Free Web NovelChapter 180: Chapter 180: Found a New Life
An Ning’s simple mention of self-studying criminal law had the seven men trembling, ready to drop to their knees and surrender completely.
And in fact, the seven men really did kneel.
"An Ning, we were wrong! We were really wrong!"
"Please, let us go!"
"From now on, we’ll be better men, good men!"
"Yeah, yeah! We’ll be good men!"
The seven grown men were bawling their eyes out, a truly pathetic sight.
It was a scene so tragic it would make any witness weep and any listener’s heart ache.
An Ning even felt that if she gave them a suona and an erhu, they could invent a whole new profession, one that would probably have a very bright future.
"Stand up!"
WHOOSH! The seven grown men shot to their feet, standing ramrod straight.
An Ning’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise. ’That core strength... excellent! They’re prime material for bodyguards! A hundred times better than my second brother.’
"Dry your tears. I have something for you to do."
The seven men quickly wiped their tears away with their sleeves.
One after another, the big, scruffy men became as obedient as schoolchildren, waiting for An Ning to speak.
An Ning gathered her thoughts and began her first recruitment pitch.
"Do you have a dream?"
Those few words made Jiang Xia turn away, trying to stifle his laughter. It was too much; he couldn’t take it.
’The way she scams people with such a straight face is just too cute!’
Meanwhile, the seven wannabe robbers were dumbfounded.
’A dream? Can you eat a dream?’
But still... "Yes!"
"Right! I swear I’ll be a good person!"
"Yeah, I’ll also be a good person! A useful member of society!"
Each one scrambled to declare themselves a model citizen.
An Ning watched the seven men vowing to reform, a headache forming. She decided to switch from a grand, philosophical pitch to a more direct one.
"Let me put it this way. I want to offer the seven of you a job. But before you can accept, you’ll have to go through my training and become bodyguards."
"Once your training is complete, you’ll follow my second brother as he travels the country, moving goods. If you run into danger or robbers, you are to protect my second brother. Understand?"
"Don’t worry. I guarantee the payout will be much better than what you’d make from robbery."
"In short, you’ll earn a lot more money than you would robbing people. The better you do, the more you’ll make."
An Ning finished and waited for the seven men to react.
And they certainly did react.
Six of the men looked at their leader; the leader looked at An Ning.
"Are you serious? You’re really willing to give us a job?"
"Can we really make money?"
It wasn’t as if they were born to be robbers or do bad things.
In fact, up to this point, they had attempted to rob a total of two people—An Ning and Li Chengze—and both attempts had failed.
Not only had they failed, but the experiences had left them with indelible psychological scars.
"It’s real. As soon as you agree, we can start."
"During the training period, you’ll also receive a financial stipend."
"Li Chengze!"
At An Ning’s call, Li Chengze understood and stepped forward, all his previous fear gone.
The backer he had latched onto was just too powerful; her name alone was enough to make others tremble in fear.
Li Chengze walked over holding a stack of cash and handed it to An Ning, looking like the physically frail but brilliantly cunning steward to a gang boss.
An Ning took the money, showed it to the seven men, and said, "So, what do you say? Do you agree?"
Agree?
"We’ll do it!"
The leader answered loudly, then followed it with a slightly dopey grin.
"My name is Li Daniu, and these are my brothers: Zhang Tie, Wang Hao, Song Ming, Guo Tao, Li Nan, and Jian De."
An Ning committed each name to memory, then asked about their family situations. They were all bachelors, between twenty-one and twenty-five years old.
In the countryside, they were what you’d call over-the-hill loafers. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
In the eyes of others, these men were the epitome of ignorant, gluttonous, and lazy good-for-nothings, despised by everyone.
So when they banded together and found that people no longer dared to mock them so easily, they started getting... other ideas.
Unfortunately for them, their luck was terrible, and they ran into An Ning.
An Ning gave them her name and then handed each man thirty yuan on the spot as a living allowance for the training period.
"This... you’re just giving this to me?"
Li Daniu held the thirty yuan, but the solid feel of the bills somehow made the situation feel even more unreal.
"Of course. See you tomorrow."
An Ning offered no words of threat, simply leaving them with an address and telling them to be there at four in the morning.
She didn’t say what the consequences would be if they failed to show up.
But this very lack of a threat made the seven men even more uneasy.
’How confident must she be to act like this!’
An Ning left with Li Chengze and Jiang Xia, leaving the seven men with the sight of their three aloof, retreating figures.
The seven men stood there for a long time.
"Boss, are we going tomorrow?"
The six men looked at Li Daniu, waiting for him to speak.
Li Daniu counted the money in his hand, confirming it was real.
"Don’t you guys always talk about earning money? About making your families proud?"
"The opportunity is right in front of us. What the hell is there to be afraid of?"
"I’m definitely going. You guys can do what you want."
Li Daniu had some sense. He stuffed the money into his pocket and said to the others, "Don’t call me ’Boss’ anymore. I’m a man with a respectable job now."
With that, Li Daniu took his leave. Time to buy some meat and head home!
The remaining six men thought about it and realized he was right.
’What do we have to lose?’
"Let’s go! Home!"
The gang walked toward town with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, all planning to buy something to show off back home.
Meanwhile, An Ning, who had left earlier, was indeed just heading home.
Li Chengze, walking beside An Ning, couldn’t help but ask, "What if they take the money and don’t show up?"
"If they don’t show up, I have ways of dealing with it. Don’t worry."
An Ning’s calm composure was something Li Chengze could never hope to imitate.
Besides, her tone was exactly like a villain from the movies—a high-class villain at that.
He followed obediently behind An Ning, a persistent thought nagging him. ’Did I really just become a design apprentice, or did I accidentally join a gang?’
Li Chengze shook his head and followed her back.
After they returned, none of the three mentioned what had happened that day.
Li Chengze went back to Jiang Xia’s house with him and diligently focused on his studies.
As soon as An Ning walked through the door, she became Lin Cuihua’s exclusive fire-tender.
Lin Cuihua lectured as she stir-fried the vegetables.
"It’s the strangest thing. Whenever you try to cook, you either burn the food or ruin the wok, so how are you so good at tending the fire?"
Lin Cuihua skillfully tossed the shredded potatoes and green peppers in the wok. She had tried to teach An Ning, but a simple plate of potatoes had somehow been stir-fried completely black.
Blacker than a moonless, starless night.
Sitting on a small stool, An Ning couldn’t understand it either. She loved to eat, after all.
The night passed, and as the next day arrived, An Ning rose early. She went out into the yard and squatted in front of the chicken coop.
"Today, you keep an eye on my little brother and Li Chengze. I’m heading out for a bit."
"CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK—"
The large rooster clucked softly a few times as it watched An Ning climb over the wall and disappear.
