Finally, a small group of people appeared at the other end of the passage.

Escorted by two silent bodyguards, an obese old man with a shaved head, a thick, well-groomed beard, glasses, and a plain black coat walked proudly and unhurriedly.

A bodyguard carries a red velvet-backed box with a lattice cage and a gray object in it that walks around fidgetily, most likely the notorious "pirate".

The bodyguard came to the starting line with a box containing mice, and the bearded old man walked up to the referee who was sitting behind a small table.

Ousted his lieutenant from a chair, then sat down heavily and began to talk leisurely with the referee.

Another bodyguard stood next to him, legs spread apart, with his back to the wall, and his hands resting on a short black automatic gun hanging from his chest.

Such a person is intimidating, and it is impossible to talk to him. Beau's thing, even getting close to him is scary.

Then, Su Mengfan saw the disheveled Mark, scratching his head that had not been cleaned for a long time, walked towards the team, and explained something to the referee.

Su Mengfan could only hear the tone here, but he could still see that the bearded old man first blushed with excitement, then made an arrogant expression, and finally nodded dissatisfiedly.

Then he took off his glasses and began to wipe them up.

Su Mengfan squeezed through the crowd to the starting line, where Mark was standing.

Mark rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "It's a secret, it's all a secret!" ”

When asked what he was doing, Mark explained that he had just made a private bet with the old prefect that his new rat would outperform "The Pirates" in the first round.

Mark said he had to make a bet with Su Mengfan, but if he won, he could win all the passes to the red line for Su Mengfan and himself.

Of course, the chief rejected the offer, saying that he would not do the slave trade (Su Mengfan was relieved to hear this), but said that he would punish such presumptuous behavior.

If their rats lose, the price for Mark and Su Mengfan will be a year's worth cleaning Abdulkadr – the public toilet on Moscow Metro Line 5.

If the two win, they will get a pass.

Of course, he didn't think the second scenario could happen, and that's why he agreed to bet.

He decided to punish this arrogant, arrogant, conceited guy.

"Do you have your own rats?" Su Mengfan asked cautiously.

"Of course!" Mark reassured him.

"A real beast! She'll tear the 'pirates' to shreds! Do you know how she escaped from me today? I almost let her slip away! I almost chased her to {Novkuznat station}. ”

"What's her name?"

"Her name?"

"yes, what's her name?"

"Okay, let's call her Rocket." Mark suggested.

"Rocket—meaning sinister?"

Su Mengfan didn't know if the game was really going to go on and which mouse tore the opponent to shreds, but he kept his mouth shut.

But when Mark said that he had only caught his mouse today, Su Mengfan couldn't help it.

"Then how do you know she's going to win?"

"I trust her, Su Mengfan!" Mark said solemnly.

"Anyway, I really want to have a mouse of my own for the long haul.

In the past, I used to bet on other people's rats.

When they lost, I said to myself, 'It doesn't matter, one day I'll have my own rat and she'll bring me good luck.'" ’

But I never made up my mind to do it – after all, it's not an easy task.

You have to get permission from the referee, and it's a really tiresome process......

My life will slip away, the new thing will swallow me up, or die on its own, and I'll never have a chance to have my own rat again......

Then you showed up, and I thought: start, start now, or give up.

I told myself that if you don't take risks now, you'll never have to bet on other people's rats.

Then I decided: if I'm going to play, I'm going to play big.

Of course, I want to help you, but forgive me for being honest, helping you is not really the main thing.

Then I waited until the old man came. Mark lowered his voice.

"I said: I'm going to make a bet with your pirate myself! He was so angry that he ordered the referee to disqualify my rat. You know. ”

He added that his voice was so low that it was barely audible: "Then I made a bet to clean the toilets for a year." ”

"But our rats will definitely lose!" Su Mengfan desperately tried to fight him one last time.

Mark looked at him seriously, then smiled and said, "What if you don't lose?" ……”

The referee looked at the spectator sternly, combed his gray hair, and then cleared his throat and read out the nickname of the rat in what he thought was majesty.

"Rocket" came in last, but Mark didn't care about it at all.

"Pirate" received the most applause, and only Su Mengfan gave applause to "Rocket".

At this time, Mark's hands were holding the cage, and it was empty.

Su Mengfan is still looking forward to a miracle to avoid falling into a shameful bottomless abyss in the end.

Then the referee fired a shot from his Makarov gun, and the owners of the rats then opened the cage.

The "rocket" was the first to rush out, and Su Mengfan's heart jumped with excitement.

But soon, other rats flooded the entire passage, some fast and some slow.

Rocket, who didn't show bravery because of her proud name, got stranded five metres beyond the start line.

It is against the rules to stab a rat.

Su Mengfan glanced at Mark worriedly, guessing that he would neither become angry nor haggard because of the determination and pride on Mark's face.

He was reminded of a cruiser captain who was giving orders to sink the warship so that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy.

It was as if he had seen it in a shabby book in the library of {Hayabusa Station} about the war between Russians and people from other countries.

A few minutes later, the first mouse reached the finish line.

"Pirate" won, and in second place was a rat with a strange name, and in third place was "Puska".

Su Mengfan glanced at the referee table.

The bearded old guy wiped the beads of sweat from his bald head with the same cloth he had wiped his glasses with before, and was discussing the result with the referee.

Su Mengfan originally expected that the two would forget about them.

But at this time, the old man suddenly patted his forehead and came over to greet Mark with a smile.

Su Mengfan felt like the two of them were going to be tortured at this time, although this feeling was not very strong.

He followed Mark from a distance to the referee's table, reassuring himself that the way through the Hansa was now clear anyway, and the only question was how to get out.

After inviting them to the table, the bearded man turned to face the audience, briefly introduced the bets, and announced it loudly.

There are two naughty ghosts who want to clean the public toilets for a year starting today, as agreed in advance.