Chapter 25: Evil Colleagues
Zhang Shan is an employee of a small company. She saved up three years’ salary and bought a second-hand Laotoule the day before May Day.
To celebrate Zhang Shan buying a car, her colleagues asked her to treat everyone to a barbecue. The original owner was shy and timid and would not refuse. Her colleagues also knew her personality, so they found a barbecue restaurant with a good reputation and ordered a lot of drinks and barbecue.
After eating and drinking, it was already one o'clock in the morning. Those who had cars drove home, while those who didn't had cars set their sights on Zhang Shan.
Seven people were crammed into the five-seat Old Man Lebei. The car swayed around the street, and when they didn't find any open shops, they reluctantly said they wanted to go home.
The first person they sent to school lived in the farthest suburbs, so several people went together to send him off first. Although Zhang Shan felt sorry for the gas money, she did not dare to refuse.
Huang Yuan sat in the passenger seat and gave directions. Sometimes the car went uphill, sometimes downhill. Then he said they had taken the wrong road, so he turned back and, after many turns, finally drove into a small road.
When they reached the middle of the road, they found that some bamboo had fallen down, blocking the road. Everyone forced the original owner out of the car to clean the road. The original owner was so scared that he burst into tears.
But it was no use. After being kicked out, the others looked at Huang Yuan who was sitting in the passenger seat and made faces, thinking that it was Huang Yuan who arranged it. Huang Yuan, out of vanity, admitted it.
But unexpectedly, when the original owner approached the bamboo and was about to pull it away, he was stabbed by someone hiding in the dark.
When they heard the original owner's scream, several people laughed, but when they saw a bloody man walking out of the woods, they began to panic.
Huang Yuan, in particular, turned pale, because he knew this man and had a grudge against him.
Ten years ago, he instigated this man to kill someone, and the person he killed was this man's own brother. After the man realized that he had killed someone, he hid in the mountains and has not been seen for many years.
But Huang Yuan still recognized it at the first sight.
Huang Yuan was frightened and hid in the car, not daring to come out, but the passenger door was not locked and he was pulled out by the man. The screams made everyone in the car tremble, but no one dared to go out to save him.
There was a brave man who climbed into the driver's seat and drove away, but they didn't know the way, so they had to drive forward until they found a village, then got out of the car and asked for help.
They did not mention Huang Yuan's murder, they just said they couldn't find the way and wanted to stay for one night.
The villagers were very enthusiastic and prepared a room for them to stay in. The next day, the old man was fully charged and returned to the city along the main road.
The original owner and Huang Yuan were dragged into the mountains by the murderer and fed to wild wolves, leaving no trace of their bodies.
The company boss found out that the two people had been absent from work for several days, and when he asked other colleagues, they knew nothing about anything, so he simply fired them.
A month later, the guys found that no police were looking for them, so they cleaned the car inside and out, and then found an intermediary to sell the car.
They used the money from the sales to have a meal at the seafood night market and only left after spending all the money.
……
*
"Zhang Shan, we haven't ridden in your car yet. Why don't you take us for a spin and send us home?"
Huang Yuan said this very shamelessly. The others exchanged glances, and the smiles on their lips were difficult to hide.
"Yes, yes. It's so late and we can't get a taxi. You should be a good person and help us get through it. Let us also take advantage of your wealth." Someone echoed.
Zhang Shan: "Sure, but there will be seven of us including you and me, and my car has five seats, so it may not be able to accommodate so many people."
"What's the big deal? We can just squeeze in. There's no traffic police watching us at night. What are you afraid of?"
The car is mine and I am the driver, so of course you are not afraid.
"How about this, one of you drives my car and takes the others home, then comes back and returns the car to me, and I'll wait here."
Colleagues looked at each other and winked at each other. Zhang Shan knew that once the car left, it would definitely not come back intact, and it might not even come back tonight.
But what can be done? After all, they are colleagues, and Zhang Shan can't afford to tear her face off.
The most important thing now is to send colleagues who live in the suburbs back home. Zhang Shan is afraid of the dark, so she has to ask other colleagues to do the sending.
"Okay, then you wait here, we'll be back soon." Colleagues got into the car one after another. Huang Yuan was driving. He was hesitant about fastening his seat belt, fearing that it was not secure enough. He had a strong sense of safety.
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
Zhang Shan waved goodbye.
The owner of the barbecue stall watched them leave, and felt a little sympathetic when he saw Zhang Shan, a girl being left behind.
