Chapter 2875: then translation of chapter title

2780.2672 Change

When chatting with Zhou Litao about telomeres, Zheng Ren and Su Yun fell silent at the same time.

Matters concerning telomeres and what follows belong to Bota's research project, which achieved a breakthrough in tumor treatment from bat gene mutations, and cannot be spoken of casually.

When the truth is unknown, this topic can be treated as gossip, everyone can chat about it casually, and it's all trivial. But once involved, one always feels a sense of extreme caution.

"Let's not talk about it, let's go see Cui Lao." Su Yun ended the topic without hesitation.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun walked out of 912, standing at the doorway waiting to hail a car.

"Boss, to be honest, I always have a bad feeling." Su Yun said.

"What feeling?"

"I am Legend, have you seen it?"

"I've seen it. They say the virus that creates zombies was accidentally discovered when humans were researching cancer treatment drugs, and it almost wiped out humanity." Zheng Ren said, "I think you're overthinking."

"Hopefully." Su Yun, unusually, did not argue but murmured.

"Think more usefully. Although modifying telomeres based on bat gene mutations may bring unknown changes, we still need to move forward, right?" Zheng Ren narrowed his eyes and looked at the sky.

"Human life is too short; I'm really curious what's out there."

"You're thinking yourself crazy." Su Yun said, "We won't see it in our lifetime."

"About that." Zheng Ren chuckled, not clarifying what he meant by "about that," then asked, "When will the car arrive?"

"Chatting with Manager Zhou took too long, we hit rush hour." Su Yun sighed and said, "Do you remember I am the butterfly in Legend?"

"What's wrong with you today?" Zheng Ren asked puzzledly.

"After returning from Bota, I occasionally wonder whether we will become humanity's sinners." Su Yun said.

"..." Zheng Ren stared for a moment, then burst out laughing, saying, "You think too much; to become humanity's sinners you need that ability. I might be able to; you, I'd guess, are just mouthy."

"You can't say nice things nicely!" Su Yun said disdainfully.

"Speaking frankly." Zheng Ren said with a smile, "Fallen Angel Sela, possessing power that even Satan fears—this was the fear and thought about genetic engineering back then. It's fine; you say, what would we do if we encountered the apocalypse?"

"A knife, a dog." Su Yun said disdainfully.

"The West waits for Noah's Ark, a damn redemption. We patch the sky when it leaks, deal with whatever comes, no overthinking." Zheng Ren patted Su Yun's shoulder.

"Going all the way through with brute force, that's not like your character setting."

"There's no character setting; we just have to do things. Don't overthink—do you think it's bad that we never bring anything when we visit Cui Lao?" Zheng Ren asked.

However, Su Yun still hadn't let go of the topic; he ignored Zheng Ren's remark and asked, "Boss, you said gene modification cures cancer—what if Xiao Shitou mutates?"

"Humans will ultimately become spiritual beings; our brains find it hard to grasp these things." Zheng Ren said, "Don't think about it—overthinking won't make you grow taller. What's up with Xiao Shitou's breathing difficulty and phlegm?"

"I don't understand." Su Yun sighed, "Today's record says Xiao Shitou coughs up about 100 ml of phlegm per day, like clear water, and two tests showed no bacteria."

"I don't get it either." Zheng Ren said, "We can only guess that the drug stimulates tumor tissue, causing some uncontrollable situation. Or maybe it just happened to occur at the time of medication, showing related symptoms."

"Bota's email says they are still improving the drug, needing a few more days."

"Let's take it slow, hope nothing happens." Zheng Ren gazed at the fiery clouds in the sky and spoke softly.

"Today's clouds are somewhat beautiful, red and glowing, layered, some dazzling yet still can be looked at directly."

After a while, Su Yun finally hailed a car, and the two rushed to Cui Lao's home.

After ringing the doorbell and going upstairs, the nanny, upon seeing the two familiar faces, greeted them and went back to her chores. A man in his fifties wearing an apron was cooking; Zheng Ren guessed he was Cui Lao's son and politely greeted him.

"Greeting, we are doctors from 912, here to see Cui Lao." Zheng Ren stated his identity and purpose.

Before the man could speak, Cui Lao's weak voice came from the inner room, "Little Zheng, you've come, come in."

The voice was very weak, even weaker than last time we visited Cui Lao.

After changing shoes and entering, Zheng Ren glanced at the kitchen, smiled and greeted the person inside, then went into Cui Lao's room.

The System Panel had begun to fade, yet Cui Lao's spirit still seemed alright, not like a person on their deathbed.

"Little Zheng, Little Su, sit." Cui Lao struggled to sit up.

But he had little strength; even this simple action was hard to accomplish. Zheng Ren wanted to help, but Cui Lao pushed him away.

"It's fine, some moderate activity is always appropriate." Cui Lao said with a smile.

His left arm propped on the bed's edge, he kept exerting force. The dry, thin arms had loose, sagging skin; each time he strained, the muscles beneath seemed to strive to burst forth with a bit of strength, yet each time falling just short, he could never sit up.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun watched silently, watching a stubborn old man striving, striving to sit up.

In the end, Cui Lao still gave up.

At the moment he decided to give up, Cui Lao's expression showed some dejection, but soon turned calm and composed; the old man had silently accepted all these changes.

He lay in bed, turning his head to look at Zheng Ren and Su Yun, seeing their overflowing vitality, he chuckled and said, "Really, I'm old. Three days ago I could still sit up by myself. To say I'm old, it's truly not something humans can withstand. When I was your age, I also thought I'd always be this energetic; back then it was great, like a wild donkey."

"Cui Lao, look at what you're saying." Su Yun laughed, "I'll tell you, there's less than a month left. When we see snow falling, we'll go to Stockholm to receive the award; Boss will give a speech. You don't want to see it with your own eyes, do you? Or why not come with us?"

"But I can't walk." Cui Lao's voice weak and powerless, he wanted to shake his head but the movement was barely perceptible, "You've done very well, very well, far beyond my imagination."

"Still not enough." Seeing that his own boss seemed unsure what to say, Su Yun took over Cui Lao's line and said, "Cui Lao, guess what we've been busy with lately?"