15
After Tao Sai left the ferry, three girls came up to the boat to take pictures. Aunt Li, who was very outgoing, chatted happily with the girls for a while.
The three of them were all college students who had come together to travel during the summer vacation. They came from far inland. Especially when they learned that Zhou Ning was going to take her parents on a boat trip, they strongly prayed that he would take them along, no matter where they went.
Zhou Ning can't make the decision on this matter and has to wait for the real captain to come back.
Zhou Ning took his parents and grandmother down from the cabin and placed their luggage in another rest cabin.
As she was busy making the bed, she heard a series of strangers talking outside and quickly climbed up to see what was happening. She saw five men, all in their thirties or forties, approaching the ferry, with three girls helping them.
Zhou Ning went out and quickly found out that they wanted to take a boat to the other side.
Just when Zhou Ning was hesitating, one of the girls named An Nan turned her back and winked at her intensively.
Zhou Ning was also observing. First of all, the five men did not look like good people. The short, thin, bald man in the lead had a smile in his eyes, but he also had an indescribable ruthlessness. Even though he was trying hard to disguise himself, she was still able to keenly sense the things in his bones.
The several strong men standing at the back kept looking around, looking cautious and vigilant.
Zhou Ning felt a surge of unease. He typed a WeChat message to Tao Sai blindly, but on the surface, he tried to remain calm. He smiled and said to the people on the boat, "I'm so sorry, but we're a private fishing boat and don't serve the public. Otherwise, please wait another ten minutes or so. The ferry will be here soon."
"Sister, we have something urgent to do and can't wait. Please give us a ride. How about two hundred dollars for gas?" The bald man said, glancing at the dark-skinned man beside him. The man immediately took out his wallet from his trouser pocket and handed it to him. He took out a two-hundred-dollar bill from it and stuffed it on the deck. He clasped his hands together and shook them back and forth, "Good people will have a peaceful life."
Zhou Ning waved his hand and refused to take it.
Zhou Weixing and his wife heard the general idea as they climbed out of the cabin. Zhou Weixing stepped forward to help: "Friends, we are actually waiting for the boat owner at the ferry terminal. The boat can't leave if she doesn't come back. We may have to wait for another half an hour or so."
Several people's attention was briefly attracted by the speaking Zhou Weixing. Zhou Ning took the opportunity to quickly glance at his phone, but Taotao still didn't reply to the WeChat message.
She thought for a moment, used the railing as a shield, looked straight at them, but secretly typed a message with her finger and sent it.
The bald man glanced back at his companions, then turned back with a smile on his face. "It doesn't matter if we wait a moment. Let's get on the boat first."
Zhou Weixing, guarding the gap in the railing, said politely, "Don't worry, there's really no need to wait for us. Just wait for the ferry. It should be here in ten minutes at most."
"Let's go up first, and if the ferry arrives first, we'll go down. This should be fine, right?" The bald man was persistent. As he spoke, he took a step forward, grabbed the edge of the deck with both hands, and tried to climb up.
This group of people were so determined to get on the boat that Zhou Ning could conclude that they were definitely up to no good, and letting them on board was like inviting a wolf into the house.
The four men at the back had already come up, ready to take turns boarding the boat. One of them had his hand in his waist bag, probably holding a weapon.
What kind of weapon can be put in a waist bag and seem to be heavy?
gun?
The moment Zhou Ning thought of this word, her heart skipped a beat. She warned herself not to panic, absolutely not to panic!
Taking a quick, deep breath, Zhou Ning pretended to be calm and said, "Brother, there are five of you after all. Two hundred yuan is too little, isn't it? This is a scenic spot."
An Nan, who was on the other side of the deck, seemed to understand and chimed in, "That's right, the boat runs on diesel, and the price of oil keeps going up and up. Two hundred dollars isn't enough to start the engine, so we can't lose money by helping out."
The bald man was holding onto the railing, pushing off the boat. When Erduo heard what he said, he thought about it and felt that it was right. He let go and jumped back to the ground. "You're right. I'll add some money. Little girl, how much do you think is appropriate?"
"Wait a moment, I'll call the ship owner and ask."
Zhou Ning immediately went up to the deck and entered the cabin. When he was about to enter the cockpit, he turned back to Zhou Weixing and mouthed, "Cut the rope!"
She then threw a switchblade at me.
"This ship consumes a lot of oil. It can't move without consuming a thousand or eight hundred tons of oil at a time." Li Yinzhu also laughed to distract their attention.
Zhou Weixing calmly flicked the switchblade with one hand behind his back and moved inconspicuously toward the cable. Tao Sai had previously, to save trouble, tied only the bow cable to the ferry's gantry. This end was connected to the boat's gantry, and the other end could only be untied from shore.
Zhou Weixing looked toward the cockpit. The moment father and daughter locked eyes, they both moved almost simultaneously. He grasped the spring knife and used the blade to cut the cable like sawing wood, severing the eight strands of nylon rope one by one.
This morning, Tao Sai had Zhou Ning drive a short distance on the waterway to Xuzhuang. This was her only driving experience, and under Tao Sai's guidance, she mastered the technique quite well.
Taotao was not around this time, but she didn't care.
The engine started and a roar was heard. Zhou Ning gave the fishing boat enough power and instantly broke the remaining nylon ropes that had not been cut in time.
The accident happened too suddenly. The bald man was busy rummaging through his wallet for money. The dark-skinned man was the first to react. He rushed forward as if risking his life, jumped up on the boat's hull with his toes, and instantly grabbed Zhou Weixing's shirt. He leaned back and pulled Zhou Weixing off the boat.
