Lu Yuwen was caught off guard.
Xiao Ge and Zhang Ke had gone off looking for gasoline, leaving him alone with Yangzi. Was the man planning to vent his temper on him again while the other two were away?
In Lu Yuwen’s assessment, this short young man called Yangzi was a textbook example of what he privately termed an intelligence-deficient personality —
Because of a lack of wisdom, he was unable to properly manage his own emotions — like an animal, he had no concept of restraint or concealment.
For someone like this, Lu Yuwen had learned from experience: avoid provoking them at all costs, because resistance or communication was equally pointless — they simply didn’t have the mental capacity for it.
Lu Yuwen followed in silence behind Yangzi, asking neither why he had been pulled to his feet nor where they were going.
Yangzi led him by the rope into the bathroom of a nearby shopping mall.
He kicked open a toilet stall door — without any apparent inclination to give Lu Yuwen privacy — holding the rope in one hand, and with the other undid his trousers. Right in front of Lu Yuwen, he dropped onto the toilet and proceeded to defecate!
Lu Yuwen: “…”
…What a short-legged baboon without a shred of intelligence.
Finding it inconvenient to keep holding the rope, Yangzi tied it to the stall door instead, then freed both hands to light himself a cigarette.
The smell of cigarette smoke. The smell of excrement. The odor inside the bathroom defied easy description.
Lu Yuwen stood outside the stall, face tight with disgust.
Then — he suddenly noticed that the rearmost stall in the bathroom was slowly opening, and a head was cautiously poking out!
He was startled, eyes going wide!
Even after he recognized it was Su Man, he tried his best to contain his reaction — but the sharp intake of breath still caught the baboon’s attention!
“Hey! What’s the matter?!” Yangzi frowned, calling out.
Lu Yuwen immediately bowed his head, adopting a cowering, meek expression. “A… a cockroach…”
“A cockroach scared you that badly?” Yangzi snorted, then warned him: “Stay put — and don’t try anything!”
Lu Yuwen kept his head down and said nothing — but inside, his mind was reeling!
What was that woman doing?! How had she ended up in the men’s bathroom?!
When had she slipped in? How come he had absolutely no idea? What was she trying to do?!!
…
Su Man had come prepared.
She knew Lu Yuwen was under constant watch, so she had deliberately brought a small notebook and a pen — even without being able to speak, she could pass messages in silence.
Su Man wrote a line in the notebook and held it out through the stall door for Lu Yuwen to see:
“He’s alone now — want me to take him out?”
Lu Yuwen: “…”
Take him out how! You’re a woman — what are you thinking, acting on impulse like this?! You don’t even know what he’s capable of! What exactly are you planning to use against him? Don’t end up getting taken out yourself instead of taking him out!
Lu Yuwen feigned a stiff neck, and slowly, rigidly, shook his head.
Su Man saw this and frowned slightly.
He disagreed?
But this was such a perfect opportunity — why not take it? Even with her injury, dealing with just this short one shouldn’t be a problem. And if they waited for the other two to come back, wouldn’t the chance be gone entirely?
Su Man had little confidence in her own reasoning, but she thought about it and concluded: if Lu Yuwen was telling her not to act, he must have his reasons.
So she continued writing in the notebook:
“Do you have a plan?”
Lu Yuwen: “…”
A plan — of course he had one, only it couldn’t be explained in a sentence or two.
He feigned the stiff neck again, rotated it slowly… and gave a rigid nod.
“Hey!” the man on the toilet suddenly called out.
Lu Yuwen’s heart lurched — he thought his small movements had been noticed — and quickly looked up.
“There’s no paper in this stall. Check the other stalls and see if any of them have some!” Yangzi commanded impatiently.
—