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墨書 Inktalez
The sudden shout disrupted the previously peaceful morning, creating a bit of chaos. First, the couple selling buns froze in fear, their eyes wide as they stared at the newcomers, as if they were facing a great danger. Some of the more timid ones, not even finishing their buns, tossed their money on the table and hurriedly left.
What was supposed to be a perfect breakfast was ruined by a few flies, which was quite disgusting. Fei Hu remained seated, continuing to eat his bun, but his eyes were alert. There were three newcomers, all appearing to be around twenty-three or twenty-four years old. What struck him as odd was that all three were bald; it seemed they weren't following any fashion trend. Judging by the length and method of their shaving, it looked like they had been shaved inside.
The one standing at the front was stocky with thick eyebrows and big eyes, while the two behind him looked like they were on drugs—pale and emaciated, resembling the grim figures from a black-and-white television show.
"Are you deaf or dumb? I said pay your protection fee!" the fat one shouted, kicking the steamer for buns.
Only then did the middle-aged man snap back to reality. He hurriedly asked, "What fee? I've just paid my sanitation fees and city management fees this month. Did you get it wrong?"
Fei Hu couldn't help but laugh at the middle-aged man's response; he nearly spat out his bun. After all, this was a big city where such chaotic incidents were rare, so many people didn't even know what a protection fee was and thought it was just another government charge.
"Stop wasting time. If you pay up, you'll be safe to do business here. If not, get lost! The fees you've paid have nothing to do with us," the fat one said arrogantly, showing no regard for anyone during broad daylight.
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, the middle-aged woman realized that being in business meant keeping good relations; if these three caused trouble here, who would dare come back for her buns? She quickly pulled out a fifty-yuan bill from her pocket and handed it over with both hands, saying softly, "It's a small business; please take care of us."
The fat one snatched the bill from her hands and waved it around, saying, "You think this is charity? Let me tell you, it can't be less than a thousand yuan a month!" Otherwise, they'd still be kicked out.
This area was filled with small food vendors; generally, they were just small stalls. Seeing someone causing trouble and demanding such a large sum right off the bat would scare away those whose businesses weren't doing well. They might as well pack up and leave; avoiding trouble today might mean they wouldn't have to deal with these guys tomorrow.
The middle-aged man spoke up again, his emotions running high: "Aren't you being a bit excessive? We work hard from dawn till dusk and barely earn enough to get by. We can't pay that much!"
"Can't pay? Well then! Brothers, smash it!" the fat one shouted as he lifted his foot and kicked over a freshly steamed basket of buns. The buns rolled onto the street in disarray, which was heartbreaking to see—especially for the couple selling them who watched their hard work being trampled upon. Unable to hold back any longer, the middle-aged man hurriedly pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Fat Brother, he's going to call the police," a thin guy shouted loudly upon seeing the situation.
The fat man turned around, anger rising within him. He strode over, snatched the phone from the middle-aged man's hand, and cursed, "I'll make you report it." As he raised his hand, he intended to smash the phone on the ground.
After holding back for a long time, Fei Hu finally couldn't sit still any longer. He rushed forward, grabbing the fat man's wrist that was holding the phone. With a subtle exertion of strength, the fat man screamed and obediently lowered his raised hand. Fei Hu then took the phone from him and handed it back to the middle-aged man selling buns.
The fat man moved his wrist and glared fiercely at Fei Hu, asking, "Show me some money; which path are you on, brother?"
Fei Hu ignored him entirely and shouted, "Get out of here quickly. Don't do such wicked things again. If I catch you doing this again, you won't be so lucky today."
Instead of leaving, the fat man waved his hand and advanced with two thin guys. He lowered his voice to threaten, "Who do you think you are to meddle in my business? Just because you have some strength doesn't make you impressive. I want to see just how tough you really are."
