Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 245 What a coincidence! (Two chapters in one)

"Shanghai Boy" got the promise and left the office building triumphantly.

The younger brothers who stayed downstairs immediately gathered around him, some lit his cigarettes, some opened the car door, and then surrounded him and helped him get into the black nanny car.

As soon as he sat down, his henchmen couldn't wait to ask, "Boss, what does this big boss want from you?"

The Shanghai guy smiled mysteriously and said, "These rich guys are actually quite dirty inside, but they want to be respectable in front of others. If they really encounter a difficult problem, they still have to ask us to help them."

The henchman got excited when he heard this and asked, "What does the master want us to do? Kill someone? Catch an adulterer? Threaten? Chase the debt?"

The "Shanghai Boy" slapped his younger brother on the head and said, "Do you want to go to Stanley to eat a royal meal? These are illegal!"

The henchman was confused and asked in confusion: "Boss, can we do anything else? You can't ask us to help park the car, right?"

The "Shanghai Boy" glared at the Ma Zai with a look of disappointment and asked, "Piracy! Let us pirate it!"

The henchman was surprised and said, "No way? It's a sunset industry!"

"Shanghai Boy" said: "It's not pirated in Hong Kong, it's pirated in Japan."

The henchman's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, "Aren't you going on a business trip to Japan? Boss, I can do it, I can do it. I was known as the 'human tripod' back then, and I shot the entire Titanic with a video camera without moving a muscle. Three hours, three hours, boss!"

The "Shanghai Boy" slapped his younger brother on the head again and said, "What a fool! Of course the Japanese pirates come to my fellow countrymen! Do we want to have our fingers chopped off? Watch the road when driving!"

The boss of Yinghuang was in his office, watching the "Shanghai boy"'s nanny car disappear around the corner of the street, with his son Qilong standing next to him.

Qi Long asked, "Dad, why are we looking for 'Shanghai Boy'? He is always boastful and cunning. Do we really want to cooperate with him?"

He said: "Snakes have their own ways, rats have their own ways. It has been 10 years since the handover. We can't do everything ourselves. We have finally cleaned up our mess, how can we get involved again?"

Qi Long asked, "That Zhang Chao with the same initials? Is he really that impressive?"

He sighed. Zhang Chao had caused a big disturbance in Hong Kong two months ago. Anyone who had watched it on TV or read the newspaper would have had a deep impression of him. But Qilong didn't even recognize him.

This son who only knows how to flirt with female celebrities has always been a headache for him, but he has to accept his biological son no matter how profligate he is. He said coldly: "The name starts with 'China'! Don't you have a computer? What about International? Go check it yourself!"

After saying that, he shook his head and left the office, leaving his son confused, not understanding why his father was angry again.

Zhang Chao had been busy all day in the Panjiayuan community. He ran around the buildings several times, up and down the stairs. He was as tired as a dog. Finally, he thought of the benefits of "centralized office".

In the past two years, he has bought a small part of the second-hand houses in this community. Now he has accumulated a total of seven houses, which is enough to summon a dragon. Even the security guards at the door and the cleaning staff of the community know that if an owner wants to sell a house, he should knock on the door with the "Tide Culture" sign and ask.

At least in 2006, Yanjing had not issued a "purchase restriction order". As long as you had money, you could buy as many houses as you wanted. Therefore, these houses were all under Zhang Chao's name, and the company rented offices from him, which was considered a good deal.

This situation is indeed not conducive to communication. Huang Jiefu originally wanted to rent an office space in an office building, but after visiting Xing Siyuan's courtyard house, he kept urging Zhang Chao to buy a courtyard house with a good location for office use.

Zhang Chao rolled his eyes when he heard this, but finally he couldn't persuade Huang Jiefu enough and promised that if the profit in the United States was lucrative enough, he would ask Xing Youtian if he had any renovated courtyard houses in Yanjing that he could sell to him.

By that time, Xing Siyuan must have transformed into a well-known female writer. Then, if she is granted membership in the Writers Association, participates in a few work seminars, and appears in the news a few times with a relatively positive image, this little girl will basically be "safe."

From now on, the ups and downs in Shanxi will have little to do with her.

This way, he would feel at ease when buying the courtyard house from Xing Youtian, as everything would go through legal procedures, instead of Xing Youtian forcing one on him without any clear reason.

