Chapter 4: Translation

Su Qing sat on the ground to rest and recuperate; during that time a foreman came over to urge him, but since he was the man the boss had taken a liking to, the foreman didn't dare whip him and only gave a verbal warning.

Su Qing completely ignored it.

After all, what comes next is a matter of life and death; he couldn't afford to waste energy on other things.

After regaining a little energy, Su Qing got up and glanced at the sun.

The time is about right.

Last night he had already calculated that, to become a translator, he needed to meet Steward John.

But because of his identity, actively going to find him was completely impossible, as evidenced by the armed guards all around; regardless of day or night, they wouldn't let any laborer leave.

So he could only wait for the other party to show up at the mine on their own.

The Black Sand Mine was of moderate size, with three or four small hills, a couple hundred laborers, over a dozen whip-wielding foremen, and twenty-odd armed foreigners.

Perhaps it was the new official's enthusiasm, or perhaps the young man's abundant energy; in the three days since Young Mr. John took office, he almost daily went to the mine to make a round, meanwhile giving some work guidance.

And this was precisely an opportunity.

But here there was another difficulty: how to make contact?

When Steward John came to stroll around the mine, besides foreman Zhang Lei accompanying him, there were also two or three armed cowboys following for security.

Approaching suddenly would likely get him shot.

It seemed he could only use the Jiang Taigong fishing method.

…………

Fifteen minutes later.

Su Qing saw a group of people walking toward him from the mine entrance.

He took a close look.

Leading them was a young man in his early twenties, wearing a retro suit and holding a civilized staff, with a fawning Zhang Lei at his side and armed cowboys accompanying.

Needless to say, the young man was the newly appointed steward, Mr. John.

He was the target of this operation.

Then, the operation begins.

Su Qing brushed off the dust on his body, stood up, walked to the roadside, and while pretending to work hard, he opened his mouth and loudly sang the birthday song in English.

"Happy Birthday to You.........."

That group walked and stopped intermittently; upon hearing the celebratory song, they all turned to look.

Upon seeing that the singer was a laborer, their expressions varied.

After the young steward John was startled, his face showed an interested expression, and he looked on with keen interest.

Zhang Lei first stared, then hurriedly bowed and apologized in a dialectal version of English, stammering, "Sorry, Mr. John, I'll take care of it right away."

Having said that, he immediately rebuked the nearby dazed foreman: "Quick, give me......"

Before he could finish speaking, John raised his hand to stop him.

"Mr. John......" Zhang Lei, not quite understanding, wanted to say something.

However, John ignored him and, leading his guards, walked straight toward Su Qing.

On the other side.

Su Qing appeared to be fully focused on his work, but in fact he kept an eye on the movements of John's party with his peripheral vision.

To be honest, using singing to attract Steward John's attention, he didn't have much confidence.

But after thinking it over, there was no better alternative.

Fortunately.

Things developed exactly as he had anticipated.

Seeing John walking toward him, Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief, pretended not to have noticed, and continued singing while working.

Soon after.

John then came over with his people to Su Qing's side, and Su Qing, fortunately awakened by the footsteps, abruptly stopped singing and turned to look.

Upon seeing the visitor's appearance, he quickly spoke fluent English, feigning sincerity with repeated apologies.

As soon as Su Qing spoke, John showed a surprised expression: "Your English is very good."

"Thank you for your praise," Su Qing said humbly, bowing slightly.

"The song you just sang was quite good; did you write it?" John asked, looking at the frail laborer before him, curiously.

"Yes, Mr. John," Su Qing admitted without blushing or racing heart: "Because today is my birthday, I couldn't help but sing it out, disturbing you—I'm truly sorry."

".........."

John looked at the man before him with whom he could communicate without any hindrance, and felt very pleased.

Since arriving at the Black Sand Mine three days ago to take office, he had been very troubled: he didn't know the Eastern language, his subordinates were also unfamiliar, and although there was an Eastern minor foreman who knew a bit of broken English, their usual communication was halting.

Therefore, he had long wanted to find a translator.

But he hadn't expected that, before taking action, he would run into a talent.

Thinking this, John asked, "What is your name?"

"Sir, my name is Su Qing."

Upon hearing that, John grasped his civilized staff, showing his gentlemanly demeanor, and said.

"Then Su, I have a translation job here; I don't know if you're interested."

Su Qing agreed without hesitation: "It is my honor."

The two communicated entirely in English; Zhang Lei, this half‑understood, only caught part of it and for a moment didn't realize that the man he had set his sights on had already hooked up with his superior.

But being able to sit in the position of minor foreman, Zhang Lei, adept at reading faces and tones, saw John's pleased expression, and Su Qing nodded and bowed.

Immediately, he felt something was off.

Then, as if to verify his own premonition.

Then I saw Mr. John say a few words to the guard behind him, and the guard turned to him, speaking in very broken Eastern language:

"Zhang, Mr. John said, Su is no longer a laborer, but his personal translator."

"Take him now to change into clean clothes, then take him to see Mr. John."

"What..." Zhang Lei heard, staggered, wanted to confirm, but turning his head he saw Mr. John say something to Su Qing, then led the guards away to the residence.

Helpless, Zhang Lei could only chuckle and see him off: "Mr. John, take it easy~"

With the departure of Mr. John and his three people, only Su Qing and Zhang Lei remained on site.

The two looked at each other in silence, the atmosphere becoming extremely subtle.

Su Qing calmly looked at Zhang Lei, his face showing no expression;

Zhang Lei looked at Su Qing, his eyes flickering and complexion shifting, showing that his inner state was extremely complicated at this moment.

He opened his mouth to say harsh words, but fearing the other would go complain to Mr. John, he could only grit his teeth and say: "It seems I underestimated you."

"Likewise, likewise!" Su Qing replied with a smiling squint.

"You..." Zhang Lei's face flushed red, but helpless, he could only mutter resentfully: "Let you be arrogant for a few days, sooner or later I'll make you beg for mercy under me."

After consoling himself and composing his mood, Zhang Lei said with a dark face: "Follow me, I'll take you to wash up and change into clean clothes; later I'll also take you to see Mr. John."

Having said that, he turned and walked away.

"The chrysanthemum crisis is temporarily resolved, but the source of the crisis remains; the revolution has not yet succeeded, we still need to strive!"

Su Qing paid no heed to the other's tone, muttered to himself, and followed step by step.