In order to welcome the Lunar New Year, the entire G country is bustling with excitement.
The largest lighthouse and buildings in the imperial capital are all lit up in festive red, and the red silks and hanging lanterns on the streets are all filled with the strong flavor of the New Year.
Chinese New Year means saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Chinese people, who are generally nostalgic for the past, have different attitudes towards the New Year in the Gregorian calendar and the lunar calendar.
This is the real Chinese New Year in the traditional sense. All the unhappiness and busyness of the year means that it has passed.
The solution is to relax and welcome the new year.
Whether it is the noisy city center or the deserted suburbs, everything seems to be coated with a lively atmosphere.
To the south of the Imperial Capital, this place has always been divided into two places from the center of the Imperial Capital.
Unlike that lively and luxurious place, here there is only boundless violence, darkness and poverty.
Even people in darkness long for light, so even a place like this carries expectations for the New Year.
From old residential buildings to model houses made of wooden boards. All hung up with red couplets.
To celebrate the arrival of the New Year, half of the migrant workers here will return to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year.
The population suddenly decreased by one-third, which made the originally crowded streets become much wider.
At night, the red stickers on the doors of every house and the sounds of the New Year's party that can be heard from time to time highlight the atmosphere of the New Year.
The easternmost location of the entire gathering area is close to an unfinished building and wasteland.
The rooms are simply built with prototypes. There are no independent bathrooms. There are two public toilets for men and women that are shared by everyone.
You can only cook under the shelter set up outside, but even such a place is still full of people.
There are nearly a thousand people living in a place of less than a thousand square meters, making it crowded and noisy.
Not for anything else, just because the rent here is the cheapest. For many people who are busy working hard for life, this is the most suitable place.
In the middle room of the whole row of rice houses, the small five-square-meter room can only fit a single bed, and there is nothing else.
It is extremely difficult for a person to turn around inside, and taller people will hit their heads.
The thin wooden door could not block the howling cold wind outside, and it seemed that it would break at any time.
Listening to the sounds outside, the people on the bed wrapped themselves tightly in thin quilts.
She seemed to be able to hear the sound of people watching the New Year's party on TV in the room next to her.
Li Li, who had not eaten for two days, felt cold and hungry, and could no longer tell where he was.
Li Li, who was dazed by the cold, rolled over from the bed and sat up. She looked up at the wooden boards on the roof, with confusion in her eyes.
In the past few days, she had seen many things that she had never seen before.
The life here was so different from her previous life that she could never imagine.
Dark, bloody, violent, oppressive.
The watch on her wrist showed that it was eight o'clock in the evening. If it had been before, she would have been eating the New Year's Eve dinner carefully prepared by the servants at home and chatting with her family.
The family watched the New Year's party while laughing and chatting, making New Year's wishes, and her grandma and uncle would prepare red envelopes for her.
Even her sister will give her red envelopes. She is very happy every New Year because she can make wishes with her grandma when the New Year comes.
Those memories of the past bit by bit seemed like a long time had passed, and she felt a little dazed.
She seemed to smell the aroma of food in her nose. Just yesterday, she saw with her own eyes a little girl committing herself to a nearby man for a hundred yuan in medical expenses.
I even saw a family with four or five children struggling to support themselves. The father did heavy physical work on the construction site, and the mother took the children to make rice and water every day.
There are sirens here every day, because theft and murder happen every day.
You have to consider whether you will see pedestrians knocked unconscious on the roadside or dismembered corpses on your way to work every day.
Especially as the New Year approaches, the nearby police stations become even busier, and even have people stationed here to maintain peace and order.
But what's the use? What should happen happens every day, and they can't stop it.
Moreover, the small gangs here are complicated. Every day, people knock on the door and ask for protection money. Those who dare not speak out can only hand over their hard-earned money.
There was no water for a whole day and night. Li Li wrapped herself in a quilt and opened the door. She had no money on her.
She wanted to laugh when she thought of this. After renting this place for a thousand yuan, she only had time to go out.
All her belongings had been stolen, even the instant noodles lying nearby.
In the end, the only two hundred yuan he had left was taken away by the gangsters who came to collect protection fees.
She was hiding and didn't dare to go out, but now she couldn't do it. She was so hungry that her eyes were dizzy.
There is a small restaurant five hundred meters away from where we live. Most of the people here stay here and don't care whether they celebrate the New Year or not.
Just to make more money, or people who don’t have money to go home will stay to celebrate the New Year.
At this time, the owner and his wife of the small restaurant were sitting in the shop watching TV, with the old electric lamp above their heads emitting a weak, dark yellow light.
This restaurant is small and serves fast food. People who usually come here to eat are people from nearby.
