Chapter 748: A Life-and-Death Struggle on the Railway Tracks

Xu Damao took 1,500 yuan out of his schoolbag and slapped it directly in front of the two brothers.

"At this price, I'll take it. You two are satisfied, right?"

Liu Guangtian hurriedly stood up from his stool, his face beaming with smiles: "Brother Damao, we're more than satisfied! Let's go, I'll treat you to roast duck at Quanjude!"

Xu Damao waved his hand: "Forget it. You two brothers just got out of prison and this is your first time earning money; it wasn't easy. How could I eat your food?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian's face dropped instantly: "Brother Damao, who are you trying to disgust? It's not like we've never seen money before!"

Seeing that he was getting agitated, Xu Damao finally relented: "Alright, alright, but I'll say this first. You've only done one deal, it's nothing, just a start. Don't get complacent just because you've had a little success; getting carried away won't do."

Liu Guangtian said confidently: "Don't worry, Brother Damao! As long as we can recognize what is real and what is fake, we won't get cheated. That Wang Gui in Wang Family Village isn't stupid at all, he's just rustic. He didn't understand the true value of these old items, which is why he sold them to us so cheaply. We are just earning money from information asymmetry."

Xu Damao gave a thumbs up and praised: "Guangtian, you hit the nail on the head. In a few days, you can go back again. Families like that usually have some porcelain. Porcelain is the most valuable thing right now; if it's truly from an imperial kiln, one piece could be worth tens of thousands."

Liu Guangtian's eyes lit up, and he readily replied: "No problem, no problem!"

As soon as He Zheng arrived at the company, he directly convened a meeting with several department managers and key business personnel.

Secretary Lin Hong sat to the side, holding a notebook to take records.

He Zheng spoke with a grim face: "Originally, I didn't want to tell everyone about this, but after thinking it over, I still need to inform you of the situation we are facing. The ten thousand down jackets we exported to the Soviet Union were burned by someone in a warehouse in Moscow. With this fire, we have suffered a huge loss..."

The conference room immediately erupted in an uproar.

He Zheng raised his hand to quiet them and continued: "It is very clear that someone is deliberately working against us. We cannot let them off easily; we must go over and investigate clearly."

Bang Geng was the first to stand up and volunteer: "He Zheng, my Kung Fu is better than yours. Why don't I go handle this matter?"

He Zheng shook his head: "You can't get away from the furniture side of things, stay here and keep an eye on it."

At this moment, Ivan stood up and said: "Manager He, I happen to be taking a batch of goods over and will be passing through Russia. How about I go with you?"

He Yuzhu nodded from the side: "Fine, you come with me."

Seeing this, Yi Xiaotian also leaned over and asked: "He Zheng, can I go with you?"

He Zheng thought for a moment. He originally wanted to refuse, but seeing his expectant face, he said: "If you really want to go, fine, I'll take you to see the world. But I'll say the ugly things first—your Kung Fu isn't good enough, so you must listen to me when the time comes and not run around."

Yi Xiaotian was unconvinced and stiffened his neck: "It's not like we're going there to fight and kill; I still have some strength in me."

Seeing him so insistent, He Zheng nodded: "Good, then it's settled. From our company, it will be the three of us, plus Qin Tianzhen and Manager Xiao Du from the Northern Company..."

At this moment, Secretary Lin Hong's eyes revealed a trace of ruthlessness.

After work, Lin Hong left the company, got on her Flying Pigeon bicycle, and rode toward the Qianmen direction.

What she didn't know was that two people had already quietly followed behind her.

Those two people followed her one in front and one behind, keeping a moderate distance.

Lin Hong arrived at Qianmen and entered a shop called Chen's Steamed Bun Shop. She ordered a steamer of buns and sat down to eat slowly.

Before long, a man walked in hurriedly.

The two people who were tailing Lin Hong also quietly sat at the table next to them.

The two also ordered two steamers of buns and two bowls of fried liver, eating slowly while keeping their ears pricked up, eavesdropping on every word.

Li Jin asked in a low voice: "Do you have any new developments on your end?"

Lin Hong said in a low voice: "The company's trip to the Soviet Union is set. It includes He Zheng, Yi Xiaotian, and Ivan. Ivan is a Slavic. Two people are going from the Northern Company; one is He Zheng's lover Qin Tianzhen, and the other is a man, who seems to be a department manager named Xiao Du."

