535: Chapter 531: A Rich Man?
Too Early for That!
535: Chapter 531: A Rich Man?
Too Early for That!
Li Jinfang knocked down a total of thirteen people, including every Old Russian who sat down to drink with him, none of whom could stand on their way back, including Glolov.
But when the Russians woke up the next day and saw Li Jinfang again, the look in their eyes had changed.
Originally, they were only grateful to members of the Satan Mercenary Group, to Gao Yang, and to Li Jinfang, but there hadn’t been any real respect.
Now, even when they looked at Gao Yang and the others, their eyes seemed to be filled with respect, and even their tone of voice had changed quite a bit.
Making Russians admit defeat on the drinking table, rather than by physical force, was an easier method, at least most of the time.
Of course, you couldn’t end a war by outdrinking the Russians on the battlefield, otherwise, during World War II, Germany could have just picked a bunch of heavy drinkers and would have swept through the Soviet Union.
The relationship between Gao Yang’s group and people like Samuel wasn’t likely to lead to a fight, so once Li Jinfang had outdrunk them, he had gained their utmost respect, especially since Barrel Samuel, known for his drinking ability, had also been defeated by Li Jinfang.
Samuel and his group’s attitude towards Li Jinfang was just shy of literally engraving the words “We concede” on their faces.
A widely circulated joke was that when the Soviet Union had just collapsed, Huaxia took the opportunity to buy arms, equipment, and technology—they bought everything they could, while the Russians took the opportunity to demand exorbitantly high prices.
However, at a banquet, a Huaxia Major-General managed to drink under the table eighteen generals and experts who had come for negotiations.
After achieving a comprehensive victory at the drinking table, when the Huaxia negotiation team returned to the negotiation table, their adversaries seemed to have lost all their confidence, agreeing to all the conditions set by Huaxia, which ultimately allowed them to gain a lot of advantages, and all this started from the events at the drinking table.
Of course, a joke that is widely circulated is just that, a joke, and should not be taken seriously.
However, even if a story is fabricated, for Russians who dearly love their vodka, outdrinking them could indeed establish a psychological advantage.
After that drinking session, during the day and a half Gao Yang’s group stayed in Brazil, they still enjoyed lavish meals, but nobody dared to challenge Li Jinfang to a drinking contest again.
The team had two new members, Lucica and Tommy, who would need some arrangements to follow them to America; passports and such needed to be arranged.
However, Little Donnie had started preparing as soon as he heard the news.
Although many things couldn’t be sorted out in a day or two, everything was now ready, just waiting to be delivered.
Ivan was supposed to go to South Africa to meet his uncle Grand Ivan, but since Gao Yang and his group had yet to leave, Ivan stayed as well.
Staying in Brazil for recovery was actually more convenient for him, but since Grand Ivan couldn’t come and was very eager to see Ivan, it was decided that Ivan would go to South Africa instead.
On their third day in Saint Paul, right after lunch, Gao Yang was chatting with Frey, when Little Donnie burst into their room, excitedly waving something in his hand, he said, “The stuff has arrived, passports, visas, exit permits, everything’s ready.
Also, the driving licenses for Tommy and Lucica in America are done; you can just pick them up.
I have already booked the tickets to New York, we have a flight this afternoon.
We can head straight to the airport soon.”
Gao Yang smiled and said, “That’s great.
There’s no problem with the stuff, right?
I don’t want to be stopped at the airport.”
Little Donnie, full of confidence, replied, “Don’t worry.
If I can’t handle even this little thing, I wouldn’t deserve to be a manager.
Also, you all will take a passenger plane back.
I’ll leave a bit later, riding a cargo plane tonight along with your equipment.
Uh, this cargo plane is transporting tropical fruits, so on the way back, I think I have a lot of fruit to enjoy.”
Gao Yang laughed heartily, delighted to finally be leaving, but after laughing twice, Gao Yang noticed that Frey seemed troubled.
Knowing that they were about to return, he couldn’t muster a smile, instead wearing a worried expression.
Unable to hold back, Gao Yang asked, “Frey, what’s wrong?”
Frey gave a wry smile and said, “Boss, I’m injured.
I can’t move much right now, and I definitely can’t hide it.”
Gao Yang realized then and said, “You’re worried about your mom and girlfriend worrying about you, aren’t you?”
Frey said mournfully, “That’s right, I’m worried about them worrying about me, and even more scared of them, um, never mind, I think it’s not a problem.”
Gao Yang knew what Frey was worried about.
Frey feared that upon returning home, his mother and girlfriend would prevent him from being a mercenary again.
Gao Yang patted Frey on the shoulder and said, “Actually, if your mother really doesn’t want you to be a mercenary anymore, then you should seriously consider this issue now, Frey.
