Chapter 9: Making Ice

Chapter 9: Making Ice
Translator: TYZ Editor: Book_Hoarder
Under Ren Baqian's heavy protest, Chen Qing took a few days' worth of medicines for him and then he was pushed back to his rented apartment on a wheelchair by Jiang Nan.
"Potassium nitrate? What do you need it for?" Chen Qing was looking at the potassium nitrate on the floor after helping Ren Baqian to his bed.
"Place them on my bed." Ren Baqian pointed to the bag of potassium nitrate. He would have trouble hefting it up onto his bed after Chen Qing left later.
"Alright, both of you can leave now. Close the door too." Ren Baqian looked slightly tired. The trip back from the hospital tired him a lot.
However, no matter what, he still had to come back.
"Are you facing any issues?" Chen Qing asked with suspicion. "I have been wanting to ask you this question for quite some time. Recently, you have been disappearing for days. And now, you want to go home even before your wound is completely healed. What's going on? Let me know and see if I can help you."
Jiang Nan was tidying up the messy house while listening attentively to their conversation.
"It's just some small issue that you can't help with. I can handle it on my own." Ren Baqian waved his hand and continued, "Both of you can leave now, I want to take a nap."
"We can't just leave you alone here. You even have trouble moving around now. If you feel it's inconvenient, we can hire a personal nurse to take care of you until you can move around by yourself."
"No!" Ren Baqian blurted out.
"Find me in ten days' time. If you want to find me during these ten days, give me a call and I will reply as soon as I see it."
Upon hearing these words, Chen Qing became even more suspicious. Recently, Ren Baqian disappeared for days twice in a row. Both times, he had disappeared for 9 to 10 days.
This time around, he was going to disappear for another 10 days.
What issue is he facing?
"In any case, I'm still your savior, right? And I saved your future husband, preventing you from becoming a widow before you even get married," Ren Baqian said to Chen Qing and Jiang Nan. Then, he continued, "If you want to thank me, let me stay here alone. I really am okay. In ten days you'll see me frisking around actively again."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
When Chen Qing saw how determined Ren Baqian was, he could only look at him and say solemnly, "If I don't hear any news from you ten days later, I will come and break down your door. Don't forget what you said and don't let anything happen to you."
"Alright, I promise you." Ren Baqian nodded his head and chuckled.
"I will place food at your doorstep for the next few days. Even if I don't come, Chen Qing will. If you're hungry, open the door and take the food," Jiang Nan said.
"There's no need for you to trouble yourself like that. Now it's all about ordering food online, how is it possible that I will starve myself to death?" Ren Baqian laughed.
However, Jiang Nan refused to accede to Ren Baqian's request. Ren Baqian was a stubborn individual, Chen Qing was a stubborn individual and Jiang Nan was somewhat similar to them as well.
In the end, Ren Baqian nodded his head and replied, "Up to you then. Actually, I have a handed-down family technique. I will be entering a meditative state for ten days and my healing process will be sped up."
"If it can also boost my sex drive, please teach me this family technique of yours." Chen Qing held Ren Baqian's hands with a "tender-hearted" look on his face.
"Get lost! Don't make sick!" Ren Baqian knocked off Chen Qing's hands.
Eventually, Chen Qing and Jiang Nan ordered a lot of food for Ren Baqian's house before they left.
The way that the knife stabbed him was miraculous. According to the doctor, the knife missed all his internal organs. Even his intestines were alright. Therefore, he did not have any trouble eating food.
After Chen Qing and Jiang Nan left, Ren Baqian expended a great deal of effort to get those B vitamins onto his bed. With a bag of potassium nitrate in one hand and a bag of B vitamins in the other hand, he fell into a deep sleep.
After an unknown time had passed, Ren Baqian woke up. He was still holding onto the two bags. After touching his surroundings, he was certain that he was teleported to that world again.
As he was lying down, he could feel waves of pain coming from his wound.
It was at this moment that he thought of something important. He only cared about bringing the potassium nitrate and B vitamins, and he had forgotten to bring along his painkillers. If he was already in so much pain before the effect of the last painkiller he took even wore off, he would definitely be in agony once the effect completely wore off.
And just like what he expected, as the time passed by, his wound became increasingly painful.
He could only place his attention elsewhere and not think about his wound. The pain seemed to have reduced slightly.
After a while, Ren Baqian tried to sit up with all his might. In the process of doing so, he accidentally knocked the bag of potassium nitrate to the floor. The sound of something heavy hitting the ground alerted the two soldiers standing guard outside.
