"Money isn't a problem?" Wang Haifeng was startled by Feng Jun's tone. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Mine ores," Feng Jun replied seriously. "But you know, wherever there are mines, there are grudges. It's normal to get some firearms to protect myself, right?"
Wang Haifeng looked Feng Jun up and down again as though he no longer recognized him, then let out a soft sigh. "Little Feng, you've changed."
"Quit getting sentimental. Who can stay unchanged when they're out in the world?" Feng Jun bared his teeth in a grin, raised his glass, and drained it. "If you can help me find some, then do it. If you can't, I won't blame you."
Wang Haifeng fell silent for a while, then his eyes lit up. "Right, you could ask Xia Xiaoyu. Someone in her family is in the military, so maybe she can think of a way to help you. How much ammunition does the military destroy every year?"
"Is that possible?" Feng Jun's eyes brightened. He had never considered getting ammunition from the military. After all, the online novels he had read always said that if one wanted firearms, one could only find a way to get them from abroad.
Wang Haifeng's smile was rather strange. "You'll have to discuss it with her. I don't know whether she can pull it off."
Feng Jun fell silent. After a long while, he smacked his lips. "Forget it. Help me get some detonators first."
In truth, he was not sure whether bullets would work against the gorilla and hedgehog. If that place really was the immortal martial plane he imagined it to be, even machine guns would have limited effect. Bringing over nuclear weapons, on the other hand, might actually count as a devastating weapon.
In any case, he had no intention of confronting the gorilla or hedgehog head-on. As long as he did not clash with them directly, using detonators properly would be more or less enough. There was not much point in getting firearms as well.
Of course, without firearms for protection, he definitely would not be safe enough. But Feng Jun was not the sort of shut-in who only dared take risks after preparing everything perfectly. Adventure was in his bones. As long as he could carry out all the precautions he had thought of, that was enough.
Wang Haifeng glanced at him again, thinking, This is the Feng Jun I know. Firearms? Isn't that a joke? He smiled and nodded. "All right... Oh, right. Isn't your home in a county town? Wouldn't it be easier to get this stuff there?"
Feng Jun glared at him. "If my family found out, how worried would they be?"
Wang Haifeng nearly had his nose twisted out of shape in anger. "You have family, as if I was raised by a stepmother. Do you even know how to talk?"
"Are you stupid?" Feng Jun looked at him as if he were an idiot. "How big is a county town? How big is Yang City?"
After dinner, Feng Jun went to a luxury brand boutique and spent eighteen thousand Xia currency on a handbag for Mrs. Wang. Then he went to the freight yard beside the train station, hired a light truck, loaded up the goods on Heping Street, and hauled them to the villa.
When he returned, it was still before five o'clock. He went to the supermarket again and ordered a batch of food and water.
Mrs. Wang's birthday banquet was held at Qionglin Pavilion, an extremely upscale hotel. However, twenty-nine was not an age for a lavish celebration, so they had only booked a large private room and set up three tables for relatives and especially close friends.
Feng Jun was seated with the husband's side. Only three of Wang Haifeng's friends had come today. The other two were his classmates, and their names were painfully ordinary: one was Li Qiang, and the other was Zhang Wei.
However, while their names were ordinary, both men had excellent looks. They had figures and faces alike, and with Feng Jun's own good looks, the three of them sitting together formed a striking line of handsome men that drew plenty of attention.
Quite a few female guests casually turned their heads to sneak glances at them.
Through Wang Haifeng's introductions, Feng Jun learned that Li Qiang's family was in business and that he himself worked at Yang City Television Station. Zhang Wei's family had an official in the county government, while he worked for a securities firm.
When Li Qiang and Zhang Wei first met Feng Jun, they both had a somewhat arrogant air about them. If nothing else, Feng Jun was not from Yang City. He had come from elsewhere to make a living, so he was naturally a step below the locals.
Moreover, he had once worked at Hongjie Club, which gave neither of them much reason to respect him.
Li Qiang was somewhat better. Since he came from a business family and worked at a television station, he had seen all sorts of people. Even though he did not think much of Feng Jun, he would occasionally invite him to eat some dishes.
After all, Feng Jun was Wang Haifeng's friend and did not know anyone else there. Li Qiang ought to look after him a little.
By comparison, Zhang Wei treated Feng Jun as though he were invisible. Instead, he kept chatting with Mrs. Wang's close friends, occasionally showing off his knowledge and tossing out clever remarks that made the women giggle nonstop.
Feng Jun did not care about such things. He had come for Wang Haifeng and his wife. As for everyone else... hehe.
However, half an hour after the banquet began, the situation suddenly changed dramatically.
Mrs. Wang came over to toast their table, thanking her friends for coming to celebrate her birthday. When she reached Feng Jun, she said with a smile, "Thank you for the handbag. I really love it. The last time I went to Sea City, they only had the display model left. I never expected it to be available in Yang City now."
