T/N:
Hey guys. When I checked today I saw that this chapter didn’t publish for some reason even though I has scheduled it. I’m trying to see why that happened so that it doesn’t happen again in the future. Sorry for the late update.
Chapter 37.2 The Promised Land
When he woke up again, the sky was already bright, and the surrounding scenery had changed from the desolate Gobi to an occasionally populated town. Everything seemed like a dream. Now the dream finally ended, and the warm sunshine gave people a sense of security.
Lin Banxia sat in the car in a daze for a while, then suddenly remembered something, took out the map from his backpack, and said: “I seem to have seen Alexei’s body here, I’m not sure if it was created by that thing… Can you send someone to take a look?”
“Okay.” Song Qingluo said, “We will try our best to recover the bodies of the dead team members.”
“Where should we go next?” Lin Banxia asked.
Song Qingluo said, “You and Li Su are waiting at the hotel. I have to seal up the things first.” Only then did Lin Banxia notice that Song Qingluo’s face seemed to not be good, and he looked even worse than usual. After a few seconds, he suddenly became worried and said “Ok” obediently.
The car drove for about three or four hours, and finally stopped outside a B&B. Li Ye, Li Su and Sergey got out of another car. Li Su smiled and said hello to Lin Banxia. Lin Banxia found that his hand was bandaged and hanging below his neck, and the injured left hand was finally treated.
Lin Banxia asked him if he was okay.
“It’s okay. It’s just as I guessed before. It’s just a broken bone.” Li Su was a little indifferent. He had been used to this for a long time. “It’ll be fine in a few days.” While they were talking, another all-black armored vehicle arrived. Several staff members wearing “€€” characters came down, exchanged a few words with Song Qingluo in English, and then escorted him to the car.
Lin Banxia watched his back disappear from sight and felt a little disappointed for some reason. Seeing this, Li Su smiled and hugged Lin Banxia’s neck, saying: “Don’t look at it, he’ll be back soon.” Come on, let’s go drink.”
“Now?” Lin Banxia said, “It is so early in the morning.”
“What’s wrong with drinking in the morning? Who told you that you can’t drink alcohol in the morning? Since you’ve come to Russia, you must have a few drinks.” Li Su said with a smile and turned to say a few words to Sergey in Russian. Sergey was standing beside him without much energy. As soon as he heard Li Su’s words, he immediately became energetic and opened his mouth with a bright smile. It seemed that he returned to normal immediately after leaving that place, but Lin Banxia was too embarrassed to look at him. Sergey’s front teeth were knocked out by his punch. When he opened his mouth to speak, there was probably some air leakage.
Sergey didn’t seem to mind his teeth, he was smiling and chatting on the phone with people.
Lin Banxia whispered: “What is he doing?”
Li Su smiled and said, “I asked him to treat us to drinks – he was probably talking on the phone with his friends.”
The drinks should indeed be provided by Sergey, after all, he caused a lot of trouble for them there. Lin Banxia noticed that Li Ye didn’t say a word after getting off the car. He seemed to be in a bad mood. He didn’t know if something happened to Li Su in the car, but he was not too close to the two of them, so he didn’t dare to ask.
A few minutes later, Sergey called a car and took the group to a nearby pub.
It was only nine o’clock in the morning. Sergey knocked for more than ten minutes and forcefully opened the door of the pub. A tall, middle-aged man with a beard opened the door and saw Sergey. After seeing his face, his original angry look dissipated a lot. He reached out and patted his shoulder and said something with a smile. It seemed that this man was a familiar acquaintance of Sergey. Sergey waved to them, and the group filed in. Lin Banxia saw the inside of the tavern.
The tavern was small, with a wooden structure and a rough style. It full of unique Russian flavor.
Lin Banxia was actually a little hungry, so he asked Sergey if there was any food. Sergey said that this was a tavern and there were no staple foods, but the sausage was still very good, so he ordered one for Lin Banxia.
