"Zhao Chen?" At the name, the young man started. Looking closely at the face of the man before him — was this not the very Zhao Chen who'd been so famous a while back, the hero who'd saved the two academies' teachers and students! And, most important, the grandson-in-law acknowledged by Governor Chu of Chu River.
"Get lost." Zhao Chen couldn't be bothered wasting words on the pair.
The young man and woman left at once; as she went, the young woman didn't forget to glance back at Zhao Chen's profile every few steps. So handsome!
"Thank you, big brother." The little girl bowed to Zhao Chen again and again in thanks.
"It's nothing." Zhao Chen looked at the little girl before him with a smile; and now, up close, he found this girl truly familiar. "You… how are you related to Shen Bing?" Zhao Chen asked.
"My big sister? You know my sister… oh — right, they called you Zhao Chen just now; you're that hero of the academy, Brother Zhao Chen! My sister mentions you all the time!" The little girl gazed at Zhao Chen, eyes shining with excitement.
So she was Shen Bing's little sister — no wonder Zhao Chen had felt the girl looked familiar. Then this old woman before him must be the grandmother, gravely ill, whom Shen Bing had been trying to have treated.
Looking at the old woman's state, Zhao Chen knit his brows slightly — for she didn't look like someone cured; her spirits weren't at all good.
"You've brought your grandmother out for a walk? Where's your sister?" Zhao Chen asked.
"My sister should be tutoring freshmen right now — that way she can earn a bit of tutoring money," the little girl answered.
"What's your name?" Zhao Chen asked.
"Shen Yan — Yan, as in the swallow," Shen Yan said with a smile.
Zhao Chen and Shen Yan strolled the park in the old woman's company, and before they knew it, it had come round to noon.
"Brother Zhao Chen, you helped us out of trouble just now — let me treat you to lunch." Shen Yan blinked up at Zhao Chen.
"All right — and what will you be treating me to?" Zhao Chen said with a smile.
Shen Yan fished a little folder from her pocket; inside, Zhao Chen could see, were nutrient-ration vouchers, one after another, each marked with a date. Today being Monday, for instance, there were two vouchers for Monday morning, two for midday, two for the evening. From tomorrow's lunch, Shen Yan drew out one voucher, marked "Lunch · Yanzi." From the look of it, she meant to treat Zhao Chen with her own lunch tomorrow.
"I can treat you to a nutrient ration, big brother."
Looking at Shen Yan's innocent, smiling face, Zhao Chen didn't refuse.
"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Zhao Chen, to keep an eye on Grandma here for me; I'll go exchange the rations." Shen Yan walked off happily toward the ration-exchange point in the distance.
Zhao Chen sat down beside Grandma Shen, watching the old woman stroke the medal on her chest without cease. He asked, "Grandmother, is this medal very important to you?"
Grandma Shen looked at Zhao Chen and murmured, low, "It… it… it was bought with my beloved's life."
In his idle chat with Shen Yan just now, Zhao Chen had learned that Grandma Shen's mind was somewhat clouded — clear at times, muddled at others. His question just now had been only an offhand one; he hadn't expected Grandma Shen to answer.
Then Grandma Shen muttered on, to herself, "At the time I worked at the system command headquarters. The star gate was destroyed… we had to hold for seven days. The commander had me relay to the front-line fleets the order to hold to the death. The first fleet I contacted… was… was the fleet my beloved served in. The order I relayed… cost my beloved his life. I thought I would die too — never dreamed that, in the end, I'd live… In truth I died then, in that hour. Were it not for the child in my womb… I could never have dragged out this life to now."
As she said it, Grandma Shen gripped that medal with all her strength.
Zhao Chen opened his mouth, but something seemed lodged in his throat.
"Brother Zhao Chen, see which ration you'd like. If… if it's not enough, Yanzi can share hers with you." Shen Yan came trotting up to Zhao Chen, cradling three nutrient rations.
"It's fine — one box is plenty for me." Zhao Chen took a ration.
Shen Yan happily opened a ration, but didn't eat first herself; instead she fed Grandma Shen first. Zhao Chen ate his own ration beside them — the taste no different from before, and yet, for some reason, this time Zhao Chen finished it all, not a grain left.
"I remember your sister Shen Bing had saved up 100,000 star coins for the surgery, saying she'd have Grandma Shen treated. Why is Grandma Shen still in this state?" Zhao Chen asked.
Shen Yan said, rather downcast, "The doctor said it's because my grandmother served in an Imperial fleet when she was young; her body had long been harmed by some radioactive element, and it's even seeped into her brain. The hundred thousand star coins my sister saved before only eased Grandma's condition; the lesion in her brain still can't be dealt with — not unless the most advanced medical equipment is used, over years of recovery treatment. But that treatment cost isn't as simple as 100,000 star coins; it needs close to several million, or more — a bottomless pit. The doctor even advised us to give up, but my sister's never been willing to."
Hearing this, Zhao Chen pressed the matter no further.
"Yanzi — I may have a way to treat your grandmother's illness, but it'll take a few days. In this while, don't tell your sister Shen Bing you've met me, all right? We'll give your sister a surprise later on, hm?" Zhao Chen looked at Shen Yan with a smile.
Shen Yan hesitated a moment, then nodded hard. "All right — I trust you, Brother Zhao Chen." Shen Yan thought of it simply: with Grandma already in such a state, there was no reason for the big brother to deceive her.
Zhao Chen stroked Shen Yan's head and stood. "Big brother's had his fill. Oh — right, I've got a bag of compressed biscuits here; I don't much care for them — help me finish them off, would you? I have some things to see to now; we'll meet again in a few days. Bye-bye." Zhao Chen took a small bag of compressed biscuits from his pocket, set it on the wheelchair, and, not waiting for Shen Yan to refuse, said his goodbyes and left.
Shen Yan looked at that unopened bag of compressed biscuits, then at the spot where Zhao Chen had vanished. "But I never told Brother Zhao Chen where I live — he won't be unable to find me later, will he?" Shen Yan muttered.
Having parted from Shen Yan, Zhao Chen went on wandering the academy. As for the matter of Grandma Shen, Zhao Chen meant to arrange for her to receive treatment once the T3 Andromeda-class Interstellar Medical Ship entered service. Zhao Chen knew there were many pitiable people like Grandma Shen in this world; he was no great saint, and couldn't save them all. But he only wished to lend what little strength he could. For that medal of extraordinary meaning. For a onetime veteran.