Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 184: No Holds Barred (Vote for us with your monthly ticket, third update)

“Tons…?” Feng Jun found his tongue tied, Sister Hong, could you not have such high expectations of me?

He cleared his throat, “Don’t come to me for such bulk goods, let’s… calculate it by kilograms.”

Sister Hong immediately regained her composure, “Well, that’s not very interesting… Never mind, I’ll ask around some more.”

“No need,” Feng Jun hastily expressed his opposition, thinking Sister Hong was pretty good at everything, but her proactivity… was a bit too strong.

Not to mention anything else, just her handling of the jade business gave one a glimpse of what I mean.

He felt compelled to stress, “I don’t have any urgent need to help others transport goods, strictly speaking, I just want to get some explosives for myself… Is that clear enough?”

“You really are…” Sister Hong glanced at him, and finally sighed helplessly, “Alright, I’ll ask about the Merrick visa for you… but don’t expect it to be sorted out anytime soon.”

Feng Jun hadn’t really counted on going to Merrick for explosives anyway; such operations had been written about in plenty of online novels, but they were purely misleading. Getting a couple of handguns wouldn’t be too hard, getting automatic weapons would involve a complicated process, taking a long time.

As for a large quantity of explosives or heavy weapons? Don’t joke. If one was so inclined, it would be better to go to places like the Middle East.

So he settled for the next best thing, “If that doesn’t work out, African countries are also fine, those with conflicts are the best.”

Sister Hong glared at him annoyedly, “I think you’d better start by getting on good terms with the earthquake monitoring stations.”

Feng Jun was stunned for quite a while before he understood what she was implying.

That afternoon, Li Xiaobin followed Feng Jun to Peach Blossom Valley again.

Feng Jun initially did not want to bring her because he wanted to use this opportunity to move some of the jade into the living room.

However, Li Xiaobin said she wanted to get to know the guards at the gate better to avoid being blocked outside the community in the future.

Feng Jun thought it made sense, so he left her at the guard booth and went back to the villa himself.

Once home, he moved over a dozen pieces of jade into the living room and placed four pieces in the Passat before starting to practice in the courtyard.

Since returning to Earth this time, he had devoted most of his attention to leisure and planning for his future life; moments focused on cultivation had been rather rare.

His practice was interrupted by a phone call.

The call was from a merchant at the Zhongyuan Electronics Mall, telling him that the infrared alarms he had ordered had arrived and were hoping he would pick them up the next morning.

It was these kinds of miscellaneous matters that, in the blink of an eye, made it four days since Feng Jun had returned.

That morning, he drove Li Xiaobin and the four pieces of jade to the Hongjie Clubhouse.

The clubhouse had some new staff, but most still recognized him, and seeing the smartly-dressed ex-employee walk in, accompanied by a pretty woman who scored an eighty out of a hundred, they couldn’t help but turn their heads in unison.

The receptionist, Xiao Li, wasn’t shy; she smiled and greeted him, “Feng Jun, welcome back for a visit. Heard you struck it rich?”

“Nah, just getting by,” Feng Jun responded modestly, “Living hand to mouth, really.”

He proceeded upstairs with Li Xiaobin to find Sister Hong. The new receptionist whispered to Xiao Li, “This guy… used to work here?”

“Yep,” Xiao Li nodded, sighing involuntarily, “He was struggling back then too. Sister, I really didn’t see it coming, such a potential stock and I failed to catch it.”

“True, he’s tall and handsome,” the new receptionist licked her lips, her eyes filled with intense curiosity, “who has he attached himself to?”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Xiao Li glared at her, whispering, “He’s got high standards, wouldn’t go for those older women… He was fired by the clubhouse.”

“He’s really made it then,” the receptionist’s eyes lit up, she was only eighteen but sharp-sighted, “He’s got to be worth at least thirty thousand… just lacking a wristwatch.”

“What’s a watch matter?” Xiao Li snorted dismissively, then lowered her voice again, “I heard… Sister Hong is now running errands for him.”

Could he have slept with Sister Hong? The young receptionist’s mind spun with impure thoughts, but her face showed only regret, “That impressive, huh? Sister Li, you really missed out, though… you can still make a move now, right?”

Xiao Li hesitated, but ultimately shook her head, “He’s already taken, what’s there to talk about? Shame, if only I hadn’t deleted those selfies back then…”

Zhang Weihong sat up straight in her office waiting for Feng Jun and, upon his arrival, stood up decisively, “Come on, let’s take a look at your jade.”

Feng Jun actually wanted to ask if Wang Haifeng was around but considering the guy’s lifestyle, he chose to keep his mouth shut.

Sister Hong briefly inspected the four pieces of jade in the trunk and nodded in satisfaction, “Not bad… Is this all there is?”

“Peach Blossom Valley still has about ten pieces,” Feng Jun said casually, “but you know my car… it can’t carry much.”

“About ten pieces…” Sister Hong rubbed her hands together excitedly, clearly satisfied with his answer.

