By Monday, Shang Zhitao’s face hadn’t completely returned to normal—the swelling hadn’t fully subsided, and her lip was still split. Downstairs, she ran into Lumi, who had rarely arrived early, and who pinched her cheek, asking, “Who the hell beat you up?”

Shang Zhitao hissed in pain and freed herself from Lumi’s grasp. “Fought with a property agent.”

“A fraudulent agency?” Lumi took off her hat. “F*ck! Which one? Tell me! If I don’t smash their shop, I’ll have lived for nothing!” Lumi was instantly ignited.

“No, no, it’s not worth it. We didn’t lose out.” Shang Zhitao hadn’t expected this reaction from Lumi and immediately regretted speaking the truth.

“Didn’t lose out? You got beaten up like this!” Lumi was furious. She cursed from the elevator to their workstations, with Shang Zhitao frantically covering her mouth. “Ancestor! Teacher! Please calm down!”

Shang Zhitao hadn’t had a headache from fighting, but trying to calm Lumi gave her one. While she was still trying to pacify Lumi, the latter couldn’t contain herself anymore. She called her motorcycle-riding, dreadlocked, tattooed, muscular boyfriend: “Listen, one of my sisters got beaten up, and you need to investigate this. Who beat her? That fraudulent agency at North Fifth Ring Road! Go ask them now! They’re pushing Grandma too far, and if Grandma doesn’t dig up their graves, she’s lived in vain!”

When Shang Zhitao heard that Lumi was going to fight, she was so scared her legs went weak. She whispered to Lumi, “It’s all over now. We didn’t lose out. We called the police, and they shut down their office. They even took us for a check-up, and we got our money back… Didn’t we win?”

“What do you mean it’s over? You don’t know these fraudulent agencies—they’re vicious! You think moving away will end it? Later, they’ll secretly jam your locks! Even the police can’t do anything about these minor tactics, understand? Can we subdue them in just one go?”

“Oh. When we filed the report, the police said we could contact them if anything happens.”

“The police are the police, and Grandma is Grandma!”

Shang Zhitao secretly asked Yao Bei if what Lumi said was true, and Yao Bei confirmed it. You think one fight ends it all? There are plenty of troubles to follow!

“What if we move further away?”

“Move where? Unless you all completely stop living together.”

“Oh.”

Now Shang Zhitao had something to worry about.

While getting water in the break room, she saw her face in the mirror—truly a mess, and still somewhat painful. As she left, rubbing her face, she encountered Luan Nian, who had just finished a management meeting. His brows furrowed, and his gaze fell on her split lip and swollen face. He asked, “Did you get beaten up?”

His displeasure was evident.

Colleagues were passing by, and Lumi had been shouting all morning, so everyone knew about Shang Zhitao’s encounter with the fraudulent agency. Now with Luan Nian’s question, interest was piqued again, and people slowed their steps to hear Shang Zhitao’s answer. They were curious how the boss would handle an employee being bullied.

“I fell.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t want Luan Nian to know about her fight with the agency, feeling she couldn’t tell him about it.

But in reality, starting tomorrow, she would have nowhere to live. They had looked for a place for two days without finding anything suitable. They had decided that Sun Yu would sleep at the company, Sun Yuanzhu would stay with a classmate, and Shang Zhitao claimed she was going on a business trip and could store her luggage somewhere until she returned.

She thought, if necessary, she’d stay in a hotel first. She’d find a place eventually.

Luan Nian didn’t press further. He glanced at her face once more, then turned and left. Back in his office, he messaged her: “What happened?”

“I fell.”

“Fall again now. Let me see how you manage to hit your lip. How are you so talented? You fall with your face hitting the ground?”

Shang Zhitao stubbornly refused to explain. Life was already a mess, and she didn’t want to talk about it again. It was in the afternoon when Luan Nian, passing by the break room, overheard colleagues discussing Shang Zhitao’s encounter with the fraudulent agency.

