"You're so stupid!" I said anxiously in a low voice, "I can't fight freely with you here! You'll only be a burden to me! Listen to me! When I tell you to run, you run immediately! I can handle them here, no problem! I can take care of these guys by myself! You run first, and wait for me at a safe distance ahead."
Seeing the three thugs approaching, I suddenly turned and rushed forward, first forcing them back with two punches, while shouting at the same time, "Run!!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Nan immediately took off running. The other driver, seeing the situation was bad, shouted, "This woman is trying to run away! Xiao Dao, go and catch him!"
I stopped the three thugs in front of me, but I didn't expect that the guy whose arm I had broken and who was sitting on the ground would get up and chase after Fang Nan.
In a moment of panic, I immediately abandoned the three people in front of me, turned around and chased after him. I grabbed the guy from behind and pulled him up with all my might...
Bang! I threw this guy away with a shove, and he slammed heavily onto the road! Blood immediately flowed everywhere.
The driver yelled, "Little Knife!" He glared at me like a crazed beast, shouting, "I'll kill you!!"
I dodged the punches and kicks from the two men on either side of me, shouting, "Come on! Damn it, I couldn't fight back then! Now's the perfect time to crush you all!"
I took a step forward and watched the driver lunge at me with a dagger to his chest. This time, I didn't try to grab his wrist. Instead, I stepped to the side, letting the dagger pass under my arm, and then I clamped my grip tightly around his arm! At the same time, I spun around, using the momentum to slip behind him, grabbed his arm, and twisted my arms...
This is a technique my senior brother taught me later – dislocating tendons and bones! The guy screamed, his entire arm went limp, and the dagger clattered to the ground. I then kicked him over.
At that moment, I felt a sharp, piercing pain in my back!
One of the two guys behind me somehow managed to pull out a shovel from the car! He shoveled it right into my back!
I staggered forward a few steps, then suddenly turned around, only to find that this guy had already swung his shovel at my head! If he hit me, my skull would probably be sliced open!
I immediately shrank back and rolled on the spot, while simultaneously shooting out the dagger in my hand!
He was lucky; in the darkness, I acted hastily, and the dagger pierced his shoulder but missed his throat by a few points!
Part Two: The Road to Success, Chapter 132: Saving a Life
I scrambled to my feet and punched him twice in the chest, breaking several of his ribs with a few cracking sounds! I snatched his shovel and looked back at the last man, who was already deathly pale with fear! Seeing that I had taken down his three companions, this man instead jumped into the car and tried to drive away!
I went over and, amidst his screams, dragged him out of the car. He struggled desperately, but he was no match for me. I threw him forcefully, and he fell backward to the ground. Just as he was about to struggle to his feet, I rushed over and stomped on his mouth!
The guy begged for mercy repeatedly. I raised the shovel and aimed it at his throat, about to plunge it in forcefully, when suddenly I heard Fang Nan scream from afar: "Xiao Wu, no!"
A thought flashed through my mind, and I immediately realized what it meant!
This is China! Not Vancouver, not Canada! If I kill someone here, the trouble won't be so easy to resolve!
I put down the shovel, kicked the guy unconscious, and then looked at Fang Nan.
Fang Nan ran over and threw herself into my arms. I hugged her and whispered a few words of comfort: "Didn't I tell you to run away? Why did you come back?"
Fang Nan was both frightened and aggrieved, and for a moment she was on the verge of sobbing. She hugged me tightly, then suddenly started scratching and pinching me, shouting, "You...you made me run away alone...How could I run away? How could I run away alone...You...these people are so fierce, I'm worried about you. What if something happens to you? What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?!"
I hugged her and comforted her repeatedly. I kissed her face a few more times before I finally calmed her down.
I rummaged through the car and, sure enough, found a cell phone. I tossed it to Fang Nan: "Call for help."
I searched their car again, but didn't find anything, except half a pack of cigarettes on the windowsill. I hadn't smoked for most of the day, so I took it without hesitation, lit one, and left. I searched again, but found nothing.
Just then, I suddenly heard a "bang"!
I was stunned for a moment, and immediately looked around, but found nothing unusual.
Just when I thought I had misheard, there was another "bang." It sounded like something had collided inside the car.
The trunk!
My eyes lit up, and I ran to the back to open the trunk lid. I'd just lifted it up when I froze!
There was a person lying in the trunk.
The man looked to be around forty years old. He was very fat and was wearing a shirt that looked like a high-end designer brand, but it was now covered in stains.
His hands and feet were completely bound. His body was curled up in the trunk, and a piece of tape was stuck to his mouth. When he saw me standing in front of him, he struggled repeatedly, making muffled noises, his face full of pleading and panic.
I rushed over and ripped the tape off his mouth. The man screamed in pain, and as soon as his mouth was free, he immediately yelled at the top of his lungs, "Help! Help me!!!"
