Chapter 14: Fixing The Car
“Fixing the truck… how much money can you give me?” This was John’s first question.
“Money?”
Li Gaoyuan was slightly stunned, then shook his head. “We have no money.”
“What? No money? That’s absolutely not okay!” John’s head shook like a rattle-drum. Then he stuck out three fingers. “Three hundred dollars… you just need to give me three hundred dollars, and I can fix this truck for you.”
“Three hundred dollars?”
Li Gaoyuan was almost amused by the anger. He pointed at the truck in the yard and couldn’t help but mock: “That Ford truck, even brand new, is only worth 500 dollars. Now just to fix it, you want to charge me three hundred. Are you taking me for a sucker?”
A sly glint flashed in John’s eyes: “Of course I wouldn’t take you for a sucker, but right now only I can get this truck running here, so asking for three hundred dollars from you isn’t excessive, is it?”
“You…”
Li Gaoyuan was momentarily furious but felt somewhat helpless toward this foreigner.
“Your request is of course not excessive!”
A voice suddenly came from the side.
Faced with the sudden voice, all three were startled. Li Gaoyuan even reflexively reached for his waist, but then he remembered that if the other party truly meant harm, the three of them would have long been turned into beehives.
He slowly turned around and, by the moonlight, saw a young man in a blue cotton jacket standing not far away, smiling at him.
“Brother Su, you’ve arrived?”
“Officer Li.”
With that, Su Yaoyang strode forward and gave Li Gaoyuan a big bear hug. This left Li Gaoyuan, who had been reaching out to him, stunned for a moment before he smiled and hugged back.
After parting from Li Gaoyuan, Su Yaoyang turned to look at John, sizing him up for a while, then suddenly said in English: “John… I just heard you quoting three hundred dollars to fix that truck. Is that right?”
“You are…”
Hearing Su Yaoyang’s English with a distinct Chinese accent, John was stunned for a moment before saying: “Yes, you know that truck is really too rundown. Fixing it is very difficult, especially without parts and tools, which makes it even harder. So three hundred dollars isn’t high.”
“No… I’ll give you only one hundred dollars.”
Su Yaoyang smiled and pulled a shiny golden bar from his pocket, dangling it in front of him.
“Listen, if you can fix this truck, this gold bar is yours.”
“Oh… God.”
Seeing this gold bar, commonly known as a little yellow croaker, John’s eyes instantly lit up. He reached out to take it, but Su Yaoyang quickly put it away.
“Wait… if you want the gold, fix the truck first.”
“You…”
John grudgingly withdrew his hand but still said unwillingly: “Sir, to get me to fix this truck, one gold bar isn’t enough. At least three are needed. That’s already my biggest concession…”
“Click!”
Before John could finish, a dark gun barrel was already pressed against his chest, accompanied by Su Yaoyang’s icy voice.
“Mr. John, now you have only two choices: either fix the truck and take this gold bar and leave, or get shot dead by me right here. Now I’m giving you five seconds… five… four… three…”
“Okay… okay… I’ll fix it… I’ll fix it, alright?”
Faced with the dark gun barrel, John scaredly raised his hands at once, then said angrily: “Sir, I am an American citizen. What you’re doing is an offense to the great United States of America.”
“Sorry, I only know that if we don’t get out of the city soon, death awaits us. So please don’t try to scare me with the United States of America.” Su Yaoyang remained unmoved as he looked at him.
“Either fix the truck quickly, take the money, and go, or die here with us. You choose.”
“Damn it!”
John angrily waved his hand, but he couldn’t figure out why. In the past, which Chinese person hadn’t been polite to him, even bowing and scraping.
How could this guy dare talk to him like this, even trying to freeload? In Chinese terms, wasn’t this completely upside down?
But Su Yaoyang had no mind to deal with this guy. Although he knew this American wasn’t bad and in the movie, he ended up risking it to send those female students out of Nanjing.
But right now, he really had no time to waste energy on this. He could only use this roughest and most direct way to make the guy work.
As for why not just give him a few more little yellow croakers directly, it was purely because Su Yaoyang was unhappy with John’s attitude of jacking up the price on the spot.
If his mental power was sufficient now to convert trucks, tanks, and other heavy weapons, he would have told this guy to get lost long ago, instead of wasting breath talking to him.
After dealing with John, he casually pulled out a grenade and stuffed it into the hands of Chen George, who was watching dazedly nearby: “You’re Chen George, right? I’m now assigning you a task: keep a close eye on this guy.
Once you see any sign of him trying to run, use this grenade to blow him to pieces.”
“I… Brother Su…”
This young boy held the M24 grenade, which was as long as his arm, as if holding a red-hot branding iron.
And John looked at the grenade in Chen George’s hand with an especially odd expression. The two looked at each other, neither speaking.
Li Gaoyuan on the side quietly watched everything Su Yaoyang did without a word, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
After speaking, Su Yaoyang turned to him and smiled: “Officer Li, shall we take a walk over there?”
“Sure!” Li Gaoyuan agreed readily.
After walking a stretch along the front yard of the church, Su Yaoyang spoke first: “Officer Li…”
Before he could finish, Li Gaoyuan said: “Brother Su, my brothers from the training team and I all owe you our lives, so let’s not be so formal.
You can call me by my name directly, or Old Li, or Big Brother Li. Just don’t call me officer.”
Su Yaoyang smiled: “Alright then, I’ll call you Old Li.”
With that, he pulled a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes from his pocket and handed him one.
Li Gaoyuan, who had studied in Germany for three years, was a connoisseur. He took the cigarette, looked at it, and said: “Whoa… American goods. Looks like Brother Su has wide connections.”
“Just a pack of smokes, not worth mentioning.”
Su Yaoyang waved his hand, took out a lighter to light one for each of them, then asked: “Old Li, what do you think of our current situation?”
“What else is there to think?”
Li Gaoyuan took a deep drag on the cigarette, a trace of desolation flashing across his face: “What else? Live one day at a time. Kill one to break even, kill two to profit.”
