Chapter 816: Mistaken Identity

The elderly tailor was stripped naked and chained to a utility pole. Amidst the crowd’s gaze, he blushed deeply, unable to utter a word. He could only clasp his hands together in a pleading gesture, but “Impressionist” wasn’t buying it. He was earnestly manipulating a combination lock.

“This is a six-digit combination lock. If you’re capable, try opening it yourself. Otherwise, pay up, and we’ll open it for you…” Impressionist glanced around at the onlookers. “No one gives him any food or drink. Otherwise, you’ll end up chained alongside this old man. Understand?”

The crowd nodded.

Impressionist forcefully sniffed, pulling out a list of debtors from his pocket. “Who’s this ‘B’ person called XX?”

The crowd pointed to a man. “It’s him!”

The man panicked and dashed back home. Impressionist smirked. “Daring to run?” With his henchmen in tow, he headed straight to the man’s house, passing by residents with a grin. “You lot owe a mountain of debts. I might as well move into this alley and collect daily.”

Subsequently, he kicked open the second debtor’s door, and his henchmen surged in, causing a commotion inside.

Some of the spectators ran over to continue watching the spectacle.

Zhang Dama snacked on dried seeds until her mouth went dry, planning to brew chrysanthemum tea she had picked in the park back in September and dried under the sun.

Turning back, she glimpsed a face tightly wrapped in bandages on the attic of the Kao Wei family’s house. The person was extremely cautious, quickly retracting upon being seen.

Zhang Dama stood still for a moment, full of puzzled thoughts, and then went home.

Kao Wei didn’t finish work until late at night. At the alley’s entrance, she was startled to see a completely naked man sitting on the ground, a chain around his neck, resembling some sort of bizarre performance art, focused on manipulating something.

“Who?!” Kao Wei exclaimed.

The elderly tailor looked up. After a day without food or water, he could barely hold on, pointing to his cracked lips. “Water…”

“Old tailor? Who tied you up here? Debt collectors?” Kao Wei gritted her teeth, recalling how she had been dragged around by a gang of debt collectors not long ago, threatening to force her into prostitution. With no choice, she had taken out several pieces of gold jewelry Wang Xi had given her, which she had cherished despite being poor, and handed them over to pay off some interest, barely escaping a tragic fate.

When one is impoverished, many things cannot be arranged properly, and one can only scrape by day by day.

“Water.”

A woman’s face appeared at a nearby window, saying coldly, “Mogo said no one can give him food or drink. Otherwise, they’ll be tied up with him. Xiao Wei, don’t stir up trouble.”

Kao Wei shook her head helplessly and walked towards her home.

The bandaged man cooked dinner again at home, using ingredients from Kao Wei’s home, but cooking also required effort, and he was quite skilled. Kao Wei was too embarrassed to ask him for money for the ingredients.

When Kao Wei arrived at the attic, the bandaged man was writing and drawing on a piece of paper. Seeing her come up, he immediately put the paper away.

“You don’t need to cook so much food. You can’t finish it…” Kao Wei said. “Oh, by the way, I bought something for you. Your face looks like it’s been injured. This ointment is very good for burns.” She placed a bottle of ointment in front of the bandaged man.

The bandaged man picked it up and looked at it silently.

“Don’t you have to go to work every day? Just staying at home?” Kao Wei asked. “Did you see the old tailor being bullied today? Those people are debt collectors. They’re disgusting. Most people here owe debts. It’s not that they want to owe, but when they urgently need money, they can’t borrow from regular sources, so they can only turn to high-interest loans. At first, they can only pay interest each month, and gradually it rolls over into debts that can’t be repaid… By the way, these loan sharks are from the gang where Wang Xi used to be. They’re still trying to find out where Wang Xi is. I guess he’s still alive!”

“He definitely hasn’t died,” the bandaged man said.

“Really?” Kao Wei was very happy.

“If his body is found, the police will come to confirm his identity. If the police haven’t come, it means he’s not dead yet, or his body hasn’t been found.”

Kao Wei’s excitement faded. “Why are you talking so seriously and scarily? I know he’s not dead. He must be hiding now. He can’t come to find me because people on the street have offered a reward of hundreds of thousands for information on him. Neighbors around me are watching me to earn this money.”

The bandaged man looked out the window, and Kao Wei looked in the same direction. From this angle, you could see the old tailor tied to the utility pole, fumbling with the combination lock all day, almost blind. At this moment, he was parched and was drinking dirty water from the drain.

“For the sake of survival, people can ignore everything,” the bandaged man said.

“I hate it most when you talk down to others. What did you used to do? You must not be as poor as I am! I guess you must have money and power and offended someone, that’s why you’re like this now!” Kao Wei rolled her eyes and said angrily.

The bandaged man rolled his eyes at her coldly. “I can’t tell you.”

Kao Wei was even more angry. “Humph, as if I’m dying to know. I’m leaving. Don’t come down tonight!”

Outside came a knocking sound. Kao Wei opened the door, and Zhang Dama’s smiling face leaned in. Zhang Dama looked at the ceiling, saying, “Oh, who are you talking to? Do you have someone upstairs?”

“It’s a tenant.”

“A tenant?” Zhang Dama looked suspicious, then lowered her voice and asked tentatively, “Wang Xi is back, right?”

“No, really a tenant.”

“Then I’ll see what he looks like.”

“He’s asleep.”

“Nonsense, I just heard you talking to him.”

Zhang Dama insisted on going upstairs. Kao Wei couldn’t stop her. Zhang Dama leaned over the attic and saw a person sitting cross-legged in the dark, facing the wall. She said, “Hello, I’m your neighbor from next door. What do you do? Why don’t you speak? Turn around and take a look. Why so shy?” She even patted the floor with her hand, as if coaxing a cat hiding under the bed.

The “cat” didn’t give face. Zhang Dama clicked her tongue and went downstairs. Seeing Kao Wei, her smile returned. “Long time no see, talk about old times tonight. I won’t disturb you.”

“He’s not Wang Xi, really a tenant.”

“Hiding from others and hiding from me. Don’t worry, I won’t spill it.” Zhang Dama raised her eyebrows.

At this time, footsteps thudded downstairs. Zhang Dama turned around in surprise, only to see the bandaged man coming downstairs. He said coldly, “You’re trying to figure out my identity, to go claim a reward from the underworld.”

“Why do you think so badly of people? Neighbors come to chat, that’s normal.” Zhang Dama looked back in amazement. The bandaged man continued to descend the stairs. “I’ve told you clearly, I’m not Wang Xi. If you want to go and reveal it, I’m not afraid even if the underworld comes. But if they come to your door, you should be afraid of me. I’ll take care of you. Dare you call the police?”

Zhang Dama’s face alternated between red and white. She said to Kao Wei, “I have water boiling on my stove. I should hurry home.”

Walking out of Kao Wei’s house, she spat in front of it. Naturally, she wouldn’t be happy to be threatened to her face. She muttered to herself, “Humph, scaring me? This guy must be Wang Xi!”