Zhang Chao was thinking about these things while driving to his new house in Chaoyang Park. He had already moved all the things in the old house of Yanda University, and it was basically empty.

He was still debating whether to sell the house or just leave it empty. Maybe he could still live in it in the future... But if it was sold, it would most likely only be used by the faculty and staff of Yenching University. No serious student would buy a house instead of living in the dormitory when they enrolled.

If I rent it, I won’t be able to worry about it for a while.

It was past the rush hour, and there were not many cars on the road. When Zhang Chao turned from the main road to the secondary road, a gray-haired old man in his 50s rode a bicycle slowly in front of his car and did not give way for two or three minutes.

Zhang Chao was fed up with following and wanted to use the other side of the road to overtake, but a Xiali stepped on the accelerator and drove closely behind him, so he couldn't change lanes. He wanted to slow down and let the Xiali move ahead so he could change lanes, but there was a Santana following closely behind him, so if he stepped on the brakes, he would probably be rear-ended.

Just when Zhang Chao was still thinking about what to do, the old man on the bicycle suddenly twisted the handlebars and fell magnificently in front of Zhang Chao's car.

Fortunately, Zhang Chao was young and reacted quickly, stepping on the brakes and avoiding running over the person.

Zhang Chao was startled, and quickly put the car in P gear, pulled the handbrake, turned off the engine, and got out to check the situation. The two cars beside and behind him also stopped, and two burly men jumped out of them.

As soon as Zhang Chao arrived in front of the old man, before he could say anything, the other man shouted, "You bumped into me! My leg is broken!" Then he hugged his right leg and cried, "Ouch, ouch."

Then he pushed with his other leg and pushed the bicycle under his wheel.

At this time, the big man who got out of the Xiali car also spoke: "How do you drive? BMW is amazing, do you know if you hit someone?"

The big man in the Santana blocked Zhang Chao's side, as if he was afraid that he would run away, and shouted loudly: "The BMW hit someone! The BMW hit someone!"

Zhang Chao finally realized that he had encountered a professional fraud team. He looked around and found that the location chosen by the other party was very clever. There was no camera on this side road.

Although it is not rush hour, there are still many people and cars on the road. Soon a large crowd gathered to watch, and they were chattering about all kinds of things.

"Look, this young man drives really fast!"

"It's a BMW. I heard that people who drive this car like to cut in and overtake other cars!"

"is not that right!"

"This guy looks familiar."

"Which celebrity is it?"

"He must have been drinking, right? This is a wide road..."

Nowadays, even the most luxurious cars don't have dashcams, so the judgment of accident responsibility is entirely up to the traffic police. Zhang Chao didn't know how the traffic police would judge, but at least in his opinion, the current situation was definitely not in his favor.

He quickly calmed down and said to the three people, "Don't worry, I won't run away." Then he said to "Xia Li" and "Santana", "You two, don't run away either."

Zhang Chao's words obviously startled the two men, but they still said, "We are acting bravely for justice, why are we running away?"

Zhang Chao first took out the tripod from the trunk and placed it neatly 50 meters behind the car. Then he took out his mobile phone and dialed 120, 122 and insurance in front of everyone.

The old man was lying on the ground, groaning for a long time. Seeing that Zhang Chao was always at least one meter away from him, he cried to the people around him, "He knocked me into this state, and he didn't even come to help me. Young people nowadays..."

The "Xia Li" and "Santana" also shouted loudly: "You think you are great just because you drive a BMW? Do you think you are awesome just because you have money? Look at your quality..."

The crowd around were also provoked and pointed at Zhang Chao. Seeing this, Xiali and Santana became even more arrogant, with their hands behind their backs and their heads thrust forward towards Zhang Chao, provoking him as they did so: "If you have the guts, hit me too!"

Zhang Chao watched coldly and finally determined that he was not a random target chosen by the other party, but a carefully planned trap. If it was just an ordinary scam, how could he not mention the compensation until now, but constantly try to arouse his anger and stir up the emotions of the onlookers?
Zhang Chao no longer hesitated, but immediately took out his cell phone and called the police in front of the two people: "...Yes, police comrade, I now suspect that someone wants to blackmail me. There are two enthusiastic people at the scene who witnessed the whole process and can testify for me.

