Chapter 2 A New Day

The next day, I woke up late in the morning. I must have had too much to drink last night. Old Zhang brewed his own liquor called "Muddle the Donkey," and it wasn't just a name. It had to be over sixty proof.

I heard Fatty whistling outside the window. It sounded like he and Old Zhang had just returned from outside. I quickly washed up, wiped my face, and went out to greet him.

Fatty looked like he'd won a battle, carrying a rabbit in one hand and a pheasant in the other. When he saw me, he grinned, "Young Master's awake! Your Fatty has had a great harvest today. We're having a feast for lunch!"

Fatty's military service had given him a biological clock. No matter what time he went to bed or how much he drank, he'd get up at six in the morning without fail, and be dressed, washed, and ready by six fifteen.

After coming to live in the forester's cabin in the mountains, Fatty got up every morning to make breakfast for everyone. Usually, he'd cook some porridge and warm up some flatbreads. He and Old Zhang would eat some first, and then keep the rest warm in the big pot so Zoe and Han Yu could eat when they got up.

Before dawn, Fatty and Old Zhang would have eaten their fill and gone out on patrol.

Old Zhang patrolled as part of his job, while Fatty patrolled to see if there were any signs of strangers coming up the mountain. After all, Fatty used to be a reconnaissance soldier, and reconnaissance was his specialty. Of course, Fatty also had his own agenda: to hunt during the patrol and get some wild rabbits and pheasants for a treat.

Zoe and Han Yu had driven out early this morning. According to Fatty, they seemed to be going to town to take care of some business and buy things.

"Do you think Miss Zoe, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, will be recognized as a foreigner when she goes out?" I leaned against the doorframe, watching Fatty prepare the rabbit and pheasant.

"Hey, Young Master, you don't have to worry about that. That foreign miss knows the art of disguise. She just ties up her hair, puts on a hat and sunglasses, and you can't tell what country she's from. She also has several wigs. She puts on a wig and wears a medical mask, and she looks like some older sister who's sick!" Fatty answered my question while focusing on his work. "Besides, even if the Z organization is all-powerful, they can't reach our remote backwater. The enemy is in the open, and we're in the dark. Young Master, just put your heart back in your chest."

After hearing Fatty's words, I stopped worrying. Fatty gestured for me to give him a hand, but I'd never been in the kitchen before and was a little apprehensive. Fatty saw that I was only getting in the way, so he waved his hand and told me to wander around and wait for lunch.

When I was brought to the cabin last night, it was already dark, and I couldn't see the surrounding environment at all. When I looked around during the day, I found that the environment here was quite nice, with lush trees and fragrant flowers. Looking down from here, I could see the entrance to the mountain, but because of the trees, people below couldn't see the cabin on the mountain. It could be said to be very hidden.

A small courtyard about ten meters in diameter had been cleared around the cabin. Behind the cabin, Old Zhang had marked out a vegetable garden and planted some vegetables. Next to the vegetable garden, he had planted two pomegranate trees. They could basically be self-sufficient with vegetables and fruits.

When it was time for lunch, Zoe and Han Yu hadn't returned. Fatty said not to wait and to eat first. It was normal for them to be gone for a while when they went out to do errands.

In the afternoon, Fatty and Old Zhang went out again, leaving me alone here, which was very boring. Fortunately, the two dogs in the yard were chasing each other and playing, so it wasn't lonely with the dogs to keep me company. When I went back to my room to sort out my belongings, I found the letters that my father had sent back years ago again.

At this moment, I suddenly thought of what Zoe had said last night, and I shuddered: "Could my father have also left similar information for my mother in some way?"

I spread out the letters and looked at every word and punctuation mark carefully, but I didn't see anything unusual, so I folded the letters as they were and put them away.

I counted the cash, deposit book, and bank cards. There was still more than 200,000 yuan in the account. Most of the money had actually been invested back into the company. The working capital couldn't be considered much, but it wasn't little either. With this 200,000 yuan, I could buy two apartments within the Third Ring Road of Tianjing City. If something happened to us, this 200,000 would be enough for me to escape outside and live a life of hardship for a few years.

