and Cheng Hui, but a bad impression of Cheng Hong.
Cheng Hong insisted on getting her help to refine a potion.
When she said she was too busy as her reason to refuse, she felt that she was shirking her work…

Ran Xue was thinking about Cheng Hong, and Cheng Hui also asked about him: “Dad, Xiao Ran is my younger brother’s child.
Why should Xiao Ran keep this secret from him?” Cheng Ran was Cheng Hong’s son, and since they were relatives, it was hard to keep the truth from Cheng Hong.

“Your brother… Just remember, when your brother comes, don’t say anything,” Cheng Xuze said.
Cheng Hong obviously hated Cheng Ran and even didn’t want to raise Cheng Ran.
Of course he can’t say anything about Cheng Ran’s matters.

Moreover, when Cheng Hong contacted him directly yesterday, he didn’t sound very pleased.
It seemed that he blamed them for not telling him about the Almighty Elixir.
If he knew that they got the medicine from Cheng Ran, he still didn’t know what complaints about Cheng Ran would come out of his mouth.

“Dad, I understand.” Cheng Hui nodded.
He didn’t think he had a chance to say anything to Cheng Hong anyway.
After all, Cheng Hong didn’t like him.

“Is it almost time? Let’s practice that set of martial arts together!” Cheng Xuze said, looking at the time.

“Dad, is that skill really useful?” Cheng Hui hesitated.
It seemed that those movements could move every joint, and together with the movements, one could make radiation energy flow throughout, making one feel very comfortable after practice.
But as for how practicing something like this could make one’s level improve, that felt absurd, and was a mystery.

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“Since I don’t want to starve said it’s useful, it’s bound to be useful.
Anyway, it’s just some slow movements that don’t hurt the body.
Even if it doesn’t succeed, it would just a waste of time.
No, it’s actually not even a waste of time.
We won’t do other exercises in the future.
Just do this,” Cheng Xuze said.
He once tested his body data after completing a set of movements, and the muscles of his body were not injured at all.
This alone showed that the movements were very harmless.

Cheng Xuze was sure, and Cheng Hui felt more confident: “I will practice hard!” He was a natural rad-warrior.
Cheng Xuze always wanted him to become a level 8 warrior, but he let his father down.
Now…

Even if the chance was slim, he wanted to try.

“Yes, practice hard.
You should practice, and so should your brother,” Cheng Xuze opened his mouth.
He had asked Cheng Hong about this, and Cheng Hong immediately said that he would come right away

His second son always pursued strength.

Cheng Hong was really on his way to Yangtze City.
The Almighty Elixir only made him very covetous, but the opportunity to break through was what made him truly excited.

It had been nearly ten years since he became a level-6 rad-warrior.
He knew that this was his limit.
It was extremely difficult to go further.
But now Cheng Xuze told him that he had this opportunity…

How could he not grasp such an opportunity?

When it came to his father, many people didn’t think highly of him at the beginning, and thought that Cheng Xuze would reach the limit at level-6 or level-7, but he eventually became a level-8 stronghouse.
Like him, could Cheng Hong break through?

With this thought, Cheng Hong’s heart was very hot, and he first moved the idea of transferring his work back to Yangtze City.

As soon as he arrived at Yangtze City, he saw his eldest brother and father who were doing a set of strange actions.

When the Cheng family were studying the broadcast exercise, Cheng Ran was putting on makeup in front of the mirror.
Just last night, Gu Changjin sent Cheng Hong the news that Cheng Ran had a serious rejection and was critically ill, but Cheng Hong only asked him to keep an eye on Cheng Ran’s situation.

Since he was critically ill, they naturally had to have photos that supported this.
A few days ago, Shi Qingyang helped Cheng Ran buy a complete set of film and television drama makeup equipment, and then downloaded a full tutorial from a film crew makeup artist.

It was absolutely not difficult to learn makeup.
Cheng Ran could even make potions, so it wasn’t difficult to disguise himself as a seriously ill person by following the tutorial.

After disguising himself, Cheng Ran added some touches to Gu Changjin.
The day before, Gu Changjin only showed haggard face, but today he wore contact lenses full of red blood.

Besides costumes, medical equipment was also readily available.
For these, Shi Qingyang had planned to buy a set and ask someone to “break it”.
Later, Gu Changjin reminded him that there was another thing in the world, called teaching aids.

The present set was used by the teachers of the medical college for teaching.
It could display any data they wanted to display.
It was very easy to use and convenient.
Not only that, it could also print out various test sheets.
When comparing this equipment to what was available in a hospital, all it lacked was the seal of the hospital or the doctor.

There was also privately bought medical equipment.

After all this, the time to test their acting skills had come!

“Master, the young master’s condition is very bad.
His pulse almost disappeared just now…”

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“Master, the young master vomited a lot of blood.
What should I do? He has always rejected other people’s plasma…”

“Master, young master, he’s about to die… I……”

……

Gu Changjin practiced every word and every action in the mirror.
After the exercise, he would connect to Cheng Hong’s contact terminal with a look of despair.

The calls to Cheng Hong were always blocked, and every time they called, it ended with them leaving a message instead.
Gu Changjin and Shi Qingyang were worried about this situation – Cheng Hong had obviously left Yangtze City, so they didn’t know whether he was going to Yangtze City or Spark City.

