Chapter Thirty-Seven: Entering the Room to Steal

  Ma Fei took Li Guoting away from the hotel in the morning to find a way to make money. Only Zhao Erhu was left in the room. He didn't know if he had stayed up all night or had insomnia, but he felt extremely tired. As soon as Ma Fei and Li Guoting left, he pulled up the quilt, covered his head, and fell asleep with a snore.

  He slept until the sun was on the roof. The hotel attendant came to knock on the door. Zhao Erhu only woke up from his sleep.

  Hearing the knocking at the door, Zhao Erhu was somewhat impatient and shouted towards the gate: "Knock, knock what knock. People are alive, not dead, why make such an effort."

  As he spoke, Zhao Erhu got up from bed, reached out to grab his clothes and started putting them on.

  "Knock, knock." Another urgent knocking sound came from outside. Along with the knocking, the shop assistant's voice was heard: "Time's up. Ah, it's time to pay and settle accounts."

  Zhao Erhuo heard it and thought that the hotel staff had come to urge him to pay again, his anger rising up to his throat.

  "It's just that we owe you some money, isn't it? We're not refusing to pay. What are you yelling about? That's your family's door, if you keep banging on it like that, aren't you afraid of breaking it?" Zhao Erhu shouted while putting on his clothes.

  When Zhao Erhu finally got dressed and put on his shoes, the people waiting outside were getting impatient.

  "Hey, innkeeper, why haven't you come to open the door yet? If you don't open it soon, we'll have to break in!" The hotel attendant didn't even call him a guest, but directly shouted at him as the innkeeper.

  Zhao Erhu's face sank. He walked over and opened the door. As soon as he pulled out the wooden bolt stuck in the door, the big gate was pushed open by someone outside. Due to the great strength of the person outside, the door was pushed hard, and the door panel hit Zhao Erhu's head. Zhao Erhu retreated several steps in a row, almost falling backwards to the ground.

  "What's going on here?" Zhao Erhu stabilized his swaying footsteps, rubbed his forehead with his hand, and a bump was knocked out by the door.

  As the door of the inn was pushed open with force, two short but sturdy inn waiters rushed in from outside. Behind them was a short and stout inn owner, wearing a black gourd-shaped hat on his head, a blue cloth long gown, and a black vest with yellow trim over it, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his upturned nose.

  Those two sturdy fellows rushed into the house, grabbed Zhao Erhu's two arms, and held him up like a small chicken in front of the boss.

  "What's going on?" Zhao Erhu still wanted to struggle, trying to break free from the two shop assistants. But those two seemed to have been prepared, their hands tightly grasping Zhao Erhu's arms, as if they were afraid he would run away. There was no sign of relaxation.

  "What are you doing, what do you want to do? The money for staying in the hotel is here, where did it come from? It wasn't paid yesterday. Today has passed half a day and still not paid, how can this be? Wanting to cheat on the bill? Get out, take him to the police station." The boss looked at Zhao Erhu with his eyes slanted, staring from the edge of his golden glasses frame.

  Zhao Erhu felt that the gaze was like a needle piercing his skin, making him feel uncomfortable. Adding to this were the two sturdy hotel staff members who held his arms tightly, causing them to ache. Grinding his teeth, he said to the boss: "Boss, we didn't say we wouldn't give you money. After a while, my older brother and second brother will be back. They went out to get the money. When they return, we'll give it to you. We won't owe you any money."

  The boss stared at Zhao Erhu's eyes with a mixture of trust and doubt for a long time, as if trying to find some deceit in his slippery gaze.

  "You little scamp, you didn't deceive us, did you? Did your two brothers really go to get the money?" his wife asked.

  "Ah, no problem, it's just about the money, why would I cheat you? If I really cheated you, I'd have run away long ago. And yet I'm still here letting you catch me." Zhao Erhu said.

  The boss finally shifted his gaze from Zhao Erhu, looked around and found that there was only Zhao Erhu in the room. The quilt on the bed was still piled up in a mess, and he signaled to the two shop assistants to release Zhao Erhu.

  The two shop assistants had just let go. Zhao Erhuai swung his arm, which was a bit sore from being held by the shop assistant, and was about to walk out.

  "Halt! Where are you going?" The innkeeper, seeing this, stretched out his hand and stopped Zhao Erhu, asking.

  "Haven't I told you before? My two brothers will be back soon. When they get back, we'll give you the money for your stay. Why are you blocking my way? I haven't eaten yet, I'm starving." Zhao Erhu patted his empty stomach as he spoke.

  "You can't go out, just stay in the room. Wait for your two brothers to come back and settle the rent before you can leave." The boss stood across the doorway, saying to Zhao Erhu.

  "Boss, you don't even ask me to go out and eat, I'm going to starve to death. If I starve to death, my two brothers will know about it. They'll definitely refuse to pay the debt, maybe they'll even run away with the news. Who's going to pay you back then?" Zhao Erhu argued.

