334: Chapter 332: The Brothers Reunited After a Long Separation 334: Chapter 332: The Brothers Reunited After a Long Separation Rescued from despair, one can only imagine the overwhelming emotion of the hostages.
Their gratitude towards Li Pengfei and the others was clearly overflowing.
However, while traveling with the hostages, Gao Yang put his face mask back on.
Gao Yang’s identity was very sensitive.
It didn’t matter when dealing with foreigners, but when dealing with Huaxia People, it was better to be cautious.
After all, caution never led to mistakes.
Dressed in a black combat uniform and an array of equipment hanging all over, Gao Yang’s appearance was undoubtedly the most eye-catching.
The hostages would inevitably ask about the origins of their rescuers, but whenever someone asked, the response from Gao Yang and Li Pengfei was consistent, deflecting with the excuse that their identities were confidential.
It wasn’t until Chen Peng arrived with several vehicles that the pursuers never showed up.
Chen Peng’s camp could not be left unguarded.
Chen Peng knew the terrain well, so he came to pick up the group while Li Jinfang stayed at the camp.
When Gao Yang and the others arrived back at camp by car, they saw Li Jinfang guarding the camp entrance from a distance.
Li Jinfang was also wearing a face mask, a precaution Gao Yang had specifically instructed him to take.
However, when Li saw Jiang Yun and the others jump out of the car, he quickly rushed to Jiang Yun’s side.
Though still wearing his mask, it was clear Li Jinfang’s eyes were red-rimmed.
Upon seeing Jiang Yun, Li Jinfang called out with a trembling voice, “Captain,” and then reached to take off his mask.
The hostages were a fair distance away, so it didn’t matter if he took off his mask.
Once Li Jinfang revealed his face, Jiang Yun sighed and said, “Toad, it’s been a long time indeed.”
Upon hearing Jiang Yun say it had been a long time, Li Jinfang couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Captain, I’m so sorry, I let the brothers down.”
Li Jinfang sobbed out an apology, and Jiang Yun responded sternly, “You wimp, when brothers reunite, why the hell are you crying!”
Even though Jiang Yun scolded him loudly, Li Jinfang still couldn’t help it, and tears began to drop.
After looking at Jiang Yun and then at Li Pengfei and the others, he just kept repeating, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry to you all.”
“Hey, you sobbing piece of crap!
Stop wailing like a woman, will you?
Keep on, and I’ll slap you.
Do you hear me?
Are you going to stop that nonsense now?”
Li Pengfei raised his palm as if he was about to strike Li Jinfang, but seeing tears continue to fall, he placed his hand heavily on Li Jinfang’s shoulder and hugged him tightly, patting his back with force.
“As long as you’re alive, that’s what matters.
I thought you were dead, dammit.
Stop your crying, will ya?
You’re making me want to cry too.
Isn’t this a reunification?
What’s there to wail about?”
While Li Jinfang and Li Pengfei hugged and shed tears, Wu Qi, standing to the side, exclaimed irritably, “Toad, you jerk, what’s with the crying as soon as you open your mouth?
We’re finally together and alive, shouldn’t you be happy?
What’s with you two fools hugging each other?
Bull Demon King, if you hug Toad like that, be careful the princess gets jealous.”
Hearing this, Li Pengfei panicked and immediately let go of Li Jinfang, then shook his fist at Xia Chen, saying, “You’re asking for it, kid.
Don’t think you can outrun me, I’ll show you who’s boss.”
Zheng Aiai also shouted angrily, “Idiot, looking for trouble, are you?”
Strangely, when men reunite after a long time, especially close friends or brothers, their opening remarks usually consist of cursing each other with dirty words.
The closer the relationship, the more unrestrained the cursing, which seems to be the best way to express their excited feelings.
It’s as if swearing in their local dialect is more vigorous, so Gao Yang heard a flurry of dialects from all over Huaxia cursing each other.
Li Jinfang had been holding back for too long.
His error led to Jiang Yun and the others being forcibly retired, a perpetual ache in his heart.
Seeing Li Jinfang crying his heart out, Gao Yang did not go over to comfort him.
Although Li Jinfang did not voice his suffering, he had been bitter inside for too long.
Letting it out now was not a bad thing.
Wu Qi’s joke lightened the mood significantly, and the group began to share their feelings with laughter and cursing.
Gao Yang discreetly stepped back, leaving space for the long-separated friends to reconnect.
Not far away, Gao Yang saw Chen Peng hurrying towards him.
Not wanting to disturb Li Jinfang and the others, Gao Yang went ahead to meet him and asked, “Manager Chen, what’s up?”
Chen Peng, with a face full of joy, replied, “Oh, stop calling me manager.
Just call me Old Chen.
I came to tell everyone it’s time to eat.
Those kidnapped brothers are starving.
You folks have been busy all night as well.
Have something to pad your stomachs; the food is all ready, just waiting for you to start.”
Gao Yang glanced at Li Jinfang and the others, feeling they wouldn’t finish anytime soon, so he said with a serious tone, “Old Chen, we’ve still got some things to sort out here, some things to discuss.
Don’t wait up for us.
We’ll join you later.
Also, Old Chen, could you arrange a separate place for us?
Oh, I don’t mean anything by it.
It’s just that our identities are a bit sensitive, and it’s not convenient to discuss certain things when there are too many people around.
