bookrandom Chapter 121 Don't you have any self-awareness?
Chapter 121 Don't you have any self-awareness?
"It would be strange if no one was here. But we don't need to be too nervous, let's just wait and see."
Li Xiangyang nodded and suddenly yanked the reins.
The donkey snorted and sped up a bit.
By now it was broad daylight, and the sun had melted the frost on the ground, revealing the muddy road surface.
The donkey's hooves left a trail of watermarks on the ground.
There is a poplar grove not far ahead.
The poplar trees are bare this season, their branches swaying in the wind and making a whistling sound.
Just as the two reached the edge of the woods, several figures emerged from within.
The leader was wearing a worn military overcoat and carrying a hunting rifle, the dark muzzle pointed directly at them.
"Damn it!" Wang Ergou's face changed, and he cursed in a low voice, "I should have brought weapons."
Li Xiangyang squinted at it, then smiled.
He recognized the man holding the gun as Cheng Shichang from the Yangjia Village educated youth settlement.
The reason Li Xiangyang knew the other person was because the two were considered 'love rivals' and had both pursued Su Yan, so they were old acquaintances.
When encountering robbers on the road, the worst thing is if the robber is a reckless and impulsive person who doesn't care about anything and can't understand human language.
But educated youth like Cheng Shichang, with a bright future ahead of them, were actually easier to talk to.
After all, no one is willing to jeopardize their promising future for short-term gains.
"You two better behave yourselves, let's talk!"
With a gun in hand, Cheng Shichang was full of confidence and waved to the two men.
"Interesting." Li Xiangyang jumped off the donkey cart and took two steps closer to Cheng Shichang. "Cheng, I don't care where you got this gun, but who are you trying to scare? We'll stand here and let you shoot, do you dare? If you don't dare, do you think you and your few men are enough for us to beat up?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Shichang's hand holding the gun visibly began to tremble, and the men behind him exchanged glances, also somewhat flustered.
"You...you stay away!" Cheng Shichang took a step back.
“Alright,” Li Xiangyang stopped, “let’s talk this out. You want a snow leopard pelt, right? How much are you willing to pay?”
Wang Ergou, growing impatient from behind, shouted, "Xiangyang, why waste words with them? Let's get them!"
"Shut up!" Cheng Shichang roared, then turned to Li Xiangyang, "Two hundred yuan. This isn't robbery, it's a transaction."
Li Xiangyang smiled and said, "Cheng Zhiqing, if you really understood the law, you should know that doing business with a gun is called armed robbery."
Upon hearing this, sweat immediately broke out on Cheng Shichang's forehead.
“Besides,” Li Xiangyang took another step forward, “even if you dared to shoot, you could only kill one of us brothers at most. Do you think you'd have a chance to kill the other one?”
Upon hearing this, Wang Ergou grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and his eyes flashed with a fierce look as he walked towards the other person.
"Come on, fire! Shoot here! Let's see if Grandpa will dodge!"
As Wang Ergou pressed closer, Cheng Shichang's hand holding the gun trembled even more.
Seeing Wang Ergou so arrogantly intimidating the other party, Li Xiangyang was genuinely a little flustered.
He reached out and grabbed Wang Ergou, signaling him not to do anything reckless.
There's clearly room for discussion, but what if we push someone too far and things really get out of hand?
“Okay, Cheng Zhiqing,” Li Xiangyang pointed to the woods, “have your men retreat into the woods. You take the gun too, just so you don’t feel uneasy. We’ll talk alone.”
Cheng Shichang hesitated for a moment.
"Don't worry, with a gun in your hands, what can I do?" Li Xiangyang said with a smile. "Besides, if Wang Ergou and I really wanted to fight, what help could your men possibly offer?"
Cheng Shichang gritted his teeth and waved to the people behind him: "You all go back first."
The group breathed a sigh of relief and quickly retreated into the woods.
"Ergou, you watch the donkey cart," Li Xiangyang instructed.
Wang Ergou grumbled in dissatisfaction, but still obediently stood guard by the donkey cart.
“Cheng Zhiqing, I’m a little confused,” Li Xiangyang said slowly, looking at the trembling gun in the other man’s hand. “If you’re determined to go back to the city, you probably don’t need to pull any strings, right? So what do you want this leather for?”
“I…” Beads of sweat appeared on Cheng Shichang’s forehead.
“Tell me about it, I’m actually quite curious,” Li Xiangyang chuckled. “Selling this leather to whoever you want is fine, right? If there’s a benefit, I might give it to you. But don’t even think about it for two hundred. If you really want to buy it, you’ll have to show some sincerity.”
“Li Xiangyang, since we’ve come this far, I won’t hide it from you anymore.” Cheng Shichang gritted his teeth. “You and I know each other pretty well. You know my father owns a department store.”
"But you don't know, my uncle is in the foreign trade business."
"It's simple for me to take the risk. Snow leopard pelts are priceless to foreigners. I'll take them and give them to my uncle. With his support, even if my father disapproves of me, he'll have no choice but to choose me as his successor."
"As long as you give me the hides, when I return to the city to take over the family business, you can buy whatever you want without coupons; I'll give it to you at full price. This is an incredible benefit!"
Li Xiangyang couldn't help but laugh after hearing Cheng Shichang's words.
It was indeed an attractive offer: supplying goods without invoices, which was an incredible benefit in this day and age, especially since it was at the original price.
The other party is absolutely sincere.
However, this sincerity can only remain in the moment when he needs something from me.
"Cheng Zhiqing, you certainly sound very sincere," Li Xiangyang said calmly. "But do you think a verbal promise can put food on the table?"
Cheng Shichang's eyes lit up: "How about this, we write a contract? You give me the leather, and I'll write a guarantee."
“Cheng Zhiqing, you’re an educated person,” Li Xiangyang shook his head, “Does this kind of private transaction agreement even count? Besides, you haven’t even returned to the city yet, and you dare to make decisions for your father’s company?”
Cheng Shichang's hand gripping the gun began to tremble again: "So what do you want?"
“How about this,” Li Xiangyang took a step forward, looking Cheng Shichang in the eye, “I’ll give you a way out. You dismiss the men you brought, and we’ll pretend nothing happened. If you really want this hide, we’ll go into town together to find your uncle.”
"You!" Cheng Shichang's expression changed.
"What? You're afraid to let your uncle know what you've done?" Li Xiangyang sneered. "You dared to rob me at gunpoint, what are you afraid of? Don't worry, I absolutely won't let your uncle know what you've done."
"If that's the case, you'll get all the benefits, what's in it for me?" Cheng Shichang's eyes flickered, clearly wavering.
"Are you genuinely confused, or are you pretending not to understand? Even if you manage to steal the leather today and deliver it to your uncle, how are you going to explain where it came from? Are you going to say you hunted it yourself? Or bought it at a high price? Don't you know your own limitations? Do you think your uncle will believe you if you say that?"
These words struck a nerve with Cheng Shichang.
If he had any ability at all, given his family's connections, how could he be in this situation now?
Ultimately, the biggest reason why educated youth went to the countryside was the lack of job opportunities in the cities.
Does his family need any job openings?