Capítulo 1526: Chapter 1029: Shocking the World (6)_1

"Philadelphia isn't nearly as bustling as New York, and besides, we aren't Philadelphians. Our farm is in the far suburbs, getting to the nearest small town is a half-hour drive, let alone Philadelphia."

Victor shook his head and continued: "Donna's sickness took a lot of money out of the household, after Mum's and Donna's passing, the funeral costs were exorbitant. The farm's harvest wasn't good, to the point where we couldn't afford to pay even a portion of your tuition. You had to take out loans to cover it all."

"In addition to college costs, medical school fees are horrifyingly expensive. We don't know when you'll be able to pay off your loans… have you really paid them off?" Victor asked somewhat hesitantly.

Strange hesitated, of course he had paid off all his loans, because he had made a lot of money from the Eternal Life Factor industry. He had even bought a nice house and a good car in New York.

"Didn't I tell you guys already?! You can move to New York and live here. I've said it many times, but you just won't come!"

"Stephen!" Victor raised his voice: "Even though we can't provide more help for you, we can't burden you anymore. Eugene and I both think the same way!"

"The reason he doesn't want to come to New York for treatment is because he's afraid people will ridicule his Philadelphia accent. Because one year, when you came home, you said you made a lot of effort to change this accent, that if you spoke in this accent in class, no one would invite you to parties."

Strange opened his mouth, he recalled that he seemed to have said something like this, so he hurriedly explained: "No, I didn't mean... I wasn't saying there's anything wrong with a Philadelphia accent, but people here in New York, they are just…"

"We know, of course." Victor looked at Strange and said: "Even when I deliver things to the small town, people there consider me an outsider from suburbs, unwilling to talk much with me, let alone New York."

"It is well known that people from small places have a hard time in big cities. You have no friends here, no family. You have to study, live, and we can't provide any help to you. Although Dad doesn't say it, he is always worried."

Strange, a little taken aback, says, "Didn't I tell you that? I've made a lot of money. I remember I told you that, didn't I?"

"But, how much is a lot?" Victor responded: "Yes, your salary is high, you are the most outstanding surgeon, you must be able to earn a lot of money, but what about house prices in New York? and the cost of living? Don't you need to get married? Don't your children need to pay tuition fees for university? Do you want him to take a loan like you did?"

Strange was left speechless again. He calculated his savings and while he could just about handle these problems, it would certainly not be plentiful if he followed his ideal scenario.

Even though Strange really hasn't thought about getting married and having children, he has a bigger burden, and that is Kamar-Taj.

The mages of Kamar-Taj, they too need money to function in ordinary society. Although the Solar System development plan does provide them with funds, it is still not quite enough.

Victor kept calculating while talking: "You work at The Elders Council Hospital, you can't buy a house that's too far away. But every inch of land here in Manhattan is worth its weight in gold, and it would be equally impractical to go too far out."

"If you can't get to your home by foot, you'll need a car. I see the cars parked downstairs aren't cheap and we can't just buy any old pickup truck like we do in the suburbs."

"If you want to date local New York girls, you'll have to book restaurants, treat them to dinner; good restaurants here are horribly expensive, and you'll have to buy gifts on special occasions…"

"I just asked the nurses in the ward about their salary standards, and about the salary standards of surgeons. Sure, they are a lot, but if used to cater to these things, one would be just barely managing—let alone having to plan for children's education; private schools are very expensive…"

Just as Strange was about to say something, Victor said: "If Eugene and dad moved in with you, you wouldn't be able to live in a bachelor pad anymore, you would at least need a two-bedroom apartment."

"Listen, Victor, these are all non-issues!" Strange tried to explain: "I made a lot of money, much more than you could possibly imagine. I have a big house right in the most bustling district of Manhattan, where you can overlook the entire New York night scene. I can take you there tonight…"

"No Stephen, that's not the most important thing," Victor frowned and said, "Dad told me that if he told you about his condition, you would definitely want him to go for treatment at the Elders Council Hospital."

"So what?" Strange asked confusedly, "Isn't the Elders Council Hospital good enough? It is the best hospital in New York, even on the entire East Coast!"

"That's precisely why he can't go." Victor looked Strange in the eyes: "You're not a local New Yorker. Your social networks here are unstable, and if you want to join your colleagues, you must follow New York's norms."

