Fast Travel Absurdity Sutra

In the narrow and dim alley, the walls on both sides are covered with dark green moss. The bricks and stones of the walls are mottled due to years of erosion, and from time to time a few unknown weeds stubbornly poke their heads out from the cracks.

The alley was filled with a damp and moldy smell, mixed with the stench emanating from the trash can not far away, which made people want to vomit.

Overhead, a few clotheslines spanned the alley, and a few worn clothes swayed weakly in the breeze. Zhou Mingguo pulled Wan Wan and couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Every day, after buying groceries and returning home, the two of them had to pass through this desolate alley.

Today, Zhou Mingguo felt inexplicably uneasy.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the alley suddenly became tense and dangerous, as if a huge rock was thrown into a calm lake, causing huge waves.

Several hooligans jumped out from the shadows on both sides of the alley like ghosts. They were agile, brutal in their movements, and had ferocious expressions on their faces.

Those pairs of eyes emitting fierce light stared at Zhou Mingguo and Wan Wan without any scruples. Like hungry wolves pouncing on their prey, they rushed towards the two of them with great momentum.

The gangster in the lead was tall and burly, with a face full of flesh. A striking scar ran diagonally from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth, making his already ferocious face even more terrifying.

He had a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth, and as he moved, the ash fell. The smoke swirled in front of his eyes, but it could not hide the hostility in his eyes.

The few minions following closely behind him also had fierce looks on their faces, rubbing their hands together, and shouting obscene words.

"Hmph, old man, hand over the money if you're smart. You're unlucky to have run into me today!"

The leading gangster spat out the cigarette butt from his mouth viciously, crushed it with his foot, grinned, revealing a mouthful of black and yellow teeth, and spoke contemptuously to Zhou Mingguo. His tone was full of arrogance and brutality, and it sounded as if he was the master of this alley.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingguo's eyes flashed with determination, and without hesitation, he threw the basket in his hand at the gangster.

The vegetable basket drew an arc in the air, and the vegetables inside were scattered all over the ground, with the green leaves rolling in the dust.

The gangster leader dodged nimbly, looking a little embarrassed.

Zhou Mingguo moved sideways as quickly as possible, using his body, which was not strong and slightly weakened due to injuries, to firmly protect Wan Wan behind him.

The little gangster suddenly became angry.

He called out to his men, "Hurry up, this old bastard is so ignorant, teach him a lesson. He actually dared to throw things at Master Hui, beat him up, beat him hard, make him learn some sense."

In an instant, fists and kicks rained down on Zhou Mingguo and his wife.

Seeing this, Zhou Mingguo's eyes flashed with determination. He turned sideways as quickly as possible and used his body, which was not strong and slightly weakened due to injuries, to firmly protect Wan Wan behind him.

Wan Wan's eyes were filled with fear and worry. She hid behind Zhou Guoming, her hands tightly grasping the corner of Zhou Mingguo's clothes, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Her voice was filled with tears as she cried:

"Old man, be careful!"

Zhou Mingguo gritted his teeth, groaned, and endured the thugs' beating.

His back, arms, and head were constantly hit hard, and each blow made him feel pain deep in his bones.

But he remained silent, his feet standing firmly as if they had taken root, just to provide Wan Wan with this small safe space.

He had only one belief in his heart: no matter what, he must not let these beasts hurt his wife.

The air around seemed to be stagnant due to the blood and violence. Only the dull sound of fists and feet clashing, and Wan Wan's desperate cries, echoed for a long time in this narrow alley.

Unfortunately, Zhou Mingguo's efforts were of no use at all.

A little hooligan pushed him down, and Wan Wan was so scared that she squatted on the ground with her head covered.

Her arms tightly protected her head. She screamed in fear, her shrill voice penetrating and carried far away.

"Help, help, stop fighting, stop fighting. We give money, we give money."

But no one paid any attention to her, and the blows rained down on her arms.

The little gangster swung the stick and hit her legs hard.

Zhou Mingguo wanted to rush over to rescue his wife, but he was surrounded by several hooligans and had no way to escape, so he couldn't get over.

