Chapter 579: Between People
"How unfriendly!" the man in the vest said, stepping forward and grabbing hold of Tiantian's arm. Tiantian made no move to avoid him the entire time. "Sis, we're really not bad people. Just rest here. Let's see who dares to lay a finger on you!"
Tiantian squinted and looked at the three men before her. Their expressions were all different, each likely harboring their own thoughts.
"A building this small can't possibly hold so many people," Tiantian said, still smiling. "Big brothers, you should rest. We'll make room for you."
"Hey!!" The man in the vest still held Tiantian tightly, refusing to let go. "Young lady, you're being really distant. The place is small, but you can sit on big brother's lap!"
As he spoke, he sat down on the spot, keeping one hand on Tiantian while slapping his thigh with the other. "Come on, come on!"
"Hey, Old Fang." The middle-aged man in a suit behind him called out in admonishment. "Keep your hands to yourself. When are you going to change that bad habit of yours?"
Hearing the man in the suit, the man called Old Fang immediately let go and turned around with a smile. "Hey, I was just joking with the little sister, wasn't I? You two know me, I'm just someone who loves to joke around."
The man in the suit walked straight into the house, surveyed the surroundings, and after confirming there was no one else, slowly sat down.
"Sorry about that, miss," he said, looking up at Tiantian. "We don't want to bother you. Make yourselves at home."
"Okay, thank you."
Tiantian felt that this man in the suit seemed reasonable enough to talk to. She nodded in acknowledgement, then pulled Zheng Yingxiong along. Zheng Yingxiong turned back to grab his backpack.
As the two passed by the three men and were about to leave, the man in the suit suddenly spoke up. "Wait."
Tiantian was slightly startled. She turned around and saw him staring at the plastic water bottle she had placed on the floor.
"Oh, miss," the man in the suit said with a smile. "I don't mean anything by it... I just saw you two drinking water earlier and wanted to ask if you have any extra."
All three men were drenched in sweat. A mouthful of water at this moment was more precious to them than gold.
"I..." Tiantian paused, then leaned down to ask Zheng Yingxiong, "Little brother, do you still have any water?"
Zheng Yingxiong listened seriously, took off his backpack, and carefully searched through it. Then he looked up and said, "It's gone."
"Mm..." Tiantian nodded and looked up at the man in the suit. "Big brother, I'm sorry. We only had one bottle of water."
"Alright. Leave the bag and go," the man in the suit said.
Tiantian was taken aback by the brief statement, but quickly regained her composure. She exchanged a glance with Zheng Yingxiong, then took his backpack off his shoulders and carefully placed it on the ground. "There's some food in the bag. Take it if you want. We'll be going now."
"Sister, that..."
"It's okay." Tiantian interrupted Zheng Yingxiong and reached out to pat his head. "These uncles need to eat too. Since we're not hungry yet, let them have it first."
Tiantian's words were firm and resolute, as if speaking to Zheng Yingxiong, and also making her stance clear to the men.
Zheng Yingxiong nodded understandingly and fell silent. The two of them pushed the bicycle toward the door.
"Leave the bike too," the leading man in the suit said again.
It was only then that Tiantian realized the most troublesome of the three was neither the tall young man nor the lecherous one in the vest, but rather this man in the suit who looked so upright.
The air momentarily froze.
"Big brother, our base is quite a distance from here," Tiantian said with a smile. "There aren't any other buildings nearby suitable for shelter. We need this bicycle to get back to our base before dark."
"I told you to leave the bicycle," the man in the suit said coldly, looking up at Tiantian. "I don't care what your reasons are. I only care about the result."
Knowing that she and Zheng Yingxiong were no match for them, Tiantian had no choice but to lean the bicycle against the wall. She turned to try reasoning with the man. "This bicycle is very old. It can't even carry two adults. Probably only me and this little boy can use it. There are three of you. Are you sure you want it?"
Tiantian's words highlighted several objective problems at once, cleverly driving a wedge between the three men.
No one knew if the black lines would shift again. With three men and only one bicycle, only one person could ride it. If the man in the suit truly was their leader, a moment's thought should tell him that the best course of action would be to let Tiantian ride it away.
When there was scarcity, people would naturally fight for survival. That was the consequence of using human nature to test friendship.
"You..." The man in the suit seemed to see through Tiantian's scheme. He just narrowed his eyes and stared at her without saying a word.
"I understand." Tiantian gave him no time to overthink. She immediately spoke up. "The bicycle is yours. We're leaving."
"Tie them up," the man in the suit said.
"Huh...?"
Before Tiantian could react, the middle-aged man in the vest rushed forward excitedly. "Ha! I've been waiting for this!"
He reached out his greasy, dirty hand toward Tiantian's arm.
"Sister, watch out!"
Seeing the danger, Zheng Yingxiong immediately pulled Tiantian behind him, then stepped forward and swiftly drew the "sword" from his waist, swinging it fiercely.
Unfortunately, the "sword" was made of flimsy folded newspaper. When it came crashing down on the man's leg, it didn't even smooth out a crease in his pants.
"Get the hell out of here!" The man in the vest slapped Yingxiong to the ground, then kicked him. "You think you're still outside? You think anyone's gonna put up with your spoiled brat act here?"
Zheng Yingxiong was knocked to the ground, but his face remained resolute as he gripped his short sword, not making a sound.
The man in the vest kicked him relentlessly, but Yingxiong crawled steadily toward his crown.
"Little brat! Little brat!"
Seeing that Old Fang in the vest was getting more violent, Tiantian mustered her courage and shouted, "Stop!"
Old Fang stopped, panting heavily. Zheng Yingxiong finally coughed, revealing that he had been gritting his teeth and enduring the pain.
He immediately crawled over, grabbed his crown, carefully folded it, and stuffed it into his pocket.
The three men looked up at Tiantian. Tiantian knew that if it came to a fight, she was no match for them.
She bit her lip, her expression calm as she said, "Let the kid go. I'll do whatever you want after that."
"Sister..." Zheng Yingxiong looked up at Tiantian in disbelief. "You should go... I'm the 'Hero'..."
(Today's the 28th, my birthday. Shamelessly asking for some blessings~)