Chapter 23: Swept Out
The men’s laughter, which had just begun to subside, erupted again at Mu Mu’s “fierce” threat.
The bald man put his arm around Zheng An’s shoulder, leaned down, and chuckled, looking at Mu Mu. He raised his other arm, comparing it to the space between himself and Mu Mu’s head, sneering.
“Little guy, you’ve got a big mouth.” He pointed to the broom handle Mu Mu was clutching tightly, “Do you believe that I can snap that stick in half with one finger?”
The small Mu Mu was enveloped by the large man’s shadow. The stark difference in their sizes made Mu Mu look pathetic, like a rabbit cornered by a predator.
The shadow of being bullied by older, stronger children in his childhood, and the fear of being beaten violently, caused Mu Mu to shrink his shoulders, his thin body trembling slightly, like chaff shaking in the wind.
His brain constantly sent signals to flee, but Mu Mu suppressed the urge to retreat, taking another step forward, threateningly waving the broom at the bald man.
“I’m not afraid of you! If you don’t let An An go, I really will hit you!”
The bald man clearly didn’t expect Mu Mu to be so bold, smirking and changing his gesture from pointing at Mu Mu to patting Zheng An’s cheek.
“Kid, your friend is pretty loyal, willing to fight for you. Touched?”
Zheng An had already experienced the men’s strength firsthand; there wasn’t a single place on his body that didn’t hurt. He dared not move; he couldn’t even shiver.
Speaking of the ordeal, Zheng An wanted to cry. He didn’t know what happened today; the restaurant business was unusually good. Even at closing time, there were still five tables of customers who hadn’t finished eating.
As the cashier, Zheng An had to wait until all the customers had paid before calculating the day’s accounts and reporting them to the boss. He could only leave after the boss confirmed everything was correct.
This made him an hour late. When he got downstairs, he saw two burly men pacing back and forth at the entrance of the building.
Although Zheng An had never met the thugs hired by the landlord, he knew from their physiques and fierce expressions that they were there to stop them.
Zheng An wasn’t stupid; he wouldn’t do something so reckless. Without saying a word, he turned and left. But his luck was bad; he hadn’t gone a hundred meters when he bumped into the bald man and his crew.
Even worse, the apartment building they lived in was an old, densely packed building, with only a narrow path between the buildings. There was no other choice besides going forward or backward.
Zheng An was truly trapped between a rock and a hard place.
He cursed the customers who had delayed his work in his heart, maintaining a calm exterior, and lowered his head to avoid looking at the bald man, trying to quickly pass them.
Everything went as Zheng An imagined. They passed each other like strangers. After completely passing them, he closed his eyes and sighed in relief, shouting “Yes!” in his heart. But before he could enjoy his relief for two seconds, he felt a weight on his shoulder, followed by the man’s voice, hoarse from cheap tobacco, in his ear.
“Buddy, I’m asking about someone. Do you know him?”
The man didn’t wait for Zheng An’s response, becoming familiarly close to Zheng An, shoving a brain computer into his face.
On the palm-sized brain computer was a photo of an ordinary man with a simple hairstyle. Zheng An froze, his voice tense, replying, “No, I don’t.”
He wanted to run, but the man’s weight was pressing down on him. He couldn’t even take a step.
The man clearly didn’t want to let it go, “Buddy, look again? I saw you coming from that direction, you must live in the same building, right? How could you not know him? Look more carefully.”
Did Zheng An really not recognize him? No! He was lying. How could he not recognize his own face? The photo the man showed him was his ID photo!
“Sorry, big brother, I really don’t recognize him. This building is so big, with so many residents, I can’t possibly know them all. Big brother, I’m in a hurry, I’ll go first.”
Before Zheng An finished speaking, he felt another weight and pain on his other shoulder. He instinctively looked up and met a fierce face with a smirking expression.
His heart skipped a beat; his voice suddenly became sharp and shrill.
“Don’t recognize him?” The bald man asked with a smile.
Zheng An’s forehead and back instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He smiled apologetically and said he didn’t know, that he really didn’t know, his legs trembling in his pants.
The bald man smiled, and suddenly punched Zheng An in the stomach, causing Zheng An to hunch over, emitting a heart-wrenching cry.
The cry was truly terrible, so terrible that the bald man was stunned. He just wanted to give Zheng An a lesson; he only used 30-40% of his strength.
