Chapter 28

A Date with A Beauty

Pang Jing Dong hurried out the entrance while looking around, to see if Jing Ling Ling was waiting for him.

It was now after work hours; employees were leaving the building all at once. Pang Jing Dong's action immediately caught someone's attention, as Zhou Tong walked to Pang Jing Dong's side and asked, "Boss Pang, are you waiting for someone?"

As Pang Jing Dong was about to answer, a blue Hyundai Tucson was seen approaching their direction and stopped a meter before Pang Jing Dong after a sudden brake. Following it, Jing Ling Ling appeared from the car.

"Ha! The timing is just right!" Jing Ling Ling said proudly.

"Is this your friend?" Zhou Tong said while wearing a professional smile, "Aren't you going to introduce us to each other?"

"Didn't really want anyone to meet her in the first place, but looks like I have no choice!" With a dumbfounded feeling, Pang Jing Dong introduced the girls to each other.

Zhou Tong politely shook hand with Jing Ling Ling and excused herself. The whole thing occurred naturally, or more appropriately, it happened 'robotically'.

"I've reserved a private room at 'Chinese Aroma'!" Jing Ling Ling said while driving, "My treat!"

"My reputation was ruined in your hands so it must be on you!" Pang Jing Dong let out a helpless smile.

"Oh! Does that mean you are still single?!"

"Yeah, which was why your appearance was easy to make people misunderstand!"

"Let's keep it that way then!" Jing Ling Ling nodded her head and chuckled.

Pang Jing Dong said in a serious tone, "I have no comment on that. To be honest, I'll be proud to have you as my girlfriend! However, since we met each other, I find that you have a serious professional habit"

Jing Ling Ling interrupted Pang Jing Dong and asked, "That Zhou Tong from before, is she an assistant in your company?"

"Yeah!"

"She's pretty!"

'Chinese Aroma' was one of the most luxury restaurants of the city; the dishes did not need to be the most delicious, but its decoration was no doubt highly graded, and the price to eat here would be the most expensive.

Shen Jia Yao was familiar with the restaurant, with the reserved private room having the name 'Green Bamboo Pavilion', which was anciently decorated. Instead of a room, it looked more like a garden, with a big surface area and in the middle, there was an old-fashioned square table and a few chairs. It was surrounded by a small river with a bridge on top, and trails made of marbles. A few shrubs of bamboo shoots were seen; They were real bamboo, not fake ones made of plastic. Hence, it was hard for someone to believe it was a room.

The waitresses had beautiful appearances and tall heights and were wearing cheongsams. Their faces were pretty enough to participate in beauty contests, not to mention their impressive physiques. As the two were seated, a waitress came forward and asked Shen Jia Yao with an attractive smile, "Miss Shen, what would you like to order?"

Jing Ling Ling was wearing a white T-shirt, with a red bottom dress. The dress looked fascinating, with different layers of cloth stripes attached to it. However, as Jing Ling Ling sat down, Pang Jing Dong then realized the dress appeared to be quite short.

Jing Ling Ling handed the menu over to Pang Jing Dong and asked, "What do you like to eat?"

Pang Jing Dong had been here a few times, but not as usual as Jing Ling Ling, although it was evident that Jing Ling Ling's salary was not enough for her to afford eating meals here.

After ordering some dishes, the waitress continued to ask, "Would you two like to have some alcohol?"

Pang Jing Dong asked Jing Ling Ling, "Do you drink?"

"Let's get a bottle of wine!"

"Sure!" Pang Jing Dong nodded his head and told the waitress, "One bottle of normal aged Chateau Gaston Rena!"

Looking at the refined gentleman-like Pang Jing Dong before him, comparing to the ferocious man when facing the criminals, Jing Ling Ling felt like he had turned into another person.

"Are you familiar with wines?" Jing Ling Ling asked curiously. Even though she would drink red wine at times, she had never heard of the brand Chateau Gaston Rena before.

"It's a famous wine from Bordeaux! The price is low too, which makes it even more worth to buy it!" Pang Jing Dong answered. "I'm not willing to let you pay too much!"

"I do know Bordeaux has the best red wines!"

"Actually, the reason why red wines from Bordeaux are famous was not because of their tastes."

"What's the reason then?"

"Bordeaux had been producing a lot of grapes since ancient times. During the 19th century, the farmers would spray copper sulfate and limewater onto the grapes to prevent people from stealing the grapes. The mixture will produce a terrible scent. There was one year which had an outbreak of virus from fungal, which caused a low stock of grapes for France. Despite that, the areas of Bordeaux were able to avoid the disaster as the mixture sprayed on the grapes were able to kill the fungal coincidently. The mixture would soon be known as the famous 'Bordeaux Pesticide'."

"Oh, I see!" Jing Ling Ling nodded her head. She appeared wanting to say something but ended up hesitating.

