Chapter 87: Chapter 87: I Treat You Like a Brother, and You’re Poaching My Men??

"HI-YAH! HA! HI-YAH!"

As the car pulled into the base, Su Chen heard a series of synchronized shouts from the distance.

"Brother Cheen, what’s this?"

Su Chen was completely bewildered. The last time he came, he had barely seen anyone at the entire base. But judging by the sound, there had to be at least several dozen people. ’Did I see a "fake" base last time?’ he wondered.

"You’ll find out in a bit!"

Su Chen was a little speechless at this. ’Why does everyone love being so mysterious?’ He shook his head and sighed, "Alas, the world is in decline and people are not what they used to be!"

"Stop sighing over there and hurry up and get in!"

Only then did Su Chen realize that Xiao Chen had already reached the villa’s entrance.

Shaking his head, he quickened his pace to follow. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Jiangyang and Chen Yao lounging leisurely on the sofa, eating fruit and listening to music.

"Brother Cheen! Su Chen!"

Seeing Xiao Chen and Su Chen walk in, the two of them stood up from the sofa to greet them.

Xiao Chen gave a slight nod.

"Hmm? Why aren’t you guys out having fun? What are you doing just sitting here?"

"We can’t. Xiaofeng and the others are training. We don’t want to get our egos bruised..."

Jiangyang had a look on his face as if life had lost all meaning.

Su Chen remembered that the guy named Xiaofeng was the one who had stopped their car outside earlier...

’Wasn’t he just a security guard? Why is he training now? And from the looks of it, this Xiaofeng is no simple character.’

"Don’t want your ego bruised? Is it that rare for you to get taken down a peg? It’s not like one or two more times will make a difference!" Chen Yao, who was standing to the side, immediately started tearing him down.

Jiangyang wasn’t having it. He shot back, "You have the nerve to talk about me? It seems like you get your ass kicked even more than I do!"

"Hmph, that’s only when I’m not in top form..."

"You..."

Just as Jiangyang was about to retort, Xiao Chen cut him off.

"Alright, alright, what’s there to argue about!"

The two immediately fell silent.

Seeing this, Xiao Chen ignored them and turned to Su Chen, who was enjoying a slice of melon, and said, "Let’s go. We’ll go check out the back!"

Before Su Chen could reply, Jiangyang and Chen Yao immediately crowded over.

"Brother Cheen, did you say we’re going to check out the back?" Jiangyang asked, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Xiao Chen.

Chen Yao was also visibly excited. "For real, Brother Cheen? You’re finally willing to let us!"

Su Chen took in their expressions. ’A place that could get these two so worked up must be pretty interesting.’

"Let’s go, all of us," Xiao Chen said, nodding with a hint of resignation.

The group then headed toward the back of the base. Just past the firing range, a training ground the size of a soccer field came into Su Chen’s view.

At that moment, a group of young men were sparring in pairs on the field. All of them were dressed in camouflage uniforms with buzz cuts, making for a particularly striking sight.

"What’s going on here?" Su Chen asked curiously.

Jiangyang and Chen Yao glanced at each other before turning to look at Xiao Chen.

"I own a security company. These men are all security personnel from my company. When they’re not on a mission, they mostly live here at the training camp," Xiao Chen explained.

’A security company? A training camp?’

’What kind of training camp is equipped with so many weapons? In any other place, a firing range like that would have been shut down long ago.’

’Besides, these men don’t look like security guards. They look more like... special operatives!’

’Every single one of them is tall and powerfully built. They look incredibly fierce. Having guys like this for domestic security would be a total waste of talent!’

’Domestic? Or overseas?’

Su Chen quickly figured it out. ’So these security personnel are for overseas operations.’

Places involved with things like mineral mines in Africa or oil fields in the Middle East all require special security personnel.

Seeing Su Chen staring intently, Xiao Chen smiled and asked, "What do you think? Not bad, right?"

Su Chen nodded. After a moment of thought, he said, "Brother Cheen, how about you spare a couple of them to be my bodyguards?"

"Huh?"

Xiao Chen was stunned by this remark. Even Jiangyang and Chen Yao were dumbfounded.

No one had expected Su Chen to have such an idea!

’I treat you like a brother, and you’re trying to poach my men?’

Seeing Su Chen’s serious expression, Xiao Chen was in a difficult position for a moment. He couldn’t just give them away, but he couldn’t outright refuse either.

He mulled it over for a moment before saying, "Let me ask them what they think first. If anyone is willing, you can take them with you."

"Deal. Thanks for the trouble, Brother Cheen. By the way, when you ask, Brother Cheen, please mention the compensation: an annual salary of a million, holiday benefits, and a year-end bonus!"

Xiao Chen, who had just been about to walk over, froze as if his feet were filled with cement. He couldn’t take a step.

With an offer like that, who wouldn’t be envious?

He was afraid that once he told his men, they would all want to go work for Su Chen.

"Sigh, I really can’t win with you. I’ll pick out two of my best guys for you myself. That should be acceptable, right?"

Su Chen grinned and nodded. Everything was going according to his plan.

"Of course, Brother Cheen, that’s perfect! I was just thinking of picking two at random, but I didn’t expect you to personally pick out two of your best for me. You’re too generous, Brother Cheen!"

