Chapter 60: Are Your Dog Eyes Blind?!

By Monday, Shang Zhitao’s face hadn’t completely lost its swelling, and the corner of her mouth was still broken. She ran into Lumi, who had surprisingly arrived early, downstairs. Lumi pinched her cheek and asked, “Who the hell hit you?”

Shang Zhitao hissed and broke free from her grasp. “Got into a fight with a real estate agent.”

“A shady agent?” Lumi took off her hat. “Damn it! Which one? You tell me! If I don’t smash their store, my life has been wasted!” Lumi was instantly ignited.

“No, no, it’s not that bad. We didn’t suffer a loss,” Shang Zhitao said, not expecting Lumi’s reaction, and immediately regretted her slip of the tongue.

“Didn’t suffer a loss? Then why the hell did they beat you up like this?” Lumi was furious. She kept cursing all the way from the elevator to their workstation. Shang Zhitao anxiously covered her mouth. “Ancestor, ancestor! Teacher, teacher! Please calm down!”

Shang Zhitao didn’t get a headache from the fight, but she got a headache trying to calm Lumi down. While she was trying to persuade her, Lumi couldn’t hold back anymore. She called her tattooed, dreadlocked, muscular biker boyfriend, “Let me tell you, one of my sisters got beaten up. You find out who did it for me. Who hit her? It’s that shady real estate agency on the North Fifth Ring Road. You go ask right now! They’re bullying us to our grandma’s doorstep. If grandma doesn’t dig up their graves, then grandma has lived in vain!”

When Shang Zhitao heard that Lumi was going to fight, her legs went weak with fear. She whispered to Lumi, “It’s all over, we didn’t suffer a loss. We called the police, the police closed their door, and they even took us for a check-up. We got the money back... Isn’t that a win?”

“What’s over is over? You don’t know these shady agents, they’re really bad! You think moving out is the end of it? They’ll secretly block your keyhole later! You know that even the police can’t do anything about their petty tricks, right? Can we let it go without subduing them once and for all?”

“Oh. When we reported the case to the police, the police officer told us to contact them if anything happened.”

“The police officer is the police officer, and grandma is grandma!”

Shang Zhitao secretly asked Yao Bei if what Lumi said was true. Yao Bei said it was. You think a fight is the end of it? There will be a lot of trouble later!

“Then should we move further away?”

“Move where? Unless you all completely stop living together.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao now had something on her mind.

When she went to the pantry to get water, she saw her face in the mirror. It was really a mess, and it still hurt a little. Rubbing her face as she left the pantry, she ran into Luan Nian, who had just finished a management meeting. His brow furrowed, his eyes falling on the corner of her lip and her swollen face. He asked her, “You were beaten up?”

It was clear he was very displeased.

Colleagues passed by. Lumi had been yelling all morning, and everyone knew about Shang Zhitao’s encounter with the shady agent. Now that Luan Nian asked, their interest was piqued again, and they slowed down to wait for Shang Zhitao’s answer, wanting to see how the boss would handle the matter of an employee being bullied.

“I fell.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t want Luan Nian to know that she had fought with the agent. She always felt that she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about it.

But she actually had nowhere to live starting tomorrow. They had looked at apartments for two days but hadn’t found a suitable one. Then they decided that Sun Yu would sleep at the company, Sun Yuanzhu would stay with a classmate, and Shang Zhitao said she had a business trip and could store her luggage somewhere and look again when she returned.

She thought, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just stay in a hotel for now. I’ll find an apartment sooner or later.

Luan Nian didn’t press further. He glanced at her face again and turned to leave. Only after returning to his office did he send her a message asking, “What happened?”

“I really fell.”

“Fall again right now and show me how you fell on the corner of your mouth. How are you so good at it? Do you fall face-first?”

Shang Zhitao stubbornly refused to speak. Life was full of琐事, and she didn’t want to talk about it again. Luan Nian had overheard colleagues discussing Shang Zhitao’s encounter with the shady agent when he passed by the pantry in the afternoon.

