Chapter 36: Consolation Prize

Translator: YHHH  Editor: Book_Hoarder

After staying at home for two days, the next time he woke up was due to the heat.

He only felt the stuffiness of the room and already knew where he was.

He looked at the skies outside, and it had just turned bright. He estimated that it was about four in the morning and should sleep in a little more.

But, after lying in bed for a while, he was perspiring all over. He began to deeply yearn for his air-conditioned room.

In his hand was a completed indigenous electric fan with a string at the bottom. He pulled on it, and it started spinning. Once the string reached the end, it automatically retracted. The “electric fan” then continued to spin in the opposite direction.

Although the spinning time was short, the wind generated was definitely much stronger than from a fan.

After fiddling with the “electric fan” for a while, he still felt warm. He then changed into a set of clothing and went out for a stroll, preparing to head to the ice cellar and bring a chunk of ice back.

Just as he pushed open the door, he saw the two chaps with black and white patches laying at the slab at the doorway. They slept very soundly.

Ren Baqian used his fingers to prod them. One of them hugged his hand so that he could not make mischief anymore. After which, he continued to sleep.

Ren Baqian carefully took his hand out and went straight to the ice cellar. He brought a chunk of ice back and placed it by his bedside. At long last, he felt slightly more comfortable.

He returned to his sleep, and when he woke up again, it was almost eight in the morning.

The first thing he did was check the sweet potatoes. Soft shoots had already grown out of the portion which was exposed to air. In a few days’ time, they would be able to plant them in the plot of land.

He then went to the kitchen and consumed a bowl of porridge. After which, he pulled a few odd-job workers out to the field.

The crops on the plots of land he’d seen the other day were already ripe. This time round, he found out that the crops had already been plucked and were non-existent.

“Plough these two plots of land. Let’s plant something good,” Ren Baqian said to the few odd-job workers.

“How big of a ridge do you require?” An elder asked.

“We will be planting different things so the size of the ridges in the field should differ as well. With regards to people who have done farm work before, this should be child’s play. As for the city kids, there are only a few who would know about farm work.”

If Ren Baqian had not read up on farming for the past few days, he would have seemed ignorant upon hearing that question.

Firstly, they divided the two plots of land into five portions. Then, he explained the different requirements for each plot, and everyone expressed that they understood.

After throwing all the work to the odd-job workers, only then did he stroll back. He felt that it was no wonder why people would want to be officials. As long as there was a task, you could just throw it to someone to do for you. This feeling was indeed great.

When he returned, he went to find Caretaker Shi and saw that he was busy. Ren Baqian waited by the side for a while and had Caretaker Shi issue him a paper slip for leaving the palace.

“Take along two odd-job workers when you leave the palace. Do not go alone at any cost. You do not look like you are from Dayao, and it is very likely for you to get into trouble if you go out alone.”

“Is it really that chaotic?” Ren Baqian was taken aback when he heard Caretaker Shi’s warning.

“Not exactly chaotic, but your small arms and legs can’t even withstand a pinch. If anything happens, things would get out of hand,” Caretaker Shi said as he sized up Ren Baqian.

Ren Baqian thought for a while, his physique was indeed inferior when compared to the Dayao people.

The odd-job workers in the beast park all had burly figures. Each of their sizes were equivalent to two of his size. He reckoned that even with three or five of him bundled together, he would not even match up to one of them.

In addition, the cooks at the imperial kitchen could easily split up the 10-centimeter-thick chopping board just with their bare palm.

He was impressed and convinced by such skills.

“The next time round, I must bring a taser back.” Ren Baqian made up his mind and took the paper slip back to his room.

This time, he brought along a few books, Body Parts Anatomy, Body System Anatomy, and Typhoid and Diseases. These were all prepared as gifts for Chen Medicinal Shop.

In any case, there were plenty of such books on Earth. Bringing these books to this world and imparting the knowledge contained within to others to save more lives was also a good deed.

Knowledge was very precious and it was even more precious in this world. But, as far as Ren Baqian was concerned, these were all unimportant.

Apart from this, he also brought along a thousand condoms, a few syringes, and catheter.

