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墨書 Inktalez
Zhuo Ya, Baus, Igor, and Peter!
Andrei sat on the sofa, his long arms wrapped around the four little ones with milk-smeared faces. With each name he mentioned, he planted a kiss on one of them, his scruffy beard making it hard for his mouth to close properly.
The two sisters were sitting on the opposite sofa, enjoying watermelon. Zhang Ji Niang had taken her son-in-law to visit other families in the village, delivering gifts one by one. This summer, the ranch had been managed by the villagers, and it was important to express their gratitude.
Old Ivan's youngest son had arrived with his daughter, who was not yet a year old.
In the living room, Pushkin and Valery were keeping Xu Li company while smoking. Valery's older son and younger boy were busy feeding the cattle and sheep at the ranch, while Lao San and Lao Si were attending school in the old capital.
Divorced?
Xu Li was curious. Valery sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "This kid never showed any signs before; he killed someone and fled the village overnight with his daughter. He probably won’t dare to show his face around here again."
Valery exhaled two puffs of smoke through his nostrils and grinned at Xu Li. "I also killed someone to avoid trouble in the village. But your pay here is decent; I don’t want to keep running around, so I just stayed in the village."
Xu Li sized Valery up. "I mean, Maozi, with your small build, you dare to kill someone? Are you just bragging?"
"What would I gain from lying?" Valery brushed off the ash from his cigarette. "I lost everything in business; several partners trusted me and invested their savings with me. I had no choice but to take out a high-interest loan. I paid back others' money first and planned to sell my house to cover some gaps. Just when I was going to pay back the money, I ran into those two bastards who scammed me. If they hadn’t cheated me, would I have needed to borrow money or sell my house? So I paid that month's interest but didn’t take out any more money. The more I thought about it at home, the angrier I got. My two sons heard about it and got fired up too; we decided together to deal with those guys and save ourselves a lot of money!"
"You dealt with them?"
"Yeah!"
"How many?"
"A few!"
Xu Li smacked his lips and gave him a thumbs-up. "Impressive! Who would want to do that unless pushed into a corner?"
Valery waved his hand dismissively and continued, "Old Ivan's situation is different. His youngest son Petrov's wife was tricked into doing something foolish, and their family savings were drained without her realizing it. Then she went out selling herself and was caught by Petrov’s friend, who called him up to inform him. That night, this Maozi killed his wife along with those who had deceived her and then fled the village with their daughter."
"What a mess!"
Xu Li shook his head as he accepted the teacup handed to him by Valery, "Are you really thinking of having Petrov work on my ranch?"
"Yeah, this guy is big and strong; he should be good at manual labor. Plus, if he gets a bit rough around the edges, he might come in handy later," Pushkin replied, exhaling a puff of smoke from his Old Russian cigarette. "Don’t underestimate our remote location. Once your ranch really takes off, the local gangs from surrounding towns will definitely come knocking for money. You should be aware of that."
"Come to me for money?" Xu Li scoffed repeatedly. "I’d bury his whole family!"
After chatting for a while, Xu Li stood up and left the courtyard, heading straight to Old Ivan's family at the east end of the village. The one who opened the gate was Petrov. Having lived in the village for four years, this was their first meeting.
He extended his right hand and shook hands with the burly man before him. "I’m Makarov, the son-in-law of the village chief, Andrei."
"Nice to meet you. Come on in and have a seat," Petrov said with a light chuckle as he let Xu Li enter. He instinctively poked his head out to check around before finally letting out a sigh and closing the gate.
Inside the house was only Old Ivan holding Little Guy, who was sucking on a bottle. Then there were Xu Li and Petrov, as Old Ivan's wife had passed away long before he arrived in the village.
"Where did you work before?" Petrov asked as he accepted the gift bag Xu Li handed him, nodding gratefully.
"I used to work in Kyiv at a factory owned by Germans. The benefits were good, so I went there with some college classmates. My wife is local from that area."
"Can you shoot?"
"I can!"
Xu Li nodded, "Then come work on my ranch tomorrow. As winter approaches, there might be snow wolves and brown bears around the ranch. When you arrive at the ranch tomorrow, you'll get a gun; we’ll start with patrols. As for wages, whatever others earn is what you'll earn too."
"Thank you!" Petrov shook hands with him again.
Xu Li nodded, "From now on, settle down in the village and live well. I’ll have my mother help you find a wife again; it’s not good for you to be without a woman at home, especially since Uncle Ivan isn’t in great health."
After saying that, he waved goodbye to Old Ivan, "I’m leaving now, Uncle Ivan. My child’s hundred-day celebration is coming up; remember to come over for dinner."
Old Ivan wasn’t much of a talker but nodded with a grin.
"I'll walk you out," Petrov said as he stood up to escort Xu Li outside. A bit awkwardly, he lowered his voice and asked, "Makarov, could you lend me some money? I need to buy diapers and clothes for my child; you can deduct it from my wages."
"Here," Xu Li pulled out his wallet and counted out ten One Hundred Thousand Rubles before placing them in Petrov's hand. "Uncle Ivan has lung issues; winter can be tough for him. Go check at Bratsk Hospital to see if you can buy some relief medicine. If you need more money, just let me know."
He patted Petrov's arm and said, "You can go home now. You don’t need to come tomorrow. Just settle everything at home and then get back to me."
Looking at the younger man, Petrov pressed his lips together, burying his gratitude deep inside. He closed the gate and returned home, where Xu Li shared the story of Old Ivan's family at the dinner table.
Natasha sighed repeatedly, her heart softening. Andrei thought for a moment and said, "Instead of sighing here, why not help him find a wife? Petrov is still young. Let’s see if there are any suitable girls in the nearby towns."
"I’ll be going to Bratsk in a few days to find Brother Lekshev and ask him to help contact some ranch owners."
"You’ll have to go to Irkutsk for that. That kid was transferred to Irkutsk in September."
Andrei took a sip of his drink and said, "Tomorrow, come with me to the Small Farm. We’ll slaughter a cow and two pigs, and maybe a few sheep as well. We’re running low on meat at home, and Sara Meat will be just enough until the next batch is ready."
"Sounds good!"
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