The old man nodded, put the note in his pocket, and took another bite of the skewer.

Lin You brought over a cup of fresh milk, placed it on the table, and asked, “Uncle, you probably don’t have any fresh milk at home either, right? I happen to have a small bucket here that you can take back.”

The old man was flattered and said, “How could I accept that?”

Lin You smiled and said, “This was just collected today. I forgot to send it to the supermarket. In the future, if it’s inconvenient for you to come here, you can get fresh milk from a nearby supermarket. During the polar night, the lack of sunlight makes it easy to become calcium-deficient, so people need to drink more milk to get proper nutrition.”

After saying that, she turned around and went to the kitchen to get the milk bucket.

The old man did not want her to carry it alone, so he quickly followed.

Lin You brought the milk bucket and handed it to him. When she looked up, she saw that he walked with difficulty and asked, “Did you injure your leg?”

The old man took the one-liter milk bucket, returned to the dining table, and sat down.

He placed the bucket on the ground, finished the remaining skewers on the plate, and explained, “I had surgery on this leg a while ago. It’s a bit stiff, but I can still walk normally.”

Lin You suddenly thought of something, paused, and quickly went to the freezer behind the curtain.

She brought back a bag of vegetables and said, “Take this bag of vegetables home and try it.”

She then told him about the healing factors contained in the vegetables.

This was the same topic she mentioned during the interview today.

The old man was half-convinced. He glanced at the bag of vegetables and saw some varieties he had never seen before. He could not help but sigh, “Your store really has a wide selection of vegetables and meat.”

Lin You nodded, “Yes, this is an official vegetable supply point.”

“Official…” the old man murmured, pausing for a moment before saying, “My daughter is also with the authorities in Lancheng. She is a military doctor. She must be very busy right now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Qingze walked in from outside.

He had heard the conversation between the two inside the shop. After briefly introducing himself, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and said, “Let me leave you my contact information. The ingredients here at Lin You’s contain special factors, but we still do not have enough quantitative research cases to confirm their specific effects, so they cannot be used on a large scale for now. I hope you can be one of the sample cases and give me timely feedback on your condition after use.”

Seeing the man still seemed uncertain, he quickly explained, “Don’t worry, the effects contained in the food ingredients have already been proven. It’s just that there are not many references yet for the clinical application of these factors.”

To prove his point, he took out his business card, work ID, and several previous test reports.

The old man accepted them and read through them carefully.

Then he showed a surprised expression, “So, it’s true?”

Fu Qingze nodded, “That’s right. Uncle, after you go back and use these ingredients, please send me a picture of your wound every six hours. Tomorrow, I will also report this to the Drug Administration Center. Later, they will provide you with a more professional evaluation form.”

To reassure the old man, he also explained the confidentiality policy of the organization and the compensation provided for being a research subject.

The old man expressed his understanding and said, “There’s nothing secret about my wound, but since it’s your regulation, I’ll follow it. As for the compensation, it’s not necessary. I have a good pension and don’t need that money. The government is allocating resources everywhere now, and I’m sure there are many places in greater need. I won’t add to the burden.”

Fu Qingze, usually with a cold expression, finally smiled slightly, “It’s part of the protocol. We all follow the rules.”

Only then did the old man nod and say, “Alright, alright, let’s go with what you say.”

After Fu Qingze left, the old man finished the remaining skewers on his plate.

While everyone in the store was not paying attention, he quietly opened his phone and scanned the QR code on the table. After roughly estimating the price of the milk, ingredients, and skewers Lin You had given him, he sent over the payment.

As the notification sound from Alipay played, Lin You came back to her senses.

But before she could say anything, the old man had already left the shop. As he passed her, he smiled and said, “Girl, your skewers taste great. I’ll come often in the future.”

The old man’s laughter was deep and hoarse with age, yet it carried a lively and energetic tone.

His home was not too far from there. After walking two blocks, he saw an old-style residential compound.

The corridors in this building were a little worn. Rust had already spread across the handrails.

Some of the wall paint had fallen off, giving the place a somewhat mottled look. There were even a few spider webs hanging in the corners of the hallway.

The old man walked up to the fourth floor, took out his key, and opened the door.

After entering the room, he first placed the milk and vegetables in the kitchen. Then he turned around and went to the living room to switch on the television.

He did not change the channel.

Because he wasn’t trying to watch anything specific, he just wanted some noise in the room.