At this time, a slight cracking sound was heard again, and he felt a huge force hitting his left leg hard.

Suddenly, Zhou Mingguo felt that he was unable to stand up and fell to the ground. At this time, his heart was filled with despair.

Just when he felt that he was about to collapse, loud footsteps suddenly came from the distance, as if the light of dawn penetrated the darkness and instantly dispelled the suffocating haze.

It turned out that a patrol team happened to pass by here.

The crisp sound of footsteps was like the sound of an exciting war drum, causing the gangsters' faces to change drastically. They looked at each other in panic, and the ferocity in their eyes was instantly replaced by fear. They cursed unwillingly, then hurriedly fled back to the dark corner like a stray dog, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Mingguo and Wan Wan finally breathed a sigh of relief. They supported each other, their bodies still shaking uncontrollably.

With tears in her eyes, Wan Wan stroked the bruises and scars on Zhou Mingguo's body with trembling hands, saying distressedly, "Old man, you're injured. Let's go home quickly."

Zhou Mingguo endured the pain, forced a smile and said comfortingly:

"It's okay, let's go home."

But he knew in his heart that this disaster was probably just the beginning, and there must be an invisible black hand behind the scenes controlling everything.

And their family has been caught in a huge vortex.

However, their suffering did not end there.

When Cang Yong learned that his plan had failed, he became furious and would never let go of the couple who might threaten him.

A few days later, the woolen mill where Zhou Mingguo worked and Wan Wan's workplace received an anonymous letter at the same time. The letter slandered them for dereliction of duty and misconduct, and also attached some forged evidence.

Many days ago, the factory director Yu Yaojun received a verbal message from the Minister of Machinery Zhao Shuncheng.

The person who came told Director Yu that Zhou Mingguo and his wife had offended the higher-ups and that they must be expelled from the factory. If they were not expelled, the Revolutionary Committee would handle the matter.

Director Yu was so frightened that his face turned pale and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

After all, as the head of a factory, he was well aware of the Revolutionary Committee's vigorous and ruthless style of action.

If the matter gets out of hand, it won’t just be Zhou Mingguo and his wife who will suffer. Even the factory director himself might lose his job! Thinking of this, Factory Director Yu couldn’t help but shudder.

In order to prevent the situation from further deteriorating and to protect Zhou Mingguo and his wife from being implicated, Director Yu decided to take action without hesitation.

With the anonymous letter as a tip, he made the decision to fire Zhou Mingguo and his wife without hesitation.

However, this is just a temporary measure.

In fact, Director Yu had already had in-depth private communication with several other leaders in the factory.

Everyone agreed that after Zhou Mingguo and his wife recovered, they could first arrange a temporary job for them, and then find an opportunity to formally re-hire them back to work in the factory.

You know, Zhou Mingguo and his wife are the real technical backbone of the machinery factory!

Not only do they possess superb skills and rich experience, but they are also dedicated and meticulous in their work.

It can be said that the normal operation of the entire machinery factory depends largely on the hard work of the two of them.

Now that we have lost these two capable people at once, the factory's production progress has been obviously affected, and many key links have even stagnated.

Many workers also complained about this, lamenting that without Zhou Mingguo and his wife, the factory seemed to have lost its backbone and was unable to operate efficiently.

You know, if Director Yu hadn't been afraid that the Revolutionary Committee would take advantage of this incident to openly enter the machinery factory, he might not have taken the instructions from above seriously at all.

Because of this, the factory did not forcibly take back the house where the couple lived.

When Zhou Mingguo and Wan Wan returned home holding the dismissal notices, both of their faces were filled with shock. Wan Wan was so emotional that her eyes were filled with endless tears of grievance.

After all, the couple had worked diligently and conscientiously in the factory for most of their lives, and they never expected to encounter such a sudden change.

However, Director Yu did this for many reasons.

First of all, he had to consider his own safety and the safety of the entire machinery factory.

Secondly, it is also to give a reasonable explanation to those people above who are eyeing or secretly watching their factory's every move.

