Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 9 Old Yuan

The moment the gun was pointed at him, the first thought that popped into Chen Shi's mind was very realistic.

"I'm going to die."

The team leader said the ten seconds were calculated from the moment danger was encountered. But who knew that he would be pointed at with a gun as soon as he walked in? He couldn't have lasted even a second, let alone ten.

Whether to run or not is not even a question, because given his physical condition, not running might offer him a sliver of hope. Running would guarantee him being hit, while not running would allow him to say a few more words.

So he decided to wait a little longer.

Old Yuan's hand holding the gun was very steady. The moment Chen Shi mentioned buying medicine, he turned around and drew his gun in one smooth motion.

He looked at the young man before him. He wasn't particularly tall, was rather thin, and had a hint of nervousness on his face that he hadn't had time to hide. This reaction was normal; what was abnormal was that he was now absolutely certain that this person posed no threat, and his supernatural abilities showed no signs of being activated.

He released his index finger from the trigger, and with his other hand, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it: "Who are you?"

Seeing that Lao Yuan had relaxed, Chen Shi's internal countdown also stopped.

"Kun-zai, we agreed on 9 a.m.

Old Yuan thought back and realized that someone had indeed contacted him. Recently, the Bureau of Administration had been keeping an eye on him, making it impossible for him to sell his goods. If this continued, the efficacy of this batch of medicine would expire. If he were in charge, he could simply cancel the deal.

But he knew that if this batch of medicine just sat there and got stuck in his hands, his superiors would definitely not let him off the hook. So he had been in a hurry these past few days, spreading the word all over the streets that he was going to sell the medicine. He would take orders from any buyer, big or small, even from individual investors. Anyway, he had a special ability to sense whether the other party was a dangerous person. If he didn't think so, he could run away in advance.

"Kun-zai? I think we've been in contact before. What are your abilities?"

"Telling jokes, F grade." He should have said F--, but Chen Shi embellished his own words.

The cigarette Old Yuan was holding fell to the ground. His mind seemed to pause for a second. Then, he carefully sensed Chen Shi, and the feedback was the same as the first time: no danger, no hostility, and no lying. The prediction system had never failed him; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to remain unscathed for so many years in the underworld.

What he couldn't accept was that a joke teller would come to buy illegal drugs—it didn't make sense. And his predictive system showed absolutely no reaction. It wasn't a "low danger level," it was "no danger whatsoever." This person was standing right in front of him, a gun pointed at him, and his predictive system reacted almost as if it had detected a delivery box.

"Are you sick?" he asked tentatively.

"Someone once said that."

"Why would someone who tells jokes buy medicine?"

"Buy inhibitors. Psychiatric ones."

When Chen Shi uttered the words "inhibitor," his tone was similar to ordering takeout—there was no impatience, no affected sophistication typical of industry professionals; he simply said, "I want this."

But it's precisely because it's so ordinary that something feels off.

"Why did you buy inhibitors?"

"After my superpowers awakened, everyone who heard my jokes burst out laughing. It's too noisy; I want some peace and quiet for a few days." After saying this, Chen Shi added as if he had just remembered something, "Also, it's easy to offend people. Last time, I accidentally made our team leader laugh."

Old Yuan immediately became alert: "What team leader?"

"I'm in the opening act for stand-up comedy clubs. I recently did a commercial performance, and one audience member laughed for a full forty minutes before being taken away by ambulance after the show. The family wants to sue the organizers, but they're asking me to pay compensation."

Old Yuan paused for a moment, then took out another cigarette and lit it.

"Who introduced you here?"

"No one introduced us. I took a screenshot of your last post about GG before it was reported, and contacted you directly."

Old Yuan thought about it and felt that the answer didn't seem fabricated. He had indeed sent GG, and coupled with Chen Shi's confident tone, it seemed very sincere.

"Do you know where this is?"

"storehouse."

Old Yuan: ".............."

"Logistics Park Warehouse No. 3. It says so on the sign outside."

A very soft laugh suddenly came through the earphones, then immediately stopped.

Chang Biao said in a low voice, "Xiao Shi is great. His abilities really didn't work. We're close to our destination and are setting up an encirclement with the patrol team."

Old Yuan took a deep drag on his cigarette. "You've come to the wrong place. I'm not doing business with you."

"Can I ask why?"

"You're an F-rank. Taking the wrong medication will cause you to go berserk, and if you go berserk, no one will be there to collect your corpse. Even if you don't go berserk, F-rank medications will still have side effects."

Chang Biao's voice rang out again: "He's trying to persuade you." He paused, then added, "3 minutes left."

Chen Shi couldn't reply to Chang Biao, but he was certain that his abilities had worked.

The key point in Lao Yuan's words wasn't "I won't do it," but rather "You'll get into trouble." A drug dealer who lives on the edge of a knife is worried about his buyer.

"Do you have any products with fewer side effects? For example, ones that won't affect my quality of life, since I still have performances to do."

"You bought suppressants, not milk tea." She clearly didn't want to talk to him, but her mouth made the decision for her brain.

"I know. But since they all have side effects, I'd like to choose one with fewer side effects."

Old Yuan scratched his head.

Chang Biao: "Two and a half minutes left in the countdown."

"You can leave now, I won't do business with you." Old Yuan opened his eyes.

"You can leave. By the way, if you're not selling, could you give me some advice on how to make myself less ridiculous without using medication?"

