Chapter 8: Beef Noodle Soup in the Rain

  Liu Handong picked up the plastic bag in his hand and said, "Let's go home and cook."

  "Where do you live? I'll take you there." The young woman was very enthusiastic.

  Xiao Fan pulled Liu Handong's clothes and looked unhappy.

  "It's not on our way, let's part ways here."

  The young woman smiled and said goodbye, driving away in her Land Rover.

  It's windy and it's going to rain, the taxi business on the street suddenly got better, can't even stop them. From here to Tiegu Street is very far, taking a bus is the most convenient.

  A bus stop, a No. 520 bus came over, passengers swarmed up, threw coins, and swiped cards. Liu Handong and Xiaofei also got on the bus and found that the female driver was the ponytail girl who had been speeding yesterday.

  "Ponytail shouted: 'Go inside, go inside, no one is behind.'"

  Passengers still habitually stand near the door, two well-dressed men with suit jackets slung over their arms, quietly squeezing inside while shouting: "Don't squeeze, don't squeeze."

  The train started moving, and the conductor shouted: "Passengers please note, take care of your belongings. You two in suits, don't be shameless, get off at the next stop."

  The passengers immediately retreated backward, dodging two thieves.

  The thief's face was no longer tolerable, one of the burly men went up and kicked the female driver with his leg, cursing with a dirty mouth, the passengers were silent as if they had been frozen, not a single person moved.

  Liu Handong squeezed out and pointed at the thief, shouting: "Move again and I'll kill you!"

  Another thief pulled out a dagger and stabbed it from the side of Liu Handong's back, Xiaofei let out a sharp cry. Liu Handong made a beautiful grappling move, pinched the opponent's wrist, and with a forceful twist, there was a cracking sound, the bone broke, the dagger fell to the car floor, and the thief's wrist hung down at an eerie angle, screaming in agony like a slaughtered pig.

  At this time, the ponytail had already stopped with one foot on the brake and started fighting with the little thief who had acted first. She used a scattered boxing style, and with one straight punch, the thief's nosebleed flowed freely. Just as he covered his nose, Liu Handong grabbed his hair from behind and pulled him to the ground, punching him with old fists.

  The ponytail came down from the driver's seat and picked up a fire extinguisher to join in the beating, hitting the two thieves until they were crying out in pain.

  Xiao Fan clapped her hands and the passengers, as if waking up from a dream, also started applauding. Many people took out their mobile phones and dialed 110.

  Ma Weibiao dropped the fire extinguisher and rushed towards Liu Handong with his hand outstretched: "I'm Ma Ling, thank you."

  "No need to be polite, I've arrived at my stop. Could you open the door?" Liu Handong heard the passengers calling 110 and felt uneasy again.

  "Let's wait for the police to arrive and make a record, it won't take much time," Ma Ling said.

  "I have something urgent, really, next time." Liu Handong gave Xiao Fan a signal with his eyes, and Xiao Fan also ran over, nodding vigorously.

  "Alright." Ma Ling thought of the many eyewitnesses still in the car, so he opened the door and Liu Handong pulled Xiao Fan out quickly, disappearing into a alleyway by the side of the road.

  A police car with flashing lights pulled up beside the bus, and the police officer came over to take away the thief. Ma Ling looked out at the rain mist, thinking of the young man who had stood up for justice, and a smile played on his lips.

  It was raining heavily, Liu Handong bought a copy of Huaijiang Morning News, and Xiao Fan put it on her head, running in the rain. Xiao Fan was excited and shouted loudly, but suddenly she stopped and pouted, pretending to cry.

  "What's wrong?" Liu Handong asked.

  Xiao Fan waved his hand.

  Liu Handong suddenly remembered that he had left the rice vinegar and soy sauce he bought at Chaoshifa Supermarket on bus 520.

  "Never mind, let's go have some beef noodles." Liu Handong said magnanimously.

  He knew there was a beef noodle shop that tasted good, the boss was a Jiangbei countryside man, very kind, and all the customers in the store were regulars.

  Ningjiang City is the provincial capital of Jiangsu Province, and it's currently undergoing a subway construction project. The whole city is filled with construction sites. This beef noodle stall is located right in one of these construction sites, under a rain awning covered with red and blue stripes. Five or six workers wearing rain boots and safety helmets are eating noodles. Liu Handong calls out to the boss: "Two bowls of noodles, one large and one small."

  The boss said: "No small bowls, all are big, sit down."

  Not much effort, two bowls of noodles were served, wide handmade noodles, on top sprinkled with green scallions, garlic sprouts, red pickled vegetables, white radish, only the beef was too little, just two miserable slices.

  Xiao Fan was stunned. The bowl of noodles was even bigger than her own face-washing basin, and the noodles were piled high enough to last a week.

  Liu Handong has already started eating noodles with his head down and even added some red chili oil.

  Farmers also lowered their heads to eat noodles, the sound of smacking lips rose and fell, the rain continued to fall, water droplets flowed down the colored fabric, pounding out small pits on the ground, under the tung tree by the distant roadside, fallen leaves covered the ground.

  "Why aren't you eating?" Liu Handong asked, looking up.

  Xiao Fan gave most of the noodles in the bowl to Liu Handong, leaving only a small amount for herself. These handmade noodles were chewy and actually quite delicious, but the serving size was intended for heavy laborers, so it was a bit excessive for Xiao Fan.

  After finishing dinner, the rain stopped, and a rainbow appeared at the edge of the sky. Xiaofei excitedly pointed at the rainbow and jumped up and down. Liu Handong and several migrant workers walked out of the shed and stood together, gazing for a long time at the rainbow in the sky between the high-rise buildings.