You understand.”
Chen Peng had an epiphany and nodded repeatedly, “Ah, I understand, I understand.
In that case, I’ll arrange a few rooms for you.
If you’re up for it, just give me a shout, and that’s that.
You go ahead with what you need to do, and I’ll go see to our brothers who were kidnapped.”
“Thanks so much, ah, Old Chen, do you know how those who were sent back first are doing?
Are they in any danger?”
Chen Peng replied with a relieved expression, “No worries, they’re not in any serious trouble.
The doctor said there’s no immediate danger, at least not life-threatening.
It’s just that the medical facilities in the camp are limited.
I’m thinking of sending the injured to Wau tomorrow, where we have our medical team.”
After exchanging a few words with Chen Peng and watching him go back to his tasks, Gao Yang stood alone to one side, feeling genuinely happy for Li Jinfang, who was ecstatic.
It wasn’t long before Gao Yang was on his own when he heard Li Jinfang calling out to him loudly, “Brother Yang, Brother Yang, where are you off to?
Come over here, hurry up!”
Gao Yang shook his head and walked back to where Li Jinfang and the rest were.
Once he got there, Li Jinfang pulled Gao Yang over, his face beaming with a heartfelt smile, and loudly said, “You must have met him already, but let me introduce him again.
Without him, even if you had released me, I would have been caught a long time ago.
How should I put it—without him, there would be no me.
You’ll know once you get to know him.
Brother Yang is definitely solid.”
Gao Yang laughed heartily.
Seeing that Li Jinfang and the others had more or less vented their emotions, he raised his voice, “Alright, enough with the idle chat.
Better to sit down and have something to eat.
Old Chen has already prepared something.
Go ask if he’s got any booze.
It would be great to drink and talk.”
Li Pengfei clapped his hands with joy and said, “Exactly, I haven’t had a chance to drink with Toad yet.
Today, let’s see who can hold their liquor better.”
Jiang Yun spoke gravely, “Better skip drinking for now.
This isn’t the time to relax.
Drinking too much could lead to mistakes.”
Gao Yang dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand, “No problem.
You guys have finally met after so much difficulty; this chance is too rare.
You guys have a good drink; I’ll be here, that’s enough.”
At that moment, Zhou Zhou, who had stood by the whole time, added, “It’s fine.
Ram, go ahead and enjoy yourself too.
Tonight, Big Cat and I can handle things, so you all just drink freely.”
After he finished speaking, Wang Laohu sighed and said, “I’ve heard about Toad’s situation.
We understand what’s going on between you guys.
Well, it’s like heaven has eyes that you could reunite today.
I’ll make my stance clear.
As for today’s events, I know nothing about it.
Whatever Dagger reports upward, that’s what I’ll go along with.
I won’t involve myself in anything extra.”
Zhou Zhou teased smilingly, “Stop with the unnecessary words, Big Cat.
Why bring up something so obvious?
You think I’m the kind of guy to tattle?”
Wang Laohu chuckled, “No offense meant.
I just wanted to clear the air for everyone.
Ultimately, the two of us are outsiders—ah, spit on that; don’t take it the wrong way.
I mean, we’re outsiders in relation to you and Toad, but Bull Demon King and Princess obviously trust us both.
You’ve got to make sure that Ram and Toad feel secure too, right?”
Wang Laohu and Zhou Zhou, who had not been in the same unit as Li Jinfang previously, got to know Li Pengfei and the others when they went abroad.
Given the sensitive nature of Li Jinfang’s identity, Wang Laohu clearly wanted to assure Li Jinfang’s group that both he and Zhou Zhou would align their stories with the other five and certainly wouldn’t leak anything about Li Jinfang and Gao Yang’s reunion.
Listening to Wang Laohu and Zhou Zhou, Jiang Yun laughed and said, “Hey, hey, you two, the more you talk, the less sense you make.
Who among us doesn’t know each other?
Look at us; do we seem like we’re guarding against you?
What’s all this about tattling and leaking secrets?”
Wang Laohu chuckled again, “We all know what’s up.
Who doesn’t see the clear picture?
Besides, Boss, you were thinking of getting help from Ram and Toad anyway, so why keep it so secret?”
Li Jinfang perked up at the mention of helping, “Help with what?
Captain, just tell me if there’s something I can do.”
Jiang Yun waved his hand, “There is indeed something I need your help with.
Toad, are you with a security company now?”
Li Jinfang paused for a moment, then replied, “Sort of, what’s up?”
Jiang Yun replied with a wry smile, “Well, you see, we were thinking of setting up a security company.
But it’s been almost a month that we’ve been out here and we can’t get the company started.
We’re having trouble procuring weapons, recruiting staff—in short, we’re not getting anywhere.
You and Ram are with a security company, right?
If you know the ropes, could you give us a few pointers?”
Li Jinfang looked somewhat troubled, “Captain, to be honest, I really don’t know about that.
The truth is, we’re not with any security company; we’re mercenaries, the kind that do all sorts of jobs.”
Gao Yang waved his hand dismissively and spoke with a serious tone, “This is simple.
Setting up a company and purchasing equipment—all manageable.
Tell me, what kind of security company do you want to create?
One that strictly provides armed security services, or are you looking to ‘hang a sheep’s head but sell dog meat’?” (To be continued.
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