Old Yuan thought this person was sick, seriously sick.

"Are you deaf?"

"I understand, I just want to talk."

Old Yuan felt that this person must have a purpose, but he was extremely confident in his abilities and there was really no sign of danger, so his mind was very complicated.

Chang Biao: "The countdown is exactly two minutes—wait a minute."

Chen Shi waited.

"A dog entered the enclosure, and Daqiang was chasing it away to avoid startling Lao Yuan."

The fat man's voice suddenly cut in, his voice low: "A stray dog ​​has crawled in, just one, it's okay, you can keep talking. Damn, this dog won't leave, Biaozi, stop just giving me the countdown, come help me."

The scene in the warehouse became somewhat delicate. Old Yuan couldn't understand it, while Chen Shi, in order to fill the time limit, was determined to meet Old Yuan as suggested.

After a moment, Old Yuan said, "If you're not leaving, then I'm leaving."

Chen Shi certainly couldn't let him leave: "Boss, do you have any other medicine recommendations? I have a friend who can't hold his head up in front of his wife." He was referring to the fat man.

Old Yuan didn't intend to pay attention to him, but he still couldn't help but chime in: "Tell your friend to go to the pharmacy, I don't have this kind of medicine here."

Chang Biao: "One and a half minutes left in the countdown. The dog ran away."

A few seconds passed.

"The dog is here again. And it brought another one."

Fatty's voice cut in, this time truly breaking down: "It brought a friend! Biaozi, come down and help me!"

Old Yuan stared at Chen Shi, gritting his teeth as he asked, "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm buying medicine. I've said it several times already."

"You are not."

"Then what do you think I'm here for?" Chen Shi felt he couldn't hold him back any longer.

Old Yuan was too lazy to even make a list of possibilities. The person in front of him had been rambling on and on. Normally, he would have just shot or turned and left, but today he was torn between annoyance and anticipation. He wanted to get rid of this person, but his brain told him to listen a little longer, to hear what else he had to say.

Chang Biao: "30 seconds left. Daqiang has taken the dog away."

Chen Shi forcibly filtered out the part about the fat man and the dog in his earphones, trying to buy himself some last bit of time.

"I'm not buying the medicine anymore," Chen Shi suddenly said.

"What?"

"You're absolutely right. I'm classified as F, so there are risks associated with medication."

"Who exactly are you?" Old Yuan asked through gritted teeth.

What do you think?

"Neuropathy?"

"Anything else?"

"You talk too much. Every sentence you say is outrageous. So outrageous that you want to argue back." Old Yuan suddenly realized, "Your ability isn't just telling jokes."

"What is that?"

"It's the kind of argument that makes people want to argue with you. Not because they're afraid of you, not because they admire you, but because when they're talking to you, they don't know when to leave. Because every sentence you say comes after what others think you should stop at. If you don't stop, others can't stop. If they can't stop, they forget to leave. If they forget to leave, they forget they have a gun." He glanced down at the gun in his hand.

Chang Biao counted down in his earpiece: "Three, two, one."

"arrive."

The sound wasn't coming from the headphones, but from outside the door.

The warehouse temperature plummeted. A huge ice flower rose from the ground and gathered towards Lao Yuan. A thin layer of ice clung to the soles of his shoes, freezing them to the ground. His right hand, holding the gun, was encased in frost and frozen at a fixed angle.

Sun Tiemei stood at the door, her hands in her coat pockets.

Old Yuan looked down at his gun, frozen solid, leaned the back of his head against the iron frame, and looked at Chen Shi with grief and indignation.

Sun Tiemei walked up to him. "What did he talk to you about?"

He said he came to buy medicine.

"That's not what I'm asking. What's your assessment of his abilities just now?"

Old Yuan stared at the ceiling, a kind of unyielding tear glistening in his eyes.

"Let them argue. In the midst of the argument, they forget they have a gun. I talked to him for several minutes, and I didn't even think about drawing my gun. It wasn't that I was afraid to, it's that I simply didn't remember."

Sun Tiemei nodded.

On the way back to the station, there was a dog squatting in the back seat.

The yellow one. It's the one the fat guy was just outwitting and outmaneuvering.

When it saw Chen Shi come up, it wagged its tail. When it saw Chang Biao come up, it wagged its tail again. Finally, when it saw Sun Tiemei come up, it wagged its tail very fast.

"What's going on with it?" Chen Shi asked.

"It won't move." Chang Biao squeezed down to sit. "When I got out of the car, it squatted next to the car. When Da Qiang opened the car door, it jumped in. I told it to get out, and it stuck its head under the seat."

Pang Daqiang started the car. "It has nothing to do with me, it got up by itself."

Sun Tiemei sat down by the window and glanced back at the dog. The dog was also looking at her, its tail hesitating for a moment before wagging.

"Then stay."

The car drove off. Chen Shi sat next to the dog, his back ramrod straight.

The fat man glanced at the rearview mirror: "You seem pretty smug today."

"I almost got shot to death, I have every right to be proud."

The fat man was silent for two seconds. "Okay. This is something to be proud of."

Chang Biao was squeezing hand cream next to him. "Old Yuan said you're outrageous. And after being outrageous, you still want to argue back. I heard that."

As the car rounded a corner, Sun Tiemei said, "Old Yuan is working for a man named Red Falcon."

The carriage fell silent.