Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 181 - 81 Volcano

Chapter 181: Chapter 81 Volcano

When it came to the moment she was to receive treatment, Mrs. Tian, who was known for her cheerful disposition, seemed to exude a natural and hearty boldness.

But she couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous.

Zheng Fa stood by her side, while Old Man Bai, in the corner of his eye, clenched his fists tightly.

"Mrs. Tian, don’t be nervous," Zheng Fa reassured her. "I’ve tried it before, treating with the Taiyin Talisman, it won’t cause any pain."

Hearing what Zheng Fa said, Old Man Bai seemed to snap out of it. He relaxed his fists and gently held Mrs. Tian’s arm, whispering to her.

"Don’t be afraid."

Mrs. Tian nodded slightly, her face showing a trace of embarrassment as she whispered to them both, "I’ve made a spectacle of myself."

Zheng Fa shook his head.

People are always like this; in times of true despair they find a strange calm.

Yet it’s the sight of the slightest hope that is the most torturous.

Zheng Fa extended his hand, and the Taiyin Talisman within the core of his Foundation within the talismanic Dao trembled gently. A golden Spirit Talisman flowed out from his fingertips, carrying with it the hopes of Old Man Bai and the anxiety of Mrs. Tian, transforming into a golden spirit rain that fell upon Mrs. Tian.

The spirit rain created by the Taiyin Talisman had the power to soothe the mind, and Mrs. Tian couldn’t help but fall into a deep sleep.

Before she fell asleep, there was still a hint of pain on her face.

After she fell asleep, perhaps due to the nourishment of this rain, a long-missed tranquility slowly emerged on her face.

...

While Mrs. Tian was being treated with the Taiyin Talisman, her mother, Grandma Wu, was walking home from the market, carrying two plastic bags.

She was accompanied by a neighborhood auntie, whom she had bumped into at the market, making it convenient for them to walk home together.

Along the way, they chatted and laughed, seemingly in high spirits.

As they talked, the neighborhood auntie seemed to remember something and appeared hesitant to speak.

"What’s wrong?" Grandma Wu asked with a laugh.

"How is... Mrs. Tian doing at your home?"

Mrs. Tian’s illness was no secret among the neighbors, as many had seen her coming back in a wheelchair a few days earlier.

There were rumors that her days were numbered.

"It’s just like that. It can’t be cured, and she doesn’t want to undergo treatment anymore," Grandma Wu said calmly, as though speaking about everyday matters.

"You... Do you have any plans for the future?" The auntie’s face unavoidably carried a hint of sympathy.

At her age, losing a child was something that elicited pity from anyone who saw it.

But Grandma Wu’s face was smiling, and her tone light, "Any plans for what?"

"I mean, in the future, you by yourself..." The auntie stuttered, seeming unsure of how to continue.

"Hey, don’t you worry about me," Grandma Wu said brightly, smiling radiantly. "My daughter has arranged everything for me."

"A couple of years ago, she found me a nursing home, and the payment is all taken care of. When I need care, I’ll go to the nursing home," Grandma Wu explained. "The nursing home has everything, young people to take care of me, companionship; I won’t even need to lift a finger to cook or do laundry. Life there will be more comfortable than it is now."

"Sure, nursing homes are nice, but I’ve heard that elderly people without children can get bullied there," the auntie still seemed worried. "There are people who like to push others around."

"I’ve heard about that too, but I’m not without someone to look after me... You might not know this, but a few days ago, my daughter found me a son-in-law."

"Oh? That’s really a joyous occasion," the auntie found it quite surprising. "With your daughter’s health..."

"I know, right? She’s lucky to have met someone kind-hearted... He doesn’t mind," said Grandma Wu. "My new son-in-law said that since he’ll be in Beijing, he’ll definitely visit me at the nursing home."

"That’s really fortunate!" The auntie slapped her thigh, her face showing a bit of envy. "I’ve been worried about what you would do in the future."

"No need to worry!" Grandma Wu’s voice was loud, her expression cheerful: "I’m fine!"

"That’s why I admire you the most on this street. If it were me, I couldn’t be like you," the auntie couldn’t help but express her admiration. "You really are no ordinary person!"

Grandma Wu waved her hand away.

Without speaking, she just smiled.

The two women said goodbye at the street corner.

As Grandma Wu got closer to her own home, her steps became more hesitant, but the smile on her face grew increasingly thick.

As if it was deliberately squeezed out.

She pushed open the half-closed gate, cheerfully shouting, "I’m back, and guess what, the green beans at the market today were both cheap and fresh."

Nobody answered from the main house.

She glanced inside the house, her heart fluttered with a bad premonition, feeling a bit weak in her legs, she reached out for something to support herself when she realized—the large stone table in the courtyard was gone.

Grandma Wu swayed, and this jolt woke her up.

No longer caring about the whereabouts of the stone table, she dropped the plastic bags and rushed into the house.

"Mom?"

At that moment, Mrs. Tian walked out.

Her complexion was rosy, her movements agile, and her steps quick, as if she had never been ill.

Grandma Wu stared dumbfounded at her daughter, as if she couldn’t recognize her or was afraid to.

"Mom?"

"You..."

"Old Bai’s method was very effective," Mrs. Tian explained softly.

