Chapter 787

Bruce's attitude in leaving was very firm, but the old man still stuffed a cigarette into his hand and said: "Every newcomer who comes here, I will provide him with a cigarette for free. This might save his life at a critical moment, and it will also add one more customer for me. If you are really in too much pain to bear, then come find me. The doctor welcomes every patient."

Bruce held the cigarette and returned to the car with stiff steps. He casually stuffed the cigarette into his pocket and sat blankly in the seat until it started raining in Cat Getan again.

Bruce, who had nowhere to go, could only stay in the truck. This was his only shelter, although it wasn't very warm, it could at least block the wind and rain.

Staying in the driver's seat, the old man's words kept echoing in Bruce's mind, words that were so absurd, so unreasonable, and simply like a joke.

But the old man was not joking. He really regarded himself as a doctor, looking for solutions for those patients, believing that he could cure them. In his view, not hurting anymore counts as being cured.

Is this absurd? Perhaps it is, but it is not without reason.

In these past few days, Bruce has deeply realized the importance of labor ability. That is the only hope for everyone here.

They must be able to work to survive here. If they can't even move, then they can really only wait for death.

In order to obtain the ability to work, they will try every method they can try, including using drugs to relieve pain.

There are two ways to treat an illness: one is to treat the symptoms, and the other is to treat the root cause. Bruce completely disagrees with using this method of chronic suicide to treat the symptoms, but he also has no way to question these people why they don't treat the root cause.

Because the two crumpled dollars he is holding in his hand right now can't even pay the registration fee for a hospital.

If one can only rely on oneself to obtain basic survival materials, then the saying "heaven has unpredictable winds and clouds" is no longer a simple exclamation, but a bolt from the blue.

On the day the thunder fell, many people had already died. The death sentence was passed on the first day of the lunar month, they just waited until the fifteenth to leave.

Bruce, lying in the seat, gradually had a hazy sleepiness. It's just that this time, his dream kept falling downward, wandering between repeated falling and waking up.

His hand holding the long gun gradually loosened. The dual torture of body and mind made him sink into a very deep dream, so he didn't hear some strange movements.

Waking up the next day, Bruce sat in the seat and stretched. He felt a little better. The symptoms of stomach pain had disappeared, his physical strength had recovered quite a bit, and today the temperature was no longer dropping. After the temperature rose, the feeling of cold also faded away.

Bruce felt that everything was taking a turn for the better, but this feeling didn't last too long. Ten minutes later, he discovered that the car wouldn't start.

Getting out of the car to check, Bruce discovered that the lock of the fuel tank had been pried open.

The full tank of gas he had added before had all been stolen, and he had slept too soundly last night to hear any movement at all.

The problem now is, if he wants to eat, then the money isn't enough to add gas. If he wants to add gas, the money isn't enough to eat.

If he doesn't add gas, then don't even think about doing today's work. Then, after he finishes today's meal, he will still have no money to eat tomorrow's meal. But if he doesn't eat, his gastroenteritis might become more serious, and his body will also be weaker.

After weighing the pros and cons, Bruce still decided to add gas. He must ensure sustainable development, rather than having one meal without the next.

Finally, he arrived at the gas station, used the remaining money to fill the fuel tank again, and even left a little money to change the lock for the fuel tank. Thus, he was penniless again.

After adding gas, he could go to work. As long as he works, he can get money. He can eat the next day. In this way, everything will get better.

With this mood, Bruce embarked on the journey again.

Like the previous few days, he arrived at the gang's warehouse and started loading goods. Today's business was exceptionally good. He loaded a full truck of goods and even harvested two dollars in tips. As long as he pulls this truck of goods to the distribution point, he can earn another ten dollars, and he will have money for three days of meals.

Bruce feels that he made a correct choice, not shortsightedly taking the money to buy food. Otherwise, he would still be worrying about tomorrow's meal right now.

Driving on the road, he got on the viaduct as usual, and then started the long process of traffic jams.

However, in the past, even if there was a traffic jam, at least it could move once every five minutes. A twenty-kilometer journey could be run in a few hours. Although it was a bit slow, it could still be finished.

But today, the line of traffic seemed to be welded shut, not moving at all. Seeing that the sun was already at the top of his head and half of the viaduct hadn't been finished, Bruce couldn't help but get out of the car like other drivers to check the situation.

Not looking, he didn't know; looking, he was even more desperate. A transport vehicle carrying dense ice raw materials for cold storage had a leak. The leaked material froze the second half of the viaduct into ice. Now they are waiting for professionals to come and solve it. If the professionals can't come over, don't even think about delivering goods today.

Staying on the bridge until two o'clock in the afternoon, Bruce finally received notification that the professionals had come, but they weren't professional enough and had to find more professional people. And the more professional people wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. The entrance to the viaduct had already been sealed. Now, the cars sealed on the road can only count themselves unlucky and can only leave tomorrow.

Standing on the viaduct, Bruce could clearly feel that the sunlight here was better than on the ground. Although it still couldn't reach the level of being sunny, the field of vision was more open. But his mood was not open enough.

He felt angry, stifled, and regretful, but he didn't know who to blame.

