Free Web NovelChapter 238: Chapter 207: Sizing People Up
"The hell you say?" Du Chunjiang heard his brother but didn’t process it at first.
"Big Bro, you forgot?" Du Chunlin’s face twisted with resentment as he recounted the incident. "The other day, when Liu Hanshan and I went up the mountain to dig up that dog to eat. Some old geezer pulled a gun and was about to shoot us."
"Oh!" It finally clicked for Du Chunjiang. He didn’t think his brother had done anything wrong; in fact, he was still pissed off at Xu Changlin.
"So? Is the new technician who came today that old man’s grandson?" Du Chunjiang asked.
"Most likely." Du Chunlin nodded emphatically. "I saw the kid with the old man that day. He’s gotta be his grandson."
On that day, Du Chunlin had gone with Liu Hanshan to dig up the dog buried in the snow. Liu Hanshan knew both Zhao Jun and Xu Changlin, as they all lived in the same village.
But for that very reason, Liu Hanshan was overcome with shame and felt he couldn’t face telling anyone about it, so he never told Du Chunlin who Zhao Jun was.
As for the relationship between Xu Changlin and Xu Baoshan, Liu Hanshan was completely in the dark.
He also never expected Zhao Jun to be assigned to their Logging Camp. Liu Hanshan was currently at the back doing Gui Ling; otherwise, the Du Brothers might have been able to dodge this bullet.
Just then, Du Chunjiang, sitting cross-legged on the kang, casually pulled over a small basket of tobacco leaves. He picked up a square of paper and began to roll a cigarette. "Elder San," he said to Du Chunlin as he worked, "go bring him in."
"Big Bro." Du Chunlin hurried to Du Chunjiang’s side and whispered, "The kid’s a technician from the inspection team. You’re the Leader. You should be the one to go out and greet him."
Du Chunjiang finished rolling his cigarette. He didn’t answer Du Chunlin right away. Instead, he ran his tongue along the edge of the paper, sealed it tight, and twisted one end to form a mouthpiece. Only then did he say, "What’s there to be afraid of? Think about it. Elder Li just retired, and this kid shows up."
"The Forest Farm only started up the day before yesterday, so he’s had two days of training at most. What could he possibly learn in two days? My guess is, he must have pissed off Xu Baoshan. Xu Baoshan wants to mess with him, so he sent him out here."
"Oh!" It dawned on Du Chunlin. ’My brother’s right,’ he thought. ’The kid just took over Elder Li’s job. He’s had two days of training, tops. What could he have possibly learned in that time?’
’For Xu Baoshan to send someone like that out here, there must be bad blood between them.’
’If that’s the case, it means the kid definitely doesn’t have any connections. Otherwise, Xu Baoshan wouldn’t have gone this far.’
With that thought, Du Chunlin’s worries eased. Following Du Chunjiang’s instructions, he left the shack to meet Zhao Jun.
Du Chunlin had just left the shack and hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he ran into Zhao Jun and Jiang Jinyou.
As soon as Jiang Jinyou saw Du Chunlin, he quickly pointed to Zhao Jun and said, "Chunlin, this is the new technician."
"I know." Du Chunlin waved a dismissive hand at Jiang Jinyou. "Go on, get back to your work."
With that, Du Chunlin ignored the embarrassed Jiang Jinyou and turned to face Zhao Jun.
Seeing the placid look on Zhao Jun’s face, Du Chunlin assumed Zhao Jun didn’t remember him.
So, Du Chunlin acted as if nothing was amiss, extending a hand to Zhao Jun with a smile. "You must be the new technician, right? Come on, you must be freezing. Let’s get you in the shack to warm up. My big bro is inside."
He then added, "My big bro is the Leader of our Logging Camp."
"Alright," Zhao Jun agreed. But before heading to the shack, he first turned to Jiang Jinyou. "Brother Jiang, I’m heading over now. Let’s chat again when we get a chance."
"Oh, sure, sure," Jiang Jinyou replied, flattered. He never thought a real inspector from the Forest Farm would be willing to speak to him like that.
But when Du Chunlin saw this, he was filled with scorn. ’This kid is chummy with a mere skidder,’ he thought. ’Looks like he’s a real nobody.’
But Du Chunlin seemed to forget that he himself was also a skidder.
And so, Zhao Jun followed Du Chunlin into the Leader’s shack.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a man sitting on the kang with a hand-rolled cigarette dangling from his lips.
It was none other than Du Chunjiang.
Zhao Jun looked at Du Chunjiang, smiled, and spoke first. "You must be Du Leader?"
"Hmph." Du Chunjiang took a drag from his cigarette, exhaling through his nose before speaking. "You the new technician, kid?"
"Yes." Zhao Jun replied with a simple "yes," but he smiled and nodded. With his shy demeanor, he looked like someone who had never seen much of the world.
Du Chunjiang took in his entire appearance and smirked inwardly. He asked, "And your name, Technician?"
It was a polite way of asking for his full name.
Zhao Jun played along. "My surname is Zhao. I’m Zhao Jun."
"Zhao Jun," Du Chunjiang repeated. "How many days have you been with the Forest Farm’s inspection team?"
"Today is my third day."
"Just three days, huh." Du Chunjiang’s eyes darted. "So, do you know how to scale logs?"
"Well..." Zhao Jun adjusted the dog-fur hat on his head, a look of embarrassment on his face. "Leader Xu had his apprentice teach me for two days, but I don’t think I really got the hang of it."
"Leader Xu’s apprentice?" Du Chunjiang frowned, thinking for a moment before asking, "You mean Ma Liang?"
"Yes, yes," Zhao Jun said. "That’s him, Brother Ma. I studied with Brother Ma for two days, but he didn’t really teach me much of anything."
At this, it wasn’t just Du Chunjiang; even Du Chunlin, standing to the side, was laughing to himself.
In their eyes, Zhao Jun was just a greenhorn, fresh on the job and completely clueless. ’Xu Baoshan is clearly trying to screw him over,’ they thought. ’Having an apprentice train him for just two days before shipping him off to the Logging Camp... he must be waiting for the kid to make a fool of himself.’
