The small disturbance passed, and Shen Lu's business gradually improved.
This time, there were no more fierce customers like Xue Can.
After all, Superpower Users were a minority. Most citizens were ordinary people and couldn't detect the mint water's subtle benefits.
Everyone was quite satisfied with the taste of the mint water. However, people would often sigh with pity, remarking on how difficult her life must be.
At first, Shen Lu didn't think much of it. Then someone pointed at Fu Cheng and said, "One look and you can tell your brother was injured on the front lines. The follow-up treatment costs must be very high."
'Her brother?'
It slowly dawned on Shen Lu. 'So the customers think Fu Cheng is my brother?'
'Well, that's not so bad. Brother and sister is better than husband and wife.'
Shen Lu went along with the assumption quite naturally. With a look of determination, she said, "No matter how much it costs, I have to get my brother cured!"
Someone was moved by Shen Lu's resolve to never give up on Fu Cheng. In this cold and indifferent society, few people were capable of such devotion. Even immediate family would abandon a relative who had become a burden, finding some reason or another to do so.
Moved, the person offered to buy another cup of mint water to support her.
Shen Lu reluctantly refused.
'I'd love to sell another, but it's just not worth it.'
As the sun began to set, Shen Lu finally sold all of her mint water. She packed up the empty bucket and sign and pushed Fu Cheng back to the Seventeenth District.
[DING DONG. Detected sale of mint water 10/10. Task completed. Rewarding one Lottery Ticket.]
As Shen Lu struggled with the wheelchair, she silently requested the lottery draw.
[Congratulations, Host, on drawing blind box prize #118: one Sweet Egg Waffle Maker.]
[Sweet Egg Waffle Maker: Never worry about burning your food again! A 100% success rate means even a total kitchen novice can make perfect egg waffles!]
Shen Lu: '...Well, that's not bad. I can sell another kind of snack tomorrow.'
'It's just... I'll have to scavenge for junk to trade for the ingredients. Just thinking about it is exhausting.'
Shen Lu spent 100 Star Coins to rent a small, ground-floor apartment in the Seventeenth District. It was only ten square meters and had some simple furniture, but its biggest advantage was its proximity to Gold Street, which made setting up her stall convenient.
The room had a strange, musty smell that had built up over the years. It was awful. Shen Lu opened the only window, trying to air the place out.
She used every last bit of her strength to drag Fu Cheng onto the small single bed. Then she collapsed onto the severely sagging old sofa, resting for a good while before catching her breath.
'So tired...' Shen Lu was too exhausted to care how uncomfortable the old sofa was. She fell into a deep sleep right then and there.
The sun had completely set. The unlit room was pitch black, with only a few patches of blurry light shining in from the window.
Fu Cheng silently opened his right eye, his gaze slowly sweeping across the room.
'I'm actually in a room,' he thought. 'I expected to be dumped on the side of the road.'
His feelings grew complicated as he looked at Shen Lu, fast asleep on the sofa.
He knew Shen Lu had fed him the mint water. He also knew she had brazenly taken the gauze and saline solution from his folding medical kit. Then, she had saved him from being gnawed on by rats and taken him with her to sell things on the street. Their very first customer was a ruthless mercenary, and she had almost been killed.
It was he who, at the risk of worsening his injuries, had used his superpower to intimidate the mercenary.
The moment he used his superpower, his body felt as if it were being ripped apart. His Spiritual Sea churned in a violent, chaotic storm.
Using his superpower was extremely dangerous for him in his current state, which was why he hadn't reacted at all when the rats were gnawing on him.
The rats would, at worst, eat some of his flesh, but they wouldn't kill him. Using his superpower, however, would accelerate the spread of the spiritual poison in his system, leading to immediate death.
But Fu Cheng used it anyway.
Their prior relationship had been unremarkable, but when everyone else had abandoned him, she was the only one who hadn't.
For that reason alone, Shen Lu was worth the risk.
Moreover, the mint water Shen Lu had somehow acquired had a miraculous effect on his injuries. Thankfully, she had given him another cup, which had just barely stabilized his nearly-exploding Spiritual Sea and saved his life.
Fu Cheng's gaze darkened as he recalled the truth he'd accidentally overheard before the Fu Family cast him out.
He had always known he wasn't his parents' biological son. His birth parents had unfortunately died fifteen years ago.
His uncle's family not only took over his father's position as Family Head but also promised everyone they would raise him as their own son.
Over the years, his uncle and aunt had indeed been good to him, never treating him harshly. They even treated him better than their own son and daughter.
But it was all fake, all an act.
It turned out his uncle had orchestrated his birth parents' deaths. His uncle had also secretly arranged for him to be severely wounded on the front lines.
All for the sake of seizing true control of the Fu Family.
"Now that Fu Cheng is crippled, no one will ever again say he should take my place."
"From now on, the position of Fu Family Head will belong to Xiao Qi. Darling, let's just get rid of Fu Cheng. I don't like having him in the house. It feels like he contaminates the very air."
"Exactly, Dad! Get him out of here! Every time I see him, I just think about my classmates praising him to my face. They don't even use my name, they just call me 'Fu Cheng's younger brother.' Do I not have a name? It's disgusting."
"Me too! They all call me 'Fu Cheng's younger sister.' I really hate it!"
"Alright, alright, that won't happen anymore. Throwing him out directly is a bit unseemly. How about this: I'll send him to the Shen Family. Doesn't he still have a fiancée? We'll let his fiancée take care of him."
"Hmph, you haven't heard? Shen Lu is a fake heiress. The Shen Family's real daughter is back. No wonder Shen Lu was so arrogant and spoiled. Turns out she's just low-born trash."
"But I pursued the marriage alliance with the Shen Family precisely because I knew she was no good. Dumping Fu Cheng on her is the perfect solution. With a temper like hers, she'll never have the patience to care for him. I give it a month before she 'takes care of him' for good."
...
As he thought of this, Fu Cheng's breath hitched, and a fierce wave of hatred surged through him.
He had truly regarded his uncle and aunt as his own parents, and his cousins, too. He would grant almost any request they made, never doubting them in the slightest.
He even planned to bring them supreme glory once he entered the military, to elevate the Fu Family's status in the Imperial City.
But it was all just his own wishful thinking. It was all a conspiracy, a lie.
If only he had been more vigilant and noticed something sooner, he wouldn't have ended up like this. Forget revenge, even just surviving was a struggle.
Fu Cheng's eyelids grew heavy.
He couldn't maintain consciousness for long. Just being awake for this short while had made him drowsy, and he had to enter a semi-dormant state.
'Shen Lu, pampered her whole life by the Shen Family, was thrown out along with me. She might be able to handle the first day, but what about the second? The third? The fourth?'
Fu Cheng slowly closed his eye, sighing internally.
'If... if she abandons me because I've become too much of a burden, that's fine. I won't blame her.'
'And yet, deep down, he still hoped she wouldn't. No one wants to be given up on, to be cast aside.'
'Even though he knew he was useless now, a burden to everyone.'
'Besides, his injuries were too severe. Even the military's most advanced medical technology couldn't fix him. His death was just a matter of time.'
'Still, compared to dying all alone... wouldn't it be better to have someone with me?'
...