"Let's set up the front desk first." I could tell Sun Sixin was a bit hesitant. A bar that frequently organizes street dance performances would indeed look a bit out of place with a world-class jar. Actually, I had the same concern: Chen Kejiao's only condition for signing the contract was that I couldn't change the structure of her bar—but then again, I didn't change the structure, I just added some decorations.
Yang Zhi earned more than 3,000 yuan tonight, and only then did he realize that selling wine was a faster way to make money than selling knives.
Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu sat in a corner, feeling as if they had entered a monster's world. Sexy women kept approaching them and trying to strike up a conversation. Neither of them could utter a word, their hands trembling as they held each other. Without exception, each woman cursed them as "dead gay" and walked away.
Li Jingshui found me, her hands and feet ice-cold, and said, "Brother Xiao, you should take us back."
I had no choice but to agree to send them back to the military camp tomorrow.
When I returned to the pawnshop, I saw Xiang Yu wiping the carriage with a basin of water. The front of the carriage was facing the direction it had come from. This meant that someone had helped him reverse it, and that his driving skills were superb; the wheels were even cutting into the curb, making them exceptionally neat.
Xiang Yu gently wiped the chariot with a towel dipped in water, his face full of affection, as if a great battle had just ended and he was exchanging feelings with his beloved black horse.
I asked him curiously, "Brother Yu, did Baozi park this car?"
"No." Xiang Yu clearly didn't have time to pay attention to me.
Who is that?
"Old Wang, that old man who guards the gate, he's the one who drove it back and parked it properly."
I laughed and said, "I didn't know that old man could drive."
Xiang Yu glared at me and said, "He drives much better than you. He told me he used to drive a big truck—what kind of truck is that?"
No wonder. The old drivers back then were incredibly skilled, and after driving big trucks for half their lives, driving this minivan was like a toy to them. I never imagined the old guy was such a driving legend.
As Xiang Yu wiped the car, he said, "I don't need you to teach me anymore. Old Wang said he'll teach me every day after school."
I said, "I didn't realize Old Wang was such a kind-hearted person."
"Yes. Also, I gave him the cardboard box."
I didn't pay attention and just hummed in response as I walked home. Then I realized something was wrong, turned around abruptly, and asked, "What cardboard box?"
"The one you keep in your car."
"...You even gave him the contents inside?"
"Of course."
"Brother Yu! That half-box of Zhonghua cigarettes is worth several thousand yuan!" My heart ached. That's enough to go to driving school. Didn't the book say that although Xiang Yu could share weal and woe with his soldiers, he was ungrateful and soft-hearted? I didn't see any of those virtues in him at all.
Xiang Yu bent down and laid out the cloth, saying, "I heard from the radio that smoking is harmful to your health, so you should smoke less."
I:"……"
Oh well, I'll give it to him then. He's someone who wants to go left but often turns right instead of right. I don't need to teach him myself.
I entered the room and found Liu Bang sitting with Li Shishi, both staring at the computer screen. When did they become friends? I walked behind them and discovered that they were focused on sets of numbers. Li Shishi was helping him calculate with a calculator, while Liu Bang was writing down his thoughts on paper. I asked them what they were doing, and Liu Bang, unusually serious, said, "Stop fooling around, I'm calculating some data."
"Hey—" I leaned back in Li Shishi's chair with interest and asked, "What data?"
Liu Bang said, "Playing Texas Hold'em. I'm calculating the probabilities of getting a triple, a straight, and a flush. I lost 500 playing with someone today, but I won 1200 yesterday when I went all in..."
I was so embarrassed! I've been playing Texas Hold'em since I was eight, and I never even thought to calculate the odds. I told him, "Texas Hold'em is mainly about psychological warfare; these statistics aren't very useful."
"Of course I know. But if everyone is particularly good at pretending, remembering what cards are played and how many are played, and then calculating one step ahead of others based on the ratio, then the chance of winning is greater."
I'm sweating bullets again. So that's how Liu Bang planned to conquer the world. I seriously suspect that when he appointed Han Xin as general, he was already plotting how to kill him after he gained control of the empire.
I berated Li Shishi: "You're just aiding and abetting evil."
...
The next day I slept until after 10 a.m., which was the most relaxing day I'd had in recent days. I rode my motorcycle to the bar, and from afar I saw a group of people moving a huge water vat that was at least 1.9 meters tall, shouting "Heave-ho!" as they tried to load it onto a truck.
I walked over and saw Sun Sixin giving instructions. I asked him, "What are you doing?"
When Sun Sixin saw me, she said awkwardly, "Brother Qiang, I'm sorry, I messed things up. I called Ciyuan this morning to order a large vat, but they delivered this thing to me, not even to the door."
Seeing a group of porters struggling to pull and carry things, I said, "Since we've already brought it all here, let's just leave it here."
"...Where should we put it?"
“It’s standing right at the door—I said, why are you making such a big vat? Even an adult couldn’t get out if they fell in, let alone a child.”
When the workers heard that there would be no more returns, they were all overjoyed. An old worker, panting, said, "Unless you deliberately try to kill yourself, you usually won't fall in."
I laughed when I heard that: This vat is almost as tall as Xiang Yu. If you want to walk in and fall in, you'd have to be as tall as a giraffe.
The old worker said, “Congratulations, boss, you’ve struck gold. This vat has been here since I was a young man working at the factory. Even the factory manager can’t tell you its age. It seems to have been a reservoir prepared for wealthy families in the past, for fire prevention. Sometimes, in a drought year, a few vats of water would be enough to feed them for the whole year.”
I circled the jar a few times, examining it closely. Its exterior was jet black and emanated a chilling aura; it really did seem somewhat extraordinary. I wondered to myself: Could it be a treasure trove? Maybe I should throw one person in first and see if I can pull out a whole bunch of people?
After seeing the workers off, I spotted a water-selling electric tricycle on the road. I quickly called it over and asked, "Do you have any water on your vehicle?"
The fellow villager looked at me and said, "Full. What, are bars diluting their drinks with water now?"
I said, "Stop talking nonsense, how much can you sell this truckload of water for?"
"Over 200. What do you want to do with that?"
"Pour out all the water, come with me to get some liquor, I'll give you 300."
The villager said with difficulty, "The money is right, but where am I supposed to pour this water?"
"Water the flowers, sprinkle on the street, whatever."