The company break room was truly a magical place. Sometimes Luan Nian deliberately went there for water, always hearing a bit of gossip. He wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but managing a company required ways to hear some truth, and the break room was perfect for that.

Many stories fermented in the break room before they spread.

He pretended to get water and heard people mention Shang Zhitao and the fraudulent agency. Since they weren’t speaking ill of colleagues or the company, there was no need to avoid the boss. They greeted Luan Nian and continued talking.

When Luan Nian heard that the agency thugs had surrounded and beaten Shang Zhitao, he turned and left.

He was furious.

Did Shang Zhitao have no brain? If she didn’t, did her roommates also lack brains? Going to confront a fraudulent agency by themselves—did they think they were Zhao Yun? Showing off by charging in and out seven times? F*ck!

“Come to my office!”

“?” Shang Zhitao sent back a question mark. He never called her to his office alone. Today his tone seemed bad. Had the efficiency improvement project’s test model failed?

Shang Zhitao stood at his office door with suspicion and knocked, hearing his impatient, “Come in!”

She entered, then heard him say, “Close the door!”

“Oh.”

After closing the door, she stood at the entrance, seeing Luan Nian’s expression as ugly as if he’d eaten excrement.

“What’s the name of that agency?” Luan Nian asked directly.

“Huh?”

“What ‘huh’? What’s the name?”

“It’s already resolved.” Shang Zhitao was puzzled about how Luan Nian knew, unaware of his habit of listening to gossip in the break room.

“What’s the name?” Luan Nian asked again.

Shang Zhitao still refused to say, not wanting to escalate the matter. Luan Nian stared at her for a long time before saying, “The one on the left side of your residential complex, right?”

…

Shang Zhitao didn’t need to answer—it was written all over her face, and Luan Nian understood immediately.

“You can go.” Luan Nian couldn’t be bothered to talk to her anymore. After she left, he called a friend: “Yesterday I passed by a place and noticed inadequate fire safety. I think there’s a hazard that needs inspection, right?”

“The address? I don’t have the detailed address. I’ll take you there myself.”

“Who should be listed as the reporter? Put my name.”

Luan Nian put on his coat and went out, meeting his friend who worked in fire safety. The friend said, “Wait a moment, it’s across districts. I’ve contacted people here. Why the sudden urge to report?”

“It’s in a residential ground-floor shop. I’m concerned about fire hazards. Yesterday I passed by and saw them playing cards, smoking, and cooking inside. They even had a gas canister from somewhere.” Luan Nian remembered that agency—no one inside looked like a good person. He had glanced at it a time or two when first sending Shang Zhitao home.

His friend looked at him, seeming to understand the situation, and chuckled: “Well, if someone reports it, we have to handle it. But for fire safety non-compliance, they’ll only be closed for renovation for a month or two.”

“That’s enough.”

Was the fraudulent agency’s ledger untouchable? First shut them down, then report them for tax evasion. Solve it gradually—Luan Nian had patience. He was truly at odds with them now. They sat in the car waiting, not for others, but for Lumi, dressed in a fur coat, carrying a stick, accompanied by several people.

“Is this the place?” Luan Nian heard Lumi ask the dreadlocked man beside her.

“Yes, I’ve checked.”

“Knock on the door.” Lumi, who grew up in the hutongs, had been behaving well in the company. Now her street attitude emerged.

Luan Nian found her amusing. He heard his friend say, “Who did this black company offend? You’re reporting them, and that group down there wants to smash their shop.”

Luan Nian didn’t answer him. Instead, he called Shang Zhitao: “Get your mindless mentor back here. If she doesn’t return, you’ll be visiting her in jail tomorrow!”

Hearing this, Shang Zhitao was terrified. Lumi had suddenly dressed up and said she was going out to handle something in the afternoon—so this was what she was doing? She called Lumi: “Can you accompany me to the police station?”

“Why go to the police station?”

“The police want me to give a statement.”

“Alright then.”

