Hearing Ding Ce's reply, Bai Chen felt as if she had been struck with a dull stick, her body leaning back slightly, her head buzzing.
After a few seconds, she recovered and asked urgently:
"What's the illness?"
Ding Ce said with a mournful face:
"The doctor said it's an old problem, something with his lungs, and also his trachea. He won't make it through the winter."
At that moment, Bai Chen felt the cold night wind blowing against her face, bringing a needle-like pain.
She quickly turned her head and looked at Jiang Bai Mian, exclaiming with emotion:
"Team leader..."
Sensing Bai Chen's plea, Jiang Bai Mian nodded slightly and said to Ding Ce:
"Can you take us to Town Chief Tian? We have some medicine that might work."
Under normal circumstances, Ding Ce would definitely not agree directly, but at this critical moment, he felt that it couldn't be worse than doing nothing, and trying a dead horse as if it were a live one might offer some hope.
"Okay." He nodded vigorously.
Jiang Bai Mian didn't waste any time. She walked to the back of the jeep and pulled out a milky-white box with a red cross symbol.
This was the "Old Task Force's" first-aid kit.
——This was a formal mission, not a field training exercise, so they didn't just bring some common medicines, cleaning wipes, and mosquito repellent like last time.
Clang!
Jiang Bai Mian closed the trunk and turned to Ding Ce, saying:
"Let's go."
Seeing that this beautiful woman looked quite professional, Ding Ce gained some confidence and hurriedly led the way.
The group of five first passed through that chaotic area of mud houses, brick buildings, and tents, under the gazes that were either wary, numb, envious, curious, or ambiguous, and arrived near the flag-raising platform.
Seeing that the surroundings were finally quiet, Bai Chen hurried to Ding Ce's side and asked with concern:
"When did Town Chief Tian fall ill?"
In the increasingly dim twilight, Ding Ce recalled as he walked quickly forward:
"It's been ten days or so.
"The town chief used to get sick once or twice every winter, but it was never a big deal. Who knew that this time, this time, it would become so serious.
"The doctor gave him medicine and injections, but nothing worked. These days, he's unconscious more often than he's awake. The doctor said, the doctor said, he might not make it through tonight..."
As he spoke, this young man, about 1.7 meters tall, who could be considered tall among wasteland wanderers, began to sob.
He raised his left arm and wiped his eyes haphazardly with his elbow, then continued:
"Actually, the doctor said several days ago that the town chief might not make it, but he still held on until now. The doctor said, said, his will to live is very strong, very strong..."
Ding Ce sniffed and couldn't continue.
Bai Chen pursed her lips tightly, her eyes already a little wet.
As they spoke, they arrived at the deepest part of Shuiwei Town and turned into the building on the left.
In the dimly lit corridor, Jiang Bai Mian deliberately brought up a topic to make the atmosphere less heavy:
"Do you have a doctor here?"
This was a "luxury" in a wasteland wanderer settlement.
Seeing that it was Jiang Bai Mian who asked, Ding Ce answered in detail:
"We've always had them.
"The town chief said that at the very beginning, there were several doctors. Later, when the children started going to school, they would pick the ones with the best grades to learn medicine from them. This is our tradition."
Speaking of this, Ding Ce was a little sad:
"But we don't have medicine. The town chief said that in the early years, it was okay, we could find some in the city ruins. Although those medicines were too old and the effects were very poor, it was better than nothing.
"Now we can only see if we can get any in a trade, only the big forces can produce these.
"Um... the doctors also found some books in the city ruins, and according to them, they collected different parts of plants and animals from the wilderness, and then mixed them to make medicine. Some of them work quite well!"
At this time, the group of five had arrived at the room at the far end of the second floor.
Two members of the town guard were guarding the door.
"They have medicine!" Ding Ce said directly without any introduction.
"Bai Chen..." One of the town guard members recognized Bai Chen and quickly opened the door, saying, "Go in, go in."
Then, he added:
"When the town chief is unconscious these days, he occasionally calls out for Bai girl."
Bai Chen's eyes turned red immediately, and she couldn't restrain herself any longer. She rushed in first.
Jiang Bai Mian signaled Shang Jian Yao to control himself and not act impulsively, and then followed Bai Chen into the room.
The first thing that caught her eye was the dim yellow light bulb hanging from the ceiling, which illuminated the room fairly brightly.
At the far end of the room, by the window, there was a rather old-looking dark red wooden bed. Tian Erhe was lying on it, covered with a thick quilt and that military green coat, his eyes tightly closed.
His face was becoming increasingly gaunt, seeming to be just skin and bones. His pale hair was sparse and messy.
At this moment, Tian Erhe was constantly making breathing sounds that seemed to contain a lot of phlegm, appearing quite labored.
This made him look like he could lose his breath at any moment.
Next to Tian Erhe, there was a warm, iron-black stove.
Inside the room, probably because Tian Erhe's condition had worsened, those with influence in the town had gathered here.
