Chapter 2: Childhood
No matter what the two young men said, Old Wu didn't get involved. This showed Old Wu's simple side, but also his smart side, because the relationship between these two guys was really hard to explain in just a few words.
Zhang Nianzu and Zhao Weiming were classmates in junior high school. At first, they were not friends, but a special experience made the two teenagers quickly become best friends - they were robbed by a group of gangsters on the way home from school. However, in retrospect, Zhang Nianzu was completely a victim of the disaster, and the other party's main target should be Zhao Weiming. Zhao Weiming's family runs a taxi company. The whole world knows that this kid is the son of a nouveau riche. The three gangsters had already stepped on the plate and squatted a little waiting to kill the fat fish. The only emergency was that Zhang Nianzu and Zhao Weiming left the school together that day. This situation was completely beyond the consideration of the gangsters. Most children saw this posture and ran away with a little fuss. They didn't expect Zhang Nianzu to be so angry that he didn't run away, but actually fought with them for a classmate he didn't know well. Although Zhang Nianzu had good physical coordination since childhood and was a person with strong hands-on ability, he still suffered a great loss when his opponents were older than him and it was three against one. At this time, Zhao Weiming was not like those heartless second-generation rich kids who escaped alone. He knew that even if he went up to help, it would not be of much use, so he stood at the entrance of the alley and shouted desperately.
This kid was very smart when he was young. His goal was to attract as many adults as possible, but he knew that most people were unwilling to get involved with gangsters. Shouting for help or robbery would not only fail to attract people, but might also result in a clearing of the area. So he shouted:
"Oh my god, the bathhouse is on fire, yo, yo (the tone of seeing a little hooligan)!"
Many years later, his idea (only idea) was popularized to the general public as a rescue guide by professors at the Public Security University. This shows how cunning this guy is!
After this incident, the two became inseparable friends, but in Wu's opinion, it was mostly Zhao Weiming who took the initiative to stick to Zhang Nianzu. In Wu's words, Zhao Weiming was relatively precocious when he was a student (it's better not to mention Zhao Weiming later), and he could see who was worth making friends with and who was not. However, apart from being good at making friends, Zhao Weiming quickly learned all the bad habits of the nouveau riche, such as smoking and drinking. He would take people to nightclubs before graduating from junior high school. After entering society, he got involved in gambling. It was not the first time that he was chased by people shouting and killing like today.
As a friend, Zhang Nianzu doesn't like to participate in Zhao Weiming's tunes, and rarely persuades, let alone speak in a roundabout way. He is just like this, unwilling to interfere in other people's lives. He is very open-minded in this regard: eating, drinking, whoring and gambling are also a kind of life attitude. As long as it doesn't harm others, he doesn't bother to talk nonsense. He just mocked Zhao Weiming not because of his gambling itself. When they met last time, Zhao Weiming vowed to break up with Zhang Nianzu. It doesn't matter why he remembers the specific reason. Anyway, it's not the first time and it will never be the last time.
When Zhao Weiming was scolding Zhang Nianzu, Zhang Nianzu ignored him. He was reading comics and giggling. Every time he smiled, the scar on his face that looked like a dimple would appear. He looked lazy and comfortable at this time, but because it was a scar, it also had a dangerous meaning.
This is how this pair of funny people have been interacting for so many years. When one of them is telling the history of revolution, the other is just daydreaming. But the scene is still harmonious. So Old Wu doesn't respond - who do you want him to help?
Zhao Weiming sat on the trunk, handed a cigarette to Old Wu, and said to Zhang Nianzu, "Ah Zu, did you understand what I just said? I'm looking for this person called Zu Ye."
Zhang Nianzu muttered, "Grandpa? Why does this name sound like a swindler?" The two of them reconciled automatically.
Old Wu also asked: "Who is it?"
Zhao Weiming waved his hands vigorously: "Don't worry about who it is. It is very important for me to find this person!"
"Do you want to learn how to cheat from him?" Zhang Nianzu could only think that.
Zhao Weiming paused, then suddenly said, "You know my sister has returned to China, right?"