"PFFT—" Jiangyang and Chen Yao, standing to the side, covered their mouths and couldn’t stop laughing.

Xiao Chen gave the two of them a playful, annoyed kick before striding toward the training field.

"All units, fall in!" A loud shout echoed throughout the entire base.

Su Chen was now seeing another side of Xiao Chen. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Soon, a neat square formation appeared on the training ground. Xiao Chen stood on a platform, looking down at the men.

After about two minutes, Xiao Chen finally called out, "Chen Fei, Xiao Peng, front and center!"

"THUMP!" Two figures from the front rank stepped forward.

"The rest of you, continue training. Chen Fei, you two, with me!"

With that, Xiao Chen jumped off the platform and led the two men over to Su Chen’s group.

"Here, I brought them for you. You can talk to them yourselves. Whether you can take them with you depends on your own ability!" After saying this, Xiao Chen shot a look at Jiangyang and Chen Yao, and they all stepped a few paces to the side.

Su Chen looked at the two men standing ramrod straight before him. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes; one of them was the Xiaofei he had met before.

He gave Xiaofei a nod of acknowledgement before speaking. "You two must be very confused right now, wondering why I had you called over..."

Neither Chen Fei nor Xiao Peng spoke. They just watched Su Chen quietly, waiting for him to continue, their expressions completely unwavering.

"It’s actually very simple. I’m looking to hire two bodyguards from among you, and Brother Cheen recommended the two of you."

Hearing this, a flicker of emotion—confusion, surprise, and uncertainty—passed through their eyes.

"I don’t like to beat around the bush, so I’ll get straight to the benefits: an annual salary of a million, a year-end bonus, holiday benefits, and an extra half-month of paid vacation each year."

He then turned his gaze to Chen Fei and said, "We’ve met once before. You should know whether I’m telling the truth or not. Think it over carefully. I won’t force you."

Only after watching Su Chen walk over to Xiao Chen and the other two did Chen Fei and Xiao Peng show any sign of movement.

"Brother Fei, what do you think?" Xiao Peng was the first to speak.

Chen Fei hesitated for a moment. "I haven’t decided."

Hearing this, Xiao Peng shrugged and said, as if to himself, "I was born in the mountains of Qian Province. My dad left when I was little, and my mom and grandma worked hard to raise me. Back then, I swore to myself that I would make sure my mom and grandma could live a good life. I thought I could change my fate through studying..."

"Unfortunately, I wasn’t cut out for academics, so I ended up joining the army. I was lucky enough to meet Brother Cheen, who gave me a stable job after I was discharged. Now, there’s a chance to change my family’s situation right in front of me. Since Brother Cheen picked us out of dozens of men, I believe he did it for our own good."

"So... I want to be his bodyguard!"

Chen Fei fell silent. His family’s financial situation wasn’t good either. Although both his parents were still alive, they were still living a hard life as farmers. He had also thought about changing his circumstances, but alas... he was powerless to do so.

"I’ll go with you."

After they made their decision, Chen Fei looked directly at Xiao Chen and the others.

Su Chen was about to walk over but was held back by Xiao Chen. After whispering a couple of sentences in his ear, Xiao Chen strode over.

"Brother Cheen," the two men called out, sounding a bit guilty.

Xiao Chen’s expression darkened. "What’s wrong? Lost your confidence?"

"We..."

Just as Chen Fei was about to explain, Xiao Chen held up a hand to stop him.

"I know what you’re thinking. Do you feel like you’d be letting me down by leaving? Letting down the years of training I’ve invested in you?"

Chen Fei and the other man nodded silently.

"Hmph. At least you have some conscience!" A faint, fleeting smile touched the corner of Xiao Chen’s mouth.

"I chose you two after careful consideration. You’re the strongest in the entire training camp, and your families are also in the most difficult situations. Now that there’s a chance to change things, how could I possibly stand in your way? I want you all to live good lives."

In truth, with Xiao Chen’s status, it would have been simple for him to arrange good jobs for these men, but he hadn’t done so.

’Strength has to come from within.’

’He couldn’t just help them again and again, could he?’

That’s why he established this base—to give these veterans a stable job. Of course... the vast majority of them returned to their hometowns to live after being discharged.

"Thank you, Brother Cheen!" Chen Fei and Xiao Peng said emotionally, their eyes turning a little red.

Xiao Chen clapped them both on the shoulder. "Work hard from now on. I believe Su Chen won’t treat you unfairly."

Thinking of the benefits Su Chen had mentioned earlier, a smile appeared on the faces of both Chen Fei and Xiao Peng.

After Xiao Chen’s pep talk, their guilt vanished completely...

Su Chen exchanged a few simple words with the two men before he was practically dragged away by Jiangyang and Chen Yao.

The reason was that they had grown tired of waiting and wanted to hurry up and have fun at the area in the back.

This only made Su Chen even more curious about what exactly this area in the back was.

Soon, the group of four passed through a small grove of trees, and a wide-open area appeared before Su Chen.

"Huh? Why does this look like an off-road race track?"

Water pits, small hills, and a continuous series of rolling bumps left Su Chen feeling a bit perplexed.

Xiao Chen slung an arm around Su Chen’s shoulder and said mysteriously, "Alright, stop guessing. You could guess all day and you’d never get it!"

"Come on, I’ll show you this place’s true face!"