Chapter 40 My Only Hobby is Women
“Head in that direction.” The fat man laughed and pointed at the grassy river bank under the bridge.
“How would I get there?” Zhao Lingjun looked left and right for a path downwards, but couldn’t find a safe passage down.
But just as Zhao Lingjun asked this question, the tall man forcefully shoved him from behind.
“Ahhh!” Meng Xue suddenly cried out in surprise. With a thud, Zhao Lingjun fell onto the riverbank filled with tall grass.
“Haha, now do you know how to get down?”
The tall man laughed at Zhao Lingjun who was flat on his back on the riverbank.
The riverbank that Zhao Lingjun fell on was full of soft mud and tall grass. During his three meters fall, his world turned black and when he hit the ground, he almost died from the impact. Jolting upright after a long moment, Zhao Lingjun gasped for air like a fish out of water, and spat out a mouthful of mud and grass from his mouth that reeked of a bloody taste from earlier. Just as he was about to jump onto his feet and curse, “F*ck your ancestors,” Meng Xue came flying from the bridge to land beside him.
His first reaction was to quickly help her up, and when he saw that she didn’t suffer anything too serious, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your girlfriend has such a strong personality. She jumped down herself without me having to push her.” As he was helping her up, the fatty and tall man also leaped off the bridge and landed beside them.
“Bro, you’re fine, right?” the fat man smiling as usual said. “Come, follow me.”
* * *
It just so happened to be early summer, the grass on the riverbank were crazy tall, no less than half a man’s height.
Meng Xue and Zhao Lingjun followed behind the fat man in the waist high grass, with the tall man trudging along behind them with the two bags.
The riverbank’s soil was moist at places, and as Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue stumbled through, they would accidentally step into a muddy pit after every few steps. Therefore, not long after they started, both the lower half of their pants were wet and sticky, plastering itself to their legs. With each step they took, it felt like there was a monster licking both their calves with a cold tongue, which was exceptionally discomforting.
But what was truly the most unbearable, was the tall grass. Due to the sweltering weather, both Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue wore short sleeved tops, and walking through the tall grass with their exposed arms felt like getting cut by a small knife, itchy and painful at the same time.
Not long after walking, Zhao Lingjun noticed that Meng Xue’s white arms had numerous scratches from the grass.
When seeing her arms turn red and her face with an expression full of suffering, a pained feeling rose in his heart for no rhyme nor reason.
“Even if I have to risk my life, I must keep her from harm’s way.” He told himself in his heart, unable to bear the sight.
* * *
After trudging in the overgrown riverbank for almost an hour, Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue’s strength and willpower were about to falter. At that moment, they saw some bungalows along the riverbank.
The fat man laughed and pointed at the houses made of stone slabs that looked like makeshift houses made by farmers who reared ducks and geese. He then said, “Bro, we’re here.”
“Why did they bring us here?”
Zhao Lingjun’s heart was full of doubts as he was pushed into one of the houses.
At this moment, he heard the fat man ask the tall man, “How long do they need before they arrive?”
“They still need roughly half an hour.” the tall man replied after taking a look at his watch.
Once he heard their conversation, Zhao Ling finally understood why they were here. It was either a prearranged spot to exchange the stolen goods, or the rendezvous point for the other two, the short and thin man to regroup after leading the police on a wild goose chase.
Understanding this, Zhao Lingjun immediately committed every single nook and cranny of the house to memory.
In the house, other than the kitchen stove for cooking, there was nothing else worthy of mention. The houses really seemed to be a resting spot for fisherman or a farmer’s makeshift house. Near the window was an area filled with a thick layer of wood and straw, which seemed like the previous dweller’s bed.
“The hell? It’s still pretty comfortable.” said the tall man after he threw the two bags onto the kitchen table and planted his butt on the straw bed, removing his mud laden boots.
Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue both looked at each other, both with the desire to remove their mud filled shoes and rest their bodies. But they didn’t know what the two robbers intended to do with them by bringing them to such a place.
“Heihei.” As they were hesitant, and didn’t know what to do, the fat man laughed. “This time, it’s thanks to you, bro, for paving the way. It was only because of you that the journey was so smooth.”
“Since you say we are bros, why did you do this to me?” At this point, Zhao Lingjun could no longer hold himself back and said everything bottled up in his chest. “Since you are safe now, you should be freeing us, right?”
“Don’t be in such a hurry.” The fat man said, with his permanent Maitreya like expression. “Let’s talk and chitchat. We haven’t introduced ourselves. For better or for worse, the two of you have already joined us thus far, let’s get to know each other.”
