More than 100 Chinese employees are trapped in an unfinished power plant at the construction site of a coal-fired power plant in the North African city of Mbut, built by China's Longshan Electric Power Plant. Through the window, you can faintly see the fire in the city in the distance, and from time to time there is a terrifying sound of submachine gun fire.

Mr. Du is in the middle of this group of Chinese employees. He was not a power plant construction worker, but he came to help repair a piece of equipment on the power plant site because something was out of order.

Originally, the construction unit planned to find someone from China to send parts for maintenance, but the owner recommended to the construction party the Chinese-funded enterprise Far East Machinery Company, located in the neighboring Alvaret Lambatu Industrial Park, saying that this company specializes in the single piece manufacturing business of various equipment accessories, with reliable quality and excellent service.

Tan Wei, the project manager of the Longshan Electric Machinery Plant stationed at the Mbutte construction site, really contacted the Far East Company and sent the drawings of the damaged parts by e-mail. Within two days, the Far Eastern Company sent someone to send the finished parts, and it was Du Xiaoyuan who sent the parts.

A few years ago, because they didn't want to rely on their respective brothers-in-law to make a living, Wang Ruidong and Du Xiaoyuan, two brothers-in-law, went to Africa to start a business and established this Far East Machinery Company in Lambatu Industrial Park to provide equipment maintenance services for enterprises living in the park.

Africa's industrial foundation is very poor, and most of the company's production equipment is imported from Western countries or China, and once the equipment fails, maintenance becomes a troublesome matter. If there is a major failure, it is okay to ask the engineer of the original factory to rush over for repair. But if it's just some daily glitches, and you invite someone from thousands of miles away every time, the cost of time and travel is a big problem. If there is a local machinery company with outstanding technology, which can help companies deal with all kinds of small faults, even if the fee is slightly higher, the companies are willing to accept it, because compared to the cost of inviting people from Europe and the United States, the local company's charge is nothing.

Wang Ruidong smelled such a business opportunity and came up with the idea of coming to Africa to set up a machinery company. As for the cooperation with Radu Xiaoyuan, it is purely a coincidence.

The full name of the Lambatu Industrial Park in Avaare is "Lambatu China-Arab Industrial Park", as the name suggests, it is an industrial park jointly established by China and Avare. The Chinese person in charge of the industrial park was a former staff member of the State Equipment Industry Corporation and a former subordinate of Feng Xiaochen. Feng Xiaochen said hello to him, after Wang Ruidong and Du Xiaoyuan arrived in the industrial park, they were taken care of a lot in the open and in secret, and Wang and Du themselves also held back their strength to prove themselves, and worked very hard, so the Far East Company's business was thriving, and soon its fame spread outside the industrial park, and finally even the business owners of neighboring countries heard about it.

Du Xiaoyuan came to Africa to start a business, and Du Minghua and Che Yueying didn't agree to live or die at first. Later, he couldn't resist Du Xiaoyuan, and he was worried that this son would become a gentleman if he continued to stay in Tongyuan, so he nodded. However, the old couple gave Du Xiaoyuan dozens of chapters, one of which was that Du Xiaoyuan was not allowed to leave the Lambatu Industrial Park, because the old couple heard that this industrial park was run by Chinese, and the person in charge was still a subordinate of their son-in-law Feng Xiaochen, which was estimated to be a more reliable place. As for the outside of the industrial park, with the stereotype of Africa of the old couple, they firmly believe that it must be full of dangers.

Du Xiaoyuan's courage is not much greater than that of his parents, and when he first arrived in Africa, he was also full of fear of the world outside the industrial park. During this period, it is slow to say that his parents have explained, and even if he does not explain, he will not dare to take a step in the industrial park.

It is almost the work of the front and back feet with Du Xiaoyuan, and his sister Du Xiaoyi and brother-in-law Huang Changfeng also went to Africa. Huang Changfeng worked as a military attache at an embassy in Africa, while Du Xiaoyi worked as a reporter for the Pujiang Morning Post's African correspondent station. Huang Changfeng is just that, because of his work, his scope of activities is only a few countries. Du Xiaoyi is different, whenever there is news anywhere on the African continent, she will rush over as soon as possible, and she has experienced several bullets and bullets, and has won the title of "the most beautiful war correspondent" on the domestic Internet.

When his sister and brother-in-law occasionally came to visit the Lambatu Industrial Park, Du Xiaoyuan chatted with them and was repeatedly ridiculed by Du Xiaoyi. Du Xiaoyi is also a heartless person, knowing that Du Xiaoyuan is the only son in the family, and he has been pampered by his parents since he was a child, but he has no intention of helping his parents take care of his brother, but he encourages Du Xiaoyuan to go out to see at every turn, saying that he has never seen the riots that are abundant in Africa when he comes to Africa, what is it to go abroad?

