Chapter 4

Under the scorching sun, the city by the river was sweltering under the late summer heat. Liu Handong pointed to a cluster of disordered houses in the distance and said, "Let's find a place to rest." With that, he started walking.

Xiaofan obediently followed behind him, like a gentle kitten.

This was the southeastern corner of Jinqiang City, which was still farmland ten years ago. In recent years, with the expansion of the city and the booming real estate industry, the farmland had turned into residential areas, and the original villages had become chaotic and dirty urban villages. Everywhere were rental houses and hair salons, with wild advertisements plastered on lampposts and tangled wires in the air.

Liu Handong urgently needed a place to rest, charge his phone, and change the bandages on his wounds. The hot weather made it easy for wounds to become infected, and they needed to be treated.

A sign by the roadside indicated that this street was called Tiesha Street. On both sides of the road were many workshops producing anti-theft doors and windows. The sound of electric saws was constant, and the light from electric welding flickered. The smell of paint was overwhelming. Women who had fallen from grace squatted at the doors of hair salons, brushing their teeth and washing their faces. Colorful clothes were drying on the balconies upstairs, and sewage flowed from the entrance of the public toilet. Naked children and mangy dogs ran around the streets.

Rental advertisements were everywhere on the street. Liu Handong chose the cheapest one and walked into a side alley. An iron gate with a house number was nailed to it, Tiesha Street No. 108, and there was a rental permit issued by the police station. In the yard, under a sunshade, a mahjong table was set up, and four middle-aged women were playing mahjong. A short, fat student with glasses was negotiating, wanting to rent a room with internet access. The landlady, sitting in the south wind, had a cigarette in her mouth and said, "Two hundred a month, the lowest price."

The student asked, "Does it include water and electricity? Is the internet China Telecom or China Unicom? Can I receive packages at this address?"

The landlady discarded a card and said disdainfully, "Two hundred, and you're still complaining? If you want it, take it; if you think it's too expensive, go look elsewhere."

The student was silent for a moment and said, "I'll take it."

The landlady threw him a key and looked at Liu Handong and Xiaofan, a bit puzzled. Liu Handong was 1.82 meters tall, with a rugged and strong physique, and a face that looked like it had been chiseled by a knife. Xiaofan was less than 1.6 meters tall, delicate and pitiable. The contrast between the two was stark, but the landlady was clearly more interested in the mahjong game and asked casually, "Are you renting too?"

"Yes," Liu Handong said.

"How much per month?" The landlady discarded a card.

"The cheapest," Liu Handong said, as he didn't have much money left.

"Flower after the discard, I win. Pay up, pay up." The landlady won a big round and was in a good mood. As she collected the money, she said, "The cheapest is on the top floor, nine square meters, with water and electricity. It's eighty yuan a month."

"I'll take it," Liu Handong said without hesitation.

The landlady took a key from her waist and gave it to him. The key had a sticker with a number, which was the room number.

"I lost my ID card..." Liu Handong said.

"No ID needed, pay three months in advance and one month as a deposit," the landlady said, counting the money with her saliva.

"I can't stay that long," Liu Handong said, as he didn't have enough money. After paying four months' rent, 320 yuan, he had no money left for food.

"The minimum is one month, pay one month in advance and one month as a deposit, 160 yuan per month," the landlady said without blinking.

Liu Handong had no choice and took out 350 yuan to give to the landlady, which was all the money he had.

The landlady gave him three ten-yuan bills in change and continued playing mahjong.

The building in the yard was a rural house that had been converted into a multi-story building. Originally two stories, it had been extended to four, with over twenty rooms. There was no toilet, and the tap water was in the yard. Liu Handong's room was on the top floor, where the heat was intense. There was only simple furniture, a bamboo mat on the bed, and a towel with stains. The walls were covered with newspaper, and an old poster of F4 smiled at them.

Liu Handong's stomach growled, and he asked Xiaofan, "Have you eaten?"

Xiaofan shook her head.

"Let's go eat," Liu Handong said.

On Tiesha Street, there were many small restaurants, most of which were dirty and greasy. The tables and chairs were set up outside, and the chefs smoked while flipping the wok. Flies buzzed around, and garbage was everywhere. Liu Handong didn't care about this, but with the rising prices, he couldn't afford to eat in a restaurant with just 30 yuan, so he went to a rice noodle and cold skin stall.

He ordered a large bowl of rice noodles and two baked buns. Xiaofan looked for a long time before ordering a small bowl of cold skin. As they waited for their food, the short, fat student who had rented a room earlier came and ordered a bowl of rice noodles. He took out a pack of tissues from his backpack and carefully wiped the seat. He poured some water into a teacup and splashed it out.

The water splashed onto a passerby's pants. The man had a square face and a yellow metal chain around his neck. He walked like a crab and was instantly furious. He hit the student on the back of the head and shouted, "What the hell, can't you see where you're going?"

