Chapter 182 - Gunshots at midnight
Chapter 182 - Gunshots at midnight
The next day, Duan Yunhong really went to deliver something to Qiao Li.
But of course he didn't go there himself, but sent a driver, and called Qiao Li aside to talk to her alone.
"Our boss's surname is Duan. Mr. Dai Ning is here to exchange the cigarette for Miss Qiao." The driver first handed over a thin small box and a brown paper package. "This is a cigarette holder, and a book that the boss used to collect. I give it to Miss Qiao to relieve her boredom. If Miss Qiao doesn't like the book, she doesn't have to take it to the pawnshop. She can show it to some writers and someone will probably buy it. In addition--"
The driver took out another fifty yuan and said, "I heard that Miss Qiao has a daughter. This is to buy winter clothes for her."
Fifty yuan is actually enough for an ordinary family to make two cotton-padded jackets, one large and one small.
"Thank you, boss, for taking care of me and my daughter." Qiao Li accepted the money and gifts generously. She had never met Duan Yunhong face to face, but she had seen the man who had always been with Ning Fei yesterday. She thought for a moment and then said, "Thank you for taking this trip, Master. By the way, I heard that people in Yucheng like to play cards. My sisters and I often play cards in a nearby chess and card room. It's clean and warm there. You're welcome to come and sit down when you're free."
The driver did not comment. He was not in a position to respond to this matter. He simply responded and left decisively.
Qiao Li took the things back to the dressing room and opened them one by one to check. The cigarette holder is made of wood, with exquisite workmanship and delicate carvings, and it looks valuable at first glance. Qiao Li posed in front of the mirror with it. It really suited her and was much more tasteful than the fancy jewelry given by other bosses. Qiao Li immediately fell in love with it and kept it carefully.
Wrapped in the brown paper was a foreign translated book on art. It also contains miniature illustrations of the paintings discussed, making it an absolutely excellent book. Qiao Li liked it more than the cigarette holder. After opening it casually, she couldn't help but read it carefully. It was not until someone called her outside that she hurriedly rewrapped her things and put them in the drawer of her dressing table.
There were fans given by other bosses in the drawer, and she was also wearing jewel rings given by her patrons. Looking at it again now, Qiao Li actually felt annoyed.
But she quickly adjusted her mood, closed the drawer and stood up. As she turned to leave, she checked her smile in the mirror.
——A boss from Yucheng?
***
On the other hand, as soon as the driver got home, he told Duan Yunhong everything Qiao Li said.
"It seems that she is still sincerely thanking you for the money, and has no interest in the book."
After listening to the report, Duan Yunhong looked at Ning Fei who was also sitting in the room and said, "Guess when she will sell the book? Don't sell it to Liang Zhiming. Liang Zhiming, a 'non-local', may not know the value of the book."
"Why do you care what she wants to do with it?" Ning Fei replied lazily, "It's just sitting on the bookshelf here to collect dust, so just give it away. Do you regret buying it?"
"You took it out and said 'give it to me', how come it became like I said I would give it to her?" Duan Yunhong did not answer the question of whether he would regret it later, but only said, "Or we can make a bet and guess when she will sell the book."
"Okay, how long will it take and what will it bet on?"
"Three months, each of you can come up with your own bet."
"No, I won't stay in Pingdu for three months. Who would bet with you that long?" Ning Fei retorted, "Just until the day before we leave, wherever we are will be."
"Qiao Li is still counting on us to come to her for more spending. How could she sell it so early? Otherwise, wouldn't that be disrespectful to the boss?" Duan Yunhong saw through his plan. "Do you really want me to lose?"
Ning Fei shrugged: "Or don't gamble."
Duan Yunhong pondered for a few seconds: "If I win, I will..." He leaned close to Ning Fei's ear and said something. Ning Fei sneered when he heard this, "Would I be afraid of you?" Then he grabbed the man by the collar and whispered something in his ear.
Mr. Duan raised his eyebrows, squinted his eyes, and after two seconds of silence, he nodded: "...Okay."
To be honest, Duan Yunhong felt that this request was not too excessive. Even if there is no bet, if Ning Fei keeps pestering me, I will probably agree.
But, Boss Duan won’t be so kind as to give you a reminder, so just treat it as a bet.
