Hello, Welcome to Merit Supermarket (SUPERMARKET)
Spending 50 million in a day—such a title would surely attract massive traffic if posted on a short video platform.
Unfortunately, Huo Yunxi, the only one who knew about this title, wasn't entirely clear on the purchasing power of 50 million.
After all, the currency used a hundred years ago was completely different from today's!
However, he knew that 50 million was no small sum.
From the murmurs of the police officers at the Chashan City Public Security Bureau while they were stocking up at the supermarket, he had already understood that 100,000 yuan was a significant amount for them.
Let alone 50 million now!
So, he was curious about how Jiang Chenyi planned to spend such a fortune.
Then, Jiang Chenyi took him to one of the most famous hospitals in the capital, also one of the best in the country.
In an instant, Huo Yunxi knew how the money would be spent.
They headed straight to the intensive care unit. Standing at the entrance of the outpatient department, Jiang Chenyi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and listened intently to all the sounds in the building.
"It hurts so much..."
"I feel so terrible, so terrible..."
"I'm exhausted, why are there so many patients today?"
"It's all my fault for not watching the child, otherwise they wouldn't be suffering like this..."
"Why did I lose my leg? I'm only twenty..."
"I'm out of money, I don't want to treat it anymore, I'll just go home and wait to die..."
"Mom, I beg you in heaven, please bless me to live through this..."
As he fully opened himself up, all the cries, pleas, and groans reached his ears.
This was an immense burden for Jiang Chenyi!
"Let's go. We'll continue upstairs." he said with his face slightly pale as a side effect of receiving too many thoughts in a short time.
Seeing him like this, Huo Yunxi was genuinely concerned and suggested, "Should I carry you on my back?"
Jiang Chenyi waved his hand. He was just feeling a bit overwhelmed by the noise but physically, he was fine.
Seeing his persistence, Huo Yunxi decided not to persuade him further, but he was prepared to support Jiang Chenyi at any moment.
The third floor was the pediatric department, but the children who came to this building were not suffering from ordinary illnesses.
As the elevator doors opened, both of them could feel an extremely oppressive atmosphere.
The occasional sobbing sounds added immense pressure.
Jiang Chenyi was not surprised by this, but his expression grew even more somber.
He walked down the corridor, passing one consultation room after another, and finally stopped in front of the second-to-last room.
His target was not the children and their families inside the consultation rooms, but a father sitting silently on a chair outside with tears streaming down his face.
The man held a sleeping child in his arms while clutching a stack of test results and a hospitalization notice in his hand.
His child was seriously ill and urgently needed to be hospitalized, but as a single father, he simply couldn’t afford the hospitalization fees, surgery costs, and medical expenses.
Moreover, the two elderly people at home were also in poor health.
For a moment, the man felt as if the sky was falling.
[My child, what should I do? Our house is rented, and your grandparents need a thousand yuan for medicine every month. I only earn five thousand yuan a month. What should I do?]
His inner voice was filled with anxiety and despair.
Jiang Chenyi even heard fragments of thoughts like [Maybe I should sell my blood] mixed in.
Jiang Chenyi walked up to him with his calm eyes fixed on the man until the latter snapped out of his emotions and noticed the two men standing in front of him.
"You... do you need the seat? I’ll get up now." The man’s first reaction was that they needed the seat, and he immediately prepared to stand up.
Huo Yunxi placed a hand on his shoulder and his deep voice unusually gentle at this moment: "We don’t need the seat. You can stay seated."
Jiang Chenyi crouched down as his gaze lingering on the child for a while before he finally spoke: "Do you want money to treat your child?"
The man’s heart trembled, and a look of unease appeared in his eyes.
Noticing Jiang Chenyi’s gaze fixed on his child, he instinctively held the child tighter: "I won’t sell my child!"
His voice was sharp that immediately drew the attention of other families in the corridor.
Jiang Chenyi smiled, and the smile softened much of the coldness he had shown earlier.
"I don’t need your child either. Come on, let’s go pay the fees. Your child is still young. The sooner they’re treated, the sooner they can leave the hospital."