After the two briefly exchanged information, Li Jin stuffed an envelope into Lin Hong's hand, paid the bill, and left.

Lin Hong packed another steamer of buns and carried them out the door.

The two people who were tailing them exchanged glances and slowly followed.

He Yuzhu had always been meticulous in his work.

He first found Li Xiangxiu and entrusted her to come forward to hire dozens of retired soldiers to form a Security Team, having them secretly protect the He Family.

With this arranged, he disguised himself as a white-haired old man, wearing a tattered cotton hat, and boarded the northbound train with He Zheng.

Along the way, He Yuzhu remained hidden in the shadows. He was disguised very well; no one recognized him except for He Zheng.

They bought hard sleeper tickets. Although they could lie down to sleep, the train moved very slowly, clattering along, and it took nearly two days to reach Manzhouli.

Once there, He Zheng realized that the track gauges of China and the Soviet Union were different, and the train could not drive directly across.

All passengers had to get off at Manzhouli, first complete exit procedures, and then transfer to the Soviet international train.

After tossing about for the better part of the day, everyone re-boarded, and the train slowly pulled out of the Manzhouli port, officially stepping into Soviet territory.

The hard sleeper carriages on the Soviet side were slightly better; they all had doors, with four people to a compartment.

He Zheng, Qin Tianzhen, Yi Xiaotian, and Xiao Du stayed in one compartment; Ivan and the disguised He Yuzhu stayed in another.

He Yuzhu appeared very relaxed, lying on the lower berth to sleep and ignoring everyone, but his entire being had already entered a state of high alert.

He turned on the system's Scanning Function and began to watch everyone on the train who attempted to approach He Zheng's compartment.

However, in the two days after the train entered Soviet territory, nothing happened.

Everything seemed very calm.

But He Yuzhu did not lower his guard. He knew that before a storm arrives, it is often the quietest.

The train arrived at Irkutsk Station.

Not long after the train came to a steady stop, He Yuzhu leaned against the train window, staring at the passengers who were about to board.

As soon as the carriage door opened, three fierce-looking Russians hurried into the carriage where He Yuzhu and his group were located.

The one leading them was clearly a burly man, with broad shoulders and a thick back, a face full of flesh, and a pair of eyes so sinister they were frightening, like two venomous snakes hiding in their sockets and looking out.

This person was none other than Nikolai, the retired Soviet Army special forces soldier under Liu Ye.

He was followed by two other men. Those two looked like ordinary passengers, but their eyes were wrong.

As soon as they got on the train, their eyes kept looking into the compartments. It was obvious that this group also had eyes on the train; they actually knew the location of He Yuzhu and his group's compartment.

Before the three men boarded, He Yuzhu had already tapped the carriage partition a few times while lying on his berth, appearing natural. This was his secret signal to He Zheng, alerting the other party that the thugs coming for them had boarded the train.

After He Zheng received the message, he quietly passed it on to Ivan and Yi Xiaotian, signaling them not to act rashly.

Hearing that the thugs had boarded the train, Qin Tianzhen's face turned pale instantly. She gripped her bag strap tightly, her palms full of sweat.

What was He Zheng's reaction?

He was not afraid at all.

Since he was small, his mother Chen Xueru had told him over and over again that back in the day, He Yuzhu could kill seventy or eighty devils in a single night.

He Zheng had heard this story from childhood until he grew up; his ears had grown calluses from it, and it was deeply carved into his bones.

In He Zheng's heart, as long as his father was there, even if a hundred or eighty people came up, they wouldn't be enough for his father to handle.

Not only was he not afraid himself, he even smiled and comforted the Department Manager of the Northern Company: "Manager Du, don't be afraid. We have a Bodyguard on the train, and he is very formidable."

Xiao Du looked at He Zheng, his face turning green: "Among the few of us, only you know a bit of Kung Fu, and those three people are just too fierce."

When those three thugs boarded the train, the door to He Zheng's compartment had not been closed, and all four of them had seen those three people.

Only then was Xiao Du scared out of his wits.

He Zheng just replied indifferently: "I told you not to be afraid, so don't be. I have already arranged everything."

Nikolai settled into the compartment next to He Yuzhu, but he was extremely arrogant; after putting down his things, he did not rest, but instead paced back and forth in front of the two compartments belonging to He Yuzhu and He Zheng.

They were like they were demonstrating, their footsteps rhythmic.

The train continued to move forward.

A bloody storm was about to unfold on this train.