Disaster of Blood

He patted my shoulder and said in the most sincere voice, 'How about it? Mr. Chen, give it a try. I won't deceive you, this thing really works.'

I immediately shook my head like a drum.

He became anxious: 'I have completely given up on the market here and sold this set of things early so that I can leave here and go back to the company headquarters.'

'How much?' I asked tentatively.

He immediately gave me a number that shocked me!

Looking at my expression, he had a "as expected" smile on his face: 'I know you definitely cannot afford it. At this stage, we do not expect this product to be accepted by the market, so our strategy is to promote it through leasing for customers who do not have purchasing power.'

Leasing?

'I said that this product is still in the trial phase. We must track and investigate the first batch of products put into the market to find out any defects in them and make necessary improvements and modifications. Therefore, when I say lease, you don't need to pay anything but as a condition, you must send us a survey report every month according to our requirements.'

Is there such a good thing?

But I immediately became wary again.

Why?

It's simple - when someone who is trying to scam you speaks kindly with words like "I don't want your money," then you should hold onto your wallet even tighter!

'Hmph! You're being too nice to me,' I didn't believe him.

The tall skinny man smiled cunningly: 'As I said before, we certainly won't refuse customers with purchasing power. For customers like yourself without purchasing power since we can't get money from you anyway then we will have to get something else right? In business no one does anything without getting something in return right? What do you think?''

Hmm...this seems somewhat reasonable.

The tall skinny man looked at the sky, stood up and without saying anything, he stuffed the cheap ring into my hand: 'Alright, this ring now belongs to you temporarily. But please remember that on the first of every month, send the survey form to us according to the specified address.' He pulled out a stack of paper from his folder and handed it to me with a smile: 'This is an instruction manual and survey form. The sending address is written on it.'

At this point, he dragged me out of the rooftop without any explanation and walked towards the elevator door. When I approached the elevator, he smiled and bowed to me, saying: 'Thank you, Mr. Chen. I have finally completed my sales task with your help and can now go to the head office. Alas, it is really difficult to sell this product developed by our company. After I go back, I will suggest whether the company needs to develop other products and give up on this one that has no prospects.'

I couldn't help but ask: "But what about renting?"

He had a sly look on his face: "Mr.Chen as I said before only if you purchase our company's product can you become an official member enjoying membership benefits such as housing allowance each month along with exquisite gifts annually plus free overseas travel etc., unfortunately since you are just leasing our company's product then you cannot enjoy these benefits."

Perhaps afraid that I would get angry, he sighed deeply while looking at me seriously: "However in gratitude towards your kindness Mr.Chen ,I can offer some advice for free."

"?"

"Alas," The tall skinny man pushed his glasses up his nose bridge then spoke quickly in a calm professional tone:"As an experienced lucky product salesman,I see that your forehead shines brightly indicating good luck recently although there may be minor obstacles caused by petty people however as long as you do good deeds with your heart, you will overcome them smoothly. However, there is a small disaster in your recent fortune and you may encounter bloodshed soon! But it's not a big deal. I have said enough and finally give you some words of advice: twenty years of hard work for fame and wealth, but be careful of flattery when walking on the path to success."

What? Bloodshed? My face looked strange.

Damn! Is this guy selling products or pretending to be a swindling fortune teller?

But I didn't have a chance to speak as the elevator had already closed and was descending all the way down to the first floor.

As I walked out of the building, I felt somewhat dazed.

Was he a scammer or just crazy?

If he was trying to scam me then why did he not take anything from me instead giving me a ring?

Strange things happen every year but this year seems particularly odd.

I shook my head.

"Hmph! He says that there will be bloodshed in my near future? Bullshit!" I couldn't help looking up at the building

Suddenly, something fell from the sky and grew bigger and clearer in my sight.

Damn! It was a flowerpot!

That was my last thought.

Bang! A crisp sound of shattering, blood spurted out of my head and I fell down.

...

Ouch! Ouch!

It hurts so much!

I'm lying on a hospital bed, and in front of me is a serious-looking doctor treating my wound. Even though I've been given anesthesia, I'm still sweating profusely from the pain.

To my surprise, it's the same doctor who treated me last night at this hospital.

"Hey, young man," he says through his mask. "Why do you guys like to fight so much?"

He recognizes me too: "You're lucky to have been brought here by someone. Otherwise, you would have died on the side of the road."

After finishing up with my wound, he helps me sit up and says with a smile: "You're lucky that it's just an external injury. But your head took a heavy blow and you'll feel dizzy for a day or two."

When I look in the mirror, I can't help but scream:

"My hair!!"

The hair on top of my head has been shaved off completely except for around the sides forming what looks like a Mediterranean hairstyle.

