The Secrets of Harrison's Domain Chapter 1

Asher Cheng looked at the clock on the wall. It was half past five.

It was already dark outside. Through the window I could see bare tree branches, swaying in the north wind as if they were asking the heaven for another five hundred years.

The weather forecast says it will snow tomorrow. Judging from the situation, it will probably snow tonight.

Doctor Carter in the next clinic was half shouting when talking to a hard-of-hearing patient. He had been talking all day and now he was shouting again, and it sounded like his throat was about to break.

Asher Cheng quickly took a lozenge and put it in his mouth, then called in the next patient.

An old lady was helped in and sat down. One of her legs could not touch the ground. She kept groaning and her face looked quite painful.

After she sat down, she stared at Asher Cheng for a while, and before Asher Cheng asked her, she rushed to say, "Is the older doctor next door available? Can I ask him to see me?"

"He has patients there too. You have to choose a doctor when you make an appointment," Asher Cheng smiled, "Did you hurt your leg?"

"I can't make an appointment. I didn't know my leg was going to break a few days in advance," the mother pointed at her leg, "Can't I change doctors? I'm old and can't break my leg many times. An older doctor would have more experience, right?"

Asher Cheng was somewhat helpless: "Can I take a look at you first? Please don't delay your treatment any longer."

The first lady glanced at Asher Cheng, probably because she was in pain, and said nothing more: "Then young man, connect it for me."

"Auntie," Asher Cheng stood up from his chair and squatted in front of the aunt, "is your calf hurting?"

"Yes," said the aunt, frowning, "Isn't it amazing? I was just watching TV and I broke my leg! What kind of thing is this?"

"How do you see it?" Asher Cheng was stunned. He was quite curious. He stretched out his hand and wanted to gently push up the aunt's trouser leg to see, but the aunt was wearing too many clothes and failed.

"I put my legs on the coffee table and watched the Today's Statement on CCTV-1. I thought I would take a nap and then go out to buy some groceries. There was no groceries at home, so I had to go buy some and cook them for these foodies..."

"Mom," Asher Cheng had to interrupt her, "sleep for a while, then what?"

"And then? Nothing happened. I lifted my leg," said the aunt, slapping the table, "and snap! My leg is broken! I can't touch the ground! I waited for my aunt to come home and bring me here. It hurts so much. Doctor, please connect it for me."

Asher Cheng understood what was going on, told the aunt and daughter who were accompanying them, and then wrote an order to take an X-ray first.

"Doctor, what's wrong with me? I do morning exercises every day and still bump into trees, bang bang! How can my leg be broken just by lifting it? Have you ever seen someone like me? I must be the only one, right?" The aunt didn't understand her situation.

"Your condition is not uncommon due to osteoporosis at an advanced age," Asher Cheng smiled and quickly wrote a list. "This morning, a woman got up and turned over and broke her thigh. You should be careful. If you hit a tree... it makes a loud noise, don't hit it again. Take this to get an X-ray. I'll expedite it for you."

Asher Cheng finished seeing the last few patients before Grandma's film came out. It was time to get off work. He looked at the time. He had agreed to go to grandma's house for dinner today, so the meal would probably be ready by now.

He could only spare some time to quickly send a text message to his mother saying that he would be late.

Fortunately, not many people were taking X-rays at that time, so the expedited X-ray of my aunt came out. Asher Cheng took a look at the X-ray and found that the fracture was not too serious and could be fixed with external fixation.

"Doctor," Auntie looked at Asher Cheng while sitting in the treatment room, "Did I delay your get off work?"

"It's okay. I'll be off work after you finish here." Asher Cheng looked at her, "I have to give you..."

"I know, I know. Wait for me to take it off," the aunt waved her hand immediately, and her daughter came over to help her take off one leg of her trousers. "If I knew I could break a bone while watching TV, I would definitely not wear these skinny trousers."

