sbdcsierra Chapter 1819 Trading the Pang Family's Secret for the Pang Family's Secret?
Chapter 1819 Trading the Pang Family's Secret for the Pang Family's Secret?
Chapter 1819 Trading the Pang Family's Secret for the Pang Family's Secret?
After hearing Pang Gaoming's words, Zhao Jun looked him up and down. Zhao Jun understood that Pang Gaoming had invited him over because he and his son had something to discuss with him.
This made Zhao Jun even more confused, because he felt he had nothing to say to the Pang family. But since they had already come looking for him, Zhao Jun couldn't refuse, so he simply said, "Alright, Master Pang, let's get in the car."
Pang Gaoming got into the passenger seat, and Zhao Jun drove to the Pang family's house. Zhao Jun wasn't afraid that the Pang family father and son had set a trap for him, because no matter what their purpose was, whether they came to reason with him or to fight, Zhao Jun firmly believed that no one in the Yong'an Forest Area was so powerful as to dare to mess with him.
Within two minutes, the jeep stopped outside the Pang family compound, and Pang Gaoming led Zhao Jun out of the car and into the house.
When Zhao Jun entered the Pang family compound, Pang Gaoming's wife, Liu Yujuan, was not at home; only Pang Zhendong, the blind man, was there.
Pang Zhendong looked out the window and saw Pang Gaoming leading Zhao Jun to his house. His single eye was filled with astonishment. It was clear that Pang Gaoming had not consulted Pang Zhendong beforehand about inviting Zhao Jun over.
But Pang Zhendong quickly realized what was happening, and he stood up with a smile to greet Zhao Jun. Judging from the attitude of the father and son today, they didn't seem like the two families had ever had a conflict.
"Hey, Boss Pang, how are you?" Zhao Jun's way of greeting was something he learned from the Shao family gang.
But when the Shao family did this to him, it was because both families were jointly carrying the gabion, a deal worth 100,000 yuan. The Shao family setting up carriages, horses, and cannons made it seem more formal. Zhao Jun's way of addressing Pang Zhendong, however, was a polite way of keeping him at arm's length.
Otherwise, according to local custom, since they are all neighbors, Zhao Jun would have to call Pang Zhendong "Grandpa".
Upon hearing Zhao Jun address him as "Captain Pang," Pang Zhendong was slightly taken aback, then laughed and said, "Truly, heroes emerge from among the young. It seems I, Blind Pang, am truly getting old."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun frowned. To him, Pang the Blind's words sounded pretentious.
"Team Leader Zhao, please get on the kang (heated brick bed) first." This was Pang Gaoming calling to Zhao Jun, "I'll make you some tea."
"Don't bother," Zhao Jun stopped Pang Gaoming and said, "I'll just sit for a while, talk for a bit, and then I'll leave."
Zhao Jun wasn't just being polite, but Pang Gaoming didn't dare to be negligent and hurriedly went to make tea for Zhao Jun. Then, only Zhao Jun and Pang Zhendong remained in the east room.
Pang Zhendong invited Zhao Jun to sit down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then said with a smile, "Chief Zhao, you've really made a name for yourself in the business this time."
If Li Baoyu and Zhang Yuanmin were present, they would certainly have liked Pang Zhendong's refined and scholarly way of speaking. But Zhao Jun hated it the most, and simply replied, "What's all this talk about fame? We mountain herders are just trying to make a living, aren't we?"
Pang Zhendong was taken aback by Zhao Jun's words and was momentarily at a loss for how to continue the conversation.
"This kid's interpersonal skills are not as good as his father's." Pang Zhendong thought to himself, just as Pang Gaoming came in with a teacup and smiled at Zhao Jun, "Team Leader Zhao, come on, have some water."
"You can't hit a smiling face," Zhao Jun said with a smile as he took the teacup and said to Pang Gaoming, "Master Pang, stop busying yourself and sit down for a chat."
That's what he said, but Zhao Jun was wondering: Why did Pang Gaoming invite him to his door for no reason?
