Chapter 399: Chapter 399: Sun Exposure 4
Evelyn Ford frowned. "Did he say anything?"
Officer Graham nodded. "He knew it was you who sent me to talk to him. He said to thank you."
Evelyn Ford was silent for a few seconds, then gave a slight nod. "I understand."
"Evelyn Ford, you can tell he’s not the type to give up on his life. Even if he only has a year or two left, he’ll fight to live. The fact that he accepted the medicine says enough about his attitude."
Evelyn Ford smiled. "Yes, I’m glad he’s willing to take the medicine."
After Officer Graham left, Evelyn Ford flopped onto her bed, staring blankly at the beams overhead.
"It’s strange. I’m rarely like this during the extreme cold, but as soon as the temperature rises, I start to get irritable."
Ronan Kendrick watched Evelyn Ford thoughtfully. "Is it possible that, even though it’s not obvious, the strong sunlight still carries sun poison? And if you stay under the sun long enough, it affects your mood."
Evelyn Ford rolled over to face Ronan Kendrick. "I can’t believe I didn’t think of that."
"Now that Azure has become an apocalyptic world with frequent disasters, do you really think the sun is still normal?" Ronan Kendrick poked Evelyn Ford’s forehead.
Evelyn Ford’s eyelid twitched. "Human cells metabolize completely every seven years. Do you think this apocalypse could be Azure resetting its own metabolism?"
"That’s possible. You’ve done enough thinking for one day. Get some rest. Let your brain relax."
Evelyn Ford burst out laughing. "Are you worried I’ll keep spouting nonsense?"
"Not at all. You’ve just been so busy lately, you’ve been neglecting me." Ronan Kendrick sat down beside her. "Take a good look at me. Am I different?"
Evelyn Ford studied him seriously. ’He looked the same—as handsome as ever.’
Silver hair, black eyes, a stern and refined face.
"How are you different?" Evelyn Ford stared for a long time but still couldn’t see any change.
Ronan Kendrick’s gaze was intense. "Look into my eyes."
"What about your eyes?" Evelyn Ford genuinely couldn’t see any difference. ’Maybe there’s something wrong with my eyes,’ she thought, rubbing them quickly.
"Ronan Kendrick, I can’t see it. Just tell me."
Ronan Kendrick chuckled and pulled her into his arms. "How can you be so adorable?"
"I just wanted you to see yourself in my eyes. There, let’s just hug for a bit. It’s been a while since I held you."
Evelyn Ford relaxed into his embrace, and listening to his heartbeat, she finally felt some peace.
"Go to sleep. I’m here."
Evelyn Ford made a soft sound and, as if hypnotized, fell asleep in less than five seconds.
「The next day」
When Evelyn Ford woke, the spot beside her was already empty. As she stepped outside, Wendy was just getting up too. The two of them stood in front of the cabin, staring blankly, and only went back inside after the sun had appeared.
Evelyn Ford now believed what Ronan Kendrick had said. Even though the sun looked normal, it still carried sun poison. Despite wearing a straw hat yesterday, she had been out under it all day. No wonder her mood had been affected.
Wendy had also mentioned feeling irritable yesterday. Evelyn Ford hadn’t paid it much mind at the time, but thinking back now, perhaps she had been affected too.
"Wendy, how was your mood yesterday?"
Wendy looked at Evelyn Ford, confused. "My mood? I was fine in the morning, but in the afternoon I started feeling irritable, and my chest felt a little tight."
Evelyn Ford nodded. ’Her symptoms were identical to mine.’
"Miss Ford, what’s wrong?"
Evelyn Ford’s expression turned serious. "Wendy, try to stay inside as much as possible during the day. The bright sunlight contains sun poison."
Wendy nodded quickly. "I understand."
To verify her theory, Evelyn Ford went and asked several other people, including Aunt Crane, Claudia Schultz, Ian Yates, and Nathan Xavier.
But the results were somewhat unexpected.
All the women experienced irritability, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, but none of the men did. Quincy and Miles Vaughn even said they felt exceptionally energetic yesterday, as if they were on a high.
Evelyn Ford nodded. ’That’s right,’ she thought. ’They played badminton for several hours last night.’
’The men and women were showing complete opposite reactions. Could it be due to differences in immunity? But my own immunity should be stronger than that of an average adult man, so that theory doesn’t hold up.’
Back in the cabin, Evelyn Ford was still stumped.
When Ronan Kendrick returned, Evelyn Ford and Wendy were in the kitchen making pickled radishes.
"I was just in the cellar with Mr. Graham."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "I know. Is it taken care of?"
"It’s taken care of. Don’t touch cold water for the next couple of days. Your period is coming soon."
Wendy was snickering off to the side. Flustered, Evelyn Ford shooed Ronan Kendrick away. "This water isn’t even cold."
Back in the kitchen, Evelyn Ford suddenly had an idea. ’Could it be related to a woman’s constitution? In traditional medicine, female bodies have an excess of yin energy and a deficit of yang. Maybe that’s why they can’t withstand the strong light containing sun poison, making them feel unwell.’
Evelyn Ford’s eyes lit up. After she and Wendy finished with the radishes, she went back to her room. She took out some restorative Chinese herbs from her space and prepared a mild, nourishing formula for herself. If it alleviated her symptoms, she would give it to the others.
Evelyn Ford was a person of action. She immediately went to the kitchen to brew the medicine. Although the herbs were mild in nature, the concoction had a strong, bitter smell that everyone else noticed.
"You’re going to drink that?" Ronan Kendrick frowned, looking at the dark, murky liquid.
"Yes, they’re all nourishing herbs. There are no side effects." With that, Evelyn Ford took the bowl and downed the medicine in one gulp.
The medicine may not have had side effects, but after drinking it, Evelyn Ford felt a strange sensation in her body.
It felt like a ball of fire was burning in her abdomen, making her want to jump into a pond and soak in the cold water.
After drinking it for three consecutive days, the fire in her abdomen suddenly vanished. Evelyn Ford could clearly feel that her fatigue was gone as well. She took her own pulse and found no issues; it was strong and steady, indicating excellent health.
Her mood had also calmed considerably, no longer irritable and anxious like before.
Evelyn Ford gave the herbs to Aunt Crane and had her brew them so that all the women on the farm could drink three bowls a day. Everyone trusted Evelyn Ford implicitly and followed her arrangements without question.
After all the women had been drinking it for a week, the daylight hours lengthened by an hour. Surprisingly, everyone’s mental state improved significantly. Even Aunt Crane showed a noticeable change; her once-cloudy eyes had become clear.
When properly utilized, the sun poison could actually help the body detoxify. It was just as Ronan Kendrick had said before: all disasters were like two sides of a coin, with a bad side and a good side.
When a disaster strikes, the human body sends out a distress signal. And in order to withstand the cataclysm, much like a system upgrade, the body’s constitution must also be upgraded.
She had Ronan Kendrick drink the medicine, but it had no effect on him. When the other men drank it, they all got nosebleeds from the over-nourishing effects, but their bodies experienced no other changes.
Evelyn Ford was puzzled by this, but she couldn’t find an answer.
Ronan Kendrick suggested that perhaps the sun poison was upgrading women’s bodies to close the gap in strength between them and men, giving them a more equal chance of survival in the face of disaster.
’His theory,’ Evelyn Ford thought, ’actually makes a lot of sense.’
