Zhongjing Xiacheng District, Xicheng K11 basement shopping mall, "GUNDEL" restaurant.
Sitting by the window, Dou Ming turned to look out the window. It was noon and the street was busy with traffic. The building opposite seemed to belong to a biological company. There was a row of holographic projections at the door, displaying new bionic organs. Whenever a passerby stopped, A virtual salesperson will appear and enthusiastically explain the sales.
Men and women in suits and ties kept pouring out of the glass doors of the building, in small groups, walking together to nearby convenience stores and fast food restaurants.
Before joining Spades, Dou Ming had always wanted to work as a salesperson in a biological company. The salary was high, he could go out to restaurants every day, he dressed decently, and he had the backing of the company. Ordinary gangs would not dare to mess with him. He would figure it out after working for a few years. If you find a way and sell some goods privately, your gray income will be considerable.
It's a pity that he is uneducated and has only two choices in life, either working in a factory to make screws or working for a gang.
Therefore, when he heard that Tao Yiran had applied for the civil service examination, he was actually happy for her from the bottom of his heart. Although Tao Yiran's father was a worker, he was educated and raised a literate daughter.
He couldn't think of any big reason, he just thought it was a great thing to be able to rely on your brain to make a living these days.
When he came back to his senses, he looked at Tao Yiran across the table who was immersed in the problem, his eyes full of tenderness.
"Hmm..." Tao Yiran bit the cap of his pen and frowned as he thought. For a moment, he seemed to think of the solution. He wrote the answer in his notebook excitedly. Then he satisfactorily picked up the cup and brought it to his mouth, and drank the half cup of lemonade in one gulp. Light.
"Do you still want to drink?" Dou Ming asked softly, "I'll get you a new cup."
"Yeah," Tao Yiran narrowed his eyes and nodded.
Dou Ming reached out to pick up the cup and walked to the bar on the other side of the restaurant.
"GUNDEL" is a well-known high-end restaurant that only sells set meals for 2,500 people. He earned a lot of extra money as an extra in the "Hans and His Friends" crew a few days ago, so he decided to invite Tao Yiran. I came here for a bit of luxury, and only after I arrived did I realize that the lemonade in this restaurant can be refilled for free, and a new lemon can be substituted every time.
Those were real lemons produced in Shangcheng District, and they sold for more than ten yuan each. So, they didn't leave after eating, and planned to drink the meal money back. Later, Tao Yiran took out the book and exercises with him, and simply started to pick up the lemons. Self-study.
The two of them were swirling lemonade one glass after another. The waiter behind the bar naturally had a bad expression. Dou Ming pretended not to notice and walked back with a new glass. He found that Tao Yiran had closed the book and was waiting for him with a smile.
"Why don't you watch it?"
"It's a waste of reading in such a good environment," Tao Yiran took a sip of the water and smacked his lips, "It tastes good."
"Oh," Dou Ming giggled and said, "By the way, what are the civil service exams?"
"Language, mathematics, and the New Testament," Tao Yiran said helplessly. "The New Testament is the most difficult. There are so many things to memorize. Oh my god, the twin gods said one moment, and the apostle said the other, even a single word is wrong. no."
Dou Ming Sha Le said: "Your father should be very happy, it is better than following me around."
"It's so annoying," Tao Yiran lay on the table, holding his chin in his hands, "What about you, I heard from my mother that gangs have quieted down a lot recently."
"Well," Dou Ming thought for a moment and lowered his voice, "I'll tell you a secret. From now on, there will only be two gangs in Zhongjing, one is Qinghetu, the other is..."
"Spade?"
"Hey," Dou Ming took out the playing card representing spades from his pocket and shook it, "guessed it right."
"What about those families?"
Dou Ming wiped his neck with his hand and raised his eyebrows.
"Wow, that's amazing..." Tao Yiran said with admiration on his face, "Tell me quickly, um, um, the Bayonet Gang in Donggu District is gone?"
"Haha, I told you before, that Bayonet Gang is nothing," Dou Ming raised his head and waved his hand, "Small characters like this can't even get through the door of 'The Three Musketeers'..."