Pang Gaoming sat down next to Pang Zhendong, then smiled and said to Zhao Jun, "Team Leader Zhao, you don't know. Ever since I heard you brought out the wooden dragon, my dad has been saying, 'Don't underestimate Team Leader Zhao just because you're young; you're really capable.'"
"Ah, hehe." Zhao Jun chuckled lightly and said, "What do you mean by hard or not? That's all the mountain god's blessing. I just happened to run into him."
Pang Zhendong clearly didn't believe Zhao Jun's explanation. He winked at Pang Gaoming with his one eye; luckily, the father and son had lived together for many years and had a tacit understanding, otherwise most people wouldn't have noticed.
"Team Leader Zhao, you're too modest," Pang Gaoming laughed. "Our business of rafting isn't exactly big, but it's not small either. Being able to carry out wooden dragons in Yacao City in April is quite an achievement."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun glanced at the Pang family father and son, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself: In his past life, the Pang family had unearthed the treasure left by his grandfather, and in this life, he had earned 100,000 yuan using the secret techniques of the Pang family gang. It was a case of repaying kindness with kindness.
Thinking of this, Zhao Jun immediately responded to Pang Gaoming's words, saying, "Oh dear, I don't have that ability. This is all wealth passed down to us by our elders."
Zhao Jun's words successfully piqued the curiosity of the Pang father and son. Seeing that the two wanted to ask but were too embarrassed to, Zhao Jun laughed and said, "My great-grandmother passed down two secrets of ginseng cultivation. I never thought they would be so effective. When we got there, we saw little elephant trunk buds."
Ever since he learned that the Pang family had stolen his gold and silver treasures in his previous life, Zhao Jun had been troubled for quite some time.
At this moment, Zhao Jun was thinking that if the Pang family father and son knew that they were carrying the Amber Dragon and the huge bounty on their head, they were relying on the Pang family's secret techniques from the mountain gang, he wondered if the two of them would be so angry that they would faint.
However, this was just wishful thinking, and Zhao Jun's words were merely for his own satisfaction and did not cause them any real harm.
However, the Pang family father and son did not think in that direction. They were certain that their family's secrets, passed down orally, would never be told to outsiders. They simply assumed that Wang Dabazhang had left Zhao Jun with other secrets of ginseng.
Similarly, Pang Zhendong had no doubt about Zhao Jun's claim that Wang Dabazhang had left him the secrets of the ginseng gang.
Because people of Pang Zhendong's generation grew up hearing the name Wang Dabazhang. Back then, everything in Shibadaogangzi involved Wang Dabazhang; he was truly a legendary figure who was rarely seen.
Moreover, Wang Dabazhang is a kind and righteous person. He never covets other people's good things. In Wang Dabazhang's words, "If you don't provoke me, I won't mess with you; if you don't scheme against me, I won't covet your things."
But at this moment, Pang Zhendong had a different idea about the ginseng secret that Wang Dabazhang had left him, as told by Zhao Jun.
"Chief Zhao," Pang Zhendong asked Zhao Jun, "The secret manual of the mountain gang that Manager Wang left you, is it about the stone dragon and the wooden dragon?"
“We have everything,” Zhao Jun said. “We also have the secrets to stone dragons and wooden dragons. Otherwise, how could I have carried out an amber dragon seedling from under the bluestone roof?”
Upon hearing Zhao Jun's words, Pang Zhendong quickly followed up, "Chief Zhao, how many lines are there in the incantation about the stone dragon and the wooden dragon that Manager Wang passed down?"
"Two sentences," Zhao Jun answered readily. Upon hearing this, Pang Zhendong blinked his one eye and then said directly to Zhao Jun, "Chief Zhao, I want to buy these two sentences of secret formula from you. What do you think?"
Pang Zhendong is a man of straightforward manner. This is evident from his previous direct questioning of Xing San about the Great Immortal Child.
Now, he was preoccupied with the ginseng secrets Zhao Jun had mentioned, and he spoke frankly from the start, making no attempt to conceal his thoughts.
