Chapter 49: The Old Man with Alcohol Poisoning

Returning home, He Yuzhu hurriedly took out the ten barrels of high-concentration alcohol he had signed in for at the Hospital earlier.

He took a sniff, "Hmm... this smell, it stings the nose, it's potent; can't drink it directly."

After thinking for a moment, He Yuzhu put them away again, took some money, and walked out.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Xu Damao walking back carrying groceries.

"Back already, Damao?"

"Yeah, back. Have you eaten?" Xu Damao was in no mood to bicker with He Yuzhu right now; after all, He Yuzhu still owed him a mountain of debt.

"Not yet, but I'm not hungry. By the way, when is Qin Jingru due?"

"Hey, still a while off, at least another month or two." As soon as Xu Damao heard He Yuzhu mention Qin Jingru and the child, he immediately became happy, while secretly pitying He Yuzhu in his heart—tsk tsk, a man with no heir—though he didn't dare say it out loud for fear of getting beaten up.

"Right, congratulations. I'll be the chef for the full-month banquet when the time comes; let's make it a lively one." He Yuzhu chuckled and patted Xu Damao on the shoulder, and the two looked at each other and laughed simultaneously.

Walking along the way, He Yuzhu arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and went inside.

Seeing the salesclerks gathered together knitting sweaters and cracking melon seeds, chatting endlessly, He Yuzhu waited patiently for a while, but discovered they had no intention of paying him any mind, so he speechlessy tapped on the counter.

"Comrade, Comrade?"

The female clerk who was talking with spittle flying immediately glared at He Yuzhu with annoyance, then asked while knitting, "What is it? Say it quickly, can't you see we're busy?"

"Right, sorry to bother you. I'd like to buy some wine jars, about this size, and also some various types of white liquor." He Yuzhu said hurriedly; in this day and age, Supply and Marketing Cooperative clerks were not to be trifled with. You either buy it or you don't, and if you don't, there's nowhere else to buy it, so their attitude was generally high and mighty.

"Do you have coupons?" The salesclerk still didn't look up, keeping her head down and her hands busy as she asked.

"Yes, I do, sorry to trouble you." He Yuzhu took out the Wine Coupons and others, a full dozen or so. He wasn't short on various coupons; every day he went to the bank, he could sign in for anything.

After waiting a while longer, the female clerk finally put down the half-knitted red sweater in her hands, picked up the coupons on the table, took a careful look at He Yuzhu, and then began to re-examine the coupons.

"Why are you buying so many at once? Where did you get the coupons?"

"I'm the Deputy Director of the Canteen at the Rolling Mill, buying them for the leaders to host guests." He Yuzhu suppressed his temper and explained flatly.

Sure enough, upon hearing that He Yuzhu was a Deputy Director, the female comrade's attitude improved a little, and she led He Yuzhu to the back and brought out the items he needed one by one.

"Can you carry them?" Looking at the embarrassed He Yuzhu, the salesclerk finally revealed a slight smile.

"I can't carry them." He Yuzhu scratched his head, forgetting he couldn't use the System Space in front of others.

"You wait here, I'll call a pedicab for you; it doesn't cost much, how about that?"

"Oh, thank you so much. How about this, you get me two more catties of candy, and I'll give you one catty."

"Ah?! This... give me one catty?!" The salesclerk was startled.

"Sorry to trouble you, I'm in a hurry, please help me call a vehicle."

The salesclerk agreed with a face full of joy and ran out, showing none of the previous negligence.

He Yuzhu laughed to himself; people, eh.

The salesclerk ran out and soon arrived before an old man riding a pedicab, saying, "Dad, there's work. The person is very generous, ask for a bit more."

"Alright, I understand, daughter." The old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of big yellow teeth.

The salesclerk returned, took He Yuzhu's candy coupons, weighed two catties of milk candy, set aside half, packed it for herself, and then carefully helped He Yuzhu move the wine jars and various types of sorghum liquor onto the vehicle.

