Gabriel could only sigh deeply when he saw the pile of clothes and his belongings right in front of the boarding house door. His brow furrowed, and heavy sighs continuously came out of his mouth.
Gab, who had never lacked anything, now had to swallow a bitter pill by becoming a poor young man who only had a handsome appearance. Ironic indeed.
The boarding house owner wasn't kidding when she threatened to evict him if he didn't pay his three-month overdue boarding house fee today. Yeah, three months was indeed quite excessive.
Gab had tried to save money; he would do anything to get money. But still, it wasn't enough to pay his boarding bill. He turned and walked quickly towards the boarding house owner's house on the first floor.
He knew it was useless to beg the old woman; she wouldn't budge even a little. But still, that was all Gab could do.
"Oh, my handsome son, Gabriel, have you gotten the money? Not yet, right? I guessed you wouldn't be able to pay today; that's why I helped you pack up all your things and change the room lock," said Mrs. Sella as soon as Gabriel standing right in front of her.
Before the man could say why he came there, the old woman greeted him so warmly, which immediately made him feel mentally unstable.
"Come on, Mom! I've worked my ass off, but I've only been able to save enough money to pay off one month's arrears. Give me a little more time. Please," Gab pleaded earnestly.
Mrs. Sella laughed crisply when she heard Gabriel's request. There was nothing funny about Gab's words; it was just that Mrs. Sella was tired of hearing words like that.
"I gave you so much time yesterday, but look, you still haven't been able to pay it back. It's useless, Gab; you have a big body and a handsome face, but you're not good at earning money! It's better if you register at a nightclub; you can be the mistress of one of the women; you'll have a lot of money! Or ... just wait at the red bridge on the edge of the city; there will be lots of men who will approach you!"
Gab was silent, closing his mouth tightly; the man opened his eyes wide so he could see clearly that in front of him was an old woman who he couldn't hurt.
If only Mrs. Sella was a man, Gab would have immediately sent her to hell for her foul mouth.
"Good idea. This way, give me a month, and I will find a rich woman whose wealth I can extort," Gab lied.
Of course, he didn't want to be a rich woman's mistress. However, he had to say that, so, Mrs. Sella would give him more time.
With the money he had now, it was not easy to get a new boarding house or rented house. So, he had to do whatever it took to get the old woman to give him some time.
"Are you sure? You want to be a rich woman's mistress?" asked Mrs. Sella with sharp eyes.
Gab just grimaced in confusion; he couldn't understand the meaning of Mrs. Sella's gaze at him. Wasn't Mrs. Sella the one who gave him the idea? Then why was the old woman so surprised now?
"You know that nightclub at the end of the street? I heard that many socialites go there; try looking for prey there," Mrs. Sella exclaimed excitedly.
Gab smiled lopsidedly; with her talent, why didn't Mrs. Sella become a pimp? He was sure the old woman would make much more money.
"I'll try it later; the important thing now is, give me some time!" Gab exclaimed quickly.
Mrs. Sella immediately pouted, but even so, she still gave Gab the new room key.
"Remember, by the end of this month you'll have 4 months of arrears! You have to pay it off! If not, you might as well just live on the streets!" snapped the old woman, then went inside her house.
Again and again, Gab had to endure the unpleasant remarks of the people around him. Being poor was not as easy as he had imagined. It was very tiring.
Gab walked unsteadily towards his boarding room. Just as he entered the gate, someone barged in and hid behind his back. The girl's tiny hands gripped both sides of Gab's shirt very tightly.
"Help me," she cried in a trembling voice.
"Huh?" Gab shouted in confusion.
"Someone wants to kill me; help me!"
After saying that, the girl behind Gab gripped the sides of his shirt even tighter.
Gab took a deep breath as a group of burly men approached them.
"I'm sure you don't want to get involved in this, so ... just hand over the girl!" snapped one of the burly men.
Gab took a deep breath; he glanced at the girl behind him. His life was already hard enough. It would definitely be a hassle if he had to deal with them. However, Gab remembered his mother's words that a man's duty was to protect a weak woman; if he couldn't even protect a weak girl like her, then the title of a real man that had been attached to him all this time would be useless.
"Calm down, buddy; we can talk about this properly," Gab said quietly.
"Don't talk too much; just hand over the girl, and we won't bother you anymore! If you make things difficult for us, we won't let you live," the man replied.
Gab was silent for a moment; he took a deep breath, realizing the girl behind him was shaking badly because of fear.
"Hey, can you let go of your hand? I can't beat them up because you keep holding me!" Gab tried to free the girl's grip from his shirt.
"If I let go of my hand, you won't run away from me, right?" the girl asked in a half-whisper.
"That's a great idea, but don't worry, I won't do it," Gab said quickly.
The girl glanced sharply at Gab's face; slowly, she released her grip on Gab's shirt and moved away to give the man space.
"So, you want to act like a hero?!" snapped one of the men in front of them.
"This is really troublesome; I don't want to get involved with you guys, but my conscience strongly objects," Gab replied, trying to buy time. Who knows, there might be a passerby or whoever.
"To hell with your conscience!" After saying that, they started attacking Gabriel.