Chen Zikun thought it was definitely Miss Yao's call, but when he picked up the receiver, he heard a man with a loud voice speaking: "Is this the Zi Guang Car Factory?"

  "Really, where are you from?"

  "I heard that your car factory's cars are different from others, they all have four headlights, is this true?" asked the Mandarin Duck.

  Business came to the door, Chen Zikong politely said: "Yes, do you want a car?"

  "Nonsense! Can't I just make a phone call? What's this, Cannon Alley Headline News? Get me three... no, four rickshaws here quickly, I have an urgent matter!"

  Paoju Hutong is located in the northeast corner of Beijing City, near Yonghegong Temple. It forms a diagonal line with Xuanwumen inside, which is quite far away. However, when business comes, there's no reason to push it away. Chen Zikun hastily asked: "What's your honorable surname?"

  "My surname is Huang."

  "Alright, Mr. Huang, we're on our way." Chen Zikun hung up the phone and immediately arranged for four rickshaws to be sent to the head of Cannon Bureau Alley, where Wang Dunliang led the team to the Huang residence.

  After two hours, Wang Rongliang pulled the cart back and scolded as soon as he entered the door: "What a big loss! There is no one with the surname Huang in Paohutong, it's all for nothing."

  Chen Zikun asked: "You haven't taken a wrong turn, have you? This is Paobu Hutong No. 1."

  "We asked from the first to the fourth, and there was no one with the surname Huang at all." Wang Zuoliang picked up his bowl to drink water, this trip wasn't tiring, but it wasted a lot of time.

  Chen Zikun and Xue Pingshun stared at each other in dismay. Could it be that someone was intentionally teasing Zikun?

  Just then, the phone rang again. It was still that duck-like voice: "Hello, is this Zǐguāng Car Factory? Why hasn't my car arrived yet?" Faintly, laughter could be heard in the background.

  Chen Zikong suppressed his anger and said: "Where exactly do you live? There is no family with the surname Huang in Paoju Hutong."

  The duck quacked with laughter and immediately hung up the phone.

  Chen Zikong was furious, how dare this little rascal tease me! If I catch him, I won't let him off until he's beaten to a pulp, and that's if he's ever eaten leeks before!

  The phone rang again suddenly, and Chen Zikong picked it up and scolded: "You little devil, are you making trouble on purpose?"

  "What's wrong, getting so angry?" came Miss Yao's voice from the receiver.

  "Oh, someone just called to prank our factory, Miss Yao, is there something going on?"

  "Cut the nonsense, I'm looking for you because I have something to discuss. Otherwise, why would I be calling? Tomorrow I need to go to Fragrant Hills, come with me."

  "I'm really sorry, but I have something on tomorrow too, so I won't be able to accompany you."

  Upon hearing this, Miss Yao got angry: "Hey, I'm telling you Chen Zikun, you can't just burn your bridges after crossing the river! Not to mention that I pay you 200 yuan a month, but considering I helped you deal with those police officers, you owe me one. So, are you going or not?"

  It's hard to repay human feelings, Chen Zikun hesitated for a moment, thinking that Xiangshan was only tens of miles away, and he could come back early if he ran fast, so he gritted his teeth and agreed: "Okay, what time?"

  "Come over at 8 o'clock in the morning."

  "Got it."

  ……

  The next morning, Chen Zikun put on a clean pair of pants and hurried to the Yao Mansion in his rickshaw. Ah Fu was polishing the black Ford sedan with a piece of deerskin until it shone brightly. When he saw Chen Zikun's rickshaw, he couldn't help but snort in disdain.

  Yao Yilei had finished dressing and was sitting in the living room, with a large bundle of cloth beside her. When Chen Zikun came in, she instructed him: "Take this package and put it in the car outside."

  Chen Zikun picked up the bundle and saw that it was full of old clothes through a gap, so he asked: "Where are we going?"

  "I told you, let's go to Xiangshan, there is an orphanage there, we can send them some clothes."

  "When can I come back?"

  "If you pull a rickshaw, it would take at least four or five hours. If we drive, we can be back in two hours."

  "That's it." Chen Zikong carried the package out, Yao Yile took up a small flower umbrella and followed behind, high heels clicking, Afu opened the car door, first letting Chen Zikong put things in the back, then inviting the young lady to get in, running to the front of the car to grab a crank and turning it vigorously, the car immediately emitted a roaring sound.

  A Fu jumped onto the car, grasped the steering wheel, honked the horn twice, and Yao Yile poked her head out to say: "What are you standing there for, get in!"

  Chen Zikun was like a dream come true, hurriedly getting on the car and sitting down close to Yao Yilei. His nose was filled with the fragrance emanating from her body, and he couldn't help but think of that soul-stirring kiss they shared that day, his heart racing with excitement.

  The black iron gate of the mansion slowly opened, and Ah Fu drove out of the gate, heading north, passing through Xizhimen, and rushing towards Fragrant Hills, leaving pedestrians and vehicles on the road far behind.

  Sitting next to Miss Yao, Chen Zikun's heart was always a little uneasy. He leaned forward and made small talk: "Ah Fu, this car is much faster than a rickshaw."

  "Rubbish! This is a Ford car imported from the United States, the most advanced machine in the world. Of course it's fast! Do you think it's like those foreign rickshaws that rely on two legs?"

  Chen Zikun said: "Is the car easy to drive? Teach me."

  A Fu suddenly became vigilant and said, "Driving a car is a university question. Master specially sent me to the Shanghai concession to study for half a year before I graduated. You are so ungrounded, I'm afraid it will take a year or two to learn."

