Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“Everyone, to tell the truth, I really didn’t want to see the two splendid scenes just now.” Lin Liqiang couldn’t help but sigh. He acted as if Qin Fen was his opponent while Lev Mirov was his close friend. “It’s a pity. It’s really sad… that I’ve seen your beautiful experience of being killed instantly twice.”
“Young Master Lin….” Lev Mirov gave a bitter laugh. “Please do tell of what conditions you have to help keep this secret.”
“Oh?” Lin Liqiang’s expression turned incomparably delighted. He patted Lev Mirov on the shoulder. “You’re all right, kid! It looks like this bro has been blabbering too much. I take pleasure in adding details when telling a story like adding oil and vinegar to a dish. Has news already gotten around in the circle?”
Lev Mirov could do nothing but smile wryly. An awkward incident as small as an ant would become as large as a tyrannosaurus if Lin Liqiang spread it with that mouth of his.
These two incidents today were already incomparably shameful. If Lin Liqiang were allowed to exaggerate and spread rumors about it, it was possible that their families would kick them out of the list of candidates to be the successor of their respective families.
“That’s good. I won’t beat around the bush either.” Lin Liqiang suddenly sighed. “You know that I am a man of two hobbies. I love to gossip, and I love to chase beautiful girls. I need to spend money for the latter hobby, and I don’t like to use my family’s money. Even the money used to come here for the concert was earned by Old Enz’s blood, sweat, and tears.”
“I understand, Young Master Lin.” Lev Mirov nodded. “How much do you need?”
“How much?” Lin Liqiang’s expression turned righteous. “First of all, I must declare that I am no robber that profits from another’s misfortune. I’m just a bit tight with cash on hand. I just want to borrow a bit of money from you guys. Help a brother out, you know.”
Lev Mirov could only force a smile with the situation coming to this. “What Young Master Lin says is right, what Young Master Lin says is right. Personally, I quite respect Young Master Lin. It is an honor to lend you money.”
“Since you feel like its an honor, then I can’t possibly refuse your request.” Lin Liqiang had an appearance of grief. “Lend me around a hundred thousand….”
“A hundred thousand?” Lev Mirov smiled wryly. “From each person? Or in total?”
Big families didn’t control the spending of the youngest generation too strictly, but there was still some control. This was to avoid cultivating a prodigal child.
Lev Mirov and the others had some money on hand, but if the money wasn’t in the stock market, the money was invested in other things. Probably not a single one of them possessed a hundred thousand truly liquid funds on hand.
“A total of a hundred thousand is fine.” Lin Liqiang understood the circumstances within the circle quite well. “No matter what, my tender heart and I don’t wish for your reputations to stink within our circle.”
Lev Mirov could only smile wryly once more. He took out his cell phone and quickly carried out the transfer of funds from his bank account. He took half of his bank account savings and transferred it to Lin Liqiang. The others all did the same in transferring money.
They watched Lin Liqiang rake in the money and leave, and Lev Mirov could only sigh. Though he clearly knew how weird it was that Qin Fen used Lin Liqiang to fight, he was unable to use this as blackmail. He still didn’t know what his opponent’s greatest trump card was, after all.
It was because he didn’t know that Lin Liqiang was able to cheat him this time, but everyone didn’t feel too uncomfortable about this. There were rumors in the circle that quite a few people had been cheated by Lin Liqiang. It really wasn’t shameful to be cheated by him.
After failing two rounds of competition, Lev Mirov and the others no longer had the face to stay in the group. He arrived before Qin Fen and said. “Today we still have some things to do. I don’t know if student Qin Fen is free tomorrow? I’ve realized that I can learn many things from being with you. If possible, I wish to learn a few other things from you, sir.”
The others all nodded one by one. They had lost today because they weren’t prepared enough. They wanted to get a night to prepare then fight tomorrow if possible, so as to have a great possibility to reclaim their pride. Lin Liqiang wouldn’t have anything to threaten them with then.
