CHAPTER 44: WAITING ALONE
“Hmm, there are very few newbies in the assassination world,
because they are recruited by the former assassins and this profession has no
such thing called “Failure is the mother of success ”. The assassination career will not provide you
skills during the process. Failure means danger and death, so when an assassin
is recruited, he must already be a qualified killer. Just as now I’m telling
you, if you want to be an assassin, you need to understand a lot of things!”
The old man was seducing like the big bad wolf in the Red Riding Hood tale,
constantly tempting Zhang Yang to join the assassin industry.
“Good or not, I am a student, I don’t want to commit
crimes.” Unfortunately, Zhang Yang wasn’t captivated.
“Then. Why’d you fucking ask?” The old man was a little
depressed.
“Hey, having more knowledge is always good, and in case I
make a fortune and someone tries to kill me, I am better prepared.”
“….” The old man was silent. He put down the newspaper and
lied on the couch, with serious disappointment on his face.
“Uncle Li, it’s past noon, time for lunch. I’ll get going
now.”
“You can eat here, hey, uncle Li has a lonely life. Finding
someone to talk isn’t easy for me ah … Join me, drink some wine, try some
dishes from next door …remember you had stewed beef and peanuts. And also get a
bottle of wine from the small shop on the side, you needn’t to pay for that now,
I usually pay there at the end of the month …”
The old man took out a hundred Yuan bill and handed it to
Zhang Yang.
“Gee Uncle Li …” As Zhang Yang stood up and took the money
from the old man’s hand, the three men from earlier came out. While the three
men exited the alley, the young man at the front had a proud look on his face
and the other two men in a bodyguard like suit were each carrying a heavy black
plastic bag. They were vigilantly looking around and even reckoned Zhang Yang
looking at them.
“Ah ..it’s okay. Let them go.” The old man didn’t take a
look outside but Zhang Yang could feel the old man’s eyes flash a little bit.
Zhang Yang was confused looking at the old man, and when he
looked outside at those three men, he always had a troubled feeling in his
heart, because the old man’s actions were a little unreasonable but Zhang Yang
couldn’t think of any particular reason. Zhang Yang was sure that those three
had nothing to do with the old man because when they appeared the first day,
the old man didn’t show any reaction. It wasn’t until a few days before, his
heart-throbbing aura appeared.
If it has nothing to do with the old man, is it related to
the casino?
The casino is just a place to gamble, what conflict would
there be? According to Liu Biao, the casino is fair. It is not that type of
casino that lays down traps, but similar to the large international casinos in
Macau. It was reasonable to assume that there were no contradictions between
the two. So why does the old man have such an intense murderous aura?
Zhang Yang had unprecedented doubts, but it was a tedious
matter to put his mind into. It had nothing to do with him. He didn’t even know
what the casino inside was like. He just knew that the casino is said to have
nearly 20 years of history.
………….
Soon, several steaming hot dishes were placed on the little
bamboo table in the bookstore. Zhang Yang although he doesn’t drink wine,
poured a cup for himself to accompany the old man. The more they drank, the
more they talked. They talked about everything. The old man was also talking
with zest from the Qin dynasty to the Tang dynasty, and then from the Tang
dynasty to present, his happy times and exaggerating about his past about the
rivers and lakes which made Zhang Yang to recall the school janitor, uncle
Wang. Both of them had a common hobby: to brag!
“Uncle Li, don’t you have afamily?”
“No.” Lao Li suddenly got into a depressed mood when Zhang
Yang asked the question.
“I’m sorry, uncle Li, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Zhang
Yang immediately felt the mood and quickly poured some wine for the old man as an
apology.
“Oh, that’s alright, when people get old, they get like
this, nostalgic, sentimental, in fact, although uncle Li is an orphan, he has a
family, a wife …” The old man sighed.
“Then you are old … … what about master’s wife?” Zhang Yang
didn’t know how to address, and finally felt that ‘master’s wife’ would be
appropriate. Although the old man wasn’t a master, he felt that the old man was
very good to him, it was an indescribable feeling.
(#shimu (master’s wife)= a respectful term for your master’s
wife)
“18 years ago, my wife and I had some business in Africa, so
we both went there knowing that the other party was prepared for us. And though
we ended up completing the task, my wife and I lost contact in the chaos …” the
old man said.
“Lost contact?” Didn’t
you have a cell phone? No contact address? Zhang Yang was incredibly shocked.
For two normal people to actually lose contact in this modern society with
modern communication technology, it was extremely strange. And also to know
that the phone was really popularized twenty years ago.
“Well, our mobile phones used during assassinations are
temporary. When we went to Africa, we had abandoned all the contact tools,
because those things could easily bring us more trouble. And besides, we also
had a fixed contact information. No matter the success or failure of the
mission, we had an appointment to meet at the XX building in C city and be sure
to wait until the other arrives, …”
“XX building, I’ve never heard about the XX building in C
city ah!” Although Zhang Yang wasn’t the head of C city, he still knew C city
like the palm of his hand, but he had never heard of XX building. “Oh, there
was 18 years ago, you see, just less than 100 meters of the commercial street
from the alley, Xx building was there. At that time, it was the landmark
building of C city. After we were separated, I waited there for two years
because just two years later, that place was demolished and a large commercial
plaza was built.” The old man sighed again.
“ … Then that means, even if master’s wife came to C city,
she couldn’t have found you? Zhang Yang stood up and walked towards the door to
look at the high tower of the commercial mall. He felt uncomfortable in his
heart. Usually, he used to see such tragedy on TV only, but he never believed
in it. He couldn’t even think that there are actually living examples of such
tragedies.
“I think the chances of her living in this world is pretty
minimal.”
The old man’s face clearly showed the vicissitudes of life.
At that time, the man who was usually indifferent seemed extremely lonely,
perhaps he had been waiting here for countless years, just hoping that one day
he would re unite with the love of his life. Zhang Yang was sure that the old
man had chosen that place at the alley, which is the nearest to the commercial
district, to open a bookstore, in order to wait for his wife, here, which has
already become the remaining last piece of the old C city …
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失败乃成功之母,not失败及成功之母. So It’s “failure is the mother of success”, not “mother of failure and success”. It’s a chinese idiom. At least that’s what I think is he translation, since I didn’t read the raws, however my gut is telling me that’s whats up, so could you take another look?
ReplyDeleteOooh, forshadowing. How many people think the old woman in the library is his wife?
DeleteHey!! Thanks man!!fixed it!!😊
DeleteYeah, i'm pretty sure she's his wife
Delete