Trembling At A High Altitude

The helicopter journey was long.

Based on Li Teng's previous experience, it was at least about three hours.

The previous two times, he had entered the helicopter cabin, eaten bread and biscuits, and drunk beverages, and all he needed was a good sleep, and upon waking up, he would have arrived at Film and Television City.

But this time was different.

He dared not sleep, fearing that once he fell asleep, he might be mistaken for a dead body when getting off the helicopter.

Gradually feeling the pain in his body, he slowly accumulated strength.

When Li Teng tried again, he finally managed to open the box cover, stretching his hand inside!

His hand touched the bread inside, but he did not have enough strength to pull it out.

He could only accumulate strength once more.

During this process, his spirit became delirious several times.

But the strong desire to survive in his heart reminded him several times, not to just fall asleep.

The only way he could keep himself alert now was to urinate from time to time.

The cloth blocking the exit would pull at the wound each effort, causing severe pain, and this intense pain kept him briefly alert.

This was really no different from undergoing torture.

At one moment, when Li Teng was again trying to urinate, he felt the cloth tied around the wound suddenly burst open, and a warm flow rushed out.

He didn't know if it was water or blood.

The feeling of bloatedness in his bladder had significantly lessened, leaving only the deep pain caused by prolonged retention.

Had the wound opened up again? Was it bleeding?

Could he die from the bleeding?

Li Teng was terrified, but now it was impossible for him to lift himself up to check his wound.

It was pitch black inside the cabin, and he couldn't see anything.

After a long period of gathering strength, Li Teng eventually managed to pull the bread out of the box.

After pulling it out, his arm lost strength again, and he couldn't even bring the bread to his mouth.

A few minutes later, driven by a strong will to survive, Li Teng finally brought the bread to his mouth. He couldn't remove the outer wrapping, and he didn't care about that now, he simply stuffed the wrapper and the bread together into his mouth.

Then he started eating with the wrapper still on.

Due to sepsis and extreme weakness, his stomach didn't want to ingest anything at all.

When he forcefully swallowed the bread, his stomach even cramped, trying to vomit the food back up.

Li Teng endured the discomfort of nausea and continued forcing the bread down into his stomach.

He didn't know if it was a placebo effect, or if the food and beverages in the box had a real therapeutic effect, but after a few bites of bread with the wrapper, Li Teng finally gained some strength, and his body didn't completely refuse to respond like before.

He then had enough strength to pull the remaining bread out of the tattered wrapping and swallow it separately.

After resting for a while having eaten the bread, he reached into the box, took out the biscuits, and ate them.

Then he drank the beverage.

He didn't know if the wound was still bleeding.

He couldn't see, just felt that the area was damp and sticky.

After eating the bread and biscuits and drinking the beverage, a strong wave of drowsiness hit him.

But Li Teng dared not sleep.

He was still worried that if he fell asleep, he might not wake up again.

He continued to push through.

The flight time of around three hours was simply an agony for him.

He was filled with fear of death, worried that he might not stay alert when the helicopter reached Film and Television City and therefore be treated as a dead body and embalmed.

…

The long journey finally reached its destination.

Li Teng's guess was correct. This time, the helicopter didn't land at the seaside helipad.

It was a strange place.

When they got off the helicopter, two staff members were already waiting there, pushing a wheeled stretcher or something similar, possibly for transporting corpses.

"I'm not dead, I'm still alive."

After the staff lifted Li Teng onto the stretcher, he quickly reminded them.

The two workers didn't say a word, but directly pushed Li Teng toward a nearby building.

Seeing various signs in the surrounding environment, Li Teng could confirm that this was probably the hospital in Film and Television City.

He had never been to such a place before; even when injured during filming, an ambulance would transport a medical pod to the scene to treat them immediately.

He had no idea what the hospital inside Film and Television City was like.

Li Teng reminded himself that he must not forget that important matter; during his treatment, they must also place that part of him into the medical pod.

The workers wheeled Li Teng into the hospital and into one of the examination rooms.

A doctor, wearing a white lab coat and a face mask, approached and visually examined Li Teng's injuries.

"Not dead yet, but the injuries are severe," the doctor finally spoke.

"Thank you, please place me in the medical pod," Li Teng requested of the doctor.

Surviving long enough to reach here filled Li Teng with intense emotion.

The medical technology in Film and Television City was extremely advanced; no matter how severe the injuries, even if one was nearly dead, placing them in the medical pod could bring them back to life.

All the pain in his body would disappear at that moment, sparing him from enduring any more suffering.

"You did not sustain these injuries during filming here, so it's not covered under the health insurance of Film and Television City. You need to pay extra points to receive treatment," the doctor denied Li Teng.

"..." Li Teng's heart felt instantly colder.

Yet, he found himself unable to refute the doctor's words.

"I was forcibly taken to the top of the column, and even there, I was working for you all. Why wouldn't it count as a work-related injury?" Li Teng thought it over but still protested.

"Would injuries sustained while lying in your own bed count as work-related? Don't talk to me about this, it's pointless," the doctor turned and was ready to leave.

"Wait! I don't have many points in my account, can you possibly treat this wound with just 10 points for now?" Li Teng pointed to himself.

"This type of injury? Oh! That serious? It's nearly necrotic, equivalent to a limb reattachment, you'd need at least two hundred points," the doctor concluded after examining and then quoted Li Teng.

"I'm a newcomer, and I sustained these severe injuries just to be able to come back alive to continue filming. Doesn't Film and Television City have some sort of concession for newcomers?" Li Teng was despairing, his joyful excitement about having survived plummeting.

No money, no treatment; this hospital was just too realistic.

A life is only worth a thousand points, and they are charging me 200 points just to treat a wound.

Black! Really black!

"Newcomers… there seems to be a policy for treatment through installment payments with loans. Let me check it." The doctor walked to a terminal on the wall, made some inquiries, and then printed a form and brought it back to Li Teng.

"Sign this form."

Li Teng shakily reached out to take the paper.

It was an application for treatment with advance fee installment payments.

By filling out this form, he could get the points needed for the treatment. The repayment period was one year, deductions would be made from Li Teng's earnings from each performance, at a rate of fifty percent, until the capital and interest were fully repaid.

The annual interest rate was 5 percent, which wasn't too outrageous.

However, this also meant that if Li Teng agreed to the loan treatment, though he could normally earn ten points per performance, now he would only receive five points, with the other five going to repaying the loan for the treatment.

Any overdue debts within a year would be forcibly deducted from the points account, and if the balance in the points account was insufficient...

Quite simple, the old rules of Film and Television City, sealing in wax.

"How many points would it take to treat all my injuries together?" Li Teng asked the doctor again.

"Your injuries… probably about three to four hundred points?" the doctor answered Li Teng.

"How should I fill in the total amount of the loan I'm applying for?" Li Teng continued to inquire.

"The exact condition of the injuries will be clear once you are in the medical pod; you don't need to enter the total loan amount, just sign at the bottom. I will fill in the actual cost for you later," the doctor responded to Li Teng.

Li Teng really wanted to question this point... not disclosing the cost upfront, quoting the price on the surgery table, this was completely the scheme of PuX Hospital!

But he dared not question it.

Once in the hospital, his life was in the doctor's hands; if he questioned the doctor, it was as if he didn't want to live.

"Will you sign?" the doctor urged Li Teng.

"I'll sign," Li Teng had no other choice.