Red Light

Cheng Yue was walking into the residential complex, coming back from who knew where. She wasn't carrying her schoolbag, either.

Wasn't today a normal school day?

Cheng Sheng's eyes flickered. After a moment's thought, he followed her.

"Cheng Yue, stop. I need to talk to you."

Five minutes later, Cheng Sheng, who had entered the apartment right behind Cheng Yue, called out to stop her in the living room.

"I don't remember No. 3 Middle School being closed today."

Cheng Sheng stood in the doorway to Cheng Yue's bedroom and asked calmly, "Why didn't you go to school?"

"You scored barely over two hundred on the big exam, and now you're asking whether I went to school? Heh..."

The moment Cheng Yue opened her mouth, she nearly choked Cheng Sheng speechless.

"Forget it."

Cheng Sheng didn't want to get hung up with her over skipping class. She was a top student with her own unique "study methods," and he really had no say in the matter.

He went straight to the point. "A few days ago, I saw you get into a stranger's car..."

"You were following me?!"

The words "red Jeep" seemed to be some kind of trigger. The moment Cheng Yue heard them, her hackles rose.

"Why would I follow you? It was raining that day, and Mom told me to pick you up."

Cheng Sheng made up an excuse on the spot. Suddenly, he noticed that Cheng Yue seemed to be clutching something, and instinctively reached out-

With his Sparrow Spirit-level reaction speed, Cheng Yue didn't even have time to react. Her vision blurred, and the thing in her hand was in Cheng Sheng's.

It was a bright pink women's phone with a brand-new casing. A small black Raspberry logo was printed beneath the screen in the middle.

"When did you get a new phone?"

Cheng Sheng couldn't help frowning.

He recognized the phone. It was a fairly popular brand on the market, designed specifically for women, but it was expensive. Any model cost eight or nine thousand in Nan Currency.

It was the same model Song Cai had asked to borrow money from him to buy for that red-light district girl.

"Where did you get the money?"

Cheng Sheng looked at Cheng Yue, his voice growing stern without his realizing it.

It was no wonder he reacted that way. A high school girl, off-campus, a luxury car, a new phone... His mind instinctively went to some unsavory possibilities.

"Give it back! Give me my phone back!!"

Cheng Yue froze when she realized her phone had been snatched, then lunged at him with her claws out.

Cheng Sheng blocked Cheng Yue's catlike scratching. Not wanting to make her completely lose her temper, he put up only token resistance and let her snatch the phone back.

As soon as Cheng Yue got it back, she hurriedly turned it over and over in her hands, inspecting it like a precious treasure. Only after making sure there wasn't a single scratch did she look up and glare at him furiously.

"I..."

But for some reason, Cheng Yue froze as soon as she opened her mouth.

Her eyes stared fixedly at Cheng Sheng, her gaze a little dazed, as though she had suddenly forgotten what she wanted to say.

"What?"

Cheng Sheng touched his face and frowned. "Is there a flower on my face?"

Cheng Yue abruptly came to her senses, and her face inexplicably flushed. She quickly looked away from Cheng Sheng and said in a faintly trembling voice, "My business... it's, it's not your place to meddle.

"If you have so much time on your hands, go find yourself a job first.

"You're this old and still keep asking the family for money. Are you planning to suck Mom and Dad's blood for the rest of your life?"

With that, she turned and left the apartment without looking back.

Cheng Sheng looked in the direction Cheng Yue had gone, slamming the door behind her. His expression was calm, and he said nothing.

From what Cheng Yue had just said, she had most likely found out that he'd asked Mom for the registration fee a couple of days ago.

Apparently, the "useless brother" image she had of him now came with an added "bloodsucker" label...

At that thought, Cheng Sheng took his phone out of his pocket.

But before he could call his mother, Wu Li, the phone rang on its own.

Cheng Sheng glanced at the caller ID. The screen displayed: [Song Cai].

He frowned and pressed the answer button.

