Chapter 158 Uncuffing
"Do you know me?" The man who seemed to be carefully sculpted by God took off his glasses and asked in a low voice with a gentle smile.
The little girl lying on the hospital bed showed a weak but brilliant smile and said, "Well, I know, you are the big star Wu Xi. I really like the songs you sing."
"Well...when you recover from your illness, how about I invite you to my concert?" Wu Xi asked.
"Really?" the little girl asked in surprise.
"Really, I wouldn't lie to such a cute little sister like you. I just don't know if you are willing to come." Wu Xi said with a blink of his eyes.
The little girl nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, yes! I do!"
Wu Xi gave her the long-eared rabbit doll he brought with him. Seeing the little girl holding the doll with great cherishment, he gently touched her head. The two of them leaned together and took a photo. After Wu Xi encouraged her a few more words, he left with a smile.
As soon as he got out, he pushed away the reporter who had been pointing the camera at his face and said to his agent beside him, "Sister Liu, we need to talk."
Avoiding the crowd, Wu Xi sent all the assistants around him away, with obvious disapproval in his eyes, and lowered his voice and said, "Sister Liu, the child is only five years old, she doesn't know that her parents died in the earthquake. I came to see her, I really want to bring her some happiness, not to use it as propaganda material! When she grows up and sees this video, what do you want her to think?"
Liu Jie frowned and said, "Xixi, you like to help people, which is a good thing. Even if you postpone your schedule for two weeks, I will make arrangements with the director. But you act as your love messenger and I prepare my promotional content. There is no contradiction! After the earthquake, many stars left immediately, but you chose to stay. OK, no problem, I have no objection! You help rescue and comfort the wounded every day, and you even squat on the ground to eat without caring about your image. That's fine! I can handle it. But I can't let other people in the crew think you are being a big shot, and I can't let the audience think you are just putting on a show. I filmed all of this, and I want everyone to know what you did. Do you know how much this will improve your image in the future?"
"I know, I don't do these things for those things. I don't object to your publicity, but at least... I think there should be some bottom line." Wu Xi said with a sad expression. In fact, he wanted to kick out the reporter who almost poked the camera into his eyes in the tent several times just now.
"Those things?" Liu Jie said in a shrill voice, "Those things give you food, clothes, your current status and reputation! You don't care about those things, but I do! Xixi, if you are really dissatisfied with my approach, you can change an agent. But if you want me to be your agent and pay me, then this is what I will do! I don't care whose fragile heart will be hurt in the process. The only thing I have to consider is your interests, so your agent is me and not someone else, do you understand?"
Liu Jie walked away angrily with big strides, and Wu Xi scratched his hair in distress. He didn't quite understand why he could easily achieve what others could not achieve in a lifetime in just a few years, and became famous all over the sugar country, but he was actually a little troubled by his current reputation. He also knew that after becoming famous, those who relied on his fame to profit, and those who sacrificed a lot to help him become famous, actually changed a lot, and were no longer the same as he knew at the beginning.
…
Li Degang was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes, holding a blood-stained watch in his hand, his whole body trembling like a spasm. Next to him was a plate with bread and water still untouched. He had not eaten or drunk for a long time, but now people were busy with rescue, and no doctor had time to treat his stress disorder caused by the disaster.
When the earthquake occurred, Li Degang and his gang of thieves were very close to the epicenter. He was lucky to survive, but everyone else died. Ding Zhuangbo died in front of him. He tried to dig out Ding Zhuangbo, who was half buried in the collapsed house, but before he could stand firm, the ground shook violently, and a dark crack appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the screaming Ding Zhuangbo directly. Li Degang was so scared that he fled in panic until he accidentally fell on a rock and fainted.
Looking back now, it was a miracle that he was still alive, but he would have preferred to have died with him.
——Why are they all dead? Why am I still alive? Why am I the worst guy to survive?
He was filled with intense guilt and regret for those who had died, as if it were a fault that he was still alive.
…
People who were there felt more blood, death, loss, wailing and pain. When people in later generations looked back, they called this period "the kiss between God and the devil."
On January 3, a magnitude 8.5 earthquake occurred in Tangguoyuanhai at 36.5 north latitude and 105.7 east longitude.
On January 8, at 38.8°N, 43.5°E, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Asia, India.
On January 16, at 34.4 north latitude and 135.2 east longitude, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurred in Shenban, Bingguo.
On January 23, at 32 degrees south latitude and 76.6 degrees west longitude, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the coast of Zhihe State.
Along with the earthquake, once extinct volcanoes erupted again, mudslides and landslides occurred frequently, cracks appeared on the surface, and the energy of the earthquake traveled across the ocean, causing huge tsunamis in coastal areas several times, causing countless property losses.
