Aze, as expected, looked confident and deliberately glanced left and right. With a mysterious air, he whispered, "A little shady business... um, this!" He held up his hand, making a gun gesture, and whispered, "Arms!"
"..." Li Wenjing looked at Aze in surprise: "Weapons?"
He finally changed color!
Qiaoqiao and Aze both visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems there is still a way to keep him in check!
However, Li Wenjing continued, "But dealing in arms in China... is illegal, isn't it? Although China does have an arms import and export business, those are all official government domains, operated by the state. I've never heard of any private arms dealers in China."
Aze chuckled softly, “It’s just a small business. We’re underground arms dealers… Mr. Li, the situation in many Southeast Asian countries is unstable. If there’s business, we can all make a fortune together! The Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia all have a lot of non-governmental armed groups, right? And the situation in Thailand is unstable right now… There’s a lot of money to be made.”
"This... I'm afraid that won't work." Li Wenjing replied decisively.
Aze and Qiaoqiao immediately showed disdain. Qiaoqiao said, "Li Wenjing... forget it. Your family does all legitimate business. Don't let us, your friends, drag you down with you! Humph!"
Li Wenjing thought for a moment and said with a wry smile, "That's not what I meant...actually..."
He smiled and said, "Aze, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that I can't help you... because the largest arms supplier in Southeast Asia right now is run by my family's... my uncle's branch in the United States."
“…”
“…”
“……………”
Li Wenjing calmly replied, "My family's business in the United States has always been handled by my uncle. We have business dealings with the Locke family, the largest arms dealers in the US, and it's a cooperative arrangement. We have licenses issued by the US government, so we are legally engaged in the sale of firearms..." He smiled wryly, "As for the several non-governmental armed groups in Southeast Asia... I suggest you don't cooperate with them, because their reputation is poor. There were several incidents in the last century where they double-crossed each other and damaged their reputation. Now many arms dealers have refused to cooperate with them..." Then he looked at Aze with a very sincere gaze, "Of course, this is just my personal advice."
I was stunned.
Qiaoqiao was stunned.
Aze was stunned.
Everyone in the room was stunned.
While we were still in a daze, Li Wenjing casually picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip of wine...
Suddenly, with a bang, the door to the private room was kicked open!
Then, Mu Tou rushed in, disheveled and wearing a coat over which the conspicuous patient's gown from a mental hospital was visible. He shouted, "Qiao Qiao! Where is Qiao Qiao?!"
I glanced at Aze, and we were the first to snap out of it, leaping up quickly. We pounced on the doorway, one on each side, and swiftly propped up the log. Without a word, we pushed him out.
Operation Red Apricot's Adultery: Second Operation... Utter Failure!
I escorted Li Wenjing back to his hotel. Qiaoqiao and Aze were so ashamed they couldn't bear to face anyone.
"Tonight..." Before parting ways, I hesitated and looked at Li Wenjing.
"No need to say anything more," Li Wenjing said with a smile. "I understand." He blinked and smiled, "But I didn't expect your methods to be so creative! To be honest, I was almost fooled when you first came up with them."
I sighed: "Okay, we didn't mean any harm."
“I mean no harm,” Li Wenjing smiled. “You are a very interesting group of people, and I would love to be friends with you… Um, please tell Qiaoqiao that she and I are both very resistant to this engagement… But the older generation is very stubborn, and sometimes, indirect methods are far more effective than direct confrontation… So, I suggest that we pretend to get along well on the surface, and then slowly figure out a solution. That would be better. At least for now, I think I can convince my father to postpone the marriage for the time being, and we can use that as an excuse to get to know each other for a while. I estimate that we can have two years to figure things out. I'm confident that if we can postpone the wedding for two years, a solution will always come.”
Before parting, he suddenly whispered, "Chen Yang, can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
Li Wenjing's eyes flashed: "Qiaoqiao is a very lovely girl. She is very close to you, Aze, and that doctor surnamed Mu. Why is one of you three men not with her? I think that might be a good thing."
I gave a wry smile: "Don't joke around... us and Qiaoqiao? Impossible."
"Why is it impossible?" Li Wenjing smiled mysteriously: "Nothing is impossible in this world."
I sighed: "Let me tell you the truth... Jojo... she is... well, she likes women."
Li Wenjing listened quietly to me finish speaking. There wasn't even a hint of surprise on his face. Instead, he calmly asked me, "So what?"