More competition tomorrow? Qin Fen could hear the provocation, and his eyes immediately flared with light. If he encountered a field he wasn’t proficient in for tomorrow, he could always just avoid the challenge. Qin Fen was completely serious when it came to the possibility of losing money.
————-
Lev Mirov and the others left, and the group’s atmosphere immediately eased.
Song Jia was a clever girl. She knew that Qin Fen and Lin Liqiang certainly had several things to talk about having not seen each other for so many days. She didn’t force herself to stay in the group. Instead, she planned a dinner time with Qin Fen, and she left the group along with her sister students.
In the blink of an eye, the group went from consisting of several people to merely Qin Fen, Lin Liqiang, Enzo Rota, and Xue Tian, who was brazen-faced and determined not to leave.
“Hehe….” Lin Liqiang studied Xue Tian, soon chuckling casually.
“Haha….” Xue Tian likewise studied Lin Liqiang, and his smile was just as casual.
The two looked at each other face-to-face and chuckled a few times. Then both of them sniffed the air around each other’s bodies.
Suddenly, the two extended their hands and clasped them together in a tight handshake!
“The smell is of the same kind!”
Lin Liqiang and Xue Tian spoke in unison. They looked like old friends that had met in a foreign place, causing Qin Fen and Enzo Rota, who observed from the side, to be stupefied.
What in the world are these two? Are they wolves? When they first met, they laughed and smelled each other’s scent. They were able to determine whether or not they were the same kind of person just from this?
“I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Xue Tian, a new friend of Qin Fen’s.”
“I’m Lin Liqiang, an old friend of Qin Fen’s.”
The two quickly went from shaking hands to hooking arms around each other’s shoulders. Anyone who saw this and didn’t know the truth would believe that Lin Liqiang and Xue Tian were old friends of many years.
“Here.”
The silent Enzo Rota took a pen out of his chest pocket and gave it to Qin Fen. In the modern era of digital mediums, physical pens were often more for aesthetic purposes.
Qin Fen was a bit puzzled. Why did Enzo Rota suddenly give him a pen?
The instant the pen entered his hand, Qin Fen’s eyes twitched twice. This pen was clearly just a pen in exterior form. There should be something else inside.
“The antidote for the life-or-death pill.” Enzo Rota explained, “The success rate of stimulating one’s latent potential isn’t one hundred percent. Eating this can dissolve the life-or-death pill.”
Qin Fen felt a wave of emotion come over him. It had been so long since Enzo Rota had given him the life-or-death pill, but he still remembered the problem and flaw with the life-or-death pill.
“Don’t be stubborn with the life-or-death pill.” Enzo Rota violated his typical habit of being a man of few words. He warned again. “Some people are unable to stimulate their latent potential with the life-or-death pill. In this case, the end result can only be death. If you’re unable to stimulate your latent potential, then take the antidote and give up on the stimulation.”
Qin Fen nodded. For Enzo Rota to warn Qin Fen about the life-or-death pill over and over, it seemed the danger and seriousness of the life-or-death pill were far greater than he imagined. It was best not to use it if he didn’t need to.
“Okay! We need to get some action tonight! Let’s use our splendid love to fill the void in the hearts of the beautiful girls of Seoul.” Lin Liqiang suddenly roared in deadly earnest, drawing quite a few sidelong glances from the pedestrians by the road.
“Don’t forget their bodies!” Xue Tian added next to him.
“That’s right! There’s also their bodies!”
Lin Liqiang and Xue Tian gave each other an embrace. It was as if they had overcome a very important and difficult issue in science and technology for the Federation, and they were celebrating.
Qin Fen and Enzo Rota merely smiled wryly when they saw this scene. Chasing girls was a very normal thing, but with the way these two acted about it, anyone would believe that chasing girls was a very honorable and very grand undertaking.
“Aerial combat. Beautiful.”