In the three consecutive months since January, in addition to four major earthquakes, small earthquakes of varying sizes have frequently occurred in various places. It's as if the earth has finally decided to relax after sleeping for too long, or as if the devil has visited this blue planet. However, one thing seems to be blessed by God - no matter how big or small the earthquake is, the local government seems to have been prepared long before the earthquake occurs. They conducted earthquake evacuation drills a week or two in advance, evacuated the people in the earthquake center in advance, prepared for rescue at the fastest speed, and delivered a large amount of relief supplies to the disaster area within just one or two hours after the earthquake. According to statistics afterwards, these earthquakes that would have caused at least thousands or tens of thousands of deaths in earthquake disaster simulations ended up being a lot of noise but little damage. Although there were many injured, the death toll was less than one percent of the expected number.
Not long after, the rumor that Sugar Country had invented a device that could predict earthquakes several days in advance quietly spread throughout the world. Many people insisted that if such an invention existed, it should be shared with the world free of charge. The attitude of Sugar Country’s spokesperson was neither to admit nor to deny it, and he only said: "We have made some encouraging breakthroughs in this field, but there is still a long way to go in the future."
The name of the inventor, Rong Yuan, has not appeared in any media or newspapers. Only in a few confidential institutions in the world can you find top-secret files containing his name and photo.
…
In the crimson velvet box, the golden medal sparkled under the light, and the red and white ribbons were neatly folded. It was brought in with awe, and when all the outsiders left, Rong Yuan just took a look at it, closed the lid and threw it into the cabinet.
Weijie explained that in order to protect his safety, his invention could not be made public and he could not receive the honor he deserved. Only this medal could prove his contribution. However, his name and his seismograph were recorded in secret files. When the files are declassified one day, the whole world will know his achievements.
Facing the somewhat nervous Wei Jie, Rong Yuan smiled noncommittally and did not question Tang Guo's decision.
He used to care about various awards, because only by winning those titles would others recognize his strength. But now, after proving the accurate prediction ability of the seismograph, he no longer needs these things to add a little insignificant glory to his crown. Now Rong Yuan's research funds have no upper limit, as long as there is a need, it will be approved immediately, any of his requests will be met, no matter how much professional gap his next research has crossed compared to the previous results, there will be people who will immediately carry out it without question.
However, the most important thing to him is not the fame or power, but... the shackles that have been around his neck for more than two years can finally be removed.
The most destructive earthquakes have passed, and now all places are busy rebuilding and recovering losses. There will be some small-scale earthquakes in the coming period, but their destructive power is not a concern, and even if they are not predicted in advance, they will not cause many casualties. The growth scale in the "Merit Book" has gradually stabilized, and it is no longer like before, with many merit points increasing explosively every day. Rong Yuan took time out from the experiment to see how much merit he had gained.
As a result, this collective earthquake brought him nearly 300 million merit points. Adding the merit points accumulated in normal times, he now has a total of 395 million merit points.
And his negative merits are 148.2 million.
Rong Yuan looked at the number in silence for a long time, then smiled and said, "Wadou, didn't I say before that all negative merits would be offset within 20 years?"
The pea's memory will not fade with time, so it pursed its lips and quickly said, "Yes."
"I remember you told me at that time that it was very difficult." Rong Yuan smiled even more deeply as he recalled the past.
"Yes," said Pea, "At that time, I thought it was very difficult to accumulate at least 25,000 merits every day on average."
Then they began to search for wanted criminals throughout the city and accumulated their first pot of gold, which also brought Crow into the police's sight and caused a lot of trouble. Later, Skynet was established. After the establishment of Kinship Bridge, Rong Yuan actually earned more than 25,000 merit points every day, but that kind of burst was temporary. The food safety issues exposed by the exposure platform made many people terrified and made more people see the benefits. The large amount of remittances that followed allowed him to establish Freemasonry, which was later transformed into the current white chess. The identity of "Crow" has gone through ups and downs, and now it has become a black chess wandering in the dark. And he himself has experienced murder, gunfights, moon landings, competitions, awards, championships, the invention of cotton candy, and the invention of the seismograph. In just two years, he is now the leading inventor in Sugar Country.
Two years, five months and twenty-three days, he met many people, experienced many things, and reached his current height. The boy who was driven by the mere ten merit points seemed to be a thing of the past life, and the past experiences seemed to be deeply buried in his memory. He rarely looked back at the past, and never looked behind him. After today, his life will usher in a new change. He only looks forward to it, without any fear.
Rong Yuan finally placed his fingertips on the page of the Merit Book and whispered, "Exchange for 148.2 million merits to offset all negative merits."
A faint white light emanated from the "Book of Merits", black flames rose, and the words on the page twisted and transformed, forming new content.
I don't know why, but the Jinjiang page I opened these past two days has become strange. Is it only my computer that is losing?