Who would have thought that Zheng An, a 180cm tall man, was so weak, unable to withstand even one punch.
The bald man usually despised men like Zheng An, who cried out in pain at the slightest injury.
Adding to Zheng An’s lie, the bald man’s anger flared.
He gave a signal to the man holding Zheng An’s shoulders, who promptly covered Zheng An’s mouth. The bald man then punched and kicked Zheng An, causing him to cry.
After about five minutes, the storm of fists finally stopped. The bald man, having calmed down, grabbed Zheng An, whose face was pale with sweat, by the collar and dragged him towards the building entrance.
Then came the forced opening of the door.
Zheng An ached as if his body was about to fall apart. He didn’t dare resist, obediently entering the code to open the door.
“Little fool,” Zheng An’s voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat, saying incoherently, “Listen to me, put down the broom, don’t move, let’s not resist, you can’t beat him.”
“An An?” Hearing Zheng An, Mu Mu, still clutching the plastic broom handle, carefully observed Zheng An’s face, looking for signs of injury.
The bald man’s punches were aimed at Zheng An’s body; his face, apart from being paler and sweatier, showed nothing conclusive.
Mu Mu hesitated, his gaze shifting from Zheng An’s face to the bald man’s, and he said firmly, “An An said you hit him. Assault is illegal; I’ll call the police!”
“Huh? Call the police?” The bald man dramatically shrugged, kicking the landlord who was watching the spectacle, “Old man, have you had enough of the show? Say something quickly, or this guy will call the police!”
The landlord stumbled forward, nearly colliding with Mu Mu, who quickly took a large step back, increasing the distance between himself and the landlord.
After being kicked for no reason, the landlord’s anger flared, but he was too cowardly to get angry at the younger and stronger bald man.
Thinking of the approaching deadline, his anger intensified. His small, beady eyes fell darkly on Mu Mu, and his unnamed anger found an outlet.
“You little brat! You haven’t paid the rent or the compensation, and you still dare to talk about calling the police! I should be the one calling the police on you!”
The landlord rushed in front of Mu Mu, startling him. Seizing the opportunity, he snatched the broom from Mu Mu’s hands, throwing it violently to the ground. A torrent of curses rained down on him.
Mu Mu, usually tongue-tied, was stunned speechless by the barrage of insults, standing there for about fifteen minutes, unable to retort.
“…You two unruly brats have messed up my apartment, and I won’t even ask for compensation. Get out of my apartment now!”
“Brother,” the landlord turned to the bald man, bowing and scraping, “Please have your men help, get these two brats out.”
The bald man’s job was to evict people; when it was time to do his job, he didn’t hesitate to agree.
Zheng An, having been beaten, was as docile as a quail, easily tossed out.
Mu Mu, however, was more troublesome. Though thin and small, he was like a life-sized doll, easily lifted. But if he struggled with all his might, it would be enough to give the men a headache.
They had initially planned to beat Mu Mu up like they did Zheng An.
However, when they took the job from the landlord, they had been warned repeatedly that the smaller, foolish one could only be intimidated, not beaten; he couldn’t have a single scratch. Any injury would cause them trouble.
They relied on being thugs, doing shady businesses. They knew this wasn’t just the landlord’s decision, a big boss was behind it.
They didn’t want to get involved in any trouble; they just wanted to make money quietly and peacefully. They weren’t sadists; naturally, they agreed.
They thought a skinny fool wouldn’t cause much trouble, but this little fool was more troublesome than the 180cm tall one.
Two of the men finally subdued Mu Mu and threw him out of the building.
The rest quickly cleaned up the apartment with the landlord, throwing away Mu Mu and Zheng An’s belongings.
Mu Mu watched his small suitcase roll down the stairs, landing with a “thump” beside him.
He quickly crawled over, seeing that the once-clean suitcase was covered in dust and several new scratches from small pebbles. He anxiously wiped the dust with his sleeve.
Compared to Mu Mu, Zheng An was worse. His clothes, shoes, and blanket were scattered everywhere, and his open suitcase was cracked.
Looking at the pile of things resembling a garbage dump, he slapped his forehead twice, crying, “What kind of trouble have we gotten ourselves into!”
【Author’s Note】: Today’s Mu Mu is homeless Mu Mu~