They were mainly men in their thirties, mixed with some capable young people and a few old men in their fifties and sixties, filling the room to capacity.
Among them, there were only three women, two old and one middle-aged.
"Chief, they said they have medicine." Ding Ce said eagerly to a man in his mid-thirties.
This man was the captain of the Shuiwei Town Guard and the designated next town chief after Tian Erhe became seriously ill.
He had an ordinary face, full of sorrow, wearing a gray cotton-padded jacket, his skin very rough.
"Li Zhengfei." This man stepped forward and extended his hand to Jiang Bai Mian.
Jiang Bai Mian shook it lightly and briefly introduced herself and the members of the "Old Task Force."
"What kind of medicine do you have?" Li Zhengfei asked directly without exchanging pleasantries.
Jiang Bai Mian said frankly:
"We don't have any specific medicine for treating lung and tracheal diseases, but we brought some biological agents that can help Town Chief Tian get through this critical period and wake up. As long as he can hold on for two more days, there will be hope for treatment."
Li Zhengfei vaguely guessed what Jiang Bai Mian meant by the latter sentence and hurriedly turned to look at an old woman with short, neat white hair.
This was the best doctor in town.
The old woman nodded, indicating that they could try.
She had no other choice.
"Please try it." Li Zhengfei made the decision immediately.
In this regard, he was far more decisive than he appeared.
Jiang Bai Mian "ummed" and walked to Tian Erhe's bed with the first-aid kit.
She sat down, opened the box, and took out a syringe, a needle, and a thimble-sized amber glass bottle.
Then, she skillfully assembled them and drew the liquid from the small bottle into the syringe.
After expelling the air from the front end, Jiang Bai Mian asked Bai Chen to come over and help hold Tian Erhe's hand, rolling up his sleeve.
She quickly found the corresponding blood vessel and inserted the needle cleanly.
After pushing in that tube of liquid little by little, Jiang Bai Mian disinfected the needle, packed up the first-aid kit, and instructed Bai Chen to help Tian Erhe up, half-lying and half-leaning against the head of the bed.
During this process, Bai Chen didn't forget to stuff Tian Erhe's pillow behind his lower back.
Strangely enough, Tian Erhe's heart-wrenching breathing gradually became smoother.
He soon began to cough and, with Bai Chen's help, turned to the side and spat out a lot of thick phlegm into the spittoon next to him.
After resting for a while, Tian Erhe finally opened his eyes.
His vision gradually focused, and he saw who was in front of him.
"Bai, girl..." Tian Erhe called out weakly.
Bai Chen quickly replied:
"It's me."
Tian Erhe slowly revealed a smile, and his whole person seemed to relax:
"You finally, came back."
Bai Chen immediately burst into tears, unable to restrain herself any longer.
She wanted to say something, but her throat was choked with sadness.
Tian Erhe regained his strength again and scanned Jiang Bai Mian, Shang Jian Yao, Long Yue Hong, and Li Zhengfei in turn.
He first nodded to the guests, then patted the edge of the bed:
"Zhengfei, come over and sit here."
Like an obedient child, Li Zhengfei walked around Jiang Bai Mian and stood beside Tian Erhe.
The wrinkles on Tian Erhe's face gradually smoothed out:
"I still remember, you were, the most mischievous and troublesome one among your group of children. Who knew that now, I would have to entrust Shuiwei Town, Shuiwei Town, to you."
"Town Chief..." Li Zhengfei, a man nearing middle age, felt a bit like crying.
Tian Erhe scolded with a smile:
"What are you crying for?
"I'm already in my seventies, I've lived long enough. My wife, my children, are all waiting for me down there."
He took a breath and continued:
"The thing I told you about before, it seems there's an answer now."
As he spoke, Tian Erhe looked at Jiang Bai Mian, asking expectantly:
"What do you say?"
Jiang Bai Mian deliberated for a moment and first introduced herself:
"We are from 'Pangu Biology.'"
"'Pangu Biology'?" Li Zhengfei repeated in a slightly flustered tone.
The expressions of the men and women, old and young, around them changed to some extent, with shock, surprise, awe, fear, or apprehension.
Jiang Bai Mian looked around and said with a smile:
"On the Ashlands, our company has a somewhat bad reputation, but please believe that all our experimental volunteers are willing. We prefer to use benefits to tempt, rather than coercion.
"You can think about it, among the major forces you know, which ones are more trustworthy than our company?"
After a moment of silence, someone in the back whispered:
"Some say 'Pangu Biology' was the real culprit behind the destruction of the Old World..."
Jiang Bai Mian's expression froze slightly, but she responded very quickly:
"Then shouldn't you be even more obedient to us?
"A force that can destroy the Old World, isn't it worth relying on?"
In another moment of silence, Tian Erhe coughed and said:
"What's your plan?"
Jiang Bai Mian smiled:
"We plan to sign a friendly cooperation clause with you."