The situation isn’t the same as it was in the beginning.
Back then, we were all poor, and we became mercenaries to make a lot of money.
But now, we have money.
Honestly, stepping back from this career now, I think it’s a very wise choice.”
Frey shook his head repeatedly and said, “No, don’t talk about that.
Boss, I don’t want to retire yet.
When we all retire and stop, I’ll consider these issues later.
As long as you continue, I will definitely follow you, boss, no matter what you do, I must stay by your side.”
Gao Yang thought carefully.
After fighting a battle in South America, his bank account finally wasn’t zero anymore.
Now, there should be over 2 million USD in his account.
The maritime security company was already able to start drawing dividends, bringing in at least 1 million USD a year, and that’s a conservative estimate.
Investing in Li Pengfei’s security company, though it might be a while before it can start paying dividends, the prospects are quite promising.
Conservatively speaking, earning about 500,000 USD a year in dividends shouldn’t be a problem.
If he retired now, it seemed not unacceptable.
Every time after finishing a battle, Gao Yang would seriously consider whether it was time to retire.
He wasn’t like Nate, who couldn’t live without fighting.
Although returning to a civilian life, no longer relying on guns, and facing many rules and restrictions might feel a bit uncomfortable at first, Gao Yang actually quite aspired to that kind of life.
Just as Gao Yang was thinking seriously, Frey said, “Boss, I actually have more than six million USD in savings now.
Ha, I never imagined, I used to be happy for a long time just from six dollars.
But I still don’t consider myself rich.
My background is too thin.
I own no property, no real estate, nothing besides the six million USD.
So, I’m still a long way from being rich, and my dream is to be rich, so retirement is still far off for me.”
Gao Yang was quite surprised and said, “You have so much money, and you also have shares in the maritime security company.
Isn’t that considered rich?”
Frey shook his head and said, “Of course not.
I like living in big cities, so I plan to buy an apartment in New York.
I’ve asked about it.
Even the smallest and cheapest apartment with property rights costs at least 1.6 million USD, and that’s too small.
To meet my requirements, it would need to be at least 4 million USD.
Also, I need to buy cars, at least two, and I like luxury cars, so there goes another 500,000 USD.
And if I have children, I have to prepare for their education fees and others; it’s not easy to raise a child, so setting aside 1 million USD isn’t too much.
Also, I really envy your farm; I would like to become your neighbor, so I must buy a farm.
I won’t buy a very large one, but there goes another 500,000 USD, so…”
Gao Yang interrupted with a gesture, “Stop, stop, enough, stop calculating!
If you keep this up, I feel like a pauper.
Please, right now your savings are more than mine!”
Gao Yang was truly nervous.
He had thought he was rich, but after Frey’s calculations, he realized he couldn’t even afford an apartment in New York.
Compared to real rich people, Gao Yang’s foundation was still too thin.
It seemed like a lot of money, but once necessities were taken care of, it really wasn’t much.
The real rich, after owning all the necessary properties, could retire with several million dollars in savings.
But for Gao Yang and the likes, even after getting the essentials settled, how much would be left in their accounts was doubtful.
Watching Gao Yang with a downcast face, Frey said helplessly, “Boss, you know my father was a university professor, but I hardly went to school.
I learned to fight alongside you guys.
Except for fighting, I can’t really do anything else.
Without following you into battle, I have no chance of becoming rich, so I can’t bear to think about retiring.
Before you retire, before I become rich, I definitely can’t retire.”
Gao Yang with a morose expression said, “I thought I was already rich, and I’ve been considering retirement, but after what you just said, alright, I’ve changed my mind about retiring.
I need to make money, I must make a lot of money!”
Frey laughed and said, “Boss, if you retire, I would also have to retire.
I heard from Big Dog that other mercenary group leaders aren’t as generous as you.
If I were to mix with others, I couldn’t make this much money.
Plus, if you retire, I definitely wouldn’t continue.
I wouldn’t go to any other mercenary groups.
Um, I’m glad you decided to continue.”
Gao Yang wiped the sweat from his brow, looked at Little Donnie, and said, “Buddy, we can’t afford to be too idle now, eh?
Are there any tasks available?
If not, go look for some.
Look for some high-paying ones.
F**k, we have to hurry up and make money.
I can’t retire until I’ve made enough.
I feel like I’ve been too unprofessional before, just thinking about retiring and stuff.
That won’t do.
We have to get moving, we have to make big money, buddy.”
Plus, it looks like I need to make a trip to South Africa soon, um, Grand Ivan and Ivan should thank us.
I think they ought to give us 20 million USD at least.
I’ll go to South Africa as soon as I get a chance, have to get that money in hand quickly.” (To be continued.
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