  ……

  Wang Xing was a top student at the police academy, and had served as a people's policeman in Jiangbei City before being transferred to the provincial capital's criminal police force as an investigator. At the time when everyone thought he had unlimited prospects, he accidentally killed a suspect and was expelled from the public security forces, becoming a private detective.

  Private detectives are still a new profession in China, Wang Xing's company is named Mingjing Investigation Consulting Co., Ltd. The main business has two aspects: one is to help rich ladies catch their husbands' mistresses, and the other is to help officials and wealthy businessmen remove cameras and bugs installed in their cars and offices. Because of his high-quality service and many friends in the political and legal circles, he has a good reputation and his business is booming.

  But the income from these jobs still left Wang Xing's life hand-to-mouth, he bought a house in the provincial city, borrowed a large sum of money, his wife was pregnant with twins, and the economic pressure was huge, so to prepare diapers and milk powder for the soon-to-be-born children, Wang Xing was willing to take on any job.

  This morning, Wang Xing received a call from the office of Qing Shi High-tech CEO, entrusting him to find and protect Xia Qing Shi's daughter Shu Fan, with a commission fee of 100,000 RMB.

  Wang Xing accepted the job without hesitation and quickly launched an investigation. According to the information provided by the client, Shu Fan was currently safe, but someone had attempted to kidnap her. To ensure Shu Fan's personal safety, Xia Qing Shi did not choose to report to the police, but instead found a private detective to solve the matter.

  Soon, Wang Xing discovered that the case was not simple. Shu Fan's uncle, who is also the CEO of Qing Shi High-Tech, Xia Bai Shi, had reported to the police station in Wenquan Town that his niece was missing, and now the police were conducting a secret investigation.

  A friend from the criminal police brigade said that Shu Fan was likely kidnapped by a black car driver on her way home, and the motive for the kidnapping is unclear. The suspect has been identified as Liu Handong, a retired soldier. The earliest eyewitness was Gu Changjun, head of the security department at Shifeng Group, who said he saw someone kidnap a female student while commuting home from work. His two colleagues were injured when they tried to stop it and were hit by the black car. The traffic police also confirmed that a damaged black car was found at the scene. A colleague from the Municipal Bureau's Legal Affairs Department also witnessed Liu Handong taking Shu Fan to the municipal bureau, speaking nonsense.

  Wang Xing relied on his intuition as a criminal police officer and felt that the case was very deep. The man named Liu Handong might not be the culprit, as it didn't make sense for a criminal to bring a ransom note to the public security bureau voluntarily. However, the Political and Legal Committee had already set the tone for the case, and the culprit was determined to be Liu Handong.

  Qingshi High-tech's boss Xia Qingshi is being treated in the US, and at this critical moment his only heir gets into trouble, which is too coincidental. Moreover, Gu Changjun of Shifeng Group is not a good person, and with him involved, there must be many secrets. Adding to that, the rough intervention of the Political and Legal Committee probably also explains why the Xia family didn't want to report the case.

  To find Shu Fan, you must first find Liu Handong. The police want to find someone, and there are technical means, the most commonly used is mobile phone positioning. In today's society, the popularity of mobile phones is extremely high, as long as you know the number, even the IMEI code, you can quickly locate a person, it's very simple.

  The police need to use mobile phone positioning, which requires the signature of a leader above the branch level, but Wang Xing knows someone in the technical department of China Mobile, and it can be done with just one phone call.

  Liu Handong's mobile phone was a nameless China Mobile card, which was only turned on once within 24 hours, and the location was near Tiehua Street, Zhongduan, Huohua District.

  Tiehua Street is a suburb where rental houses are concentrated. Liu Handong currently has no proper job and uses this place as a foothold, which is reasonable.

  Wang Xing drove his second-hand Jetta in the pattering autumn rain towards Tiehua Street.

  It was already 5:30 in the afternoon, and the city's traffic was at its most congested time. There were many cars and people on the road, and with the road expansion project, the road had become a mess. Buses and private cars competed for space, while motorcycles and electric bikes darted through gaps. Minor accidents occurred frequently, and horns blared incessantly. Wang Xing impatiently slammed his steering wheel, but all that responded was the horn of his old Jieda, which didn't work anywhere else.

  Officer Ma Guoqing had been squatting in the mobile business hall opposite No. 108 Tiehua Street, patiently waiting for Liu Handong and Shu Fan to return. For a policeman, it was a common occurrence to lie in wait, and it was normal to wait outside for several days and nights in the cold winter months to catch criminals.

  Ma Guoqiang knew that this might be his last time in the police career, and also the last heroic act of his life. He hoped that his wife and daughter would see a hero who sacrificed himself fighting against criminals at the front line, rather than a patient suffering from cancer pain.

  Liu Handong and Xiaofei were also blocked on the road, the bus they took collided with a private car, two drivers scolded each other, passengers got off and walked.

  A flash of lightning across the sky, followed by rumbling thunder, gusts of wild wind, and a storm is coming with strong winds filling the building.

  The small vendors on Tiehua Street have started to pack up and go home, those selling cooked food and fruit have also put away their umbrellas and retreated with their tricycles. The heavy rain is more effective than the city management, as soon as these people leave, the road suddenly becomes clear.

  A string of silvery laughter came, Ma Guoqing, who was meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and saw Liu Handong pulling Xiao Fan to run in the rain. The intimate appearance didn't look like a kidnapper and a victim, but rather like a young couple.

  Ma Guoqiang touched the 54-style pistol on his lower back and stood up with a strong endurance of stomach pain.

  A dilapidated Jieda car came from the north of Tiehua Street.

  At the same time, a black Highlander came from the south of Tiegu Street, followed by a black Honda Accord. Both cars had no license plates and were heavily loaded with people inside.