Pang Jing Dong caught a glimpse of it, thus he asked, "Do you have any question?"

"I" Jing Ling Ling clenched her teeth and said in the end, "I learned that you know a lot of stuff"

"Are you curious why an ex-mercenary like me would know all these?!" Pang Jing Dong had let out the doubt which Jing Ling Ling was having.

Jing Ling Ling let out a smile and heavily nodded her head. She looked pure and cute at this moment, completely different from her angry look when she was wearing her uniform.

"Being a mercenary was just a part of my life, not all." Upon saying this, Pang Jing Dong lowered his voice, as if he was talking to himself, "It might be considered the better part of my life actually!"

"You Can you tell me how did you end up as a mercenary?"

"Ten years ago, my parents and I had migrated to a foreign country, but my father owed a huge debt due to his business failure. Not long after, my parents died in a car crash"

Jing Ling Ling felt guilty of asking the question as she said, "I'm sorry!"

"That's fine!" Pang Jing Dong said. The sadness on his face had disappeared as a smile reappeared on his face. "Although they had passed away, the debt still had to be paid, not to mention it had a high-interest rate. There was no legal occupation which would allow me to pay the debt in a few years' time. During that period, I was nearly caught by the mafia to their secret factories; if that happened, I would not be able to see the sunlight anymore."

"Hard labor? Without freedom? What's the difference between that and slaves then? I can't believe things like that still happen in our world!"

"There are lots of unimaginable things happening in this world."

"What happened next?"

"After that, I was rescued by Uncle Benjamin. He is an African and was a soldier before. He would be in his sixties now. Benjamin was highly respected within that area; even though he was not from the mafia, but even the mafia respected him."

"But you still had to pay the debts?!"

"Yeah! Benjamin only made me free temporarily!" Pang Jing Dong nodded his head, with a smile full of vicissitudes and helplessness. "He told me that if I plan to pay the debts without being involved in illegal stuff, there was only one option, which was to become a mercenary. If you're good enough, you would be earning a lot of money."

"You must be really good!"

"You do have sharp instinct!"

"Does that mean all your money were saved up during that period?"

The question stunned Pang Jing Dong for a while, who answered, "Some of it"

"Can you talk more about your mercenary life?" Jing Ling Ling seemed to be quite interested.

"It's definitely not suitable as bedtime stories for the kids."

"I know that! But I still want to know!"

After being silent for a period, Pang Jing Dong nodded his head and agreed, "Then let me tell you the story of 'The Third Highland'! It was the first epic battle I fought after I became a mercenary."

The story of 'The Third Highland' amazed Jing Ling Ling, but what Pang Jing Dong did not expect was, Jing Ling Ling immediately had a discussion with Pang Jing Dong about the tactics which the mercenaries and the Delta Troops executed based on her analysis; she was not an amateur at all.

As the conversation developed, Pang Jing Dong discovered that Jing Ling Ling was no doubt a fan of militaries; a knowledgeable fan. Her knowledge of military tactics and weapons would not lose to a professional soldier; She was able to impress Pang Jing Dong who lived as a mercenary for many years.

Everyone would have their own interests; there were no specific reasons to what interest one would have. At times, the interests would even be the opposite of the lifestyle one was living.

Jing Ling Ling's interest was not common among females, but she had spent most of her free time to learn and discover it.

That being said, even though Jing Ling Ling had the knowledge, but it was all theoretical. Despite that, Pang Jing Dong believed, if she were given an opportunity, she would become an outstanding soldier. When she first encountered the criminals, she did not react in time as she was too nervous. However, as she got used to the situation, she landed two accurate shots which precisely killed the two criminals.

"I admire your life!" Jing Ling Ling said to Pang Jing Dong.

"Maybe you wish for a life full of adventures and exciting encounters. However, if you really had experienced that kind of life before, you would not think the same way!"

"I'm satisfied if I'm able to live according to my own values."

"But what if that would cost people's lives!"

"Even without you guys, there would still be wars breaking out. I could not understand your thinking! Was it because of 'The Third Highland'?"

"Not only that! To be honest, what I've learned from 'The Third Highland' was, everyone has their own 'Third Highland' which they would sacrifice anything to protect it to the end."

Jing Ling Ling fixed her gaze onto Pang Jing Dong and nodded her head. After a moment of silence, she took out a small box from her bag and placed it before Pang Jing Dong before saying, "This is yours!"

Pang Jing Dong opened the box and saw a beautiful badge lying in it.

"First-class merit!' Jing Ling Ling told Pang Jing Dong. "I think the badge belongs to you!"

"Nah!" Pang Jing Dong pushed the box back to Jing Ling Ling and said, "You are the owner of it. I have lived many years on the battlefield. What happened yesterday was not worth mentioning for me."