If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

The wider the high-rise buildings in Chicago, a city of architecture, are, the deeper the alleys between them are. The alleys here are no different from the alleys in other cities and countries. They are not comparable to the "wide and narrow alleys" and "wide and narrow alleys". "Three Thousand Six Hutong", if you stand outside the alley and look inside, you can only see iron fences and garbage cans piled up against the gray brick walls.

It’s just that the trash bins of capitalism are larger than other places, and the materials inside are better, which can effectively attract many homeless people to build nests in cardboard boxes nearby, and even develop a territory circle exclusively for beggars. , there is a sense of occupying the mountain to guard the resource refresh points in the game, which has led to the chaos and seriousness of the alley ecology. Recently, there has been a phenomenon of beggars forming gangs. I don’t know when a capitalist roader will be formed. Capitalist beggars are coming.

This is also the reason why Chicago citizens never like to walk in alleys. Women who often appear in movies walking alone in alleys actually basically never happen. As long as adult women are not drunk, 90% of them will not. Men take risks in the same way - so this made what happened next much smoother.

The little brother with the dreadlocks was pulled by his collar and hung on the wall. His legs were off the ground, and his courage was shut down. Although the accusation that black people are bullying others is a bit too one-sided, if black people in gangs are bullies and fear others, then there would be no problem. So when Lin Nian picked him up with one hand, he instantly became honest.

It's not okay to be dishonest. The CZ82 pistol he bought at the gang's "friendly price" stuck in his waist is now being held by the other party. He was disarmed and subdued within half a second of meeting each other. This skillful technique made his heart skip a beat. Next, I felt that I might really have encountered a plainclothes person.

But when the hell did Chicago.P.D. recruit male models from Pitti Uomo? Isn’t the director of Chicago.P.D. a gas-barrel oily white middle-aged man? Oh, actually, if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

The next thing is easy to explain. He is so familiar with it. When facing plainclothes police, he can say anything as long as he is not asked to confess his crime (law enforcement recorder). Whatever the other party wants to know, he just needs to be honest and honest. At most, he will be given the title of "Snitch" by his colleagues. Of course, the premise is that he really tells the dirty information that is not beneficial to the gang behind him.

When Lin Nian came out of the deep alley, everything had been discussed. In fact, the process was one-sided. He asked and the other party answered.

He only had one question, which was the origin of the tooth necklace. The guy with the dreadlocks admitted it and directly answered that it came from a dull Asian boy. He also added that the boy was very attractive. I like him, but I'm also quite naive enough to suspect that his good face that deceives women is a result of one-third of his IQ.

When Lin Nian heard the word "Asian", he probably knew that he had found the right person. After asking the guy with the dirty pigtails in detail where he found the kid, he threw him head down into the trash can. When he left, he handed the CZ82 to him. Unloaded and thrown into a ditch full of mud.

The spot where the kid with the dreadlocks revealed that the plundering incident occurred is not far from here, but the location is bad enough, because the place has left the shores of Lake Michigan and gone deep into the city, and is still close to a place called 'Nolaw' Within the gang's sphere of influence, although nothing particularly serious would happen during the day, if a dull guy walks into a place like that and is almost unlucky, he may bump into a ghost.

Lin Nian found the location of the block on the map of the mobile phone navigation, and took a taxi without hesitation. The block was full of surveillance cameras and there were too many pedestrians, making it difficult to move too quickly.

It cost Lin Nian thirteen dollars to take the bus to his destination. After getting off the bus, he opened his phone and checked the map, and then seemed a little confused. This place was at least twenty kilometers away from the Chicago train station. How did he get lost and end up here? Came from the side.

But now that I think about it, it’s understandable that I turned off my cell phone. Even if I can lose my cell phone from something hanging around my neck, it’s a big deal if something like that doesn’t get touched easily. But unfortunately, when the black guy was searched in the alley, he didn't find many mobile phones. When asked, the other person only said that he had taken the necklace and wanted to touch the mobile phone but couldn't find it. Maybe this is not the first round of being robbed.

There are obviously fewer high-rise buildings in the neighborhood near where Lin Nian got off the bus. This should be regarded as a residential area in Chicago. There are many more five- to six-story buildings. Supermarkets and shops can be seen everywhere. Without the beach and Lake Michigan, the environment will immediately disappear. It has become relatively normal.

Lin Nian swept the streets around him, passing the city's light rail facilities above his head. The trains rumbled as they passed by, and the red rusty light source under the tracks fluttered. The disrepair of public facilities was not limited to Chicago. It is a major feature of the entire American city. You can know this by looking at the subway in Chicago. If a homeless person is very hungry and walks around the subway, he will always find something like a half-eaten and discarded lunch box on the ground.

"Painting walls." Lin Nian walked around the block for a while and found a graffiti wall that the guy with the dirty braids mentioned. A long wall was covered with paintings by street artists, abstract face paintings composed of conflicting colors of yellow, blue, red and purple. , and there are gang-style graffiti on the corner declaring ownership of the neighborhood.

