724: Chapter 716: Good Fortune Never Comes Alone, Misfortune Does Not Come Singly.
724: Chapter 716: Good Fortune Never Comes Alone, Misfortune Does Not Come Singly.
It was another happy ending, everyone was pleased, Morgan got what he needed, and Buck’s knowledge came in handy, which was a delight for the scholars.
Morgan respects knowledge and, being a foreigner, is quite direct, so he immediately pulled out his checkbook, intending to reward Buck and the others for their intellectual effort.
However, Buck also directly refused.
Buck explicitly said he was willing to help mainly because of Gao Yang, and Morgan was aware of this, so the next steps were easy.
They accepted Buck’s hospitality and had dinner at his house, then went to a bar for a drink and a chat, and that was that.
After drinking a little and settling down in a hotel in Stanford with Morgan’s group, Gao Yang, feeling pleased and no longer considering himself unlucky, comfortably slept through the night, only to be awakened by a phone call early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Groggily checking the incoming number and seeing it was Little Donnie, Gao Yang yawned lethargically and said, “Little Donnie, do we have business coming our way?”
“Yes, there’s a big job that requires the cooperation of several mercenary groups.
Have you seen the news from the Central African Republic?”
“No, tell me straight.”
“Here’s the situation: on March 24, the rebel group Seleka took control of the capital, Bangui, and seized the Presidential Palace.
President Francois Bozize has fled to Congo-Kinshasa.
Several days have passed, and though the French have gotten involved, they might not necessarily help Francois.
So, Francois is now hiring mercenaries in an attempt to take back control.
He promised that if Seleka is driven out of Bangui, he will reward with a diamond mine.”
Without hesitation, Gao Yang said, “Is there cash involved?
We only want money, US Dollars or Euros are fine, we don’t want diamonds, and even more so, we don’t want a diamond mine.”
“Hmm, Francois might have some cash, but not a lot, and he would definitely prefer to pay with a promissory note rather than actual money.
Francois can pay with the diamond mine if he successfully returns to presidency, but if he fails, he won’t lose anything.”
After giving it some thought, Gao Yang felt it wasn’t right to outright reject the offer and said, “How much might the diamond mine produce annually?”
Little Donnie laughed and said, “That’s uncertain, but Francois promised you could pick any mine you want.
Actually, an important thing I hadn’t mentioned yet is that the Angel Mercenary Corps is siding with Seleka, and they were the ones who took down the Presidential Palace.
The reward they might receive could also be diamonds or a diamond mine, but this is just my speculation.”
Upon hearing this, Gao Yang felt there was no need to discuss further and immediately said, “Forget it, we definitely can’t take this job.
Next, we’d have to enter into a life-or-death fight with the Angels over a reward that isn’t even guaranteed yet.
Are you kidding?
Those nuts from the Angels are dreaming of overthrowing a country, and right now, they are likely just fighting for free.
We’re not getting involved in this.”
Gao Yang knew Little Donnie was not calling about a job opportunity in Central Africa, but purely to relay the news about the [use of] Angel forces.
With nothing else to do, he chatted with Little Donnie for quite a while, then gave some instructions before hanging up.
By then, he couldn’t sleep anymore, so he got up to brush his teeth, but as he was doing so, the phone rang again.
Gao Yang hurriedly rinsed his mouth and grabbed the phone, but the call had already disconnected.
It was an unknown number this time.
Just as Gao Yang was hesitating whether to call back, the phone rang again.
This time, it was Professor Buck calling.
After Gao Yang immediately answered, he heard Professor Buck hurriedly say, “Has Catherine called you yet?”
Gao Yang was startled and said, “What?”
“She’s looking for you, it’s urgent.
She might have found your tribe, she might have located the Akuri tribe!
Catherine tried calling you but your line was busy, then she called your girlfriend.
Your girlfriend told her I was with you, so she called me again.
Now she might be trying to call you.”
Listening to what Buck had said, Gao Yang felt goosebumps all over his body.
Extremely excited, Gao Yang blurted out, “Professor, I’m hanging up, I need to call Catherine back!”
Gao Yang had been talking with Little Donnie for quite a while, not realizing he might have missed a very important call.
Presumably, that unknown number was Catherine’s.
After hanging up on Buck, just as Gao Yang was about to return the call, yet another unknown number called him, and it wasn’t the same one he’d missed before.
“Strange, what’s going on today?
One call after another.”
After muttering to himself, Gao Yang immediately answered the phone.
As soon as the call connected, he heard a familiar voice say, “This is Catherine, Gao, you finally picked up.