With that, he walked away. Huo Yunxi patted the man’s shoulder: "Follow him. This is a big hospital. Do you really think buying and selling children is possible here?"
With so many people around, even if the two men had ill intentions, they couldn’t possibly snatch a child in broad daylight.
The man’s heart raced.
He glanced at the two men walking away, then looked down at his child, and finally gritted his teeth and followed.
Some people noticed the three of them, but they were more concerned about their own children.
In such a situation, who had the energy to gossip?
The man was trembling with fear the entire way while feeling terrified that the two men might suddenly snatch his child and run at a corner.
So, along the way, he maintained a small distance from the two people.
But unexpectedly, these two actually led him to the payment area on the first floor.
Jiang Chenyi waved at him: "Give me the payment slip, I'll take care of it."
Upon hearing his words, the man's pupils suddenly contracted, and he stared at Jiang Chenyi in disbelief.
After a long while and confirming that the young man wasn't lying, he tremblingly handed the payment slip to Jiang Chenyi.
After that, it was a smooth process of paying and getting admitted to the hospital.
The man was in a daze the entire time as he mechanically followed the nurse's instructions.
He felt like everything was just a dream!
How could someone suddenly appear to help treat his child? And right after the examination and when he was agonizing over what to do, this person just appeared out of nowhere!
How could it be... such a coincidence?
It wasn't until he saw his child lying in the hospital bed that the man finally snapped out of it and knelt down in front of Jiang Chenyi with a thud.
This time, the young man accepted it.
"Thank you... thank you so much!" For the man, today was like a pie falling from the sky!
And a big, meaty pie at that!
A grown man kneeling in front of a young man while crying uncontrollably, quickly drew the attention of many people around them.
At first, some thought the two young men were bullying the middle-aged man. Just as they were about to step in and intervene, they heard the man crying and laughing as he expressed his gratitude to the young man.
"If it weren't for you, my child... I really didn't have the money to treat my child, wuwuwuwu! How... how can I ever repay you?"
Jiang Chenyi pulled the man up with one hand and made a shushing gesture: "I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable, please stop crying, it's a bit noisy..."
It really was a bit noisy, not just in his ears, but in his heart as well!
Seeing the slightly pale face of his benefactor, the man immediately shut his mouth, but his throat still couldn't suppress the sobbing sounds.
"There's no need to repay me, just stay true to yourself. Treat others the way you always have."
Seeing the gratitude on the man's face, Jiang Chenyi withdrew his smile and spoke with utmost seriousness: "This is your good karma, uncle."
Good people should receive good rewards.
This is the principle and belief that every shopkeeper holds in their heart.
This man had a faint golden aura around him—not the accumulated virtue passed down from his ancestors, but the Merit he had accumulated over the years.
He was an ordinary person, and his Merit wasn't as abundant as that of the wealthy. But the fact that he had managed to accumulate this golden aura was enough to show that the man had an excellent character!
Therefore, Jiang Chenyi's assistance was to pay all the current expenses in one go. As for whether more would be needed later, that would depend on the child's recovery.
When Jiang Chenyi left, he handed the man a business card—on it was a string of numbers that didn't look like a normal phone number, but as long as the cardholder had it, they could dial it.
"If your child needs more money for treatment later, you can call me or come to this address to find me."
The man took the card, but he refused Jiang Chenyi's offer: "You've already helped me so much. Even if my child needs to stay in the hospital longer, I can handle it! This is what I should do!"
Someone had already shouldered a significant portion of the responsibility for him, and he couldn’t possibly shirk the rest!
After all, he was the child’s Dad!
Jiang Chenyi gave him a deep look and smiled faintly, "Or, once the child has recovered, you can come here. There are some things in the Supermarket… that would be very suitable for your child."
The man seemed to understand the deeper meaning behind his words. He sniffled and nodded heavily, "I understand!"
No matter what the benefactor was referring to, the man decided to bring his child here, so the child could personally express their gratitude to the benefactor!
Jiang Chenyi took a step forward and led Huo Yunxi to their next destination.
Behind him, the man knelt down again, but this time, his emotions had undergone a significant change—from gratitude to reverence.
