Chapter 534 Doctor of the black marke
When the mob boss said that, Ren Xiaosu burst into laughter. His f.u.c.king horoscope sign was Pisces? So that was how they got their tattoos!
He looked at a mob boss with a tiger tattoo. “Then you must be born in the Year of the Tiger? And I’m guessing that other guy was born in the Year of the Dragon?”
Those mob bosses looked at Ren Xiaosu calmly before gradually feeling that something was off. “Who the h.e.l.l are you!”
When they saw Ren Xiaosu did not even have a single tattoo on him from head to toe, it was obvious he was just a normal guy. The other regulars had run off to the showers, yet this kid actually dared to enter the bath they were soaking in?!
But before they could question him further, they suddenly heard a din outside. Everyone turned around to look and were surprised to see someone helping a wounded man in.
One of the mob bosses frowned and asked, “What happened?”
The person supporting the big man replied, “We ran into our foes. We won a lot of money from them back at the black market, but they were too scared to do anything to us there. Unfortunately, we b.u.mped into them here and they attacked us. He got slashed twice!”
“Let me see.” The mob bosses got up and lifted the wounded man’s s.h.i.+rt to see two deep cuts, one each on his chest and back. As the wounds were very deep, it did not look too favorable for the injured man.
One of the mob bosses sighed. “Bro, we can’t get you to the hospital here in Stronghold 73, so I’m afraid that your wounds can’t be treated. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of your wife and kids.”
The big man’s face was deathly pale. “But I think I can still be saved….”
“If you go to the hospital, wouldn’t our presence in the stronghold be exposed?” one of the bosses said. “When that happens, the Zhou Consortium will capture all of us. Have you forgotten that we kidnapped some members of the Zhou Consortium two years ago? If we get caught, we’ll definitely pay with our lives. Don’t worry, we’re loyal brothers and definitely won’t let your wife and children starve to death.”
The wounded man rolled his eyes before losing consciousness.
However, a voice next to them said, “I can save him.”
Everyone turned around and saw Ren Xiaosu walk over in a bathrobe through the steam. “I can st.i.tch him up and treat his wounds with a secret ancestral remedy. I guarantee that he’ll fully recover within three days. However, I suppose it’s not too much to ask for 500,000 yuan in exchange for saving his life, right?”
“No, not at all!” The wounded man regained consciousness. “I have money!”
Upon hearing that, Ren Xiaosu pretended to walk over to his locker to retrieve the black medicine and a sewing kit. The mob bosses were all stunned when they saw what Ren Xiaosu was holding in his hands. “Isn’t that a sewing kit used for patching up clothes?”
“Why are you being so picky at this point in time?” Ren Xiaosu raised an eyebrow. “If it can save a life, that’s a great outcome.”
While speaking, he started st.i.tching up the wound with the sewing kit. As anesthetics weren’t used, the big man was in so much pain he nearly went into shock.
The mob bosses looked at one another. They knew they definitely couldn’t go to the hospital while they were in the Zhou Consortium’s stronghold. But over the next few days, there would probably be even more wounded people coming in, and even a minor wound could prove fatal.
If there were really a “shady doctor” like Ren Xiaosu around, it might just prove to be a blessing for them. However, the mob bosses decided to wait and see if this person were really capable of treating injuries first.
Seeing how Ren Xiaosu remained calm at the sight of blood gus.h.i.+ng out while st.i.tching up the wound, the mob bosses were convinced that he at least had guts.
After suturing the wounds, Ren Xiaosu took out the black medicine from his bathrobe and applied it onto the wounds. The big man’s pale face rapidly regained a pink glow, and he was no longer sweating.
“How is it? Are you feeling better?” asked one of the nearby mob mosses.
“It’s not painful anymore! It really isn’t painful!” the big man said in astonishment. He turned to Ren Xiaosu and said, “Thank you so much, young man!”
“Grat.i.tude received from Zheng Hongning, +1!”
Immediately, everyone looked at Ren Xiaosu. Someone smiled and asked kindly, “Young man, how can we address you?”
