From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 372 Ronald Lloyd

The car drove away quickly, and Ronald, who had lost everything, sat on the roadside, burying his head between his knees.

The laughter of those gang members still seemed to echo in his mind.

The torrential rain last night, the thunder and lightning that pierced through the clouds, the broken tree branch on the road, and the helplessness of not being able to find his daughter after waking up—all these images flashed through his mind again and again.

Ronald felt as if he had fallen into a nightmare from which he would never wake up, and he didn't know when he would be able to return to reality.

He felt like he was cursed by the devil; from being fired to divorcing his wife, nothing had gone smoothly for him.

……

After much deliberation, Ronald ultimately attributed the root of the problem to his carelessness while driving.

As he was deeply remorseful, he didn't notice a tall homeless man walking over from the other side of the street, bypassing him, and entering a nearby shop.

……

A moment later, Chen Zhou came out with a handful of change, a bottle of suicide soda that was popular in workers' bars and cost 10 cents, and four loaves of bread wrapped in newspaper.

He casually walked over to Ronald, bent down, and patted Ronald on the shoulder.

"Hey bro, what's up?"

Upon hearing the strangely pronounced English, Ronald, lost in his memories, looked up.

In the dim light, he saw a tall and disheveled homeless man.

This man's appearance was different from both black and white people; he had dark skin and resembled Native Americans in some ways, but not entirely.

Ronald thought he looked like a laborer who had traveled from China across the ocean, but he had heard that people with yellow skin were all in San Francisco, and that they were short and thin. He had never seen anyone as strong as this man before.

I glanced at the cheap goods in the man's hand and thought to myself that he was another beggar.

Even though he didn't know if the person could help him, out of politeness, Ronald wiped away the tears on his face and forced a smile to tell the other person that he was alright.

Chen Zhou was fully aware of Ronald's plight. Seeing that Ronald was still so stubbornly clinging to his pride and suffering for it, he was at a loss for words. He wondered whether the word "dignity" was harmful or whether class had created an insurmountable barrier between the lower and middle classes.

He had originally intended to simply drop the carved wooden board next to the driver, but now that he had already spoken to him, he couldn't just hand it over directly, as that would confirm that he had seen the driver's daughter and that she was involved in the events surrounding the car accident.

After thinking for a moment, and seeing that the driver didn't seem to want to talk to him much, Chen Zhou had an idea.

"Sir, could you do me a favor? I've lost my wallet and need you to help me register it at a hotel. I'll pay you 50 cents."

Fifty cents meant nothing to Ronald, but now he was penniless and even his car had been stolen.

The police station had already closed, and he had to go to the Little Rock Bank to re-register his identity information before he could withdraw money. Before that, he had to survive.

Having gone almost a day and a night without food, it would be a lie to say he wasn't hungry. Despite not caring about the 50-cent reward and finding the suddenly appearing homeless man's identity suspicious, Ronald still decided to take the risk.

He glanced at the bread and soda in Chen Zhou's hand and stood up.

"Sure, would you like to go to a hotel or a motel?"

"A motel will do; they're cheaper there."

Chen Zhou smiled awkwardly, as if he were truly a down-on-his-luck traveler.

Looking at him, who would guess that he has taken more than a dozen lives, and that even prehistoric giants like the Great Bear and the Mammoth have met their demise at his hands?

……

When Chen Zhou went into the store to buy things, he made sure to find out the details.

The best hotel in town is in the town center, costing $3 a night. To stay there, you need to be white and presentable, wearing a suit or work clothes, and you can even get a deposit waived.

As for people of color, they must go to hotels that accept people of color, and Black people must show an "employer's referral letter" to prove that they are not fugitives or homeless people.

In the movie "Green Book," Chen Zhou learned about how difficult it was for people of color to travel far during the worst period of racial discrimination.

He never imagined that he would have to face this problem himself one day while watching the movie.

Having a white guarantor is a good option if you want to check into a hotel legally and without suspicion.

Chen Zhou didn't plan to go to the cheapest hotel, which used public toilets and cost only one dollar a night. The place was a mixed bag, and he didn't have enough ability to protect himself right now. It would be better to stay in a slightly safer and more orderly place.

