"Is this the place!" Looking at the doorplate for hospital bed number XX, Caleb's expression was calm as he walked into the ward.
His father and grandmother had already been waiting there for a long time.
They were silent, as if they were troubled by something...
Only the old man remained optimistic, even having the heart to make small talk.
"Oh, it's nothing. I feel much better after the biopsy!"
"Didn't the doctor say to stay in the hospital for observation for two weeks?"
"It's nothing, no serious illness!"
The old man's face was somewhat greenish, yet he maintained an optimistic tone.
Heavy dark circles hung under his eyes, and his livid complexion was written with exhaustion.
Caleb had never thought that the term "livid" was a realistic description rather than some exaggerated adjective.
This complexion was truly terrifying, It turned out that after a serious illness, a person's face could really turn green.
"Oh, my grandson is here!"
"No, didn't I tell you guys it was nothing?"
"Why did you call Caleb back?"
"Caleb, I heard you bought some gold a couple of years ago and made a bit of profit, as expected, you're the only one in the family with a sharp mind. You are much more capable than your father!"
Without speaking, Caleb just glanced sideways at his father.
His father's bad habit remained; whenever there was any small benefit or a little bit of money earned, he would open his mouth wide and blabber about it everywhere.
"Sigh~" Caleb let out a slight sigh. Before long, however, his father actually grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the ward.
His grandmother followed behind, clearly, there were some things that were inconvenient to discuss in front of the old man.
"Son, I know what you want to scold me for, but let's not talk about that today!"
"Your grandfather's illness this time is not simple. The doctor said it is highly likely to be the terminal stage!"
"Terminal stage?"
Caleb had never expected that this cancer would hold back and then unleash such a big one...
The terminal stage likely meant the cancer cells had started to spread. Generally, by this point, it was basically no different from being sentenced to a suspended death penalty.
"I saw him perfectly fine last month, how the hell is it terminal already?"
"At that time he could still go to the village to play cards, did he just collapse all of a sudden?"
His father didn't speak, his grandmother was already wiping tears from her eyes with her sleeve.
But eventually, his grandmother spoke, her voice clearly tinged with reproach; she was obviously furious.
"Oh, If he can't pull through this time, the old man will have truly spent his whole life working for you three sons, worked to death!"
"You, truly, whatever you touch, you lose money, in the early years when the market was good, he earned a bit for you, but as soon as the old man let go and divided the family property, one by one you kept losing money, and the old man still had to go out and shoulder the burden!"
After saying this, his grandmother clearly almost had a high blood pressure attack.
Fortunately, she carried antihypertensive medication with her, otherwise, she might have truly fainted from anger.
His father hurriedly comforted his grandmother, with this matter happening, he himself hadn't expected it either.
"Mom, don't be anxious, the second and third brothers will be back in a couple of days too!"
"Let's talk about future matters later, for now, calm down first, don't make yourself sick from anger!"
Caleb listened to their words and guessed that his two uncles hadn't earned much money outside either.
This was perfectly normal, Adding his father and the two uncles together, the three of them couldn't even make up one high school graduate, while his grandfather was actually a high school graduate.
Back in the day, he almost had a chance to go to university.
You have to know that his grandfather was already 71 years old. If placed in a period piece novel, university students from that early time were definitely highly intellectual elites.
Let alone university students, even high school students from that era were rare, Having an education and not having one were worlds apart.
One could see a clear gap in ability between his father and the old man.
Although the three brothers were all bosses in name, in reality, without the old man, none of them could hold things together.
Accounts couldn't be calculated clearly, gross profits couldn't be figured out, there was no strategy, and planning was a complete mess.
Investments relied entirely on going all-in, profits relied entirely on intuition, making money relied entirely on luck, and losing money relied entirely on their own "talents."
Looking at this scene, Caleb couldn't even be bothered to scold them, If they had just shown a little bit of drive, his grandmother wouldn't have been angered to this extent.
Back then, some rich people were purely lucky, some people's luck only lay in having a good father they could sponge off of.
"Caleb, just come in!"
"Since you're here, it's a good chance to chat with you!"
"Some things are better said to you; talking to your father, he wouldn't understand even if I told him!"
Caleb didn't say much and walked in silently. However, before he was about to speak, his father reminded him,
"Don't tell the old man about his physical condition; he doesn't have a clear understanding yet!"