Before I could finish speaking, he slowly said, "If the information I have is correct... I don't think Qiao Qiao is born liking women, right? At least, as far as I know, I heard Uncle Qiao mention that Qiao Qiao had a very close boyfriend a few years ago, but unfortunately they broke up for some reason."
Then he patted my shoulder: "Nothing is impossible in this world... Maybe I'm just meddling, but I still think that you guys have such a good relationship, and it's quite nice for you to develop from friends to lovers. Besides... I sense that Uncle Qiao doesn't necessarily really think I'm his son-in-law; it's just that the old man is very anxious about his daughter's marriage, which is why he hastily brought me here as a candidate. If Qiao Qiao has a steady boyfriend... perhaps Uncle Qiao will change his mind."
I paused for a moment: "But I thought..."
Li Wenjing smiled and said, "Please pass on my message to Qiaoqiao. I'll be staying here for a few more days because I have some business dealings with my family and some business associates to meet. While I'm here, you're welcome to come over for tea. After all, you're my first friend in this city."
After saying this, Li Wenjing handed me a business card, smiled, and walked into the hotel.
As I watched him leave, I suddenly remembered that I had inadvertently seen him meeting with Zhou Jing's men here that evening...
Could it be that his family has business dealings with Zhou Jing?
However, given our relationship, it seems inconvenient for me to ask these questions.
I shook my head and walked out of the hotel.
Aze and Qiaoqiao were waiting in the car, while Mutou sat in the back, still wrapped in his coat.
Qiaoqiao wore an embarrassed smile, but when she saw me coming, she vented her anger on me: "Chen Yang! What were you up to last night! We couldn't find you anywhere! If we had talked things out properly, we wouldn't have made such a fool of ourselves!!"
I shrugged: "How should I know! But you can rest assured about one thing. He never intended to marry you."
"Oh?" Qiaoqiao's eyes lit up.
I then relayed Li Wenjing's words to Qiaoqiao, but I hesitated for a moment and still didn't mention Li Wenjing's suggestion about "turning friends into lovers." Qiaoqiao didn't notice the fleeting hesitation on my face. After listening, she smiled very satisfiedly, looking quite smug: "Hmm! Looks like this guy is quite sensible!"
Miss Qiao said with great enthusiasm, "Very good, very good! I had originally planned that if I couldn't escape it in the end, I would have to resort to drastic measures!"
"What ruthless move?"
"Tch! Find a pair of scissors, and on our wedding night, in the bridal chamber, I'll just cut him in two!" Miss Qiao said with a smug smile, her voice full of confidence: "That way, he'll never be able to touch me again!"
Our first instinctive reaction was to instinctively cover our crotches with our hands.
Now that the most important matter was no longer a threat, Miss Qiao was in high spirits and, having shaken off her dejection, immediately suggested that everyone go find a place to have a late-night snack.
I glanced at the sky and then at the time; it was almost 4 a.m. Honestly, I was really hungry. I'd been having dinner with Old Fu last night, mostly drinking, and only had a bowl of shark fin porridge. Now I was feeling a bit hungry too. Wood and Aze, on the other hand, didn't seem to care. They were both doing nothing anyway and weren't worried about having to get up early for work the next day. Aze didn't have a stable job, while Wood spent his days reading comics in the office of that small community clinic.
Strangely, neither of them got into Qiaoqiao's car; instead, they both got into the car I had driven. I then returned the car to Aze. Aze thought for a moment and said, "You can keep it. I have another one at home. Your workplace is quite far away, so having a car will be convenient."
I didn't refuse my friend's kindness. Anyway, I was so close to these family members that we could share underwear, so I didn't stand on ceremony with him.
However, after getting into the car, the two looked at each other and Aze said, "When you were talking to Qiaoqiao about Li Wenjing earlier... you seemed to hesitate for a moment. Was there something you were hiding?"
The wood was looking at me too.
I paused, then asked, "You felt it?"
"Um."
“Okay.” I sighed, sat in the driver’s seat and looked back at the two of them: “There is something I’ve been holding back from saying… Li Wenjing has a very absurd suggestion, and I don’t think it’s necessary to say it, because it’s too absurd.”
I paused, then smiled wryly, "He suggested that one of us date Qiaoqiao, and evolve from friends to lovers. He said it was the easiest way..."
Before I could finish speaking, the two men had already turned deathly pale.
He glanced at Aze, then swallowed hard. "Damn! Marry her? Just imagining it is worse than a nightmare!! I... I'd rather live ten years less!!"
