Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 269 Casual Talk on the Big Picture
Seeing Ou Yang staring blankly upwards in a daze, Duan Shuxun immediately had some guesses in his mind.

He didn't know what the three people had been through, but anyone who could traverse the epidemic area was extraordinary.

Only after Ou Yang looked away did Duan Shuxun smile and say, "We're home now. We've made all the arrangements. First, we'll have a medical check-up, then a shower and dinner. We'll talk about the rest later!"

"A physical exam?" Zhu Yiming's expression turned somewhat grim. "Is it necessary for us all to be immune?"

“It has nothing to do with Pneumococcus,” Duan Shuxun explained patiently. “This is a necessary procedure, please understand.”

Zhu Yiming wanted to say something more, but Ou Yang stopped him: "It's okay, I understand."

Duan Shuxun's smile remained unchanged: "The main problem is that the order in the epidemic area has collapsed. Whether it's hygiene or medical care, the conditions in all aspects are not good, which will definitely have an impact on the body. Getting a check-up will put my mind at ease."

The more he said that, the more Zhu Yiming felt that the upcoming physical examination was not so simple.

Duan Shuxun led the way, followed by the trio. Zhu Yiming leaned close to Ou Yang's ear and questioned, "Why won't you let me speak?"

Ou Yang lowered his voice: "Didn't you hear him say that this is procedure, this thing is practically a rule, and they're just following the rules, so why are you arguing about these useless things?"

"I still feel..."

"Oh, right!" Duan Shuxun interrupted Zhu Yiming, "There's something else. All your long guns and short cannons are too conspicuous. It would be best to store unnecessary weapons in the armory."

"What?" Zhu Yiming nearly exploded on the spot.

Ou Yang immediately grabbed Zhu Yiming: "Director Duan, if this were in China, we wouldn't carry weapons even if you didn't say so, but this is the United States. Although Shaleton is not an epidemic area, can you guarantee our absolute safety?"

“You’ve misunderstood,” Duan Shuxun said. “As you can see, there are guards outside the gate. I can’t say it’s absolutely safe, but the chances of encountering infected individuals or other dangers are very small. So, inside the office, we generally only carry our personal weapons. Any excess weapons and ammunition must be handed over to the armory for safekeeping. We only retrieve a gun from the armory when we need to use it… Your guns are from legitimate sources, right?”

"It's not exactly legitimate. The epidemic area is too chaotic. These guns were either stolen, found, or obtained as evidence from the police station," Ou Yang said frankly.

"I see!" Duan Shuxun had a headache. Although the United States was in chaos, no one should care about the missing guns, nor did they have the time or energy to deal with them. But if they were discovered, it would be a problem, no matter how small.

He tentatively asked, "Can we not use those problematic guns?"

"Isn't it a bit unnecessary to be so cautious?"

"It's better to be cautious," Duan Shuxun insisted.

“What if we refuse?” Ouyang asked seriously.

"Refuse? Why?" Duan Shuxun was very confused. "There was nothing we could do in the epidemic zone, but now that we're out of the epidemic zone, isn't it the right thing to abandon the problematic firearms?"

“Because we have had many unpleasant experiences, we don’t feel safe without a gun,” Ouyang said.

“But if you carry guns everywhere you go, other people will feel unsafe!” Duan Shuxun tried to persuade them. “Look around here, apart from the guards, who else has long guns and cannons?”

Ouyang thought for a moment and said, "We don't want to break the rules either. How about this, we can leave our guns behind, but they can't be stored in the armory. Can you find us a safe or something similar, and we'll keep them ourselves?"

"There's no precedent for this..."

Zhu Yiming interrupted impatiently, "This is the United States, where everyone has more than one gun. It's not our homeland. There's no need to be so dogmatic, is there?"

Duan Shuxun hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "Alright, but you have to agree to one condition."

"you say!"

"You can keep the gun yourselves, but unless there are special circumstances, you must consult with me or someone else before taking the gun. Is that a problem?"

“Sure!” Ouyang readily agreed.

"Alright, it's settled then." Duan Shuxun immediately arranged for someone to make a safe specifically for storing guns. He led three people to put the guns away first before starting the medical examination.

Nothing special, just things like oral health, vision, and blood pressure.

After all, this is just an office, with only one doctor and basic medical equipment. They have to ask the local hospital for help with all the tests.

Even so, many problems were still found, especially in the oral cavity. As soon as Ou Yang opened his mouth, the doctor asked, "How long has it been since you brushed your teeth?"

Ou Yang was embarrassed: "It's been a while, mainly because I haven't had the means."