Seeing the man’s actions, Huo Yunxi suddenly understood why Jiang Chenyi had chosen him.
The child was one thing, the family’s financial struggles were another, but the most important factor was the man himself.
"We’ve only spent a little over a hundred thousand… we’re still far from our goal!" Jiang Chenyi stretched lazily and said in a leisurely tone.
The two arrived at the inpatient department, where the sounds they heard were particularly heart-wrenching.
Especially the sounds coming from the tenth floor, which were filled with despair—the tenth floor was the ICU ward.
Stepping out of the elevator on the tenth floor, the atmosphere here was even more suffocating than in the outpatient area.
Huo Yunxi’s worry deepened because after arriving here, the other person’s face turned pale in an instant, even more so than in the outpatient department.
He supported Jiang Chenyi's arm as the young man closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to suppress the strange emotions rising in his heart.
This was still just the ICU.
A critical condition didn’t mean a terminal illness. Later... he would have to make a trip to the oncology hospital.
Regular ICU wards didn’t allow family members to get close, so in the waiting area outside, many family members of patients were sitting or lying down. Some wanted to be closer to their loved ones, while others couldn’t afford to stay in a hotel.
Looking at the dense crowd before him, Jiang Chenyi rubbed his temples and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
In his ears, the loudest voices he heard were five—
["I beg the heavens, please let my wife wake up!"]
["We’re out of money... I can’t go on... I’m sorry, my husband, I really can’t save you. If you go, I’ll follow you..."]
["Why... why did this happen to our family? Why did it have to happen to my child!"]
["Damn it, when will this woman die?"]
["Survive, survive, survive, survive, please, you must survive!"]
He sensed the locations of four of these voices and then carefully observed those individuals.
Finally, he turned his gaze to the man who wished for his wife’s death as a faint look of disgust slowly emerged in his light-colored eyes.
He didn’t rush to save anyone immediately. Instead, he found a corner and called the police: "Hello, I’d like to report a crime. On the 10th floor of the inpatient department of Capital Hospital, a man named Li Wei’an intentionally harmed his wife with the aim of claiming her property..."
He had made a deal with the Supermarket and conducted Bottom Fishing on that man, only to discover that he was actually an attempted murderer.
If it hadn’t been for his neighbor coincidentally going out and finding the woman lying in a pool of blood, she would have already died by now.
Li Wei’an pretended to be anxious, but in his heart, he was constantly praying for his wife to die quickly.
After calling the police, Jiang Chenyi didn’t pay much attention to the man anymore. Instead, Huo Yunxi stood by the elevator entrance to prevent him from escaping midway.
Then, Jiang Chenyi walked up to a woman—the one who had wanted to commit suicide with her husband.
Though only in her early thirties, the woman looked as if she were in her fifties with her face gaunt and her eyes devoid of any light.
She was waiting for the day to end because she simply couldn’t afford the hospital bed fees anymore.
Once the doctor came to remind her, she planned to give up on treatment and take her husband home, living out whatever time they had left.
Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes, perhaps as she recalled the memories she shared with her husband. Now, even the thought of death didn’t seem frightening.
But someone didn’t want to watch her give up.
"Hello, do you need any help?"
If Luo Qiuming had been there, he would have felt a sense of nostalgia upon hearing those words.
When he first met Jiang Chenyi, those were the exact words the man had spoken.
The woman slowly looked up and saw a handsome young man standing before her with his gaze tinged with concern.
She shook her head gently. "No, thank you…"
What help could she possibly need? There was nothing left.
But to Jiang Chenyi, after she spoke, her inner thoughts instantly changed: 'I don’t want to die, and I don’t want my husband to die either, but… no one can help me.'
He crouched down with his eyes locking onto hers. "Are you sure? Do you really not need help with your husband’s hospital fees?"
The woman was stunned for a moment, then abruptly raised her head with her gaze filled with disbelief and wariness.
After a long pause, she finally muttered, "My family… has nothing to mortgage."
She thought Jiang Chenyi was one of those loan officers.
"No, it’s not a loan. I’m offering to help you for free. If you want to save your husband, get up and come with me to see the doctor."