Lin Nian stood in front of the graffiti wall and looked around, then walked to the end of the wall. There was a row of barbed wire fences, and behind it was a wild basketball court. Inside, a group of 18- and 9-year-old black boys in adolescence were playing basketball. There were a few black girls playing with their mobile phones on the seats, probably the girlfriends of the boys playing ball.

Lin Nian pushed open the barbed wire door and walked in. He walked directly onto the court. When he got close to the basket, the group of black boys spotted him. He was holding the ball and was about 1.83 meters tall. His hair was shaved with lightning bolts. The black man with the mark stopped dribbling at that time, looked up at Lin Nian with the ball in one hand and shouted, "The court is full, outsiders are not allowed to join."

"I'm not here to play ball, just asking a question."

Lin Nian walked directly into the court. The boys who were still fighting stopped and stood aside to make way for their positions. The man with the inch hair who was leading also threw the ball with both hands and walked over, "Hey, you are Are you here to cause trouble?"

"It depends." When Lin Nian saw him approaching, he stopped walking forward and waited until the other party came to him.

The man stood in front of Lin Nian and was about to engage in some traditional face-to-face intimidation and ridicule, but the moment he looked at Lin Nian, his heart rate suddenly slowed down a little - don't get me wrong, it wasn't love at first sight for eating this Asian. Regarding the boy's appearance, although he admitted that he did look a lot like his parents, black brothers were one of the most homophobic people.

Just when he met the boy's eyes, he seemed to be stung by the flash of sunlight refracting in his eyes, and his chest felt tight, as if he was out of breath when someone hit him with an elbow during a confrontation. Come on, I feel very tired. I have no temper at all. I just want to settle down quickly.

"What do you want?" the man frowned and asked.

"A man, about 1.68 meters tall, wearing a black shirt, white striped T-shirt, casual pants and sneakers. He is very impressive. As for how impressive he is, everyone who has seen him will probably understand what I mean. .Have you seen him?" Lin Nian spoke concisely.

"Who is he?" The man suddenly raised his eyebrows.

"Have you seen him?" Lin Nian nodded slightly at his reaction. It seemed that he was lucky.

The reason why he was able to find him here is very simple. People who play basketball usually play for hours at a time. At the same time, people on this kind of wild court always have a habit of turning their heads and looking away from the court after throwing a good ball. He always hopes that people passing by can see him acting cool and possibly catch a glimpse of the person he is looking for.

"I've seen it before." The man nodded directly, "I even came in to play with two balls."

"He entered the basketball court to play?" Lin Nian felt that his confusion must have appeared on his face, but after a moment he frowned and asked, "Did you let him enter the court?"

The man glanced at Lin Nian and said, "Not everyone has a face full of trouble like you. That guy looked very interesting, so I let him play a few games."

"How was he doing?" Lin Nian asked this question by some strange coincidence.

It doesn't mean anything else, I'm just curious about the basketball skills of the older brother of a school girl I have never met. If the younger sister has blood and can join Kassel Academy, then there is no reason why the older brother should be a mediocre person, unless he is his half-father. Reorganized half-mother family.

"He doesn't know how to play basketball at all, and he's as stupid as if he has no strings in his head. When asked if he would bet on basketball, he actually agreed. After playing for a while, he made an excuse and said that he suddenly remembered that he had something else to do and he wanted to go find someone. gone."

"Which way are you going?" Lin Nian touched his forehead and felt that the boy he was looking for really had a personality.

"At the entrance of the South Subway Station, before he left, he said he had lost his wallet and asked me to borrow $100."

"Do you believe what he said?"

The black brother shrugged and said, "Of course I believe it, because I picked up 1,000."

Lin Nian looked up and down at the black brother wearing Kobe Bryant's jersey.

Has a conscience, but not much.

Without thinking about helping others recover the remaining 900, Lin Nian waved his hand and was about to leave. The black brother suddenly looked at Lin Nian's back and said, "You know him, do you want to try throwing him away?" Do you want the money back?"

"Will you give it to me?" Lin Nian stopped and asked sideways.

"Yes, but it depends on your skills." The black brother waved to his teammates to throw the basketball over, dribbling with his left hand and spreading his right hand toward the back half of the court, "Fightball, 100 pieces, do you want to play?"

"I'm in a hurry." Lin Nian said.

As soon as these words were spoken, the young men watching on the side of the court began to boo. The black brother also grabbed the ball and spread his hands with a helpless expression, "Are you in a hurry to go to yoga class? (The meme comes from Fightball. Quote: If you don’t like the sport, just take a yoga class)”

"I mean, I'm in a hurry. 100 pills is too slow. 1,000 pills will determine the outcome." Lin Nian raised his left hand to cover the direction of the sun.

The boos on the sidelines instantly turned into boos, probably because Lin Nian said this sentence so smoothly. From his expression to his posture, there was no feeling of reluctance or face-saving. It was as if he had planned to say this. Similarly, in the eyes of young and energetic black boys who pursue effects and stimulation, they can only describe it as "pretending to be in place".

