Chapter 144: The Bizarre Jade Pendant

Cui Yue held the jade pendant in his hands, unable to do anything but offer a bitter, helpless smile. Wei Luoyang had kept you hidden in her bosom until her very final moments; it was crystal clear how much she cherished you.

No matter how you came to be, if there is ever a chance in the future, I must send you back.

Cui Yue felt a suffocating tightness in his chest, followed immediately by a violent fit of dry coughing. Suddenly, a mouthful of black liquid spewed from his lips.

Cui Yue hurriedly covered his mouth and nose, but the dark fluid had already leaked between his fingers, staining the collar of his shirt.

Damn it!

Cui Yue hastily fished out the packets of powdered medicine given by Old Freak Huo from his pocket.

There was no time to mix it with water now; he tilted his head back and dumped the powder directly into his throat.

"Cough, cough..."

Cui Yue felt an instant, fiery burning sensation spread all the way down his throat. After hastily gulping down several mouthfuls of water, he finally managed to force it all the way down.

Looking at the residual liquid staining his fingers, Cui Yue's mood plummeted even further. It seemed his symptoms were growing worse by the day. Would he truly transform into the monster Old Freak Huo had described one day?

He could only hope this medicine would provide some temporary relief and that Old Freak Huo would find a cure for him as soon as possible.

Cui Yue collapsed flat onto the bed, his gaze hollow and vacant.

What he failed to notice was that the jade pendant resting quietly on the table suddenly flickered its beast-head eyes, extending a long tongue to lick clean every single trace of the black fluid he had just spewed onto the table.

With a greedy, satisfied burp, the beast head returned to its original stillness, as if nothing at all had happened.

The next day, having spent the entire night wide awake with heavy, dark circles under his eyes, Cui Yue pushed his old Forever-brand bicycle, walking sluggishly along the road toward the factory.

"Hey! Blockhead, why are you so lifeless?"

Yang Liu rode up behind Cui Yue on her bicycle, teasing him with a smile.

Cui Yue glanced back lazily, his mind a total mess. Right now, even this young girl couldn't rouse his spirits.

With a completely expressionless face, he turned back around and continued trudging forward listlessly.

Suddenly, a white plastic bag was thrust directly into his field of vision, filled with still-steaming white-skinned steamed buns.

"Here! Take them. I was afraid you'd starve and faint before even reaching the factory gates."

Cui Yue stared at the piping-hot buns before him, a momentary warmth stirring in his heart. But thinking of his deteriorating condition, the words caught in his throat.

What difference would eating a bun make now? He already had one foot in the grave anyway; eating it would just be wasting food for the country and adding another burden to the people.

"Not hungry!"

Cui Yue coldly pushed her hand away, and without another word, hopped onto his bicycle and rode off.

Left standing in place with the warm buns in her hands, Yang Liu watched his retreating figure as tears welled up in her eyes, stamping her feet in furious vexation.

"Damn Cui Yue, stinky Cui Yue, you brainless blockhead!"

Halfway through his ride, a cold gust of wind swept across his back, and a sharp, splitting pain suddenly stabbed into his skull.

"Where on earth did this evil wind come from?"

Quickly pedaling harder, he rushed toward the factory gates.

"Master Cui, why does your complexion look so poor today? Could it be that burning the midnight oil has drained you too much?"

Zhang Hao, wearing his security uniform, stood by the factory gates. Seeing Cui Yue ride up, he immediately seized the chance to mock him.

"Drain your grandfather!"

Cui Yue didn't even slow down as he reached the entrance. With a swift swipe, he snatched Zhang Hao's cap right off his head, tossed it directly into the fountain pool by the gate, and rode away without looking back.

"Hey, hey! Cui Yue, you little bastard, don't let me catch you!"

Zhang Hao chased after the old bicycle for a few steps before realizing he couldn't catch it, pointing angrily at Cui Yue's retreating back and cursing at the top of his lungs.