The program on screen was a competitive variety show featuring young boys and girls.

Their youthful faces, agile movements, and the lively atmosphere of the show brought some joy and laughter into the otherwise quiet room.

The old man stood in front of the television and watched two rounds of competition. He seemed quite moved.

After a while, he remembered what Lin You and Fu Qingze had said to him and returned to the kitchen.

He rummaged through the bag of ingredients. There were leafy greens, gourds, mushrooms, and some root vegetables.

Since he had just eaten skewers and was not yet hungry, he took out a bundle of bok choy and placed it under the tap.

After washing it clean, he turned on the flame on his slightly old stovetop.

Blue flames ignited from the gas burner as the old man skillfully added chopped green onion, ginger, and garlic into the pan. After sautéing them until fragrant, he added the vegetables to the stir-fry.

His household had a habit of not adding soy sauce when stir-frying greens. They would sprinkle some sugar before serving to enhance the flavor with a light sweetness. Just before taking the dish out, they would drizzle a bit of sesame oil. With that, the dish was finished.

The reason for this method was that before his wife passed away, she liked food that leaned slightly sweet.

Over time, he also developed a taste for sweet vegetables.

The stir-fried greens were simple to make and didn’t require a recipe.

That was why this was the first dish the old man ever learned to cook.

And after his wife passed away, he continued to cook it the way she used to.

This often drew him into memories and made him feel as if she were still around.

Having eaten a lot of meat at the skewer stall, he had felt slightly greasy. But now, pairing it with some vegetables made his mouth feel refreshed.

After finishing the plate of greens and washing the dishes, the old man sat back on the sofa and absentmindedly watched the show on television, his gaze a little vacant.

Older people often like noise and company.

But once it got too noisy, they longed for peace. So even though the television was on, he soon drifted into sleep.

By the time he woke up, two hours had passed.

Seeing it was getting late, he turned off the TV and got up to prepare for his night routine.

But when he stood up, he noticed that the pain in his legs seemed to have eased significantly.

Could this be just his imagination?

That healing factor they mentioned couldn’t possibly work so quickly…

As he thought this, he rolled up his pants leg and looked at the wound.

There used to be a surgical scar on his calf, but strangely, it now appeared noticeably faded.

And the wound that had originally been over ten centimeters long now looked like it was only about seven or eight centimeters.

So, the areas where the scars disappeared—was it because the wounds had completely healed?

This place used to hurt whenever it got cold because the wound hadn’t fully healed.

But now, since part of the wound had completely healed, the pain had significantly lessened.

The old man felt it was hard to believe. He picked up his phone, took a picture, and sent it to Fu Qingze.

Fu Qingze seemed to be busy and didn’t reply.

The old man didn’t wait any longer.

His instinct told him that these ingredients were indeed greatly helping his wound.

So, without much thought, he called his daughter.

After briefly explaining the situation to her, her reaction was also very strong. She asked,

“Dad, can you help me ask if these ingredients can be shipped to Lancheng? More and more people are getting injured now, but the medical supplies in the city are nearly exhausted, and many healing drugs from other regions are also depleted. Many wounded people can’t receive treatment at all and can only endure the pain of their injuries.”

The old man said, “I can ask for you. But didn’t Lancheng face transportation issues? How can I get the goods delivered to you?”

There was a brief silence from the other end of the line. Suddenly, she remembered something and said, “A few days ago, I saw news from Ancheng. It seemed like you opened a transportation route to deliver food supplies. Can that route reach Lancheng? If we could get some medical supplies over here, it would be great.”

The old man understood. “Alright, I’ll go ask tomorrow.”

After hanging up the phone, Ji Yuan returned to work.

A new patient was brought in front of her.

Because there were no beds available, the patient had to lie on the ground.

So Ji Yuan knelt on one knee and began dressing the wound to stop the bleeding.

This was a patient who had fallen from the third floor while being chased by zombies during the defense of Lancheng.

He wasn’t fully unconscious yet, but his leg bones were broken. Also, due to a hard object on the ground, his chest had been torn open.

Blood was spreading across the ground. Ji Yuan should have gotten used to such scenes by now.

These kinds of situations had become far too common in Lancheng.

However, her brows were still tightly furrowed because no one knew how much longer such days would last, or when the mutant creatures would stop attacking.

The fortress she was stationed at could not hold out for much longer.