At 2:30 in the morning, an entire row of shops on Honglu Street had closed. A few sparse street lights were on in the alley, and the dim light enveloped the mosquitoes that were constantly flying around.
The streets were in a state of sleep late at night, and the Honglu Bar on the corner was closed. It seemed that business was not very good today. Usually at this time, the guests would not have drunk enough.
Jiang Ji has been in Honglu Bar for more than half a year. After leaving Runcheng and coming to Yancheng a year and a half ago, he has worked a lot of odd jobs, including hotel waiter, tutor, venue decorator, print model, etc. It was not until he became a resident singer in the bar here that his life was barely stable.
The bar's proprietress Huang Ying was a nice person and took good care of him. Not only did she rent him two rooms on the second floor for a low price as a temporary residence, she also introduced him to many odd jobs such as modeling and commercial performances. This motorcycle was left by Huang Ying's ex-boyfriend, who gave it to Jiang Ji because it was abandoned.
Jiang Ji doesn't just sing in this bar, he does everything. He helps watch the shop when no one is around, helps mix cocktails when there are many people, and cleans and takes out the trash before closing at night.
After parking the motorcycle in the corner, Jiang Ji bent down to lock the motorcycle, took out the key from his pocket, and walked towards the Honglu Bar in front with his guitar on his back.
The keys jingled against his fingertips and as one foot stepped onto the stairs, a dark figure suddenly stood up beside the door of the dimly lit bar.
Jiang Ji paused, the key on his fingertips stopped shaking, and he held it in his hand. All the muscles in his body tensed up in an instant, and he went from being idle to being alert. He squinted his eyes slightly and looked at the black figure: a medium-sized adult man. Looking down, there was a smaller figure shaking in front of the figure -
The little girl with a mushroom-like haircut was being held by the collar of her clothes by an adult man behind her. She was staring at Jiang Ji with her dark eyes that almost took up half of her face.
"Hey," the man looked at him and spoke in a thick, smoke-filled voice, "Is this your sister?"
"What's wrong?"
"Your sister stole something from my store. I've been waiting for you here for hours." The man's tone was obviously a little impatient, and he complained, "Why did you come back so late at night?"
"What was stolen?" Jiang Ji relaxed a little. As he walked up the stairs, he held the key in his hand and pressed the button on it.
Above the steps, the anti-theft rolling shutter door began to rise slowly.
The man handed him the plastic bag. Jiang Ji took it and rummaged through it, finding chocolates, candies, and some strange little things inside.
"What's wrong with her stealing things at such a young age? Shouldn't your family take good care of the child? You are her brother? Where are your parents? I was planning to call the police, but I thought it would be better not to make a big deal out of it. Let the family take good care of the child..." The man was spitting everywhere, while the mushroom-headed boy stared at Jiang Ji without saying a word.
Before the man could finish his words, Jiang Ji interrupted him: "How much money do you want?"
"Ah?" The man was stunned.
"You've been waiting here till midnight, just to ask your family for more money? Stop talking nonsense, how much is it?"