Li Pan also fell silent for a moment, gesturing to the injury compensation on his hand,
"The working environment at Monster Company is special; it can sometimes be very dangerous, with an extremely high death rate. If this is acceptable to you, you can contact our HR department and submit your resume. I can request a referral fee from the company."
Priest chuckled, "At my age, I'm not in need of that money anymore. It's just a way to help out friends. If I can help one, I'll help."
And so Li Pan shook hands with him, "I hope we can become friends too."
Priest nodded, "May the Lord bless you."
The negotiations with Lover's Gang's labor dispatch business went quite well. Plus, hearing that Li Pan was an employer looking to create jobs, the punks no longer followed him with guns aimed at his back. Instead, they took a photo of him with an electronic eye and updated it to the Lover's Gang Community's surveillance system. This way, Li Pan could enter and exit the district normally without being stopped and checked by the punks.
Therefore, Li Pan took the opportunity to buy some special large-caliber ammunition that Black Kite could use at the Lover's Gang black market: depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds, explosive bullets, incendiary rounds, electromagnetic jamming rounds. He now had the money, so he bought a base number of forty rounds of each and spent another 800 in cash.
With a gun for protection, Li Pan took the subway home. The sight of such a huge, black, and thick cannon strapped to his belt deterred any junkies from bothering him. Arriving back at his apartment building early, Li Pan intended to buy some energy bars to make do and study the "Nine Yin True Scripture," but he saw a pigheaded guy in a school uniform waiting for the elevator, wiping his bloody nose.
"Eh? Huang Dahe? Got beaten up?"
"You are... oh, Broomhead, you shaved your broom head..."
Squinting his eyes, Pighead took a while to recognize Li Pan.
"I'm fine... oh, did you find a job? Congrats..."
"Wahaha! Cut the crap, haha! Look at your face, it's all swollen, haha! Just like Pighead No. 3, haha!"
Li Pan laughed so hard tears came out, and he threw an energy drink at him.
Huang Dahe sighed, pressing the cold drink against the bruise on his face.
"What, did those young masters in class bully you for scoring first?"
Without even having to guess, Li Pan knew that the academic achievers from small towns were bullying targets at such elite schools, often leading to some committing suicide. Of course, jumping to your death might offer an easy way out, but the young masters would face no consequences: at worst, they would pay some compensation or switch schools. The real sufferers would be your parents.
Li Pan scanned him,
"You're okay, no broken bones, not as serious as the time you got hurt playing basketball. Go home and have your mom open up a first aid kit for you, and you'll be better in a week."
"Forget it, she's been on overtime and hasn't come home for days... and I can't be bothered to tell her. Her nagging would drive me insane."
Huang Dahe fished out a loose tooth from his mouth, spitting out blood.
"Hang in there, little bro, once you graduate, things will ease up."
Li Pan patted his shoulder. The elevator arrived, and they both squeezed into the cramped space, wrenching the door open.
"Phew... ease up, hey Broomhead, did you graduate? Is it really any easier..."
Huang Dahe's spirits were low, and the elevator news was also filled with various deaths and financial crises.
Li Pan scratched his face, pondered for a moment,
"Indeed, it won't be any easier, but look at me. I used to get beaten up in school too, and here I am, still standing. So hang in there, who knows, you might find an opportunity."
Huang Dahe looked enviously at Li Pan's business attire, asking curiously,
"Broomhead, didn't you go to a military academy? Do they beat you up there too?"
"What did you think? As soon as the lights went out, they'd drag you from your bed, pin down your arms and legs, stuff your mouth, and beat you with boots wrapped in bedsheets. It hurt like hell, and you couldn't even see the bruises.
Every troop has one or two unlucky bastards, and the drill sergeants don't care. Maybe they think that collective bullying increases team cohesion or something. Who knows? What about you? After all, how did you end up like this? Bullying doesn't usually involve hitting the face, right?"
Huang Dahe swallowed and finally spoke up,
"Uh, wasn't there a new kung fu movie that came out recently? Those gangsters bought the protagonist's martial arts package, and since electronic punching bags weren't satisfying enough, they decided to use me for practice... Hey Broomhead, how did you endure it?"
"Me? I couldn't endure it at all. Once I graduated, I hit back. Just remember the grievance, find a way to get back at them, and this will all pass."
"Get back at them... beat them up?"
"Yeah, or tear them apart and sell the pieces."
"Tear apart..."
"Ding!"
At that moment, the elevator reached their floor, and the two of them squeezed out of the door once again.