Free Web NovelChapter 2527: Chapter 1591: Locked in the Cage (Part 2)
"Yubin, I really have to criticize you for that. Once we’re outside Sha City, we’re fellow townsmen, which means we’re family."
There’s nothing wrong with that statement.
When you’re away from home and run into someone from your hometown, it really does feel extra warm; "fellow townsmen meet, tears in both eyes," as the saying goes.
But the key is, the setting is wrong right now. They were clearly still in Sha City, where’s that fellow-townsman warmth supposed to come from.
"Young Master Zhou is looking for him about something?"
Wu Yubin asked naturally, as if just following the flow of the conversation.
Young Master Zhou gave a faint, mocking smile, picked up a piece of stinky tofu, and said easily, "Just a small matter, I’d like to have a chat with him."
This barbecue, stepping on a steady rhythm, was finally starting to move into the main topic.
"Then Young Master Zhou can just ask him out directly."
"Presumptuous. Way too presumptuous."
Young Master Zhou kept his head down eating tofu as he said, "Aren’t you acquainted with him? You can be the middleman, say a few words, that would be more appropriate."
The Brahman have their own rules when they do things.
That business of Lu Xu sending people to splash paint without another word—that’s the way of the lower orders.
True.
Getting a middleman is more proper, but the key is the supposed middleman doesn’t necessarily feel the same way.
He had no idea what had actually happened, and in fact he wasn’t really that close with either side. Who would be willing to step into this kind of mess?
Chances are you’d just end up covered in stink.
The Brahman have a principle when they do things.
They’d rather do nothing than make a mistake.
Of course.
That refers to the smart Brahman.
Brahman only means noble blood—meaning the ancestors were noble—it doesn’t mean there are no idiots, no dead weight.
Wu Yubin definitely didn’t want to stick his neck out for this. You always have to keep one rule in mind: when someone you barely know suddenly contacts you, they’re either borrowing money or dragging you to some red-envelope occasion. Either way, it’s certainly not anything good. But he couldn’t flat-out refuse either.
Hong’an County, after all, is under the jurisdiction of Sha City.
Even within the Brahman, there are grades.
"Does Young Master Zhou have some sort of misunderstanding with Mr. Jiang?"
Since he couldn’t refuse directly, Wu Yubin chose to pass the ball back. He wasn’t in a hurry, he wasn’t pressed for time, and he didn’t mind this barbecue dragging on.
Mr. Jiang.
Such a polite form of address.
Young Master Zhou paused for a moment, then smiled wryly. "So you really aren’t that familiar after all."
"What I just told Young Master Zhou was all true."
Zhou Shaohua nodded. "You think I wouldn’t believe you?"
Wu Yubin raised his cup. "So, is there really a misunderstanding?"
Zhou Shaohua smiled, then picked up his own cup. "It’s not a misunderstanding."
Wu Yubin’s cup stopped in midair, and he looked at him.
Zhou Shaohua acted as if nothing had happened and downed his beer in one go. "But it’s just a little dispute."
That turn of phrase made Wu Yubin resume the motion and bring the beer to his mouth.
"What counts as ’small’ in Young Master Zhou’s mouth, might not be that small."
Zhou Shaohua laughed heartily.
"Really, Sha City people don’t lie to Sha City people. And strictly speaking, it doesn’t directly have to do with me. It’s because of Green Land."
Once he’d said that, whether the other side wanted to listen or not, Zhou Shaohua picked up the beer bottle and started pouring, saying as he did, "Didn’t Green Land have a project by the train station that got topped out and then stopped? Rumors started flying that the project was going to be abandoned. A lot of owners believed it and went to confront the developer. Among them was a distant relative of this ’Mr. Jiang,’ a man who should be called his uncle on his mother’s side."
"That’s all it is. You tell me, is that small or not?"
At first hearing, it really didn’t sound big.
"So what happened later?"
"Later, the owners went to court with the developer. All because they bought into the rumors. That project has already resumed construction, and it won’t be long before the apartments are handed over. This is a complete farce."
Some things, you only listen to about thirty percent. The rest has to rely on your own judgment and reading between the lines. Wu Yubin knew the problem definitely wasn’t as simple as the few vague sentences the other man had tossed out, but as for how serious it really was, he couldn’t picture it either.
It had started with a single apartment, and somehow it was going to blow the whole sky of Sha City off.
Even if your brain cells were hyperactive, you wouldn’t dare spin out that kind of association.