The doctor nodded: "The problem is serious and must be dealt with as soon as possible. You must pay attention to oral hygiene from now on!"

“Yes, no problem!” Ouyang nodded immediately.

His situation was relatively good; Zhu Yiming was diagnosed with periodontitis and needed to have his teeth cleaned to solve the problem.

Of course, not now.

After the physical examination, the doctor announced on the spot that the three people were in relatively good health, but there were some minor issues that needed to be addressed.

As for the individual, Ouyang suffers from neurasthenia, presumably due to prolonged exposure to the epidemic area and excessive psychological stress. He should recover after a period of rest.

Zhu Yiming is in poor health. I heard that he had surgery not long ago. The doctor immediately judged that he had not rested well after the surgery and that he also needs to rest well.

Jiang Yuwei's problem is rather embarrassing: high stress levels have led to endocrine imbalances, which in turn have resulted in irregular periods.

Oral health is a common problem for everyone.

After the doctor announced the results, Duan Shuxun comforted him, saying, "It's okay. You just left the epidemic area, and according to regulations, you must be quarantined for a period of time. This is a good opportunity for you to recuperate."

"Okay, you can arrange it as you see fit. Take a shower first!" Zhu Yiming urged impatiently.

He doesn't feel anything when he takes a shower unless he mentions it; as soon as he does, he feels like something is wrong with his whole body!
The last time I took a bath was in White Maple Town. Now, not only is my body dirty, but my clothes are also filthy, covered in dust, mud, and even blood.

Rinse and scrub, rinse and scrub again. When Ouyang came out of the bathroom, he felt much lighter and more relaxed. He had scrubbed off at least five pounds of dirt!
After changing into clean clothes, the three of them reunited and couldn't help but smile at each other.

Hmm, I should probably get my hair cut too, but it's already dark, so the next thing to do is eat.

The office has its own canteen, but the food standard is not high. It consists of six dishes, one soup, two meat dishes, and four vegetable dishes, all served buffet-style.

The two meat dishes are braised beef with potatoes and braised pork belly, while the four vegetable dishes are stir-fried meat with onions, stir-fried cabbage with wood ear mushrooms, eggplant strips with fish-fragrant sauce, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

The soup was seaweed and egg drop soup, and the staple food was rice.

Just smelling the aroma of the food made the three of them very hungry, and their mouths were practically watering.

They could hardly remember the last time they had a proper meal!
Duan Shuxun greeted them warmly, "Hey, the conditions here are limited. We only have potatoes and onions, nothing special. Please don't mind!" "No problem, no problem. We're eating so well, what's there to mind!" Zhu Yiming's stomach rumbled as he smelled the familiar aroma, and he filled a large plate for himself.

Ou Yang and Jiang Yuwei were in no better shape. When they tasted a bite of their hometown food, the familiar flavors bloomed on their taste buds, and the three of them were so moved that they almost cried.

I never imagined that ordinary home-cooked dishes could be so delicious!
There was no way around it, everyone was really craving it, which made everyone else peek over here.

After wolfing down their food until they were about 70% full, the three of them slowed down and started chatting idly.

Zhu Yiming patted his belly contentedly: "Well, we're lucky. Our office is in the very first city we come to!"

Duan Shuxun smiled and replied, "It's not just good luck. We have an office in every American city of a certain size. It's the same for you when you go to other places."

All three of them simultaneously raised questions and looked at Duan Shuxun in surprise.

"Every city has them?" Ou Yang was a little incredulous. "Old Mi is willing?"

With the US constantly on guard against this and that, how could they possibly allow the University of Tokyo's offices to spring up everywhere?
Duan Shuxun took a bite of eggplant: "Of course Lao Mi doesn't want to, but does it matter whether Lao Mi wants to or not?"

That sounds so irritating!
Jiang Yuwei also asked, "How many people would we need to send? Aren't you worried about infection at all?"

"It's alright, our protective measures are very thorough. In addition to personal protective equipment, there are also corresponding protective devices in the vehicle and indoors." At this point, Duan Shuxun pointed to a corner, "Look over there!"

The three of them turned around together, but didn't see anything special, only a device that looked very similar to an air conditioner outdoor unit.

"what is that?"

"It's a spore filter, but also a detector and alarm device." Duan Shuxun took a sip of soup. "The main job of the office is to install and maintain these devices for Lao Mi."

He proudly said, "The reason why Lao Mi's city has been able to survive until now is entirely due to the support of our products!"

The trio suddenly realized, "So that's why!"
Ouyang immediately pressed on, "Then where did all the collected spores go?"

"Saledon is not an epidemic area yet."

