Chapter 6: Contacting Uncle-in-law

  Looking at the almost hopeless No. 17 machine, I thought for a moment and turned back to the female net manager who was reapplying makeup in front of the small mirror behind the counter and said: "Sister, give me another machine, I think it's too dark inside."

  This is just an excuse, I'm actually afraid of unexpected situations and being trapped inside.

  "Which seat would you like to take?" The female cashier stood up slightly and asked me.

  "About that," I looked at the female cashier who looked at me and pointed to a computer in the last row of the back door.

  "Alright, bro," the female net manager sat down in front of the computer and started operating again, then looked up at me and said.

  I walked to that location, passing by the checkout counter and saw the pink Xiaomi phone of the female cashier. I pretended to be casual and said to the female manager: "Sister, my phone got drunk yesterday and I don't know where it was lost? Can I borrow your phone to make a call and see if someone answers, maybe they can still return it to me?"

  "Then you call, brother," the female cashier didn't suspect anything either, stretched out her hand to pick up the pink flip phone on the counter and handed it over to me, indicating for me to make a call.

  "Thanks, sis," I took the phone and leaned against the bar with my back, examining the phone in my hand. The pink flip cover had a butterfly shape made of various colored small stickers, looking very cute.

  Looking at the butterfly on my phone, I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness in my heart. I really want to call my mom and dad, but now that I've run away, I don't know when I'll be able to see them again.

  But I'm clear in my mind, the most important thing is to get in touch with my uncle and ask him when he can arrive here to take me away. I still have to stay in this internet cafe for half a day or even a whole day, and I couldn't make this call.

  Forcing down the sadness in my heart, I opened my flip phone and pretended to be very familiar with it, randomly dialing a number. Pretending that someone answered, I waited for a while before turning around and pretending that no one had picked up, saying to the female cashier who was staring at me: "No one's answering, let me call that out-of-town guy I had dinner with yesterday."

  The female cashier didn't say anything, which I took as tacit consent, so I turned around and made another long-distance call, this time to my uncle's cell phone. Actually, I did this mainly because I was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble.

  After all, I still have to stay in this internet cafe for a while, and I really can't find a better location than this one. I'm afraid that the female cashier will discover that I'm playing an out-of-town number and something unexpected will happen.

  I held the phone to my ear with my right hand, while my left hand naturally touched my forehead, covering my face, as I glanced at the internet cafe's entrance and exit to see if anyone was passing by.

  "Beep beep! Hey, who are you looking for?" Just then, the phone finally connected. I glanced at the cashier, nodded to him indicating that I was going to make a call by the back door, looked around to see if there were any unusual places, and walked towards the back door while answering.

  "It's me! How can you not even recognize my voice?"

  "What's wrong, Xiao Hua? What are you doing?"

  My uncle immediately recognized me, and I had also walked to the entrance of the back door. I turned my head to look at the cashier, who was just poking her head out from behind the counter to look at me. I nodded to her, indicating that I would be here for a while, and that was it.

  "Uncle, is it convenient for you to talk here? I'm in trouble." I turned my head to look at the national highway not far outside the back door, and those cars rushing by seemed like a lifeline.

  "Speak up, Uncle Huo is beside me,"

  My uncle replied without hesitation. When I heard my uncle say it was Uncle Huo, I felt at ease in my heart. My uncle and Uncle Huo were comrades-in-arms and had served together in Yunnan. At that time, the local foreign forces in Yunnan were very rampant, and the two of them had fought against smugglers and traffickers while patrolling the border, they had a deep and trusting relationship, if I trusted my uncle, then I could also trust Uncle Huo.

  "Uncle, it's hard to explain in just a few words. I've killed someone and now I'm hiding in an internet cafe by the highway. I'm using a phone borrowed from the internet cafe manager, saying that my phone is lost and asking friends if they've seen it. You said you'd be passing through Shenyang a couple of days ago, when will you be passing by here?"

  I felt a lot more at ease after getting in touch with my uncle. Looking around to make sure no one was listening, "I'm actually at the internet cafe on the southwest corner of the big intersection just inside the Second Ring Road, it's called Longteng Internet Cafe."

  "You and your Uncle Ho said," Auntie seemed to have handed the phone over to Uncle Ho, and from the receiver came Uncle Ho's unique, characteristic husky voice.

  "Repeat it again?" I repeated the address and the matter, Huo Shu's throat was cut by a drug dealer when he was a soldier, so his voice became hoarse.

  Once, a large-scale armed drug trafficker crossed the border and was caught by my uncle and Ho Shu's patrol team. Both sides immediately opened fire, and after a brief exchange of gunfire, only Ho Shu and my uncle were left unharmed.

  Huo Shu was shot in the leg and couldn't walk, so he decided to cover my uncle's retreat to report back. By the time my uncle brought people back, Huo Shu was already lying in a pool of blood, having been shot six times and had his throat cut, and his gun was gone. After Huo Shu was rescued, his voice became hoarse.

  "We'll be there at four thirty this afternoon," said Mr. Ho, his voice still husky and firm, as if nothing could make it waver by a single note.

  "Just stay hidden in that internet cafe, the police won't find you so quickly." After hanging up the phone, I suddenly felt a surge of strength, as if I had already escaped onto my uncle's truck and left danger behind.

  I walked back to the counter, pretending to be helpless and said to the female cashier: "He didn't see it either, he's already left Shenyang, even if he saw it, it wouldn't be useful." As I spoke, I handed my phone back to her.

  Just as she reached out to take the phone, the male network administrator who was lying down stood up, scaring me. He whispered a few words to the female cashier, and then walked out of the back door with a "thud" under her coquettish gaze.

  "Did he go to report it?"

  I just realized that I was still the startled bird, thinking about it while walking towards the position of the back door next to me, wanting to see through the back door whether this male cashier had recognized me or not.

  "Hi Lou, some head"

  A Motorola old-fashioned ringing sound came from the cash register behind me, I suddenly turned my head and saw that the female cashier took out a Motorola flip phone that was very popular at that time from the counter and shouted towards the back door: "Your cell phone is ringing!"

  The male cashier, while fastening his pants, rushed in from the back door, took over the phone, glanced at it, and hung up. "It's my mom, she must be calling me to come home for dinner, I'll leave first."

  Without waiting for the female cashier's response, he shook his mobile phone and walked out of the front door without looking back, apparently going home to eat.

  It wasn't until the male cashier left that I realized I had broken out in a cold sweat, and suddenly felt particularly ridiculous. I glanced at the clock on the wall behind the counter: 6:46, and felt somewhat reassured.