……

Led by Ronald, Chen Zhou, hunched over, walked toward the motel with his head down.

Perhaps sensing the awkward atmosphere, Ronald suddenly asked Chen Zhou if he had seen a little girl, about eight or nine years old, without her parents in town.

Chen Zhou hesitated for a moment. At first, he thought the driver was testing him, but then he thought that the driver couldn't possibly be that sensitive, so he gave an answer.

He told Ronald that he had seen a little girl with a plush toy near the church on the outskirts of town that morning, and it looked like she had come here with a pickup truck.

However, after the pickup truck drove away, the little girl also disappeared.

Upon hearing this, Ronald became extremely excited.

He pressed Chen Zhou for details about the little girl's clothing and appearance.

Chen Zhou had seen the little girl with his own eyes and even stayed in the car for a while, so how could he forget these details? The content he described perfectly matched the characteristics of Ronald's daughter.

It’s not a waste of time to break through the iron shoes.

After searching for so long, I never expected to find the answer on a homeless man on the street.

Ronald felt a sense of relief, and if Chen Zhou's appearance hadn't been so dirty, he would have loved to give him a hug.

Once he was certain that the homeless man had seen his daughter, Ronald asked Chen Zhou if he knew whose house the pickup truck had stopped in front of and if he knew the driver.

However, Chen Zhou knew nothing about Prescott or even the entire state of Arkansas, so he naturally couldn't give a specific answer.

But the information we have now is enough; at least we're not wandering around like headless flies, unable to find any clues.

While pondering where to stay for the night, how to report to the police tomorrow, how to send a telegram to his ex-wife, how to track down the pickup truck driver, how to find his car, how to get money, and so on, Ronald had unknowingly led Chen Zhou to the end of the street.

We're almost out of town now. There are hardly any houses around, making the area feel quite empty. Only the motel is brightly lit and very noisy inside.

Most of the vehicles parked in front of the hotel were motorcycles, with only two cars, but neither was as nice as Ronald's new Chevrolet. In addition, there were a few old pickup trucks and an old military truck that had been converted for civilian use.

Upon seeing the pickup truck, Ronald immediately asked Chen Zhou if the one that had taken his daughter was there.

Along the way, Chen Zhou talked to Ronald, imitating his American accent, while also keeping busy by prying open soda bottle caps and stuffing bread into his mouth while drinking soda to alleviate the discomfort caused by genetic modification.

Perhaps it had been long enough since the injection, at least for now, Chen Zhou, after eating two pieces of bread and drinking a whole bottle of soda, not only felt the discomfort disappear, but also felt a sense of lost power returning to his body.

……

He glanced at the cars parked downstairs at the hotel and told Ronald that the one he had seen that morning wasn't there.

As they spoke, Chen Zhou and his companion were almost at the hotel entrance. However, when you're down on your luck, nothing goes smoothly.

Hotels that accept people of color often exclude white people. Ronald, a guy dressed like a social elite, had just appeared at the hotel entrance when a tall, burly black drunk man came out of the hotel.

The man was dressed in dark blue overalls, with a baseball cap tilted to one side. He swayed slightly and, originally intending to drive, walked straight toward Ronald and Chen Zhou after seeing him.

He was muttering incoherent Black music.

He seemed not to see Chen Zhou and the other man at all, grinning and showing a mouthful of white teeth, and was about to urinate on them.

"We're in trouble. We need to avoid this."

Having just learned his lesson from the gangsters, Ronald was smarter this time. Seeing that things were not going well, he immediately reminded Chen Zhou to avoid the drunkard.

With the attitude of "better to avoid trouble than to get involved," Chen Zhou nodded and followed Ronald to the side.

However, this black man was determined to cause trouble, so he wasn't going to let the two off the hook. When they left, he pulled up his pants and chased after them, looking like he was determined to urinate on them.

Ronald reached into his pockets and realized he was penniless, so he asked Chen Zhou for directions.

"Do you have any money left? Give him some money and send him on his way."

The homeless man, who had just agreed with him and decided to let things go, didn't respond to him and simply stood up straight silently.

……

Chen Zhou straightened his back, and Ronald realized that the homeless man next to him was not just tall.