The student looked scared and quickly said sorry, offering to help clean the man's pants. The man pointed to his Anta sports pants and said, "It's a brand, can you afford to pay for it?"

Liu Handong slammed the table and stood up. He couldn't stand bullies.

"Trying to bully my brother, huh? What's your problem?" Liu Handong's eyes were fierce, and his tall and muscular build intimidated the man, who backed off and said, "Watch where you're going next time," before leaving with his Montag handbag, muttering curses.

"Thanks, we're neighbors," the student said, glancing at Xiaofan and suddenly becoming more friendly. "I'm Zhu Xiaoqiang, and you are?"

"Call me Brother Dong, and this is my sister Xiaofan," Liu Handong introduced himself. He remembered that Zhu Xiaoqiang had emphasized the need for internet access when renting the room, so he must have a computer. Borrowing it shouldn't be a problem, as internet cafes required real-name registration and were connected to the police. If Liu Handong showed his ID, the police would likely come immediately.

"Xiaofan, what a poetic name," Zhu Xiaoqiang said, giving Xiaofan a kind smile.

Xiaofan smiled sweetly, and Liu Handong noticed that Zhu Xiaoqiang's breathing became rapid. Although Xiaofan was just a young girl, her skin was smooth and flawless, and her hair was silky and clean, making her extremely attractive to otaku.

The rice noodles and cold skin were served, and the three of them ate quickly. Liu Handong finished the large bowl of rice noodles, while Xiaofan only ate half of her cold skin, with an appetite smaller than a cat's.

After paying the bill, Liu Handong had 20 yuan left. He needed to buy some medicine, a universal phone charger, and some paper and pens. Tiesha Street had many stores selling sexual health products, but no real pharmacies. He had to walk 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 small pair of tweezers. This cost him 18 yuan, leaving him with 2 yuan to buy a student exercise book and a pen.

Back at Tiesha Street No. 108, Liu Handong took off his shirt, revealing a well-built body with various scars. Xiaofan, unlike ordinary girls, was not afraid and watched him quietly with her big eyes.

Liu Handong, facing the old and worn mirror on the wardrobe, held the alcohol and tweezers, preparing to remove the steel ball embedded in his back. However, it was difficult, and he failed twice.

A soft hand took the tweezers from him, and Xiaofan carefully removed a bloody steel ball from Liu Handong's back, cleaned the wound with alcohol, and applied a band-aid.

Liu Handong examined the steel ball, which was large and not from a CO2-powered wolfdog bullet. It was likely from a homemade gun. He was lucky to have a tough skin; if it had hit a vital spot, it would have been serious.

With the bullet removed, Liu Handong felt much lighter. He took out paper and pen to communicate with Xiaofan.

"Where do you live, and what are your parents' phone numbers?" Liu Handong asked.

Xiaofan wrote on the exercise book with a ballpoint pen, her handwriting as elegant as she was. She wrote that she lived in Shangshangshui Villa in Wenquan Town, and her father was in the United States, temporarily unreachable.

So, she was from a wealthy family. Liu Handong realized that Wenquan Town was home to rich people, and Shangshangshui Villa was the most luxurious villa area in the city, with every household having a hot spring bath and an underground swimming pool, heated by underground thermal energy in winter. This girl's family was rich, and the kidnappers must have been after the money.

"How come you can't contact him? Do you have his phone number? I can help you call, and I can also send an email to your father through the guy downstairs," Liu Handong said.

Xiaofan quickly wrote: "Dad had a serious operation, and the people around him are not trustworthy."

Liu Handong nodded thoughtfully. Damn, this is getting complicated.

"What about your mother?" Liu Handong regretted asking as soon as he said it, because Xiaofan's eyes welled up with tears. Her mother must have passed away.

"Sorry, let's talk about something else. Do you know who kidnapped you?" Liu Handong quickly changed the subject.

Xiaofan shook her head.

"Do you recognize a black Highlander car, and the scar-faced driver, known as Lao Gu, who is tall and thin, possibly a police officer?" Liu Handong asked, gesturing.

Xiaofan shook her head again.

"Do you have any other relatives? I can take you to them. You've seen, I'm just a black car driver with no money and possibly wanted by the police. I can't protect you," Liu Handong said.

Xiaofan looked at him, her eyes filled with tears, looking pitiful.

"Don't do this to me. I almost died, you know. This is a deep mess, and I want to live. Tell me your relatives' address, and I'll take you there," Liu Handong said, not like the otaku downstairs. He was eager to get rid of this hot potato.

Xiaofan bit her lip, trying not to cry.

Liu Handong took out a pack of crumpled cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and went out to the balcony to smoke, feeling frustrated. Xiaofan was indeed pitiful, but who would pity him? He was involuntarily dragged into a murder and