MMB Chapter 255: Stealing is worse than Buying
Chapter 255: Stealing is worse than Buying
The plane landed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at 1 p.m. Huang Xiaochuan first went back to his old apartment to get his communication equipment, and then made a phone call to Yu Xiang to tell her that he had returned.
Then Huang Xiaochuan asked Yang Junmin to drive him to the hotel where Wu Duo and Zhang Gaolei were staying. Zhou Wei and Li Huan had been with him for so long, so Huang Xiaochuan told them to go back and rest for a few days.
After arriving at the hotel and asking the staff for room directions, Huang Xiaochuan went directly to the room where Wu Duo and his companion were staying.
Zhang Gaolei opened the door, and the two hugged each other after they met.
After they parted ways, Huang Xiaochuan joked, "Wow! You're something else, Lao Zhang. You've already learned foreign etiquette before even going abroad?"
Then he hugged Wu Duo who came to greet him, and glanced around the room. Chen Zhe and Ding Yi were both there, so everyone was there now.
After everyone sat down, Huang Xiaochuan asked, "I thought it would take a while, but I didn't expect it to be so soon!"
Wu Duo replied, "We also found it strange. Normally, given our situation, the earliest we could go would be October. We didn't expect the American school's response and the visa to come through so quickly. Aren't things usually very slow abroad?"
Ding Yi said, "We didn't expect you to leave so soon. Luckily, Xiao Chuan came back in time, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see you one last time."
Wu Duo immediately sensed something was off about those words! Realizing what was happening, he cursed, "You son of a bitch, Ding Gungun, how dare you talk like that? Are you planning to send us down to the underworld?"
Ding Yi quickly slapped his face lightly: "Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, I really didn't mean that."
Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "The squad leader and Lao Zhang are quite considerate. They even came to say goodbye to the brothers. That's the right thing to do. If you two had left without saying a word, then our friendship would be over."
Zhang Gaolei laughed and said, "Then you have to see us off at the airport. You know, because of this, we didn't let our families see us off, and my parents almost disowned me."
Wu Duo laughed and said, "I've visited all my relatives, said everything I needed to say, and met everyone I needed to meet. I should at least leave some time to get together with my brothers, right? So, after discussing it with Lao Zhang, I bought plane tickets from Shanghai to the West Coast of the United States. That way, I'll have time to say goodbye to you guys."
For Huang Xiaochuan, the group had spent two years together and got along well. Now that the two of them were going abroad, Huang Xiaochuan was a little reluctant to part with them. However, he understood the principle that all good things must come to an end.
Moreover, everyone has their own path to walk, and I hope they can return home soon after completing their studies! If they don't plan to come back, then I can only wish them all the best in the future. Huang Xiaochuan always thinks that strangers who go abroad are unpatriotic, but when his close brothers are about to go abroad, Huang Xiaochuan can't have such thoughts anymore. People really know very well how to distinguish between close and distant relatives.
The dinner was arranged by Ding Yi at a small, elegant restaurant with its own courtyard. To make it easier for everyone to talk, Ding Yi booked the entire restaurant. It wasn't the first time he had done this, and it was also to send off Wu Duo and Zhang Gaolei, so no one objected.
However, it's just a small restaurant, and the whole thing wouldn't cost much, which is no big deal for the newly rich dog owner Ding Gungun.
After the five people were seated, Ding Yi raised his glass and gave an opening speech.
"Old Wu, Old Zhang, it looks like you two are about to head to the other side of the ocean, and who knows when we'll see each other again, so let's drink to our hearts' content tonight! Come on! Brothers, let's drink this one to say goodbye!"
Huang Xiaochuan also stood up, holding his wine glass, and laughed, "I thought Lao Ding was going to give some long speech, but it turns out he's just trying to get us to drink!"
Upon hearing this, Ding Yi quickly said, "Everyone, please pause for a moment. I haven't had a chance to express myself yet. In this situation, I must recite a poem."
Everyone strained to hear what poem Ding Yi would recite.
Ding Yi solemnly recited: "I urge you to drink another cup of wine, for beyond Yangguan there will be no old friends."
The other four were still waiting for Ding Yi to continue, but Ding Yi felt like he was talking to a brick wall when he saw that they had no reaction at all.
Huang Xiaochuan asked with a puzzled look, "What's next?"
"That's all!"
Chen Zhe looked disgusted and said, "Ew!"
Huang Xiaochuan looked like he suddenly realized something: "Oh! Ding Yi's bottom is gone."
Time seemed to freeze for two seconds before the group burst into laughter. Wu Duo and Zhang Gaolei laughed so hard their shoulders shook. Ding Yi, realizing what was happening, jumped up and down in anger, cursing Huang Xiaochuan as a piece of trash.
After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the group chatted about the interesting things that had happened during their time together over the past two years.
They laughed and laughed, then suddenly fell silent.
At this moment, Wu Duo, who was intoxicated, spoke his mind.
At this moment, Wu Duo, who was intoxicated, spoke his mind.
Do you know why I want to go abroad?
Everyone remained silent, waiting for Wu Duo to continue.
"The education we received from childhood made me confused as the reforms progressed. At first, I was very resistant, thinking that this was taking the capitalist road. But then I saw that the vast majority of ordinary people were living a good life because of the reforms. I initially opposed the securities reform, but later I made so much money from it, and it was precisely because of this money that I had the capital to go abroad."
