Chapter 19 Peers

"There must be other restaurants, there must be other Chinese restaurants, there must be, there has to be."

"If not, then it's all over."

Gao Yi looked at Little Hei with pleading eyes, thought for a moment, and decided to say discontentedly, "Aren't there any other restaurants?"

"Yes, but there's only this one Chinese restaurant, boss."

That's troublesome.

If the restaurant really is just this shack, then all the plans are void; there's not even a wall, everything inside the restaurant is clearly visible from the outside, how could any moves be made?

Gao Yi didn't dare to appear too anxious, with a look of disdain he thought for a moment, and finally said reluctantly, "Alright, let's just eat here then."

Little Hei smiled silently, and just as Gao Yi was about to get out of the car, he suddenly felt something was off.

The restaurant owner didn't seem eager to attract business, and Little Hei hadn't mentioned that they could eat right now.

Gao Yi let go of the car door he was about to pull open, asking, "What will you do while I eat?"

Little Hei grinned and said, "I'll take off then, boss."

As expected, Little Hei just wanted to coax him out of the car; he didn't care whether it was mealtime or not.

"Uh, suddenly I'm not hungry anymore. Why don't you take me to the hotel first?"

Little Hei didn't start the car; he just looked at Gao Yi and said with a smile, "Boss, you can hire the car for the day, one hundred dollars."

Suakoko wasn't that big; Gao Yi could just walk on his two legs, why hire a car?

But from the look of it, if he didn't hire the car, Little Hei seemed only willing to drop him off here.

"I won't hire the car; just take me to the hotel first."

Little Hei thought for a moment before finally making a decision.

"Alright, boss, if you need a ride remember to find me, the price is negotiable."

Little Hei started the car, and it continued moving on the deteriorated street; Gao Yi was looking to gather information, so he asked with a tone of disdain, "Little Hei, don't you have better restaurants here? Something cleaner?"

"There are, boss. There are four restaurants around here, it's just that they are a bit far, boss."

"Clean ones, I'm talking about clean ones."

"They are all very clean, boss."

All very clean?

Gao Yi recalled the restaurant he had just seen; it couldn't be associated with cleanliness by any stretch. If he said they were all very clean, then that meant none were clean.

An ominous feeling started to become reality.

A city of fifty-six thousand people and only four restaurants?

"What do people here eat?"

"They eat whatever is available, boss."

Little Hei was still smiling brightly, then courteously he said, "Everything is expensive here especially gasoline, so my car is quite cheap, boss, you can ask around, boss."

"Uh, I'll consider it, I'll contact you if needed. How do I contact you?"

Gao Yi meant to ask for a phone number or something; it had become a habit, or rather an instinctive reaction.

But after pulling out his phone, Gao Yi suddenly realized, could there be any signal here?

As expected, Little Hei smilingly said, "There's no electricity here, nor signal, boss. We don't have cell phones."

Gao Yi's face paled slightly as he said, "Weren't you supposed to be able to make phone calls?"

"Only hotels have WiFi; hotels have generators. Can't make calls but can access the internet, boss. They also have air conditioning, Chinese bosses all stay there."

Bad news, the local infrastructure was completely collapsed.

Good news, there was still a hotel that offered WiFi.

Bad news within the good news, needless to say, the hotel must be very expensive, extremely expensive!

Gao Yi silently prepared himself to be fleeced.

The car traveled the city streets for about ten minutes, not much faster than walking, and eventually stopped in front of a two-story building.

Outside the entrance of the small building was an enclosure made with Iron Wire, with a small booth at the gate where a black man stood, hanging a rifle on his body, lazily watching Gao Yi and the others.

A hotel with armed security?

Before Gao Yi could ask, Little Hei took the initiative to say, "This hotel is owned by the General. It's very safe here, Chinese bosses all stay here, boss."

After saying this, Little Hei turned in the car and pointed in a direction saying, "That's the shop, also owned by a Chinese boss, very convenient for buying anything, boss."

This is General Gray Horace's hotel?

Gao Yi knew he had to get out of the car. He picked up his backpack, got out, and asked again, "How do I find you if I need a car?"

"I come here every day, boss, just book in advance. Boss, make money, goodbye boss."

Little Hei drove away, leaving Gao Yi with no other option; he looked at the security guard at the door, then still carrying his bag, he entered the hotel.

The hotel's first floor had about ten square meters of space, which could tentatively be called a lobby. Inside, there were seven or eight plastic chairs, and incredibly, there was a ceiling fan spinning overhead.

Four people were sitting in the lobby, all Chinese!

Gao Yi, just entering, felt somewhat unsure how to proceed, and the seated four stopped their conversation upon seeing him.

A man who appeared to be in his forties, not very tall, chubby, with thick lips, and looking very honest, sized Gao Yi up briefly then immediately asked in heavily accented Mandarin, "What business do you do, boss?"

Who asks about someone's business right after meeting?

Something was off about this place. Gao Yi casually responded, "Uh, I haven't decided yet, just looking for opportunities."

Everyone laughed, then a shrewd-looking middle-aged man waved his hand and said, "We're all in the same business. Where did you make your fortune, brother?"

Gao Yi really didn't know how to handle the situation, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Where did you bosses make your fortune?"

The honest-looking middle-aged man laughed, "I'm working in Minhou County, mainly in panels."

The shrewd-looking man said, "I'm in Yuzhu, brother, everyone here works with timber, let's all make money together. Sit down and chat, get to know the market situation so as not to disturb it, okay?"

What did he mean by that?

Gao Yi thought for a moment, then he roughly understood.

These people were timber merchants; they were competitors, yet they had formed a price alliance, aiming to suppress local timber prices. Hence, their immediate dive into such topics upon meeting.

Gao Yi looked at the other two people, both appeared younger, and one of them seemed somewhat fierce; that person was probably a bodyguard or minion.

Plans had to be adjusted, it seemed unfeasible to make a move at the restaurant now. Perhaps he should pretend to be a timber merchant first to understand the situation before making any decisions.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Yi smiled and said, "I'll settle in first, then chat later."