Stepping out of the car, the cold raindrops struck Song Heping as he followed Rash to the front of the wooden hut.
Two soldiers stood in front of the door, Rash explained their purpose in Spanish and then turned to Song Heping, saying, "You wait here for a mont."
With that, he pushed the door open and entered.
After a short while, Rash reappeared at the door and gestured to Song Heping, "You can co in now."
Song Heping knew that the notification was complete and that he could now et with the renowned Colonel Morins.
Walking into the house, the first impression was that it was spartan.
Inside was a small hall with wooden chairs and tables, resembling a dining area; maps hung on the walls, and there was a door to the right that appeared to lead to a bedroom.
A middle-aged man dressed in camouflage walked out of the bedroom and extended his hand to Song Heping, "Welco to Colombia, Mr. Song."
Song Heping smiled and shook hands with him, "It's an honor to et you, Colonel Morins."
Colonel Morins had a big beard, and possibly because he lived in the jungle for many years, he looked more like a mountaineer, and his hands were very rough.
"Sit."
Colonel Morins led Song Heping to the table and pointed to a chair.
Understanding, Song Heping took his seat independently.
Colonel Morins asked Rash, "Is it ti for the al?"
Looking outside, Rash nodded and said, "That's right, Colonel, they should be starting breakfast soon."
"Then let's have a portion of our camp's breakfast for our esteed guest as well."
After saying this, Colonel Morins smiled at Song Heping.
Song Heping felt there was sothing strange and aningful in his eyes.
"Thank you, Colonel."
He politely expressed his gratitude.
Once Rash had left, Colonel Morins sat opposite Song Heping and asked as his first question, "Are you Chinese?"
"Yes," Song Heping nodded.
Colonel Morins said, "I greatly admire your great man, sir."
Knowing about ELN's beliefs, Song Heping was not surprised, "Before coming here, I had heard a bit about that."
Pointing outside, Colonel Morins asked, "Do you know what the founding idea of our organization is?"
Song Heping responded, "To unite the people of the world?"
Colonel Morins laughed, "No, it's the other line—"
Song Heping was sowhat surprised and taken aback.
Colonel Morins said, "I can recite the entire collection."
This caught Song Heping off guard, as he had co here to discuss an arms deal and did not expect to be given a theoretical lesson.
"That's right, the enemy can't understand your words," Song Heping said, "So you need more 'barrels'."
This comnt finally steered the conversation back to the topic of arms.
Colonel Morins laughed heartily and nodded repeatedly, "Exactly, but Mr. Song, please tell , if you can't even protect your arms, how can you talk about power? Talking about this requires strength."
It was at this mont that Song Heping realized that the Colonel Morins in front of him was not as simple as he had imagined.
And that made sense.
To lead a left-wing guerrilla group like the ELN, you needed more than money to win people's hearts. You needed a set of revolutionary theory; otherwise, why would thousands follow you into the jungle to live through hardship and play with their lives against the governnt army?
He couldn't help but regard the middle-aged, sowhat portly uncle in front of him, the leader of the ard organization, with newfound respect.
Colonel Morins was obviously alluding to the arms that the AUC had intercepted from Song Heping before, that botched deal.
So far, the two million dollars that were lost have not been returned.
"How do you have the nerve to co here and negotiate a new arms deal with ?"
Song Heping said, "I admit, my two million dollars' worth of arms were stolen by AUC, and my people were taken hostage, but I managed to rescue my people from their camp with just a few n, and moreover, I killed dozens of them along with two governnt helicopters and two platoons. I think I am qualified to talk about strength."
Colonel Morins' gaze fell on Song Heping's face and didn't leave for a second.
The two n looked quietly at each other, until finally Rash interrupted, carrying in breakfast for each, placing it before Song Heping.
The atmosphere seed to ease up a bit.
Rash glanced at the two n and tactfully left again.
Colonel Morins made an inviting gesture, "Let's talk while we eat. The breakfast here in camp is very simple. In fact, just between us, it's a mix of leftovers from last night's dinner and so bread. I hope you don't mind, these are the conditions we live in."
Song Heping looked down at the food in the plate, a ssy mix of everything indeed, just like a hodgepodge.
One could make out potatoes, soup, so beef bones with a bit of at clinging to them, bits of corn, and a kind of bread ripped apart and thrown in.
As Colonel Morins had said, it looked like a bunch of leftovers thrown together haphazardly and scooped onto a plate.
That Colonel Morins actually ate this made Song Heping even start to doubt whether the other party had the money to buy arms.
Had the ELN ard organization beco this poor?
But he didn't mind the food; he had co from a poor background himself, had gone through various survival training in the military, and had eaten all sorts of strange things, so ten tis more disgusting than this. After all, the food on the plate was still edible, compared to the insects he had eaten in the wild and even once, the necessity to pick out bugs from animal feces to supplent protein made this seem rather luxurious.
Without saying a word, he took a spoonful of soup to his mouth, smacked his lips, then grabbed a piece of the torn bread, dipped it in the beef soup, and started eating heartily.
Now it was Colonel Morins sitting opposite him who was taken aback.
He had expected Song Heping to be troubled.
He had not expected the other party to be not troubled at all.
"This breakfast is called 'calentado.' Our Colombian poor, in order to save and be thrifty, process leftover food from the previous day by recooking and reheating it. The stuff you're eating may even have saliva from other soldiers from last night..."
He was actually trying to disgust Song Heping.
But it seed to have no effect.
Quickly, before he could finish, Song Heping had already scarfed down all the bread, then lifted the plate and guzzled down the soup with big gulps. After setting the plate down and belching contentedly, he said, "A delicious breakfast, thank you for the hospitality, Colonel."
After a long while, Colonel Morins finally smiled, "Would you like another serving?"
Song Heping replied, "I just don't want to eat you out of house and ho."
Colonel Morins laughed heartily, coughing in the end. He called Rash to get an extra serving of breakfast for Song Heping, then returned to his seat and, while eating his bread, said, "We're not poor, it's just that this is how we eat. We are revolutionaries, not living in luxury."
Song Heping said, "Colonel, if you have doubts about my strength and sincerity, we can trade with delivery before paynt, cash on delivery. How about that? This way, you don't have to bear any risk of loss."
In the arms market, most transactions require a deposit.
The fact that Song Heping offered cash on delivery was quite a generous move.
Colonel Morins asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll take your arms and not pay you?"
Song Heping replied, "If I were afraid, I wouldn't have co to you, right? Besides, do you think if I could rescue my people from the secret AUC camp and make the governnt army suffer losses, I'd be afraid of soone who owes money not paying back?"
Their conversation took on an edge like swords drawn.
Song Heping was no pushover, and if Colonel Morins dared joke about swallowing up his arms, he was ready to use his life as leverage.
In this world ruled by war, no one respects the weak.
Sure enough, Colonel Morins nodded and said, "I like your way of doing business, but you may not be aware of one thing. The biggest wholesaler in the South Arican arms market is actually the Aricans, including our arms, which are actually bought through Arican agents. Are you trying to compete with the CIA for business?"
Song Heping smiled, "Colonel, then why did you go to Ramas for arms? Are you not afraid of offending the CIA?"
At these words, Colonel Morins' face turned sour instantly.
The room fell silent.
The guards at the door, hearing no sound from inside for a long ti, turned and sneakily looked inside.
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