“I mean the clothes got even tighter.” David Carter looked at his own clothes; there was a tear in his shirt, with some bloodstains on it, but his wallet and everything else were perfectly fine. Luckily, Fatty didn’t pay close attention—otherwise, if he had noticed the bleeding at the time, how could there be no scar at all now?

“I mean, come on, you don’t have to hit me where it hurts. To make up for my weak and wounded soul, you’re treating me today.” Fatty had lived here before, and his relationship with David Carter was anything but ordinary. He simply grabbed a cup, went over to pour himself some water, and gulped down several glasses in a row.

The recently paid salary, the money won at the arcade, plus a few hundred yuan in his wallet—all of it, David Carter now put into his wallet.

“Boss, you’ve struck it rich, so much MONEY! I just heard that Resident Evil chick say she was going to kick you out—what’s up with that?” Fatty watched David Carter organizing his money and joked.

“Just as well, I’m still not full. Let’s eat and talk.” It was afternoon now, but since he’d already quit his job, there was nothing to do. David Carter packed up his wallet and went with Fatty to a small restaurant at the entrance.

“Boss… boss… you’re being too generous, really, you don’t have to be so polite. Hmm, this one’s good, this one’s not bad either…” Fatty saw David Carter order six dishes right off the bat, pretended to be modest for a couple of sentences, and then grabbed the braised pig’s trotter that was served first and started gnawing on it.

“Polite my ass, I’m hungry too.” David Carter found that his strength had increased, but so had his appetite. Although he hadn’t eaten much at lunch, he’d still had quite a bit, but after a little exertion just now, he felt ravenously hungry. So he ordered six dishes right away and two big bowls of rice.

“Save some for me, boss… damn, no way, you’re even more ferocious than me.” Fatty watched David Carter wolf down the food, and before they even had a chance to drink, he had already devoured everything in a whirlwind, leaving Fatty dumbfounded.

“Boss, did you just come back from Africa or something? How’d you get this hungry?”

David Carter then asked the waiter to bring a few more dishes, and only then did he start drinking with Fatty. With Fatty around, no one would be surprised no matter how many dishes were ordered. From the way the waiter looked at Fatty when bringing more food, it was obvious, but Fatty just looked innocently at David Carter.

“Come on, let’s have a drink first…” Only now did David Carter feel a bit more comfortable. He raised his beer mug and clinked glasses with Fatty.

“It’s nothing, I quit my job at the company today, spent the whole day out and about, got hungry. Fatty, how have you been lately?”

“Same as always, running around for business every day—talking like a human to people, talking like a ghost to ghosts.” Fatty took a couple of bites, then picked up the beer pitcher and poured for both David Carter and himself: “Boss, why’d you quit? Weren’t you supposed to get promoted?”

With Fatty, David Carter didn’t hide anything and gave a simple explanation. They’d lived together as brothers for nearly five years, so they spoke freely. Other than the matter with his left arm, there was nothing to hide from Fatty, including winning money and getting into a fight earlier—he told Fatty about it all, just leaving out the part about fighting five people alone and hitting so many sevens and threes in one go. After a few drinks, as soon as Fatty heard about the fight, he immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to go all out.

The two of them chatted and laughed. In the past, Fatty was the best drinker in the dorm, especially when it came to beer. If nothing else, just his capacity was unmatched. No matter how much you could drink, if your stomach wasn’t big enough, it was no use. But this time, the first one to go to the bathroom was Fatty, the first to go out and throw up was also Fatty, and in the end, it was David Carter who helped Fatty back to their place.

Looking at Fatty sleeping on the bed, taking up almost the whole thing, David Carter checked the time—it was already past seven in the evening. He was now full of energy. He felt a little tipsy but not at all drunk; in the past, even a third of this would have knocked him out.

Looks like his constitution had improved, and so had his alcohol tolerance. After thinking for a moment, David Carter closed the door and went out. There were hundreds of thousands of people living on Shuguang Tenth Street. Old seven-story buildings, communal apartments, and countless new small buildings and bungalows built in recent years. It only got lively at night, especially in the arcades.

This time, David Carter had already made up his mind. He first took a cab to Shuguang Tenth Street, then started wandering from there, popping into any small arcade he came across. He didn’t win too much at any one place—just three to five hundred yuan each time, then left, so as not to attract attention.

He’d always known there were plenty of arcades around here, but only after walking all the way from Shuguang Tenth Street to Shuguang First Street past eleven at night did he realize just how many. Not counting the more hidden ones he didn’t know about, he’d already been to twenty-three arcades. David Carter counted the money in his hand—he’d won an average of more than 350 yuan at each. Adding it up, it was over eight thousand, plus the money he’d won earlier and half a month’s salary—he’d scraped together enough for rent.

With the rent money sorted, David Carter felt relieved. He didn’t plan to make a living off this for long—just needed to get through this urgent patch. With that in mind, he hurried home. By now, it was already past eleven at night.