  "You're just a young punk, with a slippery mouth. You can't leave. If you do, I won't be able to get any money from you. There's no food for you, so I'll take care of it first. Wait until your two brothers come back, and we'll settle the account together." The inn owner said, stretching out his hand to push Zhao Erhu back into the room again.

  Before long, the boss had a shop assistant bring Zhao Erhu a bowl of rice. On top of the rice were a few green vegetable leaves and a small spoonful of pickled vegetables.

  Zhao Erhu held the bowl of rice, eating and grumbling: "This coarse-skinned boss, is this all the food? Treating me like a beggar. I've also eaten 'Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl' before. Damn it! You're really underestimating people. When my two brothers come back with money, I'll show you what's good. Hmph, looking down on people."

  After finishing dinner, Zhao Erhu went to open the door and found that it was locked from the outside. He couldn't pull it open.

  "Damn it. What kind of people are you? Is it just because I owe you a few stinky dollars that you have to lock me in the house?" Zhao Erhu cursed angrily.

  The whole afternoon, Zhao Erhu was like a prisoner, staying in this hotel room, unable to go anywhere.

  Until it was dark outside. The window began to have lights shining in, Zhao Erhu still hadn't waited for Li Guoting and Ma Fei's return.

  Just as he had just lit the kerosene lamp in the room, the hotel owner came to urge again. Seeing that Zhao Erhu's two brothers had not returned yet, the owner was no longer polite. Not only did he stop serving meals to Zhao Erhu, but also made a ruthless remark, saying that if he didn't settle his debt by dawn the next day, he would be taken to the police station.

  Wait and wait, look forward to it. Look at the stars all over the sky, but Li Guoting and Ma Fei have not returned yet. Zhao Erhu's heart rose with a burst of anger. He walked back and forth in the room while scolding Li Guoting and Ma Fei.

  "You two are dead, aren't you? It's so late and you still haven't come back. Did you get the money and go whoring around? Damn it! I'm starving to death here, and you two still haven't returned. Dead, I tell you! And yet you call yourselves sworn brothers. You only consider me a brother when you need something from me. When you don't need me anymore, you just abandon me and enjoy yourselves. What kind of people are you? Leaving me alone in this godforsaken hotel to starve to death? If I really do starve to death, I'll drag the two of you down to hell with me!"

  Zhao Erhu cursed as he lifted his head to look out the window, seeing that the sky was getting darker and darker. He felt increasingly anxious in his heart. He thought to himself, could it be that those two have encountered some trouble and won't be able to come back? It's also possible that they'll never return. Anyway, if we keep waiting like this, they still won't come back. Not to mention that I'm hungry myself, but even my life will be handed over to the police station. It's better for me to steal some money tonight and settle the hotel bill early tomorrow morning, so I can also leave safely. Staying here is not a solution after all. It seems that relying on oneself is more reliable than relying on others.

  Thinking of this, Zhao Erhu walked quietly to the door, put his ear on it and listened, finding that there was no one in the corridor outside. He then stretched out his hand to pull the door bolt. The door was still locked and couldn't be opened. He turned around and walked to the window.

  He stretched out his hand and pulled open the window, grasping the windowsill, then climbed up onto the windowsill.

  They lived on the second floor, Zhao Erhuo climbed up to the window frame of his room, with two toes tapping on the edge of the windowsill, slowly moving towards the adjacent window.

  In the first window, a father and son lived. They were talking facing the kerosene lamp. Looking at them, they won't go out again.

  In the second window, a tall man in a long gown lived there. He looked like a wealthy master. Wearing a light gray long gown with a white wide-brimmed hat. Zhao Erhu watched outside that window for a long time. Waiting for an opportunity to steal, but found that the man actually took out a black and shiny handgun from his pocket and played with it in his hand. Zhao Erhu was startled. Thinking in his heart, this master cannot be stolen, he has that thing in his hand, and if not careful, his life will be lost.

  Then he quietly crawled to the third window and looked up at the house. Hey, this window actually has one open. Zhao Erhu carefully stretched his head out from under the windowsill and looked inside. He found that no one was in this room. Great. He said to himself. With a flip of his body, he slipped into this room.

  This is a beautifully decorated room, with a dresser, wardrobe and a pair of sofas. In the middle, there is a double bed, covered with luxurious soft silk quilts. On both sides of the bed, there are two pairs of slippers. It looks like this house is specially designed for rich people to live in.

  Zhao Erhu's gaze swept towards the bed, and at a glance, he saw that there was actually a large black leather bag placed on it.

  "There must be money in here. Haha, this time. I'm going to get rich. Let Li Guoting and Ma Fei see who has the skills." With that thought, Zhao Erhu stepped forward and grabbed the black leather bag, unzipping it with a flourish. Good stuff, inside were stacks of shiny silver coins. Zhao Erhu was overjoyed, just about to pick up the bag and head for the door. Just then, he suddenly heard the sound of the lock on the door being opened by someone.

  Zhao Erhu's temper was not good. Someone came back, and he wanted to jump out of the window again, but it was too late. He hastily looked around and found that there was no other place to hide. In a hurry, he put down his bag and slipped under the bed.