"Why did you do that?!" I ask him angrily.

"You had two heavy blows to your head," he replies sternly. "When treating your wounds, we had to cut off your hair."

He stands up and pats his clothes before saying: "Rest for awhile now. Oh yeah...someone outside wants to see you; they seem to be the one who brought you here."

A man walks into my room shortly after - middle-aged with small eyes full of shrewdness wearing dark suit.

"Hello," I nod at him politely while smiling."I heard that it was you who brought me here? Thank you very much for paying for my medical expenses; however,I will pay back as soon as possible."

As if trying to stop me from reaching into his wallet ,he waves his hand and asks awkwardly:"Mr.Chen, can I ask how you got injured and fell down?"

Hearing this, I suddenly feel angry: "A flowerpot fell from the building and hit me on the head! Damn it! I won't let this go. Tomorrow, I'll find the property company of that building!"

I notice his face becoming even more unnatural as he hesitates for a moment before sighing with embarrassment:"Mr.Chen,you see...this is our fault. We were renovating on the second floor in the afternoon when one of our workers violated regulations and accidentally dropped a flowerpot from upstairs. We're really sorry about that. Your medical expenses will be fully covered by us! However, there's no need to publicize this matter."

I look at him suspiciously, not quite understanding why he would do such a thing.

Seeing my silence, he thinks that I don't agree with his proposal and says nervously: "How about this? Mr.Chen, we will not only pay for all your medical expenses but also compensate you ten thousand yuan for your loss of work time. If you have any other conditions besides these two requests - as long as they are reasonable - we can discuss them together."

This surprises me; it seems like he's offering himself up to be taken advantage of.

Although it was their responsibility for my injury,I don't want to take advantage of them so easily.

Keeping calm on my face while quickly thinking in my mind:

"Ten thousand." He sees that I'm still silent and grits his teeth before blurting out a number: "In addition to your medical expenses, we are willing to compensate you ten thousand yuan for lost wages due to injury.What do you think?"

He hasn't reached bottom price yet!

I suddenly had this thought in my mind, cleared my throat and said calmly: 'Look at my head, it's been shaved bald! If I go out like this, won't people think I'm prematurely aging? How can I face others with this image? Please, I still want to pursue girls. With this appearance, they will most likely think that I am balding! No girl would want to date a balding man!'

The guy took out a tissue and wiped his sweat before taking a deep breath. '20 thousand! We'll give you an extra 10 thousand as compensation for your damaged image.'

'Also, who knows if there will be any after-effects on my head in the future? What if I get headaches or brain fever or concussion? Then I'll have to keep coming back to the hospital for check-ups. You know how complex the human brain is.'

'Thirty thousand! We'll add another ten thousand as an extension of compensation for your medical expenses in the future. Is that enough?'

I sighed and said: 'And look at my clothes - they're covered in blood! These are world-renowned brands made from top-quality materials; once stained with blood, they cannot be cleaned.' The guy glared hatefully at me and gritted his teeth: 'But looking at your outfit now...it seems more like work clothes.'

At this point he suddenly saw that my expression had turned dark so he hurriedly added: "Okay okay okay! Another five thousand as compensation for your clothes!"

I sighed again but when he heard me sighing again his face turned green and he begged pitifully: "Mr Chen please don't sigh anymore. If you do then even I might start crying too. After all getting hit on the head only gave you thirty-five grand; if it were me then I'd happily take being hit every day."

That was about it. I knew there was no more money to be squeezed out of him so I decided to call it a day.

Suddenly, another thought came to my mind and I smiled warmly: "By the way, your property company is responsible for more than just this building complex right? The thing is, I've been thinking about renting an apartment recently."

After half an hour had passed, the guy left my hospital room with a sullen expression on his face while I lay in bed feeling relieved. In the end he agreed to help me find an apartment near their company's building complexes at a rent not exceeding two-thirds of the average market price. He also promised to waive all fees such as property management fees, parking fees and cleaning fees for one year.

Finally we signed a simple agreement that would keep this matter private.

Actually, I still didn't quite understand why this guy willingly walked into my trap; after all most property companies are very arrogant and self-assured.

Later on though, I found out that the building complex where we went today had only just been completed and they were trying hard to attract tenants. If news got out that someone had been injured and bled at their doorstep then it would be very detrimental for their business prospects.

Many businessmen nowadays are superstitious especially when it comes to opening new businesses - if something like bloodshed happens at their doorstep then many will think twice before renting office space here again.

As I touched my still-aching head, suddenly remembered the crazy man who gave me his ring earlier...

I got hit on the head but ended up making some small fortune instead while also solving my housing problem...was this good luck or bad luck?