Therefore, regarding the specific plans for the future, Director Yu kept his mouth shut and did not reveal any information, keeping all the plans hidden deep in his heart.

Look at this couple again. They are both seriously injured and urgently need to rest and recuperate. They are simply unable to continue working.

Therefore, in order to properly accommodate and take care of this poor couple, Director Yu had to secretly instruct his trusted secretary to convey this heartbreaking dismissal news.

Before Secretary Ma came, Director Yu repeatedly warned him not to let anyone know about this.

Anyway, they are just doing it for show and giving an explanation to their superiors.

As for other employees in the factory, it is best if they don’t know.

Secretary Ma looked at Zhou Mingguo and his wife with a complicated look, thinking to himself that these two people were really unlucky.

I don’t know who I offended?

They are torturing them to death!

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Wan..."

Secretary Ma first coughed lightly, and the cough was particularly clear in the quiet room.

His eyes fell on the two people in front of him, and he saw that their faces were as pale as paper, without any blood, and they looked like they had suffered a huge blow.

Seeing this scene, Secretary Ma couldn't help but feel a little moved.

He lowered his voice slightly, whispered close to Zhou Mingguo's ear, and said softly at an extremely fast speed:

"Mr. Zhou, here's what's going on. Director Yu has already told me, but we're not entirely clear on the details. It seems you've accidentally offended someone, and the higher-ups have specifically sent word. So, for now, this is the only way to handle this matter. You two should just rest and recuperate here. Once you've recovered, the factory will consider hiring you as temporary workers."

Secretary Ma said all these words in one breath, then quickly stood up and reached into his pocket to pull out a bulging envelope.

As he handed the envelope to the two of them, he continued:

"The money here is your compensation from the factory. Use it to heal your injuries first. Don't worry too much about other things for now, just focus on recuperating! And regarding your dismissal, the factory hasn't officially announced it yet, so please don't spread any rumors."

As soon as he finished speaking, Secretary Ma placed the envelope beside the bed without hesitation, then turned around and walked hurriedly towards the door.

There was a muffled "bang" sound, and Lao Zhou's door was closed tightly, leaving Zhou Gong and Wan Gong in the room staring blankly at the closed door, not knowing how to react for a moment.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Wan Wan didn't hear what Secretary Ma said in a low and quick voice to Zhou Guoming.

Wan Wan couldn't help but tear up:

"Old man, what's going on? We didn't do anything wrong."

Zhou Mingguo also looked confused, but he had a vague premonition that all this might be related to what happened in the vegetable market that day.

Because he was concentrating, he heard clearly what Secretary Ma whispered just now.

It seems that the other party is quite powerful.

Well, at least the factory didn’t give up on them, which made Zhou Mingguo feel at ease.

But Wan Wan didn't hear it at all.

He glanced at his wife and whispered,

"Wan'er, please don't tell anyone about our expulsion. When I get better, I'll find a solution. Right now, it's best not to let this matter become a hot topic. That way, I can find a solution later."

After hearing this, Wan Wan was stunned.

She was lying in bed and didn't hear a word Secretary Ma said just now.

However, he is still a technical backbone and is very knowledgeable.

Zhou Guoming's words reminded her of Secretary Ma's behavior just now. She had an idea in her mind and knew that there must be other hidden secrets behind this matter.

She no longer hesitated.

Picking up the envelope, she counted the items and cried out in surprise.

"Old man, you actually gave us a thousand dollars."

Zhou Mingguo was also stunned. He did not expect that the factory would give such a huge sum of money to the couple.

I think it is difficult for Director Yu to arrange people to take care of them, so he can only give them money as compensation.

From then on, the two of them stayed at home to recuperate.

In their previous life, the couple had spent a long time recovering from injuries. Not long after the original owner died in the countryside, they were killed in their home by men sent by Cang Yong, without even waiting for them to recover and return to work.

After reading the plot, Lantian's eyes darkened.

These dog spies are really more vicious than each other. They kill people as easily as drinking water. In this life, Lantian has decided that no one will escape unscathed.

Pay back everything you owe to the original owner!