The first-year mother was talkative. When Asher Cheng was silently fixing her, she kept asking: "Doctor, how old is it?"

"Almost 30." Asher Cheng replied.

"Oh, she's not small anymore. You can't tell. She looks only about 28 or 29." said the aunt.

"...Is that so?" Asher Cheng smiled.

"Are you married?" Auntie asked again, staring at his face.

"No." Asher Cheng fixed the splint on her.

"Where's your girlfriend?" the aunt asked enthusiastically, "You are so busy, you must not have time for love, right?"

Asher Cheng was afraid that if he continued talking, his aunt would enthusiastically arrange his marriage, so he answered: "I have a girlfriend."

"Oh..." The aunt turned to look at her daughter with some disappointment, "The girl from the Chen family next door has no chance. This doctor is so handsome."

"He has no girlfriend and no old Miss Chen, what's the point of him?" Her daughter was helpless. "Mom, please don't ask nonsense questions. It's so rude. He's a busy doctor, please don't interrupt him."

After finally sending his aunt away, Asher Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, changed his clothes, locked the door, and quickly walked out of the hospital gate.

As he walked to the parking lot, he called his mother: "I'm on my way there now."

"Well, buy a few bottles of oil at the supermarket near the door. Your grandma still always eats greasy food. It's useless to tell her. Just buy it for her and bring it over." Mom said on the phone.

Wherever my mother, a former nutritionist, goes, she is counted, and my grandmother's family is always the focus.

"Got it." Asher Cheng pulled his collar. The wind was really strong.

The north wind blew very fast, sweeping across people's bodies as if it was in a hurry to be reborn, and it brushed people's faces so hard that it hurt.

It looks like it's going to snow soon. It got dark very early today, and it was like a shadow play before six o'clock. It's completely dark now.

Logan Xiang leaned against the wall, staring at the occasional cars passing by on the road, feeling the north wind blowing into his collar and blowing through him, and inexplicably felt a little uneasy.

The Chinese New Year is only one month away.

Another year has passed.

"The New Year is coming soon, right?" Owen, who had been squatting beside his legs to avoid the wind, asked in sync.

"Yeah." Logan Xiang responded and looked down at the cigarette B*tt in his mouth, which had been extinguished long ago.

Logan Xiang stretched out his hand and flicked the cigarette B*tt, which flew far away from Owen's mouth.

"How long until the New Year?" Owen stood up, hunching his neck, "Where should we go?"

"I don't know." Logan Xiang pulled his collar, turned around and walked along the street in the leeward direction.

"Don't know? You don't know when the New Year is or you don't know where to go?" Owen limped behind him.

Owen's leg wasn't actually that lame, and he would just be a little shaky when he walked, but he was always willing to try to make his steps more shaky.

This looks quite miserable. Owen said that if the victim is caught, he might just let it go out of his mind.

"I don't know anything." Logan Xiang didn't really want to talk. First, he was always talking nonsense. Second, he hadn't made any money in two days. If he didn't get any money tonight, he would have to hang out outside all night. When he got home, he would have to ask Uncle Harrison to clean him up like bacon.

The mood is not very bright.

After walking along the street for a while, Logan Xiang turned a corner. He was not very familiar with this area and seldom came here. If he went further, it would not be Uncle Harrison's territory. It would be easy to get into trouble if he went to this area.

But we have to take some risks today. The residential areas here are old, many have no property management, and some don’t even have walls, making it easy to get in and out.

I circled twice in front of some old residential buildings, but there were only broken electric vehicles, which was boring.

Finally, Logan Xiang stopped in front of a row of storage rooms.

Owen didn't say anything. He walked over to look at a few doors, stopped in front of one of them, took out a pair of pliers from his pocket, and opened the padlock on the utility room door in two moves.

"Hey." Owen shouted happily in a low voice as he pushed open the door.

There was a brand new car inside, but it was locked tightly and only the battery could be removed.