The boss and his wife live in the store. The boss is responsible for cooking, and the wife is responsible for collecting money and cleaning.
It's messy, but it also seems orderly.
Li Li stood at the door of the store, but didn't go in for a long time. The aroma of the food inside was moving.
She had never felt that these ordinary stir-fried vegetables were so delicious.
The couple talked and laughed while watching TV, and the boss poured a glass of white wine in front of them.
The lady boss stood up with a smile and was about to get a drink when she looked back and saw someone standing at the door of the store.
"Husband, look there is a beggar standing there." She called her husband over.
The boss put the glass down, stood up and took a look, "Don't meddle in other people's business. The past two days have been uneventful. Didn't you notice that this morning we arrested a few gangsters who committed burglaries and gang fights?"
Living in this place, you must put away your good intentions and mind your own business to survive.
"Close the door." The boss said without any emotion.
The proprietress didn't look at the person at the door anymore, and stretched out her hand to hook down the old rolling shutter door with an iron hook.
A few years ago, one of their colleagues nearby got involved in a gang fight because he gave a beggar a bun, and the couple was hacked to death.
That was a bloody lesson and a wake-up call for them.
Not all kindness in this world can be just right.
"Go and look over there. We are also a small business, so I'm sorry." The landlady said kindly.
Li Li spoke in a hoarse voice, "The boss lady..."
"I'm sorry."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Hurry up and close the door." The boss over there yelled angrily.
The rolling shutter door was pulled all the way, and Li Li suddenly rushed over, squatting on the ground and looking at the weak light.
"Lady boss, I will pay you. Can you give me something to eat..."
The girl's weak voice came through the crack in the door, and the proprietress who sat back down on the edge looked back.
Only when people are strong can they be kind.
In a place like theirs, it's enough to survive wisely.
"Little girl, it's not safe for you to be alone outside. I advise you to go back quickly. If you attract other people, it might not be good..."
A new gang has recently emerged in the South District. They are all delinquent youths who roam the streets all day long. In addition to collecting protection fees, they also rob many things openly.
Coupled with the recent arrival of many refugees from across the continent, the neighborhood is really a mixed bag, with everyone here.
Living in such a place, families with daughters would not dare to let their daughters come over, and it was common for them to be sent to boarding schools overnight.
Li Li outside the door breathed heavily, got up and left the small restaurant.
The aroma of many meals along the way made her feel confused.
Why did it suddenly become like this
The room she lives in is connected to an alley less than one meter wide, and the walls of the old buildings on both sides have begun to peel off.
The anti-theft windows were already rusty, as if they could be broken with just a touch of your hand.
Li Li took two steps and wrapped her clothes tightly around her body. Three young men came towards her, the middle one still had a scar on his face.
The three of them all held cigarettes in their hands, and the smell of cheap, pungent tobacco was particularly obvious in the entire alley.
"Damn it, I'm really lucky. I lost more than a dozen games in a row. Now I don't have a penny..."
"Didn't that guy Shouhou say he had some business to do? Hurry up and get in touch!"
The three of them walked forward cursing and swearing.
Li Li shrank as far as possible against the wall. He wanted to stick to the wall, trying his best to reduce his sense of presence.
Afraid of attracting the attention of the three of them.
Yesterday morning, a naked female body was found not far from where she lived. She was a migrant worker.
He died in a miserable state, all his clothes were stripped off, and he was violated before his death.
Since arriving here, Li Li's desire to live every day has even exceeded her fear of the police catching her.
The three men passed by her one after another and gradually went away, just when Li Li breathed a sigh of relief.
The man behind suddenly stopped and pointed at her.
"stop."
As soon as she heard these two words, she subconsciously ran away, and the three people behind her hurriedly followed her pace.
The instinct of survival made Li Li rush forward without noticing that he was running further and further away from the residential building over there.
The footsteps behind him are getting closer.
After not eating for two days, she had no strength. She was so hungry that she felt dizzy and couldn't hold on.
After running a certain distance, Li Li's feet gave way and he fell to the ground.
When he looked up again, he saw three men surrounding him, all with wolf-like looks in their eyes.
"I just said that I saw it right, she is really a beauty." Scarface said, squatting down and lifting Li Li's chin with one hand.
"Really, when has there ever been such a beautiful woman in this southern district? Why do I look at her, but she is still a little girl who has never had sex." The person next to her agreed with a sly smile.
"I heard that Brother Yao seems to be recruiting women recently. With this condition and figure, he must be sold for at least 50,000 yuan."
The man with the sharp mouth and monkey cheeks next to the scarred man had already begun to look Li Li up and down.
