Chapter 20 was stolen right at the beginning.
Sunlight streamed through the windows of the old building, illuminating the boy's flushed face and the sparkle in his peach blossom eyes.
He patted the contract in his arms, full of vigor: "Let's go! Next one! Let the people of Portland Street feel the warmth of our Heyitang...like a spring breeze!"
The two continued walking deeper into Portland Street.
One was physically challenged but full of enthusiasm, while the other was silent and sturdy, walking beside him.
The buildings here are older, the lighting is dim, the power lines crisscross overhead, and the air is filled with dampness and the smell of spoiled food.
Fang Che tried his best to maintain the air of "the envoy of Heyitang", flashing his standard eight-tooth smile to everyone he met.
But when he smiled, he still looked like a rich young master who had accidentally wandered into a slum, attracting passersby to turn their heads frequently.
The accident happened as they were walking through a narrow alley crowded with vendors.
A small, thin figure suddenly rushed out from the side and crashed solidly into Fang Che.
"Ouch!" Fang Che was already unsteady on his feet, and the bump sent him swaying to the side.
"Che!" Cheng Tieniu reacted quickly and caught him.
The girl who hit the person was about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was wearing faded old clothes, her hair was dry and yellow, and her face was dirty. Only her big, bright eyes were filled with panic.
The tattered basket she was carrying had scattered items all over the ground.
"I'm so sorry! Sister, I didn't mean to!" she said, her voice trembling with tears as she hurriedly squatted down to pick up her things, her body shaking slightly.
Fang Che's initial anger dissipated as soon as he saw that the other person was a thin girl.
He steadied himself, even bending down slightly, and softened his tone: "It's alright, it's alright! Did you get hurt? Did you break anything?"
The little girl timidly shook her head, shoved the things back into the basket haphazardly, and ran off with her head down.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Seeing her flustered look, Fang Che felt bad. He took out the few loose bills he had just received as change from his pocket and stuffed them into her hand. "Take this, buy some food to calm your nerves. Be more careful when you walk in the future."
The young girl paused for a moment, then looked up at Fang Che with a complex expression in her eyes—surprise, a fleeting sense of guilt, but mostly the shrewdness cultivated through years of vigilance.
She quickly clutched the money, whispered "Thank you, sister," and then, like a startled rabbit, disappeared into the crowd.
"In this world, even such young children have to go out and work so hard." Fang Che shook his head and sighed as he looked in the direction she disappeared.
Cheng Tieniu nodded in agreement: "They are quite pitiful."
Fang Che quickly put this little incident behind him.
He straightened his clothes, took out the contract from his pocket again, checked that it was intact, patted it, and continued his "sending warmth" mission.
However, half an hour later.
As Fang Che prepared to resume his work at the stairwell of the second target old building, he habitually reached into his pocket—
Empty.
His heart sank, and he reached for another pocket.
It's still empty.
The signed lease, the remaining activity funds given by Li Hanzhou, and the small cloth bag containing them all disappeared.
"Holy shit!! Where's my contract?! Where's my money?!" Fang Che's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his voice changed tone.
Cheng Tieniu also panicked: "No way, Che! Did you put it somewhere else? Look again!"
The two searched through all their pockets and looked around the spot, but found nothing.
Fang Che suddenly remembered the little girl who bumped into him, those big, bright eyes...
"It's that little brat!" He realized, and was so angry he almost jumped up. The pain in his ankle made him gasp. "Damn it! She stole from me?! I even gave her money?! I'm such an idiot!"
His heart, that of a straight man from Northeast China, was dealt a severe blow.
It wasn't just about the money and the contract that bothered me; I was also furious that I'd been tricked by a young girl using the most clichéd "hit-and-run theft" trick!
"Tiezi! Chase after her! We have to bring that little girl back!" He was both anxious and angry, and ignoring the pain in his feet, he grabbed Cheng Tieniu and chased after the direction in which the little girl had disappeared.
But Portland Street is a maze of alleys and bustling with people, so where could that thin figure be found?
Fang Che wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
His previous high spirits vanished completely, as if he could already see Li Hanzhou's cold eyes and hear A Gui's merciless mockery...
"It's all over... I've failed before I even got started..." Fang Che was on the verge of tears. "This is the first investment Brother Li gave me! And the contract... How am I supposed to explain this? Will he think I'm a good-for-nothing?"
Cheng Tieniu awkwardly comforted him, "Che, don't worry, let's look again, or go back and tell Boss Li the truth..."
"Tell the truth? You mean I gave them money out of pity, only to have it all stolen?" Fang Che covered his face in despair. "Brother Li would definitely think my head is full of nothing but pork stew with vermicelli!"
Meanwhile, in a dark corner of Portland Street.
The little girl who bumped into Fang Che...
Xi Rong was leaning against a pile of scrap, counting her "harvest" for the day.
When she opened the small cloth bag she had smuggled, and saw the contract stamped with a red seal and a thick wad of Hong Kong dollars inside, her dirty little face showed astonishment.
"This time we've struck it rich..." she murmured. But then, her joy turned into worry.
She couldn't understand the contract, but she knew it was important.
If I steal from the gang and get caught...
She recalled the concerned look in the pretty "older sister's" eyes when she slipped her the money... Guilt welled up inside her, but it was quickly suppressed by the urgency of survival.
She needed money for her sick mother-in-law, who was lying in a shack.
Xi Rong bit her lip, quickly hid the money in a hidden pocket of her clothes, and then haphazardly stuffed the contract into a crack in a pile of broken bricks.
"This thing cannot be kept."
After doing all that, she peeked around like a wary wildcat before disappearing into the maze-like alleyways, hurrying to buy medicine for her mother-in-law.
Fang Che, on the other hand, has fallen into an unprecedented slump.
He and Cheng Tieniu searched the vicinity like headless flies for several rounds, but to no avail.
Ultimately, he had to accept reality—
He, Fang Che, was handpicked by Li Hanzhou as a "rising star," only to have all his belongings and important documents stolen by a street pickpocket on the very first day of his career.
"Tiezi," Fang Che leaned weakly against the wall, his eyes vacant, "Let's... go back."
He had already foreseen the sub-zero atmosphere upon returning to the base, and Li Hanzhou's chilling gaze.
"So... are we still going to do Portland Street?" Cheng Tieniu asked cautiously.
"What are we going to do?" Fang Che looked up at the sky in grief and indignation. "What are we going to do? Use my face as collateral? Brother Li... sigh!"
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