The white sun was shining in the sky, and the heat in Jiangcheng was unbearable under the raging autumn tigers. Liu Handong pointed to a mess of houses in the distance and said, "Find a place to rest." After that, he raised his feet and left.
Xiaofan followed him obediently, like a docile kitten.
This is the southeast corner of Omi City. Ten years ago, it was still rural farmland. In recent years, with the expansion of the city and the rapid development of the real estate industry, farmland has turned into residential areas, and the original villages have turned into urban villages built haphazardly and harboring filth and evil.
There are rental houses and shampoo rooms everywhere, street lamp poles are covered with wild advertisements, and the wires in the sky are intertwined like a tangled mess.
Liu Handong urgently needed a place to rest, charge his mobile phone, and change gauze for his wounds. In hot weather, wounds are easily infected and must be treated.
The sign on the roadside shows that this street is called Tiezha Street. There are many workshops that produce anti-theft doors and windows on both sides of the road. The sound of electric saws is constant, the welding light is flashing, the smell of paint is suffocating, and a woman who has lost her footing in the shampoo room is squatting at the door.
Brush your teeth and wash your face, clothes of all kinds are drying on the balcony upstairs, sewage flows at the door of the public toilet, and naked children and mangy dogs run around in the streets.
There were many advertisements for houses for rent on the street. Liu Handong chose the one with the cheapest price. He walked into the alley by the roadside. There was an iron door with a house number nailed on the inside and outside. No. 108, Tiezha Street, and a block issued by the police station.
There is a mahjong table under the awning in the yard. Four middle-aged and elderly women are playing mahjong. A short, fat man wearing glasses who looks like a student is negotiating. He wants to rent a house with an Internet cable. The charterer is sitting at the card table.
At Nanfengkou, with a cigarette in his mouth, he touched the cards and said: "Two hundred a month, the lowest price."
The student asked: "Is water and electricity included? Is the network Netcom or Telecom? Can I receive express delivery at this address?"
The charterer played a Dongfeng card and said scornfully: "Why are you whining about two hundred? If you are willing to rent it, rent it. If you find it too expensive, just go and see it again."
The student was silent for a moment and said, "I rent it."
The charterer threw him a key and looked at Liu Handong and Xiaofan with a little doubt in her eyes. Liu Handong was 1.82 meters tall, with a strong build and a face as tough as an axe. Xiaofan was less than 1.6 meters tall and petite.
I felt pity for them, the contrast between the two was very strong, but the landlord was obviously more interested in the card game, so she casually asked: "Are you renting a house?"
"Rent." Liu Handong said.
"How much is the rent per month?" The landlord said a card.
"Rent the cheapest one." Liu Handong didn't have much money left.
"The boss is blooming, you're fooling me, give me money, give me money." The landlord won a big game, and she was in a good mood. While collecting the money, she said: "The cheapest one is the top floor, nine square meters, with water and electricity, so you can count on me."
Eighty yuan a month.”
"Rent." Liu Handong did not hesitate.
The landlady took out a key from her waist and gave it to him. There was a tape with a number on it, which was the room number.
"I lost my ID card..." Liu Handong said.
"No ID required, just pay three and one deposit." The landlord took a handful of change and counted them one by one with her saliva.
"It can't be rented for that long." Liu Handong said. In fact, he had too little money. After paying NT$320 for four months' rent, he had no money for food.
"The minimum rent is one month, with one deposit and one hundred sixty per month." The landlady said without batting an eye.
Liu Handong had no idea, so he took out 350 yuan and handed it to the landlord. This was all the money he had.
The landlord gave him three ten-dollar bills and continued playing mahjong.
This courtyard is a building built on a rural homestead. It originally had two floors, and later two more floors were added. It is divided into more than 20 rooms. There is no toilet, and running water is in the yard. The room Liu Handong rents is on the top floor, and there is a heat wave in the house.
Gungun has only simple furniture, a mat on the bed, stained towels, newspapers on the wall, and an old poster showing F4 smiling at them.
Liu Handong's stomach growled, and he asked Xiaofan: "Have you eaten yet?"
Xiaofan shook his head.
