CH 45

Posted by LIVANONYMOUSLY on AUGUST 14, 2021

In their minds, Hao Jian is careful, cautious, and has a flexible mind. Apart from being shamed by Li Chang and the others at the gas station, it seemed impossible for Hao Jian to be tricked.

Moreover, after encountering the situation in the gas station, she has learned her lesson and has become more careful and cautious. How could such a person be outsmarted by others again?

At this moment, they saw Hao Jian turning in through the window. When they were about to speak, Hao Jian made a silencing gesture, “Shh. . .”

They quickly realized that something was going on and quietly walked over, “What’s wrong?”

“When we arrived, I noticed that there are surveillance cameras at the entrance of the second floor, the living room, the dining room, and the common area on the second floor, and they’re still working.”

They were alarmed but still managed to lower their voices, “Someone’s here?!”

They shuddered at the thought that their every move was being watched.

“So I turned off the main power supply and looked to check if they had a UPS installed.”

“What’s a UPS?”

“It’s an Uninterruptible Power Supply. A normal surveillance system wouldn’t have any backup power supply, so it will stop functioning after a power outage. But some of the more important places, or those who have the financial resources will basically install UPS systems so that they can continue monitoring even after a power outage and they can also send out an alarm.”

“But we didn’t hear anything just now.”

“I have been observing the cameras and they stopped moving. The home security cameras installed here are not equipped with UPS. But I’m not sure if there are any monitors.”

“Then–“

Hao Jian pointed upstairs and both Lian Ru Ning and Xin Ting grabbed their weapons and prepared to lurk with Hao Jian on the third floor that they haven’t searched yet.

Peng Mao was washing his hair and opened his eyes when he realized that it was pitch black. He couldn’t help but open the door and ask, “What’s going on, is the power out?”

No one responded so he couldn’t help himself but feel panicked. He hurriedly cleaned himself and put on clean clothes before walking out.

“Hao Jian, Miss Lian, Xiao Ting?”

No one responded to him, making him panic even more. He rushed to the living room and didn’t find them either.

Suddenly, there was a pig-like squeal coming from the upper floors, “Ah, it hurts! Don’t do it, I surrender. I surrender!”

Peng Mao took a deep breath, grabbed the crowbar and followed to the third floor.

The common area on the third floor was relatively small. It had an open-air balcony of 40 to 50 square feet and two rooms. In one of the rooms, Hao Jian, Lian Ru Ning, and Xin Ting were gathered there.

He let out a big sigh of relief, but saw Hao Jian shine her flashlight at him, “Go and pull up the main breaker next to the garage.|

“Huh?” He was slightly confused, and after thinking about it, he retorted, “But I just took a shower.”

“Hurry up. You can wash again when you come back, no one will take it away from you.”

He had to go down again, muttering in his heart on why were there people upstairs and how did Hao Jian and the girls find out?

Peng Mao went to turn on the electric switch, but it did not prevent Hao Jian and the others to continue and force out a confession.

They thought that there were some vicious people hiding upstairs. Not a few and should be at least two to three individuals, but instead it was only one big fat man.

The fat man squatted on the ground, holding his head while begging for mercy, “I really didn’t hide any food, I swear! I’m already so hungry that I’m tempted to eat my own flesh, please let me go!”

Lian Ru Ning and Hao Jian glanced at each other and didn’t speak. After a while, the computer monitor on the table lit up, indicating that the power is back. Only after she turned on the light did they clearly see the fat man’s appearance clearly for the first time.

He had long hair, but it was messily coiled at the back of his head. He wore a pair of white-trimmed glasses that was resting on the bridge of his nose and had a scruffy beard bubbling around his mouth. He looked like and uncle in his thirties.

He was wearing sportswear and it was obvious from the brand logo that it was an apparel from a famous brand. Because of his weight, his clothes were a little tight.

