Chapter 56: The Efficacy of Antibiotics

Living captives can be exchanged for 5 silver coins.

Dead ones are only worth 5 copper.

The four of them worked together, tied the young man up completely, threw him on the cart hidden in the corner, and dragged the cart back to the base.

"Blue clothes! Are you from a shelter?!"

No one responded to him.

With a horrified expression on his face, the young man watched himself being moved past the concrete wall and sent to the side of the granary.

The cart stopped.

Ample Time and Old White lifted the reindeer together and threw it on the table in front of Brother Scrambled Egg.

"Brother, check how much it is."

"Twelve silver."

After counting the coins and then slapping them on the table, Brother Scrambled Egg drew out the machete and started to chop a large piece of meat.

The muffled chopping sound terrified the young man.

I've never heard that people in blue clothes eat humans!

"Administrator? You just came here just in time, we were just about to bring him to you!"

"Where did you find him?"

"I ran into him while hunting. This guy shot me with an arrow, but missed."

"I see."

Counting five silver coins from his pocket and handing them to Ample Time, Chu Guang signaled him to untie the prisoner on the cart.

Although Ample Time didn't think it was safe to do this, he wasn't very worried after seeing the administrator's strength. He walked in the direction of the cart with Gale.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, the young man struggled more intensely. But when he saw the person next to them clearly, he was stunned.

"Chu Guang?"

He spoke in the language of this world.

"Mhm, it's me."

Chu Guang smiled and reached out to him to give him a hand.

"I'm sorry that they did this to you."

It was not a stranger who was captured by Ample Time as a prisoner. It was Yu Hu, the second child of the Yu family that lived opposite him at Bett Street.

Yu Hu stretched his reddish wrist, glanced nervously at the blue coats around him, and asked in a low voice.

"Are they all your people?"

Having not seen Chu Guang for a while, he thought this stranger was already dead outside, but he didn't expect to meet him again here. Yesterday, he was still persuading his little sister to stop guarding the shack for this outsider; there was already dust building up on his door at Bett street...

"Yes, they are my companions."

"What are they doing around here?"

"Eating popcorn."

"Popcorn? What is that?"

"It's not important, you can just ignore them. Speaking of which, why are you here? Where are your father and big brother?"

Chu Guang remembered that whether they were scavenging waste or hunting, they all acted in groups.

Yu Hu's expression darkened, and he spoke in a low voice.

"During the hunt a few days ago, my father was injured by a marauder's gun. My eldest brother was bitten by a hyena raised by the marauder trying to save my father. After we managed to escape, my father survived, but my elder brother had a leg injury. He has been badly infected, and is still running a high fever even now. He couldn't even get up from the bed… Winter is coming, but I don’t know if he can survive it."

Hyenas, vultures and jackals, were the three wasteland animals that were not picky on what they could eat. 

This was especially true concerning the most common hyena in Qingquan City. When it couldn't find its prey, it would often eat carrion. When they were extremely hungry, they would even attack Crunchers, so their fangs were usually full of bacteria.

If one was bitten by a mutant hyena, it was easy to get infected if the wound was not treated in time, and may even threaten one's life in serious cases.

After listening to Yu Hu's words, Chu Guang frowned.

The Yu family didn't treat him badly when he just came to Bett street. Although they did not take special care of him, their youngest daughter always helped him look after his house and prevented the Wang family from stealing his house.

"Bring your eldest brother to me, maybe I can heal him."

Yu Hu was dazed.

"Really?!"

Chu Guang nodded.

"Mhm, go, bring him here."

Yu Hu looked moved and suddenly lowered his head.

"Sorry, you are so kind, but we were always worried that you were a bad person before."

Chu Guang said tolerantly.

"It's okay, it's natural to be vigilant."

He wasn't a good person in the first place.

"Hmm, there's something... I have to apologize to you."

"What is it?"

Yu Hu blushed and hesitated for a long time, scratching the back of his head and said.

"You once planted the shofar potatoes before your house... I didn't think it would grow, so I dug them up and ate them."

"..."

What!

It turns out that it was you who stole it!

But anyway, it was just a piece of potato. It was not a big deal.

Chu Guang said, "It's okay, maybe there was a problem with the method."

Yu Hu nodded immediately.

"Mhm Mhm, you really won't be able to grow something like that! After I dug them out, two pieces of them were already rotten. If you want to grow shofar potatoes, cutting them into pieces is not enough. You have to let it germinate first, and one piece has to have at least two buds. Then, you need to smear the incision with plant ash before planting it. After that, it will mature in a month or two!"

Chu Guang looked at him in surprise: "You know how to grow them?"

The young man smiled honestly and scratched the back of his head.

"This is nothing, everyone knows a little bit about planting. However, it is usually my mother, sister-in-law, and Xiaoyu who grow them at the door of our house."

Chu Guang happily replied, "Okay, when the spring starts next year, I will find something for you to do. Let's leave it aside for now, go back and bring your elder brother here."

Hearing what Chu Guang said, the young man remembered that his elder brother was still lying on the bed sick, so he nodded and said quickly.

"Okay, I'm going now."

...

The Wetland Park was about three kilometers away from Bett Street. After exiting the park, there were concrete ruins and green plants scattered among the ruins. If one wanted to avoid the more dangerous areas, one had to take at least two kilometers worth of detours.