Luan Nian saw Lumi tell the man beside her, “I’m going to the police station. There’s no one here today. We’ll deal with these punks when people are around.”

What kind of friends did Shang Zhitao make? Luan Nian mentally cursed them as idiots, watching them leave. The fire department arrived, the police arrived, and a manager was called: “Open the door.”

During the fire inspection, Luan Nian wanted to go in, but his friend stopped him: “Is that a good idea? What if they retaliate?”

Luan Nian remained silent and followed them in.

The agency manager found a moment to approach Luan Nian, offering him a cigarette and smiling obsequiously: “Shall we chat outside?”

Luan Nian took the cigarette and followed him out, hearing the manager ask, “Are you a resident of the complex? Haven’t seen you before.”

Luan Nian smoked, noticing two scratch marks on the manager’s hand: “What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, a few days ago, some tenants came making trouble, and we accidentally got into a fight.”

“What tenants?”

“Two men and two women. Two of our brothers acted without thinking and couldn’t help hitting one of the girls in the face. The police have been educating us several times over the past days. It’s true—no matter how much tenants make trouble, we should endure it. We’re not a fraudulent agency, so how could we hit people?” The manager started crying: “The quality of tenants nowadays is so low. They can’t tolerate a slight delay in electricity fee payment and immediately want to wreck our shop. What kind of people are they!”

He sighed again: “Actually, we have it tough, caught between tenants and property owners, being treated as outsiders by both. We know the shop doesn’t pass fire safety, but that’s the company’s problem. If this shop closes, everyone will have to go hungry. Can you be kind and withdraw the report? We can resolve other issues.”

“We’re all making a living out here. How about making friends?”

Luan Nian said nothing, quietly smoking. When he finished, he walked a few steps to throw the cigarette butt in the trash, then returned to the manager’s side and delivered a swift, precise punch. The manager was stunned and pointed at him: “How dare you hit me?”

Luan Nian still didn’t speak. With one hand, he grabbed the manager’s collar, and with the other, he threw a punch to the left side of his face. The veins on his neck bulged, and the veneer of the cultured ruffian was torn away, revealing a face full of aggression. Several people quickly surrounded them to break up the fight, with two grabbing Luan Nian’s coat. He turned, took off his coat, and launched a flying kick at one of them.

He targeted the left side of people’s faces, ignoring those who hit him. He just kept punching the left side of faces, as if these people’s left cheeks had personally offended him. After fighting fiercely in silence for over three minutes, the people inside finally saw what was happening and ran out shouting, “What’s going on! What’s going on!”

Luan Nian threw one more punch at the manager before stopping. He pointed at the manager and said, “He threatened me, saying if I reported them again, they’d kill me!”

Everyone was trying to make a living in society—those fraudulent agencies operated domestically, while Luan Nian operated in New York. They used the same tactics; who couldn’t play this game? When he played, he was more skilled than anyone. The police naturally believed him; his logic was consistent throughout, and no normal person would dare take on these people alone.

Luan Nian pulled up his sleeves to show the police: “I’m filing a report. These people are organized crime and must be arrested!”

Like a street thug, if not for the ruthless punches delivered with the dominating air of a workplace warrior, people would hardly believe this was Luan Nian.

He couldn’t believe it himself.

Luan Nian was truly angry. He was furious that Shang Zhitao, this idiot, didn’t tell him about such a major incident and got beaten by others! He was so angry he could kill these people, and his rage hadn’t subsided even after giving his statement. He drove to the company building and called Shang Zhitao: “Come down.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao checked the time—what hour was this? What had he been doing all afternoon?

Feeling that Luan Nian’s tone was not good, she reluctantly got into his car, seeing his ashen face and not daring to speak.

“You don’t have my phone number, right?”

“Besides sex and work, you don’t need to tell each other anything, right?”

“You’d rather get beaten up than tell me, right?”

“Do you have a f*cking brain?!!”

“Is your brain just for decoration?”

“I’m talking to you! Have you gone mute?”