Chapter 324 Number One Fan
The lord of Seahorse City is named Ding Yixiu, a middle-aged man with extraordinary means. He holds the power of the entire city firmly in his hands and is like a dictatorial king in this city.
His son's name is Ding Can, and he seems to be the masked man's number one fan.
It is said that this young man studied every battle of the Masked Stranger, learned his style of doing things, and implemented his chivalrous spirit, and often called himself "The Masked Stranger·Seahorse City Branch".
For this reason, the Zero Point Tavern once implicitly reminded the city lord Ding Yixiu, hoping that he could take care of his children.
Dante Yixiu also had a headache and often expressed feelings like "This account is useless".
Su Xia stood in front of the taxi, looking at the dilapidated trucks, and asked, "Where did he get these supplies for the poor? Is it his own property?"
"No, the city lord's children are still too young to take over the business managed by the city lord."
The driver answered honestly: "These materials should have been looted from many merchants and dignitaries in the city."
"plunder?"
These two words flashed in Su Xia's mind, and the literal meaning seemed to be wrong.
He asked, "How do you search specifically?"
The driver replied, "The mayor's child often visits the homes of merchants, dignitaries, and wealthy people, and chats with them. When he leaves, he has a pile of lists of supplies in his hands, all given to him by those people."
"Oh, so much plunder..."
I think that the identity of the city lord's son gave the young man a lot of conveniences.
The merchants in this city dared not refuse to give him what he wanted.
Moreover, he was very measured in what he asked for. He would not ask for too much at one time, so as not to cause those people any serious harm. At most, it would only make them feel heartbroken.
"How are people living here? Can they get enough to eat?"
"I'm sure we'll have enough food." The driver nodded immediately. "After all, we're all refugees, and no one is more noble than anyone else. Many people are rich now, but they've never forgotten the hardships they went through when they were fleeing, and they often donate money to this area. And...the refugee resettlement housing here is also the first one built in the entire southwest region. Even the mechanical tribe has praised it."
"Well, the mechanical race needs stability now."
"yes."
"Thank you for letting me know."
"No thanks, no thanks, it's my duty."
The driver forced a smile. Facing a ruthless man like Su Xia, he dared not not tell him.
"It's getting late..."
Su Xia looked at the time, then said goodbye to the driver and walked slowly towards the huge refugee living area, observing as he walked.
There is no garbage everywhere like in the Coral City slums. The roads are clean and there are even artificial lawns on both sides.
The appearance of the refugee resettlement housing is very common, with rows of gray concrete buildings.
It looks a bit like the He L Xiao F Building of the former Soviet Union. Later, during the early industrial development of my country, a large number of similar houses were built in imitation of it. They were called "tube buildings" by many people, and the childhood of countless people was spent in those buildings.
“No corners were cut, and the materials used were sufficient.”
Su Xia sensed silently that there were many steel bars in the buildings of these resettlement houses, and the safety of the houses was guaranteed.
Today is a rare sunny day in winter. Clothes and quilts are drying outside the windows of every household. New Year's window paper-cuts are pasted on every window. The aroma of lunch wafts in the wind, and the sound of children playing can be heard.
This peaceful and harmonious scene is similar to some old urban areas on Earth.
Su Xia followed the instructions of the mission objective, turning left and right in the area for more than ten minutes, and he didn't know how many turns he had taken, but he finally found the first target household.
The buildings here are too similar and too close together, so people who come here for the first time will most likely get lost.
[Arrived at the destination]
After getting closer, a prompt popped up for the grayed-out task [Bury the Bones in a Foreign Land]. It seems that this task has not completely failed. There is still hope, and the reward for the next stage of the task may still be obtained.
Su Xia walked up the gray cement stairs to the second floor, searched along the corridor, and finally knocked on the door of a house on the right side of the corridor.
“Boom boom boom… boom boom boom…”
The knuckles knocked lightly on the wooden door, and the dull sound echoed in the long corridor. The voice-controlled lights in the corridor lit up one by one, and the lights were a little dim.
Su Xia put on her life-sensing glasses and knew there was a mother and daughter in the room.
In the special reconnaissance team of the old North Wind organization, there was a psychic creature named "Zhu Hu". His psychic talent was related to vision. He was the deputy captain of the reconnaissance team and later died on the night when the North Wind organization was destroyed.
When he died, his daughter was not yet born and became a posthumous child.
It was his wife and daughter that Su Xia was visiting now.
He stood at the door and could clearly hear the crying of a baby girl coming from inside.
"Who is it?"
A woman's voice came from inside the door, sounding a little tired.
Su Xia replied: "Mr. Zhu's friend."
