Chapter 25: Discussing Brush Business

  Four people sat around the octagonal table, each facing one direction. Jin Hu and Hu Fei, like Wang Jun, had one foot on the long bench and one hand holding a wine cup while the other hand's chopsticks quickly reached into the bowl. Only Yong Yi ate elegantly, occasionally picking up a piece of meat to put under the table. Under the table, the little grey dog lay on the brick floor with its front paws embracing a large bone, tilting its head and happily gnawing away.

  Hu Fei asked Jin Hu: "Little Tiger, how long will you stay this time?"

  "There's no specific time, but at least it'll take more than half a month." Jin Hu gnawed the meat off the bone and directly threw the fist-sized bone under the table.

  "You might be able to catch up and see us off when we set sail for America," Hu Fei said to Jin Hu.

  Jin Hu shook his head and laughed: "You still want me to crawl through the air duct? I'm flying in on a plane now, with an American passport."

  Hu Fei was stunned for a moment: "So soon? Impossible, you've only been in the US for a short while."

  "Maybe Jin Hu is a special talent that the US side urgently needs." Du Xingguo said with a mouthful of potato to Hu Fei.

  Hu Fei almost spat out the wine in his mouth: "Special talent? Why didn't you recruit me? I also like to fight and grab."

  "Even someone who can't even take a single step in front of others dares to call themselves a talent?" Du Xingguo said, glancing at Hu Fei.

  Hu Fei listened and looked at Du Xingguo, saying: "You're good, you found an opportunity to make me look bad."

  Wang Jun asked Jin Hu: "How many days can you stay here?"

  "It'll be at most one or two days, after that I still need to go to Jianglin to see a friend, then head back home to visit my parents, only then can I return to the US," Jin Hu replied.

  Following Wang Jun, he asked Jin Hu about his life in the United States. Jin Hu said that a few Americans thought his skills were good and pulled him into organizing a boxing match.

  A few people listened to Jin Hu finish speaking and everyone was drinking and chatting until they were all drunk before leaving.

  Wang Jun helped Jin Hu take a quilt and arranged him in the side house. He also made a pot of tea for Jin Hu at his bedside.

  Jin Hu put his bag beside the bed and smiled, saying: "No need to go through so much trouble, I'll get it myself when I want a drink!"

  Wang Jun listened and smiled: "This is not troublesome for you, right?" After finishing, he pulled over a stool and sat down, took out a cigarette from his pocket, handed one to Jin Hu, lit one himself, and asked Jin Hu: "You were doing dangerous work in the US, weren't you?"

  Jin Hu looked at Wang Jun's serious face and nodded: "I didn't say it clearly, it doesn't mean I don't want to tell you, not that I can't say it!"

  Wang Jun nodded: "I knew it, if not for this, you wouldn't have had enough time to get so much money to buy these few swords, adding up to at least a million!"

  Jin Hu smiled and said to Wang Jun: "Do you want to go visit Gang Ge tomorrow?"

  "No need! During this time, you can't see him even if you want to. He's busy with the entertainment city project and his wife is hard to meet too." Sun Gang mentioned Wang Jun and smiled.

  Jin Hu looked at his face and saw that he seemed a bit down, so he asked: "Is something wrong between you two?"

  Wang Jun looked at Jin Hu and said, "This guy has changed since he entered society. When we were soldiers, everyone just followed orders and worked, our daily life was simple, so it was easy to get along with each other. Gang Ge is becoming more and more like a businessman, I'm saying less and less, still sticking to my principles, in this period of time I've had two arguments with him, I'm afraid if we continue like this, we won't be able to be friends anymore. When the opportunity arises for me to go out to sea, I'll take a look, if I don't get used to it, I'll still run my own business."

  Jin Hu understood after listening, he had also experienced it himself. He was like his so-called classmates in school, they didn't have much to do with each other, but once out of school, he became a migrant worker while others sat in offices, their social status was different, and naturally there were barriers between them. But Wang Jun's situation was even more profound, Sun Gang had become his boss, this boss had one principle that Jin Hu saw through to the bone, which was that no matter what, he was always right, and you were inferior to him as long as you were under him.

  Think again, Wang Jun has always been free and simple, with some money in his hands, thinking of repairing roads and building schools for his hometown. How could he take the money seriously? What Wang Jun sees in his eyes is not money, but a sense of justice. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have proposed to give up business for Jin Hu's sake. What is business? Business is money!

  Can't say for sure, Sun Gang was furious in his heart, this time he could bear it, what about the next time? If things go on like this, becoming sworn enemies is also possible. Wang Jun also recognized the difference in identity and wanted to change his life to preserve the camaraderie between them.

  Jin Hu listened and didn't know what to say, so he could only follow Wang Jun's silence. Wang Jun was silent for a few seconds before speaking to Jin Hu: "What did I tell you this for?" After finishing, he stood up: "You rest first, tomorrow I'll take you out for a good stroll around." After saying that, he walked out of Jin Hu's room.

  Lying on the bed, Jin Hu looked at the wooden beams exposed outside on the top of his head. This house was also like Wang Jun's personality, with no cover-ups or pretenses, and being friends with him meant being straightforward and open, with a strict and proper military mindset. Sighing, Jin Hu closed his eyes and soon fell fast asleep.

