Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Two – Gao Feng’s Phone Call

“Let me finish,” I said, and Li Kun nodded. Then his eyes lit up as he spoke, “So, if that’s the case… Hey, Lao Liu.”

I turned to look at Li Kun, who continued, “You mentioned that a typical grave-robbing team is made up of three people. The first is a master at finding dragon veins and acupoints—that would be you, wouldn’t it?”

“The second is someone skilled with mechanisms and traps. That’s a bit trickier. I may have great strength, but I’m not much good with traps. Still, I can spot a few tricks here and there, and with my agility, I don’t have much trouble with traps anyway.”

“But the third role is tough. Neither of us has any clue about antiques or porcelain. Even if a priceless treasure were right beside us, we wouldn’t recognize it, let alone know its value.”

As he spoke, Li Kun’s eyes gleamed. He took two steps closer and whispered, “Hey, Lao Liu, what do you think of Xu Tian?”

I rolled my eyes and replied, “Forget it. With Xu Tian’s status, why would he stoop to grave-robbing? Besides, he’s not short on money.”

Li Kun nodded in agreement. “That’s true. So what do we do?”

I waved my hand. “Let’s not dwell on this now—we’re here.”

I raised my hand, pointing to the right. Following my gesture, Li Kun saw that we were already close to the courtyard. Just one turn to the right and we’d be home.

At that moment, Old Li from next door approached and greeted me, “Hey, Liu Jie! Is this your friend? What a fine build! Does he have a girlfriend? Want me to set him up?”

Old Li was famous in our neighborhood for matchmaking. Usually, matchmakers are elderly women, but Old Li loved introducing young men to girls. Even I’d been set up by him a few times.

But as you might guess, if any of those matches had worked out, I wouldn’t still be single.

Li Kun gave an awkward smile and replied, “No need, sir. I already have a girlfriend.”

Old Li waved his hand dismissively. “That’s a pity. I know some really pretty girls, you know.”

After he spoke, I whispered to Li Kun, “Just pretend you didn’t hear that. Let’s go.”

I told Old Li, “Sir, we’re heading in. We’ll visit you some other time.”

With that, Li Kun and I quickened our pace. As we walked, Li Kun asked me with a puzzled look, “Lao Liu, why did you react like that when he mentioned pretty girls?”

I replied, “Last time I believed him, but when I actually met the ‘pretty lady’ he talked about, I was so scared I ran away.”

Li Kun’s curiosity was instantly piqued. He pressed me, “Come on, Lao Liu, tell me what happened!”

I shook my head, indicating I didn’t want to talk about it. But Li Kun kept pestering me all the way home, so finally, I relented. “Let’s put it this way—the girl’s build was at least as robust as yours.”

Hearing this, Li Kun broke into a cold sweat. He glanced at his own sturdy frame, then, imagining the scene, gulped. But then, he burst out laughing.

Annoyed, I gave him a slap, but we both ended up laughing as we walked into the house.

Inside, the old man was sitting on the heated brick bed, munching on sunflower seeds and watching TV. An old war movie was playing, and before we’d even stepped inside, gunshots rang out from the speakers.

If you asked the old man what he regretted most in life, it was not joining the army when he was young. Above all, he loved guns, but only soldiers could handle those. That, he always said, was his one true regret.

He was engrossed in the movie as Li Kun and I stepped inside.

Our front door is quite low, barely a meter eighty. Every time you enter, you have to duck—otherwise, you’ll hit your head.

Li Kun didn’t know this. He followed right behind me and, as he stepped in, there was a loud thud—his head collided squarely with the doorframe.

The old man burst out laughing at the sight. “Careful, Xiao Li! Are you alright?”

Rubbing his forehead, Li Kun replied, “No worries, I’m fine.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his misfortune.

The old man never asked where we’d been; he never meddled in my affairs—unless it was about me seeing a girl. In his mind, nothing was more important than me finding a girlfriend.

With nothing to do, the three of us—grown men—sat on the brick bed, eating sunflower seeds and watching TV, occasionally cheering at the good parts.

After dinner, my phone rang. It was a call from Gao Feng—the little rascal. Since that mishap at the dinner the other day, we hadn’t seen each other.

I answered, and her cheerful voice came through, “Hey, Liu Jie, what are you up to?”

Smiling, I replied, “Nothing much. Just finished dinner.”

“Do you have any plans tonight? If not, come out for a walk.”

Both the old man and Li Kun turned to look at me. Li Kun wore a mischievous grin, his expression practically shouting, “Wow, a pretty girl’s asking you out! Go for it, man!”

I turned away, ignoring them. “My comrade is with me—it might not be convenient.”

“That’s fine, my friend is with me too. Bring your comrade along.”

My phone was loud enough for them to hear everything, even without speaker mode. The old man had already turned down the TV volume as soon as he saw my call.

Li Kun nodded eagerly, pointing at his mouth and mouthing silently, “Go!”

Helpless, I said, “Alright, where shall we meet?”

Gao Feng replied, “How about at the big bridge? We’re on our way now.”

“Okay, we’ll head over now.”

After I hung up, the old man grinned and said, “So, when did you get a girlfriend? Tell your old man all about it.”

I forced a smile. “It’s not like that—nothing’s set yet.”

He replied, “You rascal, you’d better hurry up. I want to hold a grandchild. Enough chit-chat—off you go! Don’t keep the girls waiting.”

Seeing there was no way out, I didn’t bother explaining further. The more I said, the worse it would get.

Li Kun and I put on our shoes. I told the old man, “Dad, we’re heading out. We might be back late—don’t wait up.”

He waved us off cheerfully. “Go on, don’t even bother coming back if you want!”

Li Kun chuckled, “Uncle, we’ll be off then!”

The old man nodded. Li Kun and I headed out into the night, not expecting that we’d run into a familiar face along the way.