After asking about the situation, Bruce knew that the driver of the raw material truck had stayed up all night driving and hadn't slept for a night. When he got up to check the valve today, he didn't pay attention. Just as he walked halfway, the raw materials leaked out completely.

The professionals who came for the first time said that these raw materials could not be recycled. That is to say, a small negligence of the driver made him carry a debt of at least 300,000 dollars. And now Bruce has realized that 300,000 dollars is not just a few meals for him.

The vast majority of drivers dare not leave their trucks. They have all experienced what Bruce experienced before. Maybe they just went to the bathroom or had a meal, and the gas was stolen. The road is blocked, so they can only guard here.

Some children ran onto the viaduct to sell food, and many truck drivers bought it, but Bruce didn't buy it because he had no money at all.

Hungry for another day and night, Bruce felt that the fat in his body was consuming rapidly, but his spirit was actually better than before, no longer tortured by that pervasive feeling of hunger.

The next day, after the road was cleared, Bruce drove to the distribution point. But when he went back to settle the account, half of the money was deducted.

The reason is that the goods delayed for a day couldn't catch up with the previous batch of cargo ships, and the next batch of cargo ships raised prices again. The gangs can only recover costs from their heads.

Bruce had no strength to argue with the gang at this time. He just wanted to take the money to buy food now, because his body was telling him that if he didn't eat again, he would face the risk of hypoglycemia.

He took the tens of dollars, found a bakery on the roadside, bought two bags of cheap finished white bread, two baguettes, and some cookies that were easy to store, put them in the truck, and also asked the newsboy to buy a few bottles of pure water at a high price, all of which were put in the truck.

There was no good source for meat, so he could only buy finished sausages. But in fact, most of the finished sausages were internal organs and offal, and the sanitary conditions were not up to standard. But Bruce could only make do. Without the supplement of fat, body temperature would drop faster.

The only difficulty now is vitamins. Vegetables are not easy to preserve, and he has no place to cook. Bruce must find a more stable place to live for himself as soon as possible.

After supplementing with food, Bruce felt much more at ease. As long as he can save some money, he can rent a better house. With a stable place to live, this trip to the slums can be considered to have officially begun, and the next step is to walk out of the East District by his own strength.

But Cat Getan is just like this. Whenever a person is full of ambition and wants to do something, an accident will definitely come.

After dark, Bruce planned to find a place to park, but just as he started the car, he found that the operation feel was a bit problematic, as if the steering system wasn't very flexible.

Bruce tested it for a long time and found that the car really had a problem. He had to crawl under the car to repair it. But after a check, he discovered that this car was not a completely new car.

Although its appearance looked very bright, when seeing the internal structure, Bruce knew that this was a second-hand new car pieced together with all kinds of old parts.

At the beginning, he had thought that the gang wouldn't be so kind as to give him such a good car to drive for free, but the aging of the parts inside was even worse than he imagined.

The next day, Bruce went to find the gang from before. Their attitude was quite good, willing to repair the car for Bruce. But after repairing it, before it had been driven for a day, the tire had a problem again.

Bruce discovered that the gang's method of repairing cars was to take the parts that weren't flexible from one car and change them to another car, and then everything else depended on luck.

Or rather, it's considered good that they could successfully change them on. In the situation where the first batch of students from the vocational technical college hadn't graduated yet, most people relied on intuition to repair trucks.

Bruce knows that repairing like this won't work. He must change to good parts to make the car run smoothly, rather than breaking down halfway. But he has no money to buy good parts.

Bruce discovered that all the problems he encountered in the slums would eventually boil down to two words: no money.

No money is no money. For the things you want to buy, if you are short of one cent, it is also no money. "One cent can stump a hero" is not an exaggerated adjective. What's more, Bruce is not just short of one cent; he only has one cent.

And just at this time, a group of people found him. They claimed that they were here to solve this trouble of Bruce having no money.

Looking at the strong man who was the leader, Bruce asked: "You say you can lend me money, what about the interest?"

That strong man waved his hand and said: "We don't talk about this here. We only tell you how much money you need to pay back each period. The lower limit of the loan amount here is 300 dollars. For the next year, you pay us 50 dollars every week."

Bruce didn't even need to pass this number through his brain; he knew this was so-called usury. Seeing his look of no interest, the strong man put his arm around his shoulder and said:

"Our conditions are already very favorable. Believe me, that gang that wants you to pay back thousands of dollars in one breath is completely extortion."

"Look, when you are in urgent need of money, you take our 300 dollars, and afterward you only need to pay us 50 dollars every week. 50 dollars, for drivers like you, is not difficult. Maybe you can even have tens of dollars left over each week to subsidize the family."

Seeing that Bruce still didn't accept, he said again: "Alright, if you like the more traditional method, that's fine too. We lend you 300 dollars, and next month you pay us 800 dollars."

Bruce knows that 800 dollars is simply a huge sum for the slums. Let alone 800 dollars, even 80 dollars is a huge sum for him right now.

Bruce looked at the strong man and asked him: "What will happen if I can't pay it back?"

The strong man smiled and said: "Don't worry, the gang is short of people right now. You will have a good place to go, especially since you are still a beauty."