"If that’s how it is, I don’t think there’s any need to make a mountain out of a molehill. Young Master Zhou doesn’t need to show up in person. Just let Green Land handle it. Otherwise the problem might only get more complicated."
Zhou Shaohua sighed. "I’ve thought through everything you just said. It’s just that I feel me stepping out would be more sincere. After all, no matter how you slice it, it started because of us."
Us.
Those two words deserve to be circled and tested on.
In the socialist camp, capital can’t expand without limits. It has to accept oversight.
Green Land swimming like a fish in water in Sha City—what’s the real reason behind that? Ordinary citizens might not know, but how could Wu Yubin not know.
Let alone him.
Even a streets-and-rivers guy like Fu Zili knew perfectly well whose backing Green Land had.
The smaller the place, the harder it is to keep a secret.
"Got it."
Wu Yubin nodded. "I can give Young Master Zhou Mr. Jiang’s contact information."
Contact information?
So all that talk was for nothing?
If it was just for a phone number, couldn’t he look it up himself?
Zhou Shaohua smiled. "You’re just here to listen to a story, huh?"
"This meal’s on me."
Wu Yubin answered succinctly.
Zhou Shaohua’s smile grew wider. "Yubin, being too cautious isn’t a good thing. At your age, you still need a bit of drive."
Wu Yubin picked up a skewer of grilled grasshoppers. "If I wanted to be reckless, I’d have stayed in the army. I wouldn’t have chosen to come back."
Zhou Shaohua burst out laughing so hard his eyes squinted, wrinkles bunching up at the corners.
The other man had deferred again and again—if he kept pressing, it would be forcing someone against the wall.
Zhou Shaohua straightened up, then suddenly leaned his upper body slightly forward. "What’s his background?"
"Young Master Zhou doesn’t know?"
"If I knew, would I be asking you?"
Wu Yubin shook his head. "I’ve only met him twice. Whatever Young Master Zhou doesn’t know, I probably don’t know either."
Zhou Shaohua leaned back, his eyes narrowing slightly, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes. "They taught you tai chi in the army, huh?"
Obviously.
His mood had shifted; the good humor from earlier was gone.
Wu Yubin’s expression didn’t change. He was of course fully aware that his attitude had made the other man extremely displeased, even angry.
But sometimes, you can’t be afraid of offending people.
Of course.
Offending someone more powerful than you locally, all for the sake of an ordinary friend you don’t even know if you’ll ever see again—it didn’t exactly sound worth it. But he had a kind of intuition.
He had to choose this way.
Is the secret of life hard work?
No.
If you interview the world’s successful people and ask them why they’re so successful, if there’s some sort of trick.
Nine out of ten will tell you.
It comes down to a few critical choices.
"Please don’t take it the wrong way, Young Master Zhou. Maybe you think I’m lying, but everything I’ve said is the truth. I definitely don’t know him as well as Young Master Zhou knows him."
Zhou Shaohua said nothing, looking at him deeply, then slowly nodded.
"I understand."
Wu Yubin didn’t explain further. He picked up the plastic cup, and in a short while, the remaining beer was finished off, leaving only two empty bottles.
"Check, please."
"I’m the one who asked you out, so I should be the one paying."
"Next time it’s Young Master Zhou’s turn. I get a discount here."
Zhou Shaohua gave a faint smile and didn’t insist.
Scan the code, pay.
Wu Yubin put his phone away. "I’ll get going then, Young Master Zhou. Let’s meet up again next time."
Right.
They were all Sha City people; heads down you don’t see each other, heads up you do. There was a long road ahead.
Zhou Shaohua sat there, nodding silently.
Wu Yubin got up, and just as he was about to leave, he suddenly paused.
"Oh, right."
Zhou Shaohua looked up at him, expressionless.
"I heard he works an iron rice bowl for the public."
That was all he said.
Having truly lived up to a soldier’s honesty without a single lie, Wu Yubin turned and walked out alone from the increasingly lively barbecue joint.
Zhou Shaohua acted as if he hadn’t seen a thing. He picked up the bottle and poured himself a drink.
There was still so much barbecue left; he couldn’t just waste it.
He took a sip of beer, then grabbed a chicken claw and took a bite. After chewing a few times, he seemed to find something off about the taste and spat it all out.
He pulled out a napkin and wiped his mouth.
"Selling ingredients after they’ve gone off—capital this evil ought to be locked up in a cage."
