Shen Kuo cleaned up Chen Yueqin, stepped on the deserted moonlight, turned around several winding and narrow streets, and came to a dilapidated shop.
The lock of the shop door was not buttoned, he pushed the door and entered, and there was a piercing "squeak" in the silent night.
There are cold white light bulbs on the ceiling, and the light is dim and vague. The narrow room was filled with all kinds of dishes, and a few linen bags were bundled up and piled up in the corner.
When Shen Kuo walked in, he knocked over a stack of CDs in front of him, making a "cracking" noise.
The boy in the black vest was bending over to arrange the linen pockets. Hearing the movement, he turned his head and saw Shen Kuo, and said pleasantly, "Brother Shen, why are you here?"
"Come and have a look." Shen Kuo covered his nose, resisting the desire to sneeze.
"Hey, I just got some goods here, you can sit wherever you want."
The boy's name is Zhong Kai, who is about the same age as Shen Kuo. He dropped out of school in the early years because of his family background. Now he is engaged in various small businesses. He is often seen in the stalls under the overpass, and he always wants to attract Shen Kuo. Go to sea with him to do things.
"Brother Shen, why do you have time to come to my place?"
Because he was young, Shen Kuo didn't mince words with him and said, "I want to do business with you and earn some money."
Zhong Kai raised his eyebrows and asked curiously: "Didn't you set up a dance hall with Wu Qiang and the others? Why, the dance hall doesn't make money?"
"No, it's very profitable." Shen Kuo's eyes turned cold: "But I'm going to withdraw my shares. After I withdraw my shares, I will do some business with you."
"why?"
It's not like his style to leave the business to make money.
"They did some bad things." Shen Kuo said in a deep voice, "I will find evidence and make them pay the price."
Zhong Kai had also heard about the fire in Entertainment Street. That Wu Qiang was usually a hooligan, so the fire probably had something to do with him.
As a young Zhong Kai, of course he supports Shen Kuo's withdrawal of shares and stays away from these hooligans.
"But Brother Shen, doing business is very hard. You go out early and come back late. You have to go to school, so you may not have so much time."
Shen Kuo picked up a chair and sat down, lit a cigarette, and said casually, "This semester is over, I'm leaving."
"What, what?! Dropped out?"
Seeing Shen Kuo's silent expression, Zhong Kai suddenly felt uncertain. Before, he always wanted Shen Kuo to drop out of school and work with him, but Shen Kuo never let go.
Shen Kuo is not like Zhong Kai. Zhong Kai dropped out of school to start a business because he couldn't study well.
Shen Kuo not only likes to study, but also has enough brains and good grades. Even if his spare time is delayed by work, his grades are among the best.
Now he suddenly said he didn't want to read it, which made Zhong Kai feel a little flustered.
"Is it possible that uncle's condition has deteriorated again? If there is any difficulty, you can talk to your brother!"
Shen Kuo pondered for a moment, and only said a few words: "I want to make some money."
"Aren't you earning money all the time?" Zhong Kai broke the casserole and asked to the end: "Besides, uncle's illness is supported by the pension, so there is no need for you to drop out of school."
"Too slow, not enough." Shen Kuo narrowed his eyes and shook his head: "I'm too poor."
He was so poor that he felt it was an offense to even look at her more.
Not good enough.
Zhong Kai has known Shen Kuo for ten years. Even though the family conditions are not good, he has always been confident, because he works hard enough and can earn everything he wants with his hands.
This is the first time he saw this kind of faint confusion and inferiority complex in Shen Kuo's eyes.
There is only one reason why Shen Kuo is confused.
Zhong Kai looked at him incredulously: "Could it be possible, who's girl did you fall in love with?"
Shen Kuo picked up a CD at random, which was the movie "Happy Together" by Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung.
His eyes were closed, his long eyelashes trembled slightly, and he didn't respond.
In the afternoon, Lu Yan went to Entertainment Street to look for Shen Kuo, and wanted to return the one hundred yuan that her brother urged Shen Kuo to give her back.
Shen Kuo worked very hard, and one hundred yuan was not a small amount for him.
The burned underground dance hall hadn't been repaired yet, and there were still dark ashes on the outer wall of the stair passage. Lu Yan was really lucky that there were no casualties in such a fire.
Although Lu Zhen set up the stage to sing against Shen Kuo, it was indeed not kind.
But anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the fire must have something to do with the dance hall opposite.
The police also came to investigate several partners of this song and dance hall, such as the largest shareholders Wu Qiang and Zhao Zhen, but they were suspicious, and they had no choice but to give up without evidence.
The arsonist knew how inconvenient the evacuation would be if a fire started in the basement, and that a little carelessness would probably lead to a large area of casualties, but he didn't care, showing how vicious his heart was.
The culprit must be found out and punished by law.
Thinking this way in Lu Yan's heart, she suddenly saw Shen Kuo's slender back entering the opposite dance hall, and before she had time to stop him, he disappeared.
Lu Yan had no choice but to follow him into the dance hall.
Lu Zhen's dance hall is for ticketing purposes, but this dance hall is open for business, so the equipment in all aspects is more advanced, the venue is large, and the decoration is more luxurious.
Because of the fire, the business of this song and dance hall became very good. There were many young men and women dancing in the arc-shaped venue, and there was a band performing on the high platform in the middle.
She heard from Qi Yuhuan that Shen Kuo also has shares in this song and dance hall, so it is not surprising that he will come here often.
