On the north-south road in the old city, there are always one or two relatively deserted roads, especially the places where hardware and grocery stores gather, and the sun is stingy to shine here.
A young girl in a small suit with a hip-packed skirt carefully stepped on high-heeled shoes and walked with difficulty on the pitted concrete tiles on the sidewalk. Accidentally stepped on a live piece, and a stream of sewage oozes out, dyeing the almost transparent flesh-colored stockings into black long pants. She took out a tissue, wiped it while looking around without tears, and finally saw the little door face between the two hardware stores - SEAL Special Housekeeping.
Because the appearance of the city was standardized some time ago, the door of the housekeeping company is exactly the same as the surrounding hardware stores, with big gold characters on a red background, which is very difficult to find. The girl picked up the phone uneasy and confirmed it again: "Aunt Zhang, are you sure it's number 82?"
"Yes, the boss is bald, you can see it when you go in."
A cold incandescent light was on, and there were shabby sofas and dull counters stacked against the walls. A round, bald head emerges from behind the counter, bluffing.
The strong man wearing a big gold chain and a walnut bracelet is exactly the bald boss that Aunt Zhang said. When he saw a customer coming, he immediately stood up to say hello: "Hello, what service do you need?"
The girl approached tremblingly, and when she looked left and right, she didn't see a price list, only the yellowed business license in the glass frame barely proved its legitimacy.
"I heard... You guys have a private bodyguard program."
It was just after school time, and there was an uproar in front of the kindergarten. Parents picking up their children, chasing children, and hawkers selling fried skewers outside the door were the unique sights of this residential area. It's a pity that not many people know how to appreciate it, and the aunt upstairs on the opposite side is obviously not included in this list. She pushed open the window and stretched her neck to spit: "Running all over the place, I will beg when I grow up!"
"You're begging!" The chubby little fat man was dissatisfied, and stood on the mushroom stool, jumping up and down, arguing with the old lady. However, the plastic mushroom stool couldn't stand it because of the small tonnage, and he snapped his legs.
"Ouch!" Several parents who saw it exclaimed, and before the little fat man could touch the earth, he was picked up by a strong arm.
It was an extremely handsome young man, wearing a clean white T-shirt, sweatpants, and a funny pink-blue apron. It was Zhai Chen, the only male teacher in the kindergarten.
The mobile phone in the apron pocket clacked, Zhai Chen put the little fat man under his arm, and picked up the phone: "Hey, Zhou Dafa... me? I'm picking up a little fat man, don't tell me I'm kind to you. Like, it's almost bald."
Saying that, he handed the little fat man to the fat grandmother who came to pick him up, and snorted on the fluffy watermelon head.
"At this time? No problem, wait, I'll be there right away."
He took off his apron, put his phone in his trouser pocket, and looked at the female teacher beside him with a smile. The man with the corners of his mouth hooked to the side looks harmless when he wears an apron, but when he takes off the apron, he is inexplicably a little ruffian.
"If you have something to do, go first. There are not many children left, so I'll take it off." The female teacher blushed and took the initiative to take the job without waiting for him to speak.
Thanks to his kind colleagues, Zhai Chen snapped his fingers in the toy area: "Mengmeng, go!"
A small child sat alone on the swing, which was out of tune with the lively atmosphere around him. Hearing Zhai Chen calling him, he obediently jumped off the swing. Zhai Chen picked up a strap of the black backpack and threw it on his shoulders, took the child's hand and walked out of the kindergarten.
"Uncle, are you going to move bricks again?" Mengmeng looked up at him, obviously this was not the first time to leave early.
"Yeah, you go to Uncle Fang's place for a while, I'll pick you up later." Zhai Chen looked down at the child who was a little short of walking, picked it up and carried it on his shoulders.
Mengmeng quickly supported her uncle's head, barely sitting on her shoulders, and sighed old-fashioned: "Can't you say hello in advance? I'm going to have a heart attack from you."
"Hey, just practice your guts so that nothing scares you, to prevent a heart attack."
For the uncle who is arrogant, the child who is unable to resist can only roll his eyes hard.
The two wandered through a street and walked to the entrance of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. The sign with white characters on a blue background was very conspicuous, full of justice for serving the people, and it looked like a safe place for children.
Zhai Chen put his little nephew down, kicked his little butt to signal him to go in quickly.
The child patted his pants, walked in with his head drooping, and bumped into a man in a police uniform: "Uncle police, I got lost."
At this time, the unscrupulous uncle who lost the child had already whistled and turned around the street corner, counted five silently, and picked up the call from the police station: "Yes, I'm his uncle. Oh, I'm so sorry. Comrade police, I'm on the highway right now, and I'm rushing back, please look at it first, I'll..."
Before the words were finished, there was a roar from across the distance: "Zhai Chen, wait for me!"
