Chapter Ninety-Four: Shaking His Head

The train had been delayed by half an hour.

Xu Fei and the other two got off.

The conductor’s look had struck Li Sixi as strange.

“Big brother, did you see that conductor?”

“Why bother with him?” Zhang Mingyang said irritably, waving a hand.

“He, he was looking at us like Wang San the pig butcher in my village. That’s exactly the look he had when he slaughtered pigs.”

As Li Sixi said this, he could not help shivering.

“Oh, right, brother, do you want to check if anything of yours is missing?”

Li Sixi glanced at the bag in his hand.

“No, it’s all here. Big brother, why are you asking?”

At that moment Zhang Mingyang stepped forward and patted Li Sixi on the shoulder.

“My good brother Li Sixi, take a look at your most hidden spot.”

At those words, Li Sixi hurriedly reached to his waist. The touch was enough to make his face go white with fright.

“My, my money pouch is gone!”

Zhang Mingyang quickly waved both hands.

“My brother, don’t shout. It’s not gone.”

“Not gone?”

Li Sixi looked at Xu Fei, then at Zhang Mingyang. With a pained face he said, “It, it really is gone!”

Xu Fei smiled and took out the money pouch.

“Hm? How did it end up with you? Big brother, this, what exactly is going on?”

Zhang Mingyang stepped up and stuffed the pouch into Li Sixi’s arms.

“Brother, hurry and put it away.”

Li Sixi quickly took it, opened it to look, and saw that none of the money was missing. Only then did he relax and look back at Xu Fei and the others.

“What on earth happened?”

Then Xu Fei told him how he had noticed two pickpockets had targeted Li Sixi, and how he and Zhang Mingyang had quietly agreed to pretend to drink themselves into a stupor, all of it staged for those two thieves.

“So you’d already noticed them!”

Li Sixi looked at the pouch in his hand, then raised his head and gazed at the two of them with deep gratitude.

“I said it: on this trip, I was bound to meet benefactors. Look at you two—you truly are my benefactors!”

As he spoke, he took out several large banknotes from the pouch.

“Big brothers, thank you so much. I don’t know how else to repay you, so take this money.”

Xu Fei hurriedly smiled and pushed the money back.

“Brother, since we met, it was fate. If you do this, you’re making a mockery of us brothers.”

Zhang Mingyang also smiled and said, “Brother Li, the reason we helped is that you’re from Donghai too. When we’re out and about, fellows from the same hometown should look after one another.”

Li Sixi nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, yes, brothers, you really are good people!”

Xu Fei said with a smile, “All right, brother, let’s take you out.”

So the two of them helped Li Sixi carry his luggage and escorted him out of the station.

Li Sixi thanked them over and over again before parting ways with Xu Fei and the others.

“Old Four, shall we grab a bite before heading to the Nanjing Television Factory?”

Xu Fei nodded.

Before long, they found a small food stall near the station and ordered some breakfast.

The two ate while talking about Li Sixi.

Now that they were recounting it, they were still full of delight.

When the subject turned to dealing with those two pickpockets, Zhang Mingyang still felt rather proud of his bottle trick.

Xu Fei had not expected it either.

Zhang Mingyang pulled out the bottle with the leftovers still inside.

“I figured the big guy had a knife, didn’t I? If we wanted to subdue them, there was only one way: strike first.”

Xu Fei smiled and gave Zhang Mingyang a thumbs-up.

“Third Brother, that move of yours really surprised me.”

“Did it?”

Zhang Mingyang grinned.

After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant and asked the owner for directions to the television factory in Nanjing.

At the station there were tricycle rickshaws waiting to take passengers.

“Where to?”

The speaker was a sturdy man in an athletic undershirt, looking shrewd and about forty, with some baldness at the crown.

“The Nanjing Television Factory.”

“One and a half yuan.”

“So expensive?” Zhang Mingyang eyed the man sideways.

“Brother, this is already the most reasonable price. The factory is more than ten li from here. It’ll take my tricycle close to an hour to get there.”

Xu Fei looked at Zhang Mingyang.

“Third Brother, pay him.”

“All right.”

“Good.”

The sturdy man first loaded Xu Fei and the others’ bags onto the tricycle. Xu Fei and Zhang Mingyang climbed on from the front and sat on either side.

“Sit tight.”

At the driver’s warning, the tricycle started moving slowly. The stout man pushed hard with his legs, and the vehicle gathered speed, going faster and faster.

“You’re here to buy goods, right?”

“Yes.”

Xu Fei smiled at the man.

“Are there many buyers coming here to stock up?”

“There sure are. In the neighboring provinces, our Nanjing television factory is the only one.”

All the way there, the three chatted casually.

The sturdy man was indeed powerfully built; even while talking with them, he did not seem to breathe hard at all.

Zhang Mingyang admired him inwardly.

It really was only about an hour before the tricycle reached the front of the Nanjing Television Factory.

“We’re here.”

The sturdy man brought the tricycle to a stop.

Xu Fei handed him the money.

“Little brother, you two seem like decent people, so I’ll give you a warning.” The sturdy man glanced at Xu Fei. “This television factory is said to have more demand than supply right now. See that inn across from the factory?”

Xu Fei and Zhang Mingyang followed his finger.

Right across from the factory gate stood a row of single-story houses, about five or six rooms in all. Many colored lights hung from the windows, the ground in front had been leveled with sand, and three signs swayed from a pole high enough to be seen from all sides.

“Spring Welcome Inn?”

“Right, that’s the Spring Welcome Inn. All the buyers who come here to stock up stay there. Do you know why?”

Hearing the implication in his words, Xu Fei took out a cigarette and offered one to the sturdy man.

“Here.”

Zhang Mingyang hurriedly took out matches and lit it for him.

“Thanks.”

After taking a drag, the sturdy man exhaled a plume of white smoke and pointed toward the Spring Welcome Inn.

“This place is actually run by the television factory’s deputy director. If you don’t stay at the inn, then even if you have money, you still won’t be able to buy a television.”

“Oh?”

Zhang Mingyang spat toward the inn.

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

The sturdy man, however, looked at Zhang Mingyang and slowly shook his head.

“Much appreciated, brother.”

Xu Fei smiled and nodded at him.

“Mhm.”

Seeing that Xu Fei had not objected, the sturdy man said, “I can tell this little brother is an understanding one. I was afraid you’d really go to the factory and still end up unable to buy a television, wasting your time for nothing.”

Xu Fei nodded.

“Brother, are there any other rules here?”

The sturdy man thought for a moment.

“You may stay at the inn, but the real difficulty is getting on the waiting list. I’ve heard the number of televisions produced is limited. If you want an early slot, you have to find a way to curry favor with that deputy director.”

“This...” Zhang Mingyang’s eyes widened.

“Isn’t that abusing power for personal gain?”

“Anyway, that’s all I know. I’d better go find some work.”

The sturdy man got back on the tricycle and rode off into the distance.

Xu Fei waved after him, then turned to look at the Spring Welcome Inn.

“Old Four, shall we go take a look?”

“Sure.”

The two brothers, Xu Fei and Zhang Mingyang, walked toward the inn.