Of course, Du Xiaoyi didn't dare to let her parents and sister Du Xiaodi hear these words, if they heard them, they had to let her see what a riot with Tongyuan characteristics was. Du Xiaoyuan lost face in front of his sister, and after more than a year in Africa, he gradually learned some about the local area, so he forgot his parents' instructions and began to go out of the industrial park to contact the outside world.

In the past few years, Du Xiaoyuan's footprints have covered more than a dozen countries in Africa, and the mystery of this continent has long been gone. He found that Africa is not a wild place, in the cities of Africa, there are also modern living facilities and rules, in the rural Africa, the black people are generally simple and hospitable, as long as you are good at comparing with them, and send some small and valuable gifts, you can get their warm reception.

Over the years, more and more Chinese have gone to Africa to do business, and in some seemingly remote places, Du Xiaoyuan can meet small supermarkets owned by Chinese, those small Chinese bosses get along with local blacks, and even marry black daughters-in-law. Hearing and witnessing all this, Du Xiaoyuan's courage became more and more emboldened, and he even wanted to try his sister's suggestion, that is, where to go to experience the riots in Africa.

This time, the Mbutt power plant site ordered a pinion from a crane from Far Eastern Machinery, and the company needed to send someone to send it. Of course, this kind of thing doesn't need Du Xiaoyuan, the boss, to come out, but Du Xiaoyuan said that he had never been to North Africa, and he also wanted to see the customs of this country, so he took over the delivery task and drove the Toyota cruiser he had just bought to Mbut.

Heaven and earth conscience, Du Xiaoyuan's purpose in coming to Mbutt was really not to experience the riot, but it was so coincidental that after he delivered the goods and successfully assembled them on the damaged crane, the local riots broke out without warning, and more than a hundred Chinese, including him, were trapped in the construction site.

"Mr. Du, the situation is not good!"

Tan Wei listened to the local news on the radio, and said to Du Xiaoyuan, who was sitting next to him, with a dark face: "This is not an ordinary riot, but a coup d'état in the entire North African country." The president has fled and his current whereabouts are unknown. Both forces are trying to control the state and are now fighting in several cities, and the city of Mbut, which is also a place of fighting, is said to have numbered several thousand on both sides. ”

"Brag!" Du Xiaoyuan pursed his lips, "Old Tan, let me tell you, don't believe it on this radio." I've heard people say that Africans like to make a fool of themselves when they fight, shooting at the sky with AK47s, and thousands of people fight for a week, and if you can get more than 10 casualties, it can be considered a big battle. ”

"Is there such a thing?" Tan Wei said in surprise. He is from a technical background and doesn't pay much attention to current affairs, and at first glance he feels very suspicious when he hears Du Xiaoyuan's statement.

Du Xiaoyuan said: "Can I still deceive you? Let me tell you, my sister is a journalist in Africa, specializing in covering wars. My brother-in-law is a military attache at the embassy in Africa. They have told me many times that there is no need to be afraid of a war on this side of Africa. ”

"Uh......" Tan Wei couldn't help but glance at Du Xiaoyuan, and muttered in his heart: What do you mean that you don't need to be afraid at all, when the gun first rang out last night, you were so scared from the bed that you went to the ground, okay? Now there are a lot of people watching the scene, so you pretend to be disapproving, don't you think that I don't know that you are pretending to be our little builder Zhou Xiaoxiao. The little girl is beautiful, and as soon as you arrive at the construction site, you will be eyeing others, and you will find all kinds of reasons to be reluctant to leave, otherwise you will not be trapped here.

Tan Wei is naturally inconvenient to say these complaints. He said to Du Xiaoyuan: "Mr. Du, now Mbut's communication has been completely cut off, and we can't get in touch with the country or the embassy. What do you think we should do in this situation?"

This matter is really embarrassing for Tan Wei. There are more than 100 people in the engineering team sent by Longshan Electric Machinery Factory, and Tan Wei is the person in charge. Most of the young workers in the engineering team are some stunned guys in their early 20s, and Tan Wei didn't dare to ask them for advice. There are also a few old workers, Tan Wei communicated with them, and found that they were even more confused than himself, and they also couldn't come up with any ideas. Although Du Xiaoyuan is an outsider, after all, he has opened a company in Africa for a few years, and he has some knowledge, and at the same time, he is relatively old and relatively mature, so Tan Wei regards him as a colleague who can discuss things.

"Are you saying that the riots in North Africa will not end for a while?" Du Xiaoyuan asked.

Tan Wei said: "It seems that it will not end in the short term. According to the information on the radio, the two factions are evenly matched, and the fighting is already in full swing in the capital, and Mbut's fighting has just started, and it is expected that it will escalate soon. We're in the suburbs, and we're just safe for the time being, and maybe we'll soon be on the battlefield. ”

"In that case, let's get out of the way. Du Xiaoyuan said without thinking.

"But, where to retreat? Also, there are so many people, how to evacuate, in case there is a mistake along the way, how can I explain to the company. Tan Wei said in annoyance, and some crying could already be faintly heard in his nose.