***
The next night, Duan Yunhong and Ning Fei went to see a movie.
Ning Fei certainly has no interest in movies of this era, but Duan Yunhong said that he used to often meet people secretly in this way, which is also part of "looking back at the past." Ning Fei had nothing to do anyway, so she accompanied him.
This movie is a foreign film that tells the story of love during a war abroad. The plot was still quite novel to the average audience these days, but Ning Fei felt drowsy while watching it and even fell asleep in the second half. Even though the audience in the back row who had already watched the show were commenting on the plot, they were not woken up by him. After the movie ended, Ning Fei stood up and stretched lazily with a sense of contentment.
After leaving the cinema, the two did not get in the car immediately, but took a slow walk along the street. It was past ten o'clock in the evening and there were no more passers-by on the street. Although there are not many street lights and those that exist are not very bright, the moonlight is clear tonight and the streets are still quite bright.
The only problem was the night wind. Ning Fei was already wearing a scarf, but the low temperature at night still made him feel cold.
"That's what you mean by 'not much wind tonight'." Ning Fei complained, "The movie was just average, and we had to face the cold wind after coming out. Boss Duan, your level of arranging dates is so inconsistent."
Duan Yunhong simply took off his scarf, unfolded it, and covered his head with it: "You haven't even watched it for a few minutes, and you have the nerve to write a movie review?"
Ning Fei really didn't refuse, and used his cashmere scarf as a headscarf: "Even if you were in the 'old days', you wouldn't be interested in this kind of movie. Is this considered a battlefield? Is this considered an officer?"
"It's just an artistic exaggeration. Besides, the rear areas of those battlefields abroad might be like this. Each country has its own national conditions." Duan Yunhong said, "You don't like it, but the two people who watched it twice like it very much. They commented on it throughout the whole process and it became the movie's subtitles."
"You didn't remind them to be quiet, who can you blame?" Ning Fei sneered, "But these days, there are so many people who pretend to be cool in the cinema. Not letting them talk is probably more painful than killing them..."
Bang--!
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion at the end of the street, echoing along the street into the distance. The two men paused and looked at each other: "Gunshot?"
"It should be. Don't go forward yet, stay hidden." Duan Yunhong pulled Ning Fei to hide in the doorway of the building next to him and said in a low voice, "Although gunfights are not strange, it is rare to open fire on the street in the center of Pingdu. Could it be that the situation in Pingdu has deteriorated faster than I thought?"
"It's late at night, and there aren't many people on the street. We can end the battle quickly by firing a gun." Ning Fei leaned against the door and tapped Duan Yunhong's chest. "Boss Duan, I don't have any special powers right now, and I don't have a gun with me. If I die on this 'journey back home' of yours, I..."
"Even if you become a ghost, you won't let me go?"
"Dream on." Ning Fei said faintly, "Then I'll have no choice but to lower your credit score."
"There's this thing?" It was the first time Duan Yunhong heard of his new setting, so he followed his words and asked, "What will happen if it is lowered?"
"Yes, it's floating above your head, can't you see it?" Ning Fei said nonsense, "If it's lowered, I'll kick you out. I only play with people with high credit scores. Our management bureau is so strict."
"Then I will now..."
Bang!
Two more gunshots rang out, closer. Ning Fei lost the mood to joke and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Tsk, you insisted on parking the car over there and taking this crappy walk. Later, stray bullets will directly penetrate your car. I'm thinking of your off-road vehicle without windows again. I don't want to ride in that crappy car."
Duan Yunhong said, "I just got unlucky once or twice, and you happened to be my friend. I saw you getting mad, why didn't you say anything?"
Ning Fei opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly caught a glimpse of two figures approaching quickly not far away. They came together, or to be more precise, one was supporting the other and jogging over. Ning Fei could identify them from the shadows at a glance and whispered, "One of them was shot in the arm."
Duan Yunhong also saw it, of course, and replied: "Don't worry about it."
Ning Fei didn't intend to care at first, but when the two people came close enough that he could see their faces clearly, he raised his eyebrows slightly.
Just at this moment, the uninjured one of the two happened to look over, and when his eyes touched Ning Fei's face, he was also startled.
——It’s Liang Zhiming.