"Wait a mininute."
There was a sound of pots and pans colliding in the room. The woman was cooking just now and seemed a little flustered. She hurriedly wiped the oil stains on her hands on her clothes.
After a moment, she walked quickly to the door and unlocked it.
“Crack!”
The wooden door opened a crack, revealing a sallow and skinny face.
Li Qian, Zhu Hu's wife, got married just two years ago.
She was only in her twenties, but her face was full of fatigue, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes . A few strands of dull yellow hair hung in front of her forehead, and it seemed that she had no time to comb her hair. She also reeked of cooking oil.
"Ms. Li Qian?" Su Xia asked.
"It's me... May I ask who you are?"
"My last name is Su, Su Defu. I used to run a business with Mr. Zhu. I heard that he was in trouble, so I came to see him. Is there any news about him now?"
"He…he's been missing for months."
Li Qian's expression darkened and she shook her head slightly.
In the Old North Wind organization, in order to avoid implicating their families, some members faked their own deaths, some disappeared directly, and some have been using double identities.
For example, Zhu Hu, on the surface, is just a freight driver. He transports goods between the southern and northern parts of the mainland all year round, and sometimes he would be away for more than half a month.
Li Qian still doesn't know that Zhu Hu is dead and only thinks he is missing.
Of course, in this cruel age, there is really no difference between disappearance and death.
Sometimes, it's better to just die.
Some of those who are missing or imprisoned cannot even die.
"Mr. Zhu is a good man. I believe good things will happen to him." Su Xia did not tell the truth, so that the woman could have some hope in her heart. Otherwise, given her physical condition, she might collapse directly.
"Thank you, thank you... Please come in and sit down. The house is a bit messy..."
Li Qian showed a tired smile, opened the door, and invited Su Xia to come in and sit down.
The room was indeed a bit messy, with many daily necessities piled up in the corner of the room, and a crib next to it, with a baby of several months old crying loudly.
The interior of this resettlement house is not decorated, not even the basic painting has been done. It is still gray and the cement walls feel very rough.
An old-fashioned chandelier hung in the middle of the room, with some dust on the lampshade.
The kitchen was converted from a balcony. It was very small, with a layer of mist on the windows. The cement stove was piled with scattered pots and pans. There was also only one chandelier, and the light cord was covered with black oil stains.
There was meat porridge cooking in the pot, bubbling and gurgling. It seemed a little burnt and there was a burnt smell in the air.
"Does the child have a name?" Su Xia asked.
"Yes, he took it when he left. It's called Zhuhong." Li Qian gently rocked the crib, her tired eyes full of kindness.
Zhu Hong, this name is simple and easy to remember.
Su Xia looked around and saw the wedding photo of Zhu Hu and Li Qian on a pile of debris in the corner of the room.
Zhu Hu in the photo looked pretty much the same as the commander remembered, a simple and honest young man.
After a while, the child's crying gradually subsided. Li Qian immediately ran to the kitchen and stirred the meat porridge in the pot. At the same time, she said to Su Xia apologetically: "I'm so sorry..."
"It's okay, all children in the family are like this." Su Xia smiled.
"Does Mr. Su have a child too?"
"without."
Su Xia is only in her early twenties and has not even reached the legal age for marriage, so naturally she has no children.
It’s just that this world has been in constant war, and many people get married early. Some even have children in their teens, just to leave descendants as soon as possible.
"It's like this..." Su Xia started talking about business, "I borrowed some money from Mr. Zhu before to do business. Now the business is barely going well. This time, I plan to pay back the principal and interest together."
"He lent money out?" Li Qian was a little surprised.
"Yes." Su Xia nodded.
"How much money?"
"The principal plus interest is a total of 115,000."
Su Xia took out a check from her bosom and filled in the number. It was from the Universal Bank of China and could be used to withdraw money in any city, which was very convenient.
Hearing this number, Li Qian was shocked and almost dropped the spoon in her hand. She stared blankly at the check in Su Xia's hand.
"This... so much money?" She couldn't believe it.
"Yes."
Su Xia smiled slightly and handed over a card with Yi Yi's contact information on it.
That was the personal card number that Yi Yi had applied for not long ago. It had not been entered into the system of the Zero Point Tavern and would not be monitored.
"Please keep this business card."
Su Xia clearly stated that if you encounter a problem that cannot be solved, you can call the number on the card and the person on the other end of the phone will find a way to help solve it.
Hearing this, Li Qian was silent for a moment.
She was not stupid, so she could naturally guess that Su Xia's identity might not be as simple as he said.
