Zhou Xiao slept on the tattered bed since he had nothing to do and was bored. Before going to bed, he told Tao Yueyue, "Wake me up immediately if anything happens."

Sitting in the dark room was really boring. Tao Yueyue took out the syringe several times and looked at Zhou Xiao who was next to her. There were homeless people gathering here, so she naturally couldn't take action here.

There was a thump in the darkness. Under the moonlight, Tao Yueyue saw a ball rolling to the door. She walked over and picked it up. There was a little boy sitting in a pile of broken and tattered items. Tao Yueyue threw the ball back and the little boy picked it up before throwing it back.

After playing catch like this for a while, the little boy’s smile gradually became more open. One time, when Tao Yueyue threw the ball off course a little, the little boy moved over with his hands on the ground. At this time, Tao Yueyue realized that he had no lower body. Instead of legs and feet, there was a wooden board with four wheels installed on it.

This moment really shocked Tao Yueyue. For the first time, she realized how happy she was to have all four limbs. When the little boy threw the ball back, Tao Yueyue, who was in a daze, didn’t catch it. The little boy moved over and looked up at her. He said, "Sister, Sister, I’ll show you my treasures!"

"Oh, okay..." Tao Yueyue smiled. Not far away, a few homeless people were playing mahjong and smoking cigarettes by a lamp, indifferent to the interaction between the two children.

The little boy showed his tattered collection to Tao Yueyue and introduced each item with excitement. Tao Yueyue, who wasn’t good at handling children, just listened with a small smile. The boy asked, "Sister, can you play with me every day?"

"I'm afraid that won’t do. We’ll be leaving at dawn."

"But 'Dad' said that you’ll be with us in the future."

"Which one is your 'Dad'?"

"Huh, he was there just now? He probably went out."

An ominous premonition spread across her body like an electrical current. Tao Yueyue immediately went back to wake Zhou Xiao up. "Those homeless people are going to deal with you."

"Are you sure?"

Tao Yueyue told Zhou Xiao the information the little boy had revealed. Zhou Xiao grinned. "Bastards. Truly, when a tiger goes down to level land, it’d be bullied by dogs!"[1]

"Don’t kill people, okay..."

"I'm not that stupid. Going against the homeless people in the city?" Zhou Xiao stood up.

Seeing that the two were about to leave, the little boy looked reluctant and sad to see them leave. The homeless people who were playing mahjong suddenly stood up and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I have something to do so I’ll be leaving now."

"Sorry, but you can't leave."

"Why? I remember there were five people just now. One is missing. Did they go tip someone off? You guys want the bounty on my head?"

"People die for money. Brother Zhou, you understand."

They used sympathetic words, but four daggers appeared in their hands as the four homeless people surrounded them.

Tao Yueyue was so scared that she hid behind Zhou Xiao. Zhou Xiao laughed up towards the sky, drew the knife from behind him, and shouted, "Come here if you aren’t afraid of death!!!"

With a violent roar, they were all so scared that they retreated. They cast glances at each other, but they didn’t dare to be the first to rush forward.

In this delicate stalemate, Zhou Xiao pulled Tao Yueyue, slowly moved to the top of the stairs, then yelled "Go!" Tao Yueyue immediately rushed down the stairs and Zhou Xiao immediately followed.

Realizing that the duck that was about to enter their mouths was flying away, the homeless people yelled, "Hurry and chase after them!"

Zhou Xiao picked up a shovel from the ground and hid behind a pillar. When the mob chased after him, he slammed the shovel down and smashed one of them to the ground.

Before the remaining three had time to react, they were all smashed down by Zhou Xiao. They were either unconscious or on the ground groaning.

Zhou Xiao put the shovel down and told Tao Yueyue to follow him quickly.

When they got to a safe place, Zhou Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and cursed, "A bunch of stinking maggots!"

Then, he taught Tao Yueyue, "Did you see that? Everybody who sees us tries to bully us now. You have to get blood on your hands before they’ll be afraid of you. The strong devouring the weak is the law of this world!"

The sun was slowly rising. Tao Yueyue asked, "Where are we going now?"

