194: Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-two: Happiness 194: Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-two: Happiness Gao Yang had thought he would stay in Portland for a few days, at least until he and Glolov’s wounds were completely healed, but they only spent a day there, indulging in a wild party at Arilan Morson’s studio, and didn’t return home until late.
Then, the next morning, Bob hurried Gao Yang to get back on the road with them, and this time, Bob stubbornly refused to disclose their destination.
It was another long journey, and one where the destination was unknown; Gao Yang could only guess their whereabouts through the road signs along the way.
They got on the Interstate 84, heading east along the Columbia River, then turned north on Highway 395 into Washington State.
After crossing the southwest corner of Washington, they reached Interstate 90, driving straight to Washington’s second largest city, Spokane.
After a brief rest and something to eat, Bob urged everyone back on the road; when they left Washington State and entered a small town in Idaho called Coeur d’Alene, Bob finally took the exit off the highway and onto a county road.
The scenery along the way was gorgeous, and it was quite pleasant to enjoy the views while on the move.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere was spoiled by Bob’s frantic driving.
He sped the whole way, and even when someone else drove, Bob kept demanding they go faster.
The speed was so fast that it robbed Gao Yang of any desire to appreciate the scenery, as he was too preoccupied with the fear that the excessive speed might cause an accident.
It was not until the car turned north again in Coeur d’Alene, moving onto a county road, and then onto a rural dirt road, that Bob finally slowed down.
By then, Gao Yang and his group had entered the mountains, and as the car made its way through the great valley, the breathtaking scenery on both sides made Gao Yang feel almost suffocated.
His curiosity grew stronger and finally, Gao Yang asked again, “Bob, where exactly do you want to take us?”
With the pace slowed down, Bob finally had the leisure to chat with Gao Yang.
When Gao Yang asked yet again where they were going, Bob laughed and said, “We’ll be there soon, and you’ll naturally find out where we are headed, guys.
How do you like the scenery?”
Gao Yang sincerely exclaimed, “It’s amazing.
Can you tell me where this is?
If I have the chance, I must travel here a few times in the future.”
Bob laughed heartily, “Don’t ask me where this is because it’s also my first time here, but you guys can come and visit often in the future.”
After taking two turns in the valley, the landscape suddenly opened up, the mountainous terrain became gentle, and a large prairie appeared in the mountain intervals before Gao Yang’s eyes.
On the grasslands by the road, there were scattered buildings that looked like farms or ranches of some sort, but they were all a fair distance from the country road.
Bob kept glancing at the buildings as he drove until he received a phone call and then abruptly chose a direction and turned the car towards it.
After passing through a gate that emerged from an endless wire fence, the car stopped in front of a series of houses, and Morgan was already waiting in front of one of the larger houses.
As Gao Yang and the others got out of the car one after another, Morgan opened his arms and smiled at Gao Yang, “My dear friends, I hope the road hasn’t been too rough on you.”
Gao Yang got out and hugged Morgan, waiting for him to shake hands with Glolov and the others before laughing, “Morgan, you really know how to enjoy yourself.
If this is your country villa, I must say you’ve chosen the perfect spot.
I don’t know about the others, but for me, this place is a paradise.”
Morgan chuckled and replied, “You once told me what your dream environment looked like.
I’m glad I didn’t remember it wrong, Gao.
I’m very happy that you like it here.”
Gao Yang, touched, said, “A prairie out front, mountains behind the house, and a river running through the prairie.
I’ve visited this place in my dreams, but now I’m truly standing here.
Morgan, I really appreciate you inviting us to vacation here.
I wish I could live here forever without being too much of a bother.”
Morgan snapped his fingers, and with a hefty pat on Gao Yang’s back, he pushed him forward a bit and smiled, “That’s great.
Now go unwrap the gift.
Gao, this is your home, and you have to invite us in.”
Gao Yang was somewhat stunned and confused, he looked at Morgan and said, “I don’t quite understand what you’re saying, Morgan.”
Morgan gestured with a wide sweep of his arm and pointed to the house in front of him, smiling, “Gao, this is your country villa.
But to be more precise, it should be called your farm, or perhaps your ranch, whichever you prefer, depending on whether you like to be a farmer or a cowboy.
Your actual villa is a few miles up the mountain, but everything here belongs to you, and how you describe it is up to you.”
Gao Yang couldn’t believe his ears.
He shook his head in disbelief and said, “You mean, all this belongs to me?
I don’t understand, Morgan.”
Morgan looked at Gao Yang with sincere eyes and said, “Gao, think about what you’ve done for me.
I’m grateful for everything you’ve done, so I really want to give you a gift, and this farm is my gift.
