My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 73 Breakthrough
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Just as Zhou Jiye and his group were shocked and impressed by the high efficiency of Macun, Ahui, who had been by their side, suddenly spoke up.

"Don't just stand there, you have ten items. Move them yourselves and leave right away!"

Ahui pointed to the pile of goods and said something. Zhou Jiye was slightly taken aback. Before he could come to his senses, Xu Guoqing quickly replied, "Thank you, Brother Hui. Thank you for your help today. It's not convenient now. I'll invite you and Uncle Qi again when I come back later."

Ahui waved his hand without saying anything. Xu Guoqing, Zhou Jiye, and Achang called out to each other, and the three of them ran towards the goods.

When they arrived at the goods, they didn't pick and choose; they simply picked up one item and left, following the rules.

At this time, the other buyers also received instructions to move their goods. They did not hesitate to move their goods. Everyone tacitly agreed to move their own goods. As for what was inside the goods, no one knew. They would have to wait until they got back and opened the blind boxes to find out.

With three people carrying ten items, it only took a little over three trips to unload them all in no time. After receiving the goods and saying goodbye to Ahui, the three of them carried the goods back to where they had parked earlier. Once they arrived, they loaded the goods into the truck, covered them with the prepared tarpaulin, and Achang opened the truck door, jumped in, started the engine, and eagerly urged Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing to leave immediately.

Once in the car, Achang turned the steering wheel, stepped on the gas, and drove off without hesitation.

Just like before they came, they didn't turn on their headlights. They drove back along the road, and after a while, they came to a fork in the road. This was the road that Ahui had told them about before, leading to the main road. Achang drove onto this road without hesitation and continued for several miles until they finally saw the highway ahead.

Without saying a word, he drove onto the highway. Once on the highway, A-Chang turned on the headlights and pressed the accelerator harder, and the car's speed noticeably increased. Only then did the three of them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Goodness, my heart was in my throat just now, but I'm finally out of there," Achang said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Don't even mention Brother Chang, my heart was pounding too. This is the first time I've ever encountered something like this." Zhou Jiye raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. The atmosphere just now was too tense. Zhou Jiye, who was doing this for the first time, broke out in a cold sweat.

Once the car was out, all three of them felt much more relaxed and sped along the highway, chatting about what had just happened.

After driving for about ten minutes, they were already quite far from Ma Village. They continued driving forward when suddenly Ah Chang, who was driving, froze, instinctively applied the brakes, and his expression changed drastically.

"Boss! There seems to be someone blocking the way ahead!"

Zhou Jiye quickly looked closely and saw that a checkpoint had appeared in front of the highway at some point, with a horizontal bar blocking the road from who-knows-where, and seven or eight figures moving about in the night on both sides of the road.

"What should we do?" Zhou Jiye's palms were sweating nervously. He never expected to encounter such a thing after walking nearly halfway.

"Achang! Don't stop the car! Step on the gas! Go straight through!"

“But boss…” A-Chang became nervous, his expression hesitant.

"Charge! If we stop, we're all done for! Just ram them! I don't believe they'd risk their lives!" Xu Guoqing's face was contorted with rage as he gritted his teeth and growled at Achang, while simultaneously reaching behind his back and pulling out the weapon tucked into his waistband.

Zhou Jiye didn't reach for the rolling pin at his waist; it was useless now. He looked around, picked up a large wrench from the driver's cab, and stared intently ahead.

"Damn it! Let's fight!"

Achang instantly understood Xu Guoqing's meaning. He slammed his right foot down on the accelerator, and the truck, which had just slowed down slightly, roared to life and sped up. Under the illumination of the two headlights, their truck charged straight ahead like a madman.

Those who had seen the truck heading their way were flanking from both sides, intending to approach directly after the truck stopped.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Jiye and his truck not only failed to slow down, but instead accelerated like a mad bull, charging straight at them. This was completely unexpected. Two of them even tried to intercept the truck on the highway to force it to stop, but at this moment, Achang, who was driving, showed no intention of braking. On the contrary, he pressed the accelerator even harder, and the truck showed no signs of slowing down, continuing to rush forward.