As the young man stood up, the woman briefly wondered if she was dreaming or if this was a hallucination before death.
Wasn’t it said that people feel warmth before freezing to death? Was this her hallucination as she approached death?
Huo Yunxi, seeing the woman’s dazed expression, knew she couldn’t believe what was happening.
He gently grasped her arm and said softly, "Just consider this a stroke of luck today. First, go see the doctor and find out how much more treatment your husband needs. He’ll help you with all of it, but you also need to pull yourself together. You still have a life to live."
A small spark ignited in the woman’s lifeless eyes. She grabbed Huo Yunxi’s hand and asked again, "R-Really?"
Huo Yunxi’s eyes were filled with compassion and kindness, just as they had been a century ago when he protected the people behind him. "Yes, he never lies."
He helped the woman over to the attending physician. Under the encouraging gazes of the two men, the woman trembled as she asked, "Doctor, how… how much longer does my husband need to stay in the ICU…"
When the doctor saw the woman approach, he felt a pang of helplessness.
He remembered her and knew her family’s financial situation wasn’t good, but her husband’s condition…
The doctor adjusted his glasses and his tone inadvertently revealing a hint of compassion: "If the recovery goes well, it will take another week before he can be transferred to a general ward."
At that moment, Jiang Chenyi asked, "Based on your estimation, how much more will her husband need to spend?"
The doctor glanced at Jiang Chenyi with some confusion and was unsure of his relationship to the woman. After a moment of thought, he provided a rough estimate for conservative treatment.
"Five hundred thousand... at the very least."
Upon hearing this amount, the woman nearly collapsed.
Jiang Chenyi listened without changing his expression, then asked the doctor for the patient's medical records. Seeing that the woman did not object, the doctor handed them over.
Huo Yunxi also leaned in to take a look, but after seeing a series of technical terms, he silently retreated to the elevator entrance.
Jiang Chenyi, however, furrowed his brow as soon as he saw the word "Legionella", not to mention the presence of other bacteria.
No wonder the doctor said it would cost at least five hundred thousand—this was the most conservative estimate.
Without hesitation, he took out an anonymous bank card and said to the doctor, "I'll deposit the money into their account first."
Seeing that he was genuinely willing to pay, the woman's mind went blank.
She instinctively threw herself at Jiang Chenyi to clutch his sleeve tightly and asked loudly, "Really? Are you really willing to help me?"
Before today, she had never believed in the idea of a windfall.
Not just the woman, even the doctor was shocked and asked in disbelief, "You're paying for her?"
After seeing Jiang Chenyi nod, he emphasized again, "This is five hundred thousand!"
Not five thousand or fifty thousand, but five hundred thousand!
In some small towns, five hundred thousand could buy a decent apartment—a three-bedroom, two-bathroom one at that!
Jiang Chenyi shook his head, and this gesture immediately piqued the curiosity of both the woman and the doctor.
But his next words were, "Not five hundred thousand. I plan to deposit six hundred and fifty thousand."
Five hundred thousand was the conservative estimate, and he intended to add more in case additional funds were needed later.
The doctor instantly gasped before scrutinizing the young man for a while before finally concluding that he wasn't joking.
Since someone was willing to pay... the doctor quickly led him to the payment counter to deposit the money into the woman's account.
Regardless of what this person's intentions were, securing the funds for the patient's treatment was the priority! As for whether there was any transaction between the woman and the young man... well, the money was already in hand. If there was no notarized agreement between them, the woman could simply act as if nothing had happened!
Jiang Chenyi noticed the doctor's eagerness to take advantage of the situation and he faintly smiled but did not choose to expose the doctor's haste.
When the woman saw the string of zeros in her medical account, she was stunned for a long time. After regaining her senses, she knelt down before Jiang Chenyi.
Jiang Chenyi helped her up again and, seeing the dazed expression on her face, sighed and said earnestly, "You should find a place to rest properly now."
After being overly tense and then suddenly relaxed, it was inevitable that problems would arise. The woman was currently being sustained by her excitement, but once that emotion faded, she would collapse.
