Chapter 1090: A $100,000 Bounty

Back at the gold shop, Zhou Andong got out of the car with the two kraft paper file bags and walked toward the entrance without looking back.

"Brother, you haven't paid the fare yet." The driver was so anxious he pushed the door open and got out.

Zhou Andong slapped his forehead, turned around, and walked back. "Look at my memory."

The driver breathed a sigh of relief. He was truly afraid Zhou Andong would run off without paying, in which case he would have suffered a huge loss.

Zhou Andong opened one of the file bags and held it up in front of the driver. Inside were three bundles of hundred-yuan bills, brand new.

"Hundred-yuan bills, no problem, I can make change." The driver opened the car door, bent over, and took out a waist bag.

"No, no, no!" Zhou Andong shook his head. "I'm just showing you so you can rest assured that I have money and won't owe you. But I can't touch this money. I'll go into the gold shop and get some change for you."

Saying this, Zhou Andong turned and walked away, then entered the gold shop.

The driver held the waist bag, his hands gripping the strap so hard he wanted to strangle Zhou Andong.

"Don't be angry, don't be angry," the driver muttered to comfort himself.

But after waiting and waiting, Zhou Andong didn't come out. He pulled out his car keys and went into the gold shop.

"Welcome to Lao Feng Xiang."

The driver's face was dark. "I'm looking for someone."

The salesperson asked with a professional smile, "Who are you looking for?"

The driver said, "The man who just came in. He took my taxi and hasn't paid the fare yet."

The smile on the salesperson's face vanished, becoming very vigilant as she sized up the driver.

"You mean, the person who just came in didn't pay you the fare?"

"Right!" The salesperson put one hand behind her back and gestured with her fingers.

Another salesperson saw this and reacted very quickly. She glanced at the driver, thinking this guy was fat and greasy, definitely not a good person, and then gave a wink to the gold shop's only middle-aged security guard.

The security guard didn't understand what was going on for a moment. The salesperson stomped her foot in anger and forced a smile onto her face.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go upstairs and call him down for you."

The salesperson ran up to the second floor, where two repair technicians were working.

A technician in his forties, wearing navy blue work clothes and holding a teacup while sitting in a chair, saw the salesperson running up in a panic and joked.

"What are you running for? Did you run into someone robbing the gold shop?"

The salesperson waved her hands. "Hurry, there's a bad guy downstairs. You guys hurry down and subdue him."

A young man next to him stood up with a start. "Is there really someone robbing the gold shop?"

The middle-aged man looked shocked. "Call the police quickly! What use is it finding us? If we go down there, won't we get shot?"

"No!" The salesperson rolled her eyes. "You guys know Zhou Andong, right?"

"Zhou Andong?" The middle-aged man felt the name sounded familiar.

The young man nodded and said, "Yugong Group Chairman Zhou Andong?"

"Right!" The salesperson nodded vigorously. "He's in our gold shop, customizing jewelry. He just went to the bank and came back with fifty thousand yuan. Now, some guy came in claiming to be a taxi driver and saying Zhou Andong didn't pay his fare.

That's nonsense. Who is Zhou Andong? How could he possibly owe him taxi fare? I see that guy is fat and greasy, he's definitely not a good person. You guys go down and subdue him, then call the police. Don't let him run away."

The young man said excitedly, "Let's go!"

"Don't be in such a hurry!" The middle-aged man was very calm. He grabbed the young man's arm and asked the salesperson, "Does this person have any weapons on him?"

The salesperson thought for a moment. "I didn't see any, but he's holding a waist bag that's bulging."

The young man shuddered. "Damn, could there be a gun in the bag?"

The middle-aged man thought for a moment. "Let's go down and see. Da Feng, watch my lead."

"Okay!" The young man nodded, feeling both excited and nervous.

Zhou Andong just wanted to tease the driver and vent his frustration from being messed with.

He never dreamed that the driver would be mistaken by the gold shop staff for a bad guy out to harm him.

In the lounge, both sides had signed the contract, the manager had issued the receipt, and they were counting the money.

Just then, a commotion and desperate shouting came from outside.

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Damn, this guy is actually quite strong. Hold him down!"

"Hurry, hurry, find a rope and tie him up!"

"Hey, Xiao Liu, hurry and call the police!"

"..."

Inside the lounge, the few people looked at each other and stood up to walk outside at the same time.

Then they saw a fat man being held firmly on the ground by two men, with two young women pressing down on the fat man's legs.

"Let me go! Why are you grabbing me?" The fat man roared, struggling desperately.

"Ouch!" The young man riding on the fat man's back raised his hand and slapped the back of the fat man's head. "Damn, behave yourself!"

