“But…I don’t have anymore money!”
Strong Rat dug into his left pocket, then his right pocket, but he could only find small changes that amounted to around $30.
Gangsters like him naturally didn’t work, and without work, he naturally did not have a stable income as well. His daily expenses were settled by collecting ‘protection’ fees, and he didn’t even bring money when going to eat.
Furthermore, he was a leader of some gangsters and loved having face too. The moment he got some money, he would go have a blast at clubs with his lackeys, causing his money to vanish in a flash. Sometimes, he even got ousted out of clubs after spending more money than he had there.
He originally had $5000, which was the money he got from Fatty Chen in exchange for him dealing with Qin Fang. But, before he went to deal with Qin Fang, he had spent a lot of the money playing around already. Then, he got beaten up by Qin Fang, and had to spend money again on hospital fees. Thus, that was why he only had a measly $30 now.
Qin Fang looked at the meager amount of money Strong Rat held in his hands. One $20 bill, one $10 bill, and some coins. Qin Fang immediately smiled and said.
“So my getting stabbed is worth $30…Hey, why not we do this? I will give you $300, and then you let stab you 10 times, okay?” (T/L: This line is put in my ‘What I want to say at least once’ list XD)
As he threatened Strong Rat, the dagger in his hands were also sliding along Strong Rat’s skin, as if trying to search for the most suitable spot to stab him.
“N-No!”
Strong Rat was going to cry already.
“I will give you more, I will give you more!”
“Give? What are you going to give? The head that is on top of your body?”
But Qin Fang was unrelenting, and continued threatening Strong Rat. There was nothing valuable on Strong Rat’s body anymore and Qin Fang knew that. He was deliberately giving Strong Rat a hard time now.
“IOU, how about I write you an IOU?”
“IOU?”
Qin Fang was slightly startled. He didn’t think that there was such a way too. But when he slightly glanced at Strong Rat, he noticed that Strong Rat’s eyes were rolling all around in its socket. He instantly gave a cold smile.
“Don’t mess around with me! IOU? With your shitty morals, you won’t even pay back money you owe, right?… Forget it then, I will just stab you instead!”
As he said so, his hands had also started moving, and the dagger had already shifted to the surface of Strong Rat’s thigh. There was more meat there and that was why Qin Fang decided to lightly stab there. During such a hot summer, Strong Rat only wore short beach shorts. Thus, his thigh was exposed out in the open, making it much easier for Qin Fang to stab him.
“Ssss! Do-Don’t stab!”
When Qin Fang brought the knife down, though there was no blood coming out yet, the skin had already been pierced through. If Qin Fang brought the knife down any further, then blood would really start coming out. Furthermore, the pain of his skin getting pierced was vividly felt, and that caused Strong Rat to really panic. He didn’t think that Qin Fang would really dare to stab him!
“Big Brother, esteemed Big Brother! Don’t stab, please don’t stab no matter what! How about I give you something in exchange?”
Strong Rat used both of his hands to tightly hold onto Qin Fang’s two hands. But Strong Rat really did not have energy now, and could only manage to prevent Qin Fang from stabbing any deeper.
“Oh? Let me hear about it then!”
Qin Fang didn’t give a damn, taking it as Strong Rat trying to buy time, and used slightly more strength to stab the knife down. Instantly, blood started flowing from the insertion point.
“Ouch ouch ouch! Big Brother, Boss! You sell ramen, right? When my old pops was alive, he also sold ramen. Business then was really very good, and that was because our sauce was more delicious than others! As long as you let me off, I can tell you the secret sauce recipe!”
Strong Rat was obviously throwing all caution to the wind now. But when Qin Fang heard what Strong Rat said, he was skeptical. If the sauce was really so good, then Strong Rat wouldn’t have become a gangster and live life so sloppily in the first place.
“Big Brother, I’m speaking the truth! It’s just that I, being such a lazy person, always sneaked out to play when my old pops forced me to learn back in those days…”
Seeing Qin Fang sending him a suspicious look, Strong Rat said so embarrassedly.
“But, I do know the secret recipe! As long as you follow what I say, then you will definitely be able to make the sauce.”
“Speaking as if it is the truth, but who will believe?”
Qin Fang naturally couldn’t just wholeheartedly believe Strong Rat. He had shown from the very start that he was not a good person at all. To escape, he really could come up with anything and do anything.
“Everything I said is true! It’s really true! Lackey 3, if you don’t believe, ask Lackey 3! He was my neighbour since young. He knows about my father’s business…”
Strong Rat gave a bitter smile, and his eyes were wide open. He then pointed at the lackey who was beating him up just now.
“It’s true, what he said was all true!”
When Qin Fang turned his head to him, the lackey immediately licked his smiling, vulgar face and nodded his head vigorously. He just witnessed with his own eyes Qin Fang’s cruelty. He didn’t want to end up in the same situation as Strong Rat, and thus he hurriedly replied without wasting a second.
”Really? Then tell me about it.”
Qin Fang was in fact really tempted. His noodle business was good, but that was mainly due to the noodles he made being extremely good. His sauce, however, was average. Many customers had said so too, but Qin Fang really did not have a way to improve the sauce.
“Then promise me. As long as I tell you the recipe, then you won’t come and find trouble with me anymore!”
Strong Rat was really left with no choice now. But he didn’t want to release the eagle before seeing the rabbit. Thus, he instead started negotiating with Qin Fang.
(T/L Note: ‘release the eagle before seeing the rabbit’ figurative to say not showing his hands until benefits are seen/confirmed.)
“You can rest assured. Though I’m not that old, I’m not as lowly as you. As long as you don’t lie to me, then I won’t make life difficult for you. But if you do, then…hmph!”
After contemplating for awhile, Qin Fang decided that believing what Strong Rat said was true was better. After all, even if Strong Rat lied, there won’t be any losses for Qin Fang. Thus, he immediately promised. Naturally, he didn’t forget about using the stick after the carrot, and the dagger in his hands immediately went down towards the direction of Strong Rat’s ‘little bro’.
“Ssss!”
Strong Rat’s beach shorts had a hole punctured in it, and the icy cold dagger was practically touching Strong Rat’s ‘little bro’. It was so close that if Qin Fang had deviated by a little bit, then his ‘little bro’ would be invalidated.
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”
With that stab, any strange ideas that Strong Rat still had immediately collapsed. His face was filled with fear. Though he was scared of getting stabbed, he only needed to be hospitalised for awhile in the end. But if his ‘little bro’ was to get stabbed…
He didn’t dare to think anymore, and replied in a hurry.
“Talk.”
Qin Fang nodded his head and only put away the dagger after scaring the living daylights out of Strong Rat. He then put his ears close to Strong Rat’s mouth and listened to him telling him about a recipe of questionable credibility.
<[Secret Sauce Recipe] acquired!>
Qin Fang waited for Strong Rat to painstakingly dig out little by little details about the recipe from the deep recesses of his brain. He intermittently talked and recalled, and was finally finished after some time.
Almost at the same time when Strong Rat finished his recalling, a voice resounded in Qin Fang’s head. Obviously, the secret sauce recipe Strong Rat spoke of was real, and was even a quite complete version. As for the property the sauce possessed, that will have to wait until Qin Fang made the sauce.