Speaking of gangs, the boy regained his confidence. He clutched the playing card as if he had grasped the entire underground world, while the girl rested her cheek on her hand and only saw her hero.
Outside the window, there was a huge crowd.
————
From noon until the lights came on, Dou Ming forgot how many glasses of lemonade he drank. Anyway, when he walked out of the restaurant, his burps smelled of lemon.
"I don't want to drink lemonade anymore," Tao Yiran muttered miserably.
The two walked hand in hand to the platform, took a public floating boat, and then changed three times before returning to Donggu District.
They walked along the dim alley and kissed in a secluded corner.
For a moment, Dou Ming wanted to say, "We want to be together forever," but the words came to his lips but he couldn't say them out.
"It's time for me to go back," Tao Yiran raised his head and said softly, "When I am admitted to the Donggu District Neighborhood Committee, we can be together forever."
Dou Ming was stunned.
"What, you don't want to?"
"No, no, yes, no, I really want us to be together..." Dou Ming blushed and spoke incoherently.
Pfft~
Tao Yiran smiled and knocked on his head: "Virtue... is gone~"
A few minutes later.
The two parted reluctantly at the entrance of the alley.
Watching Tao Yiran enter the house, Dou Ming still stood there, in a daze. After an unknown amount of time, when he turned around to leave, he suddenly saw a person standing in the shadow not far away.
"who?"
He subconsciously touched the holster on his waist.
"I once met a girl like Tao Yiran," a spark lit up in the darkness. "Later, I realized that the most painful thing in life is... you can't find it but you can't find it."
Hearing Tao Yiran's name, Dou Ming suddenly raised his gun and asked sternly: "Who are you!"
"I am from Mayfly, and I was ordered to protect Tao Yiran," with a deep voice, a man wearing fish-scale white armor stepped out of the shadows. He was tall and strong, holding a strange-looking short gun in his hand.
"Mayfly..." Dou Ming's eyes widened.
That ephemera who dared to open fire on the sky in Zhongjing, creating a series of riots and leading to the resignation of Li Zhenguan, the director of the Bureau of Order?
He said in disbelief: "Why should Mayfly protect Ranran?"
"Some people are not destined to be ordinary people." The man raised his head and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I can only tell you that she cannot stay in Zhongjing and become a clerk."
"Why? She applied for the Donggu District Neighborhood Committee..."
The man looked at the sky: "When you stand high enough one day, you will understand that the fate of countless people will change if the big shots say a word. There is no reason."
Dou Ming remained silent, turned around and walked towards Tao Yiran's house. He stopped after taking a few steps.
"No matter what you do, the result will be the same," a man's voice came from behind, "Actually, you should be happy for her."
after.
Dou Ming wandered in this alley all night. He did not see the man who claimed to be from Mayfly again until the morning, when he made a voice call to Levi.
He forgot what he said, he only remembered that Levi seemed to sigh.
At noon, Levi took him to Dongjiang Port and put him on a submarine.
There were many people from Spades in the submarine, some of whom he knew, and some of whom were strangers.
He handed over the bracelet numbly and sat among a group of people. There were constant whispers around him, and he didn't know what they were talking about.
A few hours later, he climbed out of the submarine with the others, changed clothes, and received guns and bullets.
Later, they walked into a huge building, which was magnificent and had hot spring pools one after another.
When gunshots and screams sounded, Dou Ming finally remembered that in the morning, he said to Levi, I want to work, the most dangerous kind.
He raised his gun and numbly shot every enemy that appeared in his field of vision. He stepped forward step by step, expecting to be shot, expecting the rotating bullet to crush his muscles and drill into his heart.
It's a pity that until the end, every hot spring pool was dyed red with blood, and he didn't get what he wanted.
Afterwards, he followed the others outside a luxurious sauna.
Steam filled the air, and someone whispered that this was the home of the Khans, the largest gang in Denali City.
He had heard of "Khan", who controlled the production of illegal hallucinogens and was the underground emperor of Denali, but he still found it uninteresting.
