Chapter 75: Ransom
The villa area had a clear division of the three major powers’ territories. Running back and forth wasn’t far. Lu Weiyi hung the two people on the wall and pushed Zhuang Mingxu to sit at the table, stuffing a handful of melon seeds into his hand as well.
Zhuang Mingxu had been delirious with fever after being rescued earlier, so this was considered their first proper meeting. Although he had learned about this group from Lin Yimu before, they hadn’t formally met. But his Lu Xiaoyi didn’t even think to introduce them, so Zhuang Mingxu had to take the initiative. “First time meeting everyone, I’m Zhuang Mingxu. Thank you all for saving my life.”
“My name is Davis Antonio. You can call me Davis, or you can call me Antonio, this is my beloved, Dean.”
“Hello,” the golden-haired little Dean poked his head out from beside Antonio and greeted him. “Lu and I are good friends, he saved me many times.” His Chinese was already quite good.
“Xiong Jie, this is my beloved, Xi Shi.”
“Gu Qingji.”
“I’m Gu Qingyue, his older brother. Weiyi helped us a lot along the way, you don’t need to worry about it.”
The few people introduced themselves in order of their seats. Finally, it was Li Zhuang’s turn at the very end. Li Zhuang still leaned against the wall in his usual nonchalant manner, cracking melon seeds loudly. Meeting Zhuang Mingxu’s gaze, he cracked a smile. “Li Zhuang.”
Zhuang Mingxu sensitively noticed his scrutiny and appraisal, but he had encountered this kind of gaze all the time before the apocalypse, so he didn’t pay it any mind, slightly nodding his head and turning away. However, that gaze still had a strong presence.
Zhuang Mingxu chatted with the few people for a while, and then Cheng Ying returned.
Cheng Ying’s Military Shield and Lin Jun’s Longteng weren’t exactly enemies, but they certainly weren’t very harmonious either. Cheng Ying naturally had no reason to speak well of them. So when he informed Lin Jun’s subordinates to tell Lin Jun to come and redeem his people, he only said that the people he sent had used their abilities to kill someone in someone else’s territory and were caught red-handed.
Therefore, when Lin Jun rushed over, he had no idea what had actually happened.
As soon as he arrived, he saw his precious son and subordinates hanging several stories high by something invisible. Especially since both of their faces had already been strangled into a purplish-red color, he couldn’t care less about winning them over and immediately demanded their release.
“Release them? He ran into our house trying to kill someone. You say release them, and we just release them? So many people are watching, don’t we have any face?” Xu Sa cracked melon seeds loudly, gesturing around at the onlookers with his fingers. “Come on, everyone, give us your opinion. Is it right to break into someone else’s house and use abilities to kill people?”
“How could that be right? The people from Longteng want to have the final say, don’t they?”
“Exactly. Luckily, these people are strong. If it were someone else, wouldn’t they have died for nothing?”
“I’ve always said that there are no good people in Longteng. All they do all day is bully people. This is just what’s happening out in the open, who knows how they bully men and dominate women in private?”
“They’re simply heartless rich people. Who knows how they got so many supplies? Maybe they swindled them from people like us.” … After all, it wasn’t a one-man show. Xu Sa’s casual remarks immediately received agreement from the surrounding people. Public opinion was a powerful thing, and in no time, even Lin Jun’s large amount of supplies almost became everyone’s common property.
Lin Jun was slightly overweight and looked kind, with a bit of a beer belly. He huffed and puffed angrily, but in the end, he didn’t say anything too harsh. Instead, he asked to resolve things privately. The group returned to the villa courtyard again. Xu Sa was very good at socializing and shared the peanuts and melon seeds with the onlookers, receiving their promise that everyone would uphold justice if they were wronged.
Of course, most were just there to watch the fun, and there were a few who couldn’t wait to stir up some trouble.
Lin Jun brought two people of similar age with him into the courtyard. As soon as he entered, he again demanded that they release his people.
“Two thousand catties of flour. If you can’t produce it, you won’t even be able to take their bodies away,” Lu Weiyi’s attitude was extremely arrogant. This was something someone had said when they kidnapped Lu Weiyi’s cousin in his previous life and made a deal with his military officer uncle. Lu Weiyi remembered it clearly on the spot, except they had asked for weapons.
“Why don’t you just rob us?” a man behind Lin Jun said angrily.
“Young Master Lu, General Zhuang,” Lin Jun had calmed down since entering from outside. Looking around at this moment, he recognized Zhuang Mingxu sitting in the wheelchair, and naturally also recognized the person whom Zhuang Mingxu openly cherished.
“General Lin,” having heard “Longteng” earlier, Zhuang Mingxu had wondered if it was Lin Jun’s company, but after knowing that Lin Fei was Lin Jun’s son, he felt it definitely wasn’t. Now that he confirmed the person was Lin Jun, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart that even tiger fathers had dog sons.
Lin Jun was a quite wealthy businessman in Yongping City. Longteng’s businesses involved real estate, food, hotels, and a series of other industries. Before the apocalypse, he had intentions to enter the technology industry and had some business dealings with Zhuang Mingxu, making him a relatively successful businessman.
Especially since Lin Jun was an unadulterated philanthropist, donating to charity in his wife’s name every year was commonplace, giving him an excellent reputation among the wealthy circles. Coupled with his good character, Zhuang Mingxu had a deep impression of him.