The company pantry was truly a magical place. Luan Nian sometimes deliberately went to the pantry to get water and would always hear a few gossipy remarks. It wasn’t that he wanted to eavesdrop, but to manage a company, one should have a way to hear a few truths. The pantry was the perfect place.

Many stories fermented in the pantry and then began to spread.

He pretended to get water and heard everyone talking about Shang Zhitao and the shady agent. Since this wasn’t badmouthing colleagues or the company, there was no need to avoid the boss. They greeted Luan Nian and continued talking.

When Luan Nian heard that the shady agents had surrounded Shang Zhitao and beaten her up, he turned and left.

He was furious.

Did Shang Zhitao have no brain? Did she have no brain, or did her roommates have no brain either? A few people going to a shady agent alone, did you think you were Zhao Yun? Charging in and out seven times with great valor? Damn it!

“You, come here!”

“?” Shang Zhitao sent a question mark. He never looked for her alone in the office. Today, his tone sounded bad. Could it be that the efficiency improvement project’s test model didn’t pass?

Shang Zhitao stood suspiciously at his office door and knocked. She heard his impatient “Come in!”

Shang Zhitao went in and heard him say, “Close the door!”

“Oh.”

She closed the door and stood at the entrance, seeing that Luan Nian’s expression was as ugly as if he had eaten shit.

“What’s the name of that agency?” Luan Nian asked her directly.

“Huh?”

“What ‘huh’? What’s its name?”

“It’s all settled,” Shang Zhitao said, a bit puzzled about how Luan Nian knew. She didn’t know that Luan Nian had a habit of going to the pantry to listen to gossip.

“What’s its name?” Luan Nian asked again.

Shang Zhitao still refused to say. She didn’t want to make things bigger. Luan Nian stared at her for a long time before saying, “The one on the left side of your complex, right?”

...

Shang Zhitao didn’t need to answer. It was written all over her face. Luan Nian understood at a glance.

“Get out,” Luan Nian said, too lazy to talk to her anymore. After Shang Zhitao left, he called a friend. “I passed by a place yesterday and saw that the fire safety wasn’t up to par. I think there might be a hazard. Should we check it out?”

“Address? I don’t have the detailed address, I’ll take you there myself.”

“Who should be listed as the reporter? Put my name.”

Luan Nian put on his coat and went out, meeting his friend who worked in fire safety. The friend said, “Wait a moment, it’s in another district. I’ve contacted the people over there. Why did you suddenly think of reporting it?”

“It’s a storefront in the residential complex, I’m worried about fire hazards. I passed by yesterday and saw them playing cards, smoking, and cooking inside, and there was a gas tank that looked like it came from who knows where.” Luan Nian remembered that real estate agency. Not a single person inside looked like a good person. He had glanced at it once or twice when he initially took Shang Zhitao home.

His friend glanced at him, probably understanding what was going on, and chuckled twice. “Anyway, since someone reported it, we have to deal with it. But for fire safety violations, they’ll probably just close down for rectification for a month or two.”

“That’s enough.”

Weren’t the accounts of shady agencies worth investigating? First, shut them down, then report them for tax evasion. Solve it slowly, Luan Nian had patience. He was really going to go up against them. They sat in the car and waited, but instead of others, they waited for Lumi wearing a mink coat, carrying a stick, with a few people following her.

“Is this it?” Luan Nian heard Lumi ask the dreadlocked man beside her.

“Yes. I asked around.”

“Knock on the door.” Lumi, who grew up in a hutong, really played the good girl at the company. Now, all her street smarts came out.

Luan Nian was amused by her appearance. He heard his friend beside him say, “Who did this shady company offend? You reported them, and that group below is going to smash the place.”

Luan Nian didn’t answer her but called Shang Zhitao. “Call your scatterbrained mentor back. If she doesn’t go back, you can visit her in the police station tomorrow!”

Shang Zhitao was terrified. Lumi had suddenly put on her coat in the afternoon and said she was going out to handle something. Was this what she was doing? She called Lumi. “Can you accompany me to the police station?”

“What are you going to the police station for?”

“The police officer asked me to make a statement.”

“Okay.”

Luan Nian saw Lumi say to the man beside her, “I’m going to the police station. There’s no one here today. We’ll deal with these bastards when someone’s around.”