"Your husband's issue is basically resolved now. The rest is for the doctors to think about. You need to take care of your health; you can't both collapse, can you?"
The woman nodded eagerly. In her eyes, Jiang Chenyi was her savior, and whatever he said was right!
After seeing the woman off, Jiang Chenyi returned to the ICU ward and settled the medical bills for two more family members.
Their reactions were the same as the woman's—filled with surprise and disbelief.
But after taking care of three family members one after another, Jiang Chenyi began to attract the attention of a small group of people, among whom was Li Wei'an.
When the young man came to the ICU for the fourth time, Li Wei'an slid to his knees in front of him before tearfully begging Jiang Chenyi for help.
"I saw it! I saw you settle the medical bills for three strangers! Great benefactor, please, I beg you, save my wife, wuwuwuwu!"
He had deliberately gone to the restroom to splash water on his face to make it look like he was crying profusely.
His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, and upon learning that the young man was giving away money for free, many people's eyes instantly lit up.
They gradually gathered around with their eyes faintly glowing with a green light—the light of greed.
Jiang Chenyi tilted his head slightly as his cold gaze fell on Li Wei'an's face before shifting to the others.
Huo Yunxi strode to the young man's side, his tall and imposing figure and icy stare making the others feel intimidated that they did not dare to approach further.
"I helped them because they were truly desperate, but are you? Are you?" The last three words were directed at Li Wei'an.
Li Wei'an wanted to say yes, but under Huo Yunxi's murderous gaze, he couldn't bring himself to utter those words.
The others were somewhat dissatisfied.
They had also spent a lot of money, so why was this young man only helping others and not them? After all, they all had loved ones in the ICU!
"Why?" Jiang Chenyi chuckled before revealing a sharp canine tooth. "Because my money is mine to spend as I please! None of your damn business!"
Instead of questioning why he only helped others and not them, they should ask themselves why they were coveting someone else's money.
Those people were so envious their eyes were almost red. Just then, the family members he had helped earlier returned to the area. Seeing the resentful looks from others, they silently lowered their heads and avoided eye contact.
"I'm about to sell my house, why can't you help me..." someone cried out in frustration.
The two family members who had been helped remained silent for a moment before letting out a bitter laugh. "Probably because we don't even have a house anymore..."
Years of savings were gone, the house was sold, the car was sold, and they had even sought donations, but... it was still far from enough...
The ICU is a place that burns through money the fastest.
If it's just a day or two, it's manageable, but the worst is when it drags on for a week or half a month with no improvement in sight...
The crying person's voice suddenly stopped, but they still stubbornly refused to give up.
However, whether they gave up or not didn't matter, because the police arrived at that moment.
"Li Wei'an, right? Come with us. We suspect you of murdering your wife. Please cooperate with the police investigation!"
Li Wei'an never expected that the police would track him down so quickly.
Just as he was about to make excuses, everyone present heard a mocking laugh: "Some people think that by using a fruit knife from a friend's house as a weapon and then throwing it into the sewer next to the police station, they can rest easy."
At these words, Li Wei'an looked at Jiang Chenyi as if he had seen a ghost.
His expression immediately alerted the police that something was wrong.
"A friend, huh... so that's how it is," muttered one of the veteran officers, though his gaze toward Jiang Chenyi was also filled with curiosity.
Li Wei'an was promptly taken away by the police, but two officers remained behind to question Jiang Chenyi about his earlier statement.
Knowing their purpose, Jiang Chenyi didn't resist. Instead, he revealed that he was the one who had reported the incident.
This piece of information genuinely surprised the police.
"As for how I knew, you can consider me a Celestial Master. If you're aware of the Celestial Masters Association, you can ask Supervisor Gu Sheng whether he knows someone named Jiang Chenyi."
The two officers exchanged glances.
Working in the capital, they had heard of the association.
Since Jiang Chenyi had provided Gu Sheng's name, they could follow this lead in their investigation.
However, they still had one more question: "Why are you here? Do you have a family member hospitalized?"
Jiang Chenyi initially thought of brushing them off, but upon seeing their police uniforms, an idea suddenly struck him.
"Police Uncle, I might need your help."
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