Late at night, outside a red brick house in Queens.
"If I work harder, I can raise the down payment and own a home that truly belongs to me in Gotham!"
Seeing the value on the salary slip finally climb to five figures, Robert Stark had the urge to laugh and cry.
After years of struggle, he got rid of his title of resident doctor last month and became an attending physician with a bright future.
He is eligible to receive red envelopes and receive kickbacks!
"Only when you have your own house can you be qualified to fall in love and marry a wife! I, I want to get rid of being single. After thirty-five years, after living for thirty-five years, I finally see the hope of starting a family and starting a business. It's not easy.
Already..."
Robert parked the car and walked into the apartment building wiping tears.
He stopped crying before he walked through the door.
The smell of vomit in the garbage dump nearby made him close his mouth tightly and even hold his breath.
The red brick building has a history of more than half a century. According to the architectural style of that year, it was customary to build a garbage channel connecting the upper and lower floors.
It is very convenient to take out the garbage. Residents on all floors do not need to go downstairs. There is an entrance to the garbage channel on each floor.
But the garbage in the entire building was piled up in one place, on the first floor. You can imagine how strong the smell was.
"Come on, come on, I'll move out of here in another year!"
Robert gritted his teeth and trotted towards the stairwell.
There was no elevator installed in this old building, so he had to enter the dark and narrow patio and climb up step by step.
"Bang..." His right knee suddenly hurt. He lowered his head and saw an old washing machine placed in the corner, and he accidentally bumped into it.
"Damn it, who is this bastard who is littering?!" With a curse, Robert continued to climb up.
He climbed up to the third floor. The door of a house diagonally opposite the staircase was wide open. Under the dim yellow light, two figures intertwined kept shaking.
"You stinky Bichi, where is the money hidden? Tell me or not, tell me or not -"
The man roared and slapped his hands, and the woman howled loudly: "We have no money. The family really has no money. Tommy and I didn't even have dinner."
"Why don't you know how to make money if you don't have money? Faq, you are sincerely trying to disgust me, right? Where can I buy fans if I don't have money? You must want to harm me and want me to die, right?"
On the ground under the yellow light, tall and petite figures intertwined were shaking more intensely,
The man was furious.
The sounds of punches and kicks came one after another.
"Please, don't fight, I, I can't find a job, ah, don't fight-"
The woman fell down. Under the low-wattage incandescent lamp, the petite shadow disappeared, but the tall shadow expanded and twisted, becoming invisible.
"You don't know how to sell when you don't have a job, you slut!"
...
Robert had no reaction to what he saw.
In this city, in this apartment building, similar situations are not uncommon.
Continuing to climb up, he stopped at the corner of the third and fourth floors. There was a little boy sitting there, about three or four years old, holding a "Mr. Shadow" toy doll, his eyes dull and lifeless.
"Tommy..." Robert clenched the cowhide bag in his hand, looking hesitant.
When the child heard his name, he looked over blankly.
"Uncle Robert, you're off work." There was a bit of a live child in his eyes.
"Hey!" Robert seemed to be frightened, with a look of shame and annoyance on his face.
"I have a big hamburger left for you." He handed over the warm cowhide bag.
"Wow, burger!" Little Tommy swallowed, and his belly suddenly growled.
"Eat quickly, eat it while it's hot. In addition to the burger, there is also a large glass of fresh orange juice." The middle-aged doctor said with a smile.
Little Tommy swallowed again, suddenly took off his short legs and staggered downstairs, "Mom, Mom, I have a big burger..."
Robert looked at the small shadow cast on the cement floor below and was stunned for a moment.
"Gudong, Gudong..." He smiled bitterly, rubbed his belly, and crawled towards his home.
...
"Click-" Open the door and press the light beside the door to turn it off quickly. Robert froze in place.
He is a single man and the apartment he rents has one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom.
The living room is less than 20 square meters, except for three sofas placed side by side, there is only a glass coffee table in front of the sofa.
The coffee table, which should have been filled with all kinds of clutter, has been cleared, and now boxes of steaming food are placed on it.
"Did God appear?" Robert rubbed his eyes vigorously, but the food box did not disappear. "It's not an illusion."
"Of course it's not an illusion." A hooded man came out of the kitchen, holding a kettle in his hand.
"Who are you? Why are you at my house?" Robert was extremely vigilant.
Although the other party is a woman... no, she sounds young, but this is Gotham. Not only are men bad, but women can also hold up half the sky.
Sure enough, the next moment the hooded girl took out a Colt, and Robert froze as he moved out the door.
