887: Chapter 877: Precious 887: Chapter 877: Precious Gao Yang remembered that the birthday cake was supposed to be cut last, but for some reason, Little Donnie, the emcee, had arranged to cut it first.
However, Gao Yang quickly understood why, because if they didn’t cut the cake at the beginning, there wouldn’t be a chance to cut it later.
The so-called cake cutting was merely a ceremony to signal the beginning of the party.
Once the cake was cut, people began presenting their gifts, which they had prepared in advance.
Then, it was time to open the presents.
The gifts were few and not particularly expensive, but they were all thoughtful.
Yelena gave a tie plus a warm kiss, Catherine presented a pair of cool sunglasses, and Adele gave a documentary DVD that she and Catherine had narrated together, which was mainly about the day-to-day life of the Akuri tribe.
Gao Yang didn’t expect Morgan to attend, but when he saw Morgan approaching with a long, wrapped box, Gao Yang smiled and said, “Morgan, I really didn’t expect you to make it.
Let me guess, the gift you brought is definitely not a gun.”
After Morgan laughed, he said, “Then go ahead and open it.”
Of course, Gao Yang was joking.
By the size of the box and its weight in his hands, he knew it contained a gun.
When he opened the box, he saw a brand new but obviously handcrafted over-under shotgun.
The shotgun wasn’t extravagantly decorated or vulgarly gold-plated, but it had some small, delicate engravings in key places, indicating its status as an expensive and rare custom piece.
Seeing Gao Yang’s delighted expression, Morgan chuckled, “Like it?
I know you like and are used to over-under shotguns.
Plus, you’re always the one giving me guns, so this time I wanted to give you one.”
Gao Yang breathed a sigh of relief, placed the shotgun back in the box, and smiled, “I love it, thanks.”
By usual standards, Morgan’s gift was a bit too extravagant for a birthday party, where typically only small gifts were exchanged.
A custom handcrafted gun worth tens of thousands of dollars seemed out of place.
However, considering Morgan’s wealth and the favors he owed Gao Yang purely in the realm of firearms, it did indeed seem appropriate to give Gao Yang such a valuable gun.
Morgan moved aside, and then Simon came up with a rectangular box and placed it in Gao Yang’s hands.
“You know I’ve always wanted to thank you, um, for helping my brother.
Well, now isn’t the right time to talk about that, but this gift is from me and my brother, one from each of us.
Go on, open it up.
I think you’ll like it.”
The box was heavy, likely another gun.
Gao Yang once again joked, “I bet this isn’t a gun either.”
After tearing off the wrapping paper, sure enough, a long carrying case was revealed.
Gao started to laugh out loud, then opened the handgun carrying case and immediately gaped, exclaiming in Chinese, “A P08 standard model and a P08 artillery model, complete with the original wooden gun case, geez!”
When overwhelmed with excitement, people tend to revert to their native language.
The Luger P08 pistol was the main sidearm of Germany during World Wars I and II.
It was one of the most coveted war trophies by the Allied Forces on European battlefields.
A P08 in perfect condition with a well-documented provenance was a rare find, so much so that, if a collector were willing to part with it, it would no doubt be fiercely bid upon.
P08 pistols were rare, and even rarer were the artillery models.
The so-called artillery model’s most distinctive feature was its very long barrel.
It was initially issued to artillery observers and other such personnel but was soon discontinued.
The P08 was rare, but the artillery model even more so, so much so that any P08 artillery model was incredibly valuable and seldom seen on the market.
There were several versions of the P08 pistol, but the artillery model was the rarest and most valuable in the P08 pistol family, given its limited production numbers.
The German DWM Company only produced 20,000 of these artillery models between 1914 and 1918, and each one had exceptionally high shooting accuracy.
Only 20,000 were made, and after having survived both World Wars—from the moment they were first produced, the artillery model P08s were highly sought after—any that survived to this day was a treasure, especially those in such well-preserved, pristine condition.
Watching Gao Yang’s excitement, Morgan complained, “Actually, I found that gun.
It should have been me giving it to you, but Simon insisted on being the one to give it to you.
I’m not happy about that, knowing how rare this treasure is.
It should have been my favor.”
Simon laughed and replied, “Once again, thank you, boss, for giving me this valuable opportunity.”
Morgan waved his hand dismissively, muttering his dissatisfaction, while Gao Yang swallowed hard, closed the case, and put it away.
He smiled, “I love both of your gifts.
Morgan’s gift provides me with a usable hunting shotgun, which you know I’ve been planning on buying, and Simon, your gift enriches my collection.
I love them both.”
Then, Jack handed over a small box while holding a beer with the other hand.
“Buddy, I’ve got a little illegal treat for you.
Made it myself.
Do you like playing cards?”
Gao Yang opened the box and found an extremely small derringer that could be entirely covered with one hand.
It could hold four .22 caliber bullets, a typical palm-sized gun.
Jack had asked Gao Yang if he liked playing cards because, in American Western films, the gamblers liked to hide such a palm-sized gun up their sleeves.