"parking!"

"Fuck!"

"Hem home shovel!"

"You son of a bitch!"

This startled the people blocking the road, especially the two men who were trying to block it with their bodies. Their faces changed instantly. Under the headlights, Zhou Jiye could clearly see that the two men were still carrying weapons, but their faces were pale. As the truck approached, the two men panicked, dropped their weapons, and dodged to the side. Because the truck was going too fast, they were almost hit. They scrambled and barely managed to avoid it. The truck whizzed past them like a gust of wind.

A series of curses and swears rose and fell, followed by a muffled thud. The crossbar blocking the road was smashed by the truck's cab and flew away, breaking into several pieces and disappearing into the distance.

The car sped through the checkpoint without stopping and continued forward. At that moment, two muffled thuds came from behind, startling Zhou Jiye and his companions, who quickly ducked their heads. The car continued to speed away, and soon the people behind could no longer see their taillights.

"Good heavens!" Achang exclaimed with lingering fear, "Luckily, those guys dodged quickly, otherwise we would have really run into them..."

"Luckily, it was just a piece of wood blocking the way; if it had been a big rock, it would have been disastrous," Zhou Jiye added.

"Luckily they didn't scatter nails on the ground, otherwise it wouldn't have been so easy to escape," Xu Guoqing said, wiping away cold sweat.

The three men looked at each other, then burst into laughter. What had just happened was truly terrifying; they had almost been blocked. Luckily, they acted decisively, otherwise the consequences would have been unpredictable. Now, they had left the people blocking their way behind, and those without cars certainly couldn't catch up on foot. After laughing for a while, Zhou Jiye realized that his back was completely soaked.

Xu Guoqing remained calm. He smiled for a while, thought for a moment, and then quickly took out a map from his bag and opened it, carefully examining it under the car's interior light.

"Does this road lead directly to Feng County?" Xu Guoqing suddenly asked at this moment.

“That’s right, I recognize this road. We came here by this road, but we didn’t know there was another small road that leads to the back of Ma Village,” Achang, who was driving, replied.

"Achang, there should be an intersection not far ahead. Turn right when you get there."

"The right side? Going straight is the way to Fengxian!" Achang was taken aback.

“Fengxian? Heh.” Xu Guoqing sneered: “We’ve already been stopped halfway. Do you think going to Fengxian would be any better for us? We’re not going to Fengxian. We’ll just turn off there and go to Fengdong. I remember there’s a train station in Fengdong too. We’ll go there.”

Achang immediately understood and nodded without hesitation: "Understood, boss, we'll do as you say." As he spoke, Achang concentrated on driving and staring at the road. The car continued to drive forward for about three miles, and sure enough, a fork in the road appeared ahead. Achang turned the steering wheel and went straight onto the right-hand road. Their truck had changed course in the dead of night, not going to Fengxian as planned, but heading towards Fengdong City, which was more than 100 kilometers away from Fengxian.

Xu Guoqing changed the route at the last minute, and no one objected. After such an incident, going to Fengxian was really unsafe; going to Fengdong was the most suitable option.

Unexpectedly, everything went smoothly until they left Ma Village, where the incident just happened. Who were the people blocking the road? What is their relationship with Uncle Qi of Ma Village? These are not the things they need to investigate now. The most important thing now is to leave Lingnan safely. As for the rest, they can deal with it later.

Under the cover of night, their car drove along the highway towards Fengdong. The journey there was uneventful. By the time they arrived in Fengdong City, the sky in the east was beginning to lighten. Following the map, Achang drove directly to the vicinity of Fengdong Railway Station. Once there, Xu Guoqing told Zhou Jiye and Achang to wait in the car while he got out with his bag and walked straight towards the station.

After patiently waiting in the car for about an hour, Xu Guoqing finally returned. Looking relaxed, he had not only bought a train ticket to Shanghai for this afternoon, but also inquired about the baggage check-in procedures.

