321: Apologize and take over Xuanhu Pharmaceutical

"Alright, Xiao Ling will wake up after some time. During this period, none of you are allowed to disturb her." After Tang Ping finished, a few drops of sweat seeped from his forehead. This was his first time doing something like this, but fortunately, he was very satisfied with the result. Once Xiao Ling woke up, she would only need to use a large number of experience stones, and then a talent upgrade stone, to become an extremely powerful Level Five Talent User.

When he came, Sister Wang had already prepared these things for him. There were experience stones from F-grade to A-grade, each enough to directly raise someone to Level Five. There were also talent upgrade stones from E-grade to A-grade. As for S-grade, that level was too rare; even Xingyao Safe Zone didn't have any at the moment.

Tang Ping had just sensed Xiao Ling's general condition. Her Talent should be C-grade, water attribute, and her realm had just entered Level Three.

"Are you Xiao Ling's boyfriend?" Cheng Zijun was silent for a long time before blurting out this sentence. Besides a boyfriend, he really couldn't think of why the man in front of him was so good to Xiao Ling. He remembered that Xiao Ling seemed to be an only child and had no brothers, so he could only be her boyfriend!

"I am her Maternal Uncle." Tang Ping coughed lightly. Although they weren't blood relatives, he and Sister Wang were of the same generation; their grandfathers were close friends. Sister Wang was like an elder sister to him, closer than a biological sister. He had grown up following Sister Wang since childhood, so Xiao Ling had always called him Maternal Uncle.

"Maternal Uncle?" Cheng Zijun was stunned for a moment. The person in front of him didn't look much older than Wang Lingling.

Cheng Zijun's thoughts were correct; Tang Ping was indeed only four or five years older than Wang Lingling.

"Let's not talk about that for now. There's still someone outside; let him in first." Tang Ping waved his hand, and then the door automatically opened. A man who had been standing in the snow for a long time, seeing the door finally open, immediately shivered and hurried inside.

"What are you doing here?" Cheng Zijun's brows furrowed instantly.

"Young Master Cheng, hey-hey." Ergou bowed and scraped, his face fawning. "I'm here to apologize to you. We were wrong before and offended you. This is a gift our Big Brother specially sent to you all: three thousand Qiongzhou coins, some fresh fruits, and rice, flour, and meat for winter. Please, be the bigger person and overlook our past transgressions."

A pile of food instantly appeared on the ground. In this era, the preciousness of food was self-evident, and it had even replaced currency, becoming a hard currency for trade. Transactions between Survivor Bases were often completed with food.

As for the three thousand Qiongzhou coins, it was an even greater sum. Although it was only currency issued by the Qiongzhou Official Safe Zone, it was recognized and highly valued in all the large and small bases within a radius of two to three hundred kilometers. After all, for dangerous work like Cheng Zijun dealing with contaminated sea beast corpses, the basic daily wage was only 50.

Cheng Zijun had originally wanted to scold him, but as soon as he saw the various fruits, rice, and meat on the ground, and the three thousand Qiongzhou coins wrapped in red paper, his eyes instantly straightened!

The humiliation was gone, his face no longer hurt, and he even thought that this Maternal Uncle had come too early; if he had come a little later, the compensation would definitely have been more.

He, of course, knew that this huge compensation must have been because of Lingling's Maternal Uncle. Otherwise, let alone compensation, he would have been lucky to escape with half his life today.

Thinking of this, Cheng Zijun's fervent gaze calmed down. After some deliberation, he decided not to pursue this matter. After all, that was just Lingling's Maternal Uncle, not his Maternal Uncle. Perhaps when Lingling woke up, they would leave, and he and the others would continue to stay here. These people couldn't be offended too much, and it was better for these people to continue managing this Bluestone Street than others.

"Okay, I accept your apology. This matter ends here. Now that there's nothing else, we still have things to do here, so you should go back first," Cheng Zijun said.

The Captain and Vice-Captain next to him had looks of relief and fondness in their eyes.

"Yes, yes, then I won't disturb you!" Ergou felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He knew that as long as he received Cheng Zijun's forgiveness, this matter would no longer be a big problem. Before leaving, Ergou repeatedly bowed to Tang Ping, then exited the room and closed the door.

