บท 8: Stabbed
บรรณาธิการ: Book_Hoarder
Upon returning home, Ren Baqian was unable to sleep any further. He turned on his computer and began to research saltpeter.
Ren Baqian took a good stretch when morning arrived. Apart from researching saltpeter, he had also looked up a bulk of information with regards to polar bears.
Saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate, once placed in water, will start to dissolve and absorb a large amount of heat. As a result, it will transform water into ice.
It additionally has many sources. Besides saltpeter mines, it could be found at corners of the villages and also near pigsties.
As long as that world had such a material, Ren Baqian guessed that they would be able to locate it in the vicinity of the beast park. Somewhere near the manure pit of the beast park.
Ren Baqian still decided to buy some saltpeter just in case he could not locate any in the other world.
Yeah yeah, not only would he solve the white bear's issue, he would also manufacture ice under such extreme summer conditions. At long last, he could prove his abilities and would not be dragged off to be beheaded every now and then.
Ren Baqian picked up his phone and, as expected, it was turned off. He set it aside to charge and crawled back into bed, preparing to sleep again.
He felt confused as he concurrently thought of both the other world and the actual world.
A day in that world was equivalent to 3 days in the actual world. 10 years in that world meant that 30 years would have passed in the actual world. He wondered if by teleporting to and fro, to which world does his life expectancy actually act in accordance with?
Also, kirins actually exist in that world? If he posted a picture of it online, would it immediately become a trending topic? He supposed that everyone would think the photo had been photoshopped.
As he thought of all sorts of things, he unknowingly fell asleep.
When he woke up, he turned on his phone and checked that it's 8 in the morning.
There were a few missed calls and among them: two were from Chen Qing and one was from his ex-colleague.
Ren Baqian drew back the corners of his mouth. He had stayed in the company for one year and only made acquaintances throughout this entire period. As such, he reckoned that this ex-colleague of his must have called to tell him to collect his belongings.
In the eyes of others, it appeared that he was rather pathetic to reach this stage. However, Ren Baqian was already used to such situations.
After taking a bath and changing into a new set of clothes, Ren Baqian arrived at his former company to claim his wages and to retrieve his belongings.
His former company was located at a commercial building which was approximately a half hour drive from his home.
Although many saw Ren Baqian walking into the office, not many struck up a conversation and most appeared as if they did not know him. They only raised their heads to take a few glances and interact with the people by their side after he walked past. He arrived at the front of his manager's door; he knocked and only went in when he heard a voice saying, "Enter."
In the room was a bespectacled woman who was in her forties. She raised her head and upon seeing him, her expression turned cold. "You have been absent from work without leave and have been fired. Go to the finance department and settle your wages. After which, pack your belongings and leave this office."
Ren Baqian nodded, turned his head around and left.
The woman was slightly taken aback. She did not expect him to be so straightforward and not say a single word. Shortly after, she lowered her head and continued to handle her documents.
After completing his tasks, Ren Baqian stood outside and took one last look at his office before heading down.
He caught a glimpse as he walked past his desk and saw that his seat had already been taken by a newcomer. Since he did not really want his belongings anymore, they could do whatever they deem fit to it.
There were no dramas of internal hatred. All are adults, nobody is going to specially ridicule you.
To the majority of the people, he was not even comparable to air. Air was at least a necessity, but his existence made no difference to them.
Ren Baqian laughed at himself as he headed downstairs.
He found a chemical store and bought 25 kg of potassium nitrate and returned to his room. Then, he went to a bookshop and bought a few books pertaining to animals, and lastly, he went to the veterinary medicine shop to purchase some B vitamins to cure indigestion. He'd additionally noticed that the bear was dropping fur, so this drug might be of some use.
He called Chen Qing only after preparing all these items.
"I have been trying to find you for days, let's have fun tonight?" Chen Qing asked once the call went through.
Ren Baqian knew that that his definition of having fun was to enjoy in a bar.
Chen Qing was a dashing and wealthy man and had always been popular among the females. It was very rare that he returned without a girl any time he went to a bar.
And those girls who are looking for fun in the bar are usually accompanied by their friends. Ren Baqian was considered decent looking and, at the very least, not detestable-looking. Furthermore, he was with Chen Qing and managed to reap rewards a majority of the time.
Ren Baqian needed to take a breather as he had been too tensed up for the past few days. He could finally take this chance to relax. "Good, you choose the location."
"Sure, I have something going on now and will hang up first. I'll text you the time and place."
That night Ren Baqian arrived at the location given by Chen Qing and waited there at the entrance of a newly opened bar.
One car after another passed, but Chen Qing arrived in his only a few minutes after Ren Baqian arrived.
"Changed to a new car?" Ren Baqian raised his eyebrows. Previously, Chen Qing was driving a Buick and now he had changed to an Audi Q7.
"Recently, my dad and Jiang Nan's dad met up. The next thing I knew, they decided to gift this car." Chen Qing smiled. "Oh, both of your dads have met! Congratulations!" Ren Baqian grinned. He was genuinely happy for Chen Qing.
"So, there is not much time left to play in the near future. Let's make use of time and make merry while we can." Chen Qing hooked his arm around Ren Baqian's neck. Both had their arms around each other as they walked into the bar.
