Chapter 14 Shopping Mall

Gu Changjin kept an eye on them. Cheng Ran was overly concerned about accommodating Shi Qingyang. He thought Cheng Ran didn't have to treat Shi Qingyang in this manner, but he understood Cheng Ran's feelings and recognized why he did so.

Cheng Ran had lived with him since he was a child. There was no one else in the residence except for the two of them. Even he was initially indifferent to Cheng Ran.

In Yangtze City, the Cheng clan was a large family. The head of the family was Cheng Ran’s grandfather Cheng Xuze. Twenty seven years ago, Cheng Xuze became an eighth-level Rad-Warrior and one of China's top powerhouses.

Cheng Hui, Cheng Xuze's eldest son, was born with rad-power already in his body. He made breakthroughs all the way after he began practicing at the age of sixteen. He was now a seventh-level powerhouse.

Cheng Xuze had retreated behind the scenes, and Cheng Hui was now in charge of the Cheng clan.

Cheng Xuze had two sons. Cheng Ran's father was Cheng Hong, Cheng Hui's younger brother.

Cheng Hong was vastly inferior to Cheng Hui in all aspects. He wasn't a born with rad-power. Although he was now a sixth-level Rad-Warrior, he couldn't go much farther. He'd been raised in safety and was used to it.

Gu Changjin was grateful for Cheng Hong kindness. He was over forty years old and lacked the energy to fight beyond the city. He eventually followed Cheng Hong's guidance and became Cheng Ran's housekeeper.

His father was indifferent to Cheng Ran, unlike his second child. Gu Changjin even grew suspicious that Cheng Ran was not Cheng Hong's child, but Cheng Ran was born after Cheng Hong and his wife Qin Liu married. DNA test came out fine.

After so many years, he was less and less sure of why Cheng Hong and Qin Liu were so uninterested in Cheng Ran, and after a long time he had grown affection for the boy. He gradually started to instruct Cheng Ran to do things without informing Cheng Hong. For example, making friends and practicing medicine.

It's just that Cheng Ran had lived alone since he was a child, and only sees his family during the New Year's and holidays. Usually he was restricted in going outside the house. Even with internet, he grow up like this. Shi Qingyang had just released a small kindness to him, and he already regarded Shi Qingyang as one of the most important people.

Gu Changjin observed Cheng Ran's smile at Shi Qingyang. In the one hand, he was relieved that Cheng Ran had a friend, but on the other, he couldn't help but feel a little sour — his young master was too kind to Shi Qingyang.

‘I've only known you a few days, but you've already dug a hole in my heart…’ But although he felt a little uneasy in his heart, he didn't let it deter him. As long as the boy treats his young master well, he’ll return the favor.

Gu Changjin thought Cheng Ran's stance was a little low, but Cheng Ran didn’t feel so. He'd never gotten along with his peers, so he treasured this relationship even more, and he wanted to impress Shi Qingyang with all he had. Let Shi Qingyang to speak with him more.

He'd been alone for so long that he couldn't think of anything to talk about with Shi Qingyang. And after the medication was packed, he didn't dare to call Shi Qingyang directly for fear of upsetting Shi Qingyang.

"What I did was simple. In reality, all I did was followe the instructions in the video. It's nothing special.” Cheng Ran spoke softly, even if the whole person wished to fly happily—Shi Qingyang praised him!

"This is not something that ordinary citizens can do! Do you want to try a different medications?" Shi Qingyang proposed.

"Yes." Cheng Ran nodded vigorously.

Shi Qingyang had spent the remainder of the afternoon researching the medications with Cheng Ran.

Cheng Ran didn’t lie and did just as he said, watched a video and made a potion, however he didn't really understand any of techniques involved in producing. The reason why it went so smoothly before was that all the steps were written down. All he had to do was focus and be careful. As for high-level medicine...the advanced pharmacist needs rad-power… Cheng Ran had no relationship with Advanced Medicine.

When he thought of it this way, Shi Qingyang always felt pity.

Before dinner, Cheng Ran prepared another bottle of soothing potion and the hue was better than before.

Cheng Ran now regards Shi Qingyang as a friend, but Shi Qingyang knows who he was, so he couldn’t treat him as equal. As he saw Gu Changjin's plan to cook, he went to the kitchen to help.

Gu Changjin told Shi Qingyang what both of them will have for dinner and then focused on making what Cheng Ran wanted to eat. Cheng Ran could no longer easily accept radiation, nor could he ingest radiation-contaminated food, so he made almost entirely vegetarian dishes, with just a small amount of minced meat, which was the meat of a mutant insect with very little radiation.

When Shi Qingyang saw this scene, he became increasingly convinced that he had made that day the meal for Cheng Ran wrong, but Cheng Ran had eaten it...

Cheng Ran had already washed up while the two of them were preparing the meal.

The medical equipment was dissembled and a cleaning robot was used to clean it. Despite being considered Gu Changjin's master, he lacks the master's attitude. Normally, he fully respected Gu Changjin as an elder.

After dinner, Gu Changjin unexpectedly informed. “School starts next week. I'll accompany you to the store to purchase some items.”

"Is it okay if I go outside?" Cheng Ran's eyes were wide with astonishment.

"Master, this is Spark City." Gu Changjin smiled.

As long as he didn't say anything, Cheng Hong wouldn't know anything about Cheng Ran's life.

Spark City's above-ground area was really busy at night. Many people who have worked all day will flock to the ground at this time to rest, buy, and watch movies. Those with children sometimes brought them to the playground.

