Chapter 23: Transaction
Dr. Zhao looked at Qi Xia with a troubled expression, and Qi Xia didn't know how to answer either.
"Can this be used?" Qi Xia asked quietly.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Dr. Zhao nodded. "Medical suturing needles often use curved needles, as long as they're sharp enough."
Qi Xia thought for a moment, then spoke to the female shop assistant: "Miss, we don't have money. Can we trade something with you?"
"Money?" The female shop assistant stared blankly at Qi Xia, as if trying to understand what "money" meant. After a long pause, she finally said, "I don't want money. You sleep with me."
"Sleep...?" Qi Xia's lips twitched. "What do you mean?"
"After we sleep, we can eat the little piglets!" The female assistant revealed a manic expression, and then actually started drooling.
With that, she walked over to the dirty bed, bent down and sat on it, then patted the spot beside her.
That spot happened to have a large patch of dried bloodstains.
"Come on, come over quickly."
The female assistant deftly took off her top. She wore nothing underneath, and her emaciated body was covered in dirt and bloodstains, looking like a skeleton.
Qiao Jiajin was silent for a while, then elbowed Qi Xia and said, "You should sacrifice yourself."
"Why don't you go?" Qi Xia said impatiently.
"The boss chose you," Qiao Jiajin said with schadenfreude. "Didn't you hear? As long as you sleep with her, we can eat the little piglets in her pot. Besides, the writer is waiting for that fishhook to save his life. This is practically a boundless merit for you..."
Before Qi Xia could reply, the female assistant seemed to hear what Qiao Jiajin said, so she turned to him and said, "You can come too! All four of you can come!"
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin was stunned. "Me...?"
"What the hell..." Officer Li finally couldn't hold back anymore. With all his years on the force, the situation before him completely exceeded his understanding. "Miss, what are you after? We came to buy something, why do you have to throw yourself into it?"
"I..." The female assistant's eyes widened, and suddenly she roared, "I want to eat piglets!!"
After saying that, she seemed to remember something. She quickly put the fishhook and fishing line in her hand onto the bed, then ran over to the iron pot and looked inside.
"Little piglets... don't let them get overcooked..."
She picked up a twig with some concern and stirred it a few times in the pot.
Taking advantage of this moment, Qi Xia quietly walked over to the bed, picked up the fishhook and fishing line, turned back and handed them to Dr. Zhao, saying, "Go save the person first. We'll handle this here."
"Alright!"
Dr. Zhao took the fishhook and fishing line outside, found a relatively clean stone on the ground, and began to process the fishhook. He briefly explained the situation inside to the few girls.
Tiantian, as a professional, still couldn't understand the behavior of the shop assistant inside.
"Never mind that. Qi Xia is right, let's save the person first." Lin Qin took the fishing line and turned back to check on Han Yimo's condition.
Dr. Zhao used the stone to grind off the rust on the fishhook, then tried to sharpen it as much as possible. Lin Qin also straightened out the tangled fishing line on the side.
"Almost ready..." After confirming everything was prepared, Dr. Zhao turned to Han Yimo and said, "I'm going to take out the fish spear and then suture the wound."
"Alright..." Han Yimo nodded slightly.
"But we don't have anesthetic." Dr. Zhao said with a troubled look. "This pain might be beyond your imagination."
"It's fine... at least I can survive, right?" Han Yimo gave a bitter smile and asked.
"If the wound doesn't get infected... surviving shouldn't be a problem."
"Then that's good... go ahead..."
---
Inside the room, the three men stood behind the female assistant, watching her fiddle with the pot.
She wasn't wearing a single piece of clothing, yet the three men's hearts were utterly calm—if anything, they felt like running away.
"Hey, Liar," Qiao Jiajin whispered. "You stole her 'goods.' What if she gets mad later?"
"I don't know," Qi Xia shook his head.
Officer Li was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "Don't we still have 'Dao'? I wonder if she wants that?"
"How can that be?!" Qiao Jiajin said disgruntledly. "That 'Dao' was earned with all our lives. You'd just give it to this lunatic?"
"We're also trying to save lives here!"
As the two argued, the female assistant slowly turned her head.
She looked relieved, and with a calm expression, she walked over to the bed—where the fishhook and fishing line had been placed but were now gone.
She hesitated for a moment, looking at the bed as if something felt wrong: "Huh?"
But soon she shook her head and said, "Right... sleeping. Which of you four goes first?"
The female assistant lifted her head and looked at the three men in front of her. Her expression wavered again. "Wasn't it four? Have you always been three? Whatever, three is fine too."
Qiao Jiajin shook his head and whispered, "See? She's even crazier than I thought."
"Yeah..." Qi Xia hesitated for a long time, then spoke, "We don't want to sleep with you. We just came to buy something."
With that, he pulled a shiny golden "Dao" out of his pocket and placed it beside the female assistant, then continued, "I don't know if this counts as valuable, but it's all we have."
According to Qi Xia's reasoning, the people living here must know about those animal masks and must have heard of "Dao" to some extent. This thing earned with their lives should have some value, no matter how you looked at it.
The female assistant looked at the bead curiously, then picked it up and squeezed it a few times.
Then, to the shock of the three men, she tossed the bead into her mouth.
With a "crack," she bit the bead, chewed it up, and swallowed it.
"Not tasty..." The female assistant shook her head. "Far inferior to little piglets."
"This..."
The three grown men had never imagined that the thing they earned with their lives would be treated as a snack. For a moment, they were all speechless.
"Not sleeping... then you can leave..." The female assistant sighed helplessly, her expression very disappointed. "Sooner or later, someone will come to sleep with me."
Although the situation was hard for the three to understand, at least they could leave now.
The three men shuffled out of the room, planning to discuss with the others how they had lost a "Dao," when they saw Dr. Zhao had already pulled the fish spear out of Han Yimo. Blood was gushing out, and Han Yimo's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Come help!" Lin Qin called out.
Qiao Jiajin and Officer Li rushed over immediately to help hold down Han Yimo's limbs.
In such extreme pain, a person instinctively moves about uncontrollably.
"Han Yimo, look at me!" Dr. Zhao said sternly. "Do you still know who I am?!"
"You're Dr. Zhao..." Han Yimo said through gritted teeth, frowning deeply.
"That's right, you need to stay conscious!" Dr. Zhao threaded the fishhook and pierced it straight through his flesh.
Han Yimo grunted again.
"Talk to me!" Dr. Zhao said calmly. "Talk about something you're interested in to distract yourself!"
"Something I'm interested in...?" Han Yimo gave a bitter smile.
"Aren't you a novelist?" Dr. Zhao said. "How about talking about your work?"