At one in the morning, Cao Yang went downstairs with Lei Dian and the others.He hadn't agreed to join them—he just wanted to see what they actually did.
Outside, a tricycle was locked by the curb. Zhang Jiawei took the driver's seat while the other three sat in the back.
After half an hour on the road, they arrived at a remote construction site.
It was part of a newly planned industrial zone. Looking out, the area was filled with rows and rows of unfinished buildings.
They had already scouted the place. According to them, the security guards spent the night playing cards. As long as they were careful, they wouldn't get caught.
"Cao Yang, stay here and watch the tricycle. If someone comes, honk the horn," Lei Dian instructed.
Cao Yang nodded and watched the three slip silently into the construction site.
He lit a cigarette, feeling conflicted.Stealing… felt disgraceful.
But then he thought about his obsession with slot machines.Was that any more respectable?Wasn't that illegal too?
If anything, he wasn't even as upright as Li Yan.
He had asked Lei Dian earlier, "Since you refused to join the snatchers and won't rob girls, doesn't that mean you have a sense of morality? Then why become a thief?"
Lei Dian said, "Snatchers rob regular people. One robbery and they lose months of wages. Not robbing them is just basic decency.But construction sites? Those are owned by rich bosses. They have money to burn. Stealing a little from them means nothing—it's like the cost of one meal. That's called 'taking from the rich to help the poor.'"
His twisted logic actually fooled Cao Yang.It sounded… reasonable.That was why he came along.
Cao Yang thought stealing cables meant they would find the cables, carry them out, load them, and leave.
But five minutes passed—no sound, no movement, no one came out.
The truth was similar to what he imagined—but with one extra step: cutting the cables.
These were cables as thick as an arm, wound into huge rolls. There was no way the three of them could carry them whole.
Inside, the three were using hand saws to carefully cut the cables into two-meter segments—just short enough to carry.
Before long, Jiawei emerged carrying a section of cable, placed it on the tricycle, and went back in.
A-Liang came out with another piece, dropped it onto the pile, and returned as well.
Lei Dian was cutting inside while the other two did the carrying—like ants moving food.
In just a short time, the tricycle was filled to the brim.
Then—the situation changed.
The door to the security room slammed open.Four security guards stormed out with flashlights and batons, shouting "Catch the thieves!" and yelling into their walkie-talkies for backup.
Jiawei and A-Liang panicked, sprinted out, jumped into the tricycle, and started the engine.
Cao Yang looked back—Lei Dian wasn't out.
"Where's Lei Dian? He's not on the tricycle!"
"He got pinned down by the guards!" A-Liang shouted.
"So we're not going to help him?!"
Neither A-Liang nor Jiawei replied.
"I'm going back!" Cao Yang said firmly.To him, Lei Dian had been good to him. Running away while he was captured felt too heartless.
Jiawei and A-Liang glanced at him but said nothing.They slowed down slightly.
"Be careful," A-Liang said. "Don't get yourself caught."
"If you actually manage to save Lei Dian, tell him we'll be waiting at the usual place!"
Cao Yang strode back toward the construction site.
He saw Lei Dian pinned down by the four guards—one pressing his legs, one locking his arms behind his back, one tying him with rope, and one cursing and kicking him from time to time.
"Let him go!" Cao Yang stepped forward, one step at a time.Four versus one—but he was confident.
The guards were stunned. They didn't expect the kid to come back.
They dropped the already-bound Lei Dian and approached Cao Yang with batons raised.
Lei Dian was shocked too. He never expected Cao Yang to come back for him.
But what could one person do against four armed guards?
If all four of them had been there, maybe they could win a fight.
But they were thieves.Their hearts were guilty.Once discovered, their instinct was to run—not fight.
"You little bastard actually came back? You think we're nothing?!"One guard roared and smashed his baton toward Cao Yang's head.
Cao Yang tilted his head, easily dodging.He twisted sideways and struck with a kick.
His foot slammed into the guard's stomach, sending him flying three meters.
Lei Dian stared in shock.He never imagined Cao Yang knew martial arts—let alone that he was this skilled.
But even then, Cao Yang held back.The guards were just workers doing their job.They were in the wrong—he had no reason to injure them seriously.
The other three guards hesitated.They exchanged looks and charged together.
Cao Yang took two quick steps forward.In the blink of an eye, all three were knocked to the ground.
The guard captain felt a chill run down his spine.As Cao Yang approached, he instinctively backed up.
No kidding—why risk my life for a few hundred yuan a month?
He also couldn't understand:Someone with this kind of skill—why become a petty thief?
Cao Yang didn't make things difficult.He simply untied the ropes on Lei Dian and helped him up.
They quickly left the scene.
…
"Cao Yang, you're incredible!"Lei Dian's face was swollen and bruised, but he didn't care.He looked at Cao Yang with genuine excitement.
"You learned martial arts, didn't you?"
Cao Yang didn't know how to respond.He simply nodded. "Two years."
Lei Dian got even more excited.He said he always wanted to go to a martial arts school as a kid, but his family wouldn't let him—otherwise he'd be just as strong as Cao Yang.
"Where are we going now? Home?" Cao Yang cut him off.
"No, we're finding A-Liang and Jiawei first."
"You're not angry at them?" Cao Yang asked. "You got caught and they ran. They didn't even look back."
Lei Dian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.
"No. If they got caught, I would've run too."
"You guys really don't care about loyalty?"
"Don't be fooled by the word 'loyalty.' Even loyalty has rules. You ever watch Young and Dangerous? Do you think Chan Ho-Nam is loyal? When his brothers got chopped, he still ran."
"That's because they dragged him away," Cao Yang argued.
"That's because the movie needed it. In real life, no one drags him—he'd run even faster. Does that make him disloyal?"
"When the opponent's numbers overwhelm you, running is smart. Staying is just dying for nothing. That's not loyalty—that's stupidity."
"So you're calling me stupid for saving you?" Cao Yang frowned.
"No," Lei Dian said. "You have skill. They don't."
Cao Yang paused.If he wasn't confident he could beat those four guards—Would he have gone back?
Probably not.
They soon arrived at a scrap collection yard.The tricycle was parked at the entrance.
Cao Yang knew A-Liang and Jiawei were inside.