"Let's go eat." Liu Handong said.
There are many small restaurants on Tiezha Street. Most of them are dirty and greasy. The tables and chairs are placed outside. The chef holds a cigarette and flips the frying spoon. Flies fly everywhere and garbage is everywhere. Liu Handong doesn't care about this, but now the price has soared. Thirty yuan
I didn't dare to go into a restaurant, so I had to go to a rice noodle stall.
We found a rice noodle and cold noodle stall. Liu Handong ordered a large bowl of rice noodles and two sesame seed cakes. Xiaofan looked at it for a long time before ordering a small bowl of cold noodle. When he sat down to wait for his meal, the short boy with glasses who rented the house earlier also ordered a small bowl of cold noodle.
I came, ordered a rice noodle, took out the familiar tissue from my backpack, wiped the seats very meticulously, poured some water into the teacup, brushed it and splashed it out.
Water splashed in the middle of the road and wet the trousers of a passerby. The man had a sinister face and a yellow metal chain hanging around his neck. He was walking like a crab. When his trousers were stained with water, he became furious and came over and cut off the glasses of the boy.
From the back of his head, he shouted angrily: "Fuck you, don't you have eyes?"
The boy with glasses showed fear on his face and hurriedly said sorry. He took out a tissue to help him wipe it. The handsome man pointed at his Anta sweatpants and said: "Brand, can you afford to compensate me?"
Liu Handong slapped the table and stood up. He hated bullying.
"Bullying my brother, right? What do you mean?" Liu Handong's eyes were sharp, he was tall, and his face was full of evil fire. The arrogant man retreated and said angrily: "Next time, I'll have some eyes." He held Meng Tejiao's handbag and cursed.
gone.
"Thank you, we are still neighbors." said the boy with glasses, glanced at Xiaofan, and suddenly became enthusiastic, "My name is Zhu Xiaoqiang, who are you?"
"Call me Brother Dong, this is my sister Xiaofan." Liu Handong introduced himself. He remembered that Zhu Xiaoqiang emphasized that there must be an Internet cable when renting a house, so he must have a computer and it should be no problem to borrow it, because now Internet cafes require real names.
Registration is connected to the police. As soon as Liu Handong shows his ID card, the police will arrive immediately.
"Xiaofan, this name is very poetic." Zhu Xiaoqiang said, giving Xiaofan a kind smile.
Xiaofan pursed her lips and smiled obediently. Liu Handong noticed that Zhu Xiaoqiang's breathing became rapid. Although Xiaofan was only an underage lolita, her skin was crystal clear and could be broken by blows, and her hair was smooth and smooth, which was a killer for an otaku.
Very powerful.
Rice noodles and cold noodles were served, and the three of them ate in a hurry. Liu Handong ate a large bowl of rice noodles, but Xiaofan only ate half of the cold noodles, and his appetite was smaller than that of a cat.
After paying the bill after dinner, Liu Handong still had twenty yuan left. He needed to buy some medicine, a mobile phone battery with a universal charge, and paper and pens. There are many shops selling sexual health products on Tiezha Street, and there are real pharmacies.
But I couldn't find it. I walked a long way to find a private pharmacy and bought a small bottle of medical alcohol, a bottle of iodine, a box of band-aids, and a pair of tweezers. These cost me eighteen yuan, leaving only two yuan to buy them.
A student exercise book and a pen.
Returning to the rental house at No. 108 Tiezha Street, Liu Handong took off his shirt, revealing a body of strong, bronzed muscles. Various scars on his body were shocking. Xiaofan was not timid like ordinary girls, blinking and tilting his head.
, looked at Liu Handong quietly.
Liu Handong faced the mottled and old mirror on the wardrobe, holding alcohol and tweezers in hand, ready to take out the steel ball embedded in the back, but after all, it was a bit awkward, and he tried twice without success.
A soft hand took the tweezers, and Xiaofan carefully pinched a bloody steel ball out of Liu Handong's back, then cleaned the wound with alcohol and put a band-aid on it.