If someone caught them cheating or discovered someone else cheating, they would pull it out and fire.
At that moment, Bob also held out a box, and before Gao Yang could speak, Bob said with a laugh, “Alright, alright, mine’s a gun, too.”
Gao Yang opened the box and took out a shiny, glittering revolver that was a very common model—a Smith & Wesson M686PLUS with an eight-inch barrel.
Holding the weighty gun in his hand, Gao Yang laughed and said, “Haha, eight-inch barrel, I’ve always wanted to get one.”
Bob shrugged and said, “I know, so I sent you one, it’s an original factory piece, the New Century Limited Collectors Edition, limited to one hundred units.
Yours is number 8, and I know 8 is a lucky number for Huaxia people, so it’s a very auspicious number, right?”
Gao Yang replied with a smile, “That’s right, very auspicious.
Hey, why did you all decide to give me guns at the same time?”
Jack laughed and said, “Because we were actually at a gun show, buddy.
We were in Philadelphia, Bruce gave me a call, and then we found out about your birthday party today, so we all came over together.
Otherwise, we couldn’t have made it from Portland, dude.
We came straight from the gun show, so of course, we gave you guns.”
It was quite a coincidence.
After a good laugh, Gao Yang continued to unwrap his gifts.
Once he had finished opening a pile of presents, Little Donnie, who couldn’t wait any longer, immediately shouted loudly, “Let the music play!
Who’s going to dance the first dance?”
The first dance was, of course, Gao Yang and Yelena’s affair.
So amidst the music, Gao Yang held Yelena and danced the first dance.
After stepping on Yelena’s feet many times, Gao Yang finally finished the opening dance—if you could call it a dance.
Then the ball began.
Although it was odd to dance traditional dances at a birthday party, and even weirder that nobody was wearing gowns yet had to dance those stiff ballroom dances, the opportunity was rare.
It was the first time Satan’s people could get together to host a party, something akin to a ball, so who cared about it being odd?
Just throw everything together like a hodgepodge.
After dancing with Yelena, Adele, who had been eyeing them the whole time, immediately took over as Yelena’s dance partner.
Heavens be pitied, Gao Yang had intended to stick it out through the dance before bailing.
Gao Yang found he couldn’t bail.
Amidst the laughter, many people in t-shirts and shorts started circle dances, and he had become the most sought-after dance partner.
When the dance ended and it was time to switch partners, Eileen swooped in front of Gao Yang in a flash, grabbed his hand, and left a bewildered Bob hanging to one side.
Gao Yang expressed his discontent, “Eileen, you’re using me.”
Eileen laughed and replied, “Don’t say that, sir.
I can’t think of another chance to dance with you, so don’t ruin the fun.”
After dancing with Eileen, Catherine finally got her chance to dance with Gao Yang.
And after Catherine, there were Natalia, Lucica, and even Frey’s wife and mother.
In the end, although a dance was short and the partner changing was quick, so many people were involved that Gao Yang actually remembered the steps after going around once.
While everyone started dancing, Li Jinfang, who couldn’t dance at all, sat alone in a corner.
Li Jinfang really couldn’t blend into the cheerful atmosphere, but he didn’t want to spoil the rare mood for Satan’s people, so he avoided everyone’s eyes, took two glasses of champagne, and quietly hid in the corner.
Then he raised one glass and whispered inaudibly, “Lizhe, you said you’ve never had champagne and wanted to try what it tastes like, I…”
Li Jinfang couldn’t continue.
His eyes became blurry, and to cover his weakness, he took a step back, sat down on a chair behind him, bowed his head, and put the champagne glass to his lips.
As Li Jinfang bowed his head, he noticed someone quietly watching the dancing crowd from behind a decorative bush near Little Donnie’s back door.
Quietly wiping his eyes with the back of his left hand, Li Jinfang looked up and saw the person so close to him was Eliza, not Little Donnie’s sister, but the genius hacker girl who lived with Little Donnie’s foster mother.
Li Jinfang ignored Eliza.
Sitting on the chair, he downed the champagne in the glass and quietly spilled the champagne he was holding in his other hand onto the ground.
Then he muttered softly, “Rest in peace in heaven, I…”
Li Jinfang wanted to say something, but he couldn’t voice anything.
After his eyes blurred again, he sat on the chair, staring blankly at the joyful crowd, his mind empty, not knowing what he was thinking, or perhaps he wasn’t thinking anything at all.
After spacing out for a while, affected by the scene, Li Jinfang saw that Eliza, who had psychological barriers and could hardly interact with strangers, was also staring blankly at the crowd.
She stood with her arms crossed, shoulders hunched, and a dull expression on her face, just like when Li Jinfang first saw her, without changing her pose at all.
Suddenly, Li Jinfang felt that the girl was pitiful, just like him.
They were now of the same kind, those who were unwilling to admit it but in fact could no longer blend into the crowd—the kind of people who would have to get used to being alone for the rest of their lives.
(To be continued.
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