After 3 PM, Luo Zhen was pushing a large food cart out of the stall. This cart was an important part of his business. In the afternoon, the customers of Lungmen were mostly children. After school, it was the elderly who did their shopping and were the main customers of the shop. Although people wondered why popcorn was sold alongside steamed buns, this was just Luo Zhen's personal preference. As the saying goes, if you like something, it goes with anything.
Luo Zhen walked out of the streets of Lungmen onto a secret path unfamiliar to the city dwellers, while checking the remaining stock in his inventory. "Hmm... hit the quota today as well." He removed the cart's tray, closed the dust cover, and closed up shop. But he didn't turn back to the same street. Instead, he continued on the mysterious road towards the outskirts of the Dragon's Gate. The closer you get to the outer roads of Lungmen, the fewer pedestrians there are, and the tall buildings gradually disappear from view, leaving only emptiness and the depressing silence of poverty. Lungmen is a trade city-state with a small area but an exceptionally dense population. The closer one gets to the city center, the higher the social class.
Those who can afford a house within the Dragon's Gate are the truly wealthy, and the majority of Lungmen's population are residents of the apartments surrounding those walls. And far from the Dragon's Gate district with its many tall buildings, Lungmen also has another outer district located at the very edge of the place. That place is called the slums. Dirty streets and alleys that extend in all directions like a maze. The walls are covered with graffiti and many small, persuasive advertisements. Compared to the inner city district of Lungmen, this place is a completely different landscape, like heaven and the underworld.
The people who live here are at the very bottom of Lungmen's society. It is a place where many elderly people who cannot live in Lungmen have congregated. There are even children who have lost their families, as well as those who want to avoid the public eye for some reason, all gathered here. For many reasons, the police officers of Lungmen rarely send people to inspect this area seriously. This makes the area around the outskirts of Lungmen a dangerous place, and there are often illegal things hidden all over. But that doesn't mean that the people who live here are all criminals, because they also have their own lives.
There was a loud noise from a small fish ball shop nearby. "What's up, kid Zhen! You're early today as always!"
"What do you mean early, Uncle Dong? I always come at this time." Luo Zhen walked up to him while scratching his face with embarrassment. "And I told you, Uncle, my name is Luo Zhen. If you want to call me something, 'Kid Luo' would be better. The previous name makes me feel like I want to change my profession to a soccer player for some reason." The hunched-back old man from the fish ball shop looked displeased. "Hmph, the name Kid Luo sounds like a good-for-nothing! Kid Zhen sounds better. He must be someone who wouldn't hurt a woman's feelings!"
"Uh... and what does that have to do with my name?" Luo Zhen felt a little embarrassed. As he walked past these people, he always felt like a small person, which made him pretend to look around to hide his shyness. Like other old men, this Uncle Dong was also a talkative person who liked to chat endlessly, and he certainly wouldn't stop. And if he was left for too long, Luo Zhen would surely be set up on a blind date with his granddaughter, whom he always boasted about. So Luo Zhen quickly cut him off, "Ah! Uncle Dong! Have you seen Xiao Ling? I haven't given her her food yet."
"Oh, you kid..." Uncle Dong's old face was full of kindness. "There, there, she should be in that area. Hurry up, and take some more fish balls too, in case the kids want them." Luo Zhen couldn't refuse the old man's kindness, so he gladly accepted the fish balls that Old Man Dong stuffed into his hands. In exchange, he also handed the old man a bottle of soy milk and a few pork buns, which the other party had no intention of refusing and even looked very happy. After finishing the transaction.
This was an activity he did every time he came to the slums. He didn't come here to do business, but to deliver food to others. Although the living conditions in the slums were very poor, most of the people here had a helpful nature. Everyone was a caring neighbor, ready to help each other in times of trouble. There were many orphans who had lost their parents during their journey or were separated from their families and had to stay here without anyone to care for them. Those children would be sent directly to a house called the 'Big Yard', and the available adults would often take turns taking care of them and providing them with food. Xiao Ling, whom Luo Zhen mentioned, was one of the oldest girls among those children, and she was like the eldest sister of everyone in the Big Yard.
"Big Brother Luo Zhen~~~!" Before Luo Zhen could reach that area, a little girl ran up with a shout, skillfully climbed onto the food cart, and jumped to hug him around the neck. "Oh, Xiao Ling! You're as cheerful as ever today." Luo Zhen, being hugged by the running girl, gently reached out to lift her up, while his expression changed slightly when he noticed something. "Have you gained weight again? Ow, that hurts! Why are you biting my ear?"