"I'm afraid that I'm like this. It's probably because I committed a crime." The scarred man hit the nail on the head.
The young woman who lives here is fifteen or sixteen years old and is with her family. It is impossible to go out at this time.
For safety reasons, the family cannot let their daughter go out once it gets dark. Therefore, the women who appear outside during this time must be single, or have fallen into prostitution or committed crimes and escaped.
There are many people in the alley over there who sell their bodies to make a living, which is not surprising.
"But this woman really has a good appearance and figure. I have never seen such a fair-skinned and beautiful woman in the past thirty years of my life. She looks like a movie star..."
As he spoke, he already touched Li Li's thigh.
"Do not touch me!"
After not eating anything all day, Li Li actually vomited it out under a high degree of nervousness.
The filth did not force a few people back, but actually made them interested.
"I guess the family is pretty good. This one has tender skin and tender flesh, but it's still useless here. If it falls into our hands, just accept your fate!"
The man on the side reminded the scarred man and looked up and down at the woman on the ground, feeling extremely disgusted.
"Brother, why don't we just have some fun first? It's New Year's Eve and I haven't touched a woman in almost two months."
"Isn't it? Brother, I'm almost suffocated. I think it's a good year for me."
Every word these people said made Li Li's face become paler and paler.
The scarred man seemed to think about it for a while, but couldn't resist the desire to deviate.
"I'll go first, you wait."
Li Li looked at the man rushing over in horror, and for a moment she wanted to die.
She had indeed learned self-defense skills for a while, but after being hungry for so long without eating, she really didn't have the strength to resist.
The scarred man had a lewd smile on his face, rubbed his hands and rushed over, "When we finish playing, you can go to a good place."
Of course he was talking about a place where women are sold on the black market.
But before he could touch Li Li, a dart was shot from a distance and hit his lower body.
The scarred man was stunned. He looked down at the thing stuck on his thigh and was lost for a moment.
Blood spurted out and even splashed on the faces of the two men next to him.
"ah!!!"
A scream resounded through the sky, and the scarred man fell to the ground and rolled while holding his lower body.
The two men next to him were obviously stunned. They looked at the knife stuck in the boss's body and looked around with horrified expressions.
Who put the knife in the back
Xia Chen stood not far away and turned the dart in his hand, his expression cold.
These people were really bold. They dared to touch Li Li because they wanted to try what it felt like to be torn into pieces.
He slowly waved the dart and walked forward. Before he took a step, the dart flew out and struck them hard.
The three men were so frightened that they ran away with their heads in their hands.
Before Xia Chen could walk over, a figure hurriedly ran over not far away. He quickly knocked down the standing person and squatted on the ground.
"Li Li?" He called tentatively.
Li Li, who was pale, looked up and saw the man squatting on the ground.
"Xiao...Xiao Yan?"
"Are you okay?"
The moment I saw him, all the grievances I had felt over the past few days came out instantly, like water spraying from a gate valve, and I cried out.
"Xiao Yan!"
Xiao Yan was hugged off guard and squatted on the ground for a moment. He raised his hands to pat the girl's back to comfort her, but slowly put them down.
Li Li hugged the person in front of her and cried louder and louder.
"It's okay, I'll take you away." Xiao Yan gently patted her shoulders with both hands, patiently comforting her.
Xia Chen stood under the tree and looked at Li Li who was crying hard.
The suffering he had suffered in the past few days was indeed beyond the imagination of this young lady. He suddenly understood why the boss did not intervene.
The evidence they have in hand can clear away Li Li's injustice anytime and anywhere.
But from the moment she escaped, it seemed like everything was under the boss's control.
The boss expected her to run away from the beginning.
The cries one after another were particularly clear in the open grass, carrying the grievances and fears of these days.
Xia Chen stood there waiting for Wen Li to come over. If the boss said she would come over, she would definitely come over.
Xiao Yan helped her stand up, "Let's go."
The two of them had just stood still when a row of cars stopped in the distance. The black cars looked particularly strange in the snowy night.
Xia Chen stood up straight and watched as the people getting off the car surrounded the two of them.
What kind of operation is this? Someone from the Li family is coming
Xiao Yan stared at the person appearing in front of him. The black car door slowly opened, and the man sitting in the back seat stared at him and smiled.
"Ning Muzhang." Xiao Yan opened his mouth and spit out the name.
Xia Chen also saw clearly that the man who got out of the car was really Ning Muzhang.
What does this man want to do when he suddenly appears here
"I didn't want to disturb others' business, but I was entrusted by others and had to interrupt you." Ning Muzhang straightened the tie at his collar.
