Chapter 374: "Actually, You Want to Help Them Too, Don’t You?

Shen Lu was taken aback for a second. She straightened up and pursed her lips awkwardly.

"Ahem..." Fu Cheng cleared his throat, pushing down the warmth blooming in his chest. "The Military Hospital is just like this. Little Deer, if you’re uncomfortable, why don’t you wait for me in the lounge?"

"I’m fine." Shen Lu shook her head. "I’ll stay with you."

Major Ge had someone assigned to them, who led Fu Cheng away for his various examinations.

Shen Lu couldn’t help but ask why he needed all these tests.

"Fu Cheng is being fitted for a bionic prosthesis and an artificial eye. We need his biometric data to plan his treatment."

Fu Cheng quietly sent Shen Lu a message.

Fu Cheng: Don’t worry. The hospital’s equipment isn’t as advanced as the institute’s. They won’t find anything.

Shen Lu glanced at Fu Cheng. She wasn’t worried about that.

The System had stressed many times that the ingredients from the System Mall contained no additives. Shen Lu wasn’t afraid of them running tests; the most they could find was that he was either perfectly nourished or over-nourished.

Just as Shen Lu expected, when all of Fu Cheng’s test results came back, there was indeed nothing amiss.

If anything was strange, it was that not a single metric in his nutritional analysis was poor.

His nutrition was exceptionally well-rounded.

"If there are no problems on your end, I can arrange for you to be admitted the day after tomorrow."

Fu Cheng nodded. "Thank you for your trouble."

The three of them got in the car. By the time they arrived home, it was already five in the afternoon.

Shen Lu had just stepped out of the car when Fang Ming approached her, another child in tow.

Shen Lu invited them inside to talk.

Before she could speak, Sang Yue walked over with a frown. "Fang Ming, why did you go scavenging again?"

She had given them more than enough money for medical bills and living expenses. As long as they didn’t squander it, there was no need for Fang Ming to go out.

Faced with Sang Yue’s questioning, Fang Ming’s expression turned a bit stiff. "I was just sitting around with nothing to do anyway..."

"It’s too dangerous for a child to be out in this weather. And how much money can you even get for the scraps you collect? If you get hurt, it’ll just cost even more."

Fang Ming knew Sang Yue had a point, but he just... he just couldn’t bring himself to fully trust a stranger.

’She gave me money now, but what if she changes her mind someday?’

’It’d be one thing if she just stopped supporting us, but what I’m afraid of is her demanding all the money back.’

Things like that had happened before. Fang Ming felt much safer having his own money in his hands.

"I’ll be careful."

"Honestly, this child," Sang Yue said, exasperated.

Shen Lu quickly made up an excuse to send Sang Yue off on an errand, then said to Fang Ming, "She’s just worried about you."

"I know, but..." Fang Ming trailed off, though Shen Lu could pretty much guess the rest.

"Are you worried she’ll ask for the money back someday? Is that why you can’t rest easy?"

Fang Ming hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"She won’t. Sang Yue is a very kind person. Now that she’s decided to support you, she won’t ask for the money back."

’Shen Lu had a high opinion of Sang Yue’s character, even if she didn’t agree with her methods.’

Growing angrier the more she thought about it, Sang Yue had started to head back and happened to overhear Shen Lu’s words. She couldn’t help but freeze.

’Ever since Shen Lu had turned down her partnership offer, she’d felt a bit resentful.’

’She’d taken it as a sign that Shen Lu didn’t approve of her.’

’She had thought Shen Lu disliked her, but now she suddenly realized that Shen Lu actually understood her surprisingly well.’

"Really, Boss Shen?" Fang Ming didn’t trust Sang Yue much, but he had a lot of faith in Shen Lu.

"It’s true. If she ever changes her mind and asks for the money back, I’ll cover it."

Fang Ming let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, that’s a relief."

’He had already taken his mom to the doctor and spent most of the money. She still needed surgery later, and with his current means, there was no way he could ever pay back that sum.’

"Alright, now can you tell me about the friend you brought with you?"

At Shen Lu’s reminder, Fang Ming finally remembered why he’d come today.

"Boss Shen, my friend wants to scavenge materials and bring them here too. Will you accept them?"

The boy beside him had been silent the whole time, leading Shen Lu to think he was just shy. But to her surprise, he introduced himself as soon as Fang Ming finished speaking.

"Hello, Boss Shen. My name is Fu Zhuo. I’m a friend of Fang Ming’s from the Fifteenth District. I heard you collect materials here, so I asked Fang Ming to bring me over to inquire."

Fu Zhuo was around the same age and height as Fang Ming, but his eyes held a steady calm that was rare in someone his age. He spoke clearly and logically, instantly making a great impression on Shen Lu.

"I can take them, but the weather is terrible during the dust storm season. It’s dangerous for you to be scavenging for materials in the junkyards."

’She herself had spent a month or so knocking around the junkyards. She’d nearly been crushed by falling scrap metal several times, and once she had almost died.’

’In weather this windy, the dangers in the junkyards basically double.’

"Scavenging is dangerous, but it gives us a sliver of a chance to survive. If we don’t, my family won’t make it through the winter," Fu Zhuo said with calm composure.

People freezing to death in the Lower City District every winter was nothing new.

Shen Lu nodded. "Alright. Just be extra careful. As long as what you bring meets my requirements, I’ll accept it all."

Their faces lit up, and they pulled some copper blocks and tungsten wire from their pockets.

Shen Lu accepted it all and paid them accordingly. The two boys took the money and left, overjoyed.

Sang Yue, who had been watching from the background for a while, didn’t reproach Shen Lu as she had before. Instead, she said in a level voice, "You want to help them too, don’t you?"

Shen Lu turned around, unsurprised to see Sang Yue.

’The System had already alerted her.’

"It’s only human to feel compassion. You have it, and so do I, to an extent."

’Knowing Sang Yue’s personality, this was the moment she’d try to rope Shen Lu into her charitable endeavors, asking her to put up the money to sponsor that boy, Fu Zhuo.’

But she didn’t.

"Actually, this method of yours—collecting materials—isn’t bad. I don’t know what you need the materials for, but I think you could get more people involved."

"Maybe."

Shen Lu gave a noncommittal reply. As she did, she happened to notice her reputation value had increased by two points.

Huh?

’Where did those come from?’

’Thinking it over, Shen Lu figured they must have come from Fang Ming and Fu Zhuo.’

’The two kids must have been grateful she took their materials and paid them generously. It seemed only natural that they’d give her two reputation value points.’

’Wait a minute. If that’s how it works, I could totally publicize this and get more people involved.’

’That way, I could not only gather materials faster to upgrade my cooking utensils, but also rack up some reputation value. It’s a win-win!’

That’s what Shen Lu thought, and that’s what she did.

She told all her employees that she needed large quantities of metal materials. She asked them to let their friends, family, and neighbors know they could bring any suitable materials to her, and she would buy them.

They could trade them for money or for food.

However, the trade would no longer be for white flour steamed buns, but for coarse grain ones. After all, a pound of white flour cost as much as three pounds of coarse grains; Shen Lu had to keep an eye on her costs.