Chapter 1028: Shocking the Mundane (VI)

"Philadelphia is far from being as prosperous as New York. What's more, we are not from Philadelphia. The farm at home is in the suburbs of the suburbs. Usually, it takes half an hour to drive to the small town next to it, let alone Philadelphia."

Victor shook his head and continued: "Donna's illness cost the family quite a bit of money. After Mom and Donna passed away, holding the funeral also cost a sum of money. The harvest on the farm wasn't very good, which led to us not even being able to pay a part of your tuition, so we could only let you go for all the loans."

"Besides the university fees, the medical school fees were frighteningly high. We didn't know when you paid off the loans... Did you really pay them off?" Victor asked with some hesitation.

Strange was stunned on the spot. Of course, he had paid off all the loans, because he had earned a large sum of money from the industry of the Immortality Factor, and even bought a nice house and a good car in New York.

"Didn't I tell you guys?! You can come to New York to live. I've said it many times, but you just won't come!"

"Shi Difen!" Victor raised his tone and said: "Even if the family can't provide you with more help, we can't drag you down anymore. Eugene and I both think this way!"

"The reason why he is unwilling to come to New York for medical treatment is because he is afraid of being mocked for his Philadelphia accent. Because one year, when you went home, you said that you spent a lot of effort to change this accent. If you spoke with this accent in class, no one would even invite you to a party."

Strange opened his mouth. He recalled it. He seemed to have said such things. So, he hurriedly explained: "No, I didn't mean... I didn't mean that there was anything wrong with the Philadelphia accent, but here in New York, they just..."

"We naturally know." Victor looked into Strange's eyes and said: "Even if I go to the small town to deliver things, those people will feel that I am a suburban person and are not willing to talk to me more, let alone New York?"

"It's not easy for people from small places to mix in big cities. This is a truth everyone knows. You have no friends or relatives here, you have to study and live, but the family can't provide you with any help. Although Dad never says it, he has been worrying about it."

Strange said somewhat dully: "Didn't I tell you guys? I earned a lot of money. I remember I already said it, didn't I??"

"However, how much money is considered a lot?" Victor asked in return: "Yes, your salary is very high. You are the most excellent surgeon. You must be able to earn a lot of money. But what about the housing prices in New York? What about the cost of living here? Don't you need to get married? Don't you need to treat her to dinner here? Don't you need to give gifts on holidays?..."

"I just asked the nurses in the ward about the salary standard, as well as the salary standard of surgeons. It is indeed a lot, but if it is used in these aspects, it can only be said to be stretched thin. What's more, you have to prepare for the child's education problem. Private schools are very expensive..."

Strange just wanted to say something, but Victor said: "If Dad and I come to live, you can no longer live in a single apartment. At least you need a two-bedroom house."

"Listen, Victor, these are not problems!" Strange tried hard to explain: "I earned a lot of money, much more than you imagine. I have a big house in the most prosperous street in Manhattan, which can overlook the night view of the whole New York. I can take you there tonight..."

"No, Shi Difen, these are not the most important." Victor frowned and said: "Dad told me that if he told you about his illness, you would definitely let him enter the Presbyterian Hospital for treatment."

"So what?" Strange asked puzzled: "Isn't the Presbyterian Hospital good enough? This is New York, and even the best hospital on the entire East Coast!"

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"Precisely because of this, he cannot go." Victor looked into Strange's eyes and said: "You were originally not a local in New York. Your interpersonal relationships here are unstable. If you want to join the circle of your colleagues, you naturally have to follow the rules of New York."

"If Dad and I come, they will definitely know that you are the son of a farmer from a small place. That will make you looked down upon by others."

Victor sighed and said: "It's not easy to mix in the circles of outsiders. You must disguise yourself as a local, forget your own not-so-prosperous background, and talk about some trendy topics."

"But if there are relatives and friends from those places before, your disguise will no longer be able to be maintained." Victor looked at Strange through his towering brow bones and said: "Shi Difen, we all understand you. You don't want to break your perfect image, and we don't want to break you either."

Strange was already completely dull on the spot. He took a deep breath and said somewhat absurdly: "So, he would rather endure the pain of his lungs rotting away than be willing to come here???"

He stood up from the chair, spread his hands, and kept pacing on the spot, saying: "You guys are crazy! You are a group of lunatics! You guys..."