  For the next two days, Jin Hu followed Wang Jun, and Hu Fei occasionally joined them to stroll around. They visited some scenic spots with a bit of fame. For Jin Hu, these places were something he thought about when he wasn't visiting them, but after visiting, most of them left him feeling disappointed.

  After staying with Wang Jun for two days, Jin Hu finally set off to Lijiang. Fortunately, the two provinces are adjacent, and Wang Jun also helped Jin Hu get a second-hand off-road vehicle, which was not a regular route. The nearly new car only cost more than 900,000 yuan. Carrying a bag of controlled knives, Jin Hu really didn't like sitting in cars. This was all thanks to Jin Hu's irregular infiltration into the internal affairs of the United States, and his original ID card and driver's license had not been returned.

  While on the road, Jin Hu called Zhang Yi Fan and said that he would arrive at his place a bit later in the afternoon, asking Zhang to bring Li Lin along. Originally, he had promised to give Li Lin some news within a week, but it had been so long, so bringing him a sword was a way of making amends.

  The car drove up to the gate of the small courtyard rented by Zhang Yifan in Linjiang, and saw that Li Lin's car had already arrived. The two people heard the sound of the car outside and came out together to greet them.

  "Sorry, this road is a national highway." Jin Hu smiled and took out two swords from the car.

  "Hurry up and go inside, it's dark and gloomy outside." Zhang Yifan took a sword from Jin Hu's hand and smiled at him, saying: "Hurry up and eat, Li Lin and I are almost starving to death!"

  Li Lin smiled at Jin Hu and took a look at his sword.

  Three people entered the house and saw several big pot dishes on the table. They immediately sat around the table and started eating.

  "You little scoundrel, your escaping skills are quite impressive. Now, who on the Jianglin Road doesn't know that you stole someone's stuff and got away with it?" Zhang Yifan said while eating, speaking to Jin Hu.

  Jin Hu listened and smiled: "I was forced to run all the way to America. Is that still not enough?"

  "Isn't going to America impressive? I don't even have a way to go!" Zhang Yifan said to Jin Hu, then asked: "Where did you get this sword?"

  "American bought", Jin Hu stuffed a peanut into his mouth and said while chewing.

  "It's indeed a good thing," said Li Lin.

  Jin Hu said to Li Lin: "I owe you an apology, I should have called you earlier".

  "No big deal! I heard from Old Zhang that you ran into trouble and had to flee, it's an unavoidable circumstance, this thing isn't your fault." Li Lin smiled and patted the sword on the table again: "Besides, you even brought me a gift!"

  "Is your archery hall open yet?" Jin Hu asked casually.

  Li Lin nodded: "Alright! The two of them started business a month ago, and it's going well!"

  Jin Hu nodded and followed Zhang Yi Fan to ask about his escape, Jin Hu briefly told the story. Li Lin listened and sighed: "Jin Hu's life is really good, with a taste of martial arts, so romantic!"

  "Do you think it's that easy? Run away! You don't know what dangers are waiting for you ahead, maybe you'll lose your life while sleeping, where did you read that it's so easy?" Zhang Yifan said to Li Lin.

  Jin Hu nodded in agreement and then told Wang Jun about his life with Lin Zi, how they had to run around every day, thinking of ways to get food, except when sleeping. Even going out of the forest to the village's small grocery store to buy two sausages was a treat. Anyway, Jin Hu didn't want to live that kind of life again.

  Li Lin listened and was stunned for a moment before saying: "It's a bit miserable, but this thing can be used to deceive little girls in the future."

  Jin Hu listened and smiled, shaking his head.

  "This sword looks very sharp, isn't it easy to roll up?" Li Lin asked Jin Hu.

  Jin Hu listened and raised his little finger: "Able to cut off a steel bar of this thickness without rolling, the thicker one is hard to say".

  "Is it really that awesome?" Zhang Yifan and Li Lin asked in unison.

  Jin Hu nodded and smiled jokingly: "Considered a treasured sword, huh? Cutting iron like mud."

  "After dinner, Li Lin used your knife to try it out," Zhang Yifan said to Li Lin.

  Li Lin said: "Why use mine and not yours?"

  "Try yours out, if it's broken, let Jinhu compensate you for another one. Next time you come back, bring it to me, you can also come here to play with mine, don't be so petty."

  "Damn it!" Li Lin said with a smile as he looked at Zhang Yifan.

  "Alright, this thick one, if you break it, I'll exchange it for you, there are two more in the car." Jin Hu heard the conversation between the two and said with a smile.

  "That's great!" Zhang Yifan heard: "Then use my sword to try! After the trial, I'll exchange one for me, I'm not willing to use such a beautiful sword to chop steel bars".

  Three people ate quickly, and in about ten minutes they finished eating. Without even clearing the table, Zhang Yifan found a thin steel bar and with one forceful chop, the steel bar was cut off. The cut surface was extremely flat, causing two people to be overjoyed, laughing with their eyes wide open.

  After talking for a while, Li Lin bid farewell with his sword.

  Zhang Yifan stayed with Jin Hu and sent Li Lin away. The two returned to the house, and Zhang Yifan asked Jin Hu: "Is it okay to do things like this?"

  "It's okay, I guess," Jin Hu nodded and said.

  Zhang Yifan's face was filled with a sly smile as he said to Jin Hu: "Come on! Sit down, let's talk business!"

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