“That won’t do.” Zhao Jun shook his head without hesitation, saying, “How can we pass on things passed down from our elders?”
Zhao Jun refused because the two secret formulas he knew originated from the Pang family. Since the formulas belonged to them, how could he possibly try to exchange them for money?
Zhao Jun meant well, but the more Zhao Jun disagreed, the more anxious Pang Zhendong became.
Seeing the look his father gave him, Pang Gaoming smiled and said to Zhao Jun, "Team Leader Zhao, the secret of the ginseng gang is said to have been passed down to those around him by the old leader when he was hunting in the mountains."
After saying this, Pang Gaoming paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "In Manager Wang's family, none of his ancestors ever hunted in the mountains. So this secret technique was something he heard from someone else, so it can't be said to be a family heirloom."
“That won’t do either.” Zhao Jun refused again without hesitation: “I’ve heard that the secrets of the Ginseng Gang can’t be passed on to anyone but their own sons, not even their daughters.”
Zhao Jun refused again, not wanting to harm the Pang family. In his previous life, the Pang family brought up the treasure left by Wang Daba Zhang, but it wasn't something they had stolen; it was something they had found in the mountains.
Although the two families had some minor frictions, the Zhao family hadn't suffered any losses, and the conflict had long been resolved. Under these circumstances, it was simply impossible for Zhao Jun to let the Pang family father and son be taken advantage of.
"Haha, Team Leader Zhao," Pang Gaoming laughed, "What era are we living in? Where are those old rules anymore? Don't worry, my son and I will definitely not let you suffer any losses."
Upon hearing Pang Gaoming's words, Zhao Jun frowned. He knew in his heart that if a deal were to be made, the one who would suffer the most would not be him, Zhao Jun, but the Pang family father and son who were so eager for the secret.
"No, no." Zhao Jun waved his hand and got off the kang (a heated brick bed), saying, "My family doesn't lack anything, and I won't exchange it. Alright, you guys sit down, I'll go back now."
To Zhao Jun's surprise, Pang the Blind suddenly stood up and grabbed his arm across the kang table. Zhao Jun's eyes widened, and he heard Pang Zhendong plead, "Team Leader Zhao, the two lines you know and the two lines passed down in my family should be connected!"
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jun asked. Pang Zhendong replied, "The secrets of the Ginseng Gang are usually four or eight sentences long, so I said that what our two families have passed down should be a set."
"What's with all this talk about sets of rules?" Zhao Jun glanced at Pang Zhendong's hand gripping his arm and said, "Boss Pang, let go of my arm first, and we can talk."
"Dad, what are you doing?" Pang Gaoming helped Pang Zhendong up and gently removed his hand from Zhao Jun's arm. While seemingly helping Zhao Jun out of a predicament, he advised Pang Zhendong, "Don't you know what kind of person Team Leader Zhao is? He's the most righteous! If there's anything we need, just talk to him nicely."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun sneered inwardly. According to Pang Gaoming's words, if he didn't tell him the secrets of the Ginseng Gang, he would be considered an unrighteous person.
Zhao Jun coldly sized up the Pang father and son sitting opposite him. These two had stopped Xing San from questioning the Great Immortal Child before, and now they were using moral blackmail to demand the Mountain Gang's secrets from him. Zhao Jun truly disliked their style of behavior.
"Team Leader Zhao, I don't know if you've ever heard of my great-grandfather?" Pang Gaoming leaned forward and asked Zhao Jun.
"No." Zhao Jun shook his head. He had heard of Pang the Blind's father, Pang Sanyanzi, but as for the generation before that, he had never heard of him.
“My great-grandfather was named Pang Hongshan, and his foreign nickname was Pang Pangyanzi.” Pang Gaoming looked at Zhao Jun and said very seriously, “He and the old master of the Shao family were fellow disciples.”
Hearing Pang Gaoming's words, Zhao Jun found it quite amusing. This man's great-grandfather was Pang the Eyesman, his grandfather was Pang the Three-Eyed, and his father, Pang Zhendong, became Pang the Blind. It seemed that this family's nicknames never strayed from the word "eye."