It was only then that Ergou noticed that the open door, the wind, snow, and cold couldn't penetrate the house at all. His eyes were instantly filled with even more reverence.

"Um, M-Maternal Uncle, can I call you that?" Cheng Zijun was a little awkward.

Tang Ping was indifferent: "Whatever, my name is Tang Ping. Oh, by the way, I'll be staying here with you for a few days, is that alright?"

"No problem, no problem!" Cheng Zijun quickly spoke, then pointed at the things on the ground, "Um, Maternal Uncle, these things, they're all because of your prestige..."

Before Cheng Zijun could finish, Tang Ping interrupted him: "No need, you can keep these things yourself. Oh, by the way, for the three of you, do you need my help with those things in your minds?"

"Things in our minds? The three of us?" The first to exclaim was the Captain. He wasn't exclaiming at the other party's methods, as he was convinced that the person in front of him indeed had the means to solve their mental poison after what had just happened. What truly made him exclaim was the mention of three people!

Three people? The Xingyun Squad Captain's expression was uncertain. In other words, the antidote they, the Xingyun Squad, had bought by spending all their remaining assets, hadn't solved Xiao Cheng's mental poison!

"Mr. Tang, are you saying Xiao Cheng also has mental poison?" The Captain pointed at Cheng Zijun.

Tang Ping nodded: "Much lighter than you two, it seems to have been suppressed by something, but it hasn't disappeared. In less than two months, it will resurface. If it can't be resolved, you'll just have to continue taking that substance to suppress it."

The Captain took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart. He got up from the bed and was about to kneel down, but Tang Ping immediately held him up with his mental power: "No need. Thank you for taking care of Xiao Ling. Since you have no solution, I'll help you resolve it. Open your mental sea; don't resist."

...Three days later

In the miscellaneous courtyard, inside the west house kitchen, Cheng Zijun was cooking dinner. After several days of eating plenty of meat and fish, his complexion had become much rosier.

Although the four adults had been eating plenty of fish and meat every day for the past few days, the food not only hadn't decreased but had increased significantly. The reason was that the Chicken Coop Haired Big Guy, seeing Ergou return safely, came to visit again the next day with another batch of gifts. This time, there were even some D-grade experience stones, and Cheng Zijun had also advanced to Level Three because of them.

So, Cheng Zijun had been in an exceptionally good mood these past two days, even wishing that every day could be like this in the future.

Inside the room, Tang Ping observed the movements of a large white cocoon. Feeling the strong heartbeat inside and the gradually recovering spirit, he knew that Wang Lingling was only a day or two away from waking up.

"Mr. Tang, dinner is ready." The Xingyun Squad's Vice-Captain came in, carrying a large pot of tender, stewed beef.

Tang Ping nodded and sat down at the dining table: "How is the information on Xuanhu Pharmaceutical coming along?"

The Xingyun Squad Captain's expression was solemn: "The whereabouts of the five Fourth-Level Experts on the surface of Xuanhu Pharmaceutical Group have all been collected." He handed over a piece of paper.

"In addition, the seven small Survivor Bases, five medium Survivor Bases, and one large ten-thousand-person base they control are all on this list."

Tang Ping nodded: "I will clear out the high-end combat power of Xuanhu Pharmaceutical Group. As a thank you for taking care of Xiao Ling since the apocalypse, I plan to give you another great gift."

The Xingyun Squad Captain waved his hands repeatedly: "Mr. Tang, Wang Lingling is our junior sister, and we were together in the student council for over a year. We're all friends, and we've supported each other since the apocalypse. It's hardly considered help. Besides, the help you've given us, Mr. Tang, is already immense."

Tang Ping didn't respond, merely continued speaking to himself: "Instead of letting others benefit from Xuanhu Pharmaceutical Group's assets, it's better to give them to you. I wonder if you can handle it."

Cheng Zijun, who had just pushed open the door, carrying bowls and chopsticks, ready to feast, heard this and instantly dropped the bowl in his hand.

"Wha...what???"