Chapter 5: The Road Ahead?
Early in the morning, Fan Ren and Li Jian appeared at the train station.
“Alright, head back. For this father, heading into a sea of knives and fire, at least earn us brothers a military rank!”
Looking at the boss who seemed to have matured overnight, Fan Ren smiled and punched him.
“Then I’ll be waiting. Next time we gather, we’ll have to ride in your military vehicle to show off.”
The two in the dormitory drank too much and haven’t woken up yet. Li Jian’s train today is to go back home to handle the remaining matters, and this parting, who knows when the next meeting will be.
Afraid the scene would be too sentimental, Li Jian originally planned to sneak away, but he woke up Fan Ren who had lighter sleep, leading to the two of them coming to the train station.
Between men, no matter how deep the relationship, they can’t say sappy words. Li Jian’s upright figure turned and walked toward the station interior.
This was the farewell.
When Fan Ren returned to the dormitory, the three people’s luggage was all packed, scattered messily at the door.
On the empty bed boards inside, Third Brother and Fourth Brother were taking turns puffing away on cigarettes.
“Want one?”
Liu Jun tossed a cigarette to Fan Ren, knowing that although Fan Ren didn’t smoke, he wouldn’t refuse.
It was also something he admired: he could smoke but had no addiction.
Fan Ren lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. How could there be no addiction? It was just his lifelong habit of being thrifty.
Cigarettes costing ten or twenty yuan each, he really couldn’t bear to buy them to smoke.
“Downgraded, huh?”
Liu Jun’s cigarettes had switched from 100 yuan a pack to just over 20 yuan, clearly feeling some sense of crisis.
He scratched his messy hair in annoyance and irritably said, “Hey, back in the day, I’d get revenge the same night. Ma Wei’s father has some business dealings with my family. I reckon this little issue of mine has spread throughout the circle.”
Lin Chang puzzledly said, “No way, right? It’s just not going on a blind date. You’re only twenty-three, what’s the rush?”
Fan Ren looked at him like he was an idiot, didn’t lay out his own guesses, and then said, “No big deal. Believe me, he was pretty scared last night?”
Speaking of this, Lin Chang nodded repeatedly.
“Second Brother, no kidding, your tone and attitude at the time really had that vibe. Didn’t you notice? Among us brothers, you’re the toughest.”
“Heh, you guys don’t think the orphanage is some peaceful paradise, do you?”
For a group of orphans like them, if they were all good kids, it would be hard to grow up intact.
Fan Ren blew out a puff of smoke, finished speaking, and walked to the door to pick up his bedding roll and head out.
“Damn, Second Brother, are you starting to show your true colors? Why do you look more handsome?”
Liu Jun and the other hurried to catch up. Now without this guy, they had nowhere to live.
Arriving at the rental apartment, Fan Ren discovered a benefit: although he was temporarily supporting these two, the first-floor hall that he originally had to clean alone could now be handled by leading these two to do it.
Although one was a rich second generation and the other a only child, both useless at manual labor and knowing nothing, they were obedient—tell them to do something and they did it, whether well or not was another matter.
These two days were when the equipment and related materials Fan Ren ordered online arrived, and with two extra pairs of hands now, cleaning and organizing was especially easy.
After settling everything, the three found a roadside stall along the street.
Liu Jun, drenched in sweat, hadn’t even sat down steadily when he ran off to grab three bottles of beer. He chugged half a bottle in one go before coming back to his senses.
“Damn, Second Brother, you’re harsher than Huang Shiren.”
“Exactly, who treats brothers like livestock?”
“Heh. It just so happened, no use wasting it.”
The three bantered and drank until the food arrived and they ate until half full. Then Liu Jun curiously spoke up again.
“Second Brother, what’s the deal with getting such a big house?”
Fan Ren took a bite of food and, without intending to hide it, said, “I registered a company.”
‘Pfft’
Lin Chang, who had just taken a sip of beer nearby, sprayed it right in Liu Jun’s face across from him.