I sighed and turned my gaze to the wood.
A blockhead is a blockhead after all; without uttering a single wasted word, he quickly said:
"Twenty years!"
Part 1: A Man in the Martial World, Forced to His Own Destiny, Chapter 81: I'm Not Finished with You!
Cui Xiang Ge on Zhujiang Road in Nanjing is a well-known 24-hour restaurant in Nanjing, said to serve authentic Chaozhou cuisine and Cantonese dim sum. Generally speaking, many people who frequent nightclubs like to come here for late-night snacks. Although the prices are a bit high, the taste is good and it's worth the money.
After we had eaten and drunk our fill, the four of us sat around the table. Some of us were burping, while others were picking our teeth with toothpicks. I, however, was quite different. I had no interest in the crab roe buns, chicken wings, or chicken feet on the table, but instead, I devoured a pot of plain white porridge and a bowl of preserved olives.
Aze next to me laughed at me for being stupid, and I retorted coldly: "What do you know, you playboy! Eating so much greasy food in the middle of the night, you'll end up with fatty liver and high cholesterol, that's what happens to people like you! When you eat late-night snacks, you should try to eat something light so as not to burden your stomach and intestines, and not to add so much oil that you can't digest! Let's see if you'll still be laughing when you're fifty!"
Aze immediately retorted, "Tch! Little Five, stop making fun of me! I can live to at least fifty... As for you, if we do as you say, any one of us who marries Qiaoqiao, I'm afraid we won't even live to fifty... Oh dear!"
Before he could finish speaking, a piece of wood under the table stomped on him hard. Aze reacted immediately! "When Miss Qiao says something like that, she has a death wish!"
Sure enough, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold...
murderous look!
The three of us men simultaneously felt a chilling coldness creeping down our backs. The murderous aura felt like needles pricking our backs, and a shiver of cold air slid down from the top of our heads to the back of our necks...
"Aze...what...did...you...say...?!" Qiaoqiao's eyes narrowed, her face showing the chilling glint of someone about to explode...
Wood and I exchanged a glance, and our first reaction was to quickly take away the knife and metal spoon that Qiaoqiao had used to eat steak from the table in front of her...
"Ah... this..." Aze was covered in cold sweat, looking at Qiaoqiao who was about to explode, and felt embarrassed. In desperation, he shouted, "This... I didn't say it! Chen Yang said it!"
After hearing this, Qiaoqiao turned to look at me and said, "Chen Yang!"
"I..." Before I could even defend myself, that bastard Aze had already shamelessly started framing me!
"Qiaoqiao. He said it! He said it all! He said that marrying a woman like you would put his life in danger! He said he'd rather live ten years less than marry a woman like you!"
Shameless!
He actually pinned all his own words on me!
But what's even more shameless is the wooden man! This honest fellow actually chimed in with a very confident tone, "No, not ten years, but twenty years!"
"Damn it, you two bastards, I'll strangle you..." I was so angry that I jumped up, but when I saw Qiao Qiao's murderous gaze, I instinctively took a step back.
"Chen Yang...you should think about how you're going to die!" Qiao Qiao seemed to be about to transform into a berserk female demon. Her eyes were already showing a sinister look, and then she grabbed two chopsticks from the table and pounced on me, baring her teeth and claws and yelling, "I'll stab you!"
Aze and Mu Tou, being quite disloyal, quickly moved a few steps away. That bastard Aze even smiled and grabbed the somewhat panicked waiter: "Don't panic, it's just the young couple having a fight. Don't call 110, it'll be fine."
I ran around the table twice, but Qiaoqiao kicked it over, spilling soup all over me. The chopsticks broke after poking me in the chest twice. That really hurt!
If I hadn't run fast, my face would probably have been scratched all over by Qiaoqiao... This girl spreads out her ten fingers, and her sharp nails look like ten little razor blades...
What's infuriating is that Aze and Mutou next to him are actually whispering a bet: "How long do you think Chen Yang can last?"
"Ten minutes. Five times the odds!"
"Five minutes..."
I was chased by Qiaoqiao all the way out of the restaurant and into the parking lot. Finally, I just ran around the cars, yelling, "Qiaoqiao, are you fucking crazy! I didn't say those words! That bastard Aze said them!"
"Go to hell! I swear I'll never be a human being if I don't cripple you today!"
"Damn it! You're not going to marry me anyway, so what difference does it make whether I live ten or twenty more years?" I blurted out in my panic.