"Hello."

"A Sheng!"

As soon as the call connected, Song Cai's miserable, tearful voice came through the phone.

"Help..."

Cheng Sheng's expression shifted from confusion to surprise, then to anger, before slowly settling into calm.

Half a minute later, he spoke. "I'm coming over now."

He then hung up, his eyes flickering as he walked calmly and quickly out the door.

Pawan was the largest red-light district in Qingsha City, welcoming large numbers of visitors from Dongyue and the local area every day.

For children like Cheng Sheng, who had grown up in normal families, Pawan District had been a "forbidden" term since childhood.

And now Cheng Sheng was walking through this "forbidden zone."

He got out of a tuk-tuk and walked past a small plaza, heading farther in. Old buildings stood on both sides, decorated in bright, beautiful colors, and neon signs of every kind hung over the street.

It was close to Kunsha District, and after Sucha Street was closed off, large numbers of out-of-town visitors had come here instead. As a result, the streets were fairly crowded even during the day.

"No, no! No filming, unless you pay extra..."

By the roadside, a tall man from Dongyue and a sexy woman soliciting customers were tugging at each other. They didn't speak the same language, but after struggling to communicate through gestures for a while, they finally struck a deal and happily entered a building next door with a "special massage" sign.

Cheng Sheng was dressed like a student and had a local face, so few people paid him any attention. He made his way along without obstruction, following the street numbers until he turned into a narrow, secluded alley.

A faint stench hung in the alley. Garbage lined both sides of the ground, along with even a few used adult products.

Cheng Sheng spat and hurried through the alley with a frown. At the end, he turned left and immediately spotted a small shop with a sliding glass door.

There was no sign outside, only a ring of flashing colored neon lights.

A yellow-skinned young man in a floral shirt squatted by the entrance, lazily chewing betel nut. His hair resembled a rooster's comb.

"Kid, go somewhere else..."

Before Cheng Sheng had even approached, Rooster Comb spoke up to drive him away. "A Yu's off today."

"I'm looking for Song Cai."

Cheng Sheng glanced behind Rooster Comb and said, "I'm here to pay for his release."

Rooster Comb sprang to his feet at those words and sized Cheng Sheng up for a while. Then he spat out the betel-nut dregs, nodded with a playful look in his eyes, and said, "Come in."

With that, he turned and walked inside.

Cheng Sheng glanced to either side of the alley, then calmly followed.

The place was dimly lit. Just inside was a small sofa, with another door beside it. As Rooster Comb led Cheng Sheng through, he shouted, "Cha~~ He's here!"

The two walked all the way to the back. Rooster Comb "herded" Cheng Sheng into a room, then blocked the way behind him.

A table stood directly opposite the door. A man in his thirties, his body and neck covered in tattooed scriptures, sat at it smoking. When he saw Cheng Sheng, his lips curled into a grin, exposing a mouthful of black, rotten teeth from chewing too much betel nut.

Besides the scripture-covered man, there was also a woman in a low-cut, tight red dress, sitting at a tiny dressing table and putting on makeup.

When Cheng Sheng entered, the woman merely glanced at him before turning back to the mirror to apply lipstick.

This woman was probably A Yu, whom Song Cai had mentioned. In Cheng Sheng's eyes, she was only average-looking, showing a little more skin than most. He had no idea how she'd managed to bewitch Song Cai so thoroughly.

As for Song Cai himself, he was standing in the corner with a urine bucket over his head, soaked from head to toe. His pants had been pulled off, leaving him wearing nothing but briefs below the waist.

"A Sheng!"

The moment he saw Cheng Sheng, Song Cai was so moved that he nearly burst into tears.

He lowered the plastic urine bucket he'd been holding over his head and instinctively started toward Cheng Sheng, but the scripture-covered man beside him snorted coldly. "Stand there!"

Song Cai was so frightened that he hurried back into place, his two skinny legs trembling nonstop. He had probably suffered plenty.