Suddenly, he stood on the spot and fell silent. Victor also stood up, patted his shoulder, and said: "Earlier, Dad woke up. He said he didn't tell anyone that he was your father, so your colleagues and nurses should still not know. As long as you two don't have any intersection, it won't..."

Strange threw Victor's hand away and said: "In your eyes, am I a monster who, in order to maintain a perfect image, has no feelings and doesn't care about any relatives?"

Victor seemed to not understand what he was saying. At this moment, there was a knock on the door outside. Then, Strange saw a look of fear on Victor's face. He subconsciously took a step back, as if wanting to find a place to hide.

The fear and cowardice in his eyes made Strange completely collapse. He leaned on the chair beside him with a somewhat rude squatting posture that he would definitely not do usually, and sobbed with his shoulders shaking.

Schiller pushed the door open, walked in lightly, and lowered his voice to say to Victor: "I am his friend. You go out first. I have something to talk to him about..."

Victor glanced at his brother, hesitated, but still went out. Schiller helped Strange up. And at this time, Strange was already crying so much that he couldn't care about his image.

Schiller did nothing, just walked to the door and twisted the anti-theft lock button.

He could clearly see that Strange, who heard the "click" sound, had his shoulders shake, and then the twitching caused by crying decreased a lot.

Schiller shook his head. Strange's symptoms were really too typical. Because the family education mode was too traditional, he lacked a sense of security somewhat excessively. The way he sought a sense of security was to build himself into a perfect person. As long as others couldn't pick out faults, he could always be in a dominant position.

Unlike the comic, the Strange Schiller knew could be called smooth sailing, having experienced almost no twists and turns.

First, he was muddled into the big pit of the Immortality Factor by Schiller, and then because of the cosmic demon wealth-sharing project, he smoothly took over the burden of the Sorcerer Supreme and also possessed the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Later, when the Solar System Development Project began to be implemented, the mages under his leadership constantly overcame difficulties and developed quite a few magic energy civilian technologies, making his prestige even higher.

He didn't experience the despair of broken hands, didn't give up on himself, didn't buy wine every night, and didn't find a little light in despair and darkness, abandoning everything and becoming a monk.

This Strange didn't see through things, but also saw through things too much. Precisely because he now stood at such a high level, he could conversely understand how much those ordinary people like his father and younger brother worried about him in these daily busy secular lives.

Precisely because he was now successful, he didn't have many things to worry about, so he could feel how much extra energy these worries, which were insignificant and changed nothing to him, occupied for an ordinary person who hadn't yet transcended the life of human society.

How much consideration must one have to share precious energy from a life that wasn't easy to think for others? Not only that, if one had to endure pain additionally and avoid shadows, it was even more like a saint.

Schiller spent more than an hour barely comforting Strange, letting him recover from the twitching of deep crying. Just as he planned to drink some water, the phone rang again.

"Dr. Schiller, sorry, you should be fine now, right?" The voice on the opposite side was Steve's. Schiller heard his tone was a bit trembling, so he understood that he should be having an attack.

"Listen, Steve, breathe deeply, just like I taught you to do before. Yes, stare at one thing without moving, look at its details, shield those hallucinations that appear before your eyes... Where are you now?"

"At the Avengers base? Spider-Man is there too? You give the phone to him... Hello? Peter? Yes, I know his condition is bad. Oh, no, don't comfort him first, leave there first... I'll be there right away."

Precisely because he was now successful and famous, with not much left to worry about, he could feel how much extra energy these worries—which were trivial to him and could change nothing—took up for an ordinary person who had not yet transcended human social life.

How much empathy must one have to be able to spare precious mental energy from a life that was already not easy, to think for others? Not only that, to additionally endure pain and avoid shadows was even more like a saint.

Schiller spent over an hour barely soothing Strange, letting him recover from the convulsions of deep weeping. Just as he intended to go get a drink of water, his cell phone rang again.

"Dr. Schiller, sorry, you should be free right now, right?" It was Steve's voice on the other end. Schiller heard his tone was a bit trembling and understood that he must be having an episode.

"Listen, Steve, take deep breaths, just like I taught you before. Yes, stare at one thing without moving, look at its details, block out those hallucinations appearing before your eyes... Where are you now?"

"The Avengers base? Spider-Man is there too? Give the phone to him... Hello? Peter? Yes, I know he's in bad shape. Oh, no, don't comfort him yet, leave there first..."

"Listen to me, Peter, I am a professional psychiatrist. Yes, find an excuse, leave there first, let Steve stay alone for a while... I'll be there immediately."