My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 99 Don’t Move

According to the other party, if these goods are shipped in several batches, and considering that there are not daily railcars available to Shanghai, it would take ten days to half a month for all of these goods to be transported to Shanghai.

This means they will have to stay in Fengdong for several days, during which time they won't be able to do anything, wasting time and being unsafe.

"Boss, why don't you guys go back first? I'll keep an eye on things here for you," A-Chang suggested after thinking for a moment.

Zhou Jiye's eyes lit up immediately. That's right! They still have Achang. They can ship one batch first, and have Achang handle the rest. Wouldn't that be perfect?

But Xu Guoqing thought about it carefully and then shook his head: "This is not appropriate."

"Boss, you don't believe me?" A-Chang stood up, suddenly becoming anxious.

"Sit down! In such a hurry again?"

Xu Guoqing picked up the teapot in front of him and poured tea into Achang's cup: "How could our own brother not trust you? Otherwise, why would we let you participate in this? Besides, you're involved in this business now, so you're not an outsider."

"Then how did you...?"

Xu Guoqing pointed with his finger: "You can stay here, but what about the car? Don't forget you only borrowed it for a few days and still need to return it. We've already been delayed for a few days in Ma Village. If we continue to wait here for another ten days or half a month, how will you explain it when you go back?"

"Also, how are you going to watch the goods here all by yourself? And how are you going to give me the delivery note after the shipping is completed? Don't forget that it takes several days to send a registered letter from the post office to Shanghai. By the time I receive the letter and go to the station to pick up the goods, it will take at least a week. Isn't that a delay?"

Besides these concerns, Xu Guoqing was also worried that if the goods were delayed here for too long, trouble might arise. After all, this wasn't Guangzhou or Shanghai, and he was unfamiliar with the area. The origin of these goods was also questionable. He couldn't possibly watch them for twenty hours straight, could he? What if something unexpected happened?
Achang was at a loss. Although he was from Lingnan, he wasn't a local, and even if he were, he wouldn't have any friends in Fengdong.

"Can a living person die from holding in their pee?"

Zhou Jiye chimed in, "Why don't we split up and go ask around to see if there's a solution? There are always ways to deal with things. Besides, even though we have a lot of goods, it's not enough to take up a whole railcar. This train station is so big, it can't be that we can't squeeze out any capacity. I don't believe there aren't any available slots in the freight depot."

"That's right, I think so too!"

Xu Guoqing nodded in agreement. He was a seasoned veteran, well aware of the ins and outs of the business. Recalling the faint smile on the other party's lips when they were handling the baggage check-in, he felt that there should be other ways to resolve this matter.

After a quick lunch, Xu Guoqing and Achang went to find someone to inquire about the situation, while Zhou Jiye stayed in the truck guarding the goods and waiting for them to return.

The temperature in Lingnan was a bit high in the afternoon. In Shanghai, you still need to wear a jacket at this time of year, but in Lingnan, it's already early summer. Zhou Jiye sat in the car and smoked a cigarette. Perhaps it was because he had been up all night, or perhaps it was because of the high blood sugar after eating, but he soon became drowsy.

Just as his head was nodding and he was half asleep in the driver's seat, a commotion suddenly broke out outside. Zhou Jiye was jolted awake and quickly opened his eyes. He instinctively grabbed the large wrench lying to the side, sat up, and turned to look outside.

"Kill this bastard!"

"Don't run!"

At a nearby intersection, five men were chasing another man, shouting and yelling. The man in front was running frantically with his head down, while the others behind him were carrying gleaming weapons, chasing and yelling. As they passed by, people on the street were terrified and hurriedly dodged in all directions, trying to avoid them.

Holy crap! Are they filming Young and Dangerous?

Zhou Jiye instantly perked up; it was the first time he had ever seen such a bustling scene on the street.

However, Zhou Jiye wasn't stupid; he stayed in the car and didn't get out, holding a large wrench and remaining vigilant at all times.

What business is it of mine if other people are fighting? They have goods on their truck. People who meddle in other people's business have never had a good ending. Zhou Jiye doesn't know the other party and he's not going to be stupid enough to run out and get involved.

Not only that, Zhou Jiye was also praying that these guys wouldn't run towards him. Perhaps his prayers worked, because the fleeing and chasing men ran past the intersection not far from Zhou Jiye like a gust of wind and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Once these people had run far away, Zhou Jiye finally felt relieved and loosened his grip on the wrench.

This whole commotion has completely banished his sleepiness. He glanced at his digital watch and realized that Xu Guoqing and the others had been gone for over an hour.

He lit a cigarette and waited patiently. Nearly half an hour later, he finally saw Xu Guoqing and Achang appear in front of him.

"How about it?"

"With the big boss and me on the case, there's nothing we can't handle!" A-Chang said cheerfully as he climbed onto the car, and Xu Guoqing also looked delighted.

Zhou Jiye quickly pressed for details.

"What other way is there? A kickback, a tea fee, of course."

Achang twirled his fingers and gave Zhou Jiye a knowing look. Xu Guoqing explained the situation, and Zhou Jiye finally understood what was going on.

They first used a few packs of cigarettes to ask the old man guarding the warehouse who the leader was, what his name was, and which office he worked in. With this information, Xu Guoqing first bought two cartons of cigarettes, then stuffed a large red envelope into it, wrapped it in newspaper, casually carried it in a bag, and went straight there.

When they arrived at the destination and found the person, they exchanged a few polite words, told each other about their business, and then quietly slipped the things over, even pointing out that there was money for the other person's tea.

