22: The Real Jiang Fei

Inside a room deep within the corridor.

Xiao Chuxia held a knife, trembling.

A dirty man lay on the ground, clutching her ankle.

His tattered pants revealed a gruesome wound on his calf.

Seeing Jiang Fei run in, Xiao Chuxia tearfully accused, "Miss, he's faking an injury!"

"The moment I opened the door, he just lay on the ground and wouldn't let me leave!"

"Don't take my things..." The man weakly raised his head, a light gradually appearing in his cloudy eyes, and his voice rose a few octaves:

"Benefactor!"

Jiang Fei carefully recalled the man's appearance and tentatively called out a name: "Ling Zhaorui?"

"It's me..."

Xiao Chuxia was bewildered: "Miss, you two know each other?"

"Yes, I ran into him when I went out to look for supplies earlier."

As soon as Jiang Fei finished speaking, Ling Zhaorui struggled to get up, pulled out the deflated rubber boat hidden under a pile of junk, and stumbled to the ground.

The rubber boat was flat and had a hole in it.

"Cough... I can finally return it to you..."

Jiang Fei was taken aback.

She hadn't expected Ling Zhaorui to remember his promise from that day.

"First, treat the wound." Jiang Fei took out the first-aid kit from her backpack, but Ling Zhaorui refused.

"Don't waste medicine on me..."

Ling Zhaorui pulled open his torn pants.

The wound on his calf was even clearer, a bowl-sized chunk of flesh missing, and his bone was faintly visible.

The surrounding flesh was already infected and rotten.

"That day, I left Wanfu Building and went home... Who knew a few strangers had taken over the house... and killed my parents..."

"I wanted revenge... but I couldn't beat them... I was severely beaten... and thrown into the water..."

"Thanks to the rubber boat hidden downstairs, it saved my life... I just drifted... until I reached this company... but then I ran into a rat plague... I was unlucky enough to have a large chunk of flesh bitten off... and the rubber boat was also damaged by the rats..."

Ling Zhaorui forced a smile: "I'm sorry, Benefactor... I didn't take good care of your item..."

"I'm too tired... I probably can't get you a new one..."

As if remembering something, Ling Zhaorui uncovered a cloth and carefully took out the item underneath.

It was a square flowerpot with lush green lettuce growing in it.

"I found some vegetable seeds at the company... so I planted some... I originally planned to eat them later... but there's no chance now... consider it my apology to you..."

Jiang Fei was pleasantly surprised: "You can grow vegetables?"

"I'm an agricultural student..."

He can grow plants.

This person must be saved!

Jiang Fei, ever pragmatic, used her backpack as a cover to take out a bottle of water and anti-inflammatory medicine, giving them to Ling Zhaorui: "Eat this."

"Chu Xia, can you treat his wound?"

Understanding that Jiang Fei wanted to save him, Xiao Chuxia shook her head: "His wound needs debridement and disinfection, and the items in the first-aid kit aren't enough."

"Also, he was bitten by a rat, so he must receive tetanus and hemorrhagic fever vaccines."

Lu Yu, having also come to check on the situation due to Xiao Chuxia's scream, spoke up: "This place is close to Lin City Hospital No. 1. We can go there to see if they have vaccines."

"You and Xiao Chuxia go; she knows what to look for. I'll stay here and take care of this person."

It was a way of repaying his neighbor's favor.

After thanking Lu Yu and leaving a box of antipyretics, Jiang Fei took Xiao Chuxia and left.

Ling Zhaorui, still on the ground, was weak and bewildered.

He had already prepared to die.

And just like that, he was saved???

—

The pharmacy at Lin City Hospital No. 1 was already flooded, so Jiang Fei could only try her luck at the outpatient department upstairs.

If there were vaccines stored in the departments, then Ling Zhaorui wouldn't be in danger.

Jiang Fei secured the rubber boat outside a window and entered the outpatient department with Xiao Chuxia.

Unexpectedly, there were very few rats here.

Noticing rat carcasses on the ground, which had been smashed, Jiang Fei cautioned:

"There might be survivors; be careful."

Xiao Chuxia nodded in agreement, gripping her knife and following behind Jiang Fei.

The two quickly found the immunization department.

"Miss, the infectious disease department and epidemiology department are on the floors below. We'll be faster if we split up to search."

"Then I'll go downstairs."

With that, Jiang Fei walked downstairs, conveniently collecting some electrical medical instruments from the departments into the Supermarket warehouse.

Medical instruments were even scarcer than food and medicine; she could keep them for future needs.

Unable to find medicines, Jiang Fei guessed they had been taken by other survivors. She began searching the two departments but found no vaccines.

Fortunately, she had a tetanus vaccine.

Jiang Fei took out a tetanus vaccine from an insulated ice pack, pretending she had just found it, and left the room.

Xiao Chuxia also came down from upstairs, happily holding a small storage box: "Miss, I found two hemorrhagic fever vaccines, both perfectly intact! And five packs of disposable surgical tools!"

Jiang Fei: "I found one tetanus vaccine."

"That's great! Now Ling Zhaorui is saved."

"Should we look for more supplies..."

Suddenly, a flurry of footsteps interrupted Xiao Chuxia's words.

Over a dozen men and women in Hospital gowns came up from downstairs.

Some held IV poles, others carried sticks.

The bald old man standing at the front snorted: "I told you the noise upstairs wasn't rats! But you didn't believe me!"

"Who would have thought that with so many rats outside, people would still come to the Hospital."

"These damn people, won't they be satisfied until they've stolen every last bit of our supplies?!"

"I don't think these two young girls look like bad people..."

"Pah! Have you forgotten the group that came last time? Old Zhao refused to hand over food and had his head chopped off by a woman!"

Clearly, these people had mistaken Jiang Fei and Xiao Chuxia for villains.

Xiao Chuxia quickly explained: "Please don't misunderstand, we came to find vaccines to save someone, not to steal your supplies."

"If you don't believe us, look, we only took vaccines and surgical tools."

Jiang Fei put away her knife: "We mean no harm."

"People's hearts are hidden; who knows what you really want to do?!"

Uncle Zheng unceremoniously raised his stick, but at that moment, a familiar voice rang out—

"Uncle Zheng, they're not bad people. I can vouch for them."