If he came to Spark City… Gu Changjin’s niece might be in danger.

“He should have gone to Yangtze City.
After the young master got seriously ill last time, in fact, the old master didn’t care much about the young master and almost gave up on him.
As long as he gets through this time, he’ll be safe in the future.” Gu Changjin’s face was uncomfortable when it moved; there was too much stuff on it.

Cheng Ran was more calm.
With a pale face, he held a handheld computer to play games.
He played games like Speed Linkup1 and Spot the Difference, and also competed against others.
All the people he had abused complained about him and suspected that he was using a plug-in to cheat.

Although Cheng Ran’s number was normal, he had been complained about too many times.
At first, the verification code jumped out, and then he was directly blocked.

Cheng Ran, who just started playing the game, was very sad and finally returned to the embrace of singleplayer.

Shi Qingyang accompanied him in front of the hospital bed.
Seeing that he was so bored, he decided to take Cheng Ran to play the most popular handheld online game.

This handheld online game had been around for hundreds of years.
Over the years, the second version and the third version had been slowly updated.
Now it was the 287th version.
Its name was Radiant Warrior.

Everyone who entered the game could raise their level by doing tasks and practicing, accumulating strength, and becoming a high-level radiant warrior in the game.

There were many things related to reality, but it was more beautiful than reality.
At least, everyone here could become a level-9 rad-warrior through effort and money, kill all mutated beasts, and even take them as pets.

Shi Qingyang had never played games before, and had seen Cheng Ran’s previous performance of abusing people to death.
He always thought that Cheng Ran would take him to kill everyone on all sides.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Ran was killed as soon as he left the city.
Instead, Shi Qingyang was the one who went on a slaughter.
Because many of the games relied on reality, although he was not very powerful, he could still last for a while.

So, gradually, it became a game of life for two rookies to live side by side.
From time to time, they still died.

Cheng Ran didn’t play the game as smoothly as before, but he was very happy.
Every time he died, he laughed.
With his face, he looked very scary, just like he was shooting a ghost movie.

Gu Changjin watched the two boys laughing while playing games.
He could no longer practice his grief-stricken expression in the mirror.
He simply stopped sending any messages for the time being and went to cook instead.
He declined those who wanted to visit.

Cheng Hong had said that Cheng Ran’s affairs must not be known to others.
Naturally, he must keep them a secret.

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When Cheng Xuze left, he entrusted people to take care of Cheng Ran.
Those people also wanted to have a good relationship with Cheng Ran, but Gu Changjin didn’t let them see Cheng Ran, so they had no choice but to leave.

After fooling people away, Gu Changjin went to the kitchen to cook and took the food upstairs.
He didn’t want to get used to Shi Qingyang and Cheng Ran, but he was afraid that Cheng Hong would suddenly contact them or someone else would come and see something…

Gu Changjin was right to be so cautious, because Cheng Ran’s dinner was just half eaten, and they received a call from Cheng Hong.
Gu Changjin made a gesture, and Cheng Ran immediately laid in bed while Shi Qingyang hid.
He could only cover the food with a quilt and hid himself in a blind corner behind the bed.

The large oxygen mask covered Cheng Ran’s face.
The exposed skin was completely unhealthy.
Although his eyes were closed, his painful expression could be seen…

As soon as Cheng Hong arrived at Yangtze City, he received a long list of messages from Gu Changjin.
After reading a few, his original hopes were completely dashed.

Cheng Ran was already a failure.
Who knew why anyone in that research institute asked him to take him back! Obviously, all the other failed products had been destroyed…

Cheng Hong was no longer interested in Cheng Ran.
Now, Cheng Ran had even become a stain on him.
Let alone Cheng Ran’s failure, if others knew that he participated in such an experiment, it likely wouldn’t result in anything good…

It was a good idea to let Cheng Ran stay in Spark City all his life.
But it was a pity that Gu Changjin was no longer someone he could trust, whether Cheng Ran lived or died this time.

“Master…” Gu Changjin was very grateful for the contact lens in his eyes.
With this thing, he didn’t have to worry that Cheng Hong would see if his expression was wrong.

Cheng Hong glanced at Cheng Ran behind him and said, “Take good care of him.
Remember, my father must not know about this.
If my father asks, say that Cheng Ran is ill.”

“Master, I will,” Gu Changjin spoke.

Cheng Hong soon hung up the communication.

Seeing that the call was over, Cheng Ran took off his oxygen mask, feeling uncomfortable.

“Ranran, don’t be too sad.” Shi Qingyang whispered as he got up.
Knowing that his father didn’t care for him at all, he should be taking it pretty hard?

Cheng Ran frowned: “Why should I be sad? I just feel bad.
The soup spilled and fell on my quilt!” He got up and his clothes and trousers were all wet, and the quilt was covered with oil.

“Shi Qingyang, how could you get food on the quilt?” As the housekeeper, Gu Changjin could hardly stand such a sloppy sight.

“I wanted to hide under the bed.
Who made there be no other way?” Shi Qingyang looked at the plate and didn’t care too much: “In fact, it’s just that the soup spilled.
Can still eat it.” He really didn’t want to waste food, so he forked a piece of barbecue.

Gu Changjin was speechless.

Footnotes

1 – Speed Linkup: The type of game where you quickly connect similar tiles. [return]