There was no sense of time in the building. Outside, the night seemed as though it would never end.
In such dim surroundings, it was easy to grow sleepy.
Jiang Mingran and Pancake Uncle left Shao Lan's room and returned to their own, planning to get some rest for the night.
Jiang Mingran was exhausted. Even though the bare wooden bed was painfully hard without sheets or bedding, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
He had no idea how long he had slept before something cold against his temple jolted him awake.
"Get up," an unfamiliar male voice said. "Unless you want to die."
Jiang Mingran opened his eyes in shock.
It wasn't a dream. At that very moment, a nail gun was pressed against his head.
A nail gun wasn't as powerful as a handgun, but at this range, Jiang Mingran could already picture his skull being pierced and his brains splattering everywhere.
"Who... who are you?" Jiang Mingran asked. "What do you want...?"
Before he could finish, a blade hacked down hard onto his shoulder, sending blood spurting out.
Jiang Mingran collapsed onto the floor, howling in pain.
He was still in his own room, but two men had broken in from outside.
The men standing in Room 803 were one tall and one short. The tall one held a cleaver, while the short one carried a nail gun.
"Kid, do as I say, or I'll blow your head apart right now." The short man pressed the nail gun against Jiang Mingran's head. "Go over to the vending machine."
Jiang Mingran had no choice but to obey.
He stepped in front of the screen, which immediately scanned his face.
"Hello, resident Jiang Mingran. What would you like?"
The tall man walked over to the screen. "Xu Nan, what do you want?"
Xu Nan said, "Check his balance."
The tall man tapped the screen a few times. "A little over four hundred left."
"Not bad. I love newcomers like you who save their money." Xu Nan tapped Jiang Mingran's temple with the gun. "Whatever you save, I get to spend."
"Pick whatever food you like, and get two bottles of liquor."
"Wine or spirits?"
"Spirits. Get something to eat with it."
Clutching his shoulder in agony, Jiang Mingran watched the two men play off each other.
He understood now. These two had come to rob him of supplies.
The tall one was named Zhang Fang, the sidekick. His boss was Xu Nan, the short man who looked like a monkey.
"All right, hit pay." Xu Nan kicked Jiang Mingran.
They had selected over four hundred yuan's worth of goods, all things Jiang Mingran had never been willing to splurge on before. It would empty his balance completely.
Just then, a light flashed in the hallway outside.
The Property Manager walked slowly past with a flashlight, like a security guard on patrol.
Hope suddenly rose in Jiang Mingran's heart.
"Help!" he shouted. "Please help me!"
He had braced himself for a beating after shouting, but strangely, neither Xu Nan nor Zhang Fang made any attempt to stop him. They stood to one side, grinning as they watched the show.
Outside, the Property Manager slowly walked away with her flashlight, as though she hadn't heard a thing.
A wave of despair washed over Jiang Mingran.
Why wouldn't she do anything...?
"Newbie, you clearly don't understand the rules." Xu Nan smiled. "In this building, anything that isn't explicitly forbidden is allowed."
All the color drained from Jiang Mingran's face.
The Property Manager had indeed never said theft or robbery was forbidden.
She hadn't even said they couldn't kill people.
"Getting it now?" Still grinning, Xu Nan struck Jiang Mingran's head with the nail gun. "If you don't behave, I can kill you whenever I want. Nobody will do a thing. Come on, hit pay."
"If I obey, you won't kill me?" Jiang Mingran asked hoarsely.
Once he hit pay, he would have no money left. Who knew whether they would kill him afterward just because they could?
Xu Nan stopped smiling. "Do you think I have a lot of patience?"
Before he had finished speaking, Zhang Fang hacked his blade hard into Jiang Mingran's wound.
The excruciating pain nearly made Jiang Mingran pass out. Zhang Fang grabbed his right hand and snapped his fingers.
Dragging Jiang Mingran like a dead dog, he pressed his hand directly onto the screen.
Payment successful.
Food and liquor dropped out of the dispenser, and Zhang Fang packed them into a bag one by one.
"Xu Nan..."
"Shh." Xu Nan suddenly raised a hand for silence. "Listen."
Zhang Fang listened, and his expression abruptly changed.
The sounds of a fierce fight came from next door.
"Shit, the kid in 802 is putting up a hell of a fight. I'll go help Blondie." Zhang Fang got up and left.
Jiang Mingran lay facedown on the floor, wave after wave of helplessness washing through him.
He had been trying to think of a way to warn Shao Lan, but apparently, the robbers weren't stupid either. They had attacked at the same time.
Zhang Fang hurried to Room 802, cursing inwardly.
There were three of them and three on the other side, so they had planned their tactics accordingly.
They could ignore the limping old man. He couldn't run or fight, so they could leave him until last.
Of the other two, one was powerfully built and clearly an athlete, while the other wore a white shirt and black trousers and looked like an office worker. The former was obviously a much greater threat than the latter.
So Xu Nan, armed with the nail gun, and Zhang Fang, the biggest and strongest of them, had taken on Jiang Mingran, leaving Blondie to ambush Shao Lan.
They hadn't expected Blondie to get the worst of it. Even with a weapon and the element of surprise, he hadn't managed to get the situation under control.
Zhang Fang burst through the door just in time to see Shao Lan throw Blondie over his back and slam him into the wall.
Fuck, this kid's trained?
A sense of unease crept over Zhang Fang, but he charged in with his cleaver.
Meanwhile, Shao Lan felt even worse about the situation.
He had also heard the sounds from next door. Jiang Mingran was clearly badly injured.
Their strongest fighter was already down, and Pancake Uncle could barely walk. Facing three armed opponents alone, Shao Lan had no chance of winning.
He dodged left and right to avoid two slashes from Zhang Fang. The cleaver lodged in a chair, and Zhang Fang couldn't pull it free right away.
An opening!
Shao Lan lunged forward and kicked at Zhang Fang-
Suddenly, metal whistled through the air. A nail punched into the chair with enough force to bury itself completely.
"Don't move."
An icy voice came from the doorway.
Xu Nan aimed his nail gun at Shao Lan, dragging the half-dead Jiang Mingran with his other hand.
"Move again, and the next nail goes into your bones."
Shao Lan stopped and slowly raised his hands.
Zhang Fang and Blondie took the opportunity to recover and pick up their weapons.
Pancake Uncle had heard the commotion and hurried over. He stood trembling in the doorway.
Xu Nan couldn't be bothered with him. He looked at Shao Lan. "Go scan your face."
Shao Lan stayed where he was.
As soon as he scanned his face, everyone would see that he still had over ten thousand yuan. His hidden advantage would be completely exposed.
"Are you going or not?" Xu Nan ran out of patience and raised the gun...
"Let's make a deal," Shao Lan said.
Xu Nan raised his eyebrows. "Don't try anything."
"I'm not," Shao Lan said. "Don't take everything. Leave me half, and I'll split my earnings from my next instance with you."
Xu Nan laughed. "You're teaching me to think long-term? Instead of killing the hen for its meat now, I should keep it alive to lay eggs?"
"You can put it that way," Shao Lan said.
Xu Nan laughed.
"Do I fucking need you to tell me what to do...?"
In a split second, a blade whistled through the air.
Xu Nan's eyes widened. He realized that Shao Lan had been inching closer all along, using their conversation and the blind spot created by the wooden bed as cover.
"You have a death wish!" Xu Nan roared, pulling the nail gun's trigger.
The nail skimmed past Shao Lan's face. He closed in, slashing the dagger in his hand toward Xu Nan's neck. "Your aim's pretty lousy, friend."
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