  He said so because he was afraid that Chen Zikun would take his own rice bowl. The young lady valued this little guy so much, and he had to be on guard.

  Chen Zikun pouted and stopped talking.

  Yao Yile said: "Ah Fu, why don't you teach him? Maybe he's smarter than you."

  Ah Fu had no choice but to swallow his pride and let Chen Zikun sit beside him, saying: "Alright, I'll teach you. This is called the steering wheel, it's used for steering. The three pedals at my feet, the middle one is reverse gear, the left and right ones are high and low gears. The accelerator is behind the steering wheel, press it to move forward, pull the handbrake to stop the car. Do you understand?"

  Chen Zikun said: "You're speaking so fast, I'm confused."

  "That's it then, learning to drive isn't something you can pick up in a short time, that American instructor taught me for half a year back then."

  In Beijing, the aristocrats often go to Xiangshan Temple to worship or have fun. This road is straight and smooth, paved with gravel, and local villagers pass by from time to time. Suddenly a little boy ran across the street, tripped over his feet and fell to the ground.

  Ah Fu slammed on the brakes because he saw it early and the car stopped more than ten steps away from the child.

  "Go take a look at that child." Yao Yile said.

  A Fu was about to get off when Chen Zi Kun pressed his shoulder and ordered in a low voice: "Back up!"

  "What are you doing?" Ah Fu was confused.

  "Reverse, now!" Chen Zikun saw that Ah Fu was still expressionless, one hand gripping the steering wheel, his left foot suddenly pressing down on the middle reverse pedal, while simultaneously accelerating, the Ford car sped backwards, before he could finish speaking, a giant tree trunk as thick as a man's hug crashed down, blocking the road, the car didn't have time to brake and crashed into it with a loud bang, immediately stalling.

  Yao Yile's soul was still unsettled, but she saw the little kid lying in the middle of the road suddenly jump up like a carp. Only then did she realize that his head was very large and the smile on his face was unmistakably an adult-like smile. What kind of child was this? He was clearly a dwarf!

  On both sides of the road, a group of sturdy men with shaved heads and wearing black shorts jumped out from the woods, their faces covered, with pistols tucked into their waistbands. The leader, a bald man with a shiny head and triangular eyes gleaming with malice, raised his hand and fired two shots, causing the Ford car's engine cover to emit white smoke immediately.

  "Whoever moves will be beaten to death!" The big man shouted in a cold voice, with two box-shaped guns aiming at the car. Ah Fu was already frightened out of his wits, and Chen Zikun didn't dare to move either.

  The hooligans rushed forward, opened the car door and pulled the three people down. After searching the car, they only found a few hundred yuan in cash and some pearl necklaces in Yao Yilei's handbag, nothing else of value. Clearly, they were not interested in this, obviously they came to kidnap them.

  Chen Zikun and Ah Fu were ordered to kneel on the ground, untie their belts, and not allowed to raise their heads. The two had no choice but to obey. Chen Zikun knelt on the ground, his mind racing quickly, but the situation was not optimistic. This group of bandits was extremely cunning and experienced, without any chance of making a move.

  Yao Yire's shrill cry came from the side: "Don't touch me!" Then there was a loud slapping sound, Chen Zikun glanced over with the corner of his eye, Yao Yire's hair was disheveled, and her mouth was bleeding. The bandit leader grabbed her hair and scolded with a ferocious face: "Little bitch, you dare to be arrogant in front of San Pao Ye, don't you want to live?"

  "Big Brother Cannon, what shall we do with these two kids?" a bandit asked.

  He turned his head and met Chen Zikong's gaze, immediately enraged by the arrogance in his eyes, he shouted: "Fuck your mother, dare to look at me!"

  He was about to pull out his gun.

  Chen Zikong was originally a bandit from Guandong, although the methods of bandits all over the world are not exactly the same, there is one thing that is the same, which is that they all kill people without blinking an eye, saying kill and then killing, not giving you a chance to say a word. Seeing his opponent move with murderous intent, he instinctively pounced forward, the bullet hitting the spot where he had just been kneeling.

  "Bang bang bang", three shots were fired, Chen Zikun's body moved, blood splattered, and he plunged into the woods by the side of the road.

  "Pfft, he's running faster than a rabbit!" San Pao walked over with his smoking gun and took a glance, finding the forest to be very dense and the figures darting about too difficult to hit. He said, "Xiao Hu, Xiao Bao, this one's yours."

  Two agile bandits immediately entered the forest.

  A Fu was so scared that he became paralyzed, fearing that the bandits would also kill him. But unexpectedly, San Pao patted his cheek and said: "Grandpa, I'm Wei San Pao, a great hero from Hebei. I'll spare your life, go back and tell your master to prepare 500,000 silver dollars for ransom. If it's late by one day, the girl will no longer be a virgin. If it's late by two days, she'll lose a finger. Do you understand?"

  "Did... did you hear that?" Ah Fu stammered.

  "Tell it to Third Master Cannon."

  "Is is is." Ah Fu repeated again and again, only then was San Pao satisfied.

  Three cannons haha laughed: "Brothers, flash!"

  He said, shouldering Yao Yilei and whistling with two fingers in his mouth. A black horse galloped over, neighing loudly. San Pao Ye shouldered Yao Yilei with one hand and grasped the saddle with the other, mounting the horse. He shouted "Drive!" and sped away, leaving a cloud of dust behind.