The two men fell into the water and struggled. The dark-skinned man was very strong. He held Zhou Weixing's neck tightly with one arm, treaded water with his legs, and swam towards the ferry with the other arm. Others helped to pull the two men ashore.
"Drive the boat over here! Otherwise I'll shoot him!" The bald man shouted wildly, took out a pistol wrapped in clothes from his companion's waist bag, pointed it at Zhou Weixing's forehead, and the smile on his face was instantly replaced by ferocity.
Zhou Ning's legs in the cockpit felt weak unconsciously. Seeing the muzzle of the gun pointed at her father's head, the sky darkened and she steered the fishing boat back to the shore with her body stiff.
The berth was far from the shore, and although the two people falling into the water attracted the attention of some tourists in the square, no one noticed the tightly wrapped gun in the bald man's hand. They thought it was just an accident and no one cared about it. Besides, they did not have any dispute.
The bald man actually intimidated the people on the boat at gunpoint. Three other female university students witnessed the incident and were forced onto the boat to prevent them from calling the police. The gang then climbed onto the boat one by one, forced everyone into the cabin, and confiscated their phones.
The group of people didn't care about Zhou Ning for the time being. She hid in the iron cabinet in the cockpit, tears welling up in her eyes and her body trembling uncontrollably because of fear. But Zhou Ning knew very well that fear would not provide any help. She had to be strong. Taotao would find a way to save them.
She answered the call from Tao Sai.
"What's the situation now?" Tao Sai asked anxiously on the phone.
"They have guns, we can't run away." Zhou Ning whispered, trying to speak a complete sentence.
"It's okay, Tuantuan. Just be as obedient as possible and do whatever they ask you to do." Tao Sai comforted him while breathing heavily.
After counting the number of people, the bald man and his gang began searching for Zhou Ning. They quickly approached the cockpit. Zhou Ning's voice trembled: "...They are about to enter the cockpit."
"Turn off your phone screen, but keep the call active," Tao Sai said.
"Okay." Zhou Ning did as he was told.
Tao Sai immediately chose to mute his microphone to prevent the sound of electric current from arousing the other party's suspicion.
The iron cabinet door was roughly opened, and a man shouted in a gruff voice, "You're really good at hiding!"
“Bang!”
The sound of a slap on the face and the girl's crying came into Tao Sai's ears through the sound hole of the mobile phone, and an extra blood vessel popped out on her forehead.
"Damn it, you're so cunning! Give me your phone!" another strange man yelled. "Drive the boat, you drive the boat the way I tell you to. If you dare to try some tricks, try it!"
Tao Sai ran desperately to the ferry. In the distance, the fishing boat had already sailed downstream, leaving only a trail of white waves in the center of the river.
She realized belatedly that her heart rate was approaching its limit.
The fact they were armed with guns was a sure sign of a vicious gang, perhaps a wanted criminal desperate to board the ship and escape. Fortunately, there were no gunshots from the phone, so they should be safe for the time being.
Without waiting to catch her breath, Tao Sai turned around and chased downstream. She scanned a shared bicycle with her mobile phone and pedaled frantically along the river.
The speed on land is always faster than in water. The best way is to find out where they are going without alerting them, and then rush over to ambush them in advance.
Tao Sai put the wireless headphones into his ears, listened attentively to the movement on the other end of the phone, then turned on the two-line call and dialed 110 to call the police.
"Hello, this is Ganning County Public Security Bureau, please go ahead." said the operator at the alarm center.
"Several men hijacked my fishing boat. They had guns and are now in the lower reaches of the Qing River, heading towards the Yangtze River," said Tao Sai.
The situation was urgent. The operator immediately informed her colleagues after receiving the message. She continued on the phone, "Okay, we understand the situation. Miss, please stay calm. We will keep the line open. Do not provoke the suspect. The public security organs have dispatched police immediately. Everything will be fine."
"I am not on the ship, but my family and friends are. If you want to launch a rescue operation, I hope you will ensure the safety of the hostages on the ship," said Tao Sai.
"Don't worry, protecting the lives and safety of the people is our first duty. You can provide more intelligence to facilitate our actions."
"Not yet. I'll tell you when I think of it." Tao Sai said as he squeezed the brake and applied emergency braking.
There was a long flight of stairs ahead. Tao Sai got off the bike, carried the shared bike on his shoulder, and climbed up quickly, not caring about the strange looks from passers-by.
Her eyes twitched violently along the way. The bicycle quickly caught up with the fishing boat, but soon the fishing boat was on the wide Yangtze River again. The distant waters were covered with mist and the boat's position could no longer be seen with the naked eye.
At this moment, a very soft voice came from the earphone, proving that the phone was quite far away from the speaker. The voice came from Zhou Ning: "I want to drive all the way to the sea?"
"Just drive the way you're told. Cut the fucking crap."
“But we’re running low on oil.”
The conversation came to an abrupt end.
"My friend's phone number is 187xxxxxxxx, can you locate it?" Tao Sai said.
"Okay." The operator read it out, and the colleague next to him wrote it down.
"From Qinghe, driving down the Yangtze River, where is the nearest gas station? They should be able to drive there."
"Okay, the information you provided is very important. We will deploy and take action in advance."
"I'm familiar with the structure of my fishing boat," Towser said after a pause. "If possible, I'd like to participate in the operation."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
