"How about you let me in first?"
He Ao's abrupt door slam had taken some of the fight out of the Youth. He cautiously pointed inside.
"Just say it here."
He Ao shook his head.
"There are too many people around here..."
the Youth said carefully.
He Ao looked at the Youth as if he were an idiot and reached to close the door again.
This was an old apartment building with two units per floor. It was usually hard enough to even run into the neighbors. Where were all these people he was worried about?
"Wait, wait, wait."
The Youth hurriedly tried to stick his hand into the gap in the door.
He Ao calmly crouched down and took a slightly rusty tack hammer from the corner behind him. If the Youth dared to reach in, He Ao dared to hammer him.
Breaking into a residence was against the law. This counted as self-defense.
Seeing the little hammer, the Youth sheepishly withdrew his hand.
He had clearly picked the lock earlier and shone his phone through the crack in the door. Only after seeing that there was no one in the living room had he gone downstairs to buy bolt cutters. Yet in just a few minutes, this guy had appeared from who knew where.
But this guy was seriously strange. The oppressive feeling he gave off was far too intense. The Youth had still been full of vigor just moments ago, but after this, more than half his momentum had drained away. He was completely suppressed.
After hesitating for a moment, he pulled two photos from his pocket.
He Ao glanced at them. The top photo was of himself, while the one beneath seemed to be of a girl. The angle caught the light, so he could not see it clearly.
The Youth flipped the girl's photo over and handed it to He Ao.
Hmm...
It was someone he knew...
Liu Nan.
It looked like a candid photo.
The composition was pretty bad, and it made her look a little ugly.
The Youth did not notice He Ao's increasingly strange expression. Smiling, he explained, "Ao Ge, this girl is the daughter of Wanhe Enterprise's chairman. Wanhe Enterprise may not be very famous in West Capital, but down south, it's a top-tier conglomerate. Her father is the richest man in their home province. As long as we kidnap her, we can get as much money as we want."
He Ao's expression grew even stranger.
Who in all of West Capital did not know that He Ao was a law-abiding good citizen?
"Ao Ge, we heard about you from some local brothers in West Capital. They said you were West Capital's most notorious villain, so we specifically came to offer you a fortune beyond measure."
The more the Youth spoke, the more animated he became, as though he had regained his confidence.
Meanwhile, He Ao's face practically read, Little question mark, do you have many friends?
Had someone set this idiot up? He Ao's reputation as a good person was recognized by the entire Underground World of West Capital.
"Actually, we've already sent people to grab this Little Girl," the Youth chuckled. He did not really know why the student in front of him was the notorious villain feared throughout West Capital's Underground World. "They should have succeeded by now. As long as you help us out, Ao Ge, and find us a place to hide someone..."
"Cold noodles for sale~ Sweet and fragrant cold noodles for sale~"
The old-fashioned singing interrupted the Youth.
It was He Ao's ringtone.
He Ao picked up his phone and saw an unfamiliar number. After thinking about it, he hung up directly.
Seeing He Ao hang up, the Youth was about to continue speaking.
"Cold noodles for sale~ Sweet and fragrant cold noodles for sale~"
The old-fashioned singing rang out again.
The Youth swallowed his words.
This time, He Ao answered.
"Is this He Ao? I'm Liu Nan," a somewhat reserved female voice came from the other end. "I got your number from a classmate. Are you busy right now? I didn't disturb you, did I?"
She was referring to why He Ao had hung up on her just now. She was a little worried that he had something to do. She had originally planned to call again later if this call did not go through.
He Ao glanced at the Youth standing outside the door. "It's fine. Telemarketers usually don't call twice, so I always hang up the first time an unfamiliar number calls."
"Huh?"
Liu Nan was stunned for a moment, clearly unable to react.
"What is it?"
He Ao asked quickly.
"Um... thank you so much for today... Have you eaten yet...? How about I treat you to dinner tonight? At Qiu House Restaurant on Guang'an Road in the city center?"
Liu Nan found herself a little unable to keep up with He Ao's pace and could only ask carefully. She did not like owing people favors, so she wanted to repay He Ao as soon as possible.
"Hold on."
He Ao put down his phone and quickly opened his map app to search for Qiu House Restaurant.
The map showed that he could take Metro Line 6, transfer to Line 1, then transfer to Line 3. The fare was six yuan, and the trip would take fifty minutes. He Ao had a West Capital metro card that gave him a ten percent discount, making it 5.4 yuan. It would take him about ten minutes to walk to the station.
The round trip would take two hours and cost 10.8 yuan altogether, while going downstairs for a bowl of pea and minced-sauce noodles only cost ten yuan.
Not worth it.
So he decisively told Liu Nan on the other end of the phone, "I'm not going. It's too expensive."
"Huh?"
Liu Nan was dumbfounded for the second time.
"Oh, right." He Ao glanced at the Youth in front of him. "Be careful lately."
Liu Nan's "huh" never made it out because He Ao had already hung up.
"What did that He Ao say?"
A girl emerged from the side, biting down on the straw of her milk tea.
"He said, 'I'm not going. It's too expensive,'" Liu Nan held her phone and looked at the girl in confusion. "But isn't it my treat?"
"What else did he say to you?"
After thinking for a moment, the girl asked.
"He told me to be careful?"
Liu Nan recalled it and spoke softly.
"I get it." The girl adjusted her glasses. "He likes you!"
Liu Nan: "?!!!!!"
"Look, he said it was too expensive because he must hate seeing you spend money. Qiu House is so expensive, after all. Then he told you to be careful because he must be worried about your safety. You almost got attacked by bad guys today."
The girl began analyzing in all seriousness. "And if you combine that with what he said this afternoon, I'm telling you, he's playing hard to get. I know this routine too well! Even though I've been single for eighteen years, I've read who knows how many romance novels with this kind of plot..."
"!???"
Though it sounded quite reasonable, Liu Nan still felt that something was off. Also, weren't you only eighteen years old in total...?
After hanging up, He Ao looked up at the Youth and met his burning gaze.
"Ao Ge, the one who called you just now was...?"
the Youth asked tentatively.
"It was Liu Nan."
He Ao nodded, then casually dialed Team Leader Liu's number.
It was his first time seeing a bounty delivered right to his door. He wondered how much money reporting him would earn.
"Hello, He Ao? What is it?"
The call was answered quickly. Team Leader Liu's tired voice came from the other side; he seemed to still be working overtime.
"Team Leader Liu, it's like this." He Ao looked at the Youth. "About the trafficking case from this afternoon, it seems to have been a kidnapping. Someone who appears to be the mastermind is standing at my door right now..."
Before He Ao could finish, the voice on the other end immediately said, "He Ao, protect yourself. Don't provoke him. I'm coming over right now."
Urgent footsteps followed, along with Team Leader Liu's faint panting as he started running.
"Okay."
He Ao answered and looked at the scene before him.
But it seemed to be a little too late now.
The Youth, who had originally been cowed by He Ao's presence, flushed bright red. His entire body swelled like a balloon, massive muscles bursting through his suit one after another. His originally slight frame expanded into a sturdy little mountain.
"You tricked me!?"
Like an enraged Bull, he slammed into the security door.
Bang--crack--
A fissure split open at the welded point of the once extremely sturdy security chain.
At that moment, He Ao suddenly realized something.
Perhaps the world had changed.
Before you continue