After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 13

In a community not far from the city center, Gu Jingning’s shoe once again stepped on someone’s discarded betel nut spit on the ground. The disgust made him want to leave immediately. The buildings in sight had pitted and damaged bricks and tiles. Several stray dogs were fighting over food in a trash bin in an open space. There were occasionally a few pedestrians on the street, but whenever they saw someone, they would hurriedly cover their faces and walk away quickly.

In contrast, someone like Gu Jingning who openly showed his face became the odd one out. To avoid being scanned by curious gazes from others, he put on a cap and mask.

[Gu]: Are you sure the person I’m looking for is here?

[Black Wings]: Of course! The people I introduce are guaranteed quality!

[Black Wings]: If you’re not satisfied after meeting them, I can give you a refund.

[Gu]: …Alright.

Pulin Street, Alley 18…

He entered a large building, took the elevator to the fifth floor.

25… 25… 23… 24… 25!

The metal door was slightly ajar. He didn’t find a doorbell, so he knocked. No one answered, so he simply walked in.

The first thing that greeted him in the dim space was a small chandelier. The entire room was filled with the smell of smoke, thick white smoke drifting in the air.

Under the chandelier, several men in black suits, cigarettes dangling from their mouths and various scars on their faces, put down their mahjong tiles and turned to stare at the young intruder.

“…Sorry for disturbing you.” Gu Jingning timidly took a step back and closed the door for them, only to realize the reason the door hadn’t closed properly was because it couldn’t close at all!

He ran weakly toward the emergency stairs and pulled out his phone.

[Gu]: I asked you to introduce someone, not to introduce me to the mafia!!!

[Black Wings]: ?

[Black Wings]: I didn’t.

[Black Wings]: Wait, were you the one who just opened the door?

[Gu]: ?

[Black Wings]: ?

Five minutes later, all the windows were opened, letting light flood into the room and allowing the air to circulate.

A man in a suit brought over a cup of steaming red date tea and handed it to Gu Jingning.

Gu Jingning sat awkwardly on the sofa, surrounded by a group of burly men in suits. They were now wearing sunglasses they clearly hadn’t been wearing earlier, their expressions hidden. Sandwiched in the middle of them, he wished he could shrink his presence to nothing.

Wuwu, so scary… Sure enough, you can’t trust people online.

He had already begun imagining whether it would be more pitiful to have his organs harvested and die on an operating table, or to be sold to a mine as slave labor, when suddenly all the suited men stood up and lined up neatly at the door.

When the door was pushed open, everyone bent at the waist in a perfect 90-degree bow and shouted with great momentum: “Good day, Big Brother!”

“Ai, I already told you guys not to do this. Other people will think we’re the mafia.” The man who walked in rubbed his forehead. He was wearing a blue university T-shirt and white casual pants. With fluffy curly hair and a baby face, he looked like a little lamb who had accidentally wandered into the wrong place.

He walked over and sat in the main seat on the sofa. Immediately, someone attentively massaged his shoulders, another knelt on one knee to serve him snacks and tea, and when he lifted his feet, someone lay on the ground to act as a footrest. Even so, the baby-faced man still frowned in displeasure. “I already said there’s a guest today. I warned you not to smoke! Don’t smoke! Will you die if you smoke a little less?!”

Gu Jingning was already dumbfounded. He felt he shouldn’t be here. He had a strange feeling… the atmosphere between the baby-faced man and his bodyguards was a bit weird. It wasn’t that they were doing anything inappropriate, but purely from his intuition after spending so much time in this ABO world.

But… with this many people… it shouldn’t be… right?

Noticing that Gu Jingning was still a little afraid of the suited men, the baby-faced man waved his hand and had them leave first.

“Did I scare you? Sorry about that. They just look a bit intimidating, but they’re not bad people.”

“It’s fine. I’m…” He was about to introduce himself as the person sent by the hacker, but he had no idea how to bring up that weird nickname from the hacker chat room.

“I know~” He dragged out his voice in a coquettish tone. “I’m Black Wings. Didn’t you recognize me?”

The baby-faced man sprawled lazily on his seat and looked disappointedly at the underage high school student. “But I didn’t recognize you. Where’s the 35-year-old, 190 cm tall, six-pack abs PE teacher I was promised? Hm?”

