Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Risks must be taken to achieve success. Zhou Qingfeng felt slightly uneasy knowing that he was about to steal the two gangsters’ money.
“You look really nervous. Want a smoke?”
“I don’t smoke.”
“This is weed, not a cigarette. It can help you get high.”
“Weed? Forget it, I think I’m high enough now.”
It was already twelve at midnight when Zhou Qingfeng brought up his idea to Lena. The two of them went with it without much hesitation and headed straight for Cat’s Claw Bar.
As an Eastern European immigrant, Lena had bought a wrecked Ford sedan for two thousand bucks. She and Zhou Qingfeng sat in the car as they waited outside Cat’s Claw Bar. Lena had on smokey-eye makeup. She was wearing a tube bra, a leather skirt, and a pair of high heels. She looked exactly like a prostitute.
In 2030, autonomous electric vehicles began to grow in popularity in the United States. Nevertheless, there were still many old-fashioned internal-combustion engine vehicles around. It was hard to imagine life without a car in the United States. The public transportation infrastructure there was not very developed. If the middle class were to hail a cab every day whenever they went out, they would end up being killed.
Zhou Qingfeng drooled as he gawked at the gorgeous, modern vehicles parked in the bar’s parking lot, while Lena puffed out smoke rings and chatted with him occasionally.
“The two Russians are scumbags. Whenever we get business, they’d take twenty-five percent of the profit using underhanded means. They take our money, often beat and scold us too. They even demand us to have sex with them for free.”
“Ivan forces us to employ their loan sharks. We can’t say no even when we don’t need them. Then, they’d beat us if we can’t pay up, forcing us to sleep with perverts. Some people were even sexually abused to death.”
“Yakov, on the other hand, sells drugs in the bar. What’s worse is that he wants us to sell them for him. He beats us up whenever we don’t hit the daily sales target. He uses drugs to control many of us. Can you even imagine how miserable our lives are? There’s no hope of escaping from this at all.”
“Just today, I didn’t hand over the profit of a business deal to Ivan. I had not expected the brothers to chase after me. They said they wanted to teach me a lesson. Do you know what they were trying to do? They were trying to slit my throat with a knife after they were done having fun with me. It was to warn the other prostitutes who are soliciting business in the bar.”
Lena complained bitterly whilst showing Zhou Qingfeng the scars on her body, especially the part of her face she had covered with her smokey-eye makeup. They were actually bruises.
“Was life not good back at your hometown?” Zhou Qingfeng was shocked by Lena’s words. He suddenly felt an urge to ask Lena why she had come to America. Nevertheless, as soon as his words left his lips, he knew that he had asked the wrong question.
“My hometown…” Lena stopped and fell silent for a moment. She continued to smoke the weed in her hand and stared at the road outside the car in a daze. After a long time, she said slightly annoyed, “I don’t want to answer your question. Get me the twenty thousand bucks and help me out of this hell hole.”
What followed next was dead silence in the car. Neither of them wanted to talk anymore. Instead, the two simply stared at the bar’s entrance without a word.
The Potaski brothers were bouncers in the bar. Every night, they would send wasted VIP guests home. Zhou Qingfeng and Lena planned to wait for the Potaski brothers to come out of the bar. Then, they would enter the bar and steal their money.
It would require some luck for the brothers to leave at the same time. Fortunately, Zhou Qingfeng was lucky that night.
Lena immediately patted Zhou Qingfeng on the shoulder the moment she saw Ivan helping a drunk man out. As though she had put all her eggs in one basket, she said, “I have no idea how you found out where the Potaski brothers hide their money, but I’ve decided to trust you. We have fifteen minutes at most, and we must move fast.”
Right after Zhou Qingfeng got out of the car, Lena immediately went forward and took his hand in hers. The two walked side by side toward the entrance of the Cat’s Claw Bar. The hunky man who was on duty at the entrance glanced at Zhou Qingfeng, collected his fifty-bucks ticket, and let him in without a word.