Zhou Xiao opened the wallet Tao Yueyue had stolen from the bar and said, "There’s still some money. Let's have breakfast."

Tao Yueyue nodded.

On the street, the cleaners had already begun to work. Some early-rising uncles and aunts were doing morning exercises and walking on the streets that all looked the same. Tao Yueyue now understood that the same city looked completely different in the eyes of different people.

For people like Zhou Xiao, this was a savage and primitive jungle.

When such a person sits in an interrogation room and retells his own experience, the police may look at each other in surprise, but they will never understand that the gap between people is accumulated by their different environments day by day.

A breakfast fragrance wafted over. It was a deep-fried dough stick stall. Zhou Xiao stepped forward, took a hot fried dough stick directly from the strainer on the top of the oil pan, and ate it. He said, "20 fried dough sticks and four bowls of tofu brain."

"I can't eat that much..." Tao Yueyue whispered.

"How much do you eat?"

Taking a look at the thick and long fried dough sticks, Tao Yueyue replied, "One fried dough stick and a bowl of tofu brain."

Zhou Xiao said to the boss again, "Twenty-one fried dough sticks. Five bowls of tofu brain."

Soon after they were seated, their meal was served. Zhou Xiao grabbed the deep-fried dough stick with his hands that he hadn't washed for three days and pushed it into his mouth. The whole dough stick folded itself as it was stuffed in. He chewed with his mouth stuffed, with a thick vein on his forehead popping out from time to time. He didn't wait for his mouth to empty before he swallowed another dough stick. When he was about to choke to death, he picked up the hot tofu brain with his hands and ate half a bowl of it in one mouthful.

Tao Yueyue thought to herself that what he was eating wasn’t deep-fried dough sticks, but French fries. 

There was a mother and a son next to them. The mother said to the child, "Eat slowly, don't worry. The exam won’t start until half past eight!"

"I'm finished eating."

"Wipe your hands. Come and drink this bottle of Shengming No. 1 oral liquid."

"Mom, I want to drink Coke."

"I’ll buy it for you if you drink this liquid."

Tao Yueyue looked at them with envy in her eyes. Even if Zhou Xiao let her take the junior high school entrance examination right now, it was still too late. She didn’t have an admission ticket prepared and she wasn’t qualified to participate. Zhou Xiao asked, "Are you still thinking about the junior high school entrance examination? It’s useless. What’s the point of graduating from a university? You’ll still just be exploited by your boss. If you want to make money, you can’t walk the typical path.”

"Wasn't Ling Shuang also a university professor?"

Zhou Xiao was speechless for a moment. He stretched out his hand to wipe the oil on his hands onto the hat the old man set on the table next to them. "Ling Shuang knew us later than you did."

"Okay!" Tao Yueyue didn't want to start a debate on this issue because they had gone through countless times.

Zhou Xiao finished eating the last fried dough stick. At this time, his phone rang and he talked in a low voice. After hanging up, he took out the phone card, broke it in half and threw it into the chili sauce bottle. "Let’s go!"

The two arrived at the housing community across the street and looked through the fence. Zhou Xiao was cautious to the point of neuroticism. Even if an appointment was made, he wouldn’t stand in the meeting place and wait.

Every time Zhou Xiao smoked a cigarette, he would press the cigarette butt into the rose petals in the flower bed. After damaging all the rose flowers, the fat uncle appeared on the opposite side with a small school bag.

Zhou Xiao pointed. "Yueyue, go and bring him here."

Tao Yueyue stepped forward to explain her intentions, and the fat uncle immediately hugged his school bag tightly. "Who are you!?"

Tao Yueyue pointed to the other side. "Uncle Zhou is waiting for you."

After squinting to have a clear look, the fat uncle finally walked across the road and said, "Mr. Zhou, why did you leave? You made me carry so much cash on me for such a long time."

"Open it so I can have a look."

The fat uncle opened the schoolbag which was full of cash. Zhou Xiao picked up a wad of money and flicked through them in his hand, sniffing the smell of banknotes. Then, he said to the fat uncle, "Your wife is already a dead woman."

"No, she's my ex-wife." The fat uncle laughed.

1. A person who loses their position and influence will be subjected to indignity.