Farming Life Starting in Africa

Rosen raised an eyebrow: "Any other news?"

"That company has been operating in Ivia for a few years now. It's not a huge company, but it has a lot of skilled personnel, mostly retired special forces soldiers from various countries. I've met some of their people; a few are quite capable fighters." Zhou Weijie paused. "Why are you asking about this?"

"It's nothing," Rosen said. "Just asking."

Zhou Weijie didn't press further. The two said goodnight to each other and hung up the phone.

Rosen tossed his phone onto the passenger seat. The headlights illuminated the road ahead, which was full of potholes, and the car bounced violently.

Dane Company. He remembered the name.

By the time Rosen returned to Uller, it was already past 3 a.m. Both shops were closed, some windows were sealed off, and some had broken glass boarded up.

He parked his car in front of Qian Bida's supermarket, picked up the bag containing the bulletproof vest for Qian Bida, and unlocked the door with his key. The iron gate creaked open, revealing a dark interior with only the faint green glow of the emergency lights on the shelves.

Qian Bida lived on the second floor of the warehouse behind the supermarket. He went upstairs and had just pushed open the door at the top of the stairs when he saw Leng Feng hiding not far behind the door, holding a dagger in his hand and watching the newcomer warily.

Upon discovering it was Rosen, Leng Feng breathed a sigh of relief, put the dagger away, and tucked it back into his boot.

Rosen was surprised to find that Leng Feng was still there. He thought Leng Feng would go back to his place, since he already had a godson here, so it couldn't be his first time here.

Rosen saw that the door to a room upstairs was open; it turned out that Leng Feng was sleeping in the guest room that had been reserved for him on the second floor.

Hearing the noise outside, Qian Bida woke up. Although he was extremely sleepy, he forced himself to come out of the house shirtless.

"Why are you only getting back now?" Qian Bida yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"A friend of mine was arrested and hasn't been rescued yet," Rosen said, walking into the small kitchen, taking out two packets of instant noodles from the cupboard, tearing open the packaging, and throwing the noodles into a large bowl.

Qian Bida sighed, glanced at his phone, the screen light illuminating his still-sleepy face: "Who was so unlucky? I heard. It's all over the overseas Chinese group today, you saved a whole carload of women. Everyone's talking about you, you're a hero."

Rosen ignored the question, poured boiling water into a bowl, covered it with a plate, and let it simmer. He asked, "Any other news?"

Rosen was actually in that overseas Chinese group too. It's just that the group usually gets so many messages, hundreds a day, that he'd long ago set it to "Do Not Disturb" mode. Today he was busy looking for someone and hadn't had time to check his phone.

Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, Leng Feng decided to go to sleep.

Rosen stopped him, "Wait a minute, I have something to talk to you about later."

Leng Feng stopped and turned around, a glint of light in his eyes. The only thing Rosen could talk to him about was the bullet from earlier that day. He'd been waiting for news since the afternoon, thinking all hope was lost, but this unexpected surprise had come.

Qian Bida looked at Rosen and Leng Feng with suspicion, wondering what the two were up to. He still answered Rosen's question: "Besides the group of people you rescued, eight more overseas Chinese have gone missing or been kidnapped today. The list is in the group chat, take a look yourself."

Rosen held out his hand. "Who's on the list? Show me the list." He was too lazy to scroll through the chat history.

Qian Bida handed over his phone, and the WeChat group chat history on the screen had scrolled up several pages. Rosen took it and swiped through the names with his finger. Some of the names on the list were ones he recognized, and some were ones he didn't.

Suddenly, his fingers stopped. He rubbed his eyes, looked again, and then cursed, "Damn it, what happened to Brother Miao too?"

"Miao Feng?" Qian Bida leaned over for a look. "He happened to be out repairing a communications tower today, and we can't reach him by phone. There's still no news. The communications company has reported him missing, and I reckon he's probably been arrested."

"Damn it!" Rosen handed the phone back to Qian Bida, muttering under his breath, "I told him to call me before he went out! This guy has no sense! Before he left, I told him that things weren't safe lately and to be careful when he went out, and instead, he went out to fix a cell tower by himself. Isn't he just asking for trouble?"

Now things are really messed up; he really has to go to the Iron Army. He was already furious enough about Ma Xiao being arrested, and now that Miao Feng is involved too, this matter can't just be left like this.

Qian Bida was so tired that he could barely stand. Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, he waved his hand and went back to his room to sleep.

Rosen called out to him, "These are your new clothes and shoes. Keep them and try them on when you have time, okay?"

With Leng Feng present, even though Rosen didn't explain things too clearly, Qian Bida understood and immediately grabbed his bag and went upstairs.

Rosen lifted the lid of the instant noodles, and steam rose up, filling the air with a delicious aroma. He stirred the noodles with his fork, picked up a piece with his chopsticks, blew on it, and put it in his mouth.

Leng Feng walked over, sat down opposite him, and watched him eat noodles without saying a word.

Rosen chewed twice, swallowed, and looked up at Leng Feng: "There's news about that warhead."

Leng Feng leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on him.

"It's Dane Corporation," Rosen said. "A private military contractor operating in Ivia. Some of their people like to use those kinds of warheads."

Leng Feng nodded, his eyes sharpening as if he had memorized the name.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome." Rosen picked up another mouthful of noodles and slurped them down. "If you still haven't found anyone after I'm done with these few days, I'll try to find out more for you."

Leng Feng stood up, patted Rosen on the shoulder, said nothing more, and went upstairs.

Rosen sat alone in the kitchen, finishing his bowl of instant noodles under the dim light. Then he went to the window, drew back the curtains, and looked out at the street.

The night in Uller was quiet. A faint red glow lingered in the distant sky, as if something was still burning. A breeze seeped in through the cracks in the windows, carrying with it the smell of burning and a faint whiff of gunpowder.

"What a chaotic life."

The next morning, Rosen was woken up by his phone vibrating. He squinted and looked at it; it was a risk warning from the embassy. The gist of it was that the area was about to become dangerous, and the overseas Chinese were advised to take precautions for their own safety. Those who could leave should evacuate to safer areas as much as possible, and those still in Uller should report to the embassy.

He glanced at his phone twice, put it down, lay down for a little while longer, then found Fahd's number and dialed it. This time it went through.

The phone line was noisy, but Fahad's voice broke through the noise, his throat a little hoarse.

"Hey bro, how's it going on your end?" Rosen asked as he put on his shoes, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder.

Fahd cursed a few times before finally addressing the situation: "Don't even mention it! The camp was rioted yesterday! I was out drinking with some friends, and luckily I ran fast, otherwise I'd be in a body bag by now."