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墨書 Inktalez
At this time, before the Lunar New Year, the streets and alleys of Shazhou City in Tianfu Province were filled with a strong festive atmosphere.
At 7 PM, Taxi Driver Lao Liu parked his car at the east entrance of the snack street. "Is this okay? I see you haven't eaten yet; you should grab a bite first."
Sitting in the back seat was a young man with long, messy hair. Upon hearing Lao Liu's words, he lifted his pale face and asked, "How much?"
"Usually, it's a flat rate of one hundred and fifty from the airport to the city center. Just give me that amount," Lao Liu said with a smile.
Two red bills were handed over.
"Hey? Change!"
The tall and thin figure of the young man had already entered the snack street. Hearing Lao Liu's shout, he didn't look back but waved his hand behind his head. "Could he be a fugitive? He didn't even take his luggage; he got off the plane and just said to find any place," Lao Liu muttered as he picked up his phone, hesitating whether to report it to the police. "Forget it; it's better to avoid trouble."
One-Pin Fragrant Preserved Meat. The name of this small restaurant was quite nice. The young man walked into the restaurant. "Are you dining alone, sir?" a rosy-cheeked waitress approached him.
"Yes," the young man replied as he sat down at a table against the wall.
"What would you like to eat, sir?"
"Just three or four signature dishes will do, and bring me two bottles of white liquor." The young man took off his coat and casually tidied his messy hair. The waitress's eyes lit up; she thought he looked pretty good.
"Our specialty is cured meat, cured chicken, and cured fish. Would you like two bottles of Luzhou Laojiao as well?"
"Sure." When the food and drinks arrived, the young man began pouring for himself. He ate little but drank a lot.
"Another bottle of liquor."
To be honest, the cured dishes at this restaurant were indeed quite good; otherwise, the young man wouldn't have eaten—well, he had eaten two pieces of meat.
As time passed, fewer people remained in the restaurant; soon it was already past 10 PM.
"Another, another bottle of wine," the young man slurred, as if his tongue had grown heavy.
"Sir, you've already had eight bottles. You are the guest with the highest alcohol tolerance we've had in four years of business. To show our respect, our Boss has decided to give you a 30% discount, totaling 680 yuan," the Little Sister yawned, but her words remained polite.
"I haven't finished eating yet; bring me another bottle of wine," the young man slammed his hand on the table.
"We're about to close. Please settle your bill first," a short, bald, muscular man approached. He was the Boss of the establishment.
"Bring me another bottle of wine; didn't you hear me?" The young man waved his hand dismissively.
"Settle your bill first, then we'll serve you more wine," the bald man began to lose his patience.
"Fine! Is it just because you're afraid I won't pay?" The young man rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a few red bills.
"This is only 500 yuan; it's not enough," the bald man said coldly as he took the bills. However, the young man searched all his pockets and only found twenty or thirty yuan in change and an ID card—nothing more.
"Damn it, no bank card, no phone; is he here to eat for free?" the Little Sister whispered to the bald Boss. "It doesn't seem like it; if he were here for a free meal, he wouldn't have 500 yuan and an ID card," the bald Boss replied quietly. He felt that although the young man looked disheveled, his clothes were clearly not cheap.
"Consider it bad luck; 500 will do. Just hurry up and leave; we really need to close," the bald Boss said.
"I want my wine; I won't owe you for it, don't worry," the young man said without looking up, propping himself up on the table and slapping down the twenty or thirty yuan in change.
"Here you go! Can I go now?" The Boss handed him a bottle of cheap white liquor and helped him out of his seat.
Twisting off the cap, the young man took a sip and grimaced but swallowed it down anyway. He slowly walked out of the small restaurant, his steps slightly unsteady.
On one side of the snack street was another road. As the lights on the snack street dimmed, those on the other street began to flicker. "Clatter!" The bottle in the young man's hand was empty; he tossed it onto a metal trash can and staggered into the other street.
"Hey there, handsome, come in and rest a bit," a pretty girl with a nice figure grabbed his hand as he passed by the entrance.
"I'm tired; I want to sleep," he stopped abruptly and said blankly.
"This is the place to rest. My name is Wang Dan, come in quickly, it's cold outside," Wang Dan said as she pulled the young man into the shop. The lightbox sign at the entrance flickered with the pink words "Massage Accommodation," glowing in the night.
Wang Dan helped the young man up the stairs.
"Hey? Wang Dan didn't freeze at the door for nothing; she actually brought in a handsome guy," two girls sitting on the sofa inside whispered to each other.
As they climbed the stairs, Wang Dan heard this remark and couldn't help but smile, guiding the young man into a small room. Inside, there was a large bed, a nightstand, a clothes rack, and two chairs; the furnishings were extremely simple.
"Handsome, do you want to stay overnight?" Wang Dan asked as she helped the young man sit down, taking off her coat and hanging it on the rack.
There was no response.
Turning around, she saw that the young man had already lain down on the bed and was breathing evenly.
