Almighty Genius

Sorry for not being online yesterday, my eyes were uncomfortable~~~~Seeking recommendations and favorites~~

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"But... I'm out of money!"

Mouse Qiang searched through his pockets, left and right, only to pull out a few scattered bills amounting to tens of yuan.

As a small-time hoodlum like him, who was idle all day, with no work there was naturally no steady income, relying only on extorting protection money to get by, and never paying for meals.

And since he was a petty leader, obsessed with face-saving, the moment he had some cash, he'd squander it on wining and dining with his cronies, always ending up broke and several times nearly getting kicked out.

Originally, he had collected 5,000 yuan from Chen Pangzi to deal with Qin Fang, but after a spree of eating and drinking that cost a pretty penny and being beaten up by Qin Fang, followed by the medical expenses for bandaging up, this was all that was left in his pockets.

"So my stabbing is only worth this thirty-something yuan... How about this, I give you three hundred, and you let me stab you ten times..."

Qin Fang looked at the petty cash Mouse Qiang had on hand, a twenty, a ten, plus a few coins, and burst into laughter, sliding the dagger on Mouse Qiang's body, as if choosing the best spot to plunge the knife.

"No, don't..."

Mouse Qiang was almost crying, "I'll give, I'll give..."

"You'll give? With what? The clothes on your back?" Qin Fang was unrelenting, Mouse Qiang didn't have a thing on him from before, it was clear Qin was making things difficult for Mouse Qiang on purpose.

"An IOU, would an IOU work?"

Mouse Qiang was on the verge of tears, truly out of money, and that was the only solution he could think of in the end.

"An IOU?"

Qin Fang was slightly taken aback, he hadn't expected this move, but glancing at Mouse Qiang and noticing his shifty eyes, he scoffed immediately, "Quit bullshitting with me, IOUs? With your shitty character, you wouldn't pay back even if you owed money... Forget it, I'd rather stick the knife in!"

As he spoke, the tip of Qin's dagger had already reached Mouse Qiang's thigh, where there was a lot of flesh. He gently began to pierce the skin. Given it was the height of summer, and Mouse Qiang was only wearing a pair of beach shorts, leaving his thighs exposed, it made Qin's job much easier.

"Hiss~~~ don't, don't stab..."

Although no blood was drawn as the knife went in, the skin was broken, and a little deeper would certainly draw blood. The pain was also distinctly clear. Mouse Qiang was genuinely panicked this time, he hadn't expected Qin to actually dare to stab him!

"Boss, big bro... don't stab, please don't stab... I... I can trade something with you, okay?"

Mouse Qiang clutched Qin's hands tightly, not that he could muster much strength, only enough to prevent the dagger from going in too deep.

"Oh, let's hear it!"

Qin didn't care one bit, assuming Mouse Qiang was just stalling. He applied a bit more pressure, and immediately... the tip of the blade started to bleed.

"Ow ow ow... Boss, I heard you're in the ramen business, right? My old man used to do this too, and back then our business was really booming, all because our sauce tasted better than anyone else's... As long as you don't make things difficult for me, I'll tell you the secret recipe!"

Mouse Qiang was clearly going all in this time, but Qin Fang listened with a mixture of belief and doubt. If it were really that good, Mouse Qiang wouldn't be in such a miserable state.

"Boss, I'm serious here. I was lazy and liked to goof off. When the old man forced me to learn, I'd sneak out to play..." Seeing Qin Fang's skeptical look, Mouse Qiang spoke with a touch of embarrassment, "But I do know the secret recipe. As long as you do as I say, you can definitely make it..."

"You make it sound like the real deal, but who would believe that?"

Qin Fang naturally couldn't just take his word for it. Mouse Qiang had already proven himself to be no good from the start, willing to do anything to get out of trouble.

"Everything I'm saying is true, really... The Third, you can ask The Third! He's been my neighbor since we were kids, he knows..."

Mouse Qiang sported a bitter smile with his eyes wide open, then pointed at the underling who had been hitting him just a moment ago.

"It's true, he's telling the truth!"

When Qin Fang turned to look, the underling immediately nodded vigorously with a sleazy grin on his face. He had witnessed firsthand Qin Fang's approach and did not wish to receive the same treatment as Mouse Qiang, immediately expressing his agreement in a rush.

"Is that so? Well, let's hear it!"

Qin Fang was indeed a bit tempted. His ramen business was doing okay, mainly because the noodles he made had a nice chew to them, but the sauce was pretty ordinary. Many customers had mentioned this, but Qin had no way of improving it.

"Then you promise me, as long as I tell you, you won't trouble me anymore!"

Mouse Qiang was also cornered at this point, but he wasn't going to show his hand until he saw some benefit, so he started bargaining with Qin Fang.

"You can rest assured. Although I'm young, I'm not like you. As long as you're not lying to me, I won't make things difficult for you. But if you lie to me... hmpf!"

After thinking it over, Qin Fang decided it was better to err on the side of caution. Being deceived wouldn't cause him any loss, so he immediately agreed. Of course, he kept his carrot-and-stick approach, swiftly thrusting the dagger in his hand toward Mouse Qiang's Second Brother.

"Hiss~~~"

A hole was pricked in the crotch of Mouse Qiang's beach shorts, the icy blade nearly grazing his Second Brother. A slight deviation and it would have been the end of it.

"I'll talk, I'll talk..."

After the knife went down, whatever little courage Mouse Qiang had crumbled completely, his face filled with terror. Although he was afraid of being stabbed and might only need to be hospitalized for a bit, if his Second Brother got poked with a knife...

Mouse Qiang didn't dare think further and hurriedly began to spill.

"Go on..."

Qin Fang nodded, then he put away the knife and leaned his ear closer to Mouse Qiang, who shakily recounted a sauce recipe, its authenticity unknown.

"You have gained the secret sauce recipe!"

Listenting to Mouse Qiang desperately wringing out the secret recipe stored deep in his mind, struggling to articulate it, he eventually managed to convey the complete recipe.

Almost the moment Mouse Qiang finished recounting the recipe, Qin Fang heard such a voice in his head. It was clear that the secret sauce recipe was legitimate and fairly complete. As for how effective it really was, that was something Qin Fang would have to find out once he made the sauce according to the recipe.