Logan Xiang looked to both sides, then raised his head to look up at the building behind him. All the doors and windows were closed. The light coming from the windows made Logan Xiang feel an indescribable sense of loss.

What a Fcuking hypocrite.

Owen's skill in removing batteries is not as good as Logan Xiang's, but Logan Xiang's hand was injured today, and it was because of him that he was injured, so he had to take on this job.

Under the street lights in the distance that were not much brighter than candles, Logan Xiang looked at Owen's B*tt0cks that appeared and disappeared at the door of the utility room. His movements were too clumsy. He had been moving forward and backward for several rounds and still hadn't finished.

After waiting for another ten seconds, Logan Xiang couldn't wait any longer and prepared to go over to change the steamed buns.

It was dinner time, and the north wind was blowing as hard as if his father had died. Normally, no one would come out, but Logan Xiang didn't want to take the risk. He hadn't eaten, and his body was frozen. He felt that if someone chased him, he would break into pieces while running.

I had just taken two steps forward when I heard footsteps coming from the corridor behind me. They sounded hurried and didn't seem like the normal pace of someone going out.

"Let's go!" Logan Xiang didn't have time to think about it. He went over and grabbed Owen by the collar and ran towards the street.

"Catch the thief!" A man's voice sounded behind him, and this shout was full of energy, "Catch the thief!"

Logan Xiang didn't need to look back, he knew from the voice that the man must be sturdy. With a man like him, even if ten people rushed at him, they would not be able to stop him with just one arm.

"Chase him! See if you can't kill him!" another voice shouted, "You didn't catch him yesterday, and you dare to come today!"

Fcuk! Logan Xiang staggered. There were two of them!

"Separate?" Owen asked while running wildly.

"It will take a while." Logan Xiang said, turning his head to look, and saw that the two men had weapons in their hands.

This wasn't just a sudden encounter. Someone upstairs had seen it and chased down with the things in his hand.

It sounds like someone had already swept this broken place yesterday.

This is really Fcuking unlucky.

Logan Xiang sighed as he listened to the light and heavy footsteps of Owen behind him.

These buildings are located at a relatively high altitude. There is a large platform under the first floor, and one has to go down several stairs to reach the flat ground.

After the two of them turned around the side of the building, Logan Xiang suddenly slowed down, turned around and pushed the steamed buns under the platform, and lowered his voice: "You leave later."

He pushed the steamed bun down like a sack.

Logan Xiang took a quick look and saw that the platform was not high, but he could still avoid it by crouching. He started to run forward.

Although fighting and being beaten were not Logan Xiang's strong points, he was good at running. The pursuers behind him were very persistent and kept chasing him all the way to the street outside before finally giving up.

Logan Xiang found a corner sheltered from the wind and leaned against it to catch his breath for a long time. He was no longer cold now, and a little sweat was breaking out on his body, but his throat was dry and astringent.

"Fcuk, I didn't even have my stuff with me, but you chased me so hard!" Owen bumped into him at the street corner, "Are you okay?"

"It's okay." Logan Xiang glanced at him. There was a large amount of dust on Owen's face, probably because he had rubbed the ground when he was pushed down. He put his hands in his pockets and said, "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Owen spat on the ground, took out his cigarette box, and took a look. It was empty. He squashed the empty cigarette box and threw it away in annoyance. "Do you have any cigarettes?"

"No," Logan Xiang lowered his head and walked forward, "I'm going to eat something."

"Eat? Don't you want to have another one? Are you coming back today?" Owen patted the dust off his trouser legs. "If we go back like this, we probably won't have a good life. When we came out today, I saw Uncle Harrison's face was very gloomy... Hey, Xiaozhan, why are you so listless recently? You were not like this before. Not opening the shop for two days is not like your style... I'm speechless."

"Would you like a cigarette?" Logan Xiang took out a cigarette box from his pocket and handed it to Owen.

"Hey!" Owen took out two cigarettes, put one on his ear and lit the other, "Didn't you say you didn't have any cigarettes?"

