Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Breaking into a Private House
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All high-rise buildings were destroyed, and even the western-style buildings hidden in the gardens were not spared.
But there are always exceptions. A small two-story building with the worst geographical location and closest to the high-rise buildings avoided all the debris attacks and escaped miraculously.
The walls are peeling, the doors and windows are dilapidated, and green ivy covers three walls. The slightly old building stands in the ruins, almost blending in with the surrounding greenery.
“Boom boom, boom boom!”
Knocking on the dark green double security doors, Gu Mengran put his face against the door and raised his ears to listen carefully to the movements inside.
Time passed by minute by minute, and there was complete silence inside the room, not even a sound could be heard.
Gu Mengran took a closer look at the door lock. It was an ordinary mechanical lock. His previous life experience had made him proficient in the art of unlocking. He knew at a glance that he only needed to use the lock hook or other hard objects to pry open the lock core.
but……
I'm just looking for a place to rest, I'm not a burglar. What if there's someone in the house? Gu Mengran thought about it and patiently knocked on the door, "Is anyone there? If there's someone inside, please let me know. If not, I'll come in."
Before he could finish his words, the door was opened from the inside.
Gu Mengran subconsciously took a half step back, holding the oil saw tightly in both hands, with his thumb suspended above the switch, ready to open the oil saw and fight back at any time.
“——squeak.”
The security door slowly opened, and the rusty and aged hinges made a teeth-grinding sound, like joints that had not been moved for a long time.
A tall figure stood in the mist dyed black by the night, wearing dark brown overalls and a simple and cheap white T-shirt... The more Gu Mengran looked at him, the more familiar he felt, and the more something seemed wrong, so he suddenly raised his head.
"Liang Zhao?"
Who else could be standing behind the door except Liang Zhao? Gu Mengran raised his hand and pointed at the wall covered with ivy, and said in surprise: "Didn't you say you were going to look around? Why did you go to someone else's house?"
"We walked along the outer wall to the backyard. There's an unlocked back door there." Liang Zhao opened the security door as wide as possible, and the flashlight shone squarely at Gu Mengran's feet. "Come in. I just took a quick look around the first floor, but didn't see anyone."
"That's great, did you see the entrance to the basement or something?"
Gu Mengran followed Liang Zhao into the house.
"I didn't have time to look carefully, I just opened the door when I heard your voice."
"Well, we have to hurry."
The community is a bit old, and this two-story building is a type of detached house that was popular a few years ago. To put it nicely, it is called a small detached villa, but in fact it is not much different from a self-built house in the countryside.
The small western-style building has no front yard. The entrance leads directly to the entrance hall, followed by the restaurant and living room.
It was obvious that Liang Zhao had only said half of what he had just said. There was indeed no one in the house, but there were traces of life everywhere.
The doors and windows of the house were closed, and the dining table was piled with garbage, instant noodle bags, potato chip bags... basically all kinds of fast food and puffed food. The marble teapot was covered with a thick layer of dust, and there was only an empty can of dace in black bean sauce on it.
The canned food is eaten very cleanly without leaving any food residue. It is even difficult to tell what the can originally contained after removing the outer packaging.
There were signs that someone had lived in the house for some time after the earthquake. Although the house was messy and dirty, there was hardly any rotten or spoiled food.
Now that they were there, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao searched carefully with flashlights, not missing any corner, nor deliberately moving lightly, they just searched in a big way.
It turned out that the trip was worth it. Ten minutes later, the two found a utility room near the backyard where cleaning supplies were stored, and there was an unusual security door in the utility room.
No one would have the time to install a security door in a utility room unless there was a passage to somewhere else, such as a basement.
As usual, they knocked on the door and asked, and Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao waited at the door for two minutes.
Hearing no movement and waiting for no one to open the door, Gu Mengran took out the lock hook he had prepared in advance from the space, squatted in front of the door and banged it, trying to open the lock.
Liang Zhao frowned slightly, his eyes fixed on the pair of bony hands. There was no trace of surprise in his calm eyes, but the flashlight in his hand was shining steadily on Gu Mengran.
No more than three minutes later, a crisp "click" sound echoed among the quiet debris.
The lock was unlocked, Gu Mengran was overjoyed, and turned around to smile triumphantly at Liang Zhao. At this moment, before the security door was pushed open slowly, a bright silver light suddenly flashed through the dark door gap under the light of the flashlight.
The light was a little dazzling, and Gu Mengran squinted his eyes to take a closer look.
What is that? A flashlight? A mirror?
Damn, it’s a machete!
The sharp machete flashed fiercely right in front of the door. Gu Mengran's pupils constricted. Before he could get up, Liang Zhao grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back hard, pressing Gu Mengran to sit on the ground and throwing him out one or two meters.
"Be careful Liang Zhao, there's someone inside, he has——"
"Bang!"
Liang Zhao did not hesitate, not giving the man behind the door a chance to rush out with a machete, and decisively kicked the security door shut.
He used all his strength in this kick, and the door instantly opened as wide as it could and collided with the wall repeatedly.
But after just a few seconds, the security door stopped shaking, and the man behind the door disappeared. It seemed that a basketball had fallen to the ground, and the muffled sound of "dong dong dong" echoed in the deep and silent room.
"Ouch, ouch..."
The painful moans echoed from far away.
Liang Zhao bent down, picked up the oil saw on the ground, and walked into the house with a flashlight.
Worried that there might be other people inside, Gu Mengran used his hands and feet to get up from the ground, rubbed his butt, took out an oil saw and followed Liang Zhao.