Now it seems you like it a lot, so please happily accept it.”
After Morgan finished speaking, Bob suddenly started clapping and loudly said, “Gao, this is what you deserve, take the gift from us father and son.
This is an idea Morgan took a long time to come up with.
If you refuse, he will be heartbroken.”
Morgan suddenly pointed at Bob, huffed, and said, “This gift will not be signed off as from the Reeves father and son.
It’s a gift from me alone, I’ve already given you the money for the gift-giving, so don’t think about sharing my big moment.
You didn’t contribute a single penny to this.”
Following Bob’s lead in applause, Glolov and Cui Bo also started clapping, and upon hearing Morgan’s retort to Bob, everyone burst into laughter.
Gao Yang, after gazing at Morgan and Bob, also let out a hearty laugh, hugged Morgan again, and said loudly, “Thank you, Morgan.
I absolutely love your gift; no, I’m simply head over heels for it.”
After finishing, Gao Yang was the first to push open the door and walk into the room, which was furnished simply in the common style of an American Western farmstead.
However, unlike the flatland farms of California, the farms in Idaho had more of a mountainous style.
Although the farm already belonged to Gao Yang, it was still up to Morgan to lead everyone on a tour, and soon Gao Yang discovered that the surprises were far from over.
Morgan pushed open a door, didn’t enter but instead bowed slightly, gestured with his hand, and said, “Now, please enjoy your collection.”
Gao Yang walked into the room and upon seeing the walls hung with guns on all sides, he couldn’t help but cover his mouth to stop himself from screaming like a woman, for his happiness was already through the roof.
Displayed meticulously in rows and columns according to national and chronological classification were the old guns from the WWII era.
In the house of his dreams, in the land he longed to live, were old guns that he never dared to dream he could collect in such entirety.
The happiness was so sudden, Gao Yang almost couldn’t believe his eyes.
Cui Bo squeezed past Gao Yang who stood at the entrance, and then he couldn’t help but let out an exclamation.
“Shit, a kar98K, my beloved!
Damn, there’s an M1 Garand!
Holy moly, both MG34 and MG42 are here!
Brother Yang you’ve made it big, oh my god, they even have the Soviet ones, Mosin-Nagant, PPSh-41, you’ve completely made a fortune, you hit the jackpot!”
Accompanied by Cui Bo’s exclamations, Gao Yang just kept nodding.
He didn’t know what to say, nor did he dare to speak, afraid that he might be dreaming and everything would disappear if he said a word.
Morgan patted the stunned Gao Yang on the shoulder and said, “I was planning to do my best to complete your WWII firearms collection for you, but then I thought, perhaps doing so would deprive you of the joy of collecting.
After all, the feeling of acquiring a beloved old gun is very special.
So, I just followed our agreement and got the American and German weapons for you.
The Soviet ones are not complete, and there are only two or three kinds of other European firearms.”
Gao Yang nodded and murmured to himself, “That’s enough, it’s enough, it couldn’t be more.
I’m afraid any more might bring divine retribution.”
Morgan laughed heartily and said, “This is only what we agreed on, Gao.
The guns Fedor gave you are also here; I brought them for you.
They are locked in the gun cabinet with the prototype M1911, without a set combination.
Open it and have a look.”
Gao Yang let out a relieved breath and said, “Thank you, Morgan.
I’m so grateful for all these guns.
I don’t even know what to say.
Luckily this isn’t a trade, because if it were, you would have made a huge loss.”
Morgan’s eyes widened as he frowned at Gao Yang and said, “You must be joking, right?
To say such a thing is to insult Alessandro’s work.
Using a perfectly conditioned piece from Alessandro to acquire all this old metal, how could you think you’ve gained anything?
Sorry, I don’t mean to belittle your collection, but I must say that, in terms of both collectible value and price, one of Alessandro’s double-barreled shotguns could easily match the contents of three rooms like this.
No, in terms of collectible value, no gun can compare to Alessandro’s work.
If this were a trade, then you would be the one who had lost big time.”
After Morgan said this indignantly, his expression turned to one of relief as he continued, “I often thank God these days.
I’m so fortunate it was you who got Alessandro’s work and that you gifted it to me, rather than letting it fall into the hands of the Libyan opposition, never to see the light of day.
I’m truly lucky, Gao.
I wish you could see the sensation my guns caused on their nationwide tour, how those collectors who used to mock me looked utterly soulless in front of me, and especially when they frantically wrote new figures on their checks, begging me to sell the guns to them, just to be ruthlessly rejected by me again.
Gao, if you saw that, you would understand just how happy owning an Alessandro piece makes me.”(To be continued.
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