The luxurious diamond cuffs on the cuffs give off a subtle sheen, and the man in the snow exudes elegance in every move he makes.
But it is as dangerous as a snow leopard dormant in the dark night.
"Mr. Ning, are you here to see me?" Xiao Yan subconsciously blocked Li Li.
Ning Muzhang glanced at the two of them. The bodyguard on the side stepped forward and lit the cigarette between his fingers. He raised his head and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Xiao Yan, I didn't expect you to hide it so well and deceive so many people. It's a pity that you should have known what would happen to you when you took this path."
Ning Muzhang and Jiang Yunhao have a very good personal relationship, and they have done many businesses in series over the years.
Xiao Yan also controlled Jiang Yunhao's core secrets. After all, during the three years of lurking, many things were clear.
Now that Jiang Yunhao is under the control of the military, Mo Wei cannot let him go, but that doesn't mean Xiao Yan is safe.
There is always a price to pay for being undercover.
Li Li looked at Ning Muzhang. She was hiding in the Southern District these days and really didn't know what was happening in the imperial capital.
I only know that Xiao Yan is Jiang Yunhao's subordinate, but hasn't Ning Muzhang always had a good relationship with Jiang Yunhao
Why are you here to arrest people now
Did they have a falling out
"You know, then come with me." Ning Muzhang said as he dusted off the cigarette ashes with his fingertips.
Li Li grasped Xiao Yan's sleeves tightly and felt the tension of the people around her. Xiao Yan lowered his head to calm her down.
"I haven't noticed yet. Isn't this Lili?"
Ning Muzhang glanced at the person behind Xiao Yan. She was in such a mess, so different from the glamorous little princess before.
"Isn't your sister very powerful? You are so calculating, you can actually let your own sister fall to this level. I have to think about it carefully, what exactly is she doing when she returns to the Li family? Is she here to take revenge?"
Ning Muzhang's words were meant to induce.
Li Li suddenly became anxious, "Shut up, Wen Li is not discussing this with people like you.",
How could Wen Li be a bad person? She was so good and even made Xia Chen come to her. How could she take revenge on her
Ning Muzhang smiled and nodded, "She is really a little princess who is ignorant of the world."
It was protected so well, but it eventually fell.
He had also heard about Li Li's case, but the death of one person could make the eldest daughter of the Li family fall to this level.
It is said that Li Langhua loves his granddaughter very much, but now it seems that it is nothing more than that.
"You are not allowed to speak ill of Wen Li, she is not a bad person." Li Li looked at Ning Muzhang with firm eyes.
The latter didn't bother to argue with her. The purpose of coming here today was Xiao Yan, and meeting Li Li was just an unexpected thing.
With the relationship between the Ning family and the Li family, he would naturally not do anything to Li Li.
"Li Li, come here and I'll take you back." Ning Muzhang waved.
Li Li hid behind Xiao Yan, "I won't go with you, and you don't want to take Xiao Yan away either."
Ning Muzhang smiled, like the warm sun in winter, but it instantly turned into ice, dozens of degrees below zero.
"Do it, don't be too polite, just make sure the person is alive." Ning Muzhang half leaned on the car and lowered his head.
The cigarette ashes fell from his fingertips, and he gently touched the ruby ring on his hand.
This instruction is very clear. As long as a person is alive, it doesn't matter if he is disabled.
A group of people quickly gathered around, Xiao Yan protected Li Li behind him, and asked her to turn her back to him.
Listening to the sounds of fighting in the night, Xia Chen watched Xiao Yan's neat punches and kicks. He was indeed a professionally trained person.
It's really a killing move.
Just when they were fighting inseparably, a royal blue sports car sped towards them in the distance.
The bright car headlights hit Ning Muzhang. His eyes were stung and he lowered his head and half-squinted his eyes.
The people getting out of the car caught their attention, and soon a group of people in combat uniforms rushed in and surrounded them.
Wen Li glanced at the chaos in front of him. In the past three years that Xiao Yan had been with Jiang Yunhao, he had always been close to the core of intoxication.
However, Ning Muzhang and Jiang Yunhao have a very good relationship, so naturally they have known more or less about him over the years.
The identity of the undercover agent is exposed, and I'm afraid many people will want to kill him.
Fu Yuxiu stood still with his arms around the person. After Ning Muzhang's eyes adjusted to the light, he could see clearly who was coming.
"Little Lord."
Fu Yuxiu came over with his arms around the person, his eyes swept over the people in front of him, and his eyes never stayed on Ning Muzhang's face for even a moment.
Such an arrogant attitude makes people feel angry just looking at him.
Such arrogance made Ning Muzhang clenched his fists.
(End of chapter)