This time it was the black brother's turn to be stunned, but he quickly responded and swatted the ball and whistled. A black girl wearing hot pants over the seat put down her phone and grabbed a shirt. The black brother came over from He found a roll of dollar bills in his shirt pocket and threw it on the sidelines, and the booing became even louder.

Lin Nian didn't care. He pulled a necklace out from under his black T-shirt. He didn't know what brand it was. He only knew that Su Xiaoqiang had forced it on him and said it was meant to go with this dress. But unfortunately, it was He doesn't really like wearing things so he keeps them stuffed under his T-shirts.

"CC's necklace?" But the girlfriend next to the black brother recognized it and was a little surprised, even shocked, "You bet on this? This is worth more than 1,000."

She couldn't recognize which CC necklace it was for a moment, but judging from the cutting process and the amount of diamonds, it couldn't be cheap. It couldn't be from the high-end jewelry series, right?

Of course, what Su Xiaoqiang gave Lin Nian couldn't be cheap, and Lin Nian knew this. As for whether Su Xiaoqiang would be angry because he took the necklace as a bet, of course he wouldn't.

If Su Xiaoqiang were present, he would probably take off his own necklace and throw it on the ground to add money. This is a dream show for the little goddess who lives in the mine, and she can't wait to follow Lin Nian. Jumping around, waving flags and making noise.

"The official price of a ball in Fightball starts at ten thousand, so it's better to play with bigger balls." Lin Nian tilted his head.

"Hey, wait, are you really that big of a deal?" The black brother was a little surprised, "I won't bet on you."

"You can just bet 1,000. In fact, it's just 100 to you, right? After all, 900 belongs to others." Lin Nian said, "It's unfair anyway. If it were truly fair, it would mean I was bullying others. .”

"Have you really played official Fightball?" Brother Black was a little unsure now. He looked at the boy in front of him again. He was about 1.8 meters tall (boys are still growing up to 20 years old), although he was shorter than himself. He was a little bit thicker, but looking at the muscle lines under that T-shirt, he was much sharper than himself.

"I've never played before, but I have this idea, but I never have time." Lin Nian walked to the halfway point and stood in front of the black brothers.

What he told was half the truth. The main reason why he didn't play was because he was afraid of hurting others.

Fightball is a basketball confrontation similar to semi-free rules. It often appears in underground courts. Left-right confrontations on the 13-meter court. DJ commentary, various aerial tackles, and brutal impacts are rarely called fouls. It is completely about physical fitness and physical fitness. Wild basketball and street ball all look a lot more elegant compared to it. Some retired stars may suffer a loss when they play this kind of super confrontational game for the first time.

Lin Nian was originally interested in basketball. Unfortunately, after going to Kassel College, almost no one played the hard-hitting game of basketball. More people like to team up and go to the "El Capitan" holy land to challenge unprotected bare hands. Go rock climbing, or go downhill in an uninhabited snow mountain or something.

"A ball, toss a coin to determine offense and defense." Lin Nian touched a coin and flicked it over, "Remember to return it to me."

"It's just a coin." The black brother rolled his eyes at him.

"An important coin." Lin Nian did not explain much.

The surrounding audience sat and waited with bated breath, watching the black brother flick the coin with his thumb and fly high into the sky. Lin Nian's eyes followed everyone's and he raised his head. The coin flew high and the sun shone from behind the basket. It was very eye-catching. For others, it was a momentary thing, but for Lin Nian, it made him think about many things.

If it were normal, I would have left the stadium long ago, but I don’t know why, maybe because of interest or other reasons, he still stood here and participated in this game. Maybe he really listened to what the principal said in the church. The so-called "seven-day holiday" started at that moment in the church and you really relaxed?

A group of young boys and girls, some white and some black, came running outside the barbed wire fence. They seemed to be from the neighborhood. It seemed that the girl at the table had something good to say and couldn't help but quickly spread the word on Twitter or Facebook. , which attracted a group of people nearby to watch.

The coin fell and covered the back of the black man's hand. Only then did Lin Nian slowly lower his head and look away.

"Pros and cons?" the black man asked.

"front."

Open the coin and it turns out to be heads.

"What good luck." The other person muttered.

That's right, because Lin Nian forgot to look at the trajectory of the coin and guessed the heads, so he might be really lucky today.

Lin Nian grabbed the coin that bounced over and the basketball came into his hand. He subconsciously started dribbling the ball. There were excited looks from around him and the crowd was in full swing.

The unlucky kid who lost his cell phone, wallet, and necklace probably won’t be able to run far, right? Although Chicago is not peaceful, it is still daytime at least. The worst outcome may be that you will be stripped of your clothes, pants and shoes, but your underwear will be left on, and the patrolling police will be detained for ruining the appearance of the city.

That's not bad, and it saves him having to follow the subway line to find someone.

The ball was swatted, then bounced up, and suddenly it stuck to the palm of his hand as if it was sticky. Lin Nian bent slightly and straightened his right hand to catch the ball, looking at the black brothers in front of him who were clapping and shouting to fire at me.

Just have fun occasionally. he thinks.