Chapter 74: New Blood

"Oh, a headache. It seems staying up late isn't a good idea after all." Early the next morning, Liang En woke up in his guest room at the Carlos Manor, shaking his head to clear away the fog in his mind.

Last night, he had been chatting with this group of people until late. However, the gains were substantial.

At the very least, Hans, the elder who managed various art-related businesses, had expressed that Liang En could directly sell him any valuable items in the future. This meant that Liang En had opened up a new sales channel.

Over the next week, he spent a leisurely time in Yellowstone Park, enjoying a laid-back week that felt like a Christmas vacation. As the holiday came to an end, his father had also managed to find a reliable helping hand for him.

"Do you remember Fan Meng? He's the son of your Uncle Fan," Liang En's father said over the phone, "He's back now, and your Uncle Fan asked me to help him find a job."

"Fan Meng, Uncle Fan's son—ah, I remember," Liang En immediately recalled the person his father was talking about.

In Ireland, there were very few early Chinese immigrants, and this Uncle Fan was a good friend of their family from before. He was of Indonesian-Chinese descent and had immigrated here with his parents due to discrimination.

The reason the two families became acquainted was also quite coincidental. When Liang En's father had just arrived and was buying seeds, he was almost swindled by an ABC (American-born Chinese) and nearly lost everything. Fortunately, Uncle Fan stepped in to help, recovering most of the losses and dealing with the swindler legally.

After that incident, a deep friendship developed between Liang En's family and Uncle Fan's family. The best vegetables from their farm were often sold to Fan's restaurant.

Fan Meng was Uncle Fan's second son. Unlike his elder sister, who eventually got into Oxford, and his younger brother, who had a talent for cooking and spent his days experimenting in the kitchen, Fan Meng wasn't good at academics and didn't enjoy cooking.

During their time in middle school, Fan Meng was a year ahead of Liang En. Because their families had a good relationship and both of them liked military matters, they got along well.

Later, due to Fan Meng's good health and bravery, he locked himself in his room for a week after failing to get into university after high school. Then, he made the decision to join the French Foreign Legion.

Even after he joined the Legion, Liang En kept in touch with him. However, due to the Legion's overseas deployments, they could only chat for about ten minutes once every month or two.

Considering that Fan Meng was a year older, he had just completed his five-year contract. Clearly, he hadn't chosen to become a non-commissioned officer and stay in the military as a professional. Instead, he had chosen to retire.

"Mengzi, what are you up to now?" After hanging up with his father, Liang En dialed Fan Meng's new number directly. The moment the call connected, he heard a cacophony of voices, with the sound of stir-frying mixed in.

"Since I retired from the foreign legion, I've been working for my dad's shop, driving and delivering goods. Anyway, I have shares and a severance package from the retirement, so I'm just taking it easy for now."

The microphone carried the accent of the Guangdong province in Southern China, spoken in Mandarin. As an Indonesian-Chinese person, his Chinese was indeed much better than that of most second or third-generation overseas Chinese.

"By the way, I heard from my dad that you've made a fortune recently, even bought the ranch next to your house. Is that true?" After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fan Meng asked straightforwardly.

"It's true, but it's a bit like winning the lottery, relying purely on luck. That's why I used most of the money to buy the ranch. After all, for us Chinese, land is the most valuable asset."

"Absolutely." Fan Meng nodded and then shifted the topic. "By the way, you're not just calling to chat, are you? I guess my old man wants you to help me find a job."

"Uh, your guess is right," Liang En admitted directly. "My business is getting busier, and I can't handle it all by myself. So, I need a reliable helping hand—"

Next, Liang En briefly explained the nature of his work. During his description of searching in the wilderness, Fan Meng often interrupted him, asking about things he had glossed over.

"Alright, buddy, I'm in," even though Liang En skipped mentioning facing off against arms smugglers like a black market gun dealer, Fan Meng, having spent so many years in the foreign legion, could naturally catch a hint.

"My work here is quite demanding, and sometimes it can be dangerous—" out of habit, Liang En tried to offer a warning, but Fan Meng cut him off before he could finish.

"No worries, can it be any more dangerous than a battlefield?" Fan Meng brushed it off, "It's settled then. Give me a call when you're back in Dublin, and I'll pick you up at the airport."

After they made plans, Liang En continued his journey in Yellowstone National Park. It wasn't until two days later that he boarded a plane and returned to Dublin.

"Mengzi, here we are again." Stepping out of the airport with his luggage, Liang En's first sight was Fan Meng holding up a sign in the waiting area. The two immediately exchanged shoulder taps.

"Yeah, it's been two years since we last saw each other since that one time I came back from vacation," Fan Meng grinned, revealing a scar on the side of his cheek, which, combined with his towering physique, gave him a somewhat fierce appearance.

Unlike Liang En, Fan Meng's mother was an Eastern European immigrant. So, he used to look quite handsome, even somewhat resembling the male lead from Twilight.

However, now, the scar on his right cheek completely destroyed the original pretty boy image.

"What happened to your face?" Liang En inquired about the scar on Fan Meng's face. "Just a shrapnel, really. I was protecting an injured comrade at the time and didn't have time to protect my handsome face," Fan Meng said nonchalantly.

"And at that moment, I was quite lucky. If it had been a bit higher, I would have lost my eye. And if it had been a bit lower, you would have been seeing me with a white chrysanthemum."

On the way back, Liang En told Fan Meng about things like confronting arms smugglers in the wilderness, then got serious. "Contrary to what you might have originally thought, this job requires patience and can be dangerous—"

"I'm totally fine with that," Fan Meng shrugged. "Actually, your job seems much easier and safer than I imagined it to be. By the way, what specific tasks will I mainly be doing?"

"Relax, I'll handle the specialized work. You just need to drive, handle the lifting, and excavate when needed. Of course, sometimes you might need to pay attention to security," Liang En said as he drove.

"Of course, if you have other skills, that would be even better. After all, this job involves going out into the wilderness, and having a diverse skill set will be very beneficial."

"I can use a metal detector, build shelters, and do vehicle maintenance," Fan Meng said, "For a year, I spend four months overseas on peacekeeping or counter-terrorism missions. I'm also an armored vehicle driver in the amphibious unit, so I've learned quite a few skills."

"That's fantastic. You know I had a ton of issues during my last wilderness assignment—" hearing Fan Meng, Liang En quipped.

Soon, the two arrived at Liang En's parents' farm. After greeting his family, they moved the things Liang En had stored at home to the underground storage of his newly purchased ranch.