"This makes me even more confused, because this is completely contrary to the education I received growing up!"
"From childhood to adulthood, we relied on newspapers, television, movies, and novels to learn about the outside world. At that time, I thought the outside world was just like what was shown in newspapers and on television. But as I grew older, I found that my worldview was a bit confused. I wanted to go out and see for myself what the outside world was really like."
Huang Xiaochuan listened quietly. He wouldn't answer Wu Duo's questions, because time would tell.
After Wu Duo finished speaking, Zhang Gaolei continued.
"My ideas are different from Lao Wu's. My ideas are simple. Back then, my teacher told me that I should go to a big city because there is a future in a big city. So I worked hard and worked hard to get into Shanghai."
"After coming to Shanghai, I was fortunate enough to meet you all and earn money I never dared to dream of in my life. With money, my ambitions grew, and I wanted to go out and see what a bigger world was like."
Ding Yi patted Zhang Gaolei on the shoulder to show his understanding. He had also gained some insights from this trip to southwestern Sichuan.
Children in the mountains want to leave the mountains, children in the countryside want to go to the county town, children in the county town want to go to the city, children in the city yearn for the big city, and children in the big city dream of going abroad. Everyone has their own dreams at each stage of life.
Zhang Gaolei is that young man who has come all this way.
The atmosphere in the private room became somewhat tense for a moment. To ease the tension, Huang Xiaochuan placed a large bag he had brought on the table.
"Come on, sit in a row and share the forms. Class monitor, this is yours, Lao Zhang, this is yours, Lao Ding's, and Lao Chen's."
Huang Xiaochuan gave each of the four a small tote bag. Ding Yi was the fastest; before Wu Duo could even ask Huang Xiaochuan what it was, Ding Yi had already opened the box.
"Wow! A watch?"
Ding Yi immediately put the watch on her left wrist, and didn't forget to ask others, "Does it look good?"
Wu Duo asked, "This watch must be expensive, right?"
Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "Talking about money is a bit vulgar. Old Ding is arranging a farewell dinner, so I'll arrange a farewell gift. Originally, I only planned to buy two, one for you and one for Old Zhang, but I thought I might as well let Baldy have a share of the moonlight! So I bought two more."
Ding Yi immediately pulled Chen Zhe aside and said, "Old Chen, that bastard called us bald."
Chen Zhe was a little embarrassed to accept the gift, but when he heard Ding Yi say that, he quickly returned the bag to Huang Xiaochuan.
"Xiaochuan, I don't need it. I haven't gone abroad."
Huang Xiaochuan glared at Ding Yi and then handed the bag back to Chen Zhe.
"Take it if I tell you to, don't listen to Ding Gungun's attempts to sow discord."
Then he warned Ding Yi, "Shut up, or I'll tell everyone your embarrassing stories."
Upon hearing that Ding Yi had made another embarrassing mistake, Wu Duo and the others immediately became interested and didn't even bother to open the watch box.
"Xiao Chuan, what earth-shattering thing has Lao Ding done this time? Tell us!"
Ding Yi remained defiant: "Make it up? Let's see how you make it up!"
Since that's the case, Huang Xiaochuan decided not to tolerate him anymore and told him what Ding Yi had done.
"Sweet potatoes in the mountains are worthless, only a few cents a pound, but Ding Gungun likes to steal sweet potatoes from other people's fields. In the process of stealing, he even stole his own people."
Stealing sweet potatoes and they disappeared? What happened? The group was very curious.
"When we were in the mountains, we passed a hillside where sweet potatoes were planted. That bastard Ding Yi insisted on digging up the sweet potatoes himself. I couldn't persuade him otherwise, so I let him go. One of my childhood friends went with him. In the end, my friend came back with the sweet potatoes, but Ding Yi disappeared."
"I was so frustrated at the time! The hillside was planted with sweet potatoes, nothing else, and you could see it all at a glance, but I just couldn't see Ding Yi. So I asked my childhood friend, and he said that he was just following behind Ding Yi."
"It scared me half to death when a grown man suddenly disappeared in broad daylight. I quickly led a team to search for him, but we couldn't find him for a long time. He didn't respond when we called him. Do you know how I found this kid?"
Wu Duo and the others shook their heads. They weren't there, so how could they know?
Huang Xiaochuan revealed the answer: "It turns out he tripped over a sweet potato vine and fell headfirst into a sweet potato cellar dug by some mountain folk. He was completely knocked unconscious when he fell in, so he didn't hear us calling him at all. In the end, my childhood friend and I pulled him out of the cellar like pulling up a radish. If I had been ten or eight minutes later, this kid might have suffocated in the cellar."
Zhang Gaolei looked shocked: "Old Ding, you're a multi-millionaire, how could you possibly steal someone's sweet potatoes?"
"Tch! You guys wouldn't understand, this is called fun, you know?"
Wu Duo was both amused and exasperated. Pointing at Ding Yi, he said, "Isn't this a classic case of 'a wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a maid, a maid is not as good as a prostitute, and a prostitute is not as good as a stolen affair'?"
They all burst into laughter. Thinking about it, it was true. They wouldn't buy it for a few cents a pound, but instead chose to steal it.