Moved the phone away, stretched out his little finger to dig his ears, Uncle Zhai hung up the phone without hesitation, put one hand in his pocket, grabbed the strap on his shoulder with the other, and walked straight to the road where the hardware stores were gathered.
The girl sat on the only high chair in the store and looked at the two bodyguard candidates on the sofa: a greasy, fierce and strong man, and a rascal with erratic eyes and flicking blades.
"That, Boss Zhou, I was entangled by my ex-boyfriend, so I wanted to find someone to take me to and from get off work, not to take off his arms and legs."
Sure enough, this is not a serious bodyguard company. Could it be the kind of shop on the road that uses people's money to relieve people's disasters? Seeing the bald boss frown, she became even more nervous, grabbed her bag and wanted to leave.
"What business?" A clear and pleasant voice came from the door of the store. Looking up, the man looked like a sunbeam that came in by mistake, illuminating the dim and outdated storefront.
The client lady just raised her body and sat back instantly.
"Brother Chen!" The strong man and hooligan on the sofa immediately stood up to say hello.
"You two are also there." Zhai Chen responded, threw the bag on his shoulders onto the sofa, picked up the Tieguanyin that Boss Zhou had just soaked, and gulped down.
The bald fat man glared at him and introduced to the girl on the high chair: "This is our trump card. If you don't like them, why don't you consider him?"
"So does he? But he looks..." The girl looked at the clean and thin man in front of her in disbelief, and said that he was a college student and everyone believed him. How could he be a personal bodyguard, or a trump card
Zhai Chen knew what was going on when he saw the girl's expression. He had seen this kind of client a lot, and he didn't care. He put back the cup of Boss Zhou's tea that was left with only tea: "It doesn't look like a bodyguard, more like a bodyguard. Agents? Honestly, I've been in the CIA before."
The calm and casual tone was inexplicably convincing, and the girl was taken aback for a while.
"Stop talking nonsense, just say it properly," Boss Zhou patted his bare head, feeling that sooner or later he would be bald by these bastards, "Miss Li, that's right, he's quite special, and he's never missed a list in the past. However, the price is also the highest. If you just want to find someone to accompany you to and from get off work, I suggest still…”
"How much?" Miss Li interrupted the boss's attempt to sell the two on the sofa and asked the price directly.
"Of course, it's still a lot cheaper than a regular bodyguard company," Fatty Zhou turned around the walnut string on his wrist, "Four thousand a day, eight hours of all-round protection, equivalent to five hundred per hour!"
Hearing this price, the girl's face changed a bit, her eyes wandered on Zhai Chen's face for a long time, and she said embarrassedly, "Can I only hire two hours a day, just go to work and go off work, and use it for a week first. "
The voice became smaller and smaller, until it was like a mosquito in the end.
The store was silent for a few seconds, Zhai Chen sat on the armrest of the sofa, grabbed the blade in the hand of the "rogue" and played with it: "Sure, seven thousand a week, the new customer will give you a discount, five thousand yuan. "
The girl raised her head overjoyedly: "Okay!"
During the period of deposit payment and registration, Zhai Chen chatted with the girl and roughly understood what was going on.
This girl's name is Li Ting, a young white-collar worker in an office building. She has a paranoid ex-boyfriend who broke up with her two weeks ago. At first, the trouble was to death, because the girl's attitude was firm, and the man began to follow him frantically, blocking the work and the second half. In recent days, it has become more and more outrageous, squatting in the parking lot and forcibly getting into her car, even hitting her.
Li Ting was terrified, but she didn't have that much money to hire professional bodyguards. She heard that there were special housekeeping services that ordinary people could afford, so she came to try her luck.
"This kind of bastard, you can live in peace after a fight." The strong man covered in oil sneered, took a cigarette from the boss, raised his chin at Zhai Chen, and strode away.
"Brother Fat, Brother Chen, I'm leaving too." The little hooligan grinned and ran away.
Li Ting peeked at the backs of the two and asked Zhai Chen curiously, "Why are you the most expensive?"
"Is that a question?" Zhai Chen pushed the contract in front of the client and handed her a pen, "Because I'm handsome."
The hand of the signature trembled, and the last stroke of the word "Ting" was drawn to the old man.
"Well, can we start today?" Li Ting clutched her bag and covered the dirt on her stockings. "I came here after work, and I have to go back to the company to check in."
"Can it be done?" Boss Zhou did not agree immediately, but looked at Zhai Chen.
Zhai Chen picked up the black backpack on the sofa, threw it on his shoulder and patted it: "Okay, why not, I'm bringing the guy."
The heart that Li Ting had been mentioning all of a sudden was relieved. She was indeed an ace bodyguard, and she carried professional tools with her. It sounded clanging, and she didn't know whether it was a nunchaku or a folding knife.
The company was in the business district a few stops away from here, and the two took the evening rush hour bus. The two-section bus, like the subway, has fewer seats and more stations, and the carriages are crowded with people, almost crowding them into photos. Zhai Chen asked Li Ting to stand against the wall, and propped himself on the wall of the car with one hand, keeping all the crowds and salty pig hands behind him.