Another middle-aged man pressing down on the fat man's lower back said to the salesperson standing on the side watching the fun.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry and call the police."

Just then, the older security guard came down from upstairs with a rope. "Found the rope."

"What's going on?" The manager walked over quickly to ask.

Zhou Andong was also bewildered. How did this fat man get flipped over? Did he come in to rob the gold shop?

A salesperson holding the fat man's thigh looked at Zhou Andong. "This fat man said he was a taxi driver and Mr. Zhou took his taxi without paying.

I knew right away this guy was lying. How could Mr. Zhou possibly not pay his taxi fare? He must have seen Mr. Zhou withdraw a huge sum of money at the bank and had evil intentions."

Jian Qiu and the manager looked at Zhou Andong simultaneously, full of confusion.

Zhou Andong's lips twitched, and he stopped the salesperson who was going to call the police.

"Um, this is indeed a bit of a misunderstanding."

"Ah?" Hearing Zhou Andong's words, the salesperson was stunned.

Zhou Andong laughed dryly. "Let him go first."

The two men and two women stood up and released the fat man, but their expressions became a bit unnatural, and they secretly glanced at the manager.

"Although this is a misunderstanding, I am very, very grateful to you all."

Zhou Andong was truly moved. Someone was out to harm him, and the gold shop's staff and workers had subdued the "thug" without regard for their own safety. Such a thing, ten-plus years later, would be fundamentally impossible.

"Manager Zhang, your employees are truly excellent. To have such vigilance, you must commend them well."

The manager, who had been dark-faced, saw his expression instantly return to normal upon hearing Zhou Andong's words.

"After all, this is a gold shop. How could we not have high vigilance?"

Seeing the smile appear on the manager's face, the salesperson and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The driver's face was livid. He looked at Zhou Andong and said in a very unfriendly tone.

"I don't care if you're Zhou Andong or Liu Andong, hurry up and pay me the taxi fare."

He had just wanted his fare, and for no reason, he had been treated like a bandit and roughed up. He couldn't even begin to describe how stifled he felt.

More importantly, there was nowhere to reason with anyone; he could only accept his bad luck.

Jian Qiu glared at Zhou Andong and asked the driver, "How much is the fare?"

"Twenty-seven!" Facing Jian Qiu, the driver's tone softened quite a bit.

Jian Qiu took fifty yuan out of her bag. "Keep the change."

When the driver heard this, his stifled mood suddenly felt much better.

"Then I won't be polite." This guy didn't even say thank you and turned to leave.

"Thank you, everyone!" Jian Qiu also thanked the salesperson and the others, then said goodbye to the manager and left the gold shop.

Zhou Andong chuckled, his mood inexplicably good.

Jian Qiu shook her head helplessly. "How old are you? Still acting like a child."

"What do you know?" Zhou Andong argued. "This is called having a youthful heart."

Jian Qiu stopped paying attention to him. Zhou Andong said, "Let's go, find a place to eat."

The two found a small shop, ate a simple meal, and returned to the hotel, where they happened to see the manager.

"Manager Chen!"

"Chairman Zhou!"

Manager Chen walked over quickly. "How is it? Have the people from Shangyizhuang come?"

"They have." Zhou Andong didn't say much. "Help me make a silk banner and send it to that Lao Feng Xiang gold shop at the intersection west of the hotel."

"No problem."

Manager Chen agreed readily, although he was very curious why Zhou Andong would send a silk banner to a gold shop.

But since Zhou Andong didn't say, he naturally wouldn't ask.

"For the banner, write: 'Attentive Service, Warm as Home'."

Zhou Andong gave the instructions, then returned to the room with Jian Qiu.

………………

The next morning at eight, the fat man was waiting for passengers at the hotel entrance when he suddenly saw Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu come out. He stepped on the gas and drove off.

Zhou Andong laughed as he watched the taxi drive away. "That guy runs fast."

Jian Qiu also laughed. "I reckon you gave him psychological trauma."

A business van stopped beside them. The driver got out and opened the door for Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu.

"Get in, let's go!"

Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu got in the car, and by eleven-plus, they arrived in Shencheng. The two didn't linger and went straight through the port.

Yuan Wanqi was already waiting on the other side. Not only was she there, but she also brought more than a dozen burly bodyguards who looked professionally trained at a glance.

Zhou Andong asked, "Why bring so many people? Has public security in Xiangjiang been bad lately?"

"Public security in Xiangjiang has never been that good." Yuan Wanqi opened the car door.

Zhou Andong and Jian Qiu got in. Yuan Wanqi sat in the front passenger seat and said with a solemn face,

"However, the reason I brought so many bodyguards is because someone wants to kill you and has put out a $100,000 bounty." ===== CHAPTER 1091 =====