Shi Qingyang was too busy practicing before rebirth to notice these things, but now he feels rejuvenated. The tanks that sometimes drove on the road, the shops with gleaming headlights on the roadside...the billboards that often displayed his favorite foods. A Rad-Warrior advertised a new drink. It was said that after drinking it, the child's aptitude would rise.

Of course, this was nothing more than boasting. There were drugs that could improve a child's aptitude, but only a senior pharmacist could prepare them. This kind of drink, with dozens of credits per bottle, was just that: a drink.

Shi Qingyang explored everything beyond. It was exciting at first, but he soon lost interest. He shifted his gaze to the left, only to discover Cheng Ran sprawled on the car windshield, his face squashed against the glass.

Obviously, this looks weird, but he thought it was kind of cute.

Shi Qingyang followed Cheng Ran's gaze and looked ahead, not feeling bored anymore... In reality, the scenery outside was breathtaking.

Gu Changjin’s car didn’t drive fast, but it didn’t take long for the car to arrive at the city center. The city had a semicircular defensive cover. The outer buildings could not be constructed any higher than a certain height, but the buildings in the center could. It was very high. The tallest building was located in the heart of the city. This was the City Lord's Mansion, as well as the headquarters of each city's radiation guild.

Shi Qingyang was staring up at the tall City Lord's Mansion when he noticed his clothes being pulled. When he turned his head, he saw Cheng Ran was gazing at him intently, as he pulled away his hand as if previous action never happened.

"What's the matter?" Shi Qingyang asked.

Seeing Shi Qingyang was not angry, Cheng Ran became energized and pointed to the very bright protective cover illuminated by the lamp inlaid in the sky.

"What are those people doing?"

“Repair and apply of anti-radiation coating." Shi Qingyang as well saw the figures and devices on the other side of protective cover. “Some mutant beast pounce against the cover when they see the city’s lights. When the anti-radiation paints start to flake off, it needs to be patched up. Sometime, late at night you’ll see sight like this.”

Shi Qingyang grinned, as soon after, a low-level moth rushed over. A blinding light sprayed out from the gun mouth placed on the protective cover as the moth beast advanced, and the moth beast was immediately killed. It was ignited, turned into a small fireball, landing on the protective cover, and then rolled down it.

Many citizens in the city were familiar with such a scene, and he was well acquainted with it, since he had done the job.

"All right, get out of the car first, and I’ll go park.” Gu Changjin chuckled as the car came to a halt in front of a shopping mall.

Shi Qingyang took Cheng Ran out of the car, only to discover they had arrived at Spark City's largest shopping centre. This mall was built in a half circle around a building in the heart of Spark City, with a wide plaza in front of it. Almost everything was for sale here.

Cheng Ran admired and observed everything in front of him. He should have been used to seeing such scenery as a person born in a first-class city, but he was much more country pumpkin than Shi Qingyang.

"Shi Qingyang?" A voice that was oddly familiar towards him, yet when Shi Qingyang turned around he saw a completely unfamiliar face that babbled intensely. "Where have you been these days? Once your test results came out and you got admired in Spark Academy, you disappeared.”

‘One of my former classmates?’ After learning about his parents' deaths, Shi Qingyang seemed to have never returned to school. With the passage of time, he couldn’t no longer remember those classmates.

"Something happened at my house." Shi Qingyang smiled bitterly. "No wonder, Shi Qingyang, He Ming had been looking for you as well. He was often pressed down by you in exams, but now he was tested double C+ in rad-test. He'd always wanted to show you, but you'd vanished.” The man said again, with an expression of watching a show.

He Ming? Shi Qingyang had a bit of an impression of this person. He attended a minor school until the age of 16, and his grades were still among the best. When sometimes he was second, He Ming was first. Later, He Ming seemed to have attended Spark Academy as well, but there was no overlap between the two.

Seeing that Shi Qingyang didn't react much, the young man was a little disappointed, and asked. "Do you want to go shopping together?"

"No, I'm with someone else." Shi Qingyang came to a halt in front of Cheng Ran who wanted to go on.

That person clearly had a poor relationship with him; otherwise, how could he not inquire, even though he stated that something was wrong in his home?

As the so-called classmate left, Shi Qingyang turned his head, only to see Cheng Ran grasping his hand and smiling.

"Are you overjoyed?"

"Yeah, you're with me, Shi Qingyang." Cheng Ran nodded.

Just now he was afraid that Shi Qingyang would follow the man. Fortunately, Shi Qingyang didn't do so.

"Is that your classmate?"

"Not anymore." Shi Qingyang grinned and held Cheng Ran's hands tightly.

Gu Changjin came soon. They didn’t need to prepare too much for school. Today, he mainly bought clothing for the two of them. He led the two of them to a counter on the mall's sixth floor, but he didn't expect for Cheng Ran to observe the prices. After passing the price tags, he was about to leave.

"Master, what's the matter?" Gu Changjin inquired in a low voice. Cheng Ran wore this brand all the time.

"Grandpa Gu, it's too expensive; let's get something cheaper.” Cheng Ran stated flatly, frowning.

He had never been concerned with money before. But when he used all his money in his account to buy one computer Shi Qingyang, he started to be concerned about running out of money.

Even if there was no money, only Cheng Ran would speak so casually... Shi Qingyang admitted that he, too, thought the clothes here were overpriced.

"Heh, beggars came in without money.." At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded.

Shi Qingyang frowned mildly as he turned his head. He expected to run into more classmates he didn't recognize, but when he turned around, he found instead a group of acquaintances, or more specifically, two of them were enemies.