"If father and I came here, people would definitely know that the son of a farmer from a small place came to New York. That would make you look down upon."

Victor sighed and said "It's not easy trying to fit into a foreign environment. You'd have to pretend to be a local, forget your humble beginnings, and converse about popular topics."

"But, if anyone from your past is around, you can't keep up your disguise." Victor looked at Strange through furrowed brows and said, "Stephen, we understand you. You don't want to shatter this perfect image you've cultivated and neither do we."

Strange seemed frozen in place. He took a deep breath and said quite absurdly, "So, he would rather endure the pain of his deteriorating lungs than come here?"

He stood up from his chair, flailing his hands, and pacing in place, exclaiming, "You're all mad, absolutely mad! You all really... "

Suddenly, he fell silent as Victor stood up, patted his shoulder and said, "Earlier, dad woke up. He said he didn't tell anyone else that he's your father. So, your colleagues and the nurses probably don't know. As long as you two don't cross paths, everything should stay..."

Strange abruptly shook off Victor's hand, exclaiming, "In your eyes, am I a monster that preserves his perfect image at the expense of all feelings and regard for family?"

Victor seemed puzzled by his words. At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Strange watched as Victor's face turned fearful. The apprehension in his eyes made Victor instinctively step back like he was trying to hide.

This fearful and cowardly look in his eyes caused Strange to break down. In a decision, which he would never normally make, he squatted rudely on a chair nearby, his shoulders shaking with sobs.

Shiller opened the door and walked in, speaking softly to Victor, "I'm his friend, you should leave, I have something to discuss with him..."

Victor glanced at his brother, hesitated, but ultimately left. Shiller helped Strange up, the sight of Strange sobbing uncontrollably was pathetic.

Shiller didn't do anything else but he walked to the door and turned the lock.

He could clearly see that when Strange heard the "click" sound of the lock, his shoulders shook. Subsequently, the spasms from crying lessened considerably.

Shiller shook his head. Strange's symptoms were classic. His traditional upbringing constituted his excessive sense of insecurity, which made him strive for a perfect image, believing as long as no one could fault him, he would always be in a position of advantage.

Contrary to his comic character, this Strange Shiller knew had been rather lucky without any significant hiccups.

First, he was unfortunately pulled into the trap of the Eternal Life Factor by Shiller, then due to the Cosmic Sorcerer's development project, he smoothly took over the mantle of the Supreme Magician and even owned The Sanctum.

Latterly, during the implementation of the Solar System development plan, under his leadership, the mages surmounted numerous challenges, developed plenty of civilian uses for Magic Energy, only making his popularity soar.

He hadn't experienced the despair of losing a hand, hadn't descended into self-destruction, hadn't drowned his sorrows in drink every night. Amidst his despair and darkness, he hadn't sought refuge in religion.

This Strange wasn't nihilistic, but he also saw things too scotch-free. Precisely because he had now reached such a high status, yet he could understand the worries that ordinary people like his dad and little brother had gone through amidst the hustle and bustle of their daily lives.

Because he was successful and didn't have too much to worry about, he could feel that these worries which were insignificant to him, that wouldn't change anything, would actually consume a lot of mental energy for ordinary people who hadn't yet transcended societal life.

How much understanding must a person have to squeeze out precious time and mental effort, from their already hard lives, to consider others. Not only that, if you had to endure additional pain, and avoid shadows, you would resemble a saint.

After spending over an hour, Shiller finally managed to calm down Strange so that his bouts of deep crying subsided. Just as he was going to have a sip of water, his phone rang.

"Dr. Shiller, sorry about this but you are free, right?" The voice at the other end was Steve's. From his slightly trembling voice, Shiller quickly understood that he was having an episode.

"Listen, Steve, breathe deeply, just as I've taught you before, focus on something without moving, paying attention to its details, ignoring any illusions that might appear before you...Where are you now?"

"At the Avengers base? Spiderman is also there? Pass him the phone...Hello? Peter? Yes, I know he isn't doing well, oh, no, don't comfort him just yet, get out of there first..."

"Listen to me, Peter, I am a professional psychologist, yes, make up an excuse and leave first, let Steve be alone...I'll be right there."

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