Chapter 47 Part 2
The terms of the transaction were harsh. Did those families who cried and offered ten years of their lives actually lose ten years? No, he only gained a few days at most.
But even a few days in exchange for a couple hundred thousand was a good deal.
So, all these years, he actively engaged in philanthropy, donating primarily to families with sick children.
Because most parents were willing to sacrifice everything for their children, including their lives.
But recently, the transactions seemed to have stopped working, he could feel his organs failing, he was now wheelchair-bound, he could even sense his impending death.
The more he felt it, the more anxious he became.
He wanted to live!
For a wealthy man, this world was beautiful, free from financial worries and hardships, he was here to enjoy life.
He loved children, but for some reason, none of his own survived, now he only had one grandson.
He had to live a few more years, watch his grandson grow up and establish himself, only then could he rest in peace!
Zhao Qingyun, thinking of his young grandson, clutched the armrests of his wheelchair and looked at all the doctors and practitioners present, his voice sincere. “Masters, Doctors, please help me live a few more years, I’ll reward you handsomely.”
The practitioners and doctors exchanged glances.
This… wasn’t something they could control, right? Lifespan was determined by fate, no one could change that. They could only advise regular checkups and a healthy lifestyle.
He Yunxiao and the other young people couldn’t understand, perhaps it was because the older you were, the more you feared death.
“Doctor Wu, is there really a life-extending medicine?” He Yunxiao asked.
Wu Heng, seeing his phone connected to the ghost internet again, nodded. “Yes, but it’s not medicine.”
Wu Heng restarted his live stream. “Those with great merit, under certain circumstances, might be granted leniency by Heaven, a few extra years of life.”
This was borrowing life from Heaven.
He Yunxiao had seen news reports like this.
An elderly woman with cancer, giving up on treatment, traveled the country with her husband, visiting famous mountains and rivers, and then her illness miraculously disappeared.
Doctors couldn’t explain it, attributing it to her improved mood and increased physical activity.
Was this what Wu Heng meant by Heaven’s leniency?
“But Mr. Zhao should first see if he can even survive the next two days,” Wu Heng said with a smile.
Chengde Medical Clinic’s live stream was back online.
Those in the conference hall were unaware, but Weibo was exploding.
#MoneyForLife#
#ZhaoQingyunCharityScam#
#WuHeng#
[That online shaman doctor again, now saying Zhao’s charity is a scam to buy lives? Can you stop with the superstitions? This trending topic is ridiculous!]
[Even if Zhao Qingyun had such thoughts, can you really buy life in this day and age? What a joke!]
[But come to think of it, I checked, and it seems the families who received his donations didn’t live long after, dying within a few years.]
[Having a family member with a serious illness can be devastating, it’s understandable that they’re exhausted and die earlier.]
[Chengde Medical Clinic was forced offline again, what’s going on?]
Countless people were following the symposium, but without invitations, they couldn’t enter.
Those who had received donations from Zhao Qingyun were especially restless upon hearing the news.
Li Juan was one of them.
She had followed Chengde Medical Clinic initially because of Xu Qian, her counselor, who had a live consultation.
Li Juan initially thought her counselor was desperate, seeking help from an online shaman doctor known for his outlandish claims because her mother had suddenly aged.
But things had escalated beyond her imagination, now involving past recipients of donations.
Li Juan felt a chill, because when she was sick, her parents received five hundred thousand yuan personally delivered by Mr. Zhao, they later sold steamed buns to repay him, but he refused.
She often heard her parents say how lucky they were to meet such a kind-hearted man.
Three days after that, she woke up one morning to find her parents dead in their kitchen, their bodies cold, they had died at 3:30 a.m., working hard to repay their debt.
There was no apparent cause of death. The medical examiner attributed it to overwork.
Her illness was cured, but she had lost her parents.
Li Juan frantically clicked on Wu Heng’s profile, desperately wanting to know if this was all a publicity stunt or something else entirely.
She accidentally clicked into a live stream, still Chengde Medical Clinic, but the screen was in grayscale, like an old black and white movie.
Li Juan opened a smaller window and saw that netizens in the online forum were talking about the internet being cut off, about Chengde Medical Clinic being banned for offending the Zhao family.
Li Juan: “?”
Then what live stream was she watching?
Confused, Li Juan scrolled through the comments, and her heart almost stopped when she saw the usernames.
All “Name + Gender + Birth and Death Dates.” Who used such usernames, including their death dates? This wasn’t how you created an abstract username.
Li Juan didn’t understand, so she focused on the video. Although in grayscale, she noticed that Mr. Zhao in the wheelchair was radiating black qi, much darker than everyone else, almost obscuring his face.
Li Juan felt a sense of unease.
[? I finally got into the live stream. Who said Chengde Medical Clinic was banned? I can watch it just fine. My family also received a donation from Mr. Zhao, don’t scare me!]
[I’m also a recipient. Is my phone broken? Why is it in black and white? And so creepy?]
[After my illness was cured, my dad passed away. I always wondered if I was a jinx, my illness burdening my family, even causing my father’s death.]
[My parents are fine, just aged a lot these past two years, barely able to walk now.]
Li Juan, looking at these normal usernames, had a terrifying realization—
Those who could access this grayscale live stream were probably all recipients of Mr. Zhao’s donations, and those usernames with death dates…
As she was thinking this, Zhao Qingyun in the live stream, finding Wu Heng unyielding, said, “Doctor Wu, I’ve already explained, every transaction was consensual. Perhaps I should have explicitly stated it, and for that, I apologize.”
He had never forced anyone to say, “I’m willing to shorten my life by XX years.” They said it willingly!
He helped those families in need, he had great merit.
This was a mutually beneficial agreement, they benefited, and now they were turning around and criticizing him, wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
Looking at Wu Heng and his group, Zhao Qingyun thought this young shaman doctor didn’t understand human nature, although he had some skills, he was still naive.
Zhao Qingyun, his hands clasped, looked at Wu Heng with a confident smile, “But if you don’t believe me, ask those families, if they knew they could exchange their lifespan for hundreds of thousands, even millions, to save their loved ones, would they be willing?!”
In this sense, he was a kind and benevolent philanthropist.
Xu Qian, frozen in place, suddenly understood why her mother, who loved beauty so much, refused treatment for her rapid aging, unwilling to even appear on camera.
Back then, her mother had even been willing to sell her blood to save her. If she asked her mother this question now, she knew what the answer would be.
And the netizens in this grayscale live stream, hearing his words, were stunned.
Was he admitting it? Not charity, but a transaction?! If this went viral…
Should they record it? Take screenshots?
Some tried, but they couldn’t.
They assumed it was a copyright protection feature of the app and used another phone to record the live stream.
“Why is there no image? This is crazy,” a confused recipient looked at the grayscale live stream and then at the recording phone, finding no image being captured.
His gaze returned to the live stream’s comment section and froze.
Li Juan saw two familiar usernames, one above the other, among the rapidly scrolling comments.
[Li Dahai (Male, 19790309-20230112): I’m willing.]
[Huang Jiaofeng (Female, 19810617-20230112): I’m willing.]
Li Juan’s hand flew to her face, hot tears dripping from her fingertips, the burning sensation making her tremble.
Those… those were her parents’ names. They had passed away in the early hours of a winter morning, just before the new year.
It had been almost two years, and she was seeing their names again.
I’m willing.
They were willing!
Below those two names, other netizens frantically searched for familiar IDs, and the grayscale comments were flooded with “I’m willing.”
Even knowing it wasn’t charity, but a transaction of lifespan for money, they were willing.
Because… they were parents.
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