Chapter 41 – A Quarrel

Tang Can smiled brightly and his eyes curved up. He yelled in the distance to Shen Yu. The young woman acknowledged him and started to walk over.

“You little brat! You sure move fast! Last month there was no word about any of this!” The other officer laughed and patted Tang Can a couple times on the shoulder. He observed Shen Yu from head to toe as she came up to them and then complimented Tang Can on his good taste.

Before Shen Yu could voice her confusion, the other officer said he had other affairs to attend to and left.

“What did you guys say about me earlier?” asked Shen Yu, frowning. The expression in the other man’s eyes was odd when they had briefly met.

Tang Can chuckled. “We didn’t say much! I came over here to find you for something!”

Shen Yu looked at him suspiciously. Since he had no desire to tell her to truth, she knew it wasn’t worth her time to investigate more. So, she shelved her questions.

“What did you need me for?”

A smile briefly crossed his face. Unlike his other smiles, this one seemed unnaturally forced. “You should get some rest earlier tonight. We’re headed out bright and early tomorrow!” Apparently, they were all headed to Lop Nor, a famed salt lake in the province of Xinjiang.

She later found out that, as expected, Grandpa Tang was a force to be reckoned with. Previously, Old Mr. Yun used all types of excuses to avoid working with them. Now that the fiery old geezer was here, he immediately sent out a division of the army’s Special Forces to “ask” the other old geezer to help them. Naturally, all of the soldiers in the Special Forces brought their submachine guns along to complete this task. Apparently the gold miners were so frightened at the sight of these men that they almost peed their pants! Old Mr. Yun was of a different caliber. He had seen similar sights previously. However, under these circumstances, he knew it was better to relent than to refuse. The two old men had known each other for almost a lifetime, so they understood the ins and outs of their individual personalities.

Usually Old Mr. Tang would not go out of his way to embarrass Old Mr. Yun, but when he really wanted something, he could get testy. Old Mr. Yun obviously knew how far he could push. If he tried to be recalcitrant now, he might as well go grab a cup of tea with King Yama in the afterlife.

Tang Can didn’t try to conceal any of his knowledge regarding Old Mr. Yun’s affairs from Shen Yu. In fact, she learned that the old geezer actually had half of a treasure map. The map was believed to lead to a fabled gold mine. Apparently, it was made by a researcher who went on an expedition to Lop Nor and ended up tragically dying.

Old Mr. Tang wanted to look at that half of the map. However, Old Mr. Yun adamantly refused to hand his portion over. He stated that he was willing to bring people along with him but he would never allow anyone to look at it!

Tang Can’s grandfather flipped out when Old Mr. Yun voiced his refusal. He even took out a gun and pointed it at the other old man. He called Old Mr. Yun a senile old fool and threatened to shoot him if he didn’t comply with his wishes.

But Old Mr. Yun merely guffawed and stroked his scruffy long beard. In reply, he said, “Hey old fella, if you shoot me and I die, who will regret it more? Will you be able to die peacefully, with your eyes closed, later on?”

Old Mr. Tang almost blew a blood vessel after being provoked by Old Mr. Yun. His hands had trembled, and he almost couldn’t hold the rifle upright. When his grandson saw his shaking hands, he immediately went over and took the gun from him. If Old Mr. Tang really accidentally shot Old Mr. Yun, they would have lost more than they gained.

“You f*cking son of a bitch! You piece of shit…” screamed Old Mr. Tang as he stomped around the room in anger.

Old Mr. Yun didn’t respond. He continued to slowly sip at his tea and stayed calm. He had the upper hand in this situation!

That night, the young officer came by her room to drop of some food. In a pique of temper, she dumped all of the food into the garbage can and refused to eat. She didn’t have an appetite and there were many things that were on her mind. It frustrated her to be confined by the schemes of Tang Can and the others. Her parents clearly had a very big secret that could lead to their demise. She was the most innocent one here, yet still had to deal with this mess. It just wasn’t fair!

“If you don’t want to eat, that’s fine. No one died from skipping a couple of meals,” said Tang Can when he witnessed her sulky actions. It was clear that the young officer didn’t make much of them. Instead, he once again urged her to give a phone call back to her family.

After contemplating his advice for the rest of the night, Shen Yu reluctantly called home the next morning. She told her parents that she was going to Lop Nor and didn’t add any details.

“What?” exclaimed her mother over the phone, her voice full of fear. “Lop Nor? Why are you going there?” Shen Yu could tell her mother was scared, even though she couldn’t see her face.

Shen Yu smiled bitterly. She didn’t want to think her mom was hiding anything, but it was very unlikely at this point!