Soon, the two arrived at the entrance of Tian Tian Community, and Shang Jincheng happily said goodbye to her.
"Then I won't escort you in. I have some things to take care of, I'll be going now."
Tian Tian smiled, "Okay, hurry up and prepare the gifts at the mall. Dress up nicely, it's all up to you tonight!"
The two laughed heartily, and Tian Tian got out of the car.
As she walked two steps towards the community entrance, she noticed two security guards arguing with a tall man, spewing vulgarities at him. The man was pushed staggeringly.
Tian Tian wasn't nosy and didn't want to get involved. She casually glanced at them and prepared to bypass them to enter.
Unexpectedly, the man, who looked tall and strong, a whole head taller than the guards, was pushed to the ground by them.
The man was dressed in rags, with a look of misery on his face. He lay on the ground, clutching his leg, and said to the guards.
"Aren't you just guard dogs? Who do you look down on? Just because my leg is lame, I'm not human anymore? Just because my leg is lame, I don't even have the right to go in and see a friend? You are going too far!"
Tian Tian's attention was successfully captured, and she glanced at the man's face.
Seeing his extremely pained expression, sweating profusely under the scorching sun, she thought he was injured and looked at the security guards.
"What's going on?"
The security guards were familiar with Tian Tian and respectfully explained to her.
They said this person had never been to the community before. Today, he suddenly wanted to come in to find a certain resident and was asked to show his pass. When he couldn't, and was asked to call the resident to confirm his identity, he refused to do so and kept forcing his way in. For safety and security reasons, they stopped him, and he started to curse.
Recalling that Chen Dongyang had also been stopped by them before, and the guards did have a tendency to look down on the poor, Tian Tian didn't say much and reached out to help Dong Jian up.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Let me help you up."
Dong Jian was half a head taller than Tian Tian, and it took considerable effort to pull him up.
Dong Jian, with an injured expression, poured out his grievances to her.
"Just because my leg is lame, I'm not human? I'm looked down upon everywhere and bullied. Even a security guard dares to hit me. What kind of world is this?"
Tian Tian smiled at him gently.
"They are just doing their jobs, they don't have any ill intentions, don't be too angry. Who are you looking for? Give him a call. The security of this community is like this. For the protection of the residents, identity verification is necessary. I have to do the same to get in."
Dong Jian said, "If I had his phone number, I would have called. The problem is, we've lost contact for several years."
"..."
Tian Tian looked at the security guards again, "How about you check the resident's phone number and call him to confirm the visitor's identity? Everyone has their difficulties. Be a little more humane."
The security guard initially didn't want to bother with this cripple, but seeing Tian Tian speak up for him, he asked him to wait a moment and turned to go into the security booth to check the resident's phone number.
At this moment, Dong Jian said mournfully that he wouldn't bother anymore.
"Forget it. A fallen tiger is bullied by dogs. Even a security guard looks down on me. They might not want to be friends with me now. I won't disturb them. I'll leave."
Saying that, he pushed away Tian Tian's hand and walked away.
However, his leg seemed to be severely injured. He took one step and almost fell again.
Tian Tian quickly followed and grabbed him, "Are you really not hurt? I saw your leg..."
Dong Jian, sweating profusely and with a pained expression, said.
"Honestly, miss, my leg hurts a lot. I don't have money to go to the hospital, and I don't have money to pay rent. The landlord said if I don't pay today, he'll kick me out. I really had no other choice but to come look for an old friend."
"..."
Tian Tian didn't know what he had been through. A young man with decent features had reduced himself to this state.
Thinking that everyone has difficult times, and if she could help, she should help. She gently asked Dong Jian.
"Where do you live? How much money do you need? How about I lend you some?"
"Miss..."
"It's alright. In life, who hasn't encountered difficulties? You can return it to me when you have money. How much do you need?"
Shang Jincheng was about to turn and leave after seeing Tian Tian enter the community, but he saw people pulling and dragging each other at the community entrance.
When someone fell, Tian Tian couldn't help but step forward to help.
Seeing that the situation outside was a bit complicated and he was worried about Tian Tian, he also got out of the car.
He walked over and saw Tian Tian talking to a man and taking out her phone again. He quickly asked what was wrong.
Tian Tian explained the general situation. Shang Jincheng was worried about her casually giving money to a stranger and stopped her.
"It's not good for a girl like you to casually give out your contact information. Let me give it to him. I'll scan you. Five thousand, is that enough?"
Dong Jian thanked him gratefully, "Enough, enough."
Shang Jincheng scanned his payment code and transferred five thousand yuan. He put his arm around Tian Tian's shoulder and said.
"I didn't expect to encounter something like this at your community entrance. I'll escort you in. It's not safe, let's go."
As the two were about to leave, Dong Jian spoke again.
"Sir, I'm sorry, can I trouble you again?"
"My leg really hurts badly. I'm afraid I can't walk much further. Since you've been so kind, could you give me a ride home?"
Shang Jincheng hesitated a bit. After all, he was a man and didn't have much pity for another man.
But Tian Tian couldn't bear to see suffering. Hearing him say that, she cast a sympathetic glance.
Dong Jian seized the opportunity and pulled up his pant leg to show them.
"Look, my leg was crippled by someone years ago, and it's in a terrible state. I fell again just now, and it hurts terribly."
His right leg was atrophied and deformed due to the disability, and it was noticeably thinner and twisted than his normal leg.
Tian Tian averted her gaze after a single glance.
To be honest, it was a bit frightening, she couldn't bear to look.
She gently tugged Shang Jincheng's clothes and said.
"Let's give him a ride. Since you're already being so kind, you're not in a hurry, are you?"
Shang Jincheng, for Tian Tian's sake, took pity on him again.
"Where do you live? Let's go."
Dong Jian was happy. "If you're worried, you can let the young lady accompany me. If anything happens, there'll be a witness. I swear I'm a good person."
Tian Tian thought that she had nothing to do at home anyway. After dropping him off, she could accompany Shang Jincheng to pick out gifts, which would also be returning a favor.
"Okay, I'll go with you."
The three got into the car and headed in the direction Shang Jincheng mentioned.
After selling his family home, Dong Jian had been living in a dilapidated shack in an urban village.
It was more like a shack built on someone's abandoned vegetable patch. Since it was vacant, the owner rented it to him for 150 yuan a month.
The area had very poor security. It was inhabited by unemployed vagrants or people from the lowest strata of society.
Let alone surveillance cameras, even basic sanitation couldn't be guaranteed.
In the middle of summer, garbage lined the roads, flies were buzzing everywhere, and the roads were narrow and dark. As soon as you turned in, a pungent stench hit you.
Shang Jincheng didn't want to drive in, but Dong Jian didn't say to stop and looked ahead with expectation, so he had to endure it.