However, in the next moment, she turned her head to look at him, asking with interest, “With so much jade, you didn’t even give me an estimate. You seem to trust me a lot.”

“I have nothing to worry about when Sister Hong is in charge,” Feng Jun replied with a smile. After a pause, he added with ulterior motives, “Most people wouldn’t give up an entire forest for just one tree… Right, Sister Hong?”

Zhang Weihong glanced sideways at him, “You already have a little tree by your side, budding and ready to bloom.”

Li Xiaobin watched the two chat, seemingly oblivious to their words.

Feng Jun emphasized, “This is my assistant. I have principles, I never eat the grass by my nest.”

His words were a bit cold to Li Xiaobin, but he believed it was better to make some things clear.

He enjoyed playing with ambiguity too, thinking it a rather good flirting technique, but indulging in ambiguity indiscriminately was foolish.

A smile crept onto Sister Hong’s face, but her words were not so pleasant, “So you do know how to distinguish after all? A real old driver… Come with me to deliver the jade.”

The jade needs to be moved up, doesn’t it? Feng Jun’s eyebrows raised, but then he reconsidered, realizing she had a point. This was a fitness clubhouse, after all, where dealing in jade seemed out of place. More importantly, items worth tens of millions, even billions, were really not safe here.

Sister Hong led him to a large courtyard belonging to the provincial material reserve bureau, which was subdivided into many smaller courtyards. In one of them was a very old small two-story building.

She drove to the entrance of the small courtyard and stopped right on the curb, then honked the horn.

After about five seconds, the door of the courtyard opened, and two men emerged. Seeing her, they nodded, “Sister Hong is here?”

Zhang Weihong motioned with her mouth toward the trunk of the car, “There are four pieces of jade inside, take them in… Are they all there?”

“Not here,” a slightly older man spoke up, looking to be around forty, “Manager Niu is leading people out, seems like they’re going to repave the road…”

“Damn it,” Sister Hong cursed right away, “What does his road repaving have to do with us? Doesn’t he have his own construction team? We’re not laborers.”

“They went to someone on the street to negotiate, seems like they found Stinky Tofu,” the middle-aged man replied helplessly, “Second Miss is worried he’ll be taken advantage of… Anyway, Stinky Tofu wouldn’t dare show his teeth to our people.”

“That kid, I’ve been beating him since he was little,” Sister Hong snorted with disdain, then sighed, “But this time… let it be. In the future, don’t let Cai Xin act rashly.”

“How am I acting rashly?” Just then, a voice came from behind her.

Everyone turned to look, and there were two men and two women approaching. Leading them was a woman who certainly looked taller than five feet seven, perhaps even taller than Sister Hong, dressed in a beige trench coat and tan waisted suede boots. Her stature was not only tall but her presence was also very strong.

What was especially eye-catching was that the woman had a high nose, deep-set eyes, fair skin, a face bearing foreign features, and skin as smooth and delicate as a boiled egg, exceptionally refined and beautiful.

Seeing her, Sister Hong frowned, “Niu is no good bird. You should interact less with him in the future. Our company is here to do business, not to get involved in those nonsensical grudges.”

“Of course, I know that,” the woman with the foreign features lifted her eyebrows slightly, showing a bit of impatience, “I was just standing there, didn’t say a word. Zhengyang is so big, who can stop me from standing?”

Sister Hong glared at her, annoyed, “No one’s stopping you from standing, but you need to understand, the Zhang family isn’t afraid of trouble, but we never stir it up either. Let Niu deal with his own grudges; just because he’s come over a few times doesn’t mean he’s not an outsider.”

The woman with foreign features replied impatiently, “You don’t need to teach me… I got paid for this. It’s a justified action now.”

“Hmph,” Sister Hong snorted coldly once more, clearly not convinced, “You really don’t get cost accounting.”

“Well, I got paid too,” the woman with foreign features retorted, then glanced at Feng Jun, “This little guy looks good though. Did you bring him over for some big business deal?”

“This is Feng Jun, Boss Feng!” Zhang Weihong’s voice became more severe, “Speak politely.”

“Ah, so you’re Feng Jun?” Surprise flickered in the eyes of the woman with foreign features as she walked up to him with long strides, took two steps up to him, looked him up and down, and nodded with a smile, “Indeed, a man of impressive appearance.”

Then, she turned to glance at Li Xiaobin, clearly scoffing, “Is this your girl? Your taste isn’t that great.”

Li Xiaobin remained expressionless while Feng Jun disagreed, his face impassive as he spoke, “Who are you, huh? Are we close?”

“I’m your Sister Hong’s sister,” the woman with foreign features replied cheerfully, extending her fair hand, “Let’s get acquainted. My name is Zhang Caixin, and I’ve been helping you promote your jade.”

Feng Jun also reached out his hand, glanced at her, then looked at Sister Hong thoughtfully, “You two are… half-sisters, right?”

(The third installment has arrived, casting a loud call for monthly tickets.)