Chapter 267 - 228: The Setup is Complete, Please Step Inside

Chapter 267: Chapter 228: The Setup is Complete, Please Step Inside

Ren Peng felt like he was having a bad day. A really, exceptionally bad day.

The moment he stepped out the door, he slipped on a banana peel and landed flat on his butt. The pain nearly brought tears to his eyes. Once he recovered, he realized his doorstep was littered with all sorts of fruit peels!

Banana peels, apple peels, pear peels, orange peels... Even the local fruit stand didn’t have this kind of variety...

’What the hell is the property management even doing? Can’t they see this huge pile of fruit peels right on a resident’s doorstep?!’

He angrily called property management, and a slim young man soon appeared with a broom and dustpan, bowing and scraping with an apologetic smile.

Seeing the young man’s humble demeanor and thinking about his likely salary, Ren Peng sighed. He held back his scolding and instead offered some advice, "A young man like you should learn a trade. This job you’re doing now... there’s no future in it!"

"Ah, yes, yes, you’re right, Mr. Ren!" The slim young man swept up the trash in front of Ren Peng’s door in a flash, then found a mop and wiped the floor until it was sparkling clean.

One look at the young man told Ren Peng his advice had gone in one ear and out the other. He shook his head, hiked up his pants by the waistband, and strode into the elevator with his beer belly out, pressing the button for the parking garage on level B1.

After the elevator doors closed and the floor indicator dropped one level, the slim young man pulled a phone from his pocket and quickly made a call.

"Hey, Fatty, it’s Monkey. The target is heading to the parking garage. It’s your show now."

"Got it. Don’t worry, everything’s ready!"

Just as Ren Peng walked into the parking garage, a light near his car suddenly went out, and the area instantly grew dimmer.

He thought it was just a coincidence, but with every step he took, another light directly above his car went out! The entire garage was silent and empty, leaving only the sound of his own footsteps, his breathing, and the SIZZLING of a faulty circuit.

It was broad daylight outside, yet Ren Peng felt as if he had walked into a haunted realm...

All signs pointed to it being an inauspicious day to go out. But thinking of Mr. He’s invitation and the storefront at the furniture market, Ren Peng forced himself to be brave, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight to light his way.

A parking garage. An empty parking garage. An empty parking garage with broken lights. Add to that the limited beam of his phone’s flashlight, and the atmosphere grew even eerier.

Taking two deep breaths, Ren Peng located his car and took several large strides to reach it. He yanked open the door, scrambled inside, and quickly locked all four doors, finally feeling a sliver of security.

Just as Ren Peng started to relax, the lights that had gone out one by one now began to turn back on in the same sequence. The entire underground garage was soon brightly lit once more.

’It must have just been a problem with the circuit. Property management must have fixed it, so everything’s fine now...’

He repeated these comforting thoughts to himself, inserted the key, stepped on the gas, and turned the steering wheel. The car slowly pulled out of the garage and onto the road leading to the Haitian Hotel.

After leaving the garage, the drive was completely smooth, which helped Ren Peng relax a little. Gazing at the blue sky and white clouds, seeing the lively world outside, his frayed nerves from the parking garage slowly began to mend. He even started humming a tune with renewed interest.

Just when he thought his luck had finally turned, the car suddenly jolted, followed by a faint HISSING sound. With his years of driving experience, he knew instantly what it was. The tire—there was a problem! It was most likely a blowout!

If it wasn’t leaking air, he might have been able to keep going for a bit, but it was. Continuing to drive would be dangerous.

’Damn it! Today’s just not my day!’

Ren Peng got out of the car with a sigh of resignation. He walked a circle around the vehicle, carefully inspecting all four tires, and finally spotted three rusty nails in the front right one.

Two of the nails were completely embedded in the tire. The third one was also stuck in, but it was crooked and had gouged a small gash in the rubber. That was where the air was HISSING from.

He pressed down hard on the tire with his hand and could already feel a slight depression. He definitely couldn’t drive on this. He either had to change the tire himself or call a tow truck to take it to a shop.

He had a jack in the trunk. If he were younger, changing a tire by himself would be no big deal. But now he was a pot-bellied middle-aged man in his late forties, pushing fifty. Changing a tire alone was practically impossible...

"Damn it!" Ren Peng kicked the leaking tire hard, then resignedly pulled out his phone to call a tow truck.

At the entrance to the road, a small car so covered in graffiti you could barely tell its original color turned in and stopped right in the middle. A chubby young man got out of the driver’s seat, furtively took a yellow warning sign from the trunk, and placed it in the center of the road.

The sign read: ROAD UNDER REPAIR.

Then, the chubby young man got back in his car, stepped on the gas, and sped off in the same direction Ren Peng had gone. Less than five minutes later, he spotted Ren Peng’s flashy red car in the distance.

"Hey, buddy, what’s wrong with your car? Why’re you stopped here? Can you move it to the side?" the chubby young man shouted, rolling down his window and sticking his head out to call to Ren Peng.