The alcohol came quickly, but Lin Banxia didn’t recognize the words on it. However, he saw Sergey take out a small glass and pour a glass for each of them. Lin Banxia took a sip, then wrinkled his face and said: “Is it okay to drink such a strong drink so early in the morning?”
“What does it matter?” Li Su laughed and said, “You always have to celebrate being alive to see the rising sun today.” He picked up the glass and took a big sip.
Sergey also drank. He drank half of it in one gulp, then raised the cup towards Lin Banxia and said a bunch of gibberish words and drank the remaining half. When Lin Banxia saw how generous he was, he thought that he should not embarrass the Chinese people, so he held his nose and drank it all, feeling it burning in his stomach. When he saw that Sergey’s alcohol glass was empty, he took the initiative to give him a refill. Seeing his actions, Sergey became even more excited. He kept shouting something and once again filled the glass in front of him. Lin Banxia was frightened by his actions, and tremblingly drank most of the alcohol in front of him. However, his ability to drink was average. After two glasses of strong alcohol, his eyes were already a little dizzy.
However, even if you are feeling drunk, you must not forget the etiquette of the alcohol table. Lin Banxia picked up the alcohol bottle and was about to pour Sergey a third glass but was stopped by Li Su with a laugh.
“Stop pouring it.” Li Su couldn’t help laughing, “The drinking rules here in Russia are different from those in China. There won’t be any alcohol left in their glasses. You can just drink as much as you pour.”
Lin Banxia quickly put down the alcohol bottle and said with a trembling voice: “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Li Su laughed loudly: “I just wanted to see this infinite loop.”
“This alcohol is vodka, which has a high alcohol content so it’s easy to get drunk.” Li Su stroked the cup with his fingers and smiled, “Russians all like it. He said he admires you very much. Although you look thin, you are a real person. A man worthy of his respect.”
Lin Banxia originally wanted to argue that he was strong, but after looking at Sergey who was as strong as a bear, he decided to forget it. Some things cannot be forced, and it is easy to feel inferior.
It happened that the sausage Lin Banxia wanted arrived at this time. He rubbed his burning stomach, quickly cut the sausage, and stuffed it into his mouth. The taste of this sausage was quite different from the sausages he had eaten before. It was full of a rich smoky flavor, had no starch, and was slightly salty. It was just right for drinking. Lin Banxia ate quite a bit before he recovered from his hunger.
While he was eating the meat sausage, Li Ye, Li Su, and Sergey had actually finished a bottle of vodka. Li Ye and Sergey could do nothing. Lin Banxia was surprised to find that Li Su’s drinking capacity was also very good. After several glasses of vodka, his expression did not change at all, but there was just a trace of blush on his cheeks.
Lin Banxia suddenly remembered that when they first met, Li Ye refused to let Li Su drink and said that he was not in good health. Why this time…
“Li Ye and I met in the tavern.” Li Su’s fingertips slid over the rim of the alcohol glass, his tone casual, “He was only twelve years old at that time, and he was as skinny as a monkey.”
Lin Banxia listened carefully.
“It’s a chaotic place here, unlike in China.” Li Su said, “His parents also died early, and there was no one to care about him. When I met him, someone happened to be inviting him to drink.” His smile turned cold, “What kind of bastard would invite a twelve-year-old for a drink?”
Li Su was telling Li Ye’s story, but Li Ye’s expression remained unchanged, as if what Li Su was talking about was not him at all.
“The cheapest alcohol is water mixed with alcohol, which can kill people.” Li Su said, “But here, you know… For some people, drinking alcohol is good. I was sitting here… Next to me, I watched Li Ye drink one cup after another, as if he was trying to fill himself up.” He laughed at himself, “How could there be such a child? I was thinking at the time, that there are many b*stards, but children like this…this is the first time I’ve seen it.”
As he said this, he poured himself a glass and drank it all in one gulp.
“What happened next?” Lin Banxia asked.
“Later?” Li Su said, “I got upset, so I rushed over and beat up that bastard with Li Ye. The little bastard even cursed at me.” He glared at Li Ye next to him.
