Chapter Thirty-Three: Mack's Invitation

  The next afternoon, Ju An took his family and Wu Ming, Wang Fan to Old Taylor's house for dinner. This time, Ju An drove with his mother and sister, as well as the two little ones, while his father and brother-in-law, Wu Ming and Wang Fan rode horses. The group slowly made their way to Old Taylor's ranch.

  Old Taylor's ranch is about twenty miles away from the Anheuser ranch, not far. It took only ten minutes to drive there, but the whole family took more than half an hour to get to Old Taylor's ranch.

  As soon as he entered the ranch gate, Ju An found that it was more distinctive than his own gate. The gate of Taylor's ranch had a rough wooden pillar on each side, with a weathered bark and two pillars supporting a horizontal beam. On the beam was written "Giant House Mountain Ranch" and in the middle hung a sheep head. The four sides of the gate were surrounded by thick wooden stakes, with four layers of fine wood, all with brown tree bark, very distinctive.

  Wang Fan then leaned in at the car door and said to Ju An, "Anzi, this big gate is much more particular than you, yours is just a door frame".

  "Wait till I get an idea and I'll make the front door look better than old Taylor's."

  Wang Fan also came over and whispered: "You've been mixed in the country for so many years, what have you mixed up? You haven't even done a good job of saving face."

  Ignoring those two bastards who were gloating over his misfortune, he stepped on the gas and entered the ranch.

  As they drove up to the house, the Taylors were already waiting at the door. After getting out of the car and exchanging pleasantries, Vera Taylor invited everyone to tie their horses to the fence and then bustled around to give them water. This time, Taylor's daughter Carol and her husband Kri were also there, as well as the Andersons and the Sandtons.

  Ju An introduced Wang Fan and Wu Ming to everyone else, while the others helped with dinner preparations. The men then gathered around to chat.

  After listening for a while, Ju An lost interest. It was basically about the number of people each family would receive and what activities to arrange, such as whether to have outdoor cycling and camping details.

  He got up and went to see if anyone needed help. As soon as he walked over, Vera let him go free, and here came the busy one, so Ju'an had no choice but to pick up a bottle of beer and walk to the fence to watch the flock of sheep gathered together.

  After a while, Keli also walked over and leaned against the railing with Ju'an and said hello.

  "Why stay alone?" Anke said with a sip of beer.

  "Look at the sunset and the flock of sheep."

  "You'll enjoy it more than they will," Keli said with a smile, pointing to the group of people discussing over there. Then he continued:

  "I heard that the ranch is not involved in tourism development, why?"

  Juw An replied: "I'm short of manpower there, and I'm also afraid of trouble, you prepare a few pastures to work on together".

  "We've got three ranches that can accommodate twenty-five guests, and this one, plus the Sanderson's and Andersons', will also have two riding instructors on hand when we're expecting company. And when we're having a campout, we'll even bring in a singer from town," said Crie.

  "You guys think you're so perfect," Ju An said with a smile.

  Keli smiled and replied, "I used to do it for a while before, but the source of customers couldn't be guaranteed, so I gradually stopped doing it. Our pastures are not specialized in tourism, but mainly in animal husbandry. We can't compare with those professional pastures that have swimming pools and are like hotels."

  "Ha ha, I thought there would be more sheep here, Taylor said he had a lot, did he put the rest in the wild?"

  Kerry replied: "There's only a small part here, and there's a big part on the mountain, where two South Americans are herding."

  "On the mountain?" Ju An asked strangely.

  He pointed to a semi-high mountain in the distance: "The pasture of that rancher was invaded by wild grass, and he wanted to use herbicides but was afraid of leaving any hidden dangers, so he rented it cheaply to my father-in-law, grazing sheep. The conditions on the mountain are too harsh, and no local people can be invited to go there. There is no electricity, no gas, food needs to be sent up two or three times a week, and costs need to be controlled. Foreigners' wages are lower, and they don't need to pay various insurances."

  He nodded slightly, thinking to himself: These Americans are always yelling about losing their jobs and having no security, blaming immigrants for stealing their work. They don't realize that there are some jobs they just don't want to do. They think the pay is too low and the conditions are bad, but when immigrants do them, they complain. They're lazy and blame others for being too diligent. He thought of a Republican who had said in the newspaper recently that they needed to control illegal immigration, send them all back, because these immigrants were taking jobs that belonged to Americans, making it impossible for Americans to find work.

  Vera shouted that dinner was ready, and Guren and Kri went to the oven, took a plate, got two pieces of lamb chops, and started gnawing on the bones with their hands. They were roasted pretty well.

  Juw An thinks that foreigners' three staples, steak, lamb chops and salad, are all the same. For Juw An, eating them twice is still fresh, but eating them often makes him lose his appetite.

