Chapter Thirty-Two The Brothers Arrived

  Early in the morning as usual, a big bunch of laundry was collected. My brother-in-law and dad continued to play horseback riding, having returned from the shooting range almost a week ago. My brother-in-law's skills had slightly improved, and he also brought my sister along. The only one who didn't learn was my mom, who was afraid of these big things, so she took care of washing dishes and looked after the little ones.

  As the time was almost up, I prepared to go pick up Wang Fan and Wu Ming. They should be arriving soon. Driving out of the ranch gate, I met Old Taylor driving his old Toyota pickup truck, bringing over Little Jerry and Emily. As we crossed paths, everyone slowed down their cars.

  Old Taylor stuck his head out and said: "Trouble you these days". Jerry and Emily were still in the back seat waving at Ju'an with their hands.

  "Nothing, thanks to little Jerry, my introverted nephew is much better now."

  Little Jerry heard the praise and laughed out a sentence in Chinese: "No need to thank me, no need to thank me" in standard Mandarin.

  I was taken aback and almost didn't understand what the little guy said.

  Old Taylor laughed and said, "The little guys are teaching each other languages. They often point at things and say them in English and Chinese one after another. Now everyone is playing and learning together, and from time to time some Chinese words pop out of the little guy's mouth."

  He praised the little guys with a smile, then said goodbye to Old Taylor. When parting ways, he told Old Taylor that his friend would arrive today and meet up with them tomorrow.

  Old Taylor said that everyone would go to his ranch tomorrow night, he was preparing a barbecue party, and everyone would eat and chat together.

  This time, I've learned my lesson and didn't even bring a sign, just waiting at the exit, eyes scanning around, also taking a look at the foreign girls. After waiting for a while, the two guys finally came out of the airport.

  Two big men were indeed much more refreshing than Liu Chao and Zhao Nan, wearing suits, leather shoes with ties, simple small luggage boxes, and a large sunglasses on the bridge of their noses.

  He hugged each of the two FBI men in turn, then picked up their luggage and led them to the car.

  Wang Fan took a look at the F-150 and said, "You little rich kid, how did you end up with this thing? I thought it was a Rolls-Royce at least. You should've gotten a stretched Lincoln to pick me up."

  "Ah, I was thinking of buying a Cadillac or Lincoln," said Wang Fan with a chuckle. "But the key is that once you leave the highway and enter my ranch, there's still a stretch of dirt road. This guy is really something, what you're saying about those things, in just a few days the chassis would be all scratched up. And you two, your outfits are okay for New York, but here it's too... unusual. Let me take you to get some new clothes, next time when you bring a group here, make sure they dress casually, no suits and ties, thick jeans, long-sleeved shirts, don't wear sandals, high-top shoes are best."

  Lit a fire and told Wang Fan and Wu Ming about the small details. Then took the two guys to change their clothes. Directly walked into the old grocery store that Old Thomas had brought them to before.

  The old shopkeeper came forward as soon as he saw them, and Wang Fan and Ju An were immediately attracted by the small things hanging all around.

  Helped the two guys pick out a pair of boots, Wang Fan also picked out a pair of women's boots with silver decorations that looked very flashy. Said to be taking them back to give to his mom.

  Then bought a few belts with big buckles, the buckles were those big and shiny ones, the boss gave two cowboy hats as a gift.

  Ju An also chose two saddles, there were a few less in the pasture, this time brought along to add two more, all mechanical saddles.

  When it was time to settle the bill, Ju An suggested they split it together, but Wang Fan and Wu Ming firmly refused, so they each paid their own share.

  Out of the grocery store, into a clothing store, two guys picking out jeans found that almost all the clothes here were either "Made in USA" or "Made in PRC". After asking the owner, they learned that both types are basically the same, and the place of origin is domestic.

  Looking at those jeans that sell for 500-600 yuan domestically, they're only over 300 yuan when converted to RMB here, a whole half cheaper. Wu Ming shook his head and said: "Domestically produced goods are actually sold domestically at a higher price than abroad, no wonder the Americans are always yelling about sanctions".

  Wang Fan smiled and said, "I know a bit about the cause of this problem. Export tax rebates are one aspect. Even if it's just breaking even, with tax rebates added on, small domestic enterprises can still make a profit. If they're sold domestically, then there's no tax rebate, so the price is naturally higher. Additionally, domestic taxes are much higher than in the US. So when you buy these somewhat famous brands like Levi's or Gipsy shoes in China, even though they're made domestically, after adding some taxes, the difference is quite large."

  "Right," said Ju An, "there's no sales tax here either, I reckon it's equivalent to not having domestic land taxes, so things are naturally cheaper."

  After explaining everything, everyone paid the bill and left, taking two people to rush to the ranch. On the way, they met a few deer crossing the road, which excited Wu Ming and Wang Fan slightly.

  When they arrived at the ranch, it was just in time for lunch. The two of them were arranged to stay in the guest rooms downstairs. No choice, the upstairs was already fully occupied. Now the two little guys each occupy a room.

  After dinner, I originally planned to let the two guys rest for a while, but unexpectedly, the two guys took a bath, changed into their traveling clothes and came out, shouting at Ju An to harness two horses for them.