Ou Yang slapped his forehead: "Sorry, sorry, I've just gotten used to staying in the epidemic area."

“It’s alright, but I can answer this question,” Duan Shuxun said. “A small amount of the collected spores are inactivated and used for scientific research, but the vast majority are collected, sealed, and destroyed at high temperatures.”

Ouyang became even more curious: "Such a big city... I mean, a city about the size of Shaleton, how many spores would it need to collect in a day?"

"About several tens of kilograms."

"so little?"

“That’s quite a lot. This stuff is lighter than cotton, so a few dozen kilograms is already a lot.” Duan Shuxun put down his chopsticks, his plate empty. “Basically, all the safe areas use our equipment. From the beginning of the year until now, we’ve generated over 260 tons of output.”

"Tons?" Zhu Yiming was confused again.

Is output value measured in tons?
Duan Shuxun quickly explained, "I was referring to gold."

"Holy crap!" Zhu Yiming exclaimed in disbelief, "Over two hundred tons of gold? How many knives is that?"

"Not much, just over a hundred billion US dollars." Duan Shuxun smiled modestly. "The US dollar has depreciated drastically. If we were to use the pre-pandemic currency value, it would be at least eight hundred to a thousand tons!"

This must be Versailles! It's definitely Versailles!
More than 100 billion US dollars.

Goodness, that's really nothing. How much gold reserves does the US actually have?
"No, are the Americans really willing to let us make all the money? Haven't they copied similar products?" Zhu Yiming asked doubtfully.

Anyone with a brain knows what the US is like. Why would they give up such a huge benefit?
“Yes, but the price is high and the production capacity is low, so it’s not competitive at all.” Duan Shuxun understood what Zhu Yiming wanted to ask and continued to explain, “Moreover, the United States is in such a mess that the US Congress has many places to ask us for help. They don’t dare to offend Tokyo University, let alone use underhanded tactics.”

"Could you tell me more about it?" Ou Yang asked. "As you know, we just came from the epidemic area and have been basically isolated from the world for a while. We have no idea about the changes outside."

“Of course, no problem.” Duan Shuxun wasn’t sure of the three men’s exact identities, but for the embassy to take the initiative to contact them, their identities must be extraordinary. Therefore, he wanted to cultivate a good relationship with the trio. “Using gold for settlement is because the US dollar has depreciated, and this depreciation has triggered a global economic crisis…”

"Can I ask a question?" Zhu Yiming asked timidly.

"Just ask."

Zhu Yiming smiled sheepishly: "Why would the devaluation of the US dollar lead to an economic crisis?"

Ou Yang and Jiang Yuwei also showed expressions of curiosity.

Ou Yang knew about the economic crisis, but he had never understood the deeper aspects of it. Jiang Yuwei, on the other hand, was completely uninterested in such matters, but she became somewhat curious when the topic came up.

"Well, how should I put it?" Duan Shuxun scratched his head a bit. "The US dollar is the global currency, and international settlements all use it. Once the US dollar depreciates, prices will rise, costs will become abnormally high, and this will trigger a series of chain reactions. That's roughly it."

"Oh!" Zhu Yiming nodded.

Although I still don't quite understand, it's like I've grasped it all at once.

Ou Yangqiang wasn't much better, but he knew that rising prices and declining purchasing power would inevitably lead to a series of social problems.

For example, company layoffs or rising unemployment rates.

History books say that during the Great Depression, Americans lined up in long queues to receive relief, which was caused by unemployment, wasn't it?

Duan Shuxun continued: "Because the US dollar depreciated so drastically, countries unanimously sold off their US dollar bonds and de-dollarized their currencies, which exacerbated economic turmoil. The international settlement system based on the US dollar completely collapsed, and it was irreversible."

"It is no exaggeration to say that the US's influence has reached its lowest point. The euro and the RMB have risen strongly and are poised to take its place. However, the US has played the gold card to protect itself, which has provided some relief. Otherwise, the country would have collapsed long ago."

Ouyang was puzzled: "Does the US have that much gold? Did they misappropriate gold from other countries?"

Although the US has used its dollar to conquer the world, its consumption is also huge, so it probably doesn't have that much wealth.

He had seen online that many people stored their gold reserves in the United States, so using gold for settlement was indeed suspicious.

"I don't know. Anyway, we've already taken out all our gold, and we've never been late with our settlement payments. Whether it's misappropriated or not is none of our business."

"No objections from other countries?"

"Who knows how much inventory the US still has?" Duan Shuxun chuckled, his words carrying weight. "Other places either don't dare to come, or the US refuses them, but our debt... the US won't dare to renege on it!"

(End of this chapter)