The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

In the capital, such a thing is unthinkable.

Pulling out a knife in public and threatening to extort money is not much different from robbery.

In Beijing, this would be no different from courting death. Not to mention the shop owner, even the kind-hearted old men eating there would have smashed their bowls and soy milk at such a rogue.

Who knows, a few hot-headed young people might come along, grab a stool and go for it. No matter how skilled you are, it all comes down to technique. The best scenario is like him, sneaking off someone's bag and taking the money without them noticing.

When we arrived in Tangshan, wow, it really opened my eyes. The diners not only acted like they didn't see anything, but they also pretended not to see anything.

"Third Master, we've just opened for business, please be kind to us. We've been working hard from dawn till dusk, it's not easy for us!"

The old man frying dough sticks, with a forced smile, looked at the group of thugs and even bowed slightly, appearing extremely weak; the old man had truly become a grandson.

"You've got it tough, but we've had it easy. In this sweltering heat, we have to run from house to house. I advise you to behave yourself and not act like a troublemaker. Your son isn't married yet. If you dare to break the rules, we'll have to bleed him dry!"

The young man holding the deboned meat tossed it in his hand, then glared fiercely at the old man. His malicious gaze kept darting back and forth across the money drawer, as if he were about to take matters into his own hands at the slightest provocation.

After finishing his fried dough sticks, Third Master wiped his hands on the rag on the counter and then set his sights on the steamed buns. He didn't say a word the whole time, but his deep and serious demeanor only made the old man more wary.

The old man, his face contorted in distress, was at his wits' end. He looked at the diners inside, none of whom were willing to lend a hand, and he was sweating profusely. You see, he hadn't even been sweating this much while frying the dough sticks.

Left with no other choice, the old man finally pulled open the money drawer under the table, which was full of loose banknotes and coins.

But these thugs didn't mind. They slammed their boning knives on the table, making a buzzing sound, and reached directly for the cash drawer. After casually glancing at it, they put all the change into their small handbags.

"This amount of money is definitely not enough. We'll come back tomorrow. Make sure you have everything you need. If you're short even one yuan, your son will lose a finger!"

These young men were extremely arrogant. After taking all the loose change from the drawer, they even pointed their fingers at the old man's nose to warn him.

"Let's go~!"

Seemingly unconcerned about anyone calling the police, these men collected the money and moved on to the next shop.

The last person to leave picked up a boning knife from the counter, glanced around the store, and then left.

"Boss, two steamed buns, please!"

"A fried dough stick!"

After the group left, the breakfast stall resumed its usual chatter. Bang Geng felt as if his entire worldview had been turned upside down.

"Hello, comrade, those people from earlier?"

A middle-aged man was sitting opposite Banggeng, eating a bowl of bean curd until beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Banggeng looked up and met his gaze.

After hesitating for a moment, and still unfamiliar with the local forces, the Korean guy, completely clueless, tentatively asked in a low voice.

"Shh, are you from out of town?"

"The capital city!"

"They're all local bandits. Don't mess with them. If you see them, just go around them. And don't go out at night. Otherwise, it's not worth it for you, an out-of-towner, to get robbed!"

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he picked up the chili oil, scooped a spoonful onto the bean curd, and tapped it on the edge of his rice bowl. The aroma of chili oil filled his nostrils.

Banggeng nodded. Actually, he wanted to ask another question, but hesitated to speak.

The old man who had been robbed continued frying dough sticks and serving food to customers, without bothering to report the crime, as if he had already gotten used to it.

Even the son who came out of the house again only angrily rolled out a few dumpling wrappers with a rolling pin, and then stopped talking.

The middle-aged man seemed to have figured it out. He stirred the bean curd with a spoon and let out a long sigh.

"You mean why we didn't report it to the police, right?" "In broad daylight, no one dared to stand up for us. If the police were effective, do you think things would be like this now?"

The middle-aged man gave a wry smile, then his expression turned blank, as if he had resigned himself to his fate.

“It’s different from the capital, right? Under the emperor’s nose, no one would dare to do that. But this is Tangshan, far from the emperor’s reach. The police are human too, and they’ve been messed with by these people before. They broke into my house and used a knife. My family almost got hurt.”

"Plus, there are a lot of them, hundreds of them, all unemployed. People with nothing to lose are not afraid of those wearing shoes. Tell me, who would dare to turn against them?"

"You only have one life. If it doesn't happen to you, you have to keep your distance. You can't win against them!"

He took a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiped his mouth, and then got up and left, his words tinged with deep sadness.

"Damn, that's ruthless!"

Bang Geng's eyes widened after hearing this. These two cities aren't far apart. He really hadn't expected that coming from the capital would be like this.

No wonder the streets, which are bustling with people during the day, are deserted at night, and the guesthouse even closes its iron gate. It turns out this place is indeed in a terrible state of chaos.

As long as there are enough people and they are ruthless enough, no one will dare to mess with them.

He just brandished his knife and robbed the money; even a cat that catches mice can't do anything about it. No wonder Brother Pi said his method was crude.

If we're talking about darkness, this is the place to be, but a city like this undoubtedly has a lot of room for development.

People in the capital are generally hesitant and timid when it comes to doing things. If someone is this bold, they don't know if the other side would even want someone with his "technical" skills, or if he could make a living.

After finishing our meal and leaving the breakfast stall, those guys from earlier had already walked dozens of meters away.

Several people walked in a row on the road, occupying the entire sidewalk. They looked very imposing and domineering, and passersby had to lower their heads and walk on the side of the road to avoid them.

Upon seeing any pretty young women or women passing by, they would whistle and gather around them, laughing and joking, clearly wanting to get physical, causing the girls to scatter in a chaotic mess.

They are truly despicable and arrogant, turning this brand-new city into a chaotic mess because of these people.

Bang Geng was still a little worried. In Beijing, if you make a living with your skills and make a mistake, you'll at most be arrested and locked up for ten days or half a month. But people like them, who seem arrogant and domineering now, what about in the future?

But if you're timid and want to pull off a big heist, others might not dare to do it. It just takes a group of daring people to pull it off.

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he followed the group at a leisurely pace, intending to first ascertain their intentions.

There were several hundred people, but I doubt they were all from the Cleaver Gang.

We followed them all the way to the old town, where there were far more ruins than in the new town. Abandoned factories were everywhere, and the asbestos tiles on the roofs had been hollowed out by the residents.

There are even more hooligans here. When they see a guy who's single, they glance at him with a hint of goodwill.

It has to be on the main street. If it's in an alley, or even just on the side of an alley, they'll probably be dragged in and stripped clean.

The man swiped the Flying Eagle brand razor blade in his hand, and the person following behind noticed the fleeting light. Only then did he realize that the man was also a member of the underworld, taking advantage of a shady business.

The group of protection collectors walked here and greeted acquaintances they encountered on the road from time to time. Upon closer inspection, their clothing was different, but they had one thing in common: they were all carrying a green crossbody bag.

Presumably, the bag contained knives they carried with them, as if they wanted to make sure passersby knew they were bad guys among the crowd.

The stick-like creature had been following closely behind, neither too close nor too far, until it was blocked by these people at a bend in the road.

"Hey bro, you look a bit unfamiliar. You've been following us all this way, and you haven't been very cooperative. Don't blame us for bleeding you dry today!"

One after another, kitchen knives were taken out of the satchel and used as a blatant threat. (End of Chapter)