Chapter 146: No Promised Land

Four people died; in Si Jiu Cheng, this was no small matter.

The scene was quickly surrounded, three layers deep inside and three layers deep outside, until it was impenetrable.

Although there were Patrol Police maintaining order, many onlookers still squeezed forward desperately, wanting to see exactly what had happened.

This place was not far from the No. 95 Siheyuan; Liu Haizhong had just returned from his Apprentice's home and happened to be passing by.

Relying on his tall stature, he stood on tiptoe to look inside, when he caught a glimpse of the face of the corpse on the very edge—his heart suddenly sank with a thud.

Although that person's forehead had been pierced by a bullet and half his face was smeared with blood, Liu Haizhong recognized that long face, narrow eyes, and thick lips at a glance: it was absolutely Xu Fugui.

"Police Officer! Police Officer!" Liu Haizhong shouted hurriedly.

An old Police Officer turned his head with a frown and asked, "What is it?"

"This person is Xu Fugui from our Siheyuan... Can I go and send word to his family?"

The old Police Officer did not even lift his head, his tone cold and hard: "Go quickly! If no one comes to identify the body within half an hour, it will be hauled away."

Liu Haizhong did not dare to delay and took off running toward the Siheyuan.

Under an old locust tree at the entrance of the Siheyuan, Xu Damao was practicing wrestling with several half-grown children from the courtyard. He was doing this so he wouldn't suffer in fights later on.

"Xu Damao! Xu Damao! Your dad is dead! Hurry back and tell your mom." Liu Haizhong shouted from far away.

"Your dad is the one who's dead!" Xu Damao retorted, stiffening his neck.

Liu Haizhong cursed with a flushed face: "You little bastard, do you think I have time to joke around with you? Someone died near the Drum Tower! One of them is your dad! He took a bullet to the head! Where is your mother? Tell her to go identify the body quickly! If you're late, they'll haul him away."

"You're not kidding?" Xu Damao's face turned pale in a flash.

"Do you think I'm fucking bored enough to joke with you?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao believed it eighty percent; he scrambled into the courtyard, shouting: "Mom! Mom! Uncle Liu said my dad died at the Drum Tower!"

Xu Mu was just placing a porridge basin on the table; hearing this, her hand trembled, and the basin crashed to the floor, splashing porridge everywhere.

She rushed out like a madwoman, slipped and fell after only a few steps, scrambled up, and kept running. Seeing Liu Haizhong walk into the courtyard, she grabbed his arm and asked: "Old Liu, did you see clearly? Is it really my Old Xu? You can't be talking nonsense!"

"Why would I lie to you!" Liu Haizhong pried her hands off. "At the corner of Drum Tower Street, four corpses, one of them is Old Xu! With that long face of his, you couldn't find a second one in all of Si Jiu Cheng! The Patrol Police told me to come back and notify the family!"

Xu Mu let out a wail.

Xu Damao hurried to support his swaying mother.

Xu Xiaoyun also followed out from the room, holding her little sister Xu Xiaoling.

Yan Bugui and others in the courtyard at the entrance saw this and followed behind, rushing toward Drum Tower Street.

Once they arrived at the place, they found even more onlookers, three layers deep inside and three layers deep outside, packed so tightly not even a breeze could get through.

Xu Damao stomped his feet in anxiety, clawing through the gaps in the crowd, but with his small frame, he couldn't squeeze in at all.

Liu Haizhong raised his voice and shouted: "Make way! Everyone make way! The family of the deceased is here!" He shouted while using his arms to clear a path.

Several Patrol Police heard him and squeezed over, parting the crowd, and shouted: "Family members come forward, everyone else step back!"

Xu Damao supported his trembling mother as they squeezed to the side of the corpses.

As soon as Xu Mu saw that face covered in blood and filth, her stomach churned, and she vomited a mouthful of bile onto the ground.

Xu Damao hurriedly patted her back; Xu Xiaoyun held her younger sister and dared not come forward, her face full of tears, not daring to look a second time.

Xu Mu calmed down for a long while before crouching down, her hand trembling as she reached out to touch her husband's cheek.

The moment her fingertips touched the cold corpse, her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, weeping bitterly.

Xu Damao clenched his fists tightly, knowing clearly in his heart: his father had been killed because of him.