"Alright, stop shouting. Who are you?" I looked at him.
"You...you're not one of their accomplices?" The fat man's voice had a slight Cantonese accent.
I went back to the ground, retrieved the dagger, and cut the ropes binding his hands and feet. I released him.
The man was terrified. I gave him some water, and he managed to explain what had happened, albeit haltingly.
It turns out that this middle-aged man is named Gao Wenzhan, a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong. He was kidnapped while doing business locally! And the four men I knocked to the ground were his four kidnappers.
After I finished explaining his situation, he asked me, somewhat fearfully, who I was. I just smiled and said, "I was out with my friends when our car broke down. We stopped these four robbers' car to ask for help, but they turned out to be hostile towards us."
"So... you took down all four of them by yourself? You're amazing!!" Gao Wenzhan exclaimed sincerely, his face full of gratitude. "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead! Even if my family paid the ransom, they would definitely have killed me!"
I exchanged a few polite words.
At this moment, Fang Nan returned with the phone. There was no joy on her face, only a helpless expression: "I've made a call and reported it to the police. They will arrive as soon as possible."
I nodded, then picked up the ropes I had used to tie Gao Wenzhan up earlier: "We'd better tie these four people up; it'll be easier that way."
Gao Wenzhan had just said "okay" when Fang Nan, who was standing opposite me, suddenly looked behind me. Then, her expression changed drastically! She pointed behind me and screamed in terror, "Xiao Wu! Watch out!!"
As soon as I turned around, I saw a thug had somehow climbed up to the car. He reached into the car door and pulled out a gun from somewhere! (Damn it, I had already searched the place thoroughly and couldn't find a gun!)
By then it was too late for me to move. I could only lunge forward as far as I could, and then I heard a loud "bang!"
I felt a piercing pain in my arm; a bullet had pierced my left arm. As I collapsed to the ground, I didn't have time to do anything else but scream, "Fang Nan!!"
I saw that guy had already raised his gun and pointed it at my head...
Just then, Fang Nan suddenly screamed. She was closest to the thug, and she grabbed a shovel from the ground and started hitting him all over...
Bang!
The shovel struck the thug squarely on the head. His eyes rolled back, and before he could even utter a sound, he was unconscious, the gun falling from his hand. Fang Nan, however, was in a frenzy, still holding the shovel. She screamed and kept hitting the thug's head…
Finally, when Fang Nan was panting heavily from exhaustion, I sat up. Looking at her, I smiled wryly and said, "Alright! If you keep hitting her, you'll kill her!"
I clutched my injured arm, trying to stop the bleeding by applying pressure. Fang Nan dropped her shovel and ran to my side, kneeling down beside me. Looking at the wound on my arm, she suddenly burst into tears. She ran back to the Hummer, frantically found a first-aid kit, tore it open, and used bandages to tightly wrap around my arm. Finally, she hugged my neck tightly and cried loudly.
I sighed, turned around and hugged her, saying softly, "Why are you crying? It's just a small injury. You're fine now, aren't you?"
After a pause, I said, "Alright, stop crying. Quickly check on the others! It wouldn't be good if someone else woke up!"
Fang Nan immediately jumped up. I remained seated on the ground, directing Fang Nan and Gao Wenzhan. The two of them tied up all four thugs with ropes, and only then could I barely stand up and sit in the car.
"How long did the police say it would take?" I asked Fang Nan.
"They said soon. I don't know where we are. They said they would send a car to search along the highway."
I nodded, relieved.
Gao Wenzhan was still thanking me profusely, but I just shook my head, indicating that he didn't need to say anything more.
"I only saved you by chance."
“No! It’s a coincidence for you, but for me, it’s a matter of life and death!” Gao Wenzhan said seriously, looking at me earnestly, “Sir, I must repay you! Although I, Gao Wenzhan, am not a big shot, I have a small business in Hong Kong. I will definitely repay your life-saving grace!”
He wanted to ask my name, but I thought about it and figured I'd have to tell the police anyway, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell him.
Finally, more than an hour later, a police car drove up in the distance, accompanied by an ambulance.
We got into an ambulance and drove back to Lijiang City. By the time we arrived at the hospital, it was almost dawn.
The doctor stitched up my wound and gave me some anesthetic, which put me to sleep...
When I woke up, I felt someone holding me and crying. I opened my eyes and saw Fang Nan sitting next to me, her eyes red and swollen like peaches from crying. I sat up, stretched, and smiled, "Okay, why are you crying? I'm fine, this little injury is nothing."
Fang Nan threw herself into my arms, saying haltingly, "It's all my fault! I'm the one who made you get hurt!"
"How could you be the one who caused this? Nonsense! It's not your fault we encountered thugs." I smiled and gently stroked her hair.