  Wang Fan and Wu Ming, on the other hand, were thoroughly enjoying themselves. In Wang Fan's words, drinking large quantities of wine and eating large bowls of meat was one of life's greatest pleasures.

  After dinner, Ju An bid farewell to everyone with Taylor and his family.

  Having arrived at their own home, the three brothers counted and recounted together.

  Wang Fan handed over a few pages of paper to Ju An. Ju An took a look and found that it was quite detailed, listing the items tourists needed to bring, including soft bags, long-sleeved clothes, shoes, and glasses with straps (to prevent them from falling off while horseback riding). The document also specified what cosmetics were allowed (biodegradable ones), what food would be provided on the first day, what activities would take place, and what the schedule was for the second day. It seemed that everything had been arranged meticulously. There were also some notes about shopping time and other miscellaneous things.

  He threw the paper back at Wang Fan and said, "What do you think?"

  Wang Fan replied: "I think it's fine, the arrangement is very good. I think we can go back the day after tomorrow and organize a team to come over as soon as possible to test the waters. And I already have a target in mind."

  "Already so soon?"

  Wu Ming replied: "Old Three, I had already arranged for a middle-level position in a software company before he came back, just waiting for him to return and finalize it."

  "Ha ha, you're really something else!"

  Wang Fan smiled and said, "Their boss used to be a comrade-in-arms with my dad, everyone is familiar with each other. I see them calling him uncle, they go on vacation in different ways, it's better for us to make money than others."

  "Go! You take care of it," Ju An said: "We're leaving in two days, and we've only been here for a few days."

  "In a few days, either I or Wu Ming will come. The first time we always need someone to lead the team. If everything goes smoothly, I'll be there too," said Wang Fan.

  "After playing for a few days, Lao San planned to buy a piece of land and build a horse farm in Jiangnan City," said Wu Ming.

  "Isn't there a horse racing track in Jiangnan? What are you doing?"

  "There's nothing to talk about with you, who only wants to raise cattle and eat. That horse farm has a low level of quality. I'm going back this time to find some people to work together on something better, like a wine bar or hotel rooms. If you're interested, you can invest too?" Wang Fan said.

  "It's no big deal about throwing money around, I'm just not interested in dealing with those relationships back home," Ju An said with a smile.

  "Never mind, you just raise your cattle, I don't get it, how much money can raising cattle make?" Wang Fan shook his head.

  "I didn't think I'd have so much money, such a big ranch, a car, a house, and no one to bother me about punching in every day. Holidays are just another day off for me. I'm very content with my life now, why bother with unnecessary things? As the old saying goes, 'knowing when to be satisfied is the key to happiness'. You ordinary people can't understand this state of mind that I've achieved through non-action and effortless governance."

  "You... Ah, you're really not destined for great wealth." Wang Fan nodded slightly.

  After chatting for a while, I returned to the room and had just finished washing up when my mobile phone rang. To my surprise, it was Mike's call. This Mike is from the auction house.

  "Hello, it's been a long time since we last spoke on the phone."

  "Hello, An. I was supposed to call you this afternoon, but I had some troublesome clients and forgot. My boss, Philips, is organizing a charity auction in two days and wants me to invite you to attend. Do you have time?

  On the phone came Mike's familiar voice: "If you have time, I personally suggest you come and participate. Many of Philips' friends will be attending, and there are also several Chinese people, maybe you'll get along with them. It's a charity auction held by the party."

  It's clear that this is about asking for money. Just as I was thinking of an excuse to decline, Mike said: "An, you should come and participate, get to know many political and economic figures, make some friends, it will be beneficial. Besides, our Democratic Party plans to increase its publicity efforts in Montana this year, so take a look around, there will definitely be more such occasions in the future, whether or not you participate in the auction is irrelevant, just go and broaden your horizons."

  After listening to Mike, Ju An thought about it and felt that it was indeed the case. His friends had also gone to experience the upper-class life of American imperialism and see the sugar-coated bullets of capitalism for themselves, so he nodded in agreement.

  Just as I was about to hang up the phone, Mike added: "Also, the painting you have stored here, Professor Frank wants to borrow it for an exhibition. He hopes you can agree, and of course there will be a small fee."

  "Exhibitions are fine, but what if they get damaged?" You borrowed it and messed it up, who's my brother going to look for? I'll sign a big contract, losing thousands or even tens of thousands.

  "Before the exhibition, we will always insure at an insurance company. Safety issues, the insurance company worries more than you do." Mack said with a smile.

  "Then we'll discuss this matter when the time comes, and when the auction will be held," Ju An asked.

  "Day after tomorrow evening," Mike replied. "But I suggest you come over the day after tomorrow, can't old friend Mike treat you to a drink?"

  He reluctantly agreed. He told him that he would go to New York the day after tomorrow and call him, hung up the phone, Ju An thought, this money is being remembered by someone everywhere.