From Wage Slave to Tycoon

"Brother Cheen, what brings you here? And who is this?"

Su Chen and the others had just walked in when they ran into a young man.

"This is my friend, Su Chen. I brought him here to have some fun today!" Xiao Chen said, stepping aside slightly to fully reveal Su Chen.

"Hello, I’m Su Chen," Su Chen said with a smile.

"Hey, I’m Jiangyang."

Although Jiangyang was a little curious about Su Chen’s identity, he was brought here by Xiao Chen. ’Anyone he vouches for must be part of the circle,’ he figured.

Xiao Chen glanced around, but he didn’t see the other person he was looking for. "Hmm? Where’s Chen Yao?" he asked.

"He already went to the shooting range. I was just about to head over myself. Want to go together?"

Jiangyang and Chen Yao were supposed to go together, but Jiangyang’s stomach started acting up right as they were about to leave. By the time he got out of the bathroom, he ran into Xiao Chen and Su Chen.

Hearing the words "shooting range," Su Chen’s eyes widened. ’Don’t tell me the "base" Xiao Chen mentioned is just a shooting range?’ he wondered.

"Sure, let’s go together. My hands have been itching for some action lately!"

And with that, the three of them set off for the shooting range—the very same place Su Chen had seen earlier, concealed by camouflage netting.

Halfway there, Su Chen heard several loud bangs—BANG! BANG! BANG!—and couldn’t help but shudder.

It was his first time hearing gunfire this close, after all, so it was a natural reaction.

Passing through the camouflage net and stepping into the shooting range, Su Chen was blown away by the facilities inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was a row of gun racks, filled with all sorts of firearms.

From small handguns to massive sniper rifles, they had every style imaginable.

It was like walking into a firearms exhibition.

The man who had been shooting noticed Xiao Chen’s group arriving. He took off his noise-canceling headphones and walked over with a grin.

"Brother Cheen, what gives you the free time to come play today? And this is..."

Xiao Chen gave a brief introduction, and Su Chen and Chen Yao exchanged greetings, formally meeting for the first time.

After a bit of small talk, Jiangyang and Chen Yao went back to their target practice.

"Come on, take a look. Pick whatever you want to play with!"

Walking up to the gun racks, Su Chen began to inspect them seriously.

Every man has a dream of shooting, and Su Chen was no exception. Staring at the array of firearms before him, he trembled with excitement.

Xiao Chen noticed his reaction. "Hahaha, I wasn’t nearly as excited as you are my first time at the range!"

"Come on, how can you compare me to you? When does an ordinary person ever get to touch a gun, let alone so many? Handguns, rifles, sniper rifles—you’ve got everything!"

"Don’t worry, you can play to your heart’s content today, as long as your body can handle it!" Xiao Chen said with a loud laugh. In truth, he was already getting ready to sit back and enjoy the show.

First-timers with guns almost always made for some good entertainment.

Su Chen patted his chest and said confidently, "Not a problem. Buddy, this body of mine can handle a cannon mount over a meter long. Firing a little gun should be easy!"

"A cannon mount over a meter long? Damn you, now you’re making dirty jokes with me? Just pick something to play with. I suggest you start with a handgun," Xiao Chen said, exasperated.

Su Chen just grinned and bent down to choose a gun. A silvery-white pistol quickly caught his eye, and without a second thought, he reached out and picked it up.

"Not bad taste! You know a thing or two about handguns, kid?"

Su Chen brandished the gun a few times. "Where would I find the time for that? I just thought it looked good. The silver-white design is really eye-catching!"

The corner of Xiao Chen’s mouth twitched. He thought Su Chen actually knew something about guns, but it turned out he just went with his gut feeling on looks alone.

"Brother Cheen, what’s this gun called?"

"Desert Eagle."

"Whoa, so this is the famous Desert Eagle! Nice, nice. Looks like my eye for things is pretty sharp!" Su Chen chuckled, striking a few poses with the gun.

"Alright, stop showing off. Do you want to shoot this thing or not!"

He then explained some of the basics, like never pointing the muzzle at anyone and checking if the gun was empty after firing.

Only after Su Chen seemed to get the hang of it did Xiao Chen bring out a box of ammunition.

As he handed the bullets to Su Chen, Xiao Chen’s expression turned serious. "You have to be careful. This is no joke."

Seeing how solemn Xiao Chen was, Su Chen put aside his playful attitude and nodded heavily.

After loading all the bullets, Su Chen followed Xiao Chen’s lead to the shooting lane at the very end.

"Do you need me to teach you how to shoot?"

"You need to teach this? Isn’t this a piece of cake?" Su Chen said, full of confidence.

Everyone played with toy guns as a kid, and from that, Su Chen at least understood the principle of aligning the sights with the target.

He held the gun with both hands, closed his left eye, and made sure the rear sight, front sight, and target were all in a straight line.

Nearby, Jiangyang and Chen Yao put down their own guns and ran over to watch the fun.

Su Chen tried to slow his breathing, gradually calming his racing heart.

BANG! A gunshot rang out.

Four heads snapped up in unison to look at the monitor overhead.

"1 point!"

Seeing the score on the display, Su Chen let out a couple of embarrassed, dry laughs.

"It’s fine. Just hitting the target on your first try is pretty good. You’ll get the hang of it after a few hundred more practice shots!" Xiao Chen consoled him from the side.

Su Chen glanced at the target ten meters away, then blinked. "Brother Cheen, you sure have a way with comforting people. Next time, don’t bother..."

His words instantly sent Jiangyang and Chen Yao into fits of laughter.

