Chapter 159: San Francisco for help

'Dear San Francisco Tower, this is Deep Blue Airlines Temporary Flight 31 requesting landing instructions.'

"Tower received, agree with Deep Blue Temporary Flight 31 landing request, please land in five minutes, please note your landing time is only ten minutes, otherwise the next flight will come and kick your ass!'

As the flight and the airport tower engaged in conversation, a Boeing 737 appeared in the sky above San Francisco International Airport five minutes later, and then landed steadily on the airport runway. When the flight came to a stop, a passenger elevator arrived and set up the passenger elevator, and the cabin door opened. Two Chinese people got off the escalator. These two Chinese people were none other than Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin from Brighton. It was 8:00 a.m. in San Francisco. ;;;Fiction .+.bsp;After boarding the airport shuttle bus, Zhou Ming turned on his phone and called Mark, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines, to thank him. According to the relevant regulations on air transport safety, no passenger flights are allowed to take off after midnight, except for special flights arranged on a temporary basis. Therefore, Mark, the chairman of Deep Blue Airlines, readily gave Zhou Ming face. After all, Zhou Ming had long been the largest investor in Deep Blue Airlines.

Zhou Ming did not bring his car with him. He and Zhang Lin left the airport by taxi, and their driver was a very talkative black man.

As soon as Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin got into the car, he said, 'Chinese people, don't say anything for now, let me guess, you must be going to Chinatown, right?'

Although a little surprised, Ming Zhou nodded and said yes with a smile. The black man was also very happy and stepped on the accelerator, saying, 'I guess that's it. We have a lot of Chinese in San Francisco. It is said that one in every four San Franciscans is Chinese. I have also visited your Chinatown. It is like another completely different world, so beautiful and amazing!'

'Really? Could you please give us a brief introduction to San Francisco's Chinatown? I'm also very curious,' Ming Zhou said.

The black man glanced back at Zhou Ming, who was sitting in the back seat, and said, 'Hey buddy, it seems like you're visiting San Francisco for the first time, so I might as well introduce you to the whole city of San Francisco.'

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes, and then the black man turned on the car's machine and then used their characteristic musical talent to introduce the entire city of San Francisco to Zhou Ming in rp.

In fact, before coming, Zhou Ming had already looked up information and had a certain understanding of San Francisco, but after listening to this black friend's introduction, he gained a more intuitive understanding.

The whole of San Francisco is actually two halves extending into the bay from the north and south, connected by the Golden Gate Bridge. The name San Francisco was given because gold was discovered here, and the city was established and developed during the gold rush. Later, the gold rush gradually subsided, and gold was also discovered in other places. To distinguish this place, it was named San Francisco. Of course, its real name is San Francisco, and it is also called San Francisco after the first two syllables.

The most prosperous area of San Francisco is basically in this half of the south, and the airport is in the south of San Francisco, next to San Francisco Bay. The Chinatown that Zhou Ming wanted to go to is also called Chinatown, and it is in the northeast corner of downtown San Francisco, next to the financial district. In other words, Zhou Ming and the others need to go through the entire south of San Francisco to get to their destination.

After an hour and a half, Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin finally arrived at their destination. As described in the travel brochure, the four characters 'Tianxia Weigong' (天下為公) hung at the entrance to San Francisco's Chinatown. The buildings inside were also very Chinese in style, and there were many business banners and lanterns of all shapes and colours hanging on both sides of the road.

However, there is one strange thing here: the layout of many buildings is quite strange. For example, on one street that Zhou Ming and the others passed through, the first floor was a barber shop, but the second floor was a Mazu temple. This is because Chinatown is adjacent to the most prosperous financial district, and land here is extremely valuable. Therefore, on the basis that Chinatown cannot develop horizontally, it is possible to keep building high-rises. Since the first and second floors are very likely to have a time difference of half a century, this is why there are these very puzzling layouts.

Although this is amazing, Zhou Ming doesn't have the time to study it. In the end, the car stops at a street corner under Zhang Lin's guidance.

This is a relatively narrow street with buildings on both sides in the style of half a century ago. Perhaps due to the width and layout, there is a sign saying no vehicles at the entrance to the street.

Zhou Ming looks up at the houses on both sides and asks Zhang Lin, 'Are you sure this is the place?'

Zhang Lin nodded and said, 'According to my technical tracking, as long as the number you gave me and the map we have in our hands are correct, then I won't be wrong.'

Zhou Ming put his hands up and said, 'However, the problem is that I can't be sure if there is a problem with these two points.'

Then Zhou Ming's eyes became serious again: 'But now even Mu Qing and her family can't contact her. I finally received news from her, so I have to try anyway.'

Zhou Ming said this, and he remembered two days ago. At that time, it was a critical moment in preparing the materials for suing the 45 investment companies in the Caribbean. Suddenly, he received a phone call from Su Han in the evening. Zhou Ming originally thought that she was going to come to the United States again, because this was what she said every time she called. She missed herself too much, and if it weren't for the property and parents she had left behind in China, she would have come over regardless.

But this time she didn't say that, instead she told Zhou Ming that she had received a strange message, a cross-border pager message: Zhou Ming, help me, I'm Tang Ran.