One is a white Xiali car, the license plate number is... The other is a black Santana, the license plate number is..."

Xiali and Santana were stunned when they heard this. What the hell was "enthusiastic crowd"? Even the old man lying on the ground forgot to groan for a moment and stared at Zhang Chao with wide eyes.

Why didn't this guy play by the rules? Shouldn't he have either winked and hinted at a private settlement with money, or arrogantly stated that he could definitely fix the problem?

At this time, Zhang Chao made an even more surprising move. He pushed aside the first row of onlookers on the curb, revealing a young man in the second row with a DV in his hand, with the camera fixed on Zhang Chao.

When the young man saw that Zhang Chao had exposed him, he immediately tried to put away the DV and retracted it, but Zhang Chao grabbed his wrist tightly and refused to let go. At the same time, he shouted to the people around him, "Another enthusiastic citizen has filmed the whole process. When the police come, you have to testify for me! Record, keep recording, don't turn off the camera!"

Zhang Chao held the young man's wrist tightly. He was panicked for a moment and didn't know what to do. He could only mutter: "You... I... let go..."

Zhang Chao didn't care about that. Instead, he said warmly and sincerely to a hutong auntie who seemed to like to join in the fun: "Auntie, can you help me see if I am in his camera?"

The old lady was indeed a nosy person. She leaned over to take a look and said, "They're taking pictures! They're taking real pictures!"

Zhang Chao said, "Then please watch it for me and ask him to film me carefully and record every word I say."

The old lady accepted the "task" and said happily: "Okay, I'll keep an eye on it! Don't worry!"

Zhang Chao raised his voice again and said, "Hello everyone, my name is Zhang Chao, I'm a writer, and I'm a little famous! You may have seen me on TV. If you can take pictures with your mobile phone, please do so. The clearer the better. Don't just take pictures of me, take pictures of them too.

I have just called the police. If it was me who really hit someone, I should pay compensation and go to jail. If it was not me, please be my witness. You can also call the TV station's hotline and tell them the clues. When the reporters come, I can bring them along if you want to be on the news."

Zhang Chao's frankness immediately changed the onlookers' impression of him, and many people recognized that this was the young man who had appeared frequently on TV news and in newspapers some time ago.

Although not as impressive as those entertainment stars, at least they are familiar. What do stars do when they break the law or make mistakes and are caught? They hang their heads and cover their faces, for fear of being recognized.

How could Zhang Chao remind everyone to take more photos like this? Is this really a scam?
Once they had doubts, the three people looked more and more suspicious. The old man just cried "ouch" but didn't cry. His hands were sometimes covering his calves and sometimes covering his knees.

It was obvious at first glance that "Xia Li" and "Santana" were not good people. One had a bald head and a ribbon fish tattoo on his arm; the other had shifty eyes and a large, partially faded gold chain around his neck.

Compared with them, Zhang Chao is simply a breath of fresh air!
At this time, the cars behind had formed a long queue, honking their horns continuously. Many drivers got out of their cars and walked towards this side, cursing.

Seeing that the situation was getting more and more serious and more and more people were watching, the "Santana" and "Xia Li" immediately became timid, no longer put their hands behind their backs and nodded their heads, but quietly moved towards their own cars.

It was Zhang Chao's turn to stand in front of them and said with a gentle smile, "Two brave and enthusiastic people, don't leave in a hurry. The police and 120 are here."

Sure enough, from a distance I could see police lights and ambulance lights flashing and approaching here, but the traffic jam was quite long and it took time for the cars to pull over, so they wouldn't be able to reach us for a while.

The fastest to arrive are the police officers in the area. They don't need to drive, they just patrol the area and come running as soon as they receive a police report.

"Student Zhang Chao, why is it you?" A familiar voice came. Zhang Chao turned around and saw that it was Yu Zhandong, the policeman from Doufu Hutong Police Station where he "experienced grassroots life" and the one who provided him with the materials for his graduation project.

Yu Zhandong was also sitting next to someone he knew, the policewoman Ling Danlei, who had arrested prostitutes with him. She was also surprised to see Zhang Chao, but at least she remembered that it was work and didn't rush to say hello.

