Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 551 Zhao Zhiguo

Twenty years ago, on an ordinary early summer morning.

A few years ago, Zhao Zhiguo was imprisoned for the crime of provoking trouble. He was just released last year. He took his 18-year-old nephew Zhao Hui with him and drove the family's newly bought Jiefang brand light truck, loaded with goods, from their hometown in Ontario to Haishi in Fujian Province.

This truck was purchased by Zhao Zhiguo's parents in their hopes that their son could have a respectable career and turn over a new leaf. They not only used their hard-earned retirement savings from years of frugal living, but also shamelessly borrowed a considerable amount of money from relatives and friends. It can be said that this truck truly embodies the last hopes and efforts of the entire family.

Today's transport was the first business deal Zhao Zhiguo took on using his own truck, so he was naturally happy.

"Zhiguo, how much money do you think we can make this time?" Zhao Hui, sitting in the passenger seat, asked curiously, looking at the scenery rushing past the car window.

From the time he could walk, Zhao Hui would stumble and fall behind Zhao Zhiguo. At that time, Zhao Hui's parents had gone to work in other places, and besides his elderly grandparents, there was only his uncle Zhao Zhiguo, who was only seven years older than him.

Back then, in the small courtyards of the countryside, you could often see a little boy with snot running down his face following a boy who was about half a year old. One day he would go to the chicken coop to collect eggs, the next day he would climb trees to pick fruit, and the day after that he would carry half a broom to tease the geese.

From childhood to adulthood, the two naturally had a very deep bond. If it weren't for their seniority, they would look like two brothers to outsiders.

Zhao Zhiguo, with both hands on the steering wheel, laughed heartily: "You're so disrespectful, call me Uncle! You've only just left home and you're already thinking about this. Don't worry! I'll definitely buy you a cell phone when I get back this time, the one you mentioned last time, that mushroom one, what's it again?"

"MOTO!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Hui turned around sharply and stared at his uncle, his eyes shining.

"Yes, it's this mushroom. I'll take you to the county to buy some when we get home." Zhao Zhiguo freed his right hand and patted his nephew's still thin shoulder with a hearty gesture.

Zhao Hui grinned broadly, his face full of anticipation. Then, realizing what he'd done, he patted his thin chest loudly: "Uncle Zhao Zhi, you can rest assured. I'll keep a close eye on our fuel tank on the way, and I guarantee not even a mouse will be able to steal our fuel!"

In the early years, there was a surplus of goods and a shortage of vehicles, so it was quite profitable for individuals to buy a truck and engage in logistics transportation. Besides the truck itself, the most valuable expense at the time was a large tank of fuel. At 2 yuan per liter, filling up a typical semi-trailer truck would cost at least one or two thousand yuan, which was no small sum back then.

So some people have set their sights on the fuel tanks of these trucks, either sneaking into highway service areas in the middle of the night to pry open the trucks' fuel tanks and pump the fuel out with hoses, or stopping cars on national highways and robbing them directly.

Truck drivers toiled day and night for days, but it was all for naught compared to the few minutes a fuel thief could steal. Lured by huge profits and with low costs for committing the crime, fuel theft was rampant in the millennium.

"Yes, yes." Having just picked up his new car and driven on the road, Zhao Zhiguo was full of pride and waved his hand, "I'll pick one out for your aunt too. She had a tough time giving birth this time."

Recalling his wife's happy expression when she received the gift, Zhao Zhiguo couldn't help but smile. He was an ordinary man who, after being released from prison last year, married his childhood sweetheart who had waited for him for many years, and at the beginning of this year, they had a chubby little girl.

Although household expenses suddenly increased significantly, and he had to borrow a considerable amount of money from relatives to buy the truck, just as he had initially anticipated, he believed that if he did well in the transportation business, he could pay off the debts within a year, and if he was frugal, he could probably even save some money.

May things get better and better every year!

There was finally hope for the future.

The unwavering trust of his parents, who had risked everything for their future, the years-long anticipation of his wife, and the birth of their newborn just last week—all of this brought Zhao Zhiguo the heaviest pressure he had ever felt since birth, yet it also filled him with enthusiasm and hope for life, giving him boundless motivation. "I can't afford to make the same mistake again," Zhao Zhiguo vowed silently as he drove along the sunny road.

As soon as he got onto the provincial highway, Zhao Zhiguo stopped his truck at a temporary SARS checkpoint and picked up a young girl who was a taxi driver from the same county and had asked him to give her a ride.

The young girl's name was Wang Xia. She was pretty and about the same age as Zhang Hui, wearing a floral dress. She was on her way to Dongzhou City to stay with her sister and had hitched a ride on Zhao Zhiguo's truck.

After saying goodbye to his friend, Zhao Zhiguo happily drove his truck towards his destination, humming a tune. Zhao Hui was also overjoyed to have a girl his own age join him on the journey, and this unexpected delight kept the two chatting and laughing all the way.

Around 11 p.m., Zhao Zhiguo drove the truck into the service area, intending to invite Wang Xia to have a late-night snack. Perhaps because girls are shy, Wang Xia didn't get out of the truck and just ate some dried tofu in the car.

Time flew by, and they arrived at the Dongzhou West Expressway Interchange around 2 a.m. that night. Wang Xia borrowed Zhao Zhiguo's phone to call her brother-in-law and ask him to come pick her up, but her brother-in-law happened to have to work overtime that night, so she took a taxi to the Dongjiang Third Bridge to meet her sister.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhiguo was worried about a little girl hailing a taxi in the middle of the night at an unfamiliar and sparsely populated highway exit. Out of kindness, Zhao Zhiguo continued to give her a ride to the Dongjiang Second Bridge, which was closer to the Third Bridge. Later, because they reached the urban area where trucks were prohibited, he dropped Wang Xia off.

Then the uncle and nephew turned around and took the Dongjiang Second Bridge onto the expressway to continue their journey, driving all the way to Fujian Province.

After parting ways with Zhao Zhiguo and Zhao Hui, Wang Xia stood by the roadside and hailed a taxi.

"Driver, please take me to the Dongjiang Third Bridge." Wang Xia, sitting in the back seat, closed the car door and said crisply.

"Okay. Young lady, what are you doing out alone so late?" The driver turned around, glanced at the passenger in the back seat, and asked with concern.

The driver wore frameless glasses and looked rather frail. Although he had a smile on his lips and spoke with concern, his eyes were cold, and even though it was early summer and the temperature was sweltering, it still sent chills down Wang Xia's spine.

"Go find my sister."

"Oh, you're going to find your sister? I saw you get off that truck with Ontario plates just now. Are you from Ontario?"

The driver turned around, pressed the clutch, and the car shuddered as it slowly drove onto the highway.

The night was very deep.

The highway was completely shrouded in the pure black sky.

The taxi's dim taillights disappeared into the darkness as it drove away, until there was no light left.

(End of this chapter)