"Feel free to come find me in the workshop! The tools in my kit are fully stocked!"

Cui Yue steered with one hand, too lazy to bother with him, merely giving a casual wave of his hand.

Zhang Hao glared fiercely after him before finally managing to fish his cap out of the fountain pool.

Just as he was holding it in his hands to wring out the water, he saw Yang Liu riding her bicycle toward him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and a plastic bag containing a few steamed buns was tied to her handlebars.

Zhang Hao hurriedly used his dripping-wet cap to block Yang Liu's path.

"Hey, little Yang, did you catch pink-eye? Were you ticked off by that bad-luck charm of a kid, Cui Yue?"

Yang Liu glared at him fiercely, and with an indignant puff of air, pushed her bicycle forward, preparing to enter the factory.

"Hey, hey, don't be in such a rush. Let me tell you, you've got to hold firm to your revolutionary convictions! Don't let yourself get captured by Cui Yue's sugar-coated bullets. That punk has a belly full of bad tricks."

Zhang Hao deliberately spoke loudly for Yang Liu to hear, secretly cursing the fellow surnamed Cui to ensure he wouldn't have a peaceful day either.

Hearing this, Yang Liu recalled how Cui Yue had deliberately given her the cold shoulder just moments before, and the grievance in her heart deepened.

Right before his eyes, fresh tears threatened to fall.

Seeing this reaction, Zhang Hao panicked. What on earth was going on here? He hadn't even said anything particularly terrible about that bastard kid, so why had he managed to make Yang Liu cry?

"No, no, my dear ancestor, please don't cry here! With people coming and going, goodness knows what kind of idle gossip they'll start."

Zhang Hao pleaded frantically, "My good ancestor, your Cui Yue is a one-in-a-million—no, a ten-thousand-in-a-million—uniquely wonderful man! He's decent-looking, well-read, and incredibly knowledgeable. Even if most of it is useless street smarts, he treats you one hundred percent right!"

Yang Liu had already been feeling wronged, but hearing those words instantly sent her into a rage. Treating me right, looking like that?!

"Right your big fat head! Shut up!"

With that, she casually grabbed the bag of buns hanging from her handlebars and shoved the entire thing straight into Zhang Hao's wide-open mouth, muttering, "Block that stinky mouth of yours!"

Then, she pushed her bicycle away in a huff.

Zhang Hao nearly choked to death on the buns, clutching his throat and coughing violently for a long while.

"What did these two eat today? Early in the morning and they're both acting like they've swallowed gunpowder. It seems that when they fly wing to wing, going out of their minds happens on the exact same day too."

Upon entering the workshop, Cui Yue changed into his work uniform and immediately got down to business.

Master Qin brought over a stack of blueprints and product manuals, instructing Cui Yue to fetch the tool chest as well.

Old Qin stared at the imported equipment before him, his eyes practically locking onto it. That gaze was as full of excitement as if he were looking at his wife from twenty years ago.

"Cui Yue, pay close attention today. We're going to maintain the components of this imported machinery, so we have to be extra careful. There's no room for a single mistake."

"Alright, Master Qin, don't you worry. Nothing will go wrong."

Working with extreme caution, the two of them spent the entire morning dismantling just a portion of the imported equipment's main frame.

Ever since this imported machinery had entered the workshop, leaders at every level had inspected it every three days and visited it every five. The level of importance attached to it went without saying.

It represented the fertilizer plant's industrial transformation, serving as an advanced model for energy conservation and efficiency enhancement, and was the absolute pride and joy of everyone in the factory and workshop.

Everyone in the workshop would have happily enshrined it like a deity; its symbolic significance far outweighed its practical purpose.

"Look at this. This is the main drive shaft. The precision of these gears is something our domestic factories simply can't achieve at our current level."

Old Qin explained to Cui Yue as he continued dismantling the machine.

"True enough. But once we master the technology ourselves, surpassing them is only a matter of time."

"That's the spirit..."