“Y’all can just call me Dr. Ren,” Ren Xiaosu said with a harmless smile.
“Look, why don’t you come more often to the spa center during this period? We’ll cover all of your expenses here. In return, we only ask that you help treat anyone who comes in wounded. And not to worry, we’ll still pay for the treatment accordingly!”
During the conversation, the wounded man had one of his men bring a gambling chip over. He said, “This is a chip from the casino in the black market outside of Luoyang City. We normally don’t keep our money in the consortiums’ banks, and we don’t carry cash around since that’s inconvenient. However, you can still easily exchange this chip for cash at the black market’s casino.”
Ren Xiaosu had a look at it and was surprised to see a “500” engraved in gold on the chip. It looked like this chip was worth 500,000 yuan.
The biggest denomination of chips used in ordinary casinos was usually 10,000 yuan. He did not expect that the spending power in Luoyang City’s black market would be so great they even had to specially cater to these mob bosses with 500,000 yuan chips to carry around and easily make transactions with.
This was as good as the currencies issued by the banks, with the casino chips the choice of currency for them.
Ren Xiaosu took the chip and examined it. At certain angles, he could even see a strange pattern on it moving around.
Next to him, one of the mob bosses explained, “This is a laser engraving technique used for anti-counterfeiting purposes. The engraving is encrypted and only a specific instrument can decrypt it.”
Ren Xiaosu smiled. “Sure, I’ll accept it. How about this? I won’t be coming here frequently, but if anyone requires medical attention, you all can just place a red cone at the entrance. When I see it, I will rush over as quickly as possible. Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems.”
Ren Xiaosu wondered how he ended up as a doctor of the black market.
After this incident, Ren Xiaosu somehow became the most popular person in the spa center. Furthermore, ever since a wounded person came into the spa center, the place had ceased business operations, stating that renovations were in progress and they would not be open for business during the duration.
On the third day, when Ren Xiaosu saw a red cone at the entrance, he walked into the spa center. However, it turned out no one was wounded this time. The burly man who had previously been wounded looked at Ren Xiaosu in embarra.s.sment and asked, “Dr. Ren, can you please rest.i.tch me?”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “Why do you request that?”
The burly man, Zheng Hongning, took off his clothes, revealing his chest. “Look, my chest was supposed to have a dragon tattoo on it, but you st.i.tched it up crookedly…”
Ren Xiaosu looked at the big green dragon on his chest in silence. He noticed the dragon’s head and neck didn’t quite match up.
Zheng Hongning said anxiously, “A tattoo represents our reputation, and a severed dragon’s head doesn’t look auspicious either. Doctor Ren, do you provide any aftersales service or something?”
“See, that’s why I said that people in your choice of industry aren’t suited to get tattoos. Since all you do is fight and kill, it requires more effort to st.i.tch the wounds.” Ren Xiaosu said unhappily, “I’m a black market doctor, so refusing to provide aftersales service has always been our principle.”
Zheng Hongning was stunned. However, he couldn’t do anything to his benefactor. He thought of having to soak in the hot springs bath with his brothers later on, and every one of them sported those realistic tattoos while his was a dragon with a severed head…
At this moment, another burly man who was wounded got carried in. When this wounded mob boss saw that Ren Xiaosu was also here, he was overjoyed. “Dr. Ren, please hurry up and treat my wounds.”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “I previously quoted 500,000 yuan for my service, right?”
Even though the wounded man was in tremendous pain, he still nodded his head quickly. “Yes! I can afford to pay!”
“How about this? I’ll offer you an additional service. Pay me 50,000 yuan more and I’ll st.i.tch you up with your tattoo intact.” Ren Xiaosu had come up with a new business idea.
The wounded man glanced at the severed dragon’s head on Zheng Hongning’s chest and immediately nodded. “50,000 yuan? Deal!”
Zheng Hongning looked at Ren Xiaosu suspiciously. He could not help but feel that Ren Xiaosu had deliberately st.i.tched his wound up crookedly. This black market doctor was indeed shady. He would do anything just to earn money!