Here’s the thing, I’m in South Sudan, and our film crew discovered a tribe.
I’m certain I saw people of the same race as the Akuri tribe!
I’m very sure.
Aren’t you looking for them?
I think you need to come here.”
Gao Yang’s voice trembled as he loudly said, “Catherine, slow down, what’s going on?”
“Here’s what happened: today our film crew was using drones for aerial photography when the cameraman spotted traces of four people.
He used the drone to track and film them, but those four quickly disappeared into the jungle.
I wasn’t next to the monitor at the time, the drone was flying too high, and the footage was too brief, only about twenty seconds.
By the time someone notified me and we watched the recording together, although I couldn’t see their decorations and weapons clearly, I thought their appearance was very much like the Chieftain and his people, at least I can guarantee they are from the same primitive tribe as the Chieftain.”
Gao Yang’s heart pounded excitedly as he urgently said, “Where did you film this, I will come right away!”
“Our location is further east than where we met in South Sudan last time, near the edge of the rainforest on the border between South Sudan and Ethiopia.
I’ll send you the GPS coordinates, write them down.”
Gao Yang hurriedly tore a piece of paper from the notepad provided by the hotel and noted down the coordinates Catherine gave him, then anxiously said, “Wait for me, I’ll get there as fast as I can.
Remember, I’ll teach you a few phrases that you must learn.
If you encounter the Chieftain before I arrive, just say as I taught you.
They might not remember your face, but once you say it, they’ll know I sent you to find them.”
After teaching Catherine a few phrases in Akuri language, which meant “I am the White Child, waiting here with these people for me, I’ll come find you soon,” and making sure Catherine could articulate them correctly, Gao Yang urgently said, “Did you get that?
The most important word is ‘White Child.’ Oh, I’m confused.
If you find them, you can also call me, unless I’m on a plane, you’ll definitely reach me.”
“Got it, waiting for you to come, goodbye.”
After saying goodbye to Catherine, Gao Yang excitedly raised his hands and let out a loud yell toward the sky.
The abrupt movement strained his left hand, causing him to scream in pain; however, his excessive excitement soon had him plunging onto the bed, burying his head in the pillow, and using all his strength to yell.
Gao Yang was too excited.
After several loud shouts, he calmed down a bit and then heard someone knocking at the door.
“Gao, are you alright?
Is everything okay?”
Speaking from outside was Morgan.
As Gao Yang walked to the door to let Morgan in, his phone, left on the bed, rang again.
He glanced at it and saw it was that same unknown number.
After opening the door for Morgan, he smiled and said, “Sorry, I’m fine.
I just need to take another call.
I’ve been so busy this morning with one call after another.”
As he spoke, Gao Yang hit the answer button and put the phone to his ear, only to hear an urgent voice say, “Oh my goodness, Brother Yang, you finally picked up.
I’ve been so worried.
I can’t get in touch with Toad, this wretched guy.
Do you have any contact with him?”
Recognizing the voice, Gao Yang knew it was Li Pengfei.
This youngster was the same age as Li Jinfang, both two years younger than him.
It wasn’t appropriate to always call him Ram, so without outsiders, he would join Li Jinfang in calling him Brother Yang.
Hearing Li Pengfei speak in such a panicky tone, Gao Yang laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I called him yesterday.
It’s fine, I’ll call him now.”
“Yesterday!
Oh, Brother Yang, you don’t know, I also called Toad yesterday, just shortly after you did.
We agreed to talk every morning, but today his phone is completely unreachable, not just that nobody is answering, but it’s literally not connecting.
So, you mean you haven’t contacted him today either, right?
I need to make a trip to Congo.”
Gao Yang got anxious upon hearing this and loudly said, “What’s going on?
Not being able to contact him, what does it imply?
Explain it to me clearly!”
Li Pengfei urgently said, “Brother Yang, we are desperately short of people, and there was a job in Congo, so Toad went there to help.
But today, someone told me, Toad hasn’t returned and can’t be reached.
Brother Yang, Toad would never mess up like this, it might be something serious.
I’m heading there right now, call him and let me know if you can reach him.”
Just moments ago bursting with joy, Gao Yang now felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, knowing Li Jinfang’s character all too well.
Li Jinfang would never abandon a task he was responsible for.
His sense of duty was too strong; as long as he was alive, he would never let a scheduled call go unanswered.
For Li Jinfang, being unreachable only meant two possibilities: either he was dead, or he was in a situation where he couldn’t contact anyone at all.
Recalling the sudden palpitation he felt yesterday, Gao Yang, trusting his sixth sense, involuntarily shivered.
(To be continued.
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