"Thank you." Being so close, Li Ting couldn't help blushing when she could smell the refreshing soapy fragrance on the man.
"Thank you, this is the standard of service." Zhai Chen didn't look at her at all, and patrolled the surrounding crowd with vague eyes to prevent suspicious people from approaching.
Li Ting's company is located in a high-end office building, which is the intersection of the high-tech industry incubation area and the financial street, where countless Internet companies and financial companies are located. The black-gold all-glass appearance and the splendid empty lobby show the land and gold everywhere.
"What company are you in?" Zhai Chen took a map at the front desk and followed Li Ting into the elevator.
"Punctuation map." When Li Ting mentioned the company's name, she couldn't help but smile. Punctuation Map is a mobile phone application that was launched three years ago. Because of its super high performance and various ways of playing different from other maps, it has quickly swept the country and has now become a map used by almost everyone.
"Good company." Zhai Chen folded the map and put it in his pocket, raised his hand and pressed the button on the 23rd floor.
Before Li Ting asked him how he knew the floor, a group of people crowded into the elevator instantly. Although it is off-duty time, many companies have to work overtime at night, and the hard-working white-collar workers can only rush downstairs to have a meal before returning to their jobs.
Most of the people in the elevator are in suits and leather shoes. Zhai Chen in T-shirt and sweatpants looks very abrupt, but no one will take him as a takeaway. Brother Chen, who looks at all beings, looks more like a casually dressed CEO of an Internet company.
The Punctuation Company occupies the entire 23rd floor, and all the decorations are different from other floors. There is a glass door that requires fingerprints to enter the elevator. Zhai Chen asked customers to check in and enjoy the unique starry sky floor tiles at the elevator entrance. The dark blue and almost black marble tiles are inlaid with fine light spots, which contrast with the wallpaper of the rising and falling of the moon.
The fire escape is enclosed in a glass door, which is very unfriendly to passers-by who cannot enter the company.
The company didn't seem to get off work yet. It took a long time for a young man to come out. His well-pressed shirt was starry blue the same color as the floor tiles, and a suit jacket with excellent texture was draped over his arms.
"Mr. Gao!" Li Ting, who ran out in a hurry, didn't seem to expect the man to go down yet, so she shrank her head and said hello.
"Yeah." The young man replied coldly, without giving Li Ting a straight eye, and walked into the elevator first.
Zhai Chen wanted to follow him in, but was stopped by Li Ting. He couldn't help but glanced at the gap in the elevator: "Are you afraid of riding with such a handsome leader?"
"He is a serious, rich and handsome man, and the flowers of Gao Ling can't afford to climb. There's no benefit to getting closer than being trained." Li Ting shook her head into a rattle and insisted on waiting for the next elevator.
The parking lot of the building is on the basement floor. Zhai Chen felt that his client became nervous the moment he entered the venue, and motioned her to walk behind him: "Give me the car key."
Finding Li Ting's second-hand white car, Zhai Chen pressed the unlocking remote control, stretched out his hand to pull the door, and raised his hand to stop Li Ting when he was about to come over.
"Who is he?" A man suddenly appeared in the shadows behind the car, pointed at Zhai Chen and asked loudly, the veins on his neck were tight, as if he was about to rush over to bite someone at any time, "It's only been a few days, you've found a new man already?"
Zhai Chen quickly locked the car, stepped back a few steps to block in front of Li Ting, looked up and down at the man, and tutted, "This is your ex-boyfriend? The eyes are white and dark, and the appearance of lewdness."
"I'll fuck you..." The ex-boyfriend, who had a cracked eye, was instantly enraged, and when he touched a brick, he was about to open the mouth of this little white face full of guns.
Don't bodyguards always put safety first? How can there be such an operation to provoke the other party? Li Ting screamed in fright, and hid her head to the side.
Zhai Chen turned sideways to avoid the unruly blow, reached out and touched something from his backpack, which shocked both Li Ting and her ex-boyfriend. Not a nunchuck, not a folding knife, but an arm-length portable oxygen cylinder!
Mr. Bodyguard calmly buckled to his face and took a few breaths: "I'm sorry, I'm weak and lacking oxygen."
Looking for someone with an oxygen bottle who will be hung up in minutes for hypoxia to fill the bodyguard? The ex-boyfriend almost laughed, and before he could finish smoking, he patted the handsome face with a brick.
Zhai Chen took off the oxygen bottle, and threw it back into the bag with a movement so fast that he could barely see. He clasped the opponent's wrist with one hand, twisted it back, and threw the person to the ground like a sack.
"… "
That's not an action that a normal human being can do at all.
Li Ting opened her mouth wide, unable to say a word.
Also stunned, there was Mr. Gao who stood outside the two rows of cars and witnessed the whole process.