Zhang Nianzu nodded.
"Let me tell you another secret. My dad has always wanted to hand over the company to my sister."
Zhang Nianzu smiled and said, "This is not a secret. Everyone on earth knows it."
Zhao Weiming said: "I heard the name Zuye for the first time today. It was in my father's office. He told my sister that a large overseas investor had entrusted several influential large companies in the city to find this person. Whoever finds this person, the investor will unconditionally agree to that person's request."
Zhang Nianzu and Old Wu looked at each other and laughed, "What a big tone, Aladdin's magic lamp?"
Zhao Weiming said seriously: "No kidding, my dad told my sister himself, he didn't know I was standing outside the door."
Old Wu asked, "So you overheard it?"
Zhao Weiming asked, "Do you think that this will be known to anyone other than the Crown Prince?"
Zhang Nianzu frowned and said, "You just listened to something without any context and asked me to help you find someone?"
Old Wu also said: "And this should just be a nickname or something, not even a name."
"Don't worry." Zhao Weiming said, "When my father gave my sister instructions, he also gave her a document with my grandfather's basic information on it."
Zhang Nianzu asked: "Where is the information now?"
"You hit the nail on the head!" Zhao Weiming said, "My sister locked it in the office safe after reading it."
Zhang Nianzu said: "So the most important thing for you now is to get that information. What are you going to do?"
Zhao Weiming laughed and said coldly, "I have the key to the safe!"
Old Wu was speechless. He had already removed the floor pan of the car he was repairing and asked Zhang Nianzu to carry it outside and clean it up.
Zhang Nianzu squatted on the steps at the door and used a screwdriver to knock the mud that had formed over the years on the bottom plate. It was difficult to clean it with a spray nozzle. It might not move even after spraying for a long time, so he had to do some preparation work first. Seeing Zhao Weiming following him out, he asked, "You have the most important thing, what do you need me to do?"
Zhao Weiming said calmly: "The most important thing is not the key to the safe, but the key to the office door."
"What's the meaning?"
"I secretly made a copy of the key to the safe so that I could steal some change from it every now and then without anyone noticing. I deliberately left the key to the office door alone so that he couldn't blame me if he found out he had lost some money."
Zhang Nianzu said: "Well, it's hard to guard against thieves in your own home."
Zhao Weiming chuckled and said, "So every time I robbed someone, I went in after someone opened the office. If a son goes into his father's office, others can't say anything if they see him."
"Get to the point."
Zhao Weiming pursed his lips and said, "The point is that the office has become my sister's territory. This girl has a mysophobia. As soon as she took over the office, she cleared out all the cash in the safe and wiped it with alcohol many times. Then she gave the key to the front door to the cleaner and asked her to clean it twice a day, once at 7:30 in the morning and once during lunch break. Every morning, she and the cleaner would go into the office together to do their own work."
Zhang Nianzu said: "Tell me about your plan."
Zhao Weiming poked secretly: "Think about it, as long as she doesn't arrive in the office with the cleaner tomorrow, I will have a chance to take action!"
With a snap, the screwdriver in Zhang Nianzu's hand broke.
"You don't want me to help you kill your sister?"
Zhao Weiming was stunned and said, "What are you thinking? She's my sister!"
Zhang Nianzu curled his lips: "Bullshit!"
"Half-sisters are still siblings!" Zhao Weiming pointed at the broken screwdriver and said, "You don't have to be so excited, do you?"
"The quality of things nowadays is too bad." Zhang Nianzu continued to use the broken screwdriver to pick the mud on the bottom plate, and then said, "What were you talking about just now? Killing your sister, right?"
Zhao Weiming chuckled and said, "Don't make a fuss. What I mean is that tomorrow on her way to work, you help me delay her and buy me some time, half an hour... no, 20 minutes will be enough!" He handed Zhang Nianzu a piece of paper, "This is her license plate number and the route she must take ."
Zhang Nianzu took it in his hand and crumpled it into a ball and continued to work, saying, "Now there is only one problem left."
"What?"
Zhang Nianzu cleaned the floor, stood up and said, "I didn't promise to help you."
