The flow of people was temporarily stuck on the second floor of the main city of Plum Blossom.
She searched every room and finally chose a small, tidy room that showed no signs of being occupied by anyone else as her temporary resting place.
This is also thanks to the fact that only "Club 2" remains on the second floor now. If so many henchmen were still alive, she probably wouldn't be able to find an empty room.
However, the current occupancy rate is sufficient to allow her to stay without disturbing anyone.
The girl sat leaning against the bed, her gaze piercing through the window lattice, her thoughts drifting to the unknown future.
Just as she was lost in thought, a faint sound alerted her.
The doorknob was turned quickly and swung up and down in front of her eyes.
She tensed instantly, leaped lightly off the bed, quickly smoothed out the wrinkles, and vanished behind the door in a flash.
Just then, the person outside exclaimed "Huh?" and said from outside the door, "Why is the door locked?"
Then, they heard the man outside the door holding a bunch of keys, the latch gently popping open, and the door opening.
The room was dark, but the corridor outside was lit.
The man was wearing a short-sleeved shirt covered in designer logos and was carrying a bunch of room keys.
The man with the logo stepped into the room, his steps filled with doubt. He scanned the room, trying to find something, but he didn't find anyone.
The house was kept relatively clean, with no signs of anyone having lived there, which puzzled him even more. He muttered to himself, "Strange, could it be that I accidentally locked it last time?"
Chuanliu held his breath, searching for the best opportunity to escape.
As the man with the logo's gaze swept over the empty bed again, she seized the opportunity, her figure flashing out of the doorway like a ghost, her movements momentarily obscuring the light outside. But by the time the man with the logo turned around, Chuanliu had already disappeared from the doorway's view.
However, what the girl didn't expect was that as soon as she stepped out, another man walked around the corner of the corridor.
Compared to the man with the logo, this man's attire was relatively simple, but only relatively. Compared to Chuanliu's current dirty clothes, the second man's clean cotton long-sleeved shirt was much more luxurious.
Chuanliu tried to keep a low profile, but there was no room for her to hide in this straight corridor, so she walked naturally in the opposite direction as if she had just passed by.
The man in the long sleeves initially kept his head down, clutching a memory card tightly in his hand, his brows furrowed, and his face full of conflicted expression.
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but just loud enough for the man with the logo in the room to hear, "Brother Huang, could you please make an exception? I've only been here for less than a day, and this is all the money I have on me."
The man with the logo, called Brother Huang, said impatiently from inside the room, "Why should I give you the room if you're not paying? Do you really think I'm a philanthropist?"
Upon hearing this, the man in the long sleeves looked even more complicated, but after glancing around at the nauseating environment, he finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine! Once I pay, this room is mine, right?"
After he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up and met the stream of people walking towards the other side of the corridor.
"Of course, your Brother Huang means what he says. Little Li, if you need anything on the second floor later, just come find me!" Brother Huang hadn't yet found Chuanliu's whereabouts, and he patted his chest to assure him.
With the main city closed, he couldn't sell any of the many empty rooms he had. He had finally managed to scam a big grudge, so of course he wanted to fleece him.
However, he did not receive a response from the former. Immediately afterwards, he heard Xiao Li's wary voice.
"Who are you?!"
Upon hearing the sound, Brother Huang immediately ran out.
Upon seeing the unfamiliar figure in front of him, he immediately became alert and blocked the other end of the stream.
Chuanliu sensed something was wrong, so he leaned against the wall with a frightened look on his face and shouted in a male voice, "Who, who are you!"
Brother Huang scrutinized the man, whose gender was unclear, and said condescendingly, "I am Huang Shouzu, 'Plum Blossom 2,' from the second floor. And who are you? I've never seen you on the second floor before."
The latter gave him a similar look and retorted defiantly, "You're a '2 of Clubs,' and so am I. Who on this floor isn't a '2 of Clubs'?"
Huang Shouzu scoffed dismissively and pulled out a well-preserved playing card from his pocket, which clearly bore the "2 of Clubs".
Now Chuanliu understood why this man was so confident.
He was one of the few residents who retained his identity card. In this rule where identity determines status, Huang Shouzu undoubtedly stood at the top of the pyramid, or at least at the top of the second level.
Those newcomers like her, whose identity cards had just been taken back from the city, could only be relegated to a subordinate position.
A thought flashed through her mind, and she quickly bowed respectfully. "So you are seniors. My apologies for not recognizing you. I just arrived today and was just strolling around when I unexpectedly ran into you two. Since there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
As she spoke, she prepared to make her escape.
But it was clear that Huang Shouzu didn't want to let this newcomer go. He stepped aside and blocked Chuanliu's path, saying through his nostrils, "Hey, did I give you permission to leave?"
As he spoke, he gestured to Xiao Li beside him. Xiao Li couldn't disobey him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and stand on the other side of the river.
Huang Shouzu grinned wickedly as he continued to approach, until he was almost pressed against Chuanliu's body before stopping. He clicked his tongue and commented, "Although you're a bit filthy, you're actually quite good-looking. I'll treat you like a woman. If you come with me, I guarantee you'll have no worries about food and clothing on the second floor. How about it?"
What he was thinking was that he didn't necessarily have to stay in this godforsaken place for several years in the future. He wanted to reserve all the good-looking people in advance so that they wouldn't covet him when everyone was desperate for them.
Chuanliu was taken aback. She hadn't expected that even at such close range, this guy hadn't noticed her identity as a woman. So she continued in a low voice, "Brother Huang, I'm a man."
Huang Shouzu smiled indifferently, "What's the difference between men and women? Our main city is still under lockdown for who knows when... Why don't you come with me? No one will bully you except me."
Huang Shouzu's extremely greasy tone made Chuanliu shiver involuntarily.
Xiao Li, sitting opposite Brother Huang, couldn't bear to look at him. He suddenly felt that it was worth spending some money to save some things.
Chuanliu didn't intend to make too much of a commotion, as it would be bad to attract other people.
So she chuckled dryly twice, then took two steps back again. "Hehehe, Brother Huang, I think I'd better not. Just let me rot and stink here, okay? Treat me like I'm invisible, alright?"
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