“Our two grandfathers were taught by the same master,” Pang Gaoming continued. “That old man had no children, so he passed on eight of the secrets of the Ginseng Gang to Grandpa Shao and four to my grandfather.”
“Then your old man isn’t popular?” Zhao Jun interjected. Pang Gaoming shook his head and said, “Chief Zhao, of the four lines our old man got, two were about stone dragons and wooden dragons, and two were about ginseng and mother ginseng. The eight lines that the Shao family’s old man got were all just ordinary stuff.”
"Hmm." Zhao Jun responded, thinking to himself: Shao Tuzha and Pang Dayanzi's masters are quite different. Even if they are going to pass on their skills to disciples, why not pass them on to them all in the same way? Why do they have to pass them on separately, and then the content they pass on is different? Isn't this just making the fellow disciples fight each other?
Pang Gaoming, unaware of Zhao Jun's thoughts, continued, "When that old man passed on the secrets to my great-grandfather, he specifically instructed him to find a way to complete the secrets of the Stone Dragon, the Wooden Dragon, and the Mother-Child Ginseng, so that..."
At this point, Pang Gaoming paused for about two seconds before continuing, "In that case, our Pang family will be blessed, and our descendants will never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of their lives."
Zhao Jun believed Pang Gaoming's earlier words, but he didn't believe Pang Gaoming's last sentence at all. That obvious pause clearly concealed unspoken information.
However, Zhao Jun didn't want to delve into other people's affairs, and besides, he didn't have any secrets to pass on to the Pang family father and son.
So Zhao Jun refused for the third time, saying decisively, "Master Pang, don't say anything more. I can't pass on this secret of the Ginseng Gang."
After saying this, Zhao Jun tried to get off the kang (a heated brick bed) and leave. But just then, Pang Zhendong called out to Zhao Jun, "Chief Zhao, my grandfather and father died without being able to close their eyes because they couldn't gather all the secret ingredients. Chief Zhao, please have mercy and let this old man close his eyes before he dies."
Zhao Jun frowned; he disliked Pang Zhendong's way of speaking.
Just then, Pang Gaoming said to him, "Team Leader Zhao, I know your family isn't short of money. My family has some dried goods; I'll bring them over for you to take a look. If you're willing, please have pity on my father."
These words made Zhao Jun even more disgusted. He sighed helplessly and said, "Boss Pang, Master Pang, please stop doing this."
After saying this, seeing the disappointment on the faces of the Pang father and son, Zhao Jun hurriedly added, "I was afraid you would suffer a loss."
"We won't suffer a loss, we won't suffer a loss!" Pang Zhendong and Pang Gaoming said in unison.
Immediately afterward, Pang Zhendong placed both hands on the kang table as if to get up and said urgently, "Chief Zhao, I'll kowtow to you, I'm begging you!"
"Boss Pang!" Zhao Jun hurriedly stood up and pressed Pang Zhendong down, saying, "This ginseng gang's secret is passed down orally, I can't just tell you. And before I tell you, you have to give me enough benefits first."
"No problem, Chief Zhao!" Pang Zhendong grabbed Zhao Jun's wrist and said, "What do you want? Tell me!"
"Listen to me first," Zhao Jun said, pulling Pang Zhendong aside. "You gave me a bribe, so I'm telling you the secret. But have you considered that I might know the same two lines of the secret as yours? What will you do then?"
“No, that won’t do.” Pang Zhendong shook his head and said, “The secrets passed down from my grandfather’s master were all passed down to him by his father, and they are not passed on to outsiders.”
Zhao Jun curled his lip upon hearing this, but then Pang Zhendong said, "Chief Zhao, how about this? I'll teach you the two secret formulas for my family's mother ginseng, and you tell me the two secret formulas for your stone dragon and wood dragon. What do you think?"
I'm so sorry, guys, I fell asleep right away last night.
(End of this chapter)