Initially, both of them felt worried as they did not hear any movements in the room for a day and a night. Now because they heard something, they finally felt at ease.
Since Ren Baqian did not want them to enter the room, they did not try to do so. They merely stood guard at the door and dozed off.
Ren Baqian poured the bag of potassium nitrate onto the ground, put on the coarse clothes again, hid the empty bag under his blanket, and fell into a deep sleep once more.
By the time he woke up, it was already daytime.
"Come in, come in!" Ren Baqian yelled. When the two soldiers heard his yell, they quickly opened the door and entered the house.
However, when they saw Ren Baqian lying on the ground, their faces turned a pale white.
Other than Ren Baqian, there was also a pile of white-colored crystals on the ground beside the bed. They did not know where it came from.
"Call the caretaker to come over," Ren Baqian said as he laid on the ground.
One of the soldiers went out and called for the caretaker. After a while, the soldier came back with the caretaker. The moment the caretaker set foot in the house, he asked, "Have you come up with a solution to treat the bear?"
Ren Baqian picked himself up from the ground and leaned against the wall and said, "I have a solution all along and it can be implemented today. Send someone to get one small basin and one big basin. The small one should be the size of a washbowl. It's best that they are made up of metal. I also need two pails of water."
Ren Baqian noticed that most people in this world used wooden basins. Wooden basins were too slow at conducting heat. Therefore, he purposely reminded the caretaker to bring over metal-made ones.
"Alright." The caretaker swiftly went to get the things that Ren Baqian needed. His life depended on this bear, and hence, he had to be serious about it.
After a while, a big basin and a small one were brought over. Following which, an odd-job worker brought two pails of water over.
"What do we do now?"
"Fill half of the small basin with water and put some of this powder into the big basin. Then, place the small basin into the big basin… Finally, pour the water into the big basin," Ren Baqian instructed while sitting on the bed.
The few of them did not understand what did these steps had to do with treating the bear. However, they still did what they were told. Very soon, they began to see the outcome.
They were most curious about what the white powder that appeared out of nowhere was.
After they finished pouring the water into the big basin, they could immediately see ice shards forming on the surface of the water.
When they saw this, they used their hands to touch the water. They instantly sucked in a breath of cold air. The water felt very cold.
"Add more of this white-colored powder into it," Ren Baqian instructed them. Soon, the surface of the water began to freeze.
After a period of time, the water in the small basin completely turned into ice.
"What is… this?" A shocked look appeared on everyone's face when they saw this magical sight. At this point of time, they had completely forgotten about the bear. All they could think of was, what was the thing in the small basin?
"It's ice, it is completely filled with ice." Ren Baqian smiled as he pointed at the frozen water in the small basin.
"So this is ice… It's magical, it is indeed magical!" Everyone was overwhelmed with shock. They used their fingers to poke the surface of the ice while exclaiming in admiration.
"This bunch of fellows… haven't even seen ice before. They are really summer bugs," Ren Baqian thought to himself helplessly when he saw them acted like this.
After a long while, when the freshness of the ice had worn off, they remembered the main issue at hand. "So, what's next? What do we do now?"
"Pour the ice out and continue making more ice," Ren Baqian instructed them.
They spent a lot of effort and time in pouring out the ice from the small basin. Then, they placed the small basin back into the big basin. One of the soldiers picked up a piece of ice and said, "I have to gift such a mystical artifact to Her Majesty."
When Ren Baqian saw the look of loyalty and devotion on the soldier's face despite his hands turning red from the chilliness of the ice, he could not help but say, "Can you at least wrap it up with something? Are you really going to bring it to her like that? It will melt before you even reach her palace."
A look of realization dawned upon the soldier's face. He cupped his hands towards Ren Baqian and said, "Thank you so much. If you don't die today, I will treat you to drinks."
After the soldier wrapped the piece of ice with a cloth and left, Ren Baqian continued to instruct the rest on what to do.
When the ice in the big basin melted, they would pour more potassium nitrate into it.
After a while, the whole room began to turn cold.
Ren Baqian covered himself with a blanket. When he saw there were ten plus pieces of ice, they said, "Place these pieces of ice around the bear. Remember, don't put them into the water. That fellow will like them."
"Don't touch the ice in the big basin and place the big basin under the sun. After the ice has melted and the water has evaporated, keep the dregs left behind. It can be used to make more ice."