Wen Siqiang looked at me, "Boss, what should we do?"
I turned and looked behind me. There were still sporadic gunshots from the mountains, indicating they hadn't come down yet.
Qian Fugui said, "I'm a local. I'll go talk to them and see what's going on."
That was the only option. We were on the verge of completing our mission. If they were colluding with Wu Guodong and knew I was worth a lot of money, it would be strange if they didn't capture us.
Qian Fugui raised his gun over his head and shouted, telling them not to misunderstand, that we weren't bad people.
Those people, holding knives and forks, looked tense. After all, we had real firearms, and these things were no joke; one shot could blow off a head.
My companion and I also put our guns behind our backs, asking them to lower their guard.
In fact, the villagers here also had weapons. It was possible some of them had real firearms, and if things really escalated, we would be the ones at a disadvantage.
Qian Fugui went over to explain. A few people looked at us with disbelief. Qian Fugui gesticulated and spoke for a while longer before they grudgingly nodded. Qian Fugui then motioned for us to come closer.
As we approached, Qian Fugui said, "This is the town mayor. He says we disrupted the town's security and wants to take us to the village office. I told him you're the boss from over there, that you came to do business with General Wu Guodong, but were ambushed by a villain and almost lost your life. The gunfire earlier was a last resort, and we didn't expect to cause trouble for the town. The mayor has agreed to let you come talk to him personally."
I walked up to the mayor, handed my pistol to Wen Siqiang, and bowed to him. I said sincerely, "I'm in the gambling stone business in Ruicheng. Our places aren't far apart, and we can do a lot of business with each other in the future. This time, I was too trusting and came to your area, causing trouble. I'm willing to compensate for any losses. If the mayor thinks highly of this humble brother, and we have an opportunity to cooperate in the future, I will do my utmost!"
The mayor sized me up. In my current state, I didn't look like a boss at all; I looked more like a vagrant.
Mayor: "Is the car parked in front of the shop yours?"
I said, "Yes, we were genuinely sincere about befriending General Wu, so we had no defenses. We even left the keys at the shop, never expecting this outcome."
The mayor nodded, "I'll believe you this time. But you can't leave like this; it will make that group suspicious. After you leave, run and fight your way out, get the car from there, and leave quickly. I'm not helping you for free. In a few days, I'll come find you, and we'll do some business."
I said, "It's a deal. Give your contact information to Qian Fugui. My phone was confiscated. I'll contact you as soon as I get a new one."
Mayor: "Alright, it's a deal. Go quickly."
With that, he recited a string of numbers. Qian Fugui said he had memorized it, and then we quickly left.
After walking about fifty or sixty meters, I had Wen Siqiang fire a few shots into the air, and then we quickly entered the street and hurried towards the shop.
When we arrived at the shop, a crowd had gathered in front of it. They were surrounding the car and arguing about something. Seeing us approach in this state, they hastily made way. Wen Siqiang rushed into the shop to get the keys. The shop owner called out from outside, "I'm here! I have the keys."
He then said to everyone, "Aren't they here now? Disperse, everyone. You're all just looking for trouble every day."
We had paid the owner before leaving. Now, perhaps sensing that something had happened to us, he didn't make things difficult and dispersed the onlookers, then urged us to get in the car and leave.
As long as the car drove out of this town, it would be another autonomous region, and no matter how far Wu Guodong's reach was, he wouldn't dare extend it into someone else's territory.
Wen Siqiang got into the driver's seat, started the car, turned it around, and drove out.
As the car turned around, I saw from the rearview mirror that many people were rushing towards us from the village entrance. It looked like Wang Dong had brought people down the mountain, and the mayor was pretending to help him chase us.
Wen Siqiang didn't dare to delay and floored the accelerator, the car shooting forward.
This was a powerful "Tiger Head Benz" from back in the day, an eight-cylinder 5.5-liter engine with over 400 horsepower. When the accelerator was pressed, the front end lifted high, as if taking off, and sped away.
Soon, the crowd behind us became smaller and smaller, slowly disappearing from view.
We finally breathed a sigh of relief only after driving out of that area.
I said, "Let's find a way to ditch the guns. Carrying these things will get us locked up sooner or later."
Wen Siqiang slowly pulled over. There was a fast-flowing river below. I took Qian Fugui and got out. We placed the guns on the ground, broke them, and threw them into the river before getting back into the car and heading towards the border crossing.
By the time we reached Ruicheng, it was getting late. Since none of us had phones, we couldn't contact Brother Leopard, Lan Yajing, or Lei. We didn't know where they were, so we drove the car to the raw stone base. Although the market had closed for the day, there were still many closing tasks to attend to, and they were likely still there.
The car drove into the large compound. It was indeed much quieter today, with no bustling crowds. Only a few security guards were patrolling the yard, and the entire factory area was very quiet. I felt a little melancholy. I disliked the feeling of a grand finale; it was empty, as if soulless.
The sky was getting dark, and the streetlights hadn't been turned on yet. The entire factory area was silent.
After the raw stone exhibition, we planned to open a warehouse to serve as a permanent venue for gambling on raw stones, regularly releasing some high-quality raw stones for everyone to participate.
However, after this event, we would need to take a break to restock and improve some facilities. The main focus would be adjusting some unreasonable procedures, as well as training employees in various roles. We aimed to build a team in Ruicheng that was the most professional and provided the best service, making the raw stone base a signature of Ruicheng. Whenever people thought of gambling on raw stones, they would immediately think of our raw stone base, with the highest quality raw stones, the best service, and, of course, the safest environment.
The car stopped in front of the office building. Fortunately, my office and Brother Leopard's were lit up, confirming they were indeed here.
I asked Wen Siqiang to take Qian Fugui to shower and change clothes first, while I went to the office.
My office was close to the stairs. As I went up, I heard a lot of activity inside. I could hear Brother Leopard and Lan Ya's voices, urgently discussing something.
I didn't rush in, stopping at the top of the stairs. I wanted to hear what they were talking about; they were likely still worried about my disappearance.
Brother Leopard: "I wasn't here at the time. Why didn't you call to notify me? If I had known about this, I would never have let him go. Who is Wu Guodong? An internationally wanted major drug lord who kills without blinking. How could you even think of dealing with him?!"
Lan Ya: "Wu Guodong has been causing trouble repeatedly these past few days. The other day, he assassinated two of our staff members. When President Li was interrogating the assassin, he learned that one of them had a cousin who was a personal bodyguard. So, he wanted to take a shortcut, and this cousin agreed, saying he could help arrange contact with the general. I tried to reason with him many times, but he wouldn't listen and left."
By the end, Lan Ya's voice changed. I could feel her deep self-reproach.
Brother Leopard: "Now look, we can't contact you by phone. I've asked Brother Qing to use all his connections in Myanmar, but there's still no news. Sigh, that's enough. If there's no news by 8 PM tonight, I'm going there myself!"