Half a month ago, he had followed Chen Daya several times and discovered that the Chen Family was actually running a very large restaurant with booming business.

He told Xu Fugui about this.

Xu Fugui had initially only wanted to find someone to deal with Chen Daya to vent his anger, but once he heard the Chen Family was so wealthy, he immediately changed his mind.

He personally tailed her a few times, confirmed his son wasn't wrong, and further discovered that Chen Daya had extensive social connections and knew many prominent figures. His thoughts shifted from revenge to greed.

He found his old friend Zhang Jin—this man had once been a thug under Lou Laoban, and later spent money to secure a position at the East City Branch Bureau, becoming a "Black Dog."

Xu Fugui explained the situation, and when Zhang Jin heard that a young girl was managing a restaurant and often traveled alone, he immediately harbored evil intentions.

He and a few brothers put their heads together and decided to kidnap her for a big ransom.

Xu Fugui agreed, though in his heart he was planning to kill her to silence her after getting the ransom.

Today was the very day they were to take action.

Who would have thought Chen Daya would change her route at the last minute to Qianmen Street, where there were too many people and eyes, so they didn't dare to act.

They had intended to wait for her return to strike, but they never expected that Chen Daya not only carried a gun, but also had people from the Communist Party secretly protecting her.

Xu Fugui and his accomplices would never understand, even in death, that the plan they thought was foolproof had been completely destroyed by Lao Zhou's last-minute arrangements.

United States, Los Angeles, Chinatown.

He Yuzhu and his party had arrived five days ago.

At dusk, Chinatown was bathed in a warm golden glow, and the red lanterns along the street swayed gently.

He Yuzhu, Zhao Ying, Zhao Ying's parents, Su Qing, and her son Su Zhi were sitting in a seafood restaurant run by Chinese people, eating.

Two bright red Boston lobsters, a plate piled high with king crab, steaming scallops with garlic and vermicelli, and steamed grouper filled the table.

He Yuzhu picked up a piece of lobster meat, put it in his mouth, chewed, and frowned: "The meat is overcooked, a waste of good ingredients. If I were to cook it, it would definitely be a hundred times better than this."

Zhao Ying saw his chef's habit acting up again, curled her lips, and mocked: "You're a Sichuan Cuisine chef, you haven't even seen lobster before, yet you're so picky!"

Jia Xiuhua glared at her daughter and tapped the edge of the dish with her chopsticks: "Someone is treating you to a meal, and you're still being picky—you're becoming less and less like a proper young lady!"

"Since we've arrived in the United States, we should be more open; if you have an opinion, just say it. Being too reserved will only lead to being bullied," He Yuzhu said to smooth things over.

Zhao Ying chimed in: "The person involved doesn't even care if I bully him! You guys don't worry about it! By the way, Dad, tell us about starting the company recently?"

"I asked a few friends at the bank; buying a ship to start a Trade Company isn't difficult, but there are many unspoken rules in operation, and many Chinese gangs collect protection fees..."

"Is starting a business ever easy?" He Yuzhu said: "Can we acquire an established shipping company? I don't want to drag this out for too long."

Zhao Meiting hesitated and said: "I thought of that too and asked around, but that would require a large sum of money, probably at least 5 million US dollars to start..."

He Yuzhu winked at Zhao Ying and Su Qing, and the two of them understood immediately.

"Dad, you don't need to worry about the money, go and negotiate first," Zhao Ying said.

Zhao Meiting nodded.

Suddenly, a loud "Clang!" rang out!

The restaurant's street-facing window was smashed to pieces by a steel pipe, and glass shards splattered like Flying Knife, immediately affecting the diners at nearby tables, with many being scratched.

He Yuzhu reacted extremely quickly; he slammed the round table over, using the tabletop to block the subsequent flying rocks and other debris.

He rotated the tabletop to shield everyone and shouted: "Everyone, run to the back kitchen quickly!"

The few of them managed to retreat to the kitchen with great difficulty, only to find the back door had been blocked by trash cans and set on fire by someone.

Flames leaped onto the door panel, and the thick smoke was so choking that people couldn't open their eyes.

They had no choice but to rush out from the front; He Yuzhu grabbed a rolling pin and shielded everyone as they rushed out.

Just as He Yuzhu exited the kitchen, a steel pipe came whistling toward the top of his head!