After ten years of not knowing the taste of meat, Luciano and Alfredo Meskill desperately had their way with two fallen women, and then they each lay down on the bed and started smoking. "This guy’s really cool, you’ve got a great brother there!" Alfredo Meskill smacked his lips, puffing on a cigarette and sipping a drink. "Lao Xu, Yusuf Zuck, the three of us will play big, closer than real brothers." "Yusuf Zuck is the bro you’re talking about? You listen to him, huh?" Alfredo Meskill asked with a chuckle. "Used to listen to him, he has lots of ideas, bad ones included, cunning too, but he’s got a sense of proportion in everything, very steady." "So, are we going to hang with him or Lao Xu in the future? I feel Lao Xu is not bad, driving a car worth over a million, rich and generous." "Lao Xu is in legitimate business now, we would just be a burden to him, let’s see how my brother arranges it." "Although we’ve been locked up these past few years, we didn’t do it for nothing, the old man taught us all he knew, so I still want to make something of myself!" "Let’s just follow my brother’s plans," Luciano said, a man of few words, he seemed impatient after saying just a few sentences. Lao Xu brought back new underwear and a very fashionable coat, the watch wasn’t expensive, a thousand or eight hundred yuan, but the phones were all iPhones. "Here’s a wallet for each of you, with ten thousand yuan inside, buy whatever you like with it in the future." Lao Xu was very generous, he didn’t care about that amount of money. "Bro Xu, nothing more to say, from now on, you point and I’ll hit!" Alfredo Meskill declared, thumping his chest. "Don’t be so polite, let’s go, let’s head home." The three of them left the bath center and soon returned to the old house. Yusuf Zuck actually wasn’t that drunk, but he really didn’t go to pick up Luciano. After Lao Xu brought Luciano and Alfredo Meskill back, Yusuf Zuck hugged Luciano and was introduced to Alfredo Meskill. Alfredo Meskill knew Luciano held a lot of respect for Yusuf Zuck, so he became more respectful, not as casual as he was with Lao Xu. "Did you learn this in prison?" After everyone was seated, Yusuf Zuck looked over Luciano and Alfredo Meskill and asked a seemingly senseless question. Alfredo Meskill was shocked, and Luciano’s eyebrows shot up. Yusuf Zuck’s question was really unexpected for them. "You can tell?" Luciano asked, surprised. "Isn’t it Neijiaquan? Late-stage initiation, about to reach the Grandmaster level, quite impressive. They teach this in the slammer now?" Yusuf Zuck was also incredibly shocked inside. When he saw Luciano and Alfredo Meskill, he couldn’t believe that two guys who’d just gotten out of jail could be Neijiaquan fighters? "Big Brother Zhang, you’re amazing, I’m impressed!" Alfredo Meskill raised his thumb in admiration. Luciano thought for a moment, then explained, "In prison, there was an old-timer whose Achilles tendons were cut by someone and who also had cataracts, so he was blind. Meskill and I took good care of him, and later he started teaching us Qigong." "Good deal, these years in the joint weren’t wasted!" Yusuf Zuck patted Luciano’s shoulder and then turned to look at Alfredo Meskill. This guy, you couldn’t tell how he spent his time in the joint, his face looked paler and fatter. "You got any family at home?" Yusuf Zuck asked him. "Dead people!" Alfredo Meskill replied immediately. With that, Lao Xu, who was drinking water on the side, spat out his drink. Alfredo Meskill had a sense of humor too. "Little Chicken, I might go abroad for a year or two, you want to come with me? If you don’t, I’ll have Lao Xu take care of you guys," Yusuf Zuck said to them. With a grin, Luciano said, "Wherever you go, I’ll go." "And you?" Yusuf Zuck looked at Alfredo Meskill. "Wherever Luciano goes, I go," Alfredo Meskill pointed to Luciano and said. "Alright then, Old Xu, get the car ready. Let’s go pay our respects at Grandma’s grave," Yusuf Zuck stood up, knowing Luciano would follow him. And he had gained another ally. Alfredo Meskill seemed like someone adaptable, not the type to wear his heart on his sleeve like Luciano. Luciano nodded gratefully. During his time inside, it had been Yusuf Zuck and Old Xu who took care of his grandmother’s affairs after she passed away. The first thing Yusuf Zuck did when he saw him was to take him to pay respects at his grandmother’s grave. It was this composure that made Yusuf Zuck so respected, one of the reasons Luciano looked up to him. Luciano’s grandmother’s burial site was on the outskirts, not in any formal cemetery but a commoners’ burial hill, where ordinary folk buried their dead. This area alone might contain thousands of graves. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelꜰire.net The four of them bought paper offerings, incense, and fruits, and each of them bowed their heads to the ground. Luciano’s grandmother was like their own; Yusuf Zuck and Old Xu often went to Luciano’s home to share meals when the elderly lady was still alive. Luciano’s eyes were slightly red, but he said nothing. Alfredo Meskill’s eyes also reddened, triggered by Luciano’s emotion. It seemed that the two had forged a deep bond during their years spent together inside. Many cities in Shandong are by the sea, with numerous international ferries entering and leaving the ports daily. Old Xu hadn’t found a smuggler, no one to help them stow away, but he had heard about a cargo ship bound for San Francisco, with only a captain and sailors abroad. Thus, Yusuf Zuck, Luciano, and Alfredo Meskill, after Old Xu gathered plenty of compressed biscuits, canned food, and water, snuck onto the cargo ship that night and squeezed into a shipping container. Inside the container were tires. The country had become a manufacturing giant, leading the world in tire sales. The three of them cleared some space and sat quietly, waiting for the ship to set sail. About a day later, the whistle blew, and the liner finally embarked on its voyage. "Bro, once we’re overseas, we won’t understand the language. What are we going to do?" Alfredo Meskill, now also calling Yusuf Zuck "bro" like Luciano did, was worried about surviving in a foreign land. He actually didn’t want to go, as he had been released from prison and could lead a normal life back home. But since Luciano was set on going, he felt compelled to follow. Luciano, too, looked at Yusuf Zuck, equally uncertain about what they would do abroad and worried about their future fate! "Don’t worry, I’ve set up something in Mexico and the United States... a gang, of sorts, but there are also legitimate businesses. You can do whatever you like when we get there. Don’t worry about money; if I make it, you’ll have it to spend!" "Damn, really? Bro, are you serious? There are mafias in the United States?" Alfredo Meskill immediately perked up, enamored with the idea. "Something like that, a few hundred people, and yes, involved in some... illegal activities!" Yusuf Zuck shrugged. "This is great, this is great. Bro, you’re a man who does big things. From now on, I’m with you!" Alfredo Meskill nodded vigorously. He had been fretting about having nowhere to apply his talents but now was thrilled to have the opportunity to make his mark abroad. Luciano too, began to smile. This was the kind of work he liked! "Alfredo, what did you get locked up for?" Yusuf Zuck curiously looked at Alfredo, who didn’t seem very old, maybe around twenty-four or twenty-five. "Murder," Alfredo shrugged. "I wasn’t yet sixteen back then, and there were folks from my village pleading on my behalf, so the sentence wasn’t too harsh—no death penalty, no life sentence." "He offed his stepfather," Luciano chimed in with a grin. "Let’s not dwell on the past. From now on, we look forward!" Yusuf Zuck patted Alfredo on the shoulder.