"He doesn't know how serious his illness is right now; he only thinks it's a minor ailment!"
"You must absolutely not tell him this is pancreatic cancer!"
"A minor ailment?" Caleb almost laughed out loud. What kind of IQ is this?
The gap in education between you and your father is right there; you don't really think you can fool the old man, do you?
Pulling the curtains, at this moment, the livid complexion appeared even darker.
Without the nourishment of sunlight, his entire aura now felt even more like that of someone on the verge of death.
"Oh!"
"Your dad probably told you not to say anything, right!"
"Actually, I've already guessed it; I'm definitely seriously ill this time!"
"Among the three brothers, your family is the one that worries me the least right now!"
"Your dad is unreliable; it'll be good enough if he doesn't hold you back in the future, don't count on him!"
"I originally wanted to leave something for you, but now looking at this illness, I reckon it's going to cost a lot of money!"
"Cough, cough!"
The grandfather on the hospital bed coughed dryly twice, and then the bile flowing out from the biopsy drained directly through the tube into that dark red bag.
"I heard the doctor mention pancreatic cancer before, I also looked it up, that thing is the king of cancers!"
"I am literate; I know how to use a search engine!"
"Looking at those two's complexions, I reckon I'm seriously ill, and I don't have much time left to live!"
"Sigh, what a pity!"
"I always said that the body is the foundation, yet in the end, I turned out to be the one who least valued my own body!"
The weak tone was filled with self-mockery. At this moment, Caleb was merely forcing himself to stay calm, holding back the emotions within him.
"Later on, your grandmother needs to get a physical checkup too, Just now when I saw her talking, there was a strange odor in her mouth; I reckon she has some illness too!"
"Later, you must make sure she gets checked thoroughly. I'm sick, there's no hope, it doesn't matter, but if your grandmother gets sick too, then it's truly over!"
"Yes!" Caleb sighed. Even at this moment, his grandpa remained rational.
Yes, this was the difference. His father only knew how to get angry when encountering problems, the other uncles only knew how to vent their emotions when encountering problems.
Yet, his grandpa always handled problems rationally. One could only say the gap was truly significant.
As expected, in this world, one still has to speak with hard strength.
Things that don't belong to you will eventually be returned.
Money earned by luck is lost by "talent"—this is all too common.
Relying solely on inheritance cannot inherit competence.
"If one day I'm gone, you must take good care of your grandmother, Your grandmother has never enjoyed a day of happiness in her life; in the end, she has only suffered for the brats she birthed!"
The grandfather's cold hand retracted...
That Caleb could still be a wargamer now was actually thanks to his grandfather.
Without sufficient capital, so-called investment and wealth management were just a joke.
"Don't worry, grandpa. You don't need to tell me these things. After you get better, you can just keep Grandmother company yourself!"
"If you ask me, you should let go; you shouldn't deal with the descendants' problems anymore."
"Let the descendants' problems be handled by the descendants."
"That's true!" After a moment of silence, the grandfather continued in a hoarse voice.
"But Caleb, you don't need to comfort me; I know the problem this time is very serious!"
"You also know your dad can't keep any secrets!"
"In the future, you can only rely on yourself, Even if it's lonely, many times, it has to be this way!"
For some reason, the original feeling of bitterness disappeared.
Replacing it was an indescribable sense of calm, It wasn't that Caleb was hard-hearted; rather, a sense of having nothing to fear had grown within his heart.
"Don't be afraid, there's still the special medicine!"
Caleb understood that he had nothing to be sad about, He had in his hands a medicine that could reverse everything, the panacea.
This was a concoction that could even cure the Nurgle virus, How could mere cancer compare to the plagues of Father Nurgle?
Thinking of this, Caleb settled his mind, He immediately fished out the Rubik's cube that stored the medicine from his pocket.
At this moment, Caleb carefully took out an oval-shaped capsule from inside...
"Grandpa, hurry up and eat this!"
"This is an experimental drug imported from abroad; it might be good for your illness!"
"Although the success rate of the cure isn't high, but I think, since it's already like this, if you try it, perhaps there will be a miracle!"
For a dying person suffering from a terminal illness, any medicine didn't really matter anymore.
Even if there were risks, it didn't matter; at the very least, it was better than waiting for death.