"You've talked too much. Let's have a cigarette to relax," Logan Xiang said. "I've changed to a more serious style recently. Can you cooperate with me?"

Xiaozhan was the nickname Uncle Harrison gave to Logan Xiang when he picked him up.

Inside the small quilt wrapped around him was a piece of paper with what should be his date of birth and surname written on it. Uncle Harrison gave him the name Logan Xiang based on his surname.

His surname is Xiang, and he picked it up in the west.

He was also given a nickname, saying that he had great ambitions.

Logan Xiang had never been to school, so he had no idea what "great ambitions" meant. When he grew up a little, the fake blind man next door who used the name of fortune-telling to cheat women explained the meaning of the word to him, and he finally understood it.

Had a great night.

Grand plans?

That should also be called a grand exhibition.

Besides, what kind of pictures can a person like him exhibit, let alone something grand?

"Why don't you eat?" Owen glanced at Logan Xiang while eating his rice.

"I don't want to eat." Logan Xiang poked the rice with chopsticks a few times, picked up a piece of meat and put it down again.

"You just had a cold and your stomach hurts again?" Owen frowned. "Why don't you try some porridge? It's good for your stomach."

"It's okay, eat yours." Logan Xiang leaned against the wall. It's not a magic pill that can make him healthy by drinking it.

He looked out the window. Through two layers of glass and the breath from above, the already dim street scene outside looked like something from a horror movie, with only blurred spots of light and dark shadows left.

"Xiao Zhan," Owen lowered his head and ate for a while, then put down his chopsticks and looked at Logan Xiang, "Just now...thank you, you are really nice."

Logan Xiang smiled and said, "Don't get too involved. I'm not doing this for you."

Owen didn't say anything, picked up his chopsticks and continued eating.

"You run too slowly. I want to drag you, but you won't be able to escape." Logan Xiang took a sip of hot tea and felt like someone was scraping his stomach with a blunt knife.

"You...if you want to say that, just say it," Owen chuckled twice, "then why don't you come down and hide together, instead of leading people away?"

"Did your brain get rubbed by skateboard shoes?" Logan Xiang sighed, clenching his fists and pressing them against his stomach. "When I turned around, I saw that both of them were gone. The next second I knew that they must be hiding under the stage. With a brain like yours, it's not easy for you to stay until now after two rounds."

Levi is Uncle Harrison’s sworn brother, and Owen is considered his man.

When Owen heard the name of the second dish, his face immediately turned grim.

Uncle Harrison is the boss, and Levi usually listens to him. However, he is cruel and ruthless. It was Levi who broke Owen's leg and almost crippled him. Owen is afraid of Levi.

But just like Logan Xiang's heart trembles when he mentions two plates of steamed buns, he is afraid of Uncle Harrison. Uncle Harrison has a round face and smiles at everyone he sees. He is cruel inside. Logan Xiang grew up with him, but he has never understood his character.

"Xiao Zhan," Owen finished the meal in front of him in silence with a gloomy face, "I want to tell you something."

"Don't tell me," Logan Xiang stood up, picked up his coat and turned to leave, "I don't want to hear it."

Logan Xiang had never seen Owen's expression like this. He knew that Owen must have something big to say, but he didn't want to know. Owen's big story could only be related to Uncle Levi Ping. If he knew it, it would only get him into trouble.

"I'm almost suffocating," Owen grabbed his hand, "I just want to talk to someone."

"Now that you've told me," Logan Xiang stared at his face, "I'll tell Er Pan when I get back."

"I'm leaving now," Owen gritted his teeth and said, then he let go of her hand and leaned back in his chair, "Go talk to Levi."

It doesn't matter whether you say it or not. Given Logan Xiang's temper, he would come up and beat him from a tablet to a flip phone in the next second.

But Logan Xiang didn't move, still staring at him, and after a few seconds he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Fcuk your mother."