What kind of friends did Shang Zhitao have? Luan Nian cursed them as idiots in his heart, watching them leave. The fire department arrived, the police arrived, and they called the manager. “Open the door.”

When the fire inspection was underway, Luan Nian wanted to go in, but his friend stopped him. “Wouldn’t that be bad? What if they retaliate?”

Luan Nian didn’t say anything and followed in behind.

The agency manager took a moment to approach Luan Nian, offered him a cigarette, and smiled at him obsequiously. “Want to chat outside for a bit?”

Luan Nian took the cigarette and followed him out, listening to the manager ask him, “Are you an owner in this complex? I haven’t seen you around before.”

Luan Nian smoked, looking at the two scratch marks on the manager’s hand. “What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, a few days ago, some tenants came to make trouble, and we accidentally got into a fight.”

“What kind of tenants?”

“Two men and two women. Two of our guys were a bit reckless and couldn’t help but hit one of the girls in the face. The police have been educating them for several days now. It’s true, no matter how much the tenants make trouble, we should just bear with it. We’re not a shady agency, why would we hit people?” The manager started to complain. “To be honest, the quality of tenants these days is also low. They can’t even tolerate paying the electricity bill a little late and immediately want to smash the store. What kind of people are they!”

He sighed again. “Actually, it’s not easy for us. Between the tenants and the landlords, we’re not treated like people by either side. We also know that this store’s fire safety isn’t up to standard, but that’s the company’s problem. If this store closes, everyone will starve. Can you please do us a favor and withdraw the report? We can resolve the other issues.”

“We’re all just trying to get by in society. How about we become friends?”

Luan Nian didn’t speak, quietly smoking the cigarette. When it was finished, he walked a few steps to throw the butt into the trash can, then walked back to the manager’s side and threw a quick punch, his movements precise and ruthless. The manager was stunned and pointed at him. “Why are you hitting people?”

Luan Nian didn’t speak, grabbing his collar with one hand and swinging his fist into the manager’s left cheek with the other. The veins on his neck bulged. The facade of a refined scoundrel he used to wear was torn off, revealing a face full of ferocity. Several people quickly surrounded them, trying to pull them apart. Two people grabbed Luan Nian’s coat. He turned around, took off his coat, and kicked one of them away.

He grabbed one person and punched their left cheek, then another and punched their left cheek. He didn’t care if someone hit him, he just kept hitting their left cheeks, as if their left cheeks had offended him in some way. He fought silently and fiercely for more than three minutes. Finally, the people inside saw what was happening and ran out, shouting, “What are you doing! What are you doing!”

Luan Nian threw another punch at the manager before stopping, pointing at him and saying, “He threatened me, saying if I reported them again, they would kill me!”

They were all in the same world. Those shady agents operated domestically, while Luan Nian operated in New York. The methods were universal. Who wouldn’t know them? He was more skilled at playing these games than anyone else. The police naturally believed him. His logic was consistent from beginning to end, and a normal person wouldn’t dare to confront these people alone.

Luan Nian pulled up his sleeve to show the police. “I’m reporting them. They’re a criminal gang, you have to arrest them!”

Like a local thug, if it weren’t for the ruthlessness in his punches, which still carried the aura of someone who would kill anyone who stood in his way in the workplace, no one would have dared to believe this was Luan Nian.

Even he himself didn’t believe it.

Luan Nian was really angry. He was angry that Shang Zhitao, that idiot, didn’t tell him about such a big deal and let others beat her up! He felt like killing all those people and hadn’t calmed down even after giving his statement. He drove to the company downstairs and called Shang Zhitao. “Come downstairs.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao looked at the time. What time was it? What had he been doing all afternoon?

Feeling that Luan Nian’s tone was bad, she reluctantly got into his car. Seeing his stern face, she didn’t dare to speak anymore.

“You don’t have my number, do you?”

“We only need to talk to each other about going to bed and work, right?”

“You’d rather get beaten up than tell me, right?”

“Do you have a brain?!”

“Is your brain just for decoration?”

“I’m talking to you! Are you mute?”