He read a piece of news online before he came over. It said that the success rate of using condoms filled with saline water to stop postpartum hemorrhage in women who just gave birth, was almost 99%. It was easy to learn and did not have a single repercussion.

Childbirth had always been said to be a walk across hell’s gate.

Of which, postpartum hemorrhage was one of the main causes of death.

Being able to easily save countless of lives, why not do it? When Ren Baqian saw that piece of news, he immediately felt that it was a pity as they were all young lives. He then recalled that such cases happened quite often in ancient China. However, he never would expect that it was still happening in the modern era.

Soon after, he thought of Dayao. Even though he did not spend much time there, it was still human lives. If he can save a few lives without much effort, then it should be done. It was the same reason as bringing along the book Typhoid and Diseases.

Ren Baqian thought for a while and suddenly realized how good of a person he was. This was the first time he felt like this since birth.

Following that, he bought a pile of condoms. He could still remember the look on that girl’s eyes in the pharmacy. He reckoned that she must have treated him as a bad egg.

An ordinary person would never buy so many condoms in one go.

Besides that, he bought alum and mirabilite which were used to tan animal hides.

Dayao’s diet comprised mostly of meat, such as beef and mutton. There were plenty of cheap cow and goat hides in the beast park, which could also be made into sofas after tanning.

After categorizing all the items, Ren Baqian found two burly odd-job workers.

One was called Teng Hulu and the other was called Tie Dao. They were both very diligent and straightforward people. But, they were not very intelligent.

Both Teng Hulu and Tie Dao carried the items and followed behind. The three of them then went straight to Chen Medicinal Shop.

Not far after entering the city, Ren Baqian saw a few men fighting ahead. In addition, there were quite a few bystanders cheering as well.

“Your fist is too slow. Didn’t you drink milk?”

“Punch his chin! Whack his stomach!”

“Eh! Missed again? Why are you so dumb?”

Ren Baqian passed by and heard the shouts of those people. He was speechless.

These people are too vicious.

But, the people in Dayao were already accustomed to it. Those who were a part of the fight grew more invigorated when they heard the surrounding clamor.

Still stuck in the crowd, Ren Baqian heard someone shouting from above and a roar of laughter disseminated from the surrounding. When he lifted his head, he saw a face approaching him.

“F***.” Before Ren Baqian could even swear, he was pounced on by someone and fell to the ground.

It was a lady who had pounced on him. She was wearing an animal hide sleeveless jacket, and her hair was tied into many small pigtails. He barely caught a glimpse of someone who seemingly looked pretty good. However, the corner of her eye appeared to be slightly bruised, as if she was punched by someone.

After the lady pounced on him, she rolled on the ground and stood up. She cursed and squeezed back into the crowd.

Ren Baqian buried his face in his hands and exhaled cold air. Earlier on, the lady ran straight into his face with her mouth.

He felt not even the slightest bit of charm nor gentleness but only the swell on his face.

“Caretaker Ren, are you okay?” Teng Hulu and Tie Dao asked as they pulled Ren Baqian up.

Ren Baqian massaged his face and thought to himself, “What an absurd disaster this is.”

He wanted to see how the lady who knocked him down looked like, but the crowd was full of tall and muscular men. It was like a wall, and he could not see anything. He could only hear the noise and curses that came from inside.

“Forget it, let’s go,” Ren Baqian covered his face and said to them.

He couldn’t be bothered with this bunch of barbarians.

After walking for a distance, Ren Baqian looked at his right hand. Back then, when he was trying to defend himself, it seemed that he grabbed something soft. He considered that as winning a consolation prize.

Upon reaching Chen Medicinal Shop, there were still many people queueing up to see the doctor or, perhaps, to treat their injuries. He only saw a few people who looked sickly. Practically everyone there was wounded, bleeding profusely, and badly bruised. A few of them were still holding onto the wounds on their heads while talking loudly. If it were not for the blood spouting excessively from their skulls, looking at how vigorous and lively they were, who would have thought that they needed medical attention?

Chen Zisheng sat and bandaged the wounds of his patients. Seeing that Ren Baqian walked in, he nodded his head. While he was applying medicine and bandaging wounds for his patient, he said to Ren Baqian, “Mister Ren, please take a seat inside and wait for a while. I still require some time over here.”