Owen is different from Logan Xiang. Logan Xiang was picked up by Uncle Harrison when he was a few months old and has been with him until now, while Owen was brought back by Levi when he was seven or eight years old.

I met Levi when he went on a "business trip" to the south. When he first arrived, Logan Xiang couldn't understand what Owen said.

It was not trafficking. Owen insisted that he ran away from home and once firmly stated that he never wanted to go home again.

"Are you tired of living?" Logan Xiang sat back in his chair.

"I can't stand it anymore," Owen bit his lip, rolled up his sleeves excitedly, pulled up his trouser legs, and slapped his arms and legs, "How many injuries are there? Don't say you don't know, I don't know either. If I stay here any longer, I'll be damned!"

Logan Xiang narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Everyone was injured. Owen had not said he was leaving for all these years, so it was impossible for him to leave now because of this.

"I want to go back to the south," Owen poured a cup of tea and took two sips, "I want to go home."

Logan Xiang raised his eyebrows. Owen's words made him feel a little unbelievable and surprised. He almost forgot to put his raised eyebrows back to their original place.

"I know you don't believe it. I wouldn't believe it either. I dare to run away by myself. If Levi finds me, I will die. Besides, I don't have money to run away..." Owen said in a low voice. When he said this, he looked up at Logan Xiang with sparkling eyes, "But now I have money."

Logan Xiang didn't say anything.

"There are 30,000 yuan in the second plate placed in the house. I... know where it is." Owen said.

Logan Xiang seemed to be poked by something. He jumped up from the chair, grabbed his coat, turned around and walked out.

There were not many people on the street, and Logan Xiang planned to go forward to take the subway.

After walking for a while with his neck hunched, Logan Xiang saw a man coming out of the supermarket in front. He took a look and quickly turned around. Owen was limping after him a few meters behind him.

The man coming out of the supermarket was carrying two bags in one hand and talking on the phone in the other.

She didn't have a bag with her. Her pants were slim-fitting, so it was obvious that there was nothing in her pockets. Her wallet was in the inside pocket of her jacket, but because she had just come out of a heated supermarket, her jacket was not zipped up.

Logan Xiang whistled at Owen.

Owen glanced forward and immediately understood. He limped over and shouted, "Hey, you idiot, wait for me! You're walking so fast!"

"You idiot..." Logan Xiang said and walked quickly towards the man.

"Don't run," Owen ran over and stumbled over him, "Go drink!"

Logan Xiang staggered and bumped into the man.

"I bought it at the supermarket at the corner of the street," Asher Cheng said to his mother while holding his mobile phone, "I will..."

Before he could finish his words, he felt someone bumping into him. Before he could even look up, he was hit hard in the chest. He frowned and said, "Hey!"

"I told you not to rush around!" The man who bumped into him shouted at the other one, then turned around and bowed to him, "I'm sorry, brother. I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?" My mother's voice came from the phone.

"No," Asher Cheng let the two people pass and continued walking forward, "I was bumped by someone. I'll...wait, mom, I'll call you later."

Asher Cheng hung up the phone and reached into his coat pocket.

It was empty.

He turned around and the two people who had bumped into him were no longer visible.

It's a miracle that a lame man can run so fast.

After standing there for a few seconds, Asher Cheng continued to walk forward with his things. He made a few phone calls to report his bank cards lost. Then his mother called again: "What's wrong?"

"I'm going in right now. Just now... it was robbed." Asher Cheng sighed.

"Stolen?" Mom was a little surprised.

"Yeah, just now." Asher Cheng turned his head again, but there was no one there.

"You put your ID in your wallet again?" Mom sighed. "I've told you so many times not to put your ID in your wallet."

"I was wrong," Asher Cheng smiled, "I needed it today, so I just put it away."

"Forget it, come over first," the mother said without saying anything more, "your grandma is waiting anxiously."

"Yeah." Asher Cheng hung up the phone and zipped up his jacket.