The other party remained calm after hearing this, speaking in an official tone without immediately agreeing, but also without refusing the delivered items. He simply asked Xu Guoqing and his companion to wait in the corridor, saying he would make a phone call to inquire about the specific situation before giving them a reply. Hearing this, Xu Guoqing understood perfectly, thanked the other party repeatedly, and left the office, patiently waiting in the corridor.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, the other party called Xu Guoqing and the others back in.

Perhaps having "verified" the sincerity of the gift, the other party's attitude was much warmer than before, but their words still implied that, in principle, this matter was not easy to handle. The opinions within the station were not unified, and even though he was a leader, he had to listen to the opinions of the people below and could not act arbitrarily.

Xu Guoqing knew what the other party was up to as soon as he heard it, so he quickly and secretly slipped another red envelope over, saying with a smile that the brothers down below had worked hard and this was for everyone to have some tea.

The director reached out and felt the thickness of the red envelope. He smiled broadly, took out a piece of paper from the drawer without saying a word, wrote a line of words in a large stroke, then took out a stamp, stamped it, and handed it to Xu Guoqing, telling him to take this slip and go directly to check in the luggage.

Pulling the note out of his pocket, Xu Guoqing laughed loudly, "Just drive the car in. With this, everything will be fine."

"How much did it cost?" Zhou Jiye asked curiously.

Xu Guoqing gave Zhou Jiye a number, and Zhou Jiye wanted to curse as soon as he heard it. That was a lot of money! But according to Xu Guoqing, there was nothing he could do. If he didn't pay for the tea, he would be "taught a lesson." The other party would try to stall for time, but he couldn't afford to. Besides, these people weren't stupid; everyone in this line of work was shrewd.

Last time, they had a small amount of goods, so it wasn't a big problem. But this time, with so much cargo, and Fengdong not far from Fengxian, the people at the warehouse here immediately understood where the goods came from.

People live off the land and water, and these goods are smuggled goods. Besides, Zhou Jiye and his men aren't locals, so what's wrong with them getting a little oil and fat?
Besides, isn't it normal to offer a small tip or a "service fee" when asking someone for a favor? Do you really think they can transport the goods to Fengxian or even Guangzhou? And in Xu Guoqing's view, resolving the issue this way isn't so bad.

Having obtained the note, the three of them didn't linger any longer and drove straight to the nearby warehouse.

Upon arriving at the warehouse gate, Zhou Jiye noticed that the group of men who had been chasing and slashing people on the street were now loitering around, while the man who had escaped was nowhere to be seen, and no one knew where he had gone.

They drove the car straight in and parked it at the warehouse delivery area at the very back. Xu Guoqing got out of the car, took the note, and went inside to find someone. Achang and Zhou Jiye lifted the tarpaulin off the car and began unloading the goods one by one.

Soon, the people handling the formalities arrived. Zhou Jiye and his team had almost finished moving the goods. They were busy counting the quantity of goods and affixing labels. After a while, Zhou Jiye felt the urge to urinate. He looked around to find a toilet nearby, but couldn't find one. He thought for a moment, said goodbye to Achang, and hurriedly walked towards a corner not far away.

When he reached the corner ahead, Zhou Jiye looked around and found that this place was still too obvious. He happened to see a more secluded spot not far away, where a pile of warehouse boards and other miscellaneous items were stacked. Zhou Jiye went straight over, hid behind it, unbuckled his belt, whistled cheerfully, and began to relieve himself.

Young men are full of energy, and Zhou Jiye urinated with great pleasure. After he finished, he shuddered a couple of times, feeling comfortable. But before he could even fasten his belt, a knife suddenly appeared at his neck.

"Don't move!"

Suddenly, someone appeared out of nowhere and held a dagger to Zhou Jiye's neck. The cold, sharp blade instantly gave him goosebumps.

"I won't move, I won't move..."

Zhou Jiye was stiff all over; he never expected that simply taking a piss would lead to such a thing.

"Aren't you a local?" the other person asked in surprise.

"Yes, yes, I'm the driver, the driver who came to deliver the goods. I'm not a local, I'm from out of town." Zhou Jiye was almost in tears. He knew this dagger was extremely sharp without even looking at it. If it were to slash his neck like that, he would be seeing his great-grandmother today.

"Where's your car?"

“They’re…they’re delivering the goods over there.” Zhou Jiye raised his hand slightly and pointed in the direction of the car. The other person looked over and saw Xu Guoqing and Achang frowning as they made the handover.

"There are three of you?"

"Boss, there's never a single person on a trip!" Zhou Jiye said with a wry smile. The other person had nothing to say after hearing this. Indeed, there are at least two people on a trip, and it's rare to see one person. There are too many unsafe situations on the road, so it's normal for them to have three people in one car.

Where are you going with your car later?

"I left after unloading the goods. I need to go to the train station square to take care of some business later."

The other party didn't speak. Zhou Jiye felt uneasy with the dagger pressed against his hand, and quickly said, "If you need any help, please just say so. We can talk things over. Please be careful, this knife is a deadly thing. I'm really worried."

Upon hearing this, the man couldn't help but chuckle, and looking Zhou Jiye up and down, his tone softened considerably: "You're a big guy, but you're not very brave."

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm a real coward. I can't even kill a chicken; I faint at the sight of blood." Zhou Jiye smiled obsequiously. The knife was in someone else's hands; now was not the time to be brave. So what if he was afraid of death? Who in this world isn't afraid of death? It's not shameful!

(End of this chapter)