Then Xu Guoqing got into the car, pointed out the road and asked Achang to drive the car to the freight yard behind the train station. He then used the letter of introduction to complete the consignment procedures for the ten pieces of goods on the car.

After finishing all that, Xu Guoqing finally breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that there was still enough time, he found a place to park the car and went to a nearby restaurant. After a busy night, the three of them were exhausted and hungry, and their stomachs were rumbling.

"Ah Chang, thank you so much this time. Here's your stuff back, take good care of it." With food in their stomachs and a sense of accomplishment, everyone was much more energetic. At this moment, Xu Guoqing reached out and quietly handed the thing he had tucked into his waistband under the table. Ah Chang took it and, without even looking at it, tucked it into his waistband.

"I've already said we're brothers, why are you bringing this up again, boss? You're being too formal."

“Brothers are brothers, but business is business. Brother Chang, we would have come for nothing without your help this time, and we’re really sorry for keeping you up these past few days. Your car was in an accident, and now you have to deal with the car. Take this money and don’t rush off. Those guys might be waiting for you on the road. Stay here for a couple of days, lay low for a bit, and get your car fixed before you go back.” As he spoke, Zhou Jiye stuffed a roll of money that he had prepared beforehand into A-Chang’s hands.

Achang didn't refuse and readily accepted the money. After putting it in his pocket, he asked Zhou Jiye and the others, "What are your plans when you go back this time?"

"It's hard to say right now." Xu Guoqing pointed towards the train station. "We don't know what these goods are like yet. We'll have to go back and see for ourselves. But Achang, if there's no problem with this batch of goods, just in case, I mean just in case, would you be willing to trouble you again in the future? But the risks in Macun are too great. You should try to find a new way out in Yangcheng or Pengcheng."

“This…” A-Chang thought for a moment and said, “Brothers are brothers, business is business. Boss, you might as well speak your mind.”

"it is good!"

Achang's words made Xu Guoqing very happy, as did Zhou Jiye.

Helping is one thing, but long-term cooperation is another. If Achang doesn't have this attitude, they won't feel at ease. Moreover, Zhou Jiye remembered what Lin Ying said: brothers who make promises without a second thought are often unreliable, and only those who keep clear accounts with you can cooperate in the long run.

Xu Guoqing immediately told Achang that he couldn't be sure about the current situation of the business, but if it could be done after they got back, he would write to Achang and ask him to find a way to source the goods from Lingnan. They would pick up the goods in Shanghai, and then they could do the business together.

As for the specifics of the cooperation and how to calculate profits, Xu Guoqing gave Achang two options. One option was that regardless of their profits in Shanghai, Achang would settle accounts with them on a per-item basis, with a fixed selling price for each batch of goods, which would then be discussed further.

The second option is essentially a true partnership, where Achang directly participates in their business and joins forces to do this transaction. In this way, profits will be distributed according to the proportion of investment.

Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, and there's no rush to make a decision right now. There's still time, so Achang can go back and think it over carefully before telling us his choice.

After listening, A-Chang thought about it and nodded, saying that he really needed to think about it carefully. No matter what choice he made, it would definitely not affect his brotherhood, and he would definitely help if he needed to.

"Come on! Let's drink tea instead of wine, cheers!"

"cheers!"

With the matter settled, all three were delighted. They raised their teacups, clinked them together, and then downed their tea in one gulp.

After finishing their meal, it was almost time. Achang saw Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing off at the station, and the three said their goodbyes. Before leaving, they hugged each other. Xu Guoqing told Achang to be careful on his way back. Although the goods had already been shipped, he didn't know what had happened on the way. He should be careful and write to him when he got back to Guangzhou so that he could rest assured.

"Don't worry, boss, I know what I'm doing."

Achang nodded happily and gave Xu Guoqing another tight hug. As Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing carried their luggage into the station, Achang remained standing there waving goodbye until he could no longer see them.

(End of this chapter)