“You better not waste my money,” Lena whispered in Zhou Qingfeng’s ears. Zhou Qingfeng did not have a single cent in his pocket. Hence, Lena had to fork out her own money to pay for his entrance fee.
“Don’t worry, I’m one hundred percent certain.” Seeing how things had come to a head, Zhou Qingfeng could only boost his own morale. Although he had already altered the plot, it was his first time stealing. Not to mention, he was stealing from two extremely violent gangsters.
The Cat Claw’s Bar was located in the basement of a dilapidated house. It covered an area of more than one thousand square meters and had two underground floors. The bar was on the first floor of the basement. The place reeked of the disgusting stench of tobacco, alcohol, and sweat combined together. The heavy metal music being played in the background was deafening to one’s ears, and people could be seen banging their heads all over the place under the dim light.
Compartments lined the second-floor basement; they were where the prostitutes provided their services after soliciting customers. Additionally, there was a small casino where the bar bouncers stayed.
Zhou Qingfeng entered the bar, and Lena held his hand as she led him to the second-floor basement. However, when they were halfway there, Zhou Qingfeng suddenly spotted several young girls sitting at the bar, laughing and fooling around. Among them, there was an extremely stunning one, and she was none other than Angeline Lawrence.
“Why are you here, Angie?” Zhou Qingfeng walked over in astonishment and yelled, “You should be sleeping at home right now! You’re still drinking?”
Zhou Qingfeng was beyond astonished. It was not part of the film plot! Those who were underage were not allowed to drink alcohol in the United States. Nevertheless, bars like this did not care whether they were allowed to drink or not. Anyone could drink as long as they paid up.
Angie had clearly snuck out of the house with a few friends. She was taken aback by Zhou Qingfeng’s presence. At that time, she was holding a glass and drinking to her heart’s content. Sounding shocked and panicked, she stuttered, “Vic… Victor. What are you doing here?”
“I think you should go home this instant,” Zhou Qingfeng said to her whilst keeping a straight face.
“I… I… I…” Angie felt weak in her knees as she looked Zhou Qingfeng. However, when she noticed Lena standing next to Zhou Qingfeng, she cried out in surprise whilst clutching his hand, “Who’s this?”
“You don’t need to know who she is, Angie. I want you to go home this instant. This isn’t a place for you. Your parents will be worried if they learn about this.”
Zhou Qingfeng thought to himself, ‘The main problem is that if something happens to you, the plot will become completely messed up all the way until the end. How am I supposed to seize the opportunity then?’
However, as soon Zhou Qingfeng said those words, everyone at the bar booed. The girls who had brought Angie to the bar mocked and ridiculed Zhou Qingfeng. Even Angie put on a grim face and snapped, “Don’t take me for a fool. I’m only drinking, while the person beside you is clearly a prostitute. You disgust me.”
Lena was forced to take half a step forward in the face of Angie’s insult. She dragged Zhou Qingfeng with her, saying, “If I’m not mistaken, we have more important things to attend to. There’s no time to waste.”
Yo… Right after Lena had mentioned the words ‘more important things’, everyone began to laugh as they linked it to them making love. A white man even came up to Angie and said, “Hey, babe! Why would you get a yellow monkey to be your boyfriend? Ditch him and I’ll drink two glasses with you.”
Angie put on an indifferent expression, turned her head around to face the bar counter, and said exasperatedly, “He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t even know him!”
“That’s the spirit! Let’s enjoy ourselves.” The white guy pushed the girl beside Angie away, forced his way into a seat, extended his hand, and introduced himself, “Let’s get to know each other. My name is Cooper. Nice to meet you.”
Zhou Qingfeng felt helpless seeing how Angie refused to listen to him. Lena was still beside him pressing him on, “Victor, we are running out of time. I’m serious, time is really running out! The Potaski brothers may come back anytime. You’ll be in big trouble if they see you here—You might even die!”