“He’s called Gao Jun.” Uncaring of whether Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue were interested in listening, he pointed at the tall guy who had taken off his boots and was airing his stinky feet and said. “He was formerly a Wushu champion in Liang Guang.[1] Basically, in a one versus one melee combat, he is unmatched, not even a combat instructor from the Special Forces is his match. His hobby is to find strong people to fight for the thrill of combat.”
After hearing him introduce Gao Jun, Meng Xue and Zhao Lingjun both started sweating.
At this moment, Zhao Lingjun remembered how the tall man had dragged the four women’s corpses with one hand, and how he had kicked the bald man flying into oblivion. He felt that the fat man wasn’t exaggerating in the least.
“The thin man wielding the modified sniper rifle you saw earlier is called Blacky.” As before, still not caring about Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue’s interest, he continued. “He was previously in the country’s Special Forces, before he left and joined a private military company overseas. His hobby is killing people, especially those highly skilled with guns.”
“As for that shorty, he’s called Li Hao, a demolition specialist. At a young age, he grew up in a munitions factory specialising in manufacturing grenades. His explosive grenades and smoke bombs are the best available, even the best on the black market doesn’t even come close to his. His hobby in contrast, is slightly debased, he just loves money.
Still smiling, the fat man continued speaking. But as Zhao Lingjun listened, his heart slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean.
The reason why his heart sank, was not because the fat man was describing how extraordinary his team was. He had already witnessed first hand how devastating these four people were back at 7th Street. Instead, the reason why his heart sank, was because he felt that the fat man was telling him too much.
He felt that if he was a criminal, if anyone knew too much about him, he wouldn’t let them leave alive.
He couldn’t help but take a peek at Meng Xue.
Her eyes were already full of trepidation.
At this moment, the fat man who was still smiling, continued talking.
“I’m Ji Jijun, I don’t have any extraordinary strengths, just that I have more connections with others, and am able to buy things that ordinary people aren’t able to. Able to receive some jobs that others never receive offers for. As for my hobby, there is only one…” He paused after speaking to this point, and looked at Meng Xue beside Zhao Lingjun, “and that is women, beautiful women.”
Chapter 40 My Only Hobby is Women
“Head in that direction.” The fat man laughed and pointed at the grassy river bank under the bridge.
“How would I get there?” Zhao Lingjun looked left and right for a path downwards, but couldn’t find a safe passage down.
But just as Zhao Lingjun asked this question, the tall man forcefully shoved him from behind.
“Ahhh!” Meng Xue suddenly cried out in surprise. With a thud, Zhao Lingjun fell onto the riverbank filled with tall grass.
“Haha, now do you know how to get down?”
The tall man laughed at Zhao Lingjun who was flat on his back on the riverbank.
The riverbank that Zhao Lingjun fell on was full of soft mud and tall grass. During his three meters fall, his world turned black and when he hit the ground, he almost died from the impact. Jolting upright after a long moment, Zhao Lingjun gasped for air like a fish out of water, and spat out a mouthful of mud and grass from his mouth that reeked of a bloody taste from earlier. Just as he was about to jump onto his feet and curse, “F*ck your ancestors,” Meng Xue came flying from the bridge to land beside him.
His first reaction was to quickly help her up, and when he saw that she didn’t suffer anything too serious, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your girlfriend has such a strong personality. She jumped down herself without me having to push her.” As he was helping her up, the fatty and tall man also leaped off the bridge and landed beside them.
“Bro, you’re fine, right?” the fat man smiling as usual said. “Come, follow me.”
* * *
It just so happened to be early summer, the grass on the riverbank were crazy tall, no less than half a man’s height.
Meng Xue and Zhao Lingjun followed behind the fat man in the waist high grass, with the tall man trudging along behind them with the two bags.
The riverbank’s soil was moist at places, and as Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue stumbled through, they would accidentally step into a muddy pit after every few steps. Therefore, not long after they started, both the lower half of their pants were wet and sticky, plastering itself to their legs. With each step they took, it felt like there was a monster licking both their calves with a cold tongue, which was exceptionally discomforting.
But what was truly the most unbearable, was the tall grass. Due to the sweltering weather, both Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue wore short sleeved tops, and walking through the tall grass with their exposed arms felt like getting cut by a small knife, itchy and painful at the same time.
Not long after walking, Zhao Lingjun noticed that Meng Xue’s white arms had numerous scratches from the grass.