"Please, please, don't...don't kill me, I...I'll give you all the money, wuwuwu..." Robert burst into tears as he spoke.
My down payment, you left me...
The hooded man waved, "Come here, talk nicely, and I won't kill you."
Robert closed the door obediently and came to the sofa obediently. He lowered his head obediently, like a primary school student waiting for the class teacher to announce punishment.
"I won't talk nonsense. You are a surgeon. I was shot and need to remove the bullet." Hooded Harley said directly.
Robert was stunned, "You came to my house just to get bullets?"
"If you give me the cash you have on you, I won't refuse." Harley said.
"Uh, let's talk about how to get the bullet..." Without the worry of his life or the risk of losing money, Robert regained some comfort.
"I don't have all the tools here. I have nothing at home except a set of scalpels from when I was a student," he said.
Harley pulled out a box the size of a laptop backpack from behind the sofa.
"It contains anesthetics, anti-inflammatory drugs, medical alcohol..."
"Where did it come from?" Robert asked curiously.
Selena stole it from the corner drugstore.
"Don't ask any more questions, help me get the bullet immediately." Harley began to take off her clothes.
He took off his coat and sweater, leaving only a camisole that exposed his back.
Although we haven't seen her face yet, her blond hair, fair skin, and graceful back made the bachelor Robert widen his eyes and look intoxicated.
"Clark, keep an eye on him for me. If there is any movement, shoot him immediately."
"Clark?" Robert was startled, "Is there anyone else in my family?"
Heavy footsteps came from his bedroom.
The bedroom door was open, but the light was not turned on. A tall and burly figure slowly walked out of the shadows and stood at the door where the light and darkness intersected.
"He" is over 1.9 meters tall, with broad shoulders and thick arms. He wears a large cloak and hood, and holds a pistol in black leather gloves.
Robert understood, he was Clark.
"Don't worry, I have been in Gotham for almost ten years. I fully understand the rules here and know what to do.
I will complete this small operation very seriously, and then sew my mouth shut very tightly...Oh, my memory is never very good, I will forget tonight's trivial matters tomorrow morning." He stammered to show his harmlessness.
and honesty.
"Very good! We chose the right person, you are an honest person." Harley nodded.
Robert breathed a sigh of relief, caught a glimpse of the delicious food on the table, and heard the drumming in his belly again, so he tentatively said: "I haven't had dinner yet, how about——"
"Eat after the operation! Stop talking nonsense and come here quickly." Harley interrupted him sharply.
Robert had no choice but to look around the room, then looked at the tall and strong man standing at the door of the bedroom like a statue, and said cautiously: "Mr. Clark, can you come over and help me hold the light? There is no operating light at home, so you have to help me with the flashlight.
"
"Just use a desk lamp." Harley was lying on the armrest of the sofa, a little impatient. "Forget it, just take a bullet, what a big deal!"
When it comes to his own professional field, Robert's face is completely different, with a solemn expression and sharp eyes.
Light the alcohol lamp, put on gloves, and sterilize the scalpel...
"Hey, your wound is almost healed?!"
On Harley's back, a finger's distance down from her left shoulder, there was a piece of gauze fixed on her back by two band-aids.
The technique is very rough, she must have applied it herself.
Robert had wondered before, since the shot was not treated by a professional doctor, it must have at least been inflamed, red and swollen, right?
The skin near the girl's wound was white and clean, with no obvious signs of swelling.
When he lifted the gauze, he was even more surprised.
There was indeed a small hole in the shot site, but the wound stopped bleeding and did not suppurate. Instead, it began to scab, leaving only a small, round, shallow pit.
After lightly pressing the area with his fingers a few times, Robert frowned and said, "Did you make a mistake? He was poked with a sharp stick but was not hit."
"Have you really obtained your medical license?" Harley was a little angry.
After saying that, she raised her head and glanced at the bedroom door: Selena, what kind of quack are you looking for?
"Just last month, I was promoted to attending physician." Robert gritted his teeth.
"Hey, don't ask any more questions. Just cut open the wound and take out the bullet." Harry said helplessly.
Robert was helpless. He wanted to let her take a picture first to see if there were really bullets in her body, but Clark had already raised his hand, holding a gun...
"I'm going to start!" With the girl's approval, he first injected a local anesthetic into her smooth back, and then made a cross on the wound with a scalpel.
"Hey, there seems to be something hard in the flesh down there, it's a bullet!"
However, Harley had no intention of answering his doubts. She just sank into the sea of consciousness and just stared at her "experience bar"...