Although it was only nine short words, Su Han sensed that something was wrong, and she immediately called Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming was very surprised by this message, because he had not contacted her for a long time since leaving Nanjiang. So Zhou Ming could understand why she would ask for help through Su Han, but not why she would ask for help from him.

Zhou Ming was very surprised, but at that time he was in the critical moment of preparing the materials, so he put this matter aside for the time being. It was not until two days later when Lin Muqing mentioned to Zhou Ming the news that Tang Ran had run away from home that Zhou Ming suddenly remembered this matter.

This was the most important reason why Zhou Ming insisted on coming to San Francisco in person!

Zhou Ming did not think that it was a simple family conflict, that the girl had run away from home out of caprice, and that she would go to such great lengths to come to him for help. And if she had simply run away from home, she would not have needed to go abroad and go to a place she had only been to once.

At the same time, in order to avoid Lin Muqing's excessive worry, Zhou Ming did not tell her, not just because he was afraid of her jealousy, but also because of another reason. Zhou Ming had a hunch. When he heard about Tang Ran, he always had a feeling that the matter was not as simple as it seemed. This feeling had been there since the first time he received a call from Su Han, and it became even stronger after listening to Lin Muqing's story the second time.

Zhou Ming said he couldn't explain what this feeling was, and in order to find out, he had to come to San Francisco as soon as possible. That was why he didn't want to wait until the next day, after arranging everything in Brighton, and instead found a special flight after midnight with Deep Blue Airlines.

Of course, Zhou Ming didn't come here blindly. When he first put Tang Ran's matter aside, he had asked Zhang Lin to trace the number from which Su Han had received the page. Zhang Lin used his technical skills to find out that it belonged to a home phone in San Francisco.

It was also for this reason that as soon as Zhou Ming arrived in San Francisco, he came here, hoping to find Tang Ran through this clue. Even if Tang Ran is not here right now, at least he knows that she has been here and has a relationship with this family, so he can get other clues through this family. Otherwise, without a clue, it would be no easier to find a certain person among the 850,000 people in San Francisco than to land on the moon.

"No. 12 Zhangjia Lane, judging from the house number, it should be not far from the street corner.'

Zhou Ming muttered as he was about to enter the alley, but suddenly he heard the sound of a piercing police siren. Zhou Ming looked back and saw two police cars whizzing over and stopping at the entrance to Zhangjia Lane, then four policemen got out and walked into the alley.

Seeing this situation made Zhou Ming's heart suddenly filled with an ominous feeling. So he and Zhang Lin immediately ran into the alley. Sure enough, the four police officers ended up at No. 12 Zhangjia Lane, where they were taking statements from a young Chinese-American girl who was speaking to them in an agitated manner.

'It's true, my friend was kidnapped. I had dinner with her last night, but she disappeared this morning!' the girl said.

But the four white policemen didn't care: 'Well, according to your description, although I don't rule out the possibility of abduction, I think it's more likely that she just went out to dinner and forgot to come back, because the food in your Chinatown is really good.'

'That's impossible!' the girl denied, 'because my friend is only here in San Francisco for tourism, she doesn't know the area well, and her English isn't even good, so how could she just go out because she was hungry? She would definitely have waited for me, so please, officer, you must help me!"

The policeman waved impatiently: 'Okay, I get it. Do you have any other evidence? Did the kidnappers call you to demand ransom or anything else? If you're just going to tell me what you're telling me now, then go to hell!'

The girl thought for a moment and nodded, saying, 'Yes, I have other evidence. Three days ago, she paged her friend for help. At the time, I thought she was just playing a prank, but now I think she must have encountered some kind of threat, which is why she asked for help. She must have been kidnapped! We haven't received a call from the kidnappers yet, but we will definitely get one. She has definitely been kidnapped!'

'Okay, then we'll talk when you get the kidnap call, but before that I suggest you go to the psychiatric department for a check-up, maybe you don't even have this friend."

The policeman closed his notebook, turned around and left. The girl hurriedly grabbed the policeman's arm and said, "Officer, please believe me, my friend really has been kidnapped..."

The girl's words stopped there, because the policeman pulled out a gun and put it to her head.

'I'm telling you, there's been no kidnapping here. If you keep messing around, I can judge you for assaulting a police officer, got it? Chinese bitch!' the white police officer said, a little annoyed.

The girl was so scared that she let go of the hand immediately, and the four white police officers left with loud laughter.

Zhou Ming frowned as he watched the scene. After the police left, Zhou Ming stepped forward, and Zhang Lin also put the bag back on his body. Just now, under Zhou Ming's orders, he had already been ready to act. If those white police officers had any more excessive actions, he would have acted. Although Zhou Ming had just arrived in San Francisco and didn't want to cause trouble, if he encountered one of his own countrymen, or someone who might know Tang Ran's whereabouts, and they were in trouble, he still had to do something about it.

"Hello, do you know Tang Ran?' Zhou Ming asked the girl.

Faced with the sudden appearance of Zhou Ming, the girl was startled, but she heard Tang Ran's name and nodded eagerly, 'That's right, I know Tang Ran. She's been kidnapped now, you must help her...'

But as she was speaking, she realised that Zhou Ming was not a policeman, so she asked with a puzzled face, 'May I ask who you are?'

'I'm the person she's asking for help,' Zhou Ming said.