Chapter 14: Stealing the Cable

At one in the morning, Cao Yang and Lei Dian went downstairs. Cao Yang hadn’t agreed to join them; he just wanted to take a look.

A three-wheeled vehicle was locked up downstairs, driven by Jia Wei, with the three of them sitting in the cargo bed.

After half an hour of driving, they arrived at a relatively remote construction site.

This area was a newly planned industrial zone, currently under construction, with a dense expanse of building sites as far as the eye could see.

They had scouted the place beforehand and learned that the security guards spent their nights playing cards, so as long as they were careful, they wouldn’t be discovered.

“Cao Yang, stay here with the vehicle. If anyone comes, honk the horn,” Lei Dian instructed.

Cao Yang nodded, watching the three of them disappear into the darkness of the site.

He lit a cigarette, his feelings complicated. He felt that stealing was somewhat dishonorable.

But then he thought, he had always dreamed of getting his hands on slot machines—was that any more respectable? They were all illegal activities, after all.

In fact, it wasn’t even as bad as Li Yan’s dealings.

Earlier, he asked Lei Dian, “You don’t do motorcycle robberies, don’t snatch bags from girls—you must have some sense of honor. So why become a thief?”

Lei Dian said, “Motorcycle gangs rob ordinary people. If they steal from them once, those people lose months of work. I don’t rob them, so I follow a kind of thief’s code.”

“But stealing from construction sites is different. These places belong to big bosses with plenty of money. Taking a little from them is insignificant—just the cost of one meal to them. It’s like robbing the rich to help the poor.”

This twisted reasoning actually convinced Cao Yang, who thought it made sense, and that’s why he came along.

Cao Yang had imagined stealing cables as simply going in, finding the cables, loading them onto the vehicle, and driving away.

But five minutes passed, and there was no movement inside; they didn’t come out.

In reality, the theft was much like he’d imagined, but with one additional step: cutting the cables.

Thick as an arm and coiled in large rolls, the three of them trying to carry them out whole was pure fantasy.

At that moment, the three were carefully sawing the cables by hand, cutting them into manageable two-meter lengths.

Before long, Jia Wei came out carrying one piece, laid it on the vehicle, and went back in.

Then A Liang came out with another piece, placed it on the vehicle, and returned.

Lei Dian continued cutting inside; they worked like ants moving house, carrying the cables out one by one.

In no time, the vehicle was fully loaded.

But just then, disaster struck—the door to the security room opened, and four guards ran toward Lei Dian’s direction with flashlights and batons, shouting about catching thieves, calling the police, and calling for backup over the radio.

Jia Wei and A Liang panicked, rushed out, got into the vehicle, started it, and fled.

Cao Yang looked back and saw Lei Dian hadn’t come out. He asked, “Where’s Lei Dian? He hasn’t gotten on yet.”

A Liang said, “The guards have him pinned down!”

“Are we just going to leave him?”

Neither A Liang nor Jia Wei answered.

“I’m going back to save him!” Cao Yang felt that Lei Dian was a decent guy and thought it was unprincipled to just abandon him like this.

A Liang and Jia Wei glanced at him but said nothing, easing off the accelerator.

“Cao Yang, be careful. Don’t get caught yourself.”

“If you manage to rescue Lei Dian, tell him we’ll wait at the usual place!”

Cao Yang strode back toward the construction site. He saw Lei Dian held down by four guards—one pressing his legs, another handcuffing him, a third tying him up with rope, and the last shining a flashlight and cursing, occasionally kicking him.

“Let him go!” Cao Yang stepped forward confidently—four against one, the advantage was his.

The four guards didn’t expect him to come back. They released the bound Lei Dian and approached Cao Yang with batons raised.

Lei Dian was stunned. He never imagined Cao Yang would return to rescue him.

But Cao Yang was alone, and they were four, armed—could he really win?

If all four had been together, maybe he could have fought.

But they were thieves, guilty in their hearts. Once discovered, they just wanted to run, with no courage to fight.

“Damn it! They ran and still dared to come back, they don’t respect us at all!” one guard shouted, swinging his baton toward Cao Yang’s head.

Cao Yang tilted his head easily to dodge, then turned and delivered a side kick to the guard’s abdomen, sending him flying three meters away.

Lei Dian was dumbfounded. He had never expected Cao Yang to be so skilled in martial arts.

Cao Yang held back with that kick, considering the guards were just workers doing their job. They were defending the site diligently, while they were the thieves with no moral ground. He saw no reason to hit harder.

The other three guards hesitated, exchanged glances, then charged together.

Cao Yang fought with both hands, and in the blink of an eye, all three were knocked to the ground.

The head of the security guards grew fearful. Seeing Cao Yang advance, he staggered backward.

Seriously, they earned a few hundred a month—why risk their lives?

Besides, this man was formidable. They just couldn’t understand why someone so skilled would waste his talents on petty theft.

Cao Yang didn’t make things difficult for them. He simply stepped forward, untied Lei Dian, and left with him.

...

“Cao Yang, how are you so good at fighting?” Lei Dian’s face was bruised and swollen, but he didn’t mind. Instead, he looked at Cao Yang with excitement.

“Did you learn martial arts?”

Cao Yang didn’t know how to answer, so he just nodded and said he had studied for two years.

Lei Dian grew even more excited. “I wanted to go to a martial arts school when I was a kid, but my family wouldn’t let me. It drove me crazy. Otherwise, I’d be as strong as you now.”

“Where are we going now? Home?” Cao Yang wasn’t in the mood for his chatter.

“Not home. First, we find A Liang and Jia Wei.”

“Don’t you blame them? They ran off and left you when you were caught!”

Lei Dian paused, then shook his head with a smile. “No blame. If it had been them caught, I’d run too.”

“Are you all so unprincipled?”

“What’s this about principles? Don’t let that word fool you. Even if you want to talk about loyalty, that’s not how it works.”

Lei Dian lectured Cao Yang, “Have you seen the ‘Young and Dangerous’ movies? Do you think Chan Ho Nam was loyal? When his brother got killed, didn’t he run away too?”

Cao Yang retorted, “But other brothers pulled him away.”

“That's just the movie to build his character. In reality, if no one pulls him, he runs faster than anyone! Can you say Chan Ho Nam wasn’t loyal?”

“When faced with overwhelming odds and numbers, running is better. Not running just gets you killed. That’s foolishness, not loyalty.”

Cao Yang frowned. “So you’re saying I was foolish to come back for you?”

“Not exactly. You’re skilled and strong—they can’t compare to you.”

Cao Yang thought about it. If he hadn’t been confident about beating those four guards, would he have gone back to save Lei Dian?

Most likely not.

The two arrived at a scrap recycling yard and saw their three-wheeled vehicle parked outside. They knew A Liang and Jia Wei were still inside.