"Have the dates been fixed?" Ren Baqian asked as they walked in.
"The 1st of October will be the engagement," Chen Qing replied.
"Congratulations, congratulations…"
Soon after, both of them were seated inside the bar. Ren Baqian's gaze focused on his cup of liquor while Chen Qing was talking and darting his gaze around, looking for his prey.
"Those two are not bad!" Chen Qing raised his eyebrows. Soon enough, he said, "Such a pity that they have male companions."
In order to find pleasure in a bar, one's expression must be good. Being rejected is a small issue and fouling up would result in one getting beaten up. Ren Baqian had witnessed such situations a few times.
He was hunting for his prey and so were others.
Shortly after, a waiter served them two cups of liquor, "Sir, this is from table 57."
Both of them looked towards the direction pointed out by the server. That table had three women who were in their early 20s and who were rather good-looking. One of them raised her glass to indicate her interest.
Chen Qing raised his glass to reciprocate. Once the waiter left, both of them held their cups and shifted to that table.
After a brief introduction, it turned out that the three women were actually locals and knew each other during their high school days. They were studying overseas and only came back recently because it was their summer vacation.
Chen Qing was eloquent and in no time, he was having a lively conversation with the three women.
Ren Baqian listened to their conversation and interjected with jokes from time to time.
If there were no hiccups, tonight would be a pretty good night. However, an accident happened: as they were chatting, two groups of people near them started cursing at one another. Such situations were common, and nobody really took notice.
Cursing could be heard every half a minute, and in no time, they started fighting.
There were approximately five or six men involved, and tables got overthrown as they fought. Ren Baqian's table was affected as well; they wanted to move to avoid getting an accidental injury.
At that moment, one of them advanced towards their direction. Seeing that the guy was about to bump against his body, Chen Qing supported him and gently pushed him aside thereafter.
"They are together, whack them!" A few shouted loudly and smashed the wine bottles in their hands towards Ren Baqian's direction.
"Crap!" Ren Baqian did not know what to say with regards to such an absurd disaster.
"It's a misunderstanding, we do not know them!" Chen Qing raised both of his hands as he retreated, expressing that he did not have any evil intentions and wanted to explain at the same time.
"Crap!" Ren Baqian shouted once again. This time, the other party not only dashed over but took a small knife out from his pocket and stabbed it towards Chen Qing's direction.
Ren Baqian subconsciously stepped in front of Chen Qing and defended him. He extended both of his hands, trying to grab the other party's wrist that was wielding the knife. He really cherished his one and only friend.
However, Ren Baqian overestimated his own speed. The other party's knife stabbed into his stomach before he could even react.
Ren Baqian held onto his stomach. He felt like cursing, but the sharp pain stopped him from even making a single noise.
"Murder! Murder!" Someone by the side shouted.
Upon seeing the situation, the two groups of people immediately fled the scene.
... When Ren Baqian woke up, he was already in the hospital with Chen Qing by his side.
His stomach was in pain, but he was still able to talk.
"Awake? Are you thirsty?" Chen Qing asked with concern.
"How long has it been?" Ren Baqian wanted to know how long did he slept.
"More than 20 hours, most importantly you were injected with anesthetic. The doctor said that it's nothing serious, and that you just have to good care of your external injury. Thank goodness for you this time!"
"Those few people have issues!" Ren Baqian recalled the scene in the bar and felt indignant. The other party was not even blind. Chen Qing had already raised his hands to show it was a misunderstanding, but the other party still dashed forward and stabbed him.
Also, before he lost consciousness, he saw a few others fleeing the scene together with the attackers. If there were no issues, why would they flee?
It was evident that these people were after both himself and Chen Qing.
He rarely offended anyone. As such, their target was clearly Chen Qing.
"Sorry to have implicated you this time. Thank goodness nothing serious happened to you. Otherwise, I would be at a loss." Chen Qing said as he held Ren Baqian's hand.
"Don't give me that disgusting look," Ren Baqian gave him the cold shoulder. "If it wasn't for the alcohol, I would have fled the scene as fast as I could."
He did not wish to say the words he originally wanted to. As long as Chen Qing was aware of what was going on, he would presumably settle this case.
The business of Chen Qing's father wasn't small and was rather influential in this city. It was impossible that he was not in the least concerned that his son met with danger.
"One's true character is revealed after drinking!" Chen Qing chuckled.
"When can I be discharged?" Ren Baqian asked.
"The doctor said that you have to be under observation for a few more days. Since you have nothing much going on these days, just take a rest here conscientiously."
"Out of the question, I need to be discharged by tomorrow," Ren Baqian responded. It had already been 40 hours, and he knew that he would teleport once every three days. He had to be discharged by tomorrow, otherwise it would scare the daylight out of others if he suddenly disappeared from the hospital bed.
"Your wound is still bleeding, and it will rupture if you move around." Chen Qing persuaded him to stay.
"Help me to arrange for discharge tomorrow morning and use a wheelchair to push me back," Ren Baqian stubbornly replied.
"Fine, I will talk to the doctor. Oh, that's right, Jiang Nan came to visit you, but you were sleeping, and she had to go back to work. This is the bouquet of flowers she brought!" Chen Qing waved the bouquet of flowers at Ren Baqian.
"Consolation money is still more practical."
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