The room was more like a doghouse than a bedroom. The bed is littered with smelly clothes and underwear, there trash bags under the bed, and a closet. Aside from the essential furniture, the rest of the space is basically a desk with second-hand computers.

There were, of course, comic books, making the room a standard house for NEET people at first glance.

“What’s your name?” The standard opening line of a forced confession.

“Shi Gong Dui.”

“Construction team?”1

“My dad’s surname is Shi, my mother’s surname is Gong, and Du is a tool used to make grain in the past, do you have any culture?!” Shi Gong Dui raised his head and shouted.

“Ok, you have culture. So, can the cultured Shīgōng duì2 tell us why you were spying on us here?” Hao Jian took the back of the machete and knocked it on his shoulder, looking like a bully.

Shi Gong Dui was not convinced, but he was still afraid of the knife in her hands, so he could only say in a jarring voice, “This is my house. You broke into my house and now you’re asking me why I was spying on you? This is no more than the king’s law!”

“Your home? Then why didn’t you lock the door?”

Shi Gong Dui looked sad and indignant, “Did you think I didn’t want to?”

Shi Gong Dui is twenty-eight years old and was an ordinary electronic information engineer who leads a boring and hard life of going to work, working overtime, going home everyday.

It wasn’t until three years ago that his parents, whom he had not seen for a long time, informed him that his grandfather had passed away and left him with this villa and 50 million yuan inheritance. It was then he learned that his grandfather was an invisible rich man.

After he received his inheritance, he quit his job and also ruthlessly beat up his boss who was bullying him. He felt that he was on the top of his life and then regained his hobbies – being a deadbeat nerd!

His hobbies were watching anime, playing games, collecting figurines, and hanging out in various forums. He doesn’t have to do anything, he has a nanny to take care of his clothes, food, and cleaning. And when it comes to socially dealing with his relatives or what not – he had his parents to deal with that.

The entire third floor was his territory and he can stay there for a whole year without going out.

Even if he didn’t have much interaction with other people and his body was getting far because of his long-term unhealthy diet and lifestyle, he regrets nothing.

Until one day, he met a group of forum friends who believed in the Mayan prophecy and that the end of the world would come in 2018. After being brainwashed through various eloquent ‘doomsday signs’ by his forum friends, he believed them.

So, he spent more than 100,000 yuan to buy a variety of survival supplies and stocked up. He also spent millions on buying various equipments.

His parents thought that he was going crazy and didn’t want to care about him, so they gave him tot he nanny and flew to Europe to travel.

As a result, half a year later, the end times really came.

Before he had time to be pleased by his wit and resourcefulness, he discovered that most of the supplies he had hidden away were secretly taken by the nanny. Later, because of her betrayal, the neighborhood came to rob him.

Although he locked the door, the group even broke down his door and smashed the windows before grandiosely coming in to rob him.

Food was taken away and everything of value was taken away. Even the food he had hidden in another room that the nanny didn’t know about was found and stolen by the people who came by searching for supplies two days ago.

With all the valuables gone, there was no need for him to lock the door anymore. In order to create an atmosphere that the place hadn’t been inhabited for a long time, he didn’t lock the door and just stayed in the room to monitor everything through his surveillance.

“Create an atmosphere of an inhabited place? I think you’re just too lazy to clean and cook, that’s why this house is full of dust that even the pots are beginning to rust!” Lian Ru Ning retorted.

When Shi Gong Dui saw her, his eyes suddenly lit up and said, “I don’t know how to cook.”

“If all of your food has been stolen, what did you eat to last over the past two days?” Hao Jian’s gaze scanned the room and then poked a pile of dirty clothes on the bed with her knife.

Shi Gong Dui looked nervous, but couldn’t show it. However, his expression has long been caught by Hao Jian’s eyes, so she didn’t hesitate to pick open the pile of dirty clothes and found snacks hidden inside. There were French fries, potato chips, cola, and so on.

“You said you were hoarding survival supplies, but in fact, you were just hoarding snacks for yourself, right?”