"No, no!" Fang Nan looked up, her face full of guilt. "Last night... last night after our car broke down, I told you my phone was dead... Actually, I was lying to you, my phone was perfectly fine!"
"Huh?" I was stunned, and blurted out, "Why?"
“Because… I wanted to stay with you a little longer.” Fang Nan’s face was full of shame as she lowered her head and murmured in my arms, “I thought that if I called for help immediately, you would probably leave me as soon as we got back… so I said my phone was dead… that way, maybe I could stay with you a little longer… I never expected that we would encounter thugs and that you would get hurt!”
Although I was surprised, looking at this crying woman, I felt no anger at all, only deep shock! I gently hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, and said softly, "It's alright! It's alright, I know. You don't need to cry... Sigh, you're so silly. If you just wanted me to stay with you a little longer, you could have just told me, and I would have done it! Don't do such a silly thing again next time, understand?"
Fang Nan nodded repeatedly without hesitation.
Then she suddenly remembered something and jumped out of my arms: "Oh, right, your people are already waiting outside. Hmm, Aze has already notified your people to come over. Your men are waiting outside for you to wake up."
"Well, let them in." I sighed.
Fang Nan nodded, glanced at me reluctantly for a couple of moments, then went to open the door to the ward and left. A moment later, Zhou with buck teeth walked in from outside, a relaxed smile on his face, and looked at me, saying, "Oh, my dear boss, my great lover! How are you feeling?"
Part Two: The Road to Success, Chapter 133: Parting
This guy, on the other hand, looked energetic and spirited. He strode into the ward, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to me.
"Alright, stop joking." I shook my head and gestured with my eyes to my left arm, which was bandaged. "You're asking me how I feel? What do you think? Do you think being shot feels good?"
"Oh? That's hard to say." Buck-toothed Zhou grinned slyly, showing his big teeth, and said, "You're quite the Casanova. Sigh, that Miss Fang, is she another one of your confidantes? Hmm, camping out in the wilderness, a lone man and a lone woman... Ah, how romantic."
"That's because the car broke down." I was about to explain when I suddenly saw this guy's sly grin and realized—damn it! Do I even need to explain to him? I'm the boss!
Thinking of this, I put on a stern face: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. How did things go?"
“What happened? It’s nothing much. You took a nap. We were originally planning to leave Lijiang and go back to Kunming today… um…” He glanced at his watch and deliberately sighed, “But the plane took off three hours ago, so we’ll have to stay here for another day.”
"Hmm... Where's Yan Di?" What I found strange was that Yan Di hadn't come to see me while I was injured and hospitalized.
"I have to thank your friend, Mr. Ze, for this," Zhou with the buck teeth said with a smile. "Basically... well, he and I discussed it and decided not to tell Miss Yan Di about your injury. Well, Miss Yan Di was a little worried because you didn't return to the hotel last night. But we've temporarily kept your hospitalization a secret from her... well, I believe Miss Fang is here now. You probably don't want us to bring Miss Yan Di along, right? That kind of meeting would be very awkward, wouldn't it?" Zhou with the buck teeth laughed as he spoke, "See, I'm a very considerate and thoughtful employee who always puts the boss first."
I see. I thought about it, and it's indeed not good for Yan Di to see Fang Nan with me in this situation. The problem is how to explain it to Yan Di when I get back.
"Alright, boss, let's talk about the other issues." Buck-toothed Zhou pulled something from his bag: "Look, Ms. Fang Nan has already given her statement to the police. So you don't need to do much. And, to be honest, I don't know whether to praise your luck or your bad luck! You know what? Those four guys you took down were A-level wanted criminals! All four of them were veterans, and after their discharge, they were sentenced to prison for assault in a local brawl. Last year, these four escaped from a prison in the Northwest. They traveled from the Northwest to the Southwest, committing numerous crimes in the past year: murder, arson, kidnapping, and robbery—a total of thirteen crimes, with more than twenty victims. Most of them died. They were itinerant criminals. According to the police's speculation, it's likely that when you called for help on the road, you stopped their car. They saw you were driving a Hummer and assumed you were wealthy, so they wanted to rob you. Of course… I think they might have also been lustful when they saw Ms. Fang's appearance."
Zhou with buck teeth handed me the document.
I took a look, and there were four wanted posters, along with the amount of the bounty.
"So, I did rid the people of a scourge after all?" I shook my head.
“You could say that, but the fact that you managed to run into four A-level wanted criminals in such a casual encounter is astounding. I have to say your luck is incredibly incredible compared to the average person. These guys are all very skilled and have received military training. Ordinary local police would have struggled to catch them for a long time; they're high-level criminals… and yet you ran into them.” Buck-toothed Zhou chuckled and said, “But it’s alright, the police’s reward money has been sitting in the bank for a while now. Although you’re not short of money, having more money is never a bad thing.”
"I remember I also saved a Hong Konger, didn't I?"