Chapter 277: End-of-Life Care, The Underground Kingdom (5k)

At this moment, Gauss Weil was like he was in a fire, burning, yet he was still earnestly absorbing this painful power.

Half an hour later, the old man had finished his final words and finally closed his eyes, with no more regrets left.

Wen Yan supported the trembling Gauss Weil and helped him outside.

Wen Yan had wanted to say something, but saw Gauss Weil’s eyes were bright, with no sign of wanting to back out.

"Work is so hard, so painful, it’s just fantastic. I finally felt that kind of inner pain. Thank you, Wen Yan."

"..." Wen Yan wanted to say more but stopped, finally saying, "As long as you like it."

"I really like it. Just thinking about such a painful job, and it’s only five thousand yuan a month, while my rent alone is three thousand. That just makes the job even more painful."

"Where do you rent a place that expensive? The place I rented before was only five hundred."

"The courtyard next door. I specifically checked; three thousand a month."

"You really don’t have to be my neighbor!"

"With the remaining two thousand, I’ll probably have to cook for myself. I heard that cooking for yourself can at least save half. Should be about a thousand yuan. Plus, I heard there’s also water, electricity, gas, transport, and property fees and such. If I scrimp a bit, it should be enough."

"You even need to eat?"

"I saw everyone in the videos needs to eat!"

"...Fine."

Wen Yan didn’t say anything else. Actually, he wanted to point out, not every terminally ill patient can let Gauss Weil truly feel pain. Today was the first day of work, so he’d especially picked a special one.

On one hand, he figured Gauss would really go for it.

On the other, he hoped the old hero could have a slightly more comfortable, less tormented end.

He had discussed it with Feng Yao before. Feng Yao said the Scorching Sun Department had once encountered a ghost. That ghost said his time had come, his life run out, but physically, he still could have kept going.

So in those last hours, he felt like his internal organs were burning, getting scorched one by one until they were all wrecked, body giving out, and then he died.

He said, at that time, he didn’t even have the strength to struggle, wanted to cry out in pain but couldn’t. That was the final torture, torturous enough that all he wished for was swift death.

Before the end, that’s when it feels the worst.

So, after Gauss Weil offered to get a job, Wen Yan actually thought of this, letting him put his abilities to use and do a fitting job.

As expected, Gauss Weil did an outstanding job.

After half a day’s work, Gauss Weil tagged along to the cafeteria for lunch, and couldn’t help but ask Wen Yan as they ate.

"Why is it, when I absorb that painful power, it feels especially hard to take, like bathing in Holy Water? But I’m very sure, that person wasn’t from the Church, and didn’t have the kind of power."

"It’s not only yours that counts as faith. That old man was deeply faithful—so much so he could ignite his painful energies. You’ll come across loads of things you’ve never seen before."

"Even stronger than your elders?"

"In some ways, none of us can compare to that old man just now."

"Incredible. I feel if I’d absorbed that power at his peak, I’d have been burnt to death on the spot."

Wen Yan followed Gauss Weil all day. Besides the first patient, some were at terminal stage, while others simply reached their time. Gauss Weil fulfilled his duties seriously for all of them.

Even if the rest didn’t give him that burning, fiery sensation like the first one, he didn’t mind at all.

He just knew that here, he might meet patients who let him feel real inner pain, so he would work hard and earn his wage.

The next day, Wen Yan didn’t follow along anymore; it was the newly-formed palliative care office’s turn.

These people were all Scorching Sun Department staff. They only knew Gauss was some ethnic minority Professional who could ease patients’ end-of-life pain—and he was very passionate about the job.

That’s right, Gauss even got his ID. The name on the card: Gauss Weil.

Also, he wasn’t an official employee yet—just signed as an intern.

People in the office, though they found Gauss a bit odd, still respected him a lot. He was super serious about his work, and everyone noticed that.

Sometimes, some patients couldn’t look after themselves at all. Gauss didn’t mind one bit, would even help out, so family and colleagues, though they thought he was quirky, agreed he was actually a good guy.

Now that he had a job, Gauss moved out from Wen Yan’s place, borrowed five thousand from Wen Yan, spent three thousand to rent a simply furnished apartment in the same row, but on the west side.

Then he politely refused Wen Yan’s help, called and set up his own broadband installation.

The next day, Gauss tracked down Wen Yan, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Can you lend me another five thousand? I ran out of money for food."

"Huh?"

"The rent can be paid monthly, but after installing broadband—they said it came with a phone—one year, 1998 yuan. The last two yuan I spent on the bus yesterday."

Gauss Weil pulled out a cheap smartphone, making Wen Yan struggle not to laugh.

Too funny—Pain Demon Lord just started work and already got beat up by society and swindled.

Wen Yan gave him another five thousand. Gauss Weil promised repeatedly to pay back as soon as he got paid.