There is a staircase leading directly to the underground. The staircase is narrow and long, with more than ten steps. But this is not a real basement. The space is small and cramped, and there is a security door at the corner of the staircase.
After taking a rough look at the surrounding environment, Gu Mengran's gaze followed the light source in Liang Zhao's hand and fell just below the stairs.
The skinny young man with an ordinary appearance was lying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, with a machete and a pair of black-framed glasses lying beside him. Apparently, he was standing behind the door when Liang Zhao kicked him down from the stairs.
He seemed to have fallen hard, and he was holding the back of his head and grimacing.
Hearing the approaching footsteps of Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao, he hurriedly sat up from the ground, covering his head with one hand and groping on the ground with the other hand, not knowing whether he was looking for his glasses or a machete.
Liang Zhao was one step faster than him. He walked down the stairs and kicked the machete and glasses away.
Although he was the first to attack, the young man seemed to be greatly frightened. He looked at the two men in horror, holding the ground with his hands and retreating tremblingly. "Who are you? What do you want to do?"
"No, buddy, you were the first one to attack, right? You raised a machete and hit my head, making you look like the victim." Gu Mengran hid behind Liang Zhao in a terrified state, and his tone was not friendly.
Upon hearing this, the boy, who had been panicking just now, suddenly became tough and argued with Gu Mengran with his neck stiff, "This is my home! How can I not punish you for breaking into my house? Should I open the door and let you come in and rob me?"
"Hey you..."
Gu Mengran wanted to go up and argue with the other party, but Liang Zhao held out his hand to stop him, so he gave up and stood there to argue with the young man: "Let's start from the front door and knock on all the doors until we get in, okay? You may not be able to hear it from above, but this door."
Gu Mengran turned around and pointed, "Didn't we knock on the door before unlocking it? Didn't we ask if anyone was inside? You didn't say anything, so we thought there was no one inside. Even if we didn't dare to open the door, we wouldn't have pried the lock if we heard a squeak from the door!"
"Am I the worm in your stomach? How do I know what you are doing? How do I know you won't continue to pick the lock if I make a sound? Breaking into a private house is justified! Is there anything wrong with me defending myself?"
The sharp oil saws in the hands of the two men seemed to be just for show. The young man refused to admit defeat at all. His voice became louder and louder, and his tone became more and more excited. He argued with Gu Mengran until his face turned red.
The key point is that what he said makes a lot of sense. Gu Mengran's momentum suddenly weakened. He stopped arguing loudly and muttered softly: "Oh, if we are really bad people, do we need to knock on your door to remind you?"
After these words were spoken, the young man who had been aggressive just now fell silent.
He lowered his eyes and stared at the ground without moving. After about a minute, he murmured as if talking to himself, "So... you are not from Ninth Street?"
"Huh? What about Ninth Street and Tenth Street?" Gu Mengran was confused by the question.
As if confirming something, the young man suddenly raised his head, his dull eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked excitedly: "Aren't you from Shancheng? Where are you from, and where are you going now? Can you take me with you?"
Although he didn't know why this person suddenly changed his attitude, he had the privilege of breaking into a private house to settle a dispute. Gu Mengran thought about it and changed his attitude. He said in a gentle tone, "Before I answer your question, can we go in and take a look?"
It was getting late and there was a group of people waiting outside.
Gu Mengran raised his chin slightly, his eyes fixed on the tightly closed security door next to him.
"Come in and take a look?" The young man looked around blankly, his eyes narrowed into a slit, and his hands kept groping on the ground. "Can you help me find my glasses? To be honest, I don't know what you are looking at. Do you want to see my basement?"
"Yes, we are exhausted from the journey and need to find a place to rest. Are you alone here? We need to see if this place is suitable for resting before we know if there is any need to continue chatting."
With Liang Zhao's protection, Gu Mengran no longer worried that the young man would hurt him. He stepped forward, picked up the black-framed glasses that had fallen to the ground, checked them and handed them to the young man after finding nothing wrong.
"Hurry up..."
The young man chewed on these two words in a low voice, and his whole body became visibly excited. He took the glasses from Gu Mengran's hand and put them on, then climbed up from the ground using his hands and feet, and walked quickly towards the security door.
"You can rest here. It's fine for you to stay here for a while. I can also provide you with food. I have prepared everything. You will have enough food and drink."
The key was inserted into the lock and twisted lightly. The door opened. The young man did not rush to open the door. He turned around to look at Meng Ran and Liang Zhao and said in high spirits: "As long as you promise me to take me with you, I will ensure that you will have no worries about food and clothing along the way."
No worries about food and clothing? A few peanuts, drunk like this.
Gu Mengran was just about to say "Do you know how many of us there are?" when the young man twisted the door handle and pushed hard, and a shelter that was so shocking that it could be described immediately appeared before their eyes.
The underground space is unexpectedly large. Upon entering, you will see a 34-square-meter living room with a sofa, TV, air purifier, etc. The decoration is exquisite and warm, and the supporting facilities are complete.
On both sides of the dark and narrow passage, there are kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms. Apart from the dim light, it is bigger and more luxurious than the ground residences of ordinary people.
Having such a private space on the lower floor was already shocking enough, but as the door at the end of the corridor slowly opened, Gu Mengran was completely dumbfounded. For a moment, he suspected that this man was also reborn.
A warehouse that was as big as a dock warehouse came into view, with a variety of tools and supplies piled up like a mountain. He finally understood where this man got the confidence to guarantee "no worries about food and clothing", because the supplies here were enough for one person to survive for many years.