Shi Gong Dui retorted, “You can’t slander my foresight! As you see, the end of the world have really come!”

Hao Jian rolled her eyes, “There is no such thing as a Mayan prophecy predicting that 2018 will be the end of the world. They predicted the same thing during 2012 didn’t they? You’ve seen the movie, right?”

Shi Gong Dui nodded and immediately realized that he shouldn’t agree with Hao Jian’s words and immediately shook his head.

“Then, you don’t have anyone else here?” Lian Ru Ning asked again.

“No, It’s just me. Guys, I really only have this much food left. If you take them away too, I will really starve to death.” Shi Gong Dui said while crying.

“We don’t care about this little food of yours. We just want to borrow a place to take shelter from the rain.” After Hao Jian finished speaking, Lian Ru Ning suddenly sneezed. She glanced at Shi Gong Dui and told Lian Ru Ning, “Leave this place to me for now. You go and take a bath first so you don’t catch a cold.”

“But you–“

Just in time, Peng Mao showed up, so, Hao Jian said, “Ah Mao, you came back just in time. I’ll leave this to you. Keep a close eye on him and don’t let him play any tricks.”

Peng Mao blinked. He was just about to say that he needs to take a hot bath after getting soaked in the rain but remembered the role Hao Jian gave him to that made her keep him around. He then deliberately showed his biceps and said in a deep voice, “Well, I’m strong. You can leave this fat man to me, you can rest assured!”

Shi Gong Dui was scared by his muscles and crowbar that he shrunk to the side. He really didn’t dare to make any strange movement.

In this villa, aside from the bathroom on the first floor where you can bathe, there is also another bathroom in the master bedroom on the second floor, as well as in Shi Gong Dui’s bedroom, However, they couldn’t go to Shi Gong Dui’s bathroom, so Lian Ru Ning chose to use the bathroom on the first floor while Xin Ting went to the use the one on the second floor.

Before she went downstairs, she heard Xin Ting call out to Hao Jian, “Hao Jian, there’s a bathtub here. We can take a hot bath together! You’re the one who got most drenched from the rain, so you’d better soak in the hot water with me, or you’ll fall sick!”

Lian Ru Ning’s heart suddenly jumped. She turned her head to look at Hao Jian and saw Hao Jian’s gaze shift towards her. The corner of Hao Jian’s mouth then curled up, “Xiao Ning just invited me to join her.”

Xin Ting said, “Oh” without thinking about it much. Lian Ru Ning opened her mouth and wanted to refute, but couldn’t do it in front of Xin Ting. Only when Hao Jian walked to her side did Lian Ru Ning glare at her and whispered, “When did I invite you to take a bath together?”

Hao Jian blinked, “Isn’t that what you mean when you winked at me just now?”

“When did I wink at you?”

“Just now, when Xin Ting invited me to take a bath with her.”

“I didn’t!” Lian Ru Ning argued.

“Oh, then I better go back and share a bath with Xin Ting. She’s right anyway. I get worst in the rain and I’m afraid of catching a cold. Because once I catch a cold, I don’t have medicine to cure it and my body is weak, which would make me lose my energy. If I meet a zombie, what should I do?”

Hao Jian frowned, looking very distressed.

“. . .” Lian Ru Ning gritted her teeth and thought to herself about Hao Jian, a person who couldn’t be more straight. Even if they bathed together, they wouldn’t think too much about it.

So, she tugged Hao Jian’s sleeve, “Fine. I admit that I did invite you. Hurry up and get down!”

Hao Jian turned to hold her hand and said, “I’m an honest person. I won’t look around, and even if I did, I wouldn’t deny it.”

Lian Ru Ning remembered her actions after that one night and felt that Hao Jian was teasing her. While a little annoyed, she was also blushing, “Are you finished, big deal. I’ll show you back!”

“That’s good.” Hao Jian climbed up the pole.