But at this moment, Liu Jun was also a bit dazed. He wiped his face haphazardly and uncertainly said, “Wait, I didn’t hear right. Registered a company?”
“Yeah, just registered it. Threw all the scholarship money in, and applied for a 200,000 startup loan, threw that in too.”
Lin Chang was stunned.
Among the guys in the dorm, Liu Jun was the rich second generation, not counting him. Big Brother’s family had many people and conditions weren’t as good as his, so he was next.
Although from a rural background, his parents had only him, not super rich but comfortably well-off.
And now, the orphan sitting across from him, with zero family help, said he spent 250,000 to start a company.
He felt like he was living in a dream, so unreal.
But thinking back, in the four years he’d known him, this guy had never lied, and his personality was steady.
Lin Chang still couldn’t quite believe it and asked, “For real?”
Fan Ren irritably said, “Why else would I rent such a big storefront? This is the headquarters.”
“Company name?”
Liu Jun asked the key question; he didn’t believe it either.
“Xinghai Technology”
As soon as the words were out, Liu Jun quickly pulled out his mobile phone and searched. Upon getting the query result and seeing the legal representative listed as ‘Fan Ren’, he gave up.
Lin Chang snatched the phone, glanced at it, then pointed at himself speechlessly: “So I’m the clown here?”
Liu Jun gave him a slightly sympathetic look; what he said wasn’t wrong. But then he quickly said, “No, brother, what is this company of ours planning to do? See if this battered body of mine is still useful? How about general manager?”
He got excited.
After four years together, he knew Fan Ren always had his own ideas.
Just look at how he gripped his scholarship tightly without spending a dime, and those times he went to get a room with Xu Min but ended up backing out.
Fan Ren was definitely someone with ideas and action.
Spending so much money to start a company—if he said it was just for fun, Liu Jun wouldn’t believe it even if beaten to death.
“Me too!”
Lin Chang might not be the sharpest, but he knew how to latch onto a thick thigh, and hurriedly followed suit.
However, Fan Ren clearly hesitated a bit.
He poured a cup of alcohol for each of the two brothers, raised his cup for a sip, then slowly shared his thoughts.
“I have a patent in my own hands; I’ll introduce it to you guys later if there’s a chance. But honestly, I dare to start from scratch because I have no worries holding me back.”
He looked at Lin Chang and continued, “Fourth Brother, you get what I mean, right?”
Lin Chang helplessly nodded.
“Third Brother, you’re not the same. Uncle Liu is probably just mad and froze your card; go back and do what you need to. I don’t believe you can’t outmaneuver a nineteen-year-old kid. No need to follow me in this tough startup life.”
Liu Jun listened, fell silent, and lit a cigarette for himself.
“It’s not as simple as you say. It’s not that I’m backing down or lost confidence in fighting him?”
He paused, then sighed: “Damn it, is there even a point? We’re all family.”
After saying that, for the first time Fan Ren saw tears flowing from that chubby face’s eyes.
“Not bragging to you two, my family’s Second Brother—I watched him grow up. Ask him to work and he’ll give it his all, but ask him to fight me? He’s not up to it. I…”
Fan Ren cut off the words, patted Liu Jun’s shoulder; for a moment, he didn’t know how to comfort him.
He had no father or mother, just himself to feed. What could he say to comfort someone whose parents were alive?
But it was clear Liu Jun was truly a sentimental guy.
Lin Chang also fell silent; he had no strong opinions. He was fine following for food, drink, and fun, but comforting people wasn’t realistic for him.
“Alright, I get you. But Fourth Brother, I still advise you to try finding a suitable job first. If it really doesn’t work out, there’s definitely a spot for you here.”
He paused, afraid Lin Chang might get ideas, and emphasized, “Don’t you trust me? Think about your parents.”
Lin Chang, about to retort, lowered his head upon hearing this.
He was the village’s only university student; his parents’ hope was for him to graduate and find a good job.
Buy a house! Buy a car! Get married and have kids!
That would bring honor to the ancestors.
