Chapter 2: Sun Family Village, Extortion

  "5, 4, 3, 2, blast!"

  In the final moment of countdown, a light appeared in the originally pitch-black warehouse, and a grain-sized light spot emerged. It then began to expand from one light spot to all directions, and after expanding into a circle of light, its surface ripples emitted an eerie glow. Within seconds, it expanded to several meters in size before stopping.

  At the moment when the aperture ended its diffusion, Sima pressed down on the second hand "3.6 seconds" just like he had done several times before. These past few days, every time it was late at night and people were quiet, Sima would always repeat similar activities in front of him.

  After discovering the light ring that day, it was like a two-way highway. Its other side was actually connected to 1915. People or objects could travel freely between 1915 and 2010 through the light ring.

  After the first return from 1915, before Sima had time to calm down, the light ring underwent a drastic change. Apart from the strange ripples on the light ring changing, Sima could even feel the air producing an irresistible fluctuation.

  Watching the originally several-meter-diameter light ring shrink to a needle-sized light point in seconds and finally disappear completely, if it weren't for holding a copy of the 1915 "Citizen Gazette" in his hand, Sima would probably think he was just dreaming.

  If the strange light circle didn't appear again on the second night, Sima would probably think he was crazy for the rest of his life. He entered the light circle once more and found himself connected to 1915 AD again. He rode his bicycle to that small town again and confirmed the time once more.

  Everything is the same as last time, except for the date. Last time was May 6th of Republican Year 4 and this time is May 7th of Republican Year 4. At least from the perspective of dates, the progress on both sides is parallel to each other.

  Simmons referred to this strange glow as a "temporal anomaly point" similar to the one in the TV series "Ancient Invasion". Every night at 12:00 AM, this strange "temporal anomaly point" would appear on time in Warehouse No. 2 and then disappear on time at 6:00 AM. The duration from appearance to disappearance was always around 3.6 seconds.

  It's hard to guess what this phenomenon is with Sima's half-baked level, but at least Sima has a certain understanding of the light circle: parallel time process, fixed and unchanged position, the light circle itself has a small amount of energy that will cause an extremely slight burning sensation on the surface of the body.

  Although close to the railway, Kongjiazhuang still looks a bit deserted. On the streets, some Han and Mongolian people are driving cattle to the cattle market, while Gao Chuanliang sits in his pawnshop sipping tea and smoking a dry pipe.

  Although it is said that Gao Chuanliang's family was ordinary in Kongjiazhuang, after struggling outside for more than a decade and accumulating this wealth, it is also one of the things that Gao Chuanliang feels most satisfied with.

  When I first came to Kouwai, I had nothing but a set of tattered clothes, now in this Kongjiazhuang, who doesn't call me Master Gao. Although business is not good nowadays, the business in Kongjiazhuang is still barely manageable.

  The eldest son of the family had a big fat grandson, who was sent to study at the foreign school in Zhangjiakou. This made the foreign students even more popular and many officials in the city were graduates of the foreign school. If that's the case, then the old Gao family would also have a promising future.

  "Whatever, I just think it's like this."

  Just as Gao Chuanliang was lost in his own reverie, the sound from the street broke into his beautiful dream, making Gao Chuanliang frown and feel somewhat unhappy.

  Following the sound to look over, this brow wrinkled even tighter, it was this Kong family village's good-for-nothing Ma Liu, relying on sending his own younger sister to be a concubine of the stationmaster at the train station in the town, this year he has been running amok in this village, whatever honest families didn't bother to have any disputes with this kind of good-for-nothing, like this for over a year, Ma Liu instead became notorious in this Kong family village.

  Only to see Ma Liu grabbing a young man in a suit, twisting his head, still with that rogue look, shouting again. Looking at the young man with neatly combed hair, a clean and white face, and a ruddy complexion, he was looking at all this with a helpless expression, dressed like a typical city student.

  Everyone present seems to be watching the commotion in front of them, smiling and looking at everything in front of them. In China, where localism is very serious, it's hard to see locals bullying outsiders when locals will step forward. Let alone no one would risk offending the local ruffians to help an outsider.

  Simar was helplessly dragged by the person in front of him, who had "I am a rascal" written all over his face. Looking at this man's appearance that seemed to be begging for a beating, Simar felt his heart itching with anger. It was just a slight collision on the shoulder, but it ended up causing the current situation.

  "Sir, I've already apologized, what more do you want?"

  "Hey! Apologize? Is that all it takes for you to apologize? Can this matter be settled so easily?"

  Look at this young man, he's clearly a pushover. Ma Liu is getting even more arrogant now. Just by looking at what he's wearing and how he carries himself, I can swindle him out of a few big bucks today! Now my cigarette money for the next few days is taken care of.

  "Go on! Go on! Good! You tell me how to apologize."

  Looking at the man's appearance and then looking around at the passersby who seemed to be in a hurry, Sima thought that according to the principle of "one less thing is better than one more", he should try to understand this matter as soon as possible. It seems that today he must prepare himself for being knocked down.

  "What's the apology for? Never mind, I'm in a good mood today and won't bother with you. You just take out 10 dollars to appease me." Ma Liu saw that the foreigner had softened up and said his conditions with a wave of his hand.

