Chapter 359 - 297: The Jie Brothers
When Zhao Jun arrived, Jie Zhong had already stopped hitting the driver. It wasn’t that he’d stopped on his own, though—he’d been pulled away by the workers he’d brought with him.
Jie Zhong’s face was flushed red with anger. He pointed at the driver and cursed, "What the hell are you thinking about all day? Huh?..."
The driver kept his head down, not daring to speak. The three workers held Jie Zhong back, trying to placate him. "Boss, what’s done is done. What’s the point of blaming Xiaochen now? Let’s just figure out where to borrow some tools, fix the truck, and be done with it."
The truck had a minor problem, and while the driver could fix it, he hadn’t brought any tools.
Their attempt to calm him down backfired. Jie Zhong only grew angrier, roaring, "And where the hell are we supposed to borrow any?"
The worker who had been trying to reason with him fell silent instantly.
’Yeah, where could they borrow any?’
If those three trucks hadn’t left just a moment ago, they could have asked the other drivers to borrow some.
But now, they were long gone.
Just then, someone else muttered under their breath, "Why don’t we ask the Logging Camp’s Leader? I saw he had a tractor when we were here last year."
The moment the words were out, Jie Zhong shot him a glare. If Du Chunjiang hadn’t been standing nearby, the man would have gotten an earful.
Jie Zhong had been hauling timber at the No. 77 Logging Camp for a while, and his feud with Du Chunjiang was just as old.
Jie Zhong knew what kind of man Du Chunjiang was. He knew that even if he swallowed his pride and asked, Du Chunjiang wouldn’t lend them anything.
"Elder Jie, what’s going on?" Zhao Jun asked as he walked over to Jie Zhong. "Why the roughhousing with your own guys?"
Seeing it was Zhao Jun, Jie Zhong squeezed out a smile. He pointed at the driver and said, "This is my brother. The kid drove out here without bringing a single thing. Now that something’s happened, he’s completely clueless."
"Ah, haha." Zhao Jun glanced at the driver, who looked a few years older than him, but not by much. The man’s head was bowed in silence, the tips of his ears bright red.
’Still the same as ever,’ Zhao Jun sighed to himself.
The driver’s name was Jie Chen. He and Jie Zhong were brothers. In his past life, both had been good friends of Zhao Jun’s—especially Jie Chen.
He might look like a total pushover right now, but in his past life, when Zhao Jun made his fortune digging for ginseng in the Far East, it was all thanks to Jie Chen.
"Alright, it’s not a big deal." Zhao Jun walked to the front of the truck for a look, then turned to Jie Chen. "Tell me everything you’re missing."
At his words, Jie Chen looked up at Zhao Jun, his lips trembling so much he couldn’t get a word out.
This infuriated Jie Zhong, who raised his hand to strike him again, but Zhao Jun quickly grabbed his arm.
"Hey, hey, it’s not worth getting worked up over," Zhao Jun said, trying to calm him. "Elder Jie, don’t worry. Whatever you’re missing, I’ll find it for you."
Whether Zhao Jun could actually help or not, Jie Zhong had to show him respect. But then Jie Zhong glanced over at Du Chunjiang, who was sitting not far off with his arms crossed, enjoying the spectacle. He thought for a long moment but didn’t say anything to Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun saw it all. He smiled and said, "There are no other trucks at the Logging Camp right now, so he probably doesn’t have what you need anyway. Just tell me what’s missing. I’ll get it for you from somewhere else."
Jie Zhong froze, staring at Zhao Jun in surprise. He hadn’t expected someone who looked even younger than his own brother to be so tactful and shrewd.
Seeing Jie Zhong’s silence, Zhao Jun asked, "Elder Jie, do you know how to get to the Yong’an Forest Farm?"
"I do, I do." Jie Zhong snapped out of his daze and nodded eagerly. He’d been hauling timber here for three years; of course he knew the way to the Yong’an Forest Farm.
Zhao Jun gestured toward Jie Chen and said to Jie Zhong, "You can go yourself, or have someone take your brother here. Head to the Forest Farm’s motor pool and look for Lin Xiangshun or Li Baoyu. Either one is fine. When you find them, just mention my name—I’m Zhao Jun."