  It wasn't until later that I found out the two of them had no trouble starting a company, and thinking about it, with Wang Fan's powerful parents in high positions, it was indeed easy to get things done domestically. The two of them then took the two new girls they had recruited to practice horse riding every day.

  Jū ān bǎ dòu cǎo hé xuě huā bèi le pēn zi, rán hòu yòu tào le yī pǐ lì sè de xí mǎ, děng sān pǐ mǎ tào hǎo de shí hou, wáng fán fēi yào qí dòu cǎo, lǐ yóu shì dòu cǎo lā fēng.

  Jū ān bǎ dòu cǎo jiāng shéng gěi tā, nòng le bàn tiān, shǒu dōu fú bù dào mǎ pēn, zuì hòu nòng jí le, chà diǎn ràng dòu cǎo yǎo le yī kǒu, cái sè sè de fàng qì le qí dòu cǎo de yuàn wàng, lǎo lǎo shí shí de qí xuě huā.

  Ju An and Wu Ming burst out laughing beside him.

  "Bean Grass is an intact male horse, I keep him for ***, he has a violent temper, in the pasture, except for me, no one else is allowed to touch him."

  Wang Fan glared at Dou Cao: "In two days, I'll also get a small horse and raise it myself." But to his surprise, Dou Cao didn't even look at him, with a stalk of grass in her mouth, chewing slowly, making Wang Fan seethe with anger.

  They rode their horses, first trotting slowly, and found that the two guys' riding skills were actually quite good. They asked: "Hey, I've never heard you guys ride horses before, how did you learn to ride so smoothly in just a few days?"

  Wu Ming said, "Lao San found a horse farm and spent every day there, receiving one-on-one training. He told others not to bring anyone else to play at the ranch, saying that he himself didn't even know how to ride a horse, which would be embarrassing for everyone."

  "Wow, this is quite good! The movements are also standard. Honestly, it's even better than when I first came here to ride. I've ridden Mongolian horses back in my home country."

  Wang Fan said with a pleased smile: "Brother brought two little girls and one Arabian horse, one coach for each."

  "Looks like these two little girls can't escape your and Fourth's evil clutches after all."

  Wu Ming smiled and said, "You're wronging Lao San, when he first joined, he told me not to mess around in the company, business is business, don't make a mess of the company, and don't act like a nouveau riche."

  "Wow, Old Three has really changed, this old stray cat has started eating vegetarian food, it seems like university wasn't a waste of time after all, his whole spiritual level has been elevated quite a bit!"

  "My brother, I know this even if I didn't go to college. My mom manages these private companies and some people can't control their lower body, they have affairs in the company and it ends up a mess. A few months ago, a mid-level executive fell from power because of a three-year-old affair that had gone stale, he couldn't bear losing favor, and was kicked out of the company. The mistress, in anger, handed over materials to the discipline committee, but who knew they were obtained by his opponent? Not only did the executive fall from power, but the boss was also sentenced to seven years. Our ancestors said that a rabbit doesn't eat grass near its nest, and there's reason for that." Wang Fan said with satisfaction.

  "Alright, alright, don't go off on a tangent. You haven't caused enough trouble over the years."

  "There's absolutely no one like my current colleagues inside, and there are a few who come to me with a pretty good appearance, but brother's willpower is solid." Wang Fan said.

  "Wu Ming interrupted, saying: 'Hey guys, stop nagging, you two haven't had enough of women yet, go for a run, look at the sunny sky, everything is thriving, and the air is so good...'"

  "You think you're still in the college entrance exam, huh?!" With a kick on Dou Cao's belly, he immediately sped up and rushed out.

  Wang Fan also followed a group of horses, and Snowflake also accelerated its pace.

  "Whoa, don't suddenly attack like that! The words weren't even finished, and you've already run off!" Wu Ming urged his horse on, immediately catching up.

  "Look! A white-tailed deer. Let's chase after it and see!" Wang Fan urged his horse on, and Snowflake galloped in the direction of the deer.

  Ju An and Wu Ming immediately followed, a few white-tailed deer that were leisurely grazing, suddenly startled, estimated that no one had paid attention to them before, now seeing horses rushing over, they were slightly shocked.

  It was stunned for a moment, and then it immediately spread its four hooves and ran away quickly.

  "Wu Ming exclaimed loudly while chasing after it: 'Damn, I saw deer at the zoo before, they were all walking leisurely. This deer runs with such elasticity, it's really fucking beautiful!'"

  Wang Fan burst out laughing, closely followed by the white-tailed deer not far away. The gentle breeze caressed the knee-high pasture grass, and the entire pasture was like a green lake surface, with waves of wheat rippling up, three fine horses chasing after a group of white-tailed deer, the white-tailed deer just barely above the pasture grass, elegantly jumping high, occasionally rapidly turning corners.

  After a few turns, the three horses were left far behind by White Tail. These little guys turned too quickly, and the horses simply didn't have such good agility.

  As the three of them stopped their horses, the white-tailed ones also came to a halt, looking at Ju An and the others. Everyone could see the small white tails, while Dou Cao and his two companions were panting heavily, having just finished a series of rapid sprints, with beads of sweat seeping out on several of the big guys' bodies.