Chapter 51 Encountering Robbery

Jessica didn't ask why, because she knew that every decision Mu Xin made had its reasons, even if that reason was just not wanting to go back.

The cornfields on both sides of the road gave way to rolling hills, and the greenery gradually increased.

Jessica pushed the speed to seventy-five miles per hour, keeping it at a pace that wouldn't get pulled over by the police. The wind from outside rushed in, messing up Mu Xin's hair.

He didn't close the window; the sound of the wind mixed with the roar of the engine, which actually made his mind feel much calmer.

"Check what the biggest roller coaster at Kings Island is called," Mu Xin suddenly said loudly.

Jessica glanced at him, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepening. "The biggest roller coaster? Do you want to go up there and get tossed around to shake up the mush in your brain?"

"Something like that." Mu Xin leaned back against the headrest, looking at the clouds in the sky.

Jessica looked down at her phone. "The tallest roller coaster at Kings Island is called Orion, with a three-hundred-foot drop and a speed of ninety-one miles per hour."

"There's also one called The Beast, which is the longest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, with over seven thousand feet of track. Both are pretty thrilling."

"The tallest one. I want to ride the tallest one," Mu Xin said.

Jessica looked at him without pressing further, simply placing her phone back into the cup holder.

The car sped along the highway, the scenery on both sides becoming greener, but Mu Xin's mood remained unchanged.

Gloves. He kept thinking about that word.

Just past two o'clock, Jessica parked the car in the parking lot at the entrance of Kings Island.

The parking lot was as vast as a gray ocean, with rows upon rows of parking spaces stretching as far as the eye could see.

There were fewer tourists for the afternoon session than in the morning, but there was still a long line at the ticket office at the entrance.

Mu Xin got out of the car, stood at the edge of the parking lot, and looked up at the massive roller coaster in the distance.

The steel tracks shimmered with a silvery-white light in the sunlight, like a giant dragon coiled in mid-air.

Occasionally, a carriage would dive down from the highest point, sending bursts of screaming through the wind.

"Are you sure you want to go in?" Jessica stood behind him, holding her phone. "The ticket price isn't cheap."

"Buy the tickets!" Mu Xin took his sunglasses out of his pocket, put them on, and walked toward the ticket office.

Jessica sighed and quickened her pace to follow him.

After queuing for tickets, the two walked into the amusement park. Kings Island was much larger than Mu Xin had imagined.

Seven major themed areas were spread across three hundred and sixty-four acres of land, with roller coaster tracks crisscrossing overhead and a Ferris wheel slowly rotating in the distance.

There were people everywhere: adults holding children's hands, young people in groups of three or five, and couples walking arm in arm, with smiles on everyone's faces.

Standing in the middle of the crowd, Mu Xin suddenly felt out of place in this environment.

"You go ahead." Jessica pointed to a bench not far away. "I'll wait here. I'm getting too old to handle these kinds of thrilling things."

"You're only twenty-nine," Mu Xin said.

"Twenty-nine is still old." Jessica smiled, sat down on the bench, and took her phone out of her bag.

"Go on, get tossed around and shake up the stuff in your brain."

Mu Xin glanced at her, turned, and walked in the direction of Orion.

After waiting in line for forty minutes, it was finally Mu Xin's turn.

He sat in the roller coaster seat, and the safety restraint locked with a click, holding him firmly in place.

The carriage slowly climbed higher and higher, high enough to see the panoramic view of the entire amusement park, high enough to see the distant city skyline.

Mu Xin looked down; the people on the ground had turned into tiny dots.

The carriage climbed to the highest point and paused for a second. Then, it plummeted downward.

The wind rushed into his ears, screams erupted from his throat, and Mu Xin felt as if his heart were about to burst out of his chest.

A three-hundred-foot drop, a speed of ninety-one miles per hour; his body was pressed against the seat by gravity, and blood rushed to his head.

The tracks of Orion drew arcs in the air—flipping, spiraling, diving, and climbing—every movement challenging the limits of the body.

Mu Xin kept his eyes closed, not out of fear, but to feel it.

That sensation of weightlessness left his mind blank. He didn't have to think about anything—didn't have to think about the Governor, didn't have to think about the gloves, didn't have to think about those checks, those promises, or those deals.

When the roller coaster surged into the final brake zone, Mu Xin was panting heavily, wearing an expression he hadn't worn in a long time.

He smiled. It wasn't the kind of smile used to deal with people at a negotiation table, but the smile a twenty-something-year-old young man should have after riding a roller coaster.

He stepped off the roller coaster, his legs a bit wobbly, but his mind was clearer than ever before.

He bought a fast pass and rode Orion two more times.

After getting off the third time, his legs were completely jelly, and he leaned against the railing at the exit, panting for quite a while.

"Feeling good?" Jessica had walked over at some point, holding two lemonades, and handed one to him.

Mu Xin took the lemonade and took a huge gulp. The ice-cold liquid slid down his throat, and it felt as if his whole being had been rebooted.