However, living in the mountains all the time wasn't a long-term solution. If I was detached from society and reality, I wouldn't be able to survive, but Fatty seemed to be adapting well.

Before Zoe and Han Yu came back, I found Fatty and told him my concerns: "Brother Shi, what's our next plan? We can't just keep hiding like this!"

"Just call me Fatty, like the foreign miss does." Fatty grinned at me mischievously, then frowned and said to me with a serious face, "Actually, I don't know what that foreign miss is up to. To be honest, I'm always a little uneasy with an American leading the team. What are Americans? They're dens of capitalists. There's no truth in a capitalist's mouth!" httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět

After hearing Fatty's words, I felt even more uneasy. To be honest, I couldn't go back home now, and I was afraid of being targeted by the people from the Z organization if I went out. If I was kidnapped, something unexpected might happen.

Now there were four of us, like we were on a boat crossing the river. Zoe was the one holding the oar and rowing the boat. If she was a little careless, all four of us would be finished.

Fatty joked from the side, "We don't know what level the foreign miss is at, but Little Yu is no ordinary person. Before Little Yu joined, the foreign miss and I were repeatedly ambushed and intercepted by the Z organization, and we were always trying to deal with them. After Little Yu joined, we were no longer in a passive situation. She seemed to be able to foresee everything that was about to happen."

"Is it really that amazing?" I asked.

"Damn, is that a lie? When has Fatty ever lied to you? Take you, for example. From finding you to finally bringing you here smoothly, it was all planned by Little Yu. She could predict how the people from the Z organization would find you, how they would search for you, and how they would track you. Isn't that amazing?" Fatty pursed his lips and gave me a thumbs up.

Before seeing Han Yu's true skills, I was skeptical and would never blindly believe Fatty's one-sided words.

Before the sun was about to set, Zoe and Han Yu came back. The back seat and frame of the jeep were full of the things they had "purchased." The two of them were dressed neither flashy nor rustic, just a little tacky, the kind of ordinary that people on the street would never look at twice.

Fatty, Old Zhang, and I helped them unload the goods, which weighed several hundred pounds. I really didn't know where they had collected so many things.

Before dinner, Zoe and Han Yu had sorted out the pile of things. A small manual generator and a light bulb were put to use immediately. There was still some power left in the generator. Fatty stepped on a stool and hung the light bulb on the door of the cabin, put on a heat-insulating lampshade, and connected the wires. The small courtyard instantly lit up.

Fatty didn't slack off either. He connected the same light bulbs in several rooms in the house. I had to say, Fatty was very skilled at doing electrical work.

While Fatty was working, Zoe handed me a laptop that weighed about three or four kilograms: "Mr. Zhao, we were lucky today and got a used computer from the technology market. You can use it to relieve boredom. If you need electricity, use that generator."

I was overjoyed, and most of my anxiety from the day disappeared instantly. I said with a smile, "Miss Zoe, you can just call me Chenguang. It's too formal to always call me Mr. Zhao."

"Then I'll call you Young Master like Fatty does." Zoe said casually, then went to the pile of goods without looking at me.

It felt like Fatty was teasing me when he called me Young Master, but it felt like Zoe was mocking me when she called me that. Maybe I really wasn't as agile as Fatty when it came to doing work.

Later, after Fatty finished his work, Zoe gave Fatty a GBA game console and a bunch of cartridges that she didn't know where she had found. Fatty grinned from ear to ear when he saw them, and he worked even harder.

During dinner, Fatty brought up the stir-fried chicken and stewed rabbit meat that he had specially saved for them, and looked at Zoe and Han Yu with a flattering expression. Even more exaggerated, Fatty once again put a rabbit leg that he didn't know where it came from into Han Yu's bowl. I was wondering why I felt like something was missing from the stewed rabbit meat during lunch.

Old Zhang drank two ounces of liquor during the meal, and went back to his room to rest after eating. Zoe specially asked me and Fatty to stay, and the four of us continued the meal under the light.

Zoe said mysteriously, "When we went out today, Han Yu and I came up with a plan, and we need you to help us come up with some ideas."