"Sigh, Caleb, I know, you don't need to comfort me with this kind of little pill!"
"How could I have such good luck to directly get an experimental drug that cures cancer!"
"I can't count on such 'a blind cat running into a dead mouse' kind of thing!"
Clearly, his grandpa didn't believe this tiny pill could cure his illness.
But he still chose to take it; after all, could it be any worse than the current situation?
An extra-large bag of IV drip was still hanging above his head, Such a large bag of medicine being injected into his body appeared particularly conspicuous in the entire ward.
The bile inside his body kept flowing out through the tube, a 3.5-liter extra-large IV drip was continuously injecting milky white medicinal fluid into his body.
Such a large IV drip, and half of it had already been infused by the time he arrived.
It was hard to imagine that, even like this, a person could still be alive.
The room was very quiet because other patients needed to rest.
His grandpa only chatted with him for a few sentences before resting.
Having said so much, in reality, he had always been dealing with a mess.
If some things couldn't be let go, it would only get worse!
Clearly, modern humans can inherit property, but they cannot inherit ability.
Most second-generation rich kids simply cannot grow into successors, because as soon as they take over, everything collapses.
Walking out of the ward, Caleb couldn't help but feel ironic.
His great-grandmother was still alive; if not for this panacea, it would truly be the elder burying the younger, a mother burying her child.
Moreover, given his great-grandmother's age, once she knew the grandfather had this happen, she would probably feel dizzy and be unable to eat.
At that point, it would likely be a chain reaction, which would truly be a chaotic mess.
"Caleb dear, are you okay?" his grandmother asked with concern.
His father had already been shooed by his grandmother to the windowsill nearby, where he was silently sulking.
"I'm fine, just talked to Grandpa for a bit!"
"Grandma, don't go running around anymore in the future!"
"At your age, you should just properly enjoy your retirement. Don't end up busy here and there without having enjoyed any happiness, only for you to pass away first!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" his grandmother sighed...
But mentioning this, she couldn't help but cry again.
"What a hard life!"
"Your grandfather's illness is likely from being busy, from all that socializing!"
"If your father and those few uncles were just a little more capable, it wouldn't have to be like this!"
"Forget it, let's not talk about this, the doctor said grandpa has a few more months to live, so you should come visit more often during this time!"
Caleb nodded, not saying anything more.
Of course, he would come to visit more often during this time, but it would be to see him at home, after all, his grandfather would be able to be discharged shortly after taking the panacea.
By evening, Caleb had just returned home when he received a call from his father.
First, his grandmother told him in surprise and joy that the old man's physical condition had improved a lot.
Immediately following that was the new physical report issued by the attending physician.
It showed that the cancer cells had been almost completely cleared, all physical indicators were good, even healthier than many young people.
The bone age test even showed a bone age of only 30-something, and all the body's indicators were simply ridiculously healthy.
To tell the truth, right now, his grandfather's physical condition was likely even better than his own.
In the afternoon, he was still a dying patient; in less than 4 hours, the illness had completely healed.
"Um, son!"
"That Doctor Aulani from before asked me for your phone number!"
"He said he might come to visit you another day; he seemed quite anxious. I don't know what it's about!"
"Is that so? If grandpa has recovered, that's also a good thing!"
"By the way, regarding grandpa's illness this time, you must not tell anyone else!"
"If other people see grandpa's current physical condition, they will doubt whether he was even sick at all!"
"The fewer people who know about this, the better!"
"That medicine is not simple to begin with; you must not talk about it randomly, got it?"
Caleb didn't count on his father being able to keep a secret at all; if his father could really keep a secret, he might have taken a tour through the Inner Circle of the Dark Angels.
But at this point, it didn't matter anymore; it was a good thing that his grandfather could recover.
As for Doctor Aulani coming to find him, it was somewhat expected.
After all, a patient he was responsible for suddenly recovering—how could such a medical miracle not attract the attention of some professional physicians?
"Sigh..."
"Maybe I should just submit part of the laser rifle design blueprints to the Seven Sons of National Defense!"
"Whether they look at it or not doesn't matter; anyway, once I've mastered the energy magazine technology for the laser rifle, I can earn money just the same!"
He didn't know when it started, but Caleb's concept of money had become much more indifferent.
The gameboard would bring him too many things that would change the era.
Now, one could only say it had just begun.