"It's hard to get a taxi at this time. It's not safe for a girl like you to go back alone. I have a small electric donkey. You can drive back via the main road."
The boss is very kind.
"Thank you, boss. I'm waiting for my colleagues here. They drove my car away. I'll return it after sending other colleagues. I won't disturb your business if I stay here, right?"
"Don't bother me, don't bother me, little girl. I think you are too shy to refuse your colleague, but you should also be more careful. You can't lend your car to others casually. Scratches are minor matters, but if there is an accident, who will be held responsible?"
"Is there such a thing? Thanks for reminding me, boss..."
The two chatted about this and that until 2:30, but the colleague didn't come to return the car. However, many customers came to the barbecue stall, and the boss had no time to chat with Zhang Shan.
I asked my boss for a charging cable and called my colleagues one by one, "Brother Huang, where are you?"
"We haven't reached home yet, why are you in such a hurry? We have to take the mountain road now, the signal is not good, I'll hang up first..."
Zhang Shan was hung up and could only sit at the door in a depressed mood. The boss had a cat, which was sleeping soundly on the chair next to her. Zhang Shan felt itchy when she saw it, so she went up to stroke its smooth fur. Listening to the purring of the kitten, Zhang Shan finally smiled her first genuine smile of the night.
On the other side, Huang Yuan hung up the phone and started flirting with others. The two women and four men kept making dirty jokes without any shame.
Since it wasn't his car, Huang Yuan didn't feel bad about driving it. He deliberately took the side road, causing the chassis to make loud noises from being scratched, and the smile on his face became more genuine.
Suddenly, the car stopped halfway.
"Why did you stop?"
With the help of the light, I saw a few bamboos lying in the middle of the road ahead. "Huang Yuan, get out of the car and take a look."
"It's inconvenient for me to drive. Xiaofang, go and take a look."
"I'm a girl. What if a bad guy hurts me? I won't go. Brother Liu, you go down and take a look."
"I dont go……"
The six people passed the buck to each other and after ten minutes they hadn't come to any conclusion, but no bad guys showed up either.
Finally, six people got off the car together and pulled the bamboo away. The person in the dark had been observing them. He had already thought of letting them go, but when he saw Huang Yuan, his pupils trembled and he clenched the knife in his hand tightly.
The man went up and stabbed Huang Yuan in the chest because he was caught off guard. The others were so scared that they stood there in a daze. The man then stabbed the two people who were closest to him.
The others turned pale with fright and ran to the car. Because the car was turned off and the key was removed, the door could be opened easily. Another person was stabbed, and the rest ran into the woods screaming.
Ten minutes later, the remaining two were pulled back, blood was all over the floor, and it was unknown whether they were alive or dead.
The men were worried that the stabbing was not thorough enough, so they stabbed each of them twice more before dragging them to the back hill to feed the wolves.
Zhang Shan waited the whole night, and when it was already dawn her colleague had not returned with the car yet, so she fell asleep on the recliner.
In the morning, Zhang Shan was awakened by the police.
In the morning, when the villagers went out to work, they found a large pool of blood on the road and called the police. The police found Zhang Shan through the car left at the scene.
Zhang Shan has an alibi and is just cooperating with the investigation.
In the afternoon, the police found the remains of their colleagues, which had been eaten to pieces by wolves, through the bloodstains left on the road. DNA comparison revealed that they were indeed those of the six colleagues.
At the same time, the murderer was caught and the secret was also revealed.
The murderer killed seven people in total. His behavior was heinous and cruel. He was sentenced to death and deprived of his political rights for life.
Although Zhang Shan did not experience these, she was still very scared because she was timid. She resigned after the May Day holiday.
This incident was reported on the legal column, and the boss took advantage of the popularity to play a tragic role. Zhang Shan secretly bought hot searches for them, and the company also made a fortune.
But before long, the company was reported by jealous peers for tax evasion, poor product quality, and fire safety hazards within the company...
A colleague who had resigned from the company reported it to the union. The company has been engaged in extremely unethical workplace bullying, wage arrears, and unpaid overtime for many years...
The company was unable to take care of itself and had difficulty conducting business, so it soon went bankrupt.
With the intervention of all parties, the bullies had an extra page on their resumes. No matter where they went, they were looked at with strange eyes, and many employers refused to recruit them.
Zhang Shan escaped unscathed, took part in a recruitment exam for a state-owned enterprise, and was admitted with excellent results. She lived a smooth and uneventful life.