Chapter 27 Part 1

On the streets of the Lower District, shrouded by dark clouds without a sliver of sunlight, a city inspector's voice exploded like a clap of thunder: "—Everyone, squat down and stay put!"

Dozens of people squatted on the ground, holding their heads.

Lu Yan glanced over. Besides him and Xiao Heng, those high school students from last time who asked if it was safe were also among them. This group was mostly underage internet addicts dragged out of an illegal internet cafe. It seemed that the illegal internet cafe was a key target of this crackdown on vice and crime.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

Lu Yan nudged Xiao Heng beside him with his arm. "You still haven't gotten your ID card?"

Xiao Heng was in a bad mood. "Otherwise, would I be squatting here with you?"

Lu Yan added, "Your internet cafe's security measures are terrible. Didn't you ever consider digging a tunnel or something? There's a cafe on the next street with three tunnels underground."

Xiao Heng offered only one word this time: "Fuck."

Lu Yan: "..."

That character he used had many meanings.

For example, expressing a shitty mood.

Or, for another example, the sun.

Lu Yan touched his nose and stopped talking.

The city inspector circled them twice. There were too many people, and for a moment he didn't know who to pick on first. Finally, he pointed at the internet-addicted youths and said with deep disappointment, "You lot, one by one, not studying properly in school, and getting online without an ID."

The city inspector's baton then shifted forty-five degrees and landed on Xiao Heng's head. "And you, the network administrator. The network administrator doesn't have an ID either!"

After his lecture, the city inspector dealt with the internet addicts first, calling their parents one by one to come and pick them up.

Xiao Heng resisted the urge to smoke. He squatted by the steps and lowered the hands that were on his head. In the end, he couldn't help but turn to look at the person next to him and say, "...Is your mouth made of a crow's?"

After he and Lu Yan had carried Brother Wei downstairs last night, they had gone back to the rooftop to smoke two more cigarettes, looking in the direction Lu Yan had pointed.

He had drunk too much, and the nicotine added to the stimulation.

On the rooftop at that moment, he had been enveloped in an indescribable atmosphere. It wasn't until the next day when he opened his eyes to a cloudy sky that a large group of city inspectors burst through the door.

Lu Yan didn't agree with the "crow's mouth" accusation, but the cruel reality was right in front of them.

The area wasn't that big. In just a few minutes, parents living nearby, wearing floral shorts and carrying laundry poles and clothes hangers, came running over. The one at the very front swung the pole in his hand through the air twice, shouting, "You little bastard, see if I don't beat your ass to a pulp today!"

The city inspector was also startled by this scene. "Calm down, calm down."

The parent: "I can't calm down! I'll beat him to death!"

Poles and sticks flew everywhere on the street. The internet addicts scattered in all directions, yelping as they were hit.

It was chaos.

This was the first time Xiao Heng had witnessed such a scene.

Just then, Lu Yan patted Xiao Heng and pointed across the street. "See that?"

Xiao Heng followed the direction of his finger and saw nothing but a low wall and a pile of trash across the street.

Xiao Heng: "?"

Lu Yan said again, "Good chance."

Xiao Heng still didn't get it.

Lu Yan squatted beside him and said in a tone of deep disappointment, "Run!"

The difference in their social classes was highlighted between the two of them at this moment.

Lu Yan gave him a push, shoving him out. "Young master, if you don't run, are you waiting to be fined?"

"Just in the direction I pointed," Lu Yan said, rushing out after pushing him while the city inspectors were distracted. "Turn there and it's another street. Once you're out, it's easy to run anywhere."

Although Lu Yan's fighting ability was poor, when it came to 'running', he had always been very strong.

Xiao Heng had witnessed his speed in the underground garage last time. This time, in order to avoid the fine, Lu Yan was only faster, not slower.

"You two! Stop!" By the time the city inspectors extricated themselves from the chaotic 'domestic violence scene', they could only see two rapidly receding backs.

Hearing the city inspector's shout, Xiao Heng glanced back, and a few familiar musical notes caught his eye.

Lu Yan had already taken off his work uniform before being called out, leaving only a T-shirt on. It was printed with a few large musical notes—the one Xiao Heng had lent him on the night he first arrived.

The hem of the shirt was lifted by the wind, clinging to his body and outlining the man's lean figure.

Hadn't he said this shirt was ugly before?

Xiao Heng thought.

The stray hairs on Lu Yan's forehead were also blown back by the wind.

Even against the wind, Lu Yan's pace wasn't affected in the slightest. He reminded him to focus on running, "A real man never looks back!"

Xiao Heng: "..."

Xiao Heng turned back and cursed 'psycho' in his mind. He found that ever since moving into that dilapidated building in the Seventh District, the things that happened every day were constantly refreshing his understanding of the world.

A few city inspectors were in hot pursuit.

It wasn't until Lu Yan and Xiao Heng ran to the vicinity of District 6 and used the dense residential buildings as cover that they finally shook them off.

Once they ran into the Seventh District in one breath and pushed open the entrance door of Building Six, Lu Yan stopped and sat down right in the corridor. "Fuck."

In an instant, only the sound of their ragged, overlapping breaths filled the corridor.

Lu Yan said while panting, "You didn't know you were supposed to run?"

Xiao Heng stood in front of him, bent over with his hands on his knees, and looked up at him.

Only then did Lu Yan remember that the person in front of him was a young master who didn't even know the price of rice before he came out here.

Although Xiao Heng had managed to survive in the Seventh District during this period, he was fundamentally different from small citizens like them who struggled at the bottom. Xiao Heng's years of upbringing had never taught him: if you get caught by the city inspectors, you have to run.

Lu Yan added, "Before working an illegal job, you should understand the market rate. Getting caught means a two-thousand-yuan fine."

Two thousand yuan.

Right now, all the money Xiao Heng had on him might not even add up to two thousand.

"That network administrator job of yours," Lu Yan said again, "can you still keep doing it?"

Xiao Heng didn't answer directly, asking back, "Can you still keep selling your desserts?"

Of course not.

After something like this, the boss lady would definitely have to hire a new apprentice.

"Sell my ass. I can't."

"My internet cafe is done for too."

"Then what will you do?"

"We'll see."

"..."

A bleak conversation.