Ferrari said, "Maybe you will smoke in the future."
After speaking, he put away the cigarette case, leaned his head back to look at the ceiling, and blew rings of smoke.
Song Heping didn't understand what he meant, so he asked, "You still haven't answered me, what do you think?"
Ferrari shifted his gaze from the ceiling back to Song Heping's face, "What do I think? You see me now—"
He spread his hands.
"Look while lying down."
Song Heping couldn't help but smile wryly, "I'm really not interested in having you mock me."
Ferrari said, "You have no choice."
He paused and then said, "Don't we Chinese have an old saying, 'You can't control your own fate in the Jianghu'?"
His one-eighth Chinese ancestry was awakening again.
While speaking, he pointed at Song Heping through the air, "You are in that situation now. Do you think you can refuse? You absolutely can't! Unless you want to take the money in your bank and go back to China right now, but as long as you wish to survive in Illiguo and want to earn from the US Army contracts, you must do it."
Song Heping sighed.
He had to admit that Ferrari was an old hand in the game, a clever man.
His view was consistent with his own.
But could he really let go?
Contentedly?
Willingly?
Moreover, he disliked leaving things half-finished.
The situation he barely managed to open up, just to let go, of course, was impossible.
Ferrari again said, "Go for it, you have no choice."
Song Heping said, "On the bright side, this is an opportunity for us to make a breakthrough in the arms industry. The Seras we saved in Ecuador, his father is a major general in the Venezuelan Army. He invited me for breakfast at the hotel and introduced me to the South American arms market and its current situation. I understood from him that the market in South America is like a well-shaped iron plate. If anyone tries to meddle, it's like hammering nails into an iron plate; without some capabilities, there's no way to progress, unless you aim small. Even for someone like him, trying to meddle almost cost his son's life in Colombia."
"Of course, you just didn't know." Ferrari put his feet back under the desk, sat up straight, and looked at Song Heping, "The Colombian military and the United States ostensibly have a lot of collaboration on drug prohibition. In reality, whether politically or militarily, many South American countries are the United States' backyard. If you examine the history of America, you will understand what I'm talking about. So, when the cook said he wanted to sell arms to America, do you remember I mocked him? Do you think I was bloated with idleness to cross him? No, no, no, I was just laughing at the cook, this simple-minded Da Maozi, who had no idea of the perils in South America. He still thought it was the Soviet era!"
"So, I felt the same way," Song Heping said, "I know Peter wants us to do the dirty work, but besides that, I see no other way to open up the arms route. He also told me a piece of information, the arms we had robbed in Colombia were provided to the AUC Armed by the CIA through their people in South America with information and routes."
"No wonder then!"
Ferrari suddenly realized.
"At first, I wondered how the other side knew such accurate information. The arms that the cook sold privately were actually not particularly large in number, to engage an armed organization to rob them and not giving the drug trafficking gangs any face, I wouldn't believe there wasn't someone behind it; turns out, it was the CIA's people."
"Previously, we offended Simon, the head of the Illigo Intelligence Station of the CIA. It seems this guy has set his sights on us. They probably also know about our arms trafficking, but since the Temporary Management Committee is involved, even if they expose us to arrest us, they can't put us to death. That's why they resorted to such despicable methods,"
Song Heping said, "This time we have the backing of the military. I guess that using this prestigious banner for selling arms in the future will make the CIA think twice. Remember when I told you about those planes and other large equipment that Yousuf mentioned?"
A flash of surprise passed through Ferrari's eyes, "Are you really going to sell those things?"
Song Heping said, "Selling guns and selling planes are the same thing, aren't they? It's not like we're selling mushroom bombs."
Ferrari nodded thoughtfully, "That does make sense."
Then he asked, "It seems you've already decided, so why ask me?"
Song Heping said, "The most troublesome part of the whole thing isn't selling the missiles; it's Dominic."
"Dominic?!" Ferrari said, "What does he have to do with it?"
"Because the buyer of the SA-9 missiles this time is the Salafi Armed," Song Heping said.
"Salafi?!"
Ferrari's brow furrowed.
He felt this name seemed very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it.
After a moment, he suddenly exclaimed, "FUCK! Wasn't it the Salafi Armed that we wiped out near the water supply station?!"
Song Heping nodded, "Exactly, the same organization that Dominic wanted me to promise to avenge his comrades from, the Salafi Armed of the Sahel Region. It was them who shot down Dominic's plane and almost killed him."
Ferrari was stunned, "FUCK! This is..."
Song Heping scratched his head, "The thing I'm most worried about now is this matter. If Dominic finds out, I'm afraid he might leave the company."
Ferrari thought for a while but couldn't come up with any good ideas.
"Song, it's not me speaking negatively, but Dominic will not agree to this unless he leaves. And managing this might expose you to a great risk. Think about it, what are SA-9s used for? They're for air defense, and in the Sahel Region, what maintains the absolute superiority for the French military? The Air Force! These three missile systems are likely intended for use against the French Air Force. In these years, I know the US military has been looking to constantly strengthen its military presence in the Sahel Region. They've always lacked a good approach but now want to take advantage of the post-9/11 global counter-terrorism efforts to make their move. If the French Air Force suffers a plane or two shot down, especially by Soviet weapons, do you think the French would not loosen their stance and let the American counter-terrorism forces into the Sahel Region to assist them?"
Song Heping said, "I've thought of this already. Otherwise, why wouldn't Peter let AAFES handle it? That's where the reason lies. Right now, I'm considering even more than just this. I'm worried about whether the military forces connected to Peter might dispose of us after the French start investigating, and that's what I need to guard against."
Ferrari spread his hands, "We need to choose our next step carefully."
Song Heping furrowed his brows and pondered for a moment, "Regarding Dominic, I do have a bold idea."
"What bold idea?" Ferrari asked.
Song Heping said, "Peter only asked us to sell weapons to the Salafi Armed, so all we need to do is deliver the SA-9s to them in the Sahel Region, but he didn't say I can't take out their leader, did he?"
This time Ferrari was completely shocked.
FUCK!
That certainly is a bold idea!