Grandma Wu looked at her daughter standing healthy and strong before her, seemingly really much better.

The smile that curled her lips finally slowly relaxed, and the cheerfulness on her face gradually faded, as a light sob welled up from her throat.

This sob eventually turned into loud wailing.

The weeping sounded as if it had been piling up in her heart for years, building up like a calmly fierce volcano.

...

Grandma Wu, after all, was advanced in years, and a cathartic bout of weeping left her utterly exhausted.

The crowd helped her into the room to rest for a while.

Except for Mrs. Tian, everyone else walked out of the room in silence.

The courtyard was filled with quiet chatter; it took a long while before Mrs. Tian, with reddened eyes, came out.

Upon seeing Zheng Fa, Mrs. Tian’s knees buckled, as if she was about to kneel before him.

"Ah!" Zheng Fa hastily supported her: "Mrs. Tian?"

"What’s the matter?"

"My mom... she’s been secretly stockpiling sleeping pills."

"Stockpiling?" Old Man Bai was shocked: "From where?"

"Mine, I was in so much pain during my treatment that I couldn’t sleep... it was prescribed by the doctor, and I didn’t finish it."

They all fell silent.

For an elderly person nearing ninety, such actions at least represented some past thoughts.

"It’s hard to tell." Old Man Bai couldn’t help but sigh too.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment; when he had last visited Mrs. Tian’s home, Grandma Wu hadn’t shown any odd behavior.

She was even learning how to use a smartphone.

"Zheng Fa..." Mrs. Tian looked at Zheng Fa, again appearing as if she was about to kneel, her speech somewhat incoherent: "I don’t know how to thank you properly, you just..."

Seeing Zheng Fa slightly embarrassed and trying to avoid the situation, Mr. Bai, who was beside her, supported her and said: "How to thank him? You’ll have to devote yourself to his service from now on!"

"Right..." Mrs. Tian finally steadied her emotions and said with a furrowed brow: "Old Bai didn’t make it clear to me earlier, you need me, you want to combine the Spiritual Energy environment to cultivate some special plants?"

At this point, she was much calmer.

"Yes." Zheng Fa straightforwardly said: "I’m not familiar with agriculture; in this aspect, we’ll have to rely on Mrs. Tian."

"What do you mean rely on me!" Mrs. Tian waved her hand: "But this matter, I alone am not enough."

"..."

Zheng Fa was a cautious person, moreover, the nursing home had a good atmosphere at the moment.

Hiring more people required careful consideration.

"It’s not just about manpower, I mean, money!" Mrs. Tian saw his expression and knew what he was thinking: "Do you think that agricultural research is just about farming? Just open up a few pieces of land, set up some greenhouses and that’s it?"

Zheng Fa and the others were stunned.

They had indeed subconsciously thought that way.

"Wait a second, I’ll make you a simple list."

Mrs. Tian turned around and walked into the room, and after a while, she came out with a paper in her hand.

"Take a look."

Zheng Fa looked at it, the paper was packed with densely written equipment names.

Some were common laboratory equipment: microscopes, centrifuges, balances, incubators, and so on.

There were also some like DNA extraction equipment and PCR equipment that Zheng Fa somewhat understood.

Then there were things like chromatographs and mass spectrometers, and more high-end equipment that were beyond his understanding.

Behind these pieces of equipment, there were prices written, mostly ranging from several hundred thousand to a million yuan.

"I wasn’t too concerned about the lab’s procurement costs before, so these are my estimates." Mrs. Tian said: "Agricultural research nowadays can’t do without a lab... and in recent years there’s also been the addition of molecular marker gene sequencing and intelligent analysis systems."

"That is to say, you want to set up a relatively complete lab, not counting the land, building renovation, it would cost from a few million to tens of millions."

Beside, Old Man Bai was muttering: "... still, we mathematicians save money, a ten-thousand-yuan stack of drafting paper can last a college for twenty years."

Zheng Fa understood the implication of Mrs. Tian—times have changed!

Scientific research was a gold sink.

And this was just the initial investment.

"Xiao Zheng, you see it now..." Old Bai sighed beside him: "No matter what, if it’s a woman—her innate ability is to spend money."

"Ah, that’s not right?" Old Man Bai suddenly reacted and looked over at Tang Lingwu: "This one has the gift of giving money!"

Tang Lingwu’s eyes sparkled, looking at the list with a condescending disdain, her expression telling it all—just this?

...

In the Xuanwei Realm.

Master Pang suddenly came to Zheng Fa and began: "Some disciples reported in the workshop that a few Demon Sect disciples came to the market and were captured, claiming they know of Nephew Zhang’s whereabouts."

"To the market?"

Zheng Fa was startled; while the Thunder Pool market was a melting pot, it was also dangerous for Demon Sect disciples.

"They came to sell blood..." Master Pang’s face carried a complex look, with an air of witnessing the age: "They said they had sold it a few times and caught the attention of some Loose Cultivators, who wanted to find out where they got the blood from."

"...And then they got caught?"

"Right, these people probably drew too much blood, became too weak, and were easily captured."

Zheng Fa pursed his lips, unsure what to say—

It’s probably called cutting out the middleman.

At this moment, Master Pang sighed: "These damn Demon Sects, pushing people to such extremes."

?

Zheng Fa even felt pity for the Demon Sect.