04/20/09 -- Late at night, a stylish young man and another boy entered a construction site. Suddenly, two other young guys jumped out from the darkness and robbed the well-dressed youth. Only then did the fashionable young man realize that he'd fallen into a trap. As it turns out, the guys that mugged him had figured him for a homosexual and had purposely sent someone to strike up a conversation with him and, under the guise of 'making friends'*, lured him to a secluded area while they waited for an opportunity to jump him.

The youngest of this gang of thieves is Wang Gao, born in 1990, who graduated from middle school but did not continue on in his studies. Last year, Wang Gao, Yang Liang, and the others in their group came to Nanjing. Not finding any work, they spent their time hanging out in internet cafes and bars. One day at the end of August 2008 after they'd spent all the money in their pockets, these young men came up with the idea to get cash by mugging. “I'd been around long enough to know that gays are all relatively well-off, and that even if we robbed them, they'd be afraid to expose themselves by reporting it to the police!” Yang Liang says that he and the others in the group had really hit it off as friends and so decided that they would work together to mug gays.
　　
After they had made their plan, they headed downtown. In no time, a fair-skinned** young fellow dressed in garish clothing caught Wang Gao's attention. “Hey guys, look at the way that guy moves his hands when he talks***. He's gay, right?” As soon as Wang Gao pointed him out, Yang Liang agreed.

Once they had set their target, Yang Liang, the best-looking of the group, walked over to the stylish young man. “Hi friend, how's it going? I don't have any money to eat right now. Would you be able to treat me to a meal?” Yang Liang said, batting his eyes at the stylish youth. Their luck was pretty good; the fashionable young man was Lin Chenggang, who actually was gay. When Yang Liang approached him, Lin Chenggang thought that he had run across someone else in his circle****. When Lin Chenggang said, “I can treat you to a meal, but how are you going to repay me?”, Yang Liang knew that he had hooked him. He immediately promised that he'd pay him back in any way that Lin wanted. Lin Chenggang then took Yang Liang out to find a restaurant.
　　
A few hours later, once Yang Liang had eaten his fill, he decided to put the next phase of the plan in motion. “Why don't you come over to my place?” Yang Liang asked, winking at Lin Chenggang. Lin then set out with Yang to his “house”. Half an hour later, when the two of them had left downtown and had come to an abandoned worksite, Yang Liang looked around and saw that Wang Gao and the others were right behind. He stopped and said, “Friend, this is the place,” and let out a weird laugh. Wang Gao and the others jumped out and quickly surrounded Lin. Only then did Lin Chenggang react. “What do you think you're doing?” he asked, so scared that he was trembling. “Nothing much, it's just that we're in a bit of a financial jam and thought we'd let you help us out,” Wang said with a nefarious grin. The others immediately moved forward and gave Lin a beating, then forced him to give up his cellphone and all the cash that he had on him. After threatening him, Wang Gao and the others strode off. Once Yang Liang and the rest had left, Lin Chenggang hesitated for a while but finally decided to call the police.
　　
Not too long later, while they were celebrating amongst themselves, the boys were surprised by the police and arrested. In recent days, the Qinhuai District Court sentenced them for robbery to varying lengths of prison time from 2 to 3.5 years. (The names in this article have been changed.)

[Full Text]

*The phrase 'making friends' or '谈朋友‘ often has a romantic connotation in Chinese.

**This could literally be translated as “lily-white complexion.” A light or white complexion in China is considered by many to be a compliment of beauty, particularly feminine beauty.

***The hand gesture is described as 'orchid fingers', which is a gesture typically made by women. The hand forms the shape of an orchid flower with the tips of the thumb and middle finger slightly touching and the other three fingers spread out.

****By 'circle' the author here refers to the wider circle of homosexual men in China, implying that Lin Chenggang mistook Yang Liang for being gay as well.

By Kuaibao Reporter Li Mengya
Reporting by Qin Shao

--Translated by D. Owen Young

Go to the original article: http://www.kuaibao.net/html/2009-04/20/content_68607131.htm