Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Sun Jianguo said that since someone had come to help, Qian Youde's men should not dare to come back and cause trouble again, so he decided to leave. Before leaving, he told Boss Zhou a story.

Sun Jianguo said that a few years ago he ran a postal route in the mountains, and every time he passed through a village called Yingzuiya. There was a woman in the village who would wait for him at the village entrance every half month to pick up a letter sent from Guangdong. The letter was always bulging, and the woman never opened it in front of others. After taking it home, her eyes would always be red the next day.

Sun Jianguo traveled that route for three years, delivering over sixty letters, but the man who had never seen the woman return. The villagers all said that the man was working in Guangdong and had run off with a businesswoman, sending money back every month as a way of fulfilling his obligations. Then one day, Sun Jianguo arrived at the village entrance and found the woman was gone. Sun Jianguo assumed that the woman had finally come to her senses and gone to the city with the children.

One day, as he passed Eagle's Beak Cliff, he saw a group of people whispering together. He went over to ask what they were talking about. The group told him that someone had seen a woman's body floating on the river below the cliff the day before. When they pulled it out, the woman's face was unrecognizable from being submerged in water, but she was tightly clutching a plastic bag containing more than sixty letters. Each envelope contained a letter and several hundred yuan.

Only then did Sun Jianguo realize why the woman hadn't been waiting for him at the village entrance to collect the letter. Two months later, he heard that the woman's husband had died on a construction site in his second year in Guangdong. Fearing she would remarry and take all the compensation money, her brother-in-law had someone forge her husband's handwriting and send a fake letter home every month, along with a small amount of money, to make her believe her husband was still alive. This went on for three years.

After hearing the story, Boss Zhou immediately felt a wonderful sense of excitement rising within him. This story... he'd truly struck gold!

"Brother Sun," Boss Zhou said, "this story... is quite heavy. Let me tell you, what Bluebird needs most is someone like you. If you're willing, I'll take you to meet our President Han sometime. Once you talk to him, you'll know I'm not exaggerating."

Sun Jianguo took a deep drag on his hand-rolled cigarette, took off his hat to swat away flies, and said, "Boss Zhou, I've been thinking about that 'roots-seeking' plan you mentioned. Isn't what your editor-in-chief Han is looking for the people I've met on the road over the years? I have so many stories like that. I used to think it was pretentious to tell them to anyone. If you really want them, I'll tell you more of them when I have time. But I'm just a newspaper deliveryman. I can't write articles or preach. All I can do is tell you what I've heard and seen on the road, as it is. If you find it useful, use it; if not, just take it as a story. Don't give me any titles."

"Brother Sun, you're being too polite. Titles and honors are all secondary. The important thing is that our President Han is down-to-earth and loves hearing that. If you trust me, Fatty Zhou, how about we set a time right now for you to meet President Han?"

Sun Jianguo stood up: "Actually, I can't be of much help to you. All I do is run the postal routes and get to know people. I pass by the post office in Sheshan every Wednesday afternoon at two o'clock. If your Director Han really thinks I can be of use, let's meet in the duty room of that post office. Just don't think I'm being long-winded." He nodded to Boss Zhou and walked towards the tricycle.

......

As the Audi minivan entered this desolate area far removed from the residential area at the eastern edge of town, the sun was directly overhead. Han Fei felt uneasy, not only because he was constantly sweating, but also because it was so eerily quiet. He stared at the abandoned old grain depot compound, which consisted of three red brick buildings arranged in a U-shape. Broken glass was stuck upside down on the top of the compound wall. The rusty iron gate was locked, with only a small side door open. The compound backed onto a dirt road and faced the entrance to an alley and a grove of trees. Han Fei felt like a Western cowboy, mounted on horseback, ready to launch a surprise attack.

The elephant drove the car into the woods in front of the compound. Several silver-gray vans were parked in the woods, their windows half-rolled down. Han Fei carefully examined the faces inside the vans and felt that at least three of them were ones he had seen at the Golden Dynasty last time.

The car stopped. A bald man in a suit ran to the front of the car. Ma Yongxing rolled down the window.

"Boss, it's President Han." The bald man leaned towards the window. "He's inside. There are also guards on the dirt road behind the compound. I'm sure no one has come out."

How many people are inside?

"There were only two Santanas parked in the garage, so there probably weren't many people. We didn't dare get too close, just peeked at the main entrance. The curtains on the second floor of the building directly opposite were drawn, and we could hear people talking, like they were cursing."

Ma Yongxing nodded: "Let's get started."

"Understood." The bald man straightened up and waved to the cars behind him. The three vans immediately started their engines and drove out of the woods.

"Han Fei," Ma Yongxing said, "it's not good for a cultured person like you, who runs a respectable business, to get involved in this kind of thing. You stay in the car, and I'll go in with the elephant."

Han Fei smiled slightly: "Okay, I understand."

Then they saw the three bread carts emerge from the woods. The first one drove fifty meters to the right, then stopped, blocking the entrance to the alley in front of the compound. The other two were parked on either side of the gate.

Everyone disembarked one after another. Han Fei heard intermittent barking of dogs in the distance. The sun was moving towards the red brick roof of the grain depot. He smelled the dust and earth in the air.

The show was about to begin. The twenty-odd people split into two teams, rushing in front of Ma Yongxing and the elephant, running around the trees on the left and right.

A burly man remained in the van next to the Audi. His tasks were to maintain vigilance, provide backup and ensure the safety of the evacuation route, and protect Han Fei. Ma Yongxing, Da Xiang, and the others in front took their positions on either side of the gate and rushed into the courtyard before slowly crossing the threshold. Han Fei and the burly man leaned out of the window to watch the entire operation.

"Cigarettes?" Han Fei asked the man.

"Thank you, President Han. I don't smoke," the man said with a smile.

"Uh, I just wanted to ask if you had any cigarettes. I'm out of mine."

The man's smile faded, and he shook his head. A typical non-smoker, Han Fei thought.

Just then, Han Fei's phone rang. Han Fei saw the man's eyes dart around. "A typical layman," the man probably thought.

Han Fei was just checking if the caller ID showed an important number and was about to turn off his phone when he discovered that the number was extremely important.