1890: I'm in Hextech Brawl in America

Chapter 47 John's Moment of Showing Off and Getting Slapped in the Face

The series of crisp gunshots was like a thunderclap thrown onto a calm lake.

The peaceful atmosphere in the fishing village was instantly shattered.

"What happened?!"

"Where did the gunshot come from?!"

The doors of the wooden houses were pushed open one after another, and the villagers hurriedly poked their heads out.

Several elderly men with gray hair moved swiftly, grabbing the gleaming harpoons from behind the door and rushing out, looking around warily—an instinct honed from years of life on the run.

On the contrary, the children who were playing nearby initially shrank back and covered their ears in fright at the sound of gunfire. But when they saw that the one who fired the shot was that handsome older boy, and that he wasn't shooting at people but only at rocks, their curiosity immediately overcame their fear, and one by one they boldly peeked out from behind the tree, their eyes wide open.

"It's alright! It's alright!"

Zhou Liqun also realized what was happening and hurriedly waved his hands and shouted.

He turned around and looked at Fang Jianqiu, his eyes, which had been somewhat dim, now bursting with amazing light.

"Brother Fang, are you really going to help us?"

Same question, same words.

But this time, his tone was no longer filled with worry and doubt, but with anticipation and surprise.

"Of course." Fang Jianqiu nodded, his tone calm and firm.

"Hahaha! Good! Great!"

Zhou Liqun burst into laughter, a hearty and unrestrained laugh.

He laughed as he turned and ran toward the villagers who were still anxiously watching.

"Don't panic, everyone! Nothing's wrong! We have important guests! We have help!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to explain to the old men.

Especially Old Man Li, whose hearing wasn't very good, was holding a harpoon and trying to charge upwards, so Zhou Liqun had to lean close to his ear and shout several times:

"Grandpa Li! Put your weapon down! He's one of our own! He's a hero who's come to help us fight the Japanese pirates!"

Grandpa Li then understood, put down the harpoon, and revealed a toothless smile.

After all that commotion, the village finally returned to peace.

The children realized what had just happened, and they all rushed to the open space where Fang Jianqiu had fired the shot at the stone, searching the grass with their butts sticking out.

Before long, someone picked up a few pieces of the smashed stone, which seemed to still be warm. They exclaimed in surprise and looked at Fang Jianqiu with admiration.

At this moment, Xiao Yuanshan also came over and patted Fang Jianqiu on the shoulder.

"Brother Fang, now that this matter is settled, do you think we should bring Xiao Lin and Sarah over as well? Although it's a bit far from here, the road is relatively easy to travel. We might stay here for a while, and it's not good to keep them cooped up in the deep mountains and forests all the time. It's also troublesome for them to travel back and forth."

Fang Jianqiu thought for a moment and nodded.

"OK."

He agreed.

Although this settlement looks poor and people live a frugal life, the fact that these people are willing to take care of the elderly and children in such circumstances, and that most of the villagers are disabled people with limited mobility, shows how harmonious they are and how they help each other. This demonstrates the simple and honest nature of the people.

He felt at ease leaving people like Xiaolin and Yelang, who had little ability to protect themselves, in this kind of place.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Liqun was overjoyed.

"Take it! You must take it!"

He thumped his chest loudly.

"Brother Fang, don't worry! A few new houses have just been built behind our village, and they're still empty; no one has lived in them yet! They're very clean! You can move in right away and stay as long as you like! Although we don't have much good food here, we have plenty of fish and shrimp!"

"Then thank you very much, Brother Zhou." Fang Jianqiu said without being polite.

The two then went their separate ways.

Xiao Yuanshan rode his horse to pick up Xiaolin and Sarah.

Fang Jianqiu stayed behind and followed Zhou Liqun back to the large house to discuss the details of the operation.

......

Honolulu, the office building of the Evening Post.

In this somewhat old building, everyone is still working overtime.

"Bang!"

The office door was pushed open again.

With bloodshot eyes and several still-smelling newspaper clippings in his hand, Lem strode in.

Inside, the portly editor-in-chief, John, was gripping the phone receiver with one hand and brandishing a cigar with the other, roaring at the person on the other end of the line:

"Who am I? I'm John! John from the Evening Post! I don't care how full your schedule is! I don't care who you're printing that bullshit for! I want more printing now! Immediately! Right now! Clear out all the machines!"

"What? No gaps? Then squeeze one out for me! Can't you understand human language?!"

Unfortunately, the person in charge of the printing factory on the other end of the phone didn't seem to be buying it.

After all, Corriere della Sera was just a small, unknown newspaper with a small print run, and it wasn't even on their list of major clients.

John was so angry that his face turned red and he was about to swear a few more times.

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of Lem's excited face and the sample newspaper that had just been typed out in his hand.

John's small eyes lit up instantly, as if he had seen a savior.

With a wave of his fat hand, Lem very sensibly handed over the sample newspaper.

John snatched the sample newspaper, his eyes quickly scanning the huge black headline and the gruesome photos of corpses below.

A few seconds later.

A satisfied, even ferocious, smile slowly spread across John's fat face, which was contorted with anger.

The anger from being looked down upon and treated perfunctorily vanished instantly. It was replaced by a sense of satisfaction at the impending humiliation.

He took a deep breath and roared into the microphone:

"Fine! You won't schedule it, huh? You think my newspaper is worthless, huh?"

"Good! Very good!"

"You better wash your ass clean in the office and wait! When my men arrive, and you see the contents of this newspaper with your own eyes, you'll be begging me to let you print it! You'll be slapping yourself twice!"

After saying that, he slammed the phone down with a loud "bang".

"Lem!"

John opened the drawer and pulled out a heavy cloth bag filled with gleaming double eagle silver coins.

He stuffed the money bag and the sample newspaper into Lem's arms.

"Go! Go to that printing factory right now!"

"Find that arrogant, condescending manager! Throw this bag of deposit and this newspaper right in his face!"

"Tell him this will be the most valuable thing in all of Honolulu! Make him print it tonight! If he doesn't finish printing it, I'll go to another shop tomorrow!"

"You'd better act arrogant enough! Get your face back! Understand?!"

Clutching his money bag and newspaper, Lem felt like a soldier about to blow up a bunker.

"Understood, Editor-in-Chief!"

He answered loudly, then turned and rushed out of the office.

If this kind of errand-running, humiliating job had happened before, he would have cursed that fatso a hundred times in his mind.

But now?

He knew this was paving the way for his breakthrough work, and he knew his name was printed on the newspaper.

Lem felt his blood boiling, so excited he wished he could sprout wings and fly over.