Gu Jingning awkwardly lowered his head. Back then, he had casually made up an identity out of fear of being seen as an easy target client. Now that it was being said to his face, he felt quite embarrassed.

“…Sorry.”

The baby-faced man stretched and replied, “It’s fine, I understand. It’s just a pity. I thought I could catch another husband by coming out myself today!”

“Huh?”

“You already noticed, right?” Although he couldn’t see his full face because of the mask, he really liked the pair of eyes Gu Jingning had shown. He winked at him. “But occasionally dating someone younger might not be bad either…”

“……”

Seeing that the other person had finally relaxed, the baby-faced man dropped his playful expression and extended his hand. “My name is An Yuan. You can just call me Yuan Yuan.”

“I’m Gu… Chen. You can call me Xiao Gu.”

An Yuan gave him a meaningful look, then smiled and asked, “So, what brings you here today?”

Finally able to get to the main topic, Gu Jingning breathed a sigh of relief and answered, “I want to hire you to monitor a male Alpha.”

An Yuan took out his phone to note down the Alpha’s information. “What’s his name? Do you have a photo?”

Gu Jingning: “Su Zhiguo. I don’t have a photo of him, but he often hangs around the underground casinos in the Helin District. You should be able to find him with a little asking around.”

An Yuan: “Finding someone without a photo costs extra, little boss.”

“Money is not an issue.”

An Yuan: “Very generous, boss. However… if it’s just simple surveillance, you wouldn’t need to come to us, right?”

Gu Jingning wasn’t surprised by An Yuan’s question. When he had contacted the hacker to find someone, he hadn’t been looking for an ordinary detective agency.

“One of the conditions you offered back then was… killing people. Do you want us to kill him?” An Yuan laughed softly, his eyes flowing with charm as he rested his chin on his hand. His sharp gaze fixed on Gu Jingning, carrying an imposing aura.

Gu Jingning shook his head. “That’s Plan B, only if the situation becomes the worst possible in the end.” He placed both hands on his knees and sat up straight. “I want you to make him owe you even more money.”

……

By the time he left the building, it was already close to dusk.

After finalizing the cooperation, Gu Jingning felt a little more at ease. He looked back and saw An Yuan waving at him with a smile from the balcony. Gu Jingning also raised his hand and responded stiffly.

Wuwu. His little savings had just been fleeced of a large sum by that man. Although it wouldn’t bankrupt him, it still made his heart ache.

—

Elsewhere.

Su Chen had been distracted the entire day at school. During breaks, he kept running to the second-year building to look for someone, only to be told every time that Gu Jingning still hadn’t arrived at school.

After not seeing him all day, he packed his bag dejectedly. Although he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of being abandoned by his senior, when the day actually came, he still felt it had happened too quickly.

Had he really been abandoned just like that? He suddenly gripped his books tightly, leaving deep creases on the pages. Forget it. He vented his frustration by zipping up his bag. It’s not the first time anyway.

Su Chen followed the crowd out of the school gate. The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the ground in warm light. Across the street from the school, a boy leaning against the wall with his head lowered while scrolling on his phone was wearing the exact same casual clothes as he had been that morning.

Gu Jingning seemed to sense something and looked up. Their eyes met. The corners of his eyes curved as he smiled and waved at Su Chen.

Su Chen froze for a moment, then crossed the street and walked over. He lowered his head sulkily.

Gu Jingning teased, “Whose little bitter melon is this? Your mouth is almost pouting all the way to the ground.”

“I looked for you the whole day…”

Knowing he was in the wrong, Gu Jingning still couldn’t hold back his smile. He rubbed Su Chen’s head. “Sorry, I had something urgent today and forgot to let you know.”

Su Chen was about to say something else when a loud rumbling sound interrupted them.

Gu Jingning: ……

The two fell silent for a moment. Gu Jingning rubbed his flat, hungry stomach and cleared his throat.

He had only eaten breakfast today, so this was perfectly normal, he mentally justified to himself. He put an arm around Su Chen’s shoulders and said in a light, cheerful voice, “I’m hungry! Come with me to get something to eat.”