  "Ten big oceans! You'd better go rob!" Damn it! This bastard, Sima's heart was on fire when he heard this person's condition. He only had three big oceans in his pocket and still owed himself 300gmb from the antique market, but this guy asked for ten.

  "How can you be so greedy! Let me tell you, if you don't take it out today, I'll drag you to see the officer. I'm a relative of the captain of the patrol team."

  Ma Liu saw the foreign student being scared by his own words and quickly came out to threaten him.

  What Ma Liu said was true, the stationmaster of Sunjiazhuang Railway Station indeed held the position of captain of the railway police team, and managed a team of more than ten armed guards.

  "Patrol team!"

  Simar took a light drink and hesitated for a moment at the bottom of his heart, "It seems that today can only be admitted." Because he was worried about causing any accidents, Sima had no choice but to admit this knock.

  "I've only got these three dollars on me, consider it as compensation from me. What do you think?"

  Simar pulled out the three silver dollars from his pocket, which had not even warmed up in his own pocket yet. He looked at Mazhu's eyes and almost wanted to swallow him whole. This was something he had spent 300 yuan to get.

  "How dare you try to get rid of me with just three bucks! Do you think I'm a beggar? Be careful, or I'll take you to the police station!"

  Ma Liu, who was good at observing people's expressions, saw that the foreign student in front of him did not seem to be willing to go to the patrol team and immediately used this as a threat.

  "You..."

  Simar gritted his teeth and said, in his heart he almost wanted to kill this numb six in front of him.

  "I said it's Mah Liu. This gentleman also apologized and admitted defeat. The other party only had this much silver on them, and these three dollars were also missing. I think that's just the way it is!"

  Gao Chuanliang looked at everything in front of him and although he didn't want to get involved many times, but now it seemed that this young foreign student only had so much money on him. Looking at his appearance and attire which didn't seem like those of a poor person, with the intention of being kind to others, he thought of offering some help.

  "Hey! It's Old Man Gao! How come you have so much free time today? Three bucks? What kind of status do I, Ma Liu, have that you, Old Man Gao, don't understand? No money, and this foreign student has a watch on his wrist. Either give me the cash or take off that watch."

  Gao Chuanliang, the owner of Gao's Pawnshop in Zhuangshang, came out to fight, clearly not pleased. It was hard to come by a fat sheep like this, how could he let it go so easily?

  No money, but the foreign watch on his wrist looks like it's worth a lot of money. It seems that he hasn't even seen this kind of foreign watch before, and as soon as he turns around, he gives it to his brother-in-law, letting him find a job for himself at the train station.

  "Ah! So it was aiming at my watch!"

  This watch was a joke from several friends on my birthday today, saying they would give me a Rolex, but it turned out to be a street vendor's goods, only worth tens of dollars.

  If it weren't for the convenience of timing on this side, I estimate that this thing is still at home and thrown in some corner.

  "Ma Liu, an extortionist, seems like someone who can't be reasoned with!"

  Gao Chuanliang felt a bit embarrassed when Ma Liu didn't give him face, and it seemed like he was losing face. Moreover, he had never seen such an expensive watch before, and it looked like it was worth a lot of money.

  "Alright boss, let's call it a day and we're even."

  Ma Liu always remembered that among the outsiders in this village, only this tall boss didn't give himself three points of face. Now being spoken to like this, Gao Chuanliang's face looked really good.

  "Alright! This watch is yours. Let's consider this matter settled."

  Don't want to look for trouble for myself, at the moment it seems that I can only give the watch to this numbskull. I pretended to struggle free from his grasp and take back my watch.

  "Sir, this watch can be pawned for several dozen dollars at a pawnshop, don't sell it to him too cheaply."

  Gao Chuanliang saw the young man taking off his watch and hastily stopped him. Just by looking at the watch, Gao Chuanliang estimated that it was worth at least 30 big yuan.

  Looking at the young master in front of him with a frivolous appearance, Gao Chuanliang began to be somewhat convinced that this young master was probably born into a wealthy family in a big city, with a taste of being inexperienced in worldly affairs. But he couldn't have imagined that this watch was actually just a few dozen cents worth of street stall goods.

  "Sir, if you trust our store, this bill is on us. The young master will take care of it."

  Gao Chuanliang was determined in his heart, and he hastily stopped the young man's movements to help him keep this kind of watch that he had never seen before. It would be a good deal to make friends with a wealthy family.

  "Ah! No need! No need!"

  Simma saw the old man in front of him, who had just helped himself by wanting to pawn this watch in his own store. He hurriedly wanted to refuse, but was at a loss for a good excuse for the time being, and didn't want the old man to suffer this loss either.

  "Come good fortune, go take ten dollars from the cabinet and give it to Ma Liu."

  Gao Chuanliang saw the young master's refusal and mistakenly thought that he might think his own hands were dirty, so he loudly shouted with a red face.

  "This money I'll pay for you today, don't pawn your watch, and I hope you won't misunderstand the old man's intention"

  Gao Chuanliang handed a silver dollar to Ma Liu and explained to Sima that everyone in the world knows that pawnshop owners are mostly ruthless and black-hearted, telling low prices when buying and high prices when selling to make money. It seems that this young master also thinks so.

  "Old... old sir misunderstood, I..."

  At this moment, Sima didn't know what else to say. He felt that in his memory, he had never met a businessman who would help a stranger like this, and all that was left in his heart was some gratitude.