However, Yu Hu actually came back with his elder brother on his back in less than two hours.

Chu Guang asked Teng Teng to bring a piece of fur and put it on the wooden table and asked Yu Hu to put his elder brother Yu Xiong on it.

This strong man's face was extremely pale at the moment. It looked like he was dying.

Most of the scavengers on Bett Street were malnourished. Coupled with the lack of effective medical conditions, it was fortunate enough that they didn't contract any diseases. But if they did, and if their immunity system couldn't handle it, most of them would die in the end.

Chu Guang glanced at the man's wound briefly and initially judged that it was a bacterial infection based on the color of the suppurative wound, so he took the antibiotic he had received last time and gave his wound a simple treatment.

"Is it useful to use plant ash?" Yu Hu asked nervously.

"Depending on the situation, the high-temperature calcined plant ash is fine."

Calcined plant ash primarily contains potassium salt, and it is alkaline, which has a good bactericidal effect. 

Although its effect was a little worse than that of alcohol, it was good as a substitute when there was no high-purity alcohol, especially in the wild.

Of course, this refers to the plant ash calcined at high temperatures.

If it was regular plant ash, who knows whether it carried tetanus bacillus—it might even directly send people to heaven if used.

About five minutes passed.

Yu Xiong's complexion obviously improved a lot; his frowning eyebrows smoothed out, and he also stopped sweating.

Chu Guang noted it all down silently.

It is not bad for pre-war technology, the efficacy of this antibiotic is indeed good.

Yu Hu next to him was relieved. Seeing that his elder brother's condition improved, he held his elder brother's hand excitedly with tears in his eyes.

"Elder Brother! How are you feeling now?"

"Xiao Hu? Where is this..." Noting Chu Guang standing next to him, Yu Xiong, who woke up in a daze, had a look of surprise on his pale face.

"...Chu Guang?"

"It's me."

"You are not……"

"Still alive, but probably won't go back."

Yu Xiong was dazed. Looking at the people in blue clothes around him, he understood the situation, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Congratulations, it looks like you have found your companions."

"Mhm, I just found them recently," Chu Guang said with a faint smile, "Thank you for looking after me before."

"Don't say that; we didn't do anything, but you saved my life... That capsule, it should be very expensive, right?" Yu Xiong said apologetically.

This kind of pill that felt like plastic was a good thing that Boulder City has. He had only heard of it before, but had never seen it before.

In fact, even in Boulder City, it was not something that everyone could afford.

"Don't worry, it's nothing. I'll give you another one later. If you feel feverish, you can take it. If you don't feel feverish, you can save it for the future."

When others treat him well, even if it was simply a piece of pie, Chu Guang would remember it.

Besides, though the pill was precious to them, to Chu Guang it was just a reward for drawing a blind box.

Hearing that Chu Guang wanted to give him medicine again, Yu Xiong shook his head and said.

"You saved my life, how can I accept such a valuable thing?"

Chu Guang didn't want to dwell on this issue, so he stuffed the aluminum foil that had been divided into small pieces into his brother's hands.

"Keep it for your brother. If he has a fever again, ask him to take it. Don't make my efforts to save your brother go to waste."

Yu Hu hesitated, but glanced at the injury on his elder brother's leg, he finally nodded.

"Thank you… I will definitely repay you! When I take my eldest brother back, I will come to work for you every day!"

"No need. You are now the backbone of your family. You are the only one who can hunt. If you work for me, who will feed your family? If you really want to repay me, try to survive this winter, and then we will discuss something next spring."

Seeing that Chu Guang insisted on delaying the matter, the two of them did not refuse anymore, but their eyes were filled with gratitude, saying that when this winter passed, they would definitely come to repay him.

Old White, who was watching the plot on the side, pulled Ample Time and asked in a low voice.

"What are they talking about?"

Ample Time stroked his chin and thought for a second.

"I don't know either, but I can roughly guess it."

Night Ten urged on the side.

"Tell me."

"Okay, then I'll just roughly explain my guess, though it's not necessarily true... The aboriginal young man went out hunting in order to feed his family, but was captured by us. The administrator recognized him and asked him to bring his family member who was seriously ill. They were cured with the shelter’s medicine, and then the indigenous people were very moved, saying that we are their friends and will probably establish diplomatic relations with us next.”

Old White was stunned.

"How will they establish diplomatic relations?"

Before Ample Time could speak, Night Ten patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile on his face.

"You are really stupid, how do the indigenous people establish diplomatic relations? Of course through marriage! The chief will marry his daughter into our shelter. That's how people usually do it."

"Damn... then doesn't it mean that our administrator needs to sacrifice a lot?!"

Gale coughed slightly.

"Don't listen to Night Ten's nonsense, although this possibility cannot be ruled out, I am more optimistic about him forming a couple with the weapon shop proprietress."

Ample Time nodded.

"I can always reach a consensus with Gale. You two should reflect on why your thinking is not always the same as normal people’s."

Teng Teng's eyes sparkled, and she whispered excitedly.

"Why does he have to form a couple with the proprietress? Can't it be with the young man who wants to repay him?"

"Ha! You have exposed yourself. You fushoji!"

"Is this game serious? Is it really serious?"

"..."

Chu Guang couldn't listen anymore, and walked away pretending that he didn't hear anything.

Speaking of...

The current version of tailor's income seemed to be a bit high?

In the next version, it should be nerfed.