"Is he really here just to sleep?" Wang Dan thought to herself as she stepped closer. After hesitating for a moment, she took off his coat and removed his shoes. Just as she was about to undo his belt, he turned over and lay on his side.
"Damn it!" Wang Dan frowned and cursed under her breath. Hearing his snoring, she sat down on the edge of the bed in frustration and kicked off her shoes to lie down as well.
"Well, I guess this counts as spending the night with you!" Wang Dan muttered as she slowly closed her eyes.
Wang Dan had never gone to sleep this early before, so much so that she woke up around six o'clock the next morning. At that time, it was still dark outside, and the dim light in the room made her head spin. The young man beside her was still sound asleep.
"Please don't be a broke alcoholic," Wang Dan suddenly realized and began searching through his belongings. In the end, she only found an ID card.
Zhang Yang? Shanzhou? He came all this way without a single penny?
Wang Dan carefully compared the photo on the ID card with the young man's face and confirmed that he was indeed this person named Zhang Yang.
"This Zhang Yang has some nerve, traveling all the way from Shanzhou to Shazhou and daring to eat for free?" Wang Dan thought as she looked at the sleeping Zhang Yang, picking up his ID card and quietly leaving the room.
Indeed, the young man was Zhang Yang. He had arrived at the airport in Shanzhou using a fake ID to buy a ticket for the earliest flight and then used his real ID to purchase another ticket for a later flight. He boarded the flight purchased with the fake ID.
The earliest flight was to Shazhou, and a fake ID was thrown into the trash can at the Shazhou airport. Initially, I wanted to throw away the real one too, but after thinking it over, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Some things are unavoidable; unfortunately, Zhang Yang still hasn't truly understood this principle.
Having bought two plane tickets, Zhang Yang had less than 1000 yuan left on him. After arriving in Shazhou, he took a taxi, drank some alcohol, and indeed had not a single cent left.
When Zhang Yang woke up, sunlight had already filtered through the gaps in the curtains.
"What the hell, where am I?" He only remembered coming to Shazhou, drinking, and falling asleep in an inn. His head was pounding, but he couldn't recall exactly where he had slept. Fumbling around, he put on his shoes and tried to pull the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge.
It was locked from the outside.
His coat was missing; when he patted himself down, he found nothing left, including the ID he hadn't been able to throw away.
"Wow!" He pulled back the curtains and saw vehicles and pedestrians on the street below; he was on the second floor—not too high up.
There was a sound of a door opening at the entrance. Turning around, he saw three burly men enter, followed by a girl who looked quite pleasant and had a good figure. Oh, her name seemed to be Wang Dan.
The bald man leading them looked familiar; right, he was the boss of that restaurant called "One-Pin Fragrant Preserved Meat."
"What the hell, why are you everywhere? Is it not enough to con me out of food and drink? Now you want to con me out of sleep too?" The bald man frowned upon seeing Zhang Yang. This inn was also his establishment.
Before Zhang Yang could respond, the bald man turned back to Wang Dan and asked, "Is he asleep? Does he really have not a single cent?"
Wang Dan hesitated for a moment. "Brother Guang, he's asleep; he slept once and then really fell asleep." After saying this, she lowered her head; it seemed she hadn't fully learned how to lie yet.
"Are you asking someone to send money? Or will you leave something behind?" The bald man's name was Hong Guang. Near Shazhou's snack street, he owned a restaurant, an inn, and an arcade mainly featuring fishing gambling machines. Anyone who could run all these establishments wasn't exactly a good person. Last night, his sudden kindness even surprised himself.
"I have no money; how about I write you an IOU?" Zhang Yang had fully woken up now, and a cold expression suddenly appeared on his face.
"An IOU? Hahaha." Hong Guang and his two henchmen laughed as if they were staring at a monster.
"Kid, either I break one of your legs or you leave behind a finger; you choose." One of Hong Guang's henchmen shouted.
"Is there no other choice?" Zhang Yang rubbed his temples and asked, his expression turning pained again.
"I see you are asking for trouble!" The burly man said, pulling out a steel pipe from behind him and stepping forward.
Zhang Yang suddenly looked up, a cold light flashing in his eyes. The burly man involuntarily shivered, sweat forming in the palm of his hand that gripped the steel pipe.
"Wait!" Hong Guang suddenly picked up Zhang Yang's identification card. "You're from out of town, so I won't bully you. You can work here for three months doing odd jobs. I'll provide food and lodging, but you won't get paid. We'll call it even. How does that sound?"
"Whatever," Zhang Yang stopped rubbing his temples.
"Good, you can work at the inn for now. Help with boiling water, cleaning, and washing the sheets," Hong Guang said, shaking the identification card. "I'll keep this for now; you'll get it back when you leave." With that, he walked out of the room.
"Boss, aren't you afraid he'll run away?" The burly man asked as they descended the stairs.
"He won't," Hong Guang replied with a hint of disdain on his lips. "Because he's a drunkard."
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