Zhang Chao then remembered that this side road turned inward and led to one of the dozens of alleys under the jurisdiction of Doufu Hutong Police Station. So after calling the police, it was Yu Zhandong and his men who responded!

Zhang Chao said quickly: "Captain Yu, I was driving home from get off work and I met this guy riding a bicycle in front of me. He suddenly fell in front of my wheels. He insisted that I hit him..."

Yu Zhandong followed the direction Zhang Chao pointed and saw the old man lying on the ground under the street light. A cold look appeared on his face: "Hu Saner, why are you here again?"

When the old man saw Yu Zhandong, he smiled a smile that was uglier than crying...

It was already 10 o'clock in the morning when Zhang Chao walked out of the police station. His car was temporarily left at the traffic police station, so he took a taxi back to his residence and had a good sleep.

The matter last night was resolved relatively smoothly. It was precisely because Zhang Chao made such a big deal and refused to compromise, and reporters from three or four TV stations came later, that the traffic police and the police station took the matter to a new level of importance.

Although there are no cameras on the road where the incident occurred, there are cameras on other roads!

From the video, we can clearly see that not long after Zhang Chao left Panjiayuan Community, he was followed by the "Xiali" and "Santana"; the old man named "Hu Saner" also waited on the curb in front of the auxiliary road for a long time until he received a phone call and then rode his bike off the auxiliary road.

After checking the call records of the three people's mobile phones, everything became clear.

"Hu San'er" is a well-known "old gun" in the jurisdiction of Doufu Hutong Police Station. In fact, he is just an old gangster. In the 80s, he was a well-known gangster in Dongcheng District. After the crackdown, he was imprisoned for several years. After he was released, he had no skills and lived on the two large houses left to him by his family and cheating and deceiving people.

Although Hu Saner went to the hospital and screamed, the examination results showed that he had not lost a single hair. Even though he repeatedly claimed that he could not walk, Yu Zhandong still took him back to the police station in a wheelchair.

But Hu Saner was also a bachelor, and he insisted that he was either being instructed by someone or that he wanted to extort some money. Yu Zhandong wanted to get some real information out of him, and it would take some time.

Zhang Chao was sleepy and tired and had no patience to wait. After making sure that he was fine, he went home to sleep.

Zhang Chao slept peacefully, but Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei were like ants on a hot pot, running around in a panic. They originally wanted to secretly film Zhang Chao's reaction after being hit by a fake insurance, and then edit it to show the most unfavorable side of Zhang Chao in the media and on the Internet.

In particular, the gimmick of "driving a BMW to hit someone" can easily arouse the indignation of ordinary people, thereby lowering Zhang Chao's popularity among the public and tarnishing the reputation of the upcoming film "Your Name".

Therefore, Wang Zhonglei specifically told the middleman that Hu Saner must not extort money, and just need to go to the hospital for a pretend check-up. If the traffic police came to determine the responsibility, Zhang Chao should not be held responsible, and they should reach a settlement if possible.

All they needed was the short video clip of Zhang Chao's contact with them. Who knew that Zhang Chao was not afraid of making a big fuss about this matter, and reported it to the police and the newspapers.

Today, all media headlines are reporting that [Young writer Zhang Chao encountered a mysterious fraud and there may be a dark force behind it].

Although hiring Hu Saner was at least two levels away, who knew if the police would follow the clues and trace him back?
Wang Zhongjun wandered around the office for a long time before saying, "Forget it, let's go find the old man!"

Wang Zhonglei was surprised and said, "You're looking for the old man for such a small matter, then, then, in the future..."

Wang Zhongjun said with a gloomy face: "You think this is a small matter, if..."

Before he finished speaking, his cell phone rang. Wang Zhongjun picked it up and his face changed. He quickly answered the phone and said respectfully, "Third Master, good afternoon. What do you want to talk to me about? OK... OK... I will be there on time!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone and sat down in the chair dejectedly.

Wang Zhonglei asked curiously: "Third Master? Who?"

Wang Zhongjun said unhappily, "Who else could it be? Mr. Han San! He asked me to go to the China Film Office to find him early tomorrow morning. He has something to talk to me about."

Wang Zhonglei's expression also changed, and he asked, "What? Did he know about this?"

(Two chapters in one)

(End of this chapter)