Li Ye didn’t care and said calmly: “That was a customer of the tavern. You would have caused me to lose my job.”
Li Su cursed in Russian and drank another drink.
Li Ye didn’t mind. He tapped his finger on the table and said, “The sixth cup.”
Li Su scolded even more fiercely.
Lin Banxia felt that he really couldn’t understand the relationship between these two people. Logically speaking, Li Su took Li Ye away from there. Li Ye should have revered and respected Li Su, but judging from Li Su’s performance, he was instead a little afraid of the child he had taken away from Russia. Lin Banxia couldn’t figure it out, so he simply drank his own drink silently.
Li Su said: “Then I took him away and brought him back to China. I thought, although I am not a good person, at least I will not let a child drink all the time. He is still so small and has thin arms. He looks like a firewood stick.” He rubbed his face and said, “I thought he would grow up to be a considerate, handsome young man. Get into a better university and find a good job. But who knew, he grew crooked.”
After finishing the seventh glass of alcohol, Li Su ended the topic.
Lin Banxia felt that Li Su seemed to have a lot more to say, but he did not speak again.
While they were chatting, Sergey sat next to him and kept drinking. He didn’t even seem to be drinking alcohol. He kept pouring one glass after another into his stomach, as if this was not high-purity vodka, but water.
Li Su said that this is how Russians drink. In this high-altitude city, coldness was the norm. It gave the people of this country a strong soul and body, and it also made them fall in love with this strong drink. A liquid that brought warmth.
During the scattered chat, Li Su finished his last glass. He regretfully let go of the cup in his hand, stood up and said he wanted to go out and have a cigarette.
Li Ye didn’t stop him and watched him go.
Lin Banxia asked strangely: “Did you quarrel with him?”
Li Ye glanced at Lin Banxia and said, “Yeah.”
Lin Banxia was even more surprised: “Why are you quarreling…”
Li Ye said: “It’s a small thing.”
It seemed that he didn’t want to tell Lin Banxia what happened between him and Li Su. Lin Banxia also knew that, so he shut up and drank another half glass of alcohol.
As soon as Li Su left, the atmosphere at the table suddenly became quiet. Sergey drank one glass after another without stopping. Lin Banxia worriedly comforted him with a few words in broken English, but he waved to Lin Banxia with a wry smile. Lin Banxia could only let him continue.
After three or four rounds of drinking like this, Lin Banxia really couldn’t stand it anymore. He dragged his limp legs outside to enjoy the cold wind for a while. When he saw Li Su squatting on the ground, using wooden sticks to tease the ants on the mud, he said: “The sun is up. Remember to put on your mask and sunglasses.”
“Alas…” Li Su didn’t move, “You don’t want to drink anymore?”
“I can’t drink anymore.” Lin Banxia said, “You have a good drinking capacity, right?”
“Of course.” Li Su said, “I have the best drinking capacity. Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot that Song Qingluo is not here.” He turned and glanced at Lin Banxia, ”You did that last night. When the time comes, aren’t you afraid that you will turn into mud?”
He was talking about Lin Banxia’s act of making wishes.
“I’m afraid.” Lin Banxia is an honest person, “But if Song Qingluo failed, then all four of us would have died here…”
“I know, I know.” Li Su said, “Who doesn’t understand the truth, but do you understand? In that situation, not many people would really dare to do this.” He smiled and looked at Lin Banxia’s eyes were extremely gentle, “Lin Banxia, I am honored to be your friend.”
“Me too.” Lin Banxia replied, “So I think the person who slapped me was not you, right?”
Li Su: “…”
The author has something to say:
Lin Banxia: I thought I was going to die.
Song Qingluo: Are you afraid of death?
Lin Banxia: I’m not afraid of death, I’m afraid…
Song Qingluo: What?
Lin Banxia: 0.0 I’m afraid that the ruthless bank will take over my house after I die.
Song Qingluo:…
Translator’s comments:
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