In the arc booth in the middle, there were a few men who were drinking, and Lu Yan recognized them at a glance. They were the shareholders and owners of the dance hall. Among them, the one with the scar on his face was named Wu Qiang, and the one sitting next to him was Zhao Even, I heard that they are not good people.
Seeing Shen Kuo approaching, Wu Qiang raised his hand at him: "Xiao Shen, come and sit here."
Shen Kuo walked over, and the woman next to Wu Qiang who was wearing a sequin skirt immediately gave up his seat to Shen Kuo, and at the same time poured him a full glass of beer and brought it to him.
Wu Qiang yelled, "If you are late, you will be fined for drinking!"
A false smile appeared on Shen Kuo's face, he took the wine glass and drank it down.
"Happy! I like dealing with happy people like you, Xiao Shen! Come on, Xiaoni, pour him another glass."
The curly-haired woman in a sequined skirt poured Shen Kuo several more glasses of wine, and he didn't refuse, drinking as soon as he had one.
The men around clapped their hands and applauded.
They like to drink Shen Kuo, one is to see that he is still a student, and tease him, and the other is that people will become unscrupulous when they drink.
Seeing that Shen Kuo was having fun with them, Lu Yan probably couldn't count on him to catch the arsonist.
In fact, Lu Yan can also understand, after all, this song and dance hall still has his shares, and everyone is like this, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.
Just when Lu Yan felt bored and was about to leave, she suddenly heard Shen Kuo say: "Brother Wang, you did a great job at the dance hall opposite."
Her footsteps stopped suddenly.
It's unbelievable that Shen Kuo... would say that.
Wang Qiang's eyes showed some defensiveness, and he poured him another glass of wine: "I don't understand what you are talking about."
Shen Kuo picked up the wine glass and lightly touched the bottom of his glass: "Brother Wang, there's no need to hide it from me. That kid Lu Zhen came after me and stole our opening prize. I hate him too."
Wang Qiang looked at Shen Kuo and saw that he was indeed slightly drunk, so he relaxed a little and said, "That kid Lu Zhen did it on his own. He dared to fight against us because his father had a lot of money, so he didn't burn him to death. Inside, count him lucky."
Hearing this, Lu Yan's hands clenched into fists.
Just then, a waiter came up to her and asked her what she wanted to drink.
Lu Yan put on the sweater hat, pulled up the collar, then casually walked to the single seat next to them and ordered a cocktail.
Shen Kuo poured Zhao Zhen a glass of wine, and asked with a smile, "What did Brother Zhao say?"
Zhao Chen was relatively simple-minded, and after a few glasses of wine, he began to brag: "I told people to set the fire on fire, hmph, I just want to make an example to everyone on the street, and let everyone on the street know that I'm going against my brothers. There is no good fruit to eat!"
The wine glass in Lu Yan's hand fell to the ground suddenly, making a "crash".
Fortunately, the singing and dancing hall was full of people and music, no one noticed, only Shen Kuo turned his head to look in her direction.
Wu Qiang poured wine on Zhao Chen's face directly, and yelled, "What are you talking about, you're drunk, you have nothing to do with the fire in the Lu Zhen dance hall, stop talking nonsense here."
After being splashed with alcohol, Zhao Zhen suddenly sobered up a lot, and said with a hey smile, "Yes, I'm talking nonsense, nonsense!"
Lu Yan stood up and was about to leave. She had to report to the police what she had just heard. The murderers who set the fire were Zhao Zhen and Wu Qiang.
However, at this moment, a young man walked up to Lu Yan and asked, "Little beauty, let me dance for your face."
"Don't jump, don't jump, I'm going home." Lu Yan pulled up the collar and left sideways.
The young man didn't seem to intend to let her go easily, and pestered her: "It's too boring to go home so early!"
"Uh, because of something at home." Lu Yan just wanted to leave quickly to avoid being recognized by Wu Qiang and the others.
"It's never too late to go after playing." The young man grabbed Lu Yan's slender wrist, looking like he was going to be a hooligan.
Wu Qiang noticed the entanglement between the men and women at the next table, and said to his opponent, "Go and see what's going on. The wind is tight these days, so don't cause any accidents."
"I go."
Shen Kuo stood up first and walked towards Lu Yan with big strides.
…
Lu Yan frowned, and desperately broke free from the man's shackles. She didn't want to cause any noise, so she lowered her voice, "Let go!"
The young man seemed to be drunk, entangled Lu Yan and refused to let go. Just at this moment, a hand landed on the young man's wrist, pulling him off Lu Yan's wrist.
The young man yelled at Shen Kuo angrily: "Hey, first come first, first come first, do you understand, I fell in love with this girl first."
If it had changed Shen Kuo's usual temper, he might have broken his dirty hands, but now...he didn't want to make too much noise, so he reached out and put his arms around Lu Yan's shoulders, and pulled her towards him. With a hoop in his arms, he said in a deep voice—
"Excuse me, my woman."
Lu Yan raised her head to look at Shen Kuo in surprise. The young man's face was gloomy and his eyes were sharp. When he said this, he didn't show any expression.
Hearing what Shen Kuo said, and seeing Lu Yan cuddled in his arms so obediently, the young man was not reconciled, but it was not easy to persevere, and he had no choice but to give up if he was embarrassing.
Lu Yan huddled in Shen Kuo's arms like a little quail, and let him lead her out of the dance hall.
However, at this moment, Wu Qiang suddenly said behind him: "Shen Kuo, wait a minute, this girl... looks familiar."