Chapter 33: The Promissory Note

Chen Meng had originally intended to keep the azure potion for himself, knowing full well that even if he were admitted to a prestigious university, he might not be assigned the promotion potion he truly desired. The azure potion was a prudent choice, something to be kept in reserve, just in case.

But fate had other plans. Before the potion even warmed in his hands, it was snatched away by Mouse Beibei, who took advantage and “enjoyed” it first.

Chen Meng was furious, but then he remembered that Mouse Beibei had saved his life yesterday, and Wang Jie’s money was already in his possession. By that reckoning, more than half of the potion rightfully belonged to Mouse Beibei.

“Perhaps this is just destiny,” Chen Meng sighed helplessly, watching Mouse Beibei continue to evolve, gradually regaining his composure.

He opened the package sent by Mo Xiaoyi and found twenty palm-sized medicinal plasters inside. The name was peculiar—“Indestructible Pain Relief Patch,” and it was labeled as Grade One.

“Indestructible? Well, yes, if you’re dead, you can’t use it anyway,” Chen Meng muttered. Having endured pain all day, he dared not delay any longer.

He removed his outer jacket and shirt, tore open a patch, and applied it to his injury. The instant it touched his skin, the pain made him stand up with a yelp.

Yet, within seconds, the pain subsided, replaced by a soothing sensation that spread throughout his body. He felt as if something was massaging the bruised area, restoring the flow of blood and energy through his meridians.

“One patch isn’t enough—at least three,” Chen Meng estimated the extent of his bruises and applied two more. With three patches, he felt utterly comfortable.

Five hundred yuan a patch, and worth every penny.

After disposing of the waste, Chen Meng glanced at the still-evolving Mouse Beibei, then proceeded to deal with yesterday’s unfinished business.

First, he cut up his athletic shoes from the previous day and tossed them in the trash. Then, he retrieved Wang Jie’s backpack and student ID, shredding them thoroughly—especially the student ID, which he cut into millimeter-sized fragments and flushed down the toilet.

Casually, he disposed of the trash in the downstairs collection site. Chen Meng believed that unless the law enforcement bureau had already identified a suspect from his neighborhood, no one would bother rummaging through the garbage. By evening, the garbage truck would haul it all to the landfill, burying it in the mountain of refuse, and no one would ever find it again.

…

At six o’clock that evening, his mother was the first to return from work. Seeing Chen Meng at home, she was surprised.

Chen Meng explained that he was feeling unwell and had come home early from school. His mother insisted on taking him to a doctor, but he assured her that he’d already seen one and was feeling better, so she let it go.

That night, as Chen Meng was reading, he suddenly heard squeaking noises.

He turned to see Mouse Beibei roll over and slowly climb to his feet.

“Awake?” Chen Meng said, not without annoyance. “Do you remember what you did? You ate my divine body promotion potion.”

Mouse Beibei looked confused. He only remembered being extremely hungry, and Chen Meng had told him not to go outside. So he searched the room for food, but even after eating everything edible, he was still hungry.

He noticed the locked cabinet and thought it might hide something tasty. His rodent instincts kicked in, so he opened it. Then, seeing the box containing the azure potion, he felt an irresistible urge—before he knew it, he swallowed the entire potion, bottle and all.

After listening to Mouse Beibei squeak for a while, Chen Meng roughly understood what he meant.

He didn’t blame Mouse Beibei; in fact, he felt it was his own oversight. Yan Ruoxi had told him during biology tutoring that beast creatures would instinctively desire items that could trigger their evolution. He had forgotten this, resulting in inadequate precautions against Mouse Beibei.

Still, Chen Meng wasn’t about to let Mouse Beibei off so easily.

“Beibei, since you ate the promotion potion, you should now be a first-tier divine body life form,” Chen Meng said, smiling oddly. “But you took my divine body promotion potion without permission, meaning I might never be able to ascend to divine body status. Don’t you think you should compensate me for my loss?”

Mouse Beibei was puzzled, but after a moment, his tiny eyes circled and he nodded.

He remembered his primary school teachers saying in class that damaging someone else’s property required compensation.

“Since you agree, that makes things easier. I’ve calculated it—your actions caused me financial loss, emotional distress, and wasted time. All together, I’ll give you a friendly rate—let’s call it one million,” Chen Meng said, gesturing with his fingers. He knew Mouse Beibei was a wealthy rodent, so when better to extort him? “I know you don’t have money on you now… gold, but that’s fine. We’ll write up an IOU, and when things settle down, we’ll go to your gold stash.”

Mouse Beibei always managed to bring Chen Meng gold, so he obviously had a hidden cache in that abandoned old neighborhood.

Chen Meng had long had his eye on Mouse Beibei’s gold stash, and this was the perfect opportunity to clean it out.

“Squeak squeak!” Mouse Beibei nodded, not suspecting a thing. He trusted Chen Meng, the wolf in grandma’s clothing, completely.

Chen Meng quickly drafted the IOU.

“Here, sign your name,” he said.

He pointed to the debtor’s section, but remembering Mouse Beibei’s habit of writing with chicken bones, as if wielding a calligraphy brush, he realized the paper wouldn’t be big enough for his signature.

After some thought, Chen Meng rushed to the bathroom, found his mother’s lipstick to use as an ink pad, and dabbed it on Mouse Beibei’s paw, stamping a tiny footprint in the debtor’s spot.

“Perfect!” Chen Meng’s heart raced. From what he knew, nowhere on Earth had a sentient mouse yet appeared. If Mouse Beibei became famous, this IOU would be immensely valuable—worth tens of thousands at least, since it bore Beibei’s genuine “footprint” signature.

He then had Mouse Beibei test his abilities, and Chen Meng realized one million was far too little!

Even with a simple test, Mouse Beibei’s speed now exceeded ten meters per second, his strength rivaled that of tigers and lions, and his jumping ability was astonishing—leaping lightly to reach the ceiling two or three meters above.

His reflexes and senses had also greatly improved; he could detect faint changes in wind, air flow, and humidity in the room.

But most impressive of all were Mouse Beibei’s teeth. He’d previously barely managed to bite through the cabinet’s lock, but now he could chew the lock like gum and mold it into any shape.

Chen Meng thought for a moment, retrieved Wang Jie’s pistol, and said, “Destroy this pistol.”

If Mouse Beibei destroyed the pistol, that would be the last of Wang Jie’s belongings dealt with—except for the money, which Chen Meng would never destroy.

If the pistol were new, it wouldn’t need to be handled, since all guns looked similar and most people wouldn’t recognize it. But upon inspection, Chen Meng noticed signs of wear, and more crucially, the grip was engraved with the letter J. If anyone familiar with the gun saw it, they’d instantly recognize it.

Mouse Beibei got to work, delighted to help Chen Meng. He put the barrel in his mouth and, with a crunch, bit it to pieces, but didn’t spit them out.

“Wait, you ate it?” Chen Meng realized something was off. He was stunned—this mouse could chew through iron and eat it too?

Just what kind of creature had he taken in? It seemed he’d adopted an extraordinary companion.