Logan Xiang opened his wallet, took out some money and counted it, there were more than four thousand.

"Damn, picked up a big fish." Owen sniffed on the side.

Logan Xiang slapped all the money on Owen's hand: "It's all yours."

"Xiao Zhan..." Owen was stunned and didn't take the money.

Logan Xiang stuffed the money into his pocket, turned around and walked forward: "Don't tell me about that anymore, you can do whatever you want, don't tell me, I don't know anything."

"It's not in vain that I made friends with you." Owen's voice suddenly became choked with sobs.

"Who is your friend?" Logan Xiang frowned and looked back at him, "Can you stop being an idiot?"

Continuing to walk forward in silence, Logan Xiang counted the remaining things in his wallet, a few bank cards, which were useless, and an ID card. Logan Xiang took it out and looked at it, and said perfunctorily.

What a crappy name.

It was rare to see someone who could be considered handsome in the photo on his ID card. Logan Xiang sighed and when he turned the corner to the post office, he threw his ID card into the mailbox and then threw all the cards in his wallet into the trash can.

The wallet is made of top-quality leather and looks very new. I'm keeping it.

After taking two steps he stopped again. Cheng Fuyan?

Or is it Asher Cheng?

Logan Xiang had never been to school. He learned to read at the card table and from pornographic books by fake blind men. He could remember the strokes of simple characters, but he could only remember the shapes of complex characters.

Is it perfunctory or generous?

He turned around and walked back to the mailbox, peeped inside through the hole, and reached in to grab something.

"What are you doing?" Owen looked at him in confusion.

"Fcuk," Logan Xiang walked around the mailbox twice and kicked it. "Forget it, let's go."

Asher Cheng.

Who would name a child "Fuyan"? That's too perfunctory.

Because they had some income, the two took a taxi back home.

"Zhaojiayao." Logan Xiang reported the address in the back seat.

The driver looked back at them several times, then added: "Only to the intersection."

"I know." Logan Xiang said impatiently.

Zhaojiayao is a village in the city. It covers a large area and is a perfect place for harboring filth and dirt. It is the most chaotic place in the city. Every day, thugs from all walks of life professionally perform the "I'll try to kill you" drama.

Almost every time I take a taxi back, the driver will add this sentence: only to the intersection.

There is a white road sign at the intersection with the street name on it and a small blue sign below with three words written on it: Strict Control Street.

The car stopped right in front of the sign. Logan Xiang opened the door and jumped out.

He didn't know when the sign was put up, but it seemed to have no other function except to tell everyone that this place was dangerous.

And it's not just this street, this should be renamed the Strict Control Area.

Owen paid the taxi fare, felt his pocket, and seemed to want to discuss with Logan Xiang how to divide the more than 4,000 yuan in his pocket. Logan Xiang ignored him, said "Don't touch the money from the second plate", and turned around and walked inside.

There are almost no street lights in the Zhaojiayao area. The crisscrossing electrical wires that can almost cut the full moon into pieces seem to be just decorations. The only lighting comes from the lights coming from the seemingly endless illegal buildings on both sides. The people in the shadowy corners of the streets can't be seen clearly. Occasionally, you can hear shouting and cursing coming from nowhere and a sudden cry that rises eight octaves.

Just looking at the atmosphere at the intersection, let alone walking in, would scare many people.

Uncle Harrison has two self-built two-story buildings in the central area of   this area, No. 17, Zhaojiayao Dawali, as well as some shops and rental houses, all of which are illegal buildings.

This is Logan Xiang's "home" where he has stayed for more than ten years.

As soon as you turn into the narrow street, you'll feel as if the terrain is getting lower and lower as you go along, pulling you down until you feel a little short of breath.

When they were still ten meters away from No. 17, a short scream came from the second-floor platform next to them, followed by a man's roar: "Fcuk you!"

Before Logan Xiang could look up, a thin figure flew out from the second-floor platform and fell heavily in front of Logan Xiang and Owen.