Xiao Chen shot the three of them an annoyed glare, left them with a "You guys play by yourselves, I’m going to get some shooting in," and turned to leave.

Jiangyang and Chen Yao gave Su Chen a few more pointers before returning to their own lanes.

’I refuse to believe I can’t get a bullseye today!’

Putting the experience shared by Xiao Chen and the others into practice, Su Chen started again.

Soon, the range was filled with the sound of gunfire.

Anyone who shoots regularly knows that a gun’s recoil is difficult to control without proper technique.

By the time Su Chen had emptied the Desert Eagle’s magazine, both of his hands felt numb.

He sat down on a chair, rubbing his wrists.

"What’s wrong? Giving up already? Who was it that said his body was in great shape and super resilient? You’re calling it quits after just one round with the Desert Eagle?" Xiao Chen had appeared by Su Chen’s side at some point.

"Who said I’m quitting! It’s just that this handgun isn’t comfortable. I’m getting ready to try a rifle!"

"A rifle? I’d suggest you try a submachine gun. The Kriss Vector SMG has low recoil, so it’s perfect for you. You get to feel the rapid fire while also getting a taste of what a rifle feels like."

As he spoke, Xiao Chen pulled a rather unique-looking submachine gun from the rack.

"Isn’t this a Vector?"

Su Chen hefted it in his hands. It wasn’t very heavy; in fact, it was quite light.

"I’ll show you how to use it!" With that, Xiao Chen grabbed two magazines and walked to a shooting lane.

"As a beginner, the first thing you need to learn is how to control the gun’s recoil so you don’t hurt yourself."

Having learned his lesson from the previous experience, Su Chen listened with extra care this time, even asking a few questions about things he was unsure of.

"Watch carefully—my stance and the position of the stock when I fire."

"RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT~"

Xiao Chen emptied the magazine in a few seconds.

"Did you see that clearly?"

Su Chen nodded, took the submachine gun from Xiao Chen’s hands, and deftly swapped in a new magazine.

He mimicked Xiao Chen’s stance, shouldered the gun, and pulled the trigger.

"RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT~"

As the gun roared, Su Chen felt his body vibrating as if he were getting a massage, swaying back and forth.

"Awesome! This is the real joy of shooting!" After emptying a full clip, Su Chen’s earlier frustration was completely gone.

Except for a slight soreness in his shoulder...

-----------------

After playing for nearly two hours straight, Su Chen had lost count of how many rounds he’d fired. Unfortunately, he was ultimately defeated by the large sniper rifle.

"I mean, what were you thinking? You actually dared to try the big sniper rifle on your own. You’re lucky it didn’t shatter your arm!" Xiao Chen grumbled as he rubbed a special medicinal balm onto Su Chen’s shoulder.

The skin on Su Chen’s shoulder was currently bright red, with a faint hint of purple underneath.

"Su Chen, you’ve really got guts," Jiangyang said. "It took Chen Yao and me about half a month of practice before we could handle the big sniper. You went for it after just two hours. A newborn calf truly doesn’t fear the tiger!"

Jiangyang and Chen Yao were also sitting nearby, watching him.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know the recoil would be that strong? I’ve seen lots of videos online of girls shouldering big sniper rifles and firing multiple shots without any problem!"

"The ’snipers’ they’re using are for *sniping*. The ’sniper’ you’re using is a *cannon*! There’s a big difference between ’firing a cannon’ and sniping! After all, a cannon is thick, while a sniper is thin!"

After about ten minutes of rubbing, Su Chen felt he could move his arm freely again. Aside from an occasional twinge of pain, there was no major discomfort.

"Alright, I’ll give you some of this special balm to take with you when you leave. Your arm will be fine in three to five days, tops."

"Well, anyway, I still had a great time today, even if I got a little banged up!" Su Chen said with a cheerful laugh.

"This is just the beginning. I was planning to show you something even more exciting, but looking at the state you’re in, we’d better not!" Xiao Chen said, shaking his head.

The moment he heard there was something more exciting, Su Chen’s eyes lit up. "More exciting? What is it? Don’t tell me it’s firing a cannon!!"

"How could there possibly be a cannon? Do you think you can just fire off a cannon in these mountains??"

"Uh..." ’That’s true,’ Su Chen thought. After all, they weren’t far from the Imperial Capital. Firing a real cannon would cause an unimaginable uproar.

"Alright, when you’ve recovered, I’ll bring you back. You’re in no condition to do anything else right now anyway," Xiao Chen said, patting Su Chen’s shoulder.

"Sigh, I guess that’s the only way!"

Su Chen didn’t shamelessly insist on seeing it. Xiao Chen had made himself clear, and pressing the issue further would be pushing his luck.

But he had a guess. He recalled seeing some signs of construction over by the mountainside. ’The ’fun stuff’ Xiao Chen mentioned is probably over there,’ he thought.

The group then sat down and chatted together. Through their conversation, Su Chen got to know Jiangyang and Chen Yao on a deeper level.

He learned that their backgrounds were just as impressive, not much different from Xiao Chen’s family.

But that made sense; people who hung out together were usually from similar walks of life.

"I’m treating everyone to dinner tonight. Lamb hot pot! And no one’s allowed to refuse!"

"You little punk, I bet you’ve been craving the lamb from Li Fei’s place, haven’t you!" Xiao Chen said teasingly.

"I’ve been craving it for days! I’m definitely eating my fill tonight!"

The group left the villa, laughing and talking. When Jiangyang and Chen Yao saw the two Cullinans in the courtyard, they were a bit surprised and shot Xiao Chen a meaningful glance.