"Thank you so much!" Jie Zhong was overjoyed and thanked Zhao Jun profusely.
Zhao Jun shook his head and continued, "If neither of them are around, ask for directions to the Number One Cafeteria. Find the head chef, Zhao Youcai. He’s my dad. Just tell him what you’re missing, and he’ll help you find it."
At these words, Jie Zhong excitedly grabbed Zhao Jun’s hand and shook it. "I’m speechless. You’re a true friend."
You can always tell when someone is genuinely trying to help you.
Zhao Jun had thought of every possible contingency for him. How could Jie Zhong not sense his sincerity?
He never imagined that after meeting this young inspector for the first time today and giving him just two packs of cigarettes, the kid would go this far to help him.
What was this?
To Jie Zhong, this was a mark of true character.
"Don’t mention it. You should get going," Zhao Jun said, then turned to find Du Chunjiang. It was nearly noon, and earlier that morning, Du Chunjiang had promised to treat him to a nice meal.
It was an offer Zhao Jun couldn’t refuse.
Du Chunjiang had been watching from a distance the whole time without stepping forward. But when he saw Zhao Jun finish talking with Jie Zhong and head his way, Du Chunjiang began mentally drafting what he would say.
But to his surprise, Zhao Jun came back and simply said, "Du Leader, let’s head back to your shack."
"Huh?" Du Chunjiang was the one who was stunned now. He glanced at Zhao Jun in surprise, then over at Jie Zhong’s group. Seeing that Jie Zhong had told his workers to rest on the spot before leading Jie Chen away, Du Chunjiang hurriedly asked, "Technician Zhao, what’s the problem with their truck?"
"I don’t know." Zhao Jun looked at Du Chunjiang and smiled. "But they’re missing the tools to fix it. I pointed them to someone so they can borrow what they need from the Forest Farm."
Du Chunjiang fell silent. He knew that with Zhao Jun involved, there was no way Jie Zhong would fail to get the tools. Even if Lin Xiangshun wasn’t there, the entire logistics department of the Forest Farm would back Zhao Jun up.
"Oh, well." Since it was already settled, Du Chunjiang dropped his other schemes. "I wonder what they needed," he said. "Don’t know if I would’ve had it here at the Logging Camp anyway."
Zhao Jun looked at him and chuckled. "To be honest, I was about to ask you, but I was afraid that the moment I did, you suddenly wouldn’t be able to find anything."
Du Chunjiang was stunned speechless by Zhao Jun’s words.
When Zhao Jun had gone over to Jie Zhong, Du Chunjiang had already figured out the situation: the truck was broken, and they didn’t have the tools to fix it.
He had also already decided what he would do. If Zhao Jun asked him for help, he couldn’t outright refuse to lend the tools, nor could he claim he didn’t have any.
That would have been too unreasonable.
But whether or not he could *find* them was another matter entirely.
In any case, Du Chunjiang had his plan ready: if Zhao Jun asked, he would pretend to look. He’d search for an hour or so, and when he inevitably came up empty-handed, he would have still shown Zhao Jun enough respect.
But he’d never expected that Zhao Jun wouldn’t even ask him. More importantly, Zhao Jun seemed to have seen right through his little scheme.
For a moment, Du Chunjiang was terrified. He didn’t think it was some kind of superpower, but he did recall his first meeting with Zhao Jun, when the young man had played the fool only to completely outmaneuver him.
Combined with what just happened today, Du Chunjiang was starting to think that Zhao Jun was a truly terrifying person.
"Let’s go, Du Leader!" Zhao Jun called out, seeing Du Chunjiang standing there in a daze.
"Oh, right." Du Chunjiang snapped out of it and followed Zhao Jun toward the Leader’s shack.
Just then, Zhao Jun suddenly turned back. "Hey, Du Leader," he asked, "you mentioned something good for lunch this morning. What exactly are we having?"
"Ah." At the mention of food, Du Chunjiang’s smile returned. "Technician Zhao, let me tell you, this is something that only the Emperor himself used to eat..."