The black man who walked over was nearly 180 cm tall, but he looked like an underdeveloped child in front of the homeless man.

Chen Zhou is not only tall, but also has amazing shoulders and arm span. If the coat on the pickup truck hadn't been the outermost winter coat he was wearing and designed to be loose enough, he wouldn't have been able to even get into it.

Ronald had seen many strong men, but he had never seen anyone as tall and muscular as Chen Zhou before.

He wasn't stupid. Standing next to Chen Zhou, just by looking at the man's physique, he could tell that this man was no ordinary person, and his family background couldn't possibly be as impoverished as he appeared.

Impoverished families cannot raise such tall people.

In addition, the calm demeanor Chen Zhou exuded was something that no homeless person could imitate.

……

"Leave far away."

Having already decided to forgo staying at this motel, Chen Zhou had no more reservations.

As the drunk Black man drew closer, he "politely" issued a warning.

Normally, this person would probably have been sensible enough to leave when he saw Chen Zhou, who was taller and stronger than him.

But the alcohol had clouded his thinking, making him unable to distinguish between advantages and disadvantages, and even less able to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune.

Upon hearing the warning, the Black man instinctively felt angry and began to hurl insults at the other party. Ignoring his trousers that were slipping down, he stepped forward and swung his fist.

Even if his physical condition hadn't been affected, the black man's punch wouldn't have hurt Chen Zhou, let alone now that his physical condition had recovered somewhat.

In Chen Zhou's eyes, the black man's movements were as slow as a snail, so he easily intercepted the other's fist and gave a "response".

To avoid causing any fatalities, Chen Zhou had already tried to hold back his strength in this punch.

However, he still underestimated his own strength.

The black man, whose face was attacked from the side, had a nose that was not particularly high to begin with. After taking the punch, his nose immediately showed visible deformation, and blood flowed from his nostrils.

He didn't even utter a sound before collapsing to the ground with a muffled thud, unconscious.

The sudden fight startled Ronald. By the time he realized what was happening, the black man had already been dragged to the side of the pickup truck by Chen Zhou.

Watching Chen Zhou skillfully unbutton the black man's clothes and rummage through them for valuables, Ronald immediately felt that helping this man check into a hotel was not a good choice.

But considering the clues the homeless man provided, his skills, and the distance between them, Ronald dared not back out.

He didn't know if the black man had passed out or been beaten to death; he only knew that this homeless man would have no more difficulty dealing with him than dealing with the black man.

……

"The problem is solved!"

Chen Zhou wiped his hands with the black man's clothes and proudly showed Ronald his spoils—

Four dollars and a dozen or so coins.

When faced with the "homeless man" again, Ronald could no longer maintain his composure.

He increasingly felt that this person possessed a unique aura, like a soldier who had retired from the front lines of World War II, but more ruthless and mysterious than a soldier.

Even though the man was dressed like a down-on-his-luck homeless person, Ronald still felt that he was more like a killer waiting to strike than a "homeless person".

Dealing with someone like that is no easy task, and for a moment, Ronald's smile froze.

Are we still staying at this hotel?

He sought Chen Zhou's opinion.

"Why wouldn't you stay?"

Chen Zhou pointed to the black man lying on the ground.

"Don't worry, he's not dead. He'll leave on his own after he wakes up from his nap. He might even forget what just happened and think he crashed into a car."

"Yeah……"

Ronald smiled noncommittally, glanced at the black man again, and then led Chen Zhou toward the hotel.

With his guarantee, Chen Zhou quickly checked in and was given a room at the end of the first-floor corridor.

Knowing that Chen Zhou had some spare money, Ronald boldly borrowed $4 from him.

Chen Zhou, this "vagrant," was quite generous. He lent Ronald the money without hesitation, then went into the room and closed the door.

After Ronald took the money and left the hotel to find a place to stay in town, the window of the last room was suddenly flung open, and a dark figure leaped out, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Continuing to stay was just an illusion Chen Zhou presented to the driver.

He didn't trust anyone here, so he quickly grabbed a clean sheet from the hotel and immediately returned to the burned-down house.

At least for now, that place hasn't been targeted yet.

(End of this chapter)