It had been many days since they last saw each other, and Enzo Rota had a few more words to say than before.
“The training was pretty miserable. How could I possibly not improve at least a little?”
Qin Fen smiled wryly and a bit helplessly. Acting modest in front of friends would appear hypocritical and strange, but being straightforward in acknowledgment was genuine.
Lin Liqiang walked over at this time. He put a casual arm over Qin Fen’s shoulder. “Bro, how’s the thing I gave you?”
The biochemical beast egg? Qin Fen felt it was strange now that he thought about it. According to theory, this egg should at least have some fluctuations. Why didn’t he feel anything coming from it at all?
“Still the same.”
“Still the same? It hasn’t changed at all?”
“Yes.”
A puzzled look appeared on Lin Liqiang’s face. He lowered his voice and said, “You haven’t felt even a hint of a fluctuation coming from it?”
Qin Fen slowly nodded. “Nope.”
“How is that possible?” Lin Liqiang had a face of confusion. “According to my calculations, it should have already hatched by now.”
Qin Fen undid the top two buttons of his shirt and his plunging neckline revealed the biochemical beast egg Lin Liqiang had given him. The sparking, translucent, smooth, and round egg released a splendor, akin to that of a pearl under the rays of the sun.
“This…?” Lin Liqiang grabbed the biochemical beast egg on Qin Fen’s chest and carefully studied it a few times. An extra wrinkle of gloom faintly appeared on his forehead. “Seems like there’s something… let’s find a place to sit down so I can study it.”
Qin Fen had seen the might of a terrorist with a biochemical beast. He really wanted to possess his own biochemical beast, so he nodded on the spot.
Xue Tian still acted indifferently, “Since Old Qin is puzzled by it, I’m down for it.”
Enzo Rota had no objections. Everyone found a corner in a Starbucks to sit down. This was a place where friends gathered in leisure. Naturally, there shouldn’t be anybody paying attention to these four.
Lin Liqiang took out what appeared to be a jeweler’s spectacles from his pocket. He put them on to examine the biochemical beast egg in detail. A hint of faint red had actually seeped through from the most inner portion of the sparkling and translucent white. This hint of faint red was extremely hidden. Not even Qin Fen could see it, even though he had great vision.
If one wanted to see this hint of faint red, one needed to possess a deep understanding of biochemical beasts.
Xue Tian propped his chin up with one arm. He looked outside the window in boredom, his mouth speaking incessantly, “This one’s an eight out of ten. This one’s a sevenpoint five out of ten. This one is a nine out of ten. The State of Korea truly is a place of eye candy. Though some of them have been under the knife, at least the industry supports the construction of the cityscape.”
Qin Fen sat opposite of Enzo Rota, so the responsibility to talk naturally fell on his shoulders. This was something Lin Liqiang always did, and only now did Qin Fen fully experience it.
“Did Qiangster drag you here?”
“Yes.”
Enzo Rota nodded, his expression more or less one of helplessness and bitterness. Ever since Qin Fen joined the military, Lin Liqiang began seeking Enzo Rota out for fun more and more. Enzo Rota was completely helpless toward Lin Liqiang’s brazen spirits.
They had come to the State of Korea to watch the concert of the band, The Flying Hearts, but Enzo Rota didn’t even know who they were. He had no interest whatsoever in going, but Lin Liqiang showed an extremely deep interest in them. Without even giving Enzo Rota any warning, Lin Liqiang booked the flight and hotel, charged straight into Enzo Rota’s school, and dragged Enzo Rota in a mad rush to the airport.
“Oh right, I got to know a cook who makes nutritious meals in the military.” Qin Fen looked at the pen in his hand. “He’s been teaching me how to cook these days, and he always talks of matters regarding nutrition. I originally thought that he was a master nutritionist, but I found out the truth from the mouths of a few drill instructors. He seems to be a very high authority in the pharmaceutical field.”