Liu Handong looked at the steel ball. It was large in size. It was not a wolf-dog ammunition using carbon dioxide gas. It was probably fired from a homemade gunpowder gun. Thanks to his rough skin and thick flesh, if it hit a vital point, it would be enough to drink a pot.
After the bullet was removed from his back, Liu Handong felt much lighter. He took out a pen and paper and started communicating with Xiaofan.
"Where do you live and what are your parents' phone numbers?" Liu Handong asked.
Xiaofan held a ballpoint pen and wrote in the book. Her handwriting was as beautiful as her own. She wrote that her family lived in Shangfeng Shangshui Villa in Hot Spring Town. Her father was in the United States and could not be contacted for the time being.
It turned out that he was the child of a rich family. Liu Handong suddenly realized that the hot spring town was full of rich people, and Shangfeng Shangshui Villa was the most luxurious villa area in the city. Every household had a hot spring bath and underground swimming pool, which was used in winter.
Underground thermal heating, this girl's family is rich, the kidnappers must be after the money.
"Why can't I contact you? Do you have your phone number? I'll call it for you. Also have your email address? I'll ask the guy downstairs to help you send a letter to your dad," Liu Handong said.
Xiaofan quickly wrote: Dad is seriously ill and undergoing surgery, and the people around him are unreliable.
Liu Handong nodded thoughtfully, damn, this matter is quite complicated.
"Where is your mother?" Liu Handong regretted asking this question, because Xiaofan's eyes were red, and the girl's mother must be dead.
"Sorry, let's talk about something else. Do you know who kidnapped you?" Liu Handong quickly changed the subject.
Xiaofan shook his head.
"Do you recognize the black Highlander car? There is also a scar face driving the car. People call him Lao Gu. He is tall and thin. He may be a policeman." Liu Handong gestured and said.
Xiaofan shook his head again.
"Then do you have any other relatives? I'll send you there. You've seen me drive a black car. I don't have a penny on me. I might even be wanted by the police and I can't protect you at all." Liu Handong said.
Xiaofan looked at him, with tears in his eyes, looking pitiful.
"Don't do this, I almost died. Do you know that this muddy water is too deep, and I still want to die. Tell me the address of your relatives quickly, and I will send you away." Liu Handong is not a homebody downstairs.
He was anxious to get this hot potato out of the way.
Xiaofan bit her lip tightly, trying not to cry.
Liu Handong took out a pack of crumpled cigarettes from his trouser pocket, lit one and stood on the balcony to smoke. He was upset. Xiaofan was quite pitiful, but who could pity him for being involved in a murder and kidnapping case for no reason?
Judging from what we know so far, the other party is rich and powerful, and is colluding with the police. As an ordinary person, I have no power to compete with him. He might become a scapegoat and be either shot or given a suspended death sentence. It's fine, and he hasn't been dealt with yet.
Although Xiaofan's family is rich, his father is seriously ill and has undergone surgery. He doesn't even have anyone he trusts around him. He is also a weak side. He may be glamorous on the outside but burdened with huge debts on the inside. He might as well be a bachelor who comes and goes without worries.
Liu Handong was thinking wildly, and suddenly a soft voice interrupted his thoughts. It was the tenant downstairs, a charming woman in her twenties with long hair, wearing a small suspender belt to reveal her deep career line.
"Handsome guy, the new one? Help me get my clothes, they were blown up by the wind." the woman said delicately.
There was a pair of pink panties hanging on the balcony railing. The wind on Tiezha Street was really bad. People were dropping their clothes, but here they were actually floating upward. Liu Handong picked them up and threw them down. The woman caught them and said, "Thank you."
, my name is Xiaoli, what do you call me handsome?"
"My name is Dadong." Liu Handong said perfunctorily.
"Brother Dong, come and play in my room when you have time." Xiaoli said with a smile, greedily looking at Liu Handong's bronzed body and six-pack abs with clear lines.
Xiaoli was pulled back by her laughing roommates, who were whispering for a while, and then laughed unbridledly. Most of the neighbors living below were two women who had fallen off their feet.
Liu Handong put out his cigarette and returned to the house. Xiaofan had already left. His homework was spread out on the table, with two big words written on it: Thank you.