When seeing her arms turn red and her face with an expression full of suffering, a pained feeling rose in his heart for no rhyme nor reason.
“Even if I have to risk my life, I must keep her from harm’s way.” He told himself in his heart, unable to bear the sight.
* * *
After trudging in the overgrown riverbank for almost an hour, Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue’s strength and willpower were about to falter. At that moment, they saw some bungalows along the riverbank.
The fat man laughed and pointed at the houses made of stone slabs that looked like makeshift houses made by farmers who reared ducks and geese. He then said, “Bro, we’re here.”
“Why did they bring us here?”
Zhao Lingjun’s heart was full of doubts as he was pushed into one of the houses.
At this moment, he heard the fat man ask the tall man, “How long do they need before they arrive?”
“They still need roughly half an hour.” the tall man replied after taking a look at his watch.
Once he heard their conversation, Zhao Ling finally understood why they were here. It was either a prearranged spot to exchange the stolen goods, or the rendezvous point for the other two, the short and thin man to regroup after leading the police on a wild goose chase.
Understanding this, Zhao Lingjun immediately committed every single nook and cranny of the house to memory.
In the house, other than the kitchen stove for cooking, there was nothing else worthy of mention. The houses really seemed to be a resting spot for fisherman or a farmer’s makeshift house. Near the window was an area filled with a thick layer of wood and straw, which seemed like the previous dweller’s bed.
“The hell? It’s still pretty comfortable.” said the tall man after he threw the two bags onto the kitchen table and planted his butt on the straw bed, removing his mud laden boots.
Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue both looked at each other, both with the desire to remove their mud filled shoes and rest their bodies. But they didn’t know what the two robbers intended to do with them by bringing them to such a place.
“Heihei.” As they were hesitant, and didn’t know what to do, the fat man laughed. “This time, it’s thanks to you, bro, for paving the way. It was only because of you that the journey was so smooth.”
“Since you say we are bros, why did you do this to me?” At this point, Zhao Lingjun could no longer hold himself back and said everything bottled up in his chest. “Since you are safe now, you should be freeing us, right?”
“Don’t be in such a hurry.” The fat man said, with his permanent Maitreya like expression. “Let’s talk and chitchat. We haven’t introduced ourselves. For better or for worse, the two of you have already joined us thus far, let’s get to know each other.”
“He’s called Gao Jun.” Uncaring of whether Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue were interested in listening, he pointed at the tall guy who had taken off his boots and was airing his stinky feet and said. “He was formerly a Wushu champion in Liang Guang.[1] Basically, in a one versus one melee combat, he is unmatched, not even a combat instructor from the Special Forces is his match. His hobby is to find strong people to fight for the thrill of combat.”
After hearing him introduce Gao Jun, Meng Xue and Zhao Lingjun both started sweating.
At this moment, Zhao Lingjun remembered how the tall man had dragged the four women’s corpses with one hand, and how he had kicked the bald man flying into oblivion. He felt that the fat man wasn’t exaggerating in the least.
“The thin man wielding the modified sniper rifle you saw earlier is called Blacky.” As before, still not caring about Zhao Lingjun and Meng Xue’s interest, he continued. “He was previously in the country’s Special Forces, before he left and joined a private military company overseas. His hobby is killing people, especially those highly skilled with guns.”
“As for that shorty, he’s called Li Hao, a demolition specialist. At a young age, he grew up in a munitions factory specialising in manufacturing grenades. His explosive grenades and smoke bombs are the best available, even the best on the black market doesn’t even come close to his. His hobby in contrast, is slightly debased, he just loves money.
Still smiling, the fat man continued speaking. But as Zhao Lingjun listened, his heart slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean.
The reason why his heart sank, was not because the fat man was describing how extraordinary his team was. He had already witnessed first hand how devastating these four people were back at 7th Street. Instead, the reason why his heart sank, was because he felt that the fat man was telling him too much.
He felt that if he was a criminal, if anyone knew too much about him, he wouldn’t let them leave alive.
He couldn’t help but take a peek at Meng Xue.
Her eyes were already full of trepidation.
At this moment, the fat man who was still smiling, continued talking.
“I’m Ji Jijun, I don’t have any extraordinary strengths, just that I have more connections with others, and am able to buy things that ordinary people aren’t able to. Able to receive some jobs that others never receive offers for. As for my hobby, there is only one…” He paused after speaking to this point, and looked at Meng Xue beside Zhao Lingjun, “and that is women, beautiful women.”
