Chapter 87 – Made it to the Newspaper
“Stop!”
As they ran, Zhang Changzheng immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Gripping the gun in his hand, he rode his bicycle and quickly caught up.
The road ahead had no forks; it was a long alley, so the four of them couldn’t split up to escape.
Running on two legs, with two of them also carrying things on their backs, they naturally ran slower.
Zhang Changzheng soon caught up with them.
Seeing Zhang Changzheng catching up, the men exchanged a glance, made a quick decision, and stopped running.
Dropping what they were carrying, they turned around and pulled out knives from their pockets, ready to fight Zhang Changzheng.
In the dim light, they didn’t see the gun in Zhang Changzheng’s hand.
Thinking that four of them armed against one person meant they had the upper hand, they were confident.
In reality, if Zhang Changzheng had not heard Xu Jinning’s inner thoughts before, things would have gone as planned for them.
The four of them had the advantage against Zhang Changzheng, who wasn’t carrying many weapons. Although Zhang Changzheng managed to trip them up and resist as much as he could until his comrades arrived, he still got stabbed several times and, in the end, couldn’t be saved.
But now, things were different.
Zhang Changzheng had a gun.
So, when they tried to surround him and stab him, Zhang Changzheng fired the gun…
The gunshot not only startled the four men but also hit one of them in the leg.
It also alerted Zhang Changzheng’s colleagues who happened to be patrolling nearby.
Another gunshot followed.
A few minutes later, Zhang Changzheng’s colleagues arrived.
The scene showed two of the four men falling to the ground due to leg wounds from the gunshot, while the other two were too frightened to move.
Next to them were two moving burlap sacks.
As the sacks were opened, the children inside were revealed.
Yes, two children, actually two abd*cted children.
Seeing this, Zhang Changzheng and his colleagues quickly realized what had happened and immediately took the people, including the two children, back to the station.
As they interrogated these four individuals, clues about the human tr*ffickers gradually surfaced.
*
“Oh, isn’t that Changzheng? He made it to the newspaper!”
That day, before heading to work, Xu Aiguo took a moment to look at today’s newspaper. At first glance, he saw it prominently displayed at the top and the largest section of the front page, a photo of Zhang Changzheng wearing a police uniform.
Beside him, Xu Jinning, who had just finished eating, shivered and leaned over. The other members of the Xu family also gathered around.
“Dad, what’s going on? Uncle Changzheng is in the newspaper? Is it true?”
“Of course, it’s true. Look at this headline—Bravely Captures Human Tr*ffickers, Rescues Women and Children…”
Xu Aiguo quickly read aloud the contents of the report.
It narrated how Zhang Changzheng, on his way back from work, bravely fought against four human tr*ffickers who had just completed a mission, kidn*pping of two children.
Afterward, his colleagues also arrived.
During the subsequent interrogation, they also learned about the whereabouts of the other human tr*ffickers and the abd*cted women and children.
Under a well-planned operation, all of these human tr*ffickers were soon arrested, and the women and children who hadn’t been moved yet were rescued.
The report also emphasized how audacious these human tr*ffickers were, how many people they had kidn*pped, and how significant the impact was, depicting the heinous nature of their actions.
It also mentioned that the Public Security Bureau of Anren County had played a crucial role, especially Zhang Changzheng, who had the greatest contribution.
They would receive rewards and commendations, but the specifics were not mentioned.
This newspaper report undoubtedly served as recognition and praise for Zhang Changzheng.
“Changzheng is truly amazing,” Zhang Ailian exclaimed.
“Yes, Uncle Changzheng is so amazing,” Xu Xiangdong and others nodded in agreement.
Xu Jinning also breathed a sigh of relief secretly. In the storyline, the incident with the human tr*ffickers, which was considered a turning point leading to Zhang Changzheng’s demise, was now resolved.
Luckily, Uncle Changzheng is safe and even received commendations.
That’s great.
“Brother Xu, Sister-in-law…”
At that moment, a familiar voice came from outside, and soon after, Zhang Changzheng, whom they were just discussing, appeared before them.
“Hey, Changzheng, why are you here so early?” The Xu family members were clearly surprised to see Zhang Changzheng.
“Isn’t it to thank Brother Xu and Ningning for their previous warnings? Oh, you’re reading the newspaper.”
“Yes, Changzheng, you’re really amazing. Those human tr*ffickers are despicable; they must be caught, they should be sentenced. Wait, why did you bring so many things?”
When Zhang Ailian opened the bags Zhang Changzheng handed her and looked inside, she was startled by what she saw.
There were canned fruits, biscuits, cured meat, milk powder, brown sugar, peach pastries… and even cigarettes and alcohol!
Seeing all this, Zhang Ailian was shocked.
These things were quite valuable.
“These are for Brother Xu and Ningning.” Zhang Changzheng’s gaze focused on Xu Jinning.
“What do you mean?”
“This time, I was able to fight those four human tr*ffickers until the end because I had a gun, and also because of Brother Xu and Ningning’s reminder beforehand. Otherwise, if I hadn’t brought a gun, this time, not to mention commendation, my life or death would have been uncertain.”
As Zhang Changzheng said this, Xu Jinning remembered the previous events.
Actually, from the first time she met Zhang Changzheng, Xu Jinning had been thinking about how to help him avoid that fatal moment or how to remind him.
But she couldn’t say it out loud.
She couldn’t mention specific events or even remind him directly.
In the end, Xu Jinning could only beg Xu Aiguo. When they met Zhang Changzheng again, she told him that she had a bad dream where he encountered criminals and got injured, so she hoped he would carry a gun when going out recently.
If it were someone else, Xu Aiguo would have dismissed this dream as irrelevant, or even told Xu Jinning not to worry so much.
But the one saying this was Xu Jinning, which made the situation different. Thinking about what she had heard from her daughter’s inner thoughts before and considering her daughter’s mysterious identity that he still couldn’t figure out, Xu Aiguo took it seriously instantly.
Ningning wouldn’t say these things without reason; there must be a cause.
So when Xu Jinning thought Xu Aiguo might not believe her and was trying hard to convince him, she didn’t expect Xu Aiguo to agree.
The next day, Xu Aiguo reminded Zhang Changzheng before going to work in the county town.
Originally, Xu Aiguo was worried that Zhang Changzheng wouldn’t take it seriously or might even get angry.
Unexpectedly, he took it very seriously.
Could it be that Zhang Changzheng came today because of that reminder?
Actually, yes and no!
This was just an excuse Zhang Changzheng used on the surface. Only he knew the specifics. For him, this incident was a calamity, and his ability to avoid it, even to succeed, was largely due to hearing Xu Jinning’s inner thoughts.