"Feeling good," Mu Xin said.

It must be said that after buying a fast pass, watching other tourists queue up was also a kind of alternative entertainment.

The two walked slowly along the main path of the amusement park toward the exit. The sun was beginning to tilt toward the west, the light becoming softer and casting long shadows on the ground.

On both sides of the road were rows of snack stands and game booths, and the air was filled with the scent of hot dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy.

"Do you want to try that?" Jessica pointed to a game booth by the side of the road, the shelves covered in plush toys.

"Pop the balloons. If you win, you can pick one."

Mu Xin glanced at the plush toys and shook his head. "I'm not a kid."

"Are you still a virgin? My boss?" Jessica teased.

Mu Xin ignored her.

By the time they reached the parking lot, the sun had already set to the level of the treetops.

Only a few scattered cars remained in the parking lot; most of the tourists had already left.

Mu Xin took out his car keys and pressed the unlock button; the G63's lights flashed twice.

He was just about to walk toward the car when a figure suddenly rushed out from behind a parked van.

"Don't move! Give me your money!"

The person was wearing a dirty black hoodie with the hood pulled low, revealing a thin, pale face covered in acne scars.

He looked under twenty, with dark circles under his eyes, chapped lips, and a folding knife in his hand!

Jessica's reaction was faster than Mu Xin's; she subconsciously stepped in front of Mu Xin.

She knew Mu Xin had money, but she knew even better that Mu Xin himself was worth far more than his money.

This was her instinct as a private attorney, and also her instinct as...

The current Jessica didn't have time to think clearly about what word should follow "as."

"Give me the money! Hurry up!" the young man repeated, his voice shaking, the knife in his hand also trembling.

Mu Xin reached out and pulled Jessica behind him, took his wallet out of his pocket, and pulled out all the cash inside.

It wasn't much—a few hundred dollars. He had spent quite a bit when buying tickets, and what remained was change.

"This is all there is." Mu Xin handed the money over, his tone very calm. "Take it, no one will stop you."

The young man's hand shook even more violently.

He looked at the money, then at Mu Xin's face, with an indescribable look in his eyes—a mix of greed, fear, and hesitation.

And there was something else Mu Xin was very familiar with: despair.

The kind of despair of having no way out, of being backed into a corner, of not knowing how to live tomorrow.

The moment the young man reached out to take the money, Mu Xin kicked out from the side.

His sole hit the handle of the folding knife precisely; the knife clattered as it flew away, landed on the ground a few meters away, bounced twice, and stopped.

He had practiced this move when renovating the Water Plant in Oxford Town.

At the time, Robert told him that thugs would occasionally come to cause trouble at the construction site, so it was best to learn a few self-defense moves.

One of Robert's foremen was a veteran and taught him some simple combat techniques.

One of the moves was how to kick a weapon out of someone's hand without hurting them or getting into legal trouble.

The young man was stunned; he hadn't expected this refined-looking Asian man to fight back.

He instinctively bent down to pick up the knife, but Mu Xin was faster than him.

Mu Xin grabbed his wrist, twisted it back, and forced his arm behind his back.

The young man grimaced in pain, his knees went weak, and he knelt on the ground.

"Jessica, call the police," Mu Xin said.

Jessica had already taken her phone out of her bag and was preparing to dial.

"Let him go."

Mu Xin looked up and saw a man wearing a tattered military-green jacket walking over from not far away.

The man was probably in his forties, maybe younger, his face covered in gray-black grime, his hair a mess, and his chin covered in thick stubble.

He was wearing a pair of work boots that were coming apart at the soles, the laces tied crookedly.

He gave off a smell characteristic of a homeless person—a mixture of dust, sweat, and cheap alcohol.

"I said, let him go." The homeless man's voice wasn't loud.

He walked up to Mu Xin and stopped; the distance between the two was less than two meters.

His eyes were calm—not like he was provoking, not like he was threatening, but as if he were stating a fact.

Mu Xin looked into his eyes, his hand not loosening.

"Do you know why he's robbing you?" the homeless man asked.

Mu Xin didn't speak; he wasn't a prophet.

"Because his sister is sick. Leukemia."

"He works at McDonalds. The money he earns in an hour isn't even enough for medicine, let alone chemotherapy."

The homeless man crouched down, picked up the folding knife from the ground, closed it, and shoved it into his own pocket.

"He's not a bad person; he's just out of options."

The young man knelt on the ground, his head lowered, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Mu Xin felt his wrist shaking more and more violently in his palm; it wasn't because of the pain, but because of shame.

"Do you know him?" Mu Xin asked.

"No." The homeless man shook his head. "But I know his kind. I've been homeless on the streets for six years, and I've seen too many young people like him."

He paused, looked into Mu Xin's eyes, and suddenly asked a question that had nothing to do with what was happening: "Are you Chinese?"

Mu Xin's eyes flickered slightly. "Yes."