Electronic Nezha

Chapter 67 Testing dishes
In the midst of the heavy snowfall, the five of us remained in that strangely awkward position...

Sun Zhancheng felt a heaviness on his head. He took off his wig, shook it, and put it back on. After sorting out his thoughts, he said, "We were dragged into this because of your fight with Chen Bing. That bastard seems to think you're pretty important." How could he not? In this world, one's identity is given by "oneself."

Sun Zhancheng said, "We accept the beating we got that day when we had dinner with you, but that Chen Bing kid is dishonest. He used his connections to transfer all the money from our cards."

I exclaimed in surprise, "That must be over a hundred million, right?"

“Not just that!” That’s what Duan Shoujiang said.

"More or less." That's what Cheng Sihai said.

“Money used to be just a number to me…” Sun Zhancheng said, “You might not believe it, but he didn’t even leave me any money in my WeChat Wallet!”

Duan Shoujiang said, "The plaster cast on my hand was all bought on credit!"

I suppressed a laugh and said, "Then why didn't you call the police?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "Even the police can't recover money from telecom fraud, let alone with this kind of high-tech method."

"Then why are you looking for me?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "We're a little better off than those suckers who got scammed because we know that the man surnamed Chen is in this city. We have a clear culprit, and if we want to find him, we have to find you first!"

"What's the point of this?"

"The fact that you can hold your own against him means you have some skills; at the very least, you should know where he is."

I secretly praised them. Although the four old guys took many detours, they still had their sense of smell. To find Tom, they looked for Jerry first; to find Little Fish, they looked for Hua Wuque first; to find Dung Beetle, they looked for… wait, let me repeat, they found me not by their sense of smell, but by their experience!
Seeing that I didn't speak, Sun Zhancheng sneered, "Either you show us the way to find Chen Bing, or we'll fight you to the death! You choose." It seems that the richest man in the country particularly likes to make people make choices.

Of course I'd choose A, and isn't that exactly what I'm after?

“He had dinner at Gongjiangfang two days ago—” Then I told them about the hotel Chen Bing had stayed at, and finally said, “He’s doing business with a group of southern businessmen. You two split up, one to follow the leads and the other to follow those southerners. He can’t keep playing the mystery forever.”

Cheng Sihai said, "We can't split it. Only Brother Sun has a car right now. We don't have a single penny on us, and we can't even get on the bus." The gauze and tape on this guy's face were probably bought on credit.

"Don't you have senior citizen cards?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "Who are you trying to disgust? What kind of status do we have to get senior citizen cards?"

"Congratulations."

"Congratulations for what?"

I said, "They probably won't let you get it if you're not old enough, which means you're not old yet."

"I f***ing—" Duan Shoujiang raised his hand, which was in a cast.

I pointed at Hao Hao not far away: "My brother is an idiot, and you guys don't have senior citizen cards!"

Sun Zhancheng stopped Duan Shoujiang and said to me, "There's one last thing, give me some travel expenses."

"What is this?" I was stunned.

"It can also be called activity funds."

"I didn't invite you."

Duan Shoujiang said, "Anyway, we'll deal with you instead of the one surnamed Chen. You decide what to do."

"Are you here to extort money again?"

Sun Zhancheng pointed to himself and said, "I am Sun Zhancheng. Twenty years ago, you could have been worth a million if you had treated me to a meal—" Finally, he said listlessly, "Consider it a loan from me."

Key point: Even if it's borrowed, it's basically never going to be repaid. But I still took the money out of my pocket, firstly to preserve a glimpse of the sunset I saw in my youth, and secondly because I knew they really didn't even have money to buy chewing gum.

Upon seeing the cash, Duan Shoujiang shouted, "Give us the cards! My brother asked for them, and you're trying to fool us with this?"

Sun Zhancheng gestured for him to shut up before I took out my money.

I had a bunch of money in my pocket, some in small bills and some in large bills. I gave four large bills to Sun Zhancheng, who looked at the remaining money with longing eyes and said, "Give me some change too, it'll be more convenient to spend."

I simply gave him the roll of money and said, "It's best if this ends here between us. If something like this happens again—" I looked for Hao Hao.

Duan Shoujiang said impatiently, "Don't try to scare us with idiots. Everyone knows a few paralyzed old men. I'll bring them over for you to see."

"Alright." Seeing that I still had a few business cards in my hand, Sun Zhancheng casually took one and said, "It's fine if we don't meet, but you have to answer my calls!" He took off his wig again and shook it with a snap, sending snowflakes flying everywhere, full of momentum, before neatly putting it back on his head and leading his group of elderly people away.

Old Wang came out and asked me, "How much did you give them?" He had also seen me give them money.

"More than four hundred."

Old Wang said speechlessly, "Sun Zhancheng? He was sent away for just over four hundred?"

I sighed with deep emotion, "Times have changed."

At that moment, Aunt Xu slipped and fell backward, her face up. Hao Hao was still three or five steps away from her when he suddenly jumped behind her and caught her steadily.

Old Wang witnessed this scene, his eyes filled with surprise, and said to me, "Fool... has he finally figured it out?"

Li Ping stood in her room, her face filled with disbelief.

Aunt Xu slowly turned around, and Hao Hao's eyes met hers awkwardly for a moment before he quickly reverted to his silly grin.

Aunt Xu said to me and Lao Wang, "Did you see that? My Hao Hao has finally 'grown up'." Then she burst into tears.

Around 11 a.m., I received a call from someone I didn't expect.

"Old Liu, my Western restaurant has some new dishes. Why don't you bring Zhenhua over to try them at noon?" It was Qiao Yan.

My first reaction was to refuse: "No, let the child take a nap at noon, otherwise we'll have to agree in the afternoon." According to the situation in China, it's best for ex-husbands and current spouses not to get together. Even in the United States, I think this relationship is very sensitive, unless you're filming a sitcom.

"One noon is fine, I have faith in Liu Zhenhua's abilities."

I was still trying to come up with an excuse when Qiao Yan said, "Actually, Han Shiya asked me to call you. Should I have her tell you?"

I thought to myself that if she called me, I would definitely not go, but to refuse outright would seem petty, so I could only say, "Okay then."

The roads were slippery from the snow, so I had to go back to the fifth floor to meet up with Xiao Wu. I reached out to Lao Wang and said, "Brother Wang, the keys!"

Old Wang slapped the keys into my hand, and I held them out with both hands, firmly stating, "Helmet!"

Old Wang handed me the helmet with both hands. I solemnly put it on my head, fastened the straps, and made up my mind: if I'm with the electric bike for even a second today, this helmet is welded to my head! You could call it my very essence!
I rode Old Wang's electric bike, helmet on tight, and walked confidently out of the market gate, my eyes scanning the surroundings—

My imagined scenario is this: I encounter the two traffic cops again, one fat and one thin. I'm riding at a speed that complies with electric scooter traffic regulations, tapping my helmet as I do so. The two cops exchange knowing smiles, and the fat (or thin) cop gives me a barely perceptible thumbs-up, leaving passersby bewildered. We pass each other in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

But I didn't see anyone checking helmets all the way from the market to my home. If Liu Zhenhua hadn't been about to get out of school, I would have been tempted to walk around looking for those two...

Well, safe driving isn't something you do for show.

With this feeling of resentment, I found Xiao Wu and asked it to wait for Liu Zhenhua at the school gate.

(End of this chapter)