Chapter 101: The Psychopathic Serial Killer - The Clown
"A volunteer teacher?"
Hearing this, Jiang Ran couldn't help but feel admiration for Wang Anjian.
After all, regardless of the reasons for becoming a volunteer teacher,
it ultimately helped many children in impoverished mountainous areas learn to read and write.
After Wang Anjian finished introducing himself,
Manager Xiao Zhang said, "Next up is our last participant - a lovely foreign friend!!!"
Xiao Zhang's gaze turned toward Mike, who was sitting with his arms crossed.
Hearing this, Mike exhaled and stood up to introduce himself:
"Hello everyone, I'm Mike, from America, doing foreign trade business here."
Mike said this half-truthfully as he stood up. Mike then looked around the room before finally fixing his gaze on Manager Xiao Zhang.
To be honest, he was quite speechless.
Before this welcome party started, Manager Xiao Zhang had suddenly gone up to the rooftop to find him,
insisting that he attend the welcome event.
Mike had explained that he wasn't actually a resident here - as Xiao Zhang knew, he had been brought over by Shen Xing and Zhou Yan to investigate Zhou Wu's disappearance, so he didn't qualify for this welcome party!
But Manager Xiao Zhang had dragged him here anyway.
Unable to refuse, and seeing it as an opportunity to learn more about the apartment, Mike had come.
After Mike sat down,
Manager Xiao Zhang took out his phone to check the time and said to Jiang Ran, "Go outside and see if Wu You has arrived yet?"
Jiang Ran left the activity room and quickly returned.
He shook his head at Manager Xiao Zhang upon returning.
Manager Xiao Zhang smiled: "Seems he's either late or not coming at all! Tsk tsk, looks like he doesn't think much of this little manager!"
"Oh well, Jiang Ran, go get the things!"
Seeing Jiang Ran leave, a long-term resident suddenly spoke up: "Xiao Zhang, please don't tell me it's cake again this year?"
Manager Xiao Zhang waved his hand grandly: "No, we've got something new this time!"
The resident scoffed: "I remember you saying that before - calling it something new, but it was just changing chocolate cake to flower cake, then strawberry cake, and finally a mountain of cakes. I've eaten enough cake at these welcome parties to last a lifetime!"
Manager Xiao Zhang smiled without responding.
Soon, Jiang Ran appeared pushing a white food cart.
And with his arrival came the rich aroma of roasted meat.
Manager Xiao Zhang spread his arms wide: "This time we're having barbecue! And deep-fried skewers!"
The activity room fell silent for a moment before erupting in excitement.
Given the choice between preparing their own barbecue and having it ready-made, they clearly preferred the latter.
Accompanying the barbecue and skewers were ice-cold beer and soft drinks.
After Jiang Ran brought in the first cart of barbecue and skewers, he pushed in another cart loaded with chilled drinks.
"Jiang Ran, go join them."
Xiao Zhang told Jiang Ran to eat too, and Jiang Ran immediately found a seat and eagerly dug in.
Seeing everyone in the activity room focused on eating, Xiao Zhang suddenly announced: "Did you think that was all for this welcome party? Let me tell you, there's one more thing!"
Jiang Ran, who had been about to bite into a lamb skewer, froze at these words - there was more to this welcome party?
As the assistant manager, how come he didn't know about this?
Manager Xiao Zhang didn't keep them in suspense, announcing loudly: "Next up, please welcome... a clown performance!!!"
As he spoke, a person dressed as a clown entered from outside the activity room.
The person was about 1.8 meters tall,
with ridiculous clown makeup on his face.
The round red nose and exaggerated red lips were particularly striking.
Additionally, he wore an outrageous red curly wig and a red-and-white clown costume.
This clown entered differently from normal people - walking in with exaggerated crab-like steps, starting his performance the moment he entered.
"This is also one of our apartment residents, volunteering to perform for us at tonight's welcome party!"
"Let's sincerely thank him!"
"So! Everyone please enjoy the food and the show!"
After Manager Xiao Zhang finished speaking, he sat down beside Jiang Ran, joining him in eating barbecue while watching the clown's performance.
The clown immediately began performing in the open space at the front of the activity room. He performed with great energy - exaggerated movements and expressions, balloon tricks, juggling, magic acts, all quite impressive.
Meanwhile, in the live stream room:
Ultimate Rich Kid: [Does anyone know this performing clown's background? When I was little, my first reaction to clowns was that they were fun and funny. But now that I'm older and have seen so many clown movies, my first reaction is either violent criminal or horror. Which type is this clown?]
Fairy Sister: [That's a stupid question. People living in this apartment are either psychos or normal people. Which do you think he is?]
Ultimate Rich Kid: [I'm guessing normal, hahaha, just kidding.]
Fairy Sister: [...]
I am the Hero then said: [Rich Kid, I know this clown. And I've even seen him kill someone on live stream!!!]
Ultimate Rich Kid immediately became interested: [Now this is why I keep you around! Tell me more!]
I am the Hero: [This clown is a psychopathic serial killer. He loved clowns since childhood, and when he grew up, he became a clown performer, doing clown acts everywhere.]
[Because he particularly enjoyed performing as a clown, his hobby and profession complemented each other perfectly, creating a multiplier effect.]
[So he became a full-time clown, and as his performances improved, his income rose until he was making at least 30,000 yuan monthly - quite high for an ordinary person.]
[With his high skill level, he later took on several apprentices.]
[Eventually he started dating and married one of his female apprentices.]
[Unexpectedly, shortly after marriage, during a performance, the clown accidentally made a mistake that seriously injured his back. After a long recovery, he could no longer perform many difficult acts, causing his income to plummet.]
[The female apprentice couldn't take it. Shockingly, this apprentice was ruthless - instead of formally divorcing, she waited until the clown was away performing, then completely emptied their home after long planning.]
[When the clown returned from his performance, he was stunned to find their home completely bare - not even a chair left.]
[Moreover, the clown had always let his wife manage their finances, so after years of hard work, he ended up with nothing.]
Ultimate Rich Kid interrupted: [I get it, so he turned dark, right?]
[Becoming a psychopathic serial killer!!!!]
I am the Hero: [Wrong! Actually, this clown was quite psychologically resilient.]
[Even though his previous injury ruined his beloved clown career prospects, and he grieved for a long time.]
[And then his wife ran off with all their money, leaving him nothing.]
[But the clown pulled through.]