In fact, this money was not lent by her husband, but Su Xia just wanted to find an excuse to give it to her.
but……
Considering this, her husband is most likely no longer alive.
Li Qian's heart ached and her eyes turned red. She turned around, lowered her head towards the window, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath, silently swallowed the sadness that was pouring out, and finally turned around and said, "Thank you, thank you..."
"It's okay, I should do it."
Su Xia thought about it and took out a few oral medicines, all for nourishing the body.
Raising a child alone is much harder than you imagine, and it is easy to wear yourself out.
He placed the potions on the table and said, "These potions were made by a master. Take one at the beginning of each month. It will be very helpful for your body's recovery after childbirth."
After saying this, Su Xia still felt that it was not enough.
So he took out a few medicines suitable for children and told Li Qian to use them while the child was growing.
Finally, Su Xia took out a small semi-automatic pistol.
"Can you use a gun?" Su Xia asked.
"I...used it once before when I was escaping."
"That's good."
Su Xia took out six more boxes of bullets and a special silencer, and said, "This gun has very little recoil, so it's suitable for women to use... This city is a large transit station, with many businessmen and travelers coming and going. There are always some people with dirty hands and feet. Remember to bring it with you whenever you go out."
After saying that, he took out a gun instruction manual and placed it next to the six boxes of bullets.
With these things, the future life of this mother and daughter should be guaranteed.
As long as Su Xia is alive, he can come back at any time to ensure that the families of these members of the Old North Wind Organization are living a good life.
After doing all this, Su Xia said goodbye and left.
"I have something else to do, and time is tight." Su Xia checked the time and said, "If I learn any information about Mr. Zhu, I will contact you as soon as possible."
"Thank you, thank you... Mr. Su, have a safe journey."
Li Qian held the child and sent Su Xia out the door, watching her go away.
The life of this mother and daughter is better than Su Xia imagined.
In fact, even if Su Xia didn't help, they could still make a living, but their financial situation would be more difficult.
There was very little furniture in the house, with cardboard boxes, foam templates and other miscellaneous items piled together. There were no conventional electrical appliances, not even a TV, as if it was from the 1960s and 1970s.
People who live here can get a small subsidy every month, and the government will give priority to recruiting people from here for various construction projects.
However, it is really inconvenient for a thin single mother with a newborn child to go to work.
"The next target..."
Su Xia looked at the mission map and went to another location according to the instructions.
This area was so huge that even a psychic creature like him almost couldn't tell the direction.
More than ten minutes later, after walking through row after row of gray reinforced concrete buildings, Su Xia finally arrived at the second target location.
“This is it.”
Su Xia noticed that the icon of the mission [Bury the Bones in a Foreign Land] was a little brighter and not as dim as before.
Just as he was about to go upstairs, an old gray truck suddenly drove over from the distance. It was one of the trucks he had seen outside before.
The car was driving very slowly and swaying, and finally stopped in front of the building.
“Crack!”
The rear door of the truck was opened and two people in gray work uniforms jumped out.
Afterwards, the rest of the employees in the carriage began to move out the goods, including quilts, oil, grain, warm clothes and other items, which were exactly what the people in this area needed.
The front door opened, and a very energetic young man, who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, jumped out from the passenger seat.
[Ding Can: Male, 18 years old, son of the Lord of Kaiba City, one of the admirers of the Masked Stranger...]
Su Xia's heart moved. She didn't expect to meet this person here.
He walked upstairs slowly in silence.
Ding Can and several employees over there didn't seem to notice him, or maybe they thought he was a local and didn't care.
Ding Can directed everyone to unload the goods. He had a list of goods in his hand and carefully checked each item of goods.
Soon, the driver jumped out of the car. He was also a young man. He walked to the back of the car and whispered to Ding Can, "Boss, this is not enough. There are so many people in this slum. The goods in our warehouse are almost gone... This New Year, some people may go hungry and cold."
"Not enough? Then go and grab some more." Ding Can said bluntly.
The two of them spoke in low voices.
If an ordinary person stood in Su Xia's position, he would definitely not be able to hear what they were saying.
But Su Xia heard it clearly. The driver continued, "Are you going to rob those businessmen again?"
"Nonsense, if not them, who should we rob?" Ding Can didn't care. "Those fat-bellied creatures are like fat pigs. They have eaten up the entire city. It would be nice to kill a couple of them for the New Year!"
"But many merchants in the city have complained to your father."
The driver hesitated and said, "If you keep going like this, I'm afraid your father will take action."
“That’s right…”
Ding Can folded his arms, thought about it seriously, and seemed to think that this made sense.
He nodded: "Okay, don't rob those merchants, just rob my father's!"