"Little brother, come find your sister next time you buy things; sister will serve you first!"

"Haha, alright sister, then I'll be heading back."

"Take it slow on the road."

Sitting in the cart, He Yuzhu looked back speechlessly, watching the salesclerk who was still looking in his direction from far away with a worried face, waving her hand continuously. Was it necessary? It was just a catty of candy; this level of concern was catching up to how she treated her own father, wasn't it?

Returning to the courtyard, the old man helped He Yuzhu move everything into the room. After settling the bill, He Yuzhu made an appointment with him to come to his place again early tomorrow morning to give him a ride.

Before leaving, he even grabbed a handful of candy for the old man to take back for his children, which moved the old man so much...

As soon as he left the door, he cursed, thinking he might have been given a bottle of liquor.

He Yuzhu naturally didn't know about this; he excitedly grabbed a rag, carefully wiped the wine jars clean, and then began pouring the high-concentration alcohol into them.

In an instant, the entire room was filled with a rich smell of alcohol. He Yuzhu ran outside to take two deep breaths before returning. In just that short time, he was already blushing from smelling the fumes.

He divided the alcohol into twelve jars, and then opened various types of white liquor to mix into them.

After finishing the mixing, He Yuzhu pinched his nose and took a small sip.

"Hmm... hiss."

The taste naturally couldn't be considered good; apart from the rich smell of alcohol, there was no other flavor, but it was much better than the pure alcohol from before, though it was a bit harsh on the throat.

He Yuzhu was very satisfied. He filled the remaining three wine jars with cool water, mixed half a bottle of sorghum liquor into each, sealed them well, and stored them in the System Space. The rest, filled with alcohol, were stacked to one side.

The Subei people liked to drink, liked to drink strong liquor; without liquor, they could even drink aviation fuel. He wondered if they could handle his 98% concentration alcohol...

Early the next morning, the old man arrived as promised. Looking at the wine jars filled by He Yuzhu in the corner, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva, the urge to drink rising up.

"Let me move them, young man. You tidy up, I'll call you when I've got them loaded."

"This... then thank you very much, old man." He Yuzhu sighed; this old man was truly simple and honest.

The old man moved the jars of wine one by one onto his pedicab, looked around, felt the red cloth on the wine jar, opened it, then took out his own wine gourd and filled it up.

Twelve jars of wine, a little poured from each, and the wine gourd was full. The old man satisfiedly covered the red cloths one by one and called He Yuzhu out.

Arriving at the Big Leader's house, Secretary Chen hurriedly called a few security personnel to unload the wine jars, and then the old man left happily with the money.

Half a day later.

The old man was kneeling on the ground with a flushed face, vomiting uncontrollably. After being sent to the Hospital by the salesclerk for emergency treatment for half a day, he finally stabilized.

"Doctor, what's wrong with my dad?" The salesclerk asked with a face full of anxiety.

"Alcohol poisoning. How much did he drink? I've been a doctor for so many years, and I've never seen anyone this drunk—one drop of blood, half a drop of alcohol." The doctor shook his head; he had never seen alcohol poisoning this severe. It was as if he had fallen into a vat of alcohol.

"Ah? Is it serious?"

"It's fine. After a few days of IV drips and a good rest, he'll be fine. In the future, you must never let the old man drink this much again. Take the slip and go pay the bill."

Hearing this, the salesclerk let out a sigh of relief, then turned around and gnashed her teeth, stomping her feet. She told him not to drink, told him not to drink, and now look, he's drunk himself into trouble!

After paying the fees, the nurse prescribed the medicine.

The old man lay on the bed, twitching occasionally; the salesperson walked into the ward with the nurse, gently patted his arm, and began the injection.

"Mmm~ don't press the arm, press the feet first..."

Under the fiery gaze of his daughter, the old man kept muttering incessantly.