“General Zhuang, we’re all acquaintances. Do you think we could release them first? We can always discuss things properly and find a solution,” Lin Jun felt that if they weren’t released soon, his son and subordinates would die up there.
“Isn’t he that ‘money-scattering boy’?” Lu Weiyi turned his head to ask Zhuang Mingxu.
This was a nickname some people used privately for Lin Jun, meaning that as long as you approached Lin Jun for charity, you could definitely get some money.
But being said so openly, it wasn’t just Lin Jun who was embarrassed, Zhuang Mingxu was too. However, being old foxes, and adhering to the principle of “if I’m not embarrassed, then you are,” Zhuang Mingxu nodded very calmly.
Lu Weiyi’s desire to rip him off lessened a bit. Although people called him “money-scattering boy” with some jest, Lin Jun was indeed very sincere when it came to charity. Many cities had orphanages and schools he donated to, and there were also specially established foundations. Compared to those who only talked about charity, many of his good deeds were actually put into practice.
Lu Weiyi gave him a strange look, directly released the two, and said a bit unhappily, “Your son cursed my whole family and wanted to hit people, and the other one used his ability to sneak attack and kill. Originally, if you didn’t have two thousand catties of flour, I would have torn up the deal. Since it’s you, I’ll give you a discount, five hundred catties, no less. Pay up and take your people.”
The others present didn’t know what was going on with Lu Weiyi, but they didn’t ask much. After all, anything gained for free was a bargain.
Lin Jun didn’t say anything at this time. Instead, he first went to check on Wang Ning and Lin Fei’s condition. After asking clearly about what had happened, he wished he could slap Lin Fei. He finally understood the meaning of Lu Weiyi’s strange look earlier, which was probably wondering how he could have raised such a son.
“I’m sorry, I spoiled my son,” seeing these two, Lin Jun knew they definitely wouldn’t stay in Yongping City. As a partner, he had also heard a bit about Zhuang Mingxu’s background. In this kind of era, he would probably have to return to his family to see, or at the very least go to Qingyuan City, and wouldn’t stay here.
Since that was the case, he didn’t need to bother trying to win them over and might as well speak plainly.
“Go have five hundred catties of flour delivered,” Lin Jun said to one of the people following him.
“Dad—” “Slap!” Lin Fei, who had been released, was clearly unhappy. He had just spoken a word when Lin Jun slapped him directly. “Shut up! How could I have raised such a good-for-nothing who can’t tell right from wrong?”
Lin Fei didn’t know if he was stunned by the slap, but he stood there blankly for a long time without saying anything.
Lin Jun glanced at the two from Military Shield who were watching the fun and said, “Young Master Lu, General Zhuang, may I have a word in private?” He had already noticed that Lu Weiyi’s authority among this group was clearly higher than Zhuang Mingxu’s.
Knowing there was something to discuss, Xu Sa immediately took out a pack of cigarettes and gave one to each of the Military Shield members, politely thanking them for their help as witnesses while hinting that it was time for them to leave.
Li Zhuang had a rough idea of what he wanted to say. Taking advantage of Xu Sa’s dismissal, he stood next to Lu Weiyi and whispered about the weapons, while also inquiring about their relationship. Upon learning that they weren’t particularly close, Li Zhuang suggested it was best not to reveal anything, as showing wealth would attract covetous eyes, especially since they were now in someone else’s territory, and even a strong dragon couldn’t suppress a local snake.
However, Lu Weiyi had his own ideas. It was almost a month, and he had been busy rushing around saving people recently, not having time to kill zombies. The zombie cores he had were still the ones he had stored before. Moreover, with zombies everywhere now, naturally mutated zombies were already hard to find. Sometimes even killing a hundred wouldn’t yield one. Now that someone was offering them up, there was no reason not to take advantage of it.
So when Lin Jun asked about firearms, he didn’t deny having them but very directly admitted, “We do.”
Before Lin Jun could be happy, Lu Weiyi added, “However, just a few handguns, something we got for self-defense before the apocalypse. We’ve just been carrying them since then. Do you want them?”
“Handguns?” Lin Jun didn’t react for a moment.
“What else? You didn’t think we had military-grade weapons, did you? Which one of us looks like a gangster?” Lu Weiyi said, glancing around at his group, then silently shut his mouth. He was wrong. At a glance, the tall and sturdy Xiong Jie and Antonio didn’t look like good people, plus Li Zhuang, who always had a half-smile with a hint of deviousness, left Lu Weiyi speechless.
Lin Jun only thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes, how many do you have?”
As soon as Lu Weiyi heard there was a possibility, he immediately manipulated the little green branches to pass a few fully equipped handguns behind the backs of the people on the sofa. He even cleverly picked the ones that those people had used, choosing two different models.
“Dean, you have one, right?” Lu Weiyi asked Dean, feigning uncertainty.
“Yes,” Antonio very cooperatively took out two from Dean’s and his own back waist positions and placed them on the table. “I have one too.”
Xiong Jie then also took one out. “This is mine.”
Li Zhuang also took one out and put it on the table.
At the same time, Lin Yimu and Ning Yuan also held up a handgun, indicating they had one too.
Zhuang Mingxu also joined in the fun, taking one out from his space.
Eight handguns in total, of which only Lu Weiyi’s and Dean’s had been used, the rest were fully equipped. As for the others, they didn’t look like they would have guns, and taking them out would only arouse suspicion.
“I want them all. How about I exchange them with supplies?” Lin Jun said.
I feel a fight coming on