See? That was what it meant to know how to speak. She did not say that the handbag Feng Jun bought in Yang City was unfashionable. Instead, she said that she had wanted to buy it but had failed, and that he had fulfilled her wish.
Aside from her ordinary looks and slight tendency toward jealousy, Mrs. Wang was truly beyond reproach in every other respect.
Naturally, Feng Jun exchanged a few pleasantries, saying that he did not have such good taste either and had merely bought one on the spur of the moment.
After Mrs. Wang left, Zhang Wei could no longer remain calm. His family circumstances were only slightly worse than Mrs. Wang's, but he knew her spending habits quite well. She was the type who rarely bought handbags locally.
For her to specifically thank someone, that handbag definitely could not have been cheap.
As the birthday celebrant, he had also prepared a gift: an automatic shampooing and massage device, an imported product from Mud Country worth over a thousand Xia currency. That was good enough—after all, it was not a milestone birthday, and it was the thought that counted.
So he was extremely curious. "Little Feng, what kind of handbag did you give sister-in-law?"
Feng Jun glanced at him and replied casually, "Xiang Ke'er."
Well, even without anything else, those three words alone let Zhang Wei guess the value of the gift. It was definitely no less than ten thousand!
So he raised his glass and clinked it against Feng Jun's for the first time, speaking with a smile. "Come on, we haven't had a drink together today... First time meeting, let's have one."
Seeing how Zhang Wei had gone from arrogance to respect, Feng Jun still did not hold it against him. He drained the wine in his glass in one gulp.
Once they left this restaurant, they were destined to have no further dealings with one another. Why make himself seem petty?
However, with Zhang Wei's discernment, how could he possibly change his attitude over a handbag worth just over ten thousand?
He wanted to know what business Feng Jun had gone into after leaving Hongjie Club. He did not look like someone without money anymore.
Naturally, Feng Jun had not forgotten what he had told Wang Haifeng, so he answered vaguely, "I went into mining."
Zhang Wei's eyes immediately lit up. "What kind of mine?"
"Hehe." Feng Jun gave a dry laugh and did not answer. Are we really close enough for that?
Yet Zhang Wei did not mind, because he knew that private mining often meant illegal excavation. Not only was it against the law, but it was also highly risky. It was perfectly normal for someone to be unwilling to discuss it.
Besides, his goal was not to find out what business Feng Jun was actually in. He only wanted to know whether Feng Jun had spare cash now.
After all, he worked at a securities firm and had quotas for bringing in clients.
His family had some influence, so completing those quotas was not difficult. In truth, it would not matter much even if he failed. What could anyone do to him?
Still, everyone had vanity. If he could complete more of his quota through his own ability, would that not be better?
And he also knew that once private miners struck a mineral deposit, they generally had a large amount of cash on hand.
That was why he had changed his attitude and warmly entertained Feng Jun.
Feng Jun, on the other hand, was starting to feel uncomfortable. Come on, we're not that close, are we?
So he found an opportunity and asked bluntly, "You... need something?"
The question was somewhat abrupt, but Zhang Wei was not good at pretending either. "Bro, I'm still a few hundred short on my business quota this month. If you have money you don't need for the time being, could you open an account with me?"
Feng Jun had never traded stocks, but he had seen plenty of high-interest deposit solicitations. He immediately understood what Zhang Wei meant.
If it was only opening an account and depositing some money, that really did not matter.
However, he was not about to reveal his full wealth. After pondering for a moment, he said, "A few hundred? I don't have that much. But since you've asked, I'll open an account with you and put in fifty."
"Fifty is already quite a lot." Zhang Wei beamed and clasped his hands together. "Thank you. I appreciate the trouble."
Was five hundred thousand a lot? Given his background, it really was not, but something was better than nothing.
Besides, he strongly suspected that Feng Jun was hiding his true wealth.
It could not be helped. These days, securities had been demonized terribly. There were sayings like, "You go in with a luxury car and come out pushing a cart; you go in as a tycoon and come out as a lizard." The stock market certainly carried risks, but those risks had been infinitely exaggerated by its reputation.
Developing business with existing clients was easier, but expanding into new business was truly difficult.
Zhang Wei felt that if he had never dealt with the stock market before, he would not dump all his money into it at once either.
Throwing in a little to help a friend meet a quota, though, was not impossible.
In any case, he definitely could not put in too much. If the other party kept pestering him to buy stocks and he could not refuse, then at least this would be all there was.
So Zhang Wei remained quite enthusiastic.
In fact, if it had been an ordinary employee from another securities firm, five hundred thousand in new business would not have been a small amount at all.
Seeing this, Feng Jun's heart stirred slightly. This guy is easy to satisfy.
So he tested the waters again. "The mine has been short on detonators lately. If you can help solve that problem, I can persuade my partners to put some money in too... They're all richer than I am."
"Detonators?" Zhang Wei's eyes lit up as he said with a smile, "I... haven't dealt with that before, but I'll ask around for you."
He said he would ask around, but judging from his expression, he seemed completely confident.
Before you continue