When Fei Hu saw them clearly, he noticed each of the three held a shiny spring knife. Although the blades weren't very long, they were still somewhat intimidating against unarmed Fei Hu. The middle-aged woman saw that Fei Hu was getting involved in their trouble and feared for his safety. Being kind-hearted, she rushed over and stood in front of Fei Hu, tearfully saying, "Please don't hurt him; this is all the money we made selling buns this morning. You can take it all; we won't come back tomorrow."
The fat man pushed the middle-aged woman aside and pointed his knife at Fei Hu, saying, "I've stabbed people before; prison is like a hotel for me. Want me to take you inside for a tour?" The fat man's arrogance drew a crowd of onlookers who watched from a distance but no one dared to intervene or even call the police. They just stood by as a bloody conflict seemed imminent.
The three of them closed in step by step on Fei Hu, who could only retreat. However, he had already spotted something useful. As he backed up to the side of a furnace, he suddenly bent down and grabbed a pair of iron tongs used for handling coal. The act of playing the fool was over; with a loud shout, Fei Hu swung the tongs in an arc and aimed for Slim Guy's wrist as he pulled back.
With a scream and a clang, Slim Guy's spring knife fell to the ground. The saying "an inch long is an inch strong" was indeed true; wielding the tongs made Fei Hu feel empowered as he forced the fat man to retreat repeatedly. The earlier bravado vanished instantly. Once Fei Hu started fighting back, there was no way he would let them off easily. With two more screams, both the fat man and another thin guy dropped their knives and were kicked down to the ground by Fei Hu as if they were playing soccer.
At that moment, those watching began shouting excitedly: "Beat them up! Let's see if they dare come here to act tough again!"
Fei Hu knew what to do; he swung the tongs skillfully at these thugs, causing them to roll and crawl away in panic while howling like ghosts until they disappeared from sight.
The couple selling buns was immensely grateful to Fei Hu and insisted on not accepting any payment from him for the buns. But that wouldn't do; Fei Hu tossed down ten yuan without waiting for change and ran off quickly.
He had originally planned to have breakfast, take a short nap, and then go out for a stroll. However, his entire plan was disrupted by these three flies. He decided not to go back and instead went out to see if there had been any significant changes in City A after more than twenty days of staying indoors.
Suddenly, he remembered A-Lian. It had been so many days since they last contacted each other, and he wondered what she was up to now. Thinking of this, he immediately took out his phone, found A-Lian's number, and dialed it. As soon as the call connected, A-Lian shouted on the other end, "Hello! Are you still on Earth? What do you mean? You’ve been unreachable for over twenty days! I couldn’t find you at your company either; no one knows anything!"
Fei Hu chuckled and replied, "Are you free? Can we talk in person?"
"Of course! I'll tell you where to meet. Just take a taxi over," A-Lian said with a smile, giving Fei Hu the name of a place. He noted it down but thought for a moment that he couldn't quite remember where it was.
In a big city, if a place is hard to find, taxis usually can get there. Fei Hu then started to hail a taxi by the roadside. It seemed like he was cursed; the taxis either didn't stop or were already occupied. He kept walking and finally managed to flag one down. After telling the driver the destination, the driver thought for a moment and said, "That place is a bit far; it might take thirty to forty minutes."
Fei Hu nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go! No matter how far it is, we have to get there."
The car started moving. The driver looked experienced; he avoided congested areas and chose overpasses instead. After several turns, they exited the city and headed toward the suburbs. Suddenly, the driver asked Fei Hu, "Are you with a lot of people?"
"No! It's just me," Fei Hu replied suspiciously as he glanced at the driver.
The driver reluctantly leaned out of the window and looked back, saying, "That's strange! Two cars have been following us closely. When I move, they move; when I stop, they stop. If you're not together, why are they tailing us so closely?"
Fei Hu also felt very strange and hurriedly leaned out to look back. Indeed, there were two green taxis following them closely, and it seemed like there were many people inside—mostly men. An ominous feeling suddenly washed over him.
"Driver, step on it!" Fei Hu suddenly told the driver. The driver was taken aback but quickly pressed down on the accelerator. The car surged forward, but when Fei Hu looked back again, the two taxis were still right behind them.
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