Zhang Xiuwu hugged Zhao Yongliang affectionately, asking, "Hey, where are you guys living now? Who's home there? Is it far? How about hailing a rickshaw to take us? Hey, do you have any change in your pocket?"
Zhao Yongliang's heart tightened. All his belongings were in his shoulder bag, which contained not only thousands of yuan in cash, but also a passbook. He had never left this bag recently. He originally felt that there were too many people in his bedroom and was worried about thieves.
Now, there are no thieves in the house, but if there are two robbers outside, and they come up to snatch my bag without any care, I really can't beat them.
At this moment, he regretted his mean-spiritedness immensely. It would have been better to leave the bag at home. Why did he have to carry it with him in fear every day?
Fortunately, the two men were both poor and didn't think he had any money on him, so they didn't even think of searching his bag, allowing him to escape temporarily.
The sun was shining brightly overhead. Although there was an autumn breeze that brought coolness from time to time, it was still very hot walking on the road. Laiba's lips were dry and his mouth was parched. At noon, they only ate a dry steamed bun and half a bowl of black pickled vegetables in Brother Ba's house. Such a small amount of calories was not enough to fill the stomach of the young man.
He couldn't help but say to Zhang Xiuwu, "Brother Ergou, let's rent a tricycle. It's going to take forever to get here. I didn't have enough for lunch, and I'm so exhausted from the sun."
Didn't Zhang Xiuwu know that sitting was more comfortable than walking? But he only had one dollar in his pocket. If he spent it all, he wouldn't even be able to buy a ticket home. If he didn't go home, where would he stay tonight?
He coughed and asked Zhao Yongliang, "Do you have any money with you? As a small business owner, you must have some small change, right?"
Zhao Yongliang felt in his trouser pocket and pulled out a little over five yuan. Just as he was taking it out, Scarface snatched it away: "I didn't realize you were quite rich."
Zhang Xiuwu felt a surge of jealousy. This cripple could easily pull out five yuan from his pocket, but what about him? He only had a little over a dollar, and he had to steal it from the box in his mother's wardrobe. How could he have gotten it?
There happened to be a noodle shop up ahead, so Zhang Xiuwu said, "Let's go get something to eat first. This old classmate is still hungry."
After saying that, he half hugged and half dragged Zhao Yongliang towards the noodle shop, with Lai Ba following closely behind.
These two bad guys were so poor that they couldn't wait until dawn. They ordered three bowls of noodles according to the menu, and also ordered two cold dishes and a braised dish, all with the five dollars in Zhao Yongliang's pocket. As for what they would use to rent a tricycle when they went out, these two had long forgotten about it.
Zhao Yongliang was worried that he had not come up with a solution. He had spent all his money but could not take a bus, so he might as well keep walking. This gave him some time to think of a solution.
As soon as the food was served, the three of them started to gobble it up. Zhao Yongliang also rushed to eat it. Why not? This was all his own money.
After eating a bowl of noodles, the panic feeling finally eased a little. He looked up suddenly and found that a familiar man was waving at him stealthily outside the store.
Zhao Yongliang put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked the proprietress, "Sister, is there a toilet in your shop?"
The proprietress behind the counter shook her head, pointed outside and said to him: "There is a public toilet in the alley just to the right after you leave the store."
Zhao Yongliang nodded, looked at the two people busy grabbing food and said, "I'm going to the toilet."
Lai Ba looked at Er Gouzi, who winked at him. Lai Ba understood and said, "I'll go too. Let's go together." There were not many dishes left on the table anyway.
Zhao Yongliang's heart sank. These two guys were watching him closely, so he couldn't get away easily. Without saying a word, he walked out first.
After leaving the store, they walked a short distance to the public restroom. Scar took out a half-smoked cigarette and a box of matches, waved at him and said, "You go ahead, I'll have a cigarette."
Zhao Yongliang went into the toilet alone. The smell in there was extremely strong. The white locust pupae on the ground almost made him vomit out the noodles he had just eaten.
Just as he was feeling disgusted, the man who waved to him outside the restaurant came in right after him.
The man came in without saying a word. He looked around first, and when he saw that there was no one inside, he whispered to Yongliang, "From a distance, it looked like you. Why are you with them? What's going on? It looks like you've been held hostage?"
Yongliang was puzzled: "Who are you?"
The man lifted up one side of his shirt, revealing a pair of silver handcuffs around his waist. "Don't you know me? I'm Zhou Tai from the County Public Security Bureau. My office is just upstairs from your garment workshop."
Yongliang's mind moved. No wonder he felt that this person looked familiar. He looked at Zhou Tai carefully. He changed his uniform into casual clothes and felt like a different person.
He is just a policeman and a semi-acquaintance, so he can be trusted.
He immediately said: "I was held hostage by them. The one outside is called Scar, and the tall and thin one inside is called Zhang Xiuwu. They are my elementary school classmates. They controlled me today. Under the pretext of taking me to see a house, they lured me to a gambling den and now they want to follow me to my home. I am worried about how to escape.
Meeting you makes me feel relieved."
Yongliang picked out some important information and introduced it to Zhou Tai, such as the approximate location of the gambling den, a big crooked willow tree at the door, how many people were in the gambling den, etc.
If Zhou Tai can subdue Brother Ba and his gang, then Zhang Xiuwu and Lai Ba will not be a threat.
When he spoke, Zhou Tai listened carefully, not interrupting a word. After he finished speaking, he said, "You lead these two people to our bureau. I will set up a trap before you. When the time comes, we can arrest these two people. Then you can lead us to catch Brother Ba. Don't be afraid!"
Yongliang nodded excitedly: "Okay, I'll listen to you." He was just worried that Brother Ba and his gang would get away with it or that the sentences they received were too short...
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