Ning Fei's appearance obviously stunned him for a moment. He wanted to say something, but the situation was too urgent and he had no time to stop. He could only walk over while shaking his head desperately saying "Don't say it! Don't say it!", and quickly helped the wounded man into an alley not far away.
"It's him." Duan Yunhong naturally recognized Liang Zhiming, "So the person who was injured might be someone from the organization... Someone is chasing them."
Ning Fei tilted his head and glanced at him.
Sure enough, within a few seconds, another group of people came chasing after them, their footsteps were much louder and more chaotic. They also forcibly pulled over and kicked over various large objects along the way, making a lot of noise and the scene was quite scary.
When they ran to Duan Yunhong and the others, someone shouted "Turn around and look up!", and then walked up to pull Duan Yunhong and Ning Fei apart without saying a word. Duan Yunhong frowned and stared at the group of vicious people. He was not scared away by the several black muzzles of guns pointed at him: "What are you doing?!"
"...Boss Duan?" Someone in the back row of the pursuers actually recognized him and came forward to ask in a questioning tone, "Why are you here?... Put down your guns, and the rest of you chase ahead first!"
"Yes!" A group of people split into two and ran forward.
"Secretary Cui is so impressive." Duan Yunhong also recognized him. He was the person he had seen at the newspaper's party that night. He said coldly, "Why, my friend and I went out for a walk after watching a movie, and you want to interfere?"
"Friends?" Secretary Cui, who was wearing glasses, came closer to look at Ning Fei in the shadows and muttered, "You two grown men came out to watch a movie so late at night and walked on this street..."
"Why are you so rude?" Ning Fei suddenly spoke up, raised his hand and put it on Duan Yunhong's shoulder, and said in a very aggressive tone, "Is it too late to watch movies or go out for a walk at night? Our car is still here. If you are so nervous, I'd better go back to Yucheng as soon as possible."
Secretary Cui was stunned by the sudden accent, and the tense and suspicious atmosphere disappeared instantly.
He didn't know whether Ning Fei had done it on purpose or not, but he asked Duan Yunhong, "Boss Duan, who is this...?"
Duan Yunhong didn't really understand what Ning Fei had come up with, but it wasn't the first time he had started a little drama for no apparent reason, so Duan Yunhong cooperated tacitly: "Secretary Cui is so forgetful. This is Ning Fei, from Yucheng. His father is the president of the Southwest Chamber of Commerce. We went to the 'Night Pearl' together the night before yesterday. Secretary Cui can't recognize him now?"
What can Secretary Cui say? When he was talking to Duan Yunhong, Ning Fei had already run away. Later, he only saw Duan Yunhong with another young man from a distance, and he had no way of seeing the man's face clearly. It turned out to be the person in front of him, and he also claimed to be the eldest son of the Southwest Chamber of Commerce. With this in mind, Secretary Cui couldn't say anything more about the intimate behavior of these two grown men.
So he could only ask: "Two people just ran past here, did you see them?"
Ning Fei interrupted: "What do you mean one or two people? The cinema is full of people. Who knows who you are talking about?"
"There was a man who was shot and bleeding, and he ran over there." Secretary Cui explained patiently, "They are criminals. If you hinder our arrest, I'm afraid you two won't be able to bear the responsibility."
"He ran that way." Duan Yunhong finally interrupted Ning Fei's attempt to "cast a spell" again, pointing to the other side of the street, "Didn't your people go over there? I didn't see where they went after that. By the way, my car is in the direction you just came from. Didn't you hit my car? Is there any danger over there?"
Ning Fei continued to argue: "I don't want to ride in a lousy car..."
"I think he wasn't hit. You can go now. I have something important to attend to. Excuse me." Secretary Cui really didn't want to face Ning Fei, the troublemaker, face to face again. He casually said this and turned away.
Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong watched them go away. After everyone disappeared, Duan Yunhong turned back and asked, "What's wrong with your accent? How did you learn it so quickly?"
"I just imitated it casually." Ning Fei shrugged, "I also learned a jingle."
"What?"
"What the hell are you doing?"
“…”
Duan Yunhong was silent for a few seconds: "Don't play this when we are alone in the future, I will become weak."
--------------------
I asked a local friend to help correct Ning Fei's dialect lines. It made me laugh the whole time, but I wonder if you guys would have trouble understanding it?
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