"Because you're being silly, Big Brother Luo Zhen!" The little girl pouted with displeasure, her rabbit ears twitching, clearly showing her anger. But even though she was angry, she had no intention of getting off Luo Zhen and continued to act like a cute child, cuddling up to be held like a baby. So in the end, it was only Luo Zhen who had to give up and sincerely apologize to her. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just kidding. I have some fish balls from Uncle Dong today. Come on, eat them while they're hot, they're delicious."
Xiao Ling: "Mm!" The well-mannered little girl nodded energetically while helping Luo Zhen push the packed food cart to the Big Yard. As she was cheerfully distributing food to the other children, the sharp-eyed Luo Zhen noticed a small black stone peeking out from her collar. Luo Zhen beckoned her over. "Xiao Ling, come here for a second." Luo Zhen gathered Xiao Ling's hair up and carefully observed the marble-sized stone on the back of her neck. It was as if the stone had grown from within the skin. The fragment of black ore was only exposed on the surface, which might be shocking if someone else saw it, and it could lead to trouble if those people were from within the Dragon's Gate. This was another reason why people in the slum community couldn't live with normal people.
Oripathy.
In this world of Terra, the social development of people cannot avoid the mineral energy called Originium. Although these minerals provide great benefits to the infected, they can also cause the infected to develop an incurable ore disease and have a shortened lifespan. And this disease has no cure, and once infected, there is no way to be rid of it, even after death. The infected can only watch as the Originium stone in their bodies gradually emerges, and eventually, their bodily functions will be destroyed by the Originium stone, leading to an inescapable death. Due to the terror of this ore disease being transmissible from person to person, it is not strange that patients with Oripathy are not accepted by society and are despised by the majority.
Of course, not all who live in this slum are Oripathy patients, but most of the Oripathy patients here have to live in the slums for the rest of their lives. In reality, Oripathy patients cannot easily infect others, as long as they are careful not to let the Originium stone on their bodies cause damage to the uninfected. Luo Zhen carefully checked the size of the ore stone on Xiao Ling's neck before confirming that it had not grown any larger. He smiled with satisfaction and took out a box of candy from a shelf on the food cart. "Very good, Xiao Ling. You listened to your big brother very well. So follow the same rule, okay? These candies must only be distributed to the children with Oripathy. You must also emphasize to them that they must eat one box per day."
"Understood!" Xiao Ling nodded energetically. She then took out a piece of brown sugar from the box and put it in her mouth. Her small face narrowed into a crescent moon as if she were happy. "The candy big brother makes is so sweet! And it's warm and makes my body feel so comfortable. All the kids say they love to eat it. Even the kids who don't have Oripathy are jealous of us."
"Haha," Luo Zhen laughed a little awkwardly. "Actually, you can eat it even if you're not sick, but the quantity isn't enough. If I could, I'd like to make more... but remember, Xiao Ling, you have to finish it today, okay? After you finish it, I'll come back and give you more. I have to go somewhere else now."
"Wait, big brother." Xiao Ling grabbed the corner of Luo Zhen's shirt and looked at him pitifully. "Aren't you going to stay for dinner? Everyone in the Big Yard and I miss you very much..." Luo Zhen was also troubled. It wasn't that he didn't want to stay. "I also have to deliver food to the other elderly people, and there's not much time left... ah."
Halfway through his sentence, Luo Zhen glanced and saw a small tail sticking out from the corner of a wall. A slender, long tail with no fur, and at the tip, there were red tassels hanging down. Luo Zhen was very familiar with that tail. He felt like he had seen that kind of tail somewhere before. So he leaned in close to Xiao Ling's ear and whispered quietly, which made Xiao Ling nod brightly. Then, Xiao Ling showed her excellent athleticism as she jumped onto Luo Zhen's shoulder, flipped over a few walls, then ran and leaped to the corner of that building and jumped down like a gold-medal Olympic gymnast, and rushed to embrace a girl who was hiding there.
"Big Sister Huijie! You're finally here!! (〃'▽'〃)"
"Aii!!?" The woman who was hugged by Xiao Ling yelped, stumbling back two steps and revealing herself from her hiding place, allowing Luo Zhen to see the hider clearly. Luo Zhen admired her scream and her shy face, while smiling slyly and waving. "Good afternoon, Superintendent Ch'en Huijie. This must be fate that we meet like this. I was wondering if you're free to have some tea with us?"