Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 277: The Old Man

Chapter 277: Chapter 277: The Old Man

"Early in the morning, Gu Fan and his group packed their luggage, bid farewell to the innkeeper, and planned to head straight to the place Ouyang Jin mentioned.

However, the innkeeper kindly reminded them, "Young folks, I am offering you a friendly advice. The guide you had before isn’t reliable. Though it’s clear that you know him, he’s not a local and thus does not know the surroundings as well as a local would. In addition, his relatives have peculiar tempers, I really don’t recommend him."

"Thanks for your good intentions. We’ll go take a look first. If we can’t negotiate, we’ll come back and ask you to recommend another one," Gu Fan trusts Ouyang Jin’s capabilities, primarily due to their bonds forged during their last shared expedition.

By the time they reached the place Ouyang Jin mentioned, they found Ouyang Jin in the front yard feeding a large number of sled dogs. Seeing Ouyang Jin lift his head and smile, they immediately had a bad premonition.

During the last expedition out of town, they rode Ouyang Jin’s camels and experienced a steep price hike. This time, Ouyang Jin had gathered so many sled dogs; he would probably...

As expected, Ouyang Jin raised the price to twenty thousand yuan. The cost discussed last night was just for his personal services, and didn’t include the price for the sled dogs. He claimed that the cost of raising sled dogs was expensive in order to give customers a better experience.

"Impressive, you sure never change your true colors." Gu Fan had no choice but to grit his teeth and call the big boss: "Hey, big boss, we’ve found a way to catch up faster, which involves a mode of transport. You know, good things always cost a lot. Nevertheless, I think for the sake of efficiency, we can’t be stingy. Don’t you agree?"

The big boss sounded a little impatient: "Gu Fan, you ask for money every now and then. I’m not a cash printer. Just a while ago, you asked for a large sum of money, and now you’re asking for another. If this goes on, I would have to go bankrupt."

After hearing this, Gu Fan rolled his eyes. "You’re the big boss, since when did a few tens of thousands become a large sum?"

The big boss chuckled, "Sorry, I’m not considering it from my perspective, but from the perspective of poor students like you."

"Well..." Gu Fan had no counter-argument, because for a poor student like him, tens of thousands is indeed a large sum.

In the end, Gu Fan managed to nag the big boss into transferring another sum of money. After paying the complete fees, he looked at the satisfied expression on Ouyang Jin’s face, fearing he might come up with other reasons to raise the price.

Zhuo Hang was experiencing Ouyang Jin’s price inflation skills for the first time, but felt it was pretty common among businesses in scenic spots everywhere thus wasn’t surprised.

Lu Yi chimed in, "Buddy, don’t raise the price again for old times’ sake or I’ll charge at you and go down with you."

"Alright, alright, I won’t raise the price." Ouyang Jin played it off with a laugh, only to hear a solemn voice coming from the house behind him, "Who is this noisy bunch that Xiao Ou brought?"

"Sorry, old man, it’s the group I was hired to guide," Ouyang Jin, with an air of reverence, quickly apologized and shrank his neck.

Then the door opened, revealing an old man with white hair and some wrinkles, but still energetic. His eyes, however, were cold and unfriendly. When he scrutinized Gu Fan and the others, he gave the impression of a venomous snake eyeing its prey.

Feeling that the old man could not be easily handled, Gu Fan and his team offered polite smiles, trusting him to be the relative Ouyang Jin was relying on. They hoped he wouldn’t randomly raise the prices like Ouyang Jin did.

Old man Tian snorted coldly, "You accepted the job without telling me anything about it yesterday. You’ve only been here for a short while and here you are, already being defiant."

Ouyang Jin immediately apologized, "I’m sorry, old man. I agreed to take them because they’re acquaintances and out of consideration to our relationship. Also, business hasn’t been good lately, so I wanted to get a head start."

Hearing this, Old man Tian scrutinized Gu Fan and the others with narrowed eyes, and asked, "I heard you guys need to stay here for quite a long time. Where exactly are you planning to go?"

Old man Tian also led people on tours, but he had never heard of anyone staying for more than ten days. He got the feeling that Gu Fan and his group were not simple.

Gu Fan smiled lightly, then pointed at the towering Yuxueyun Mountain in the distance, "We want to go to that mountain."

"What? You want to go to the snow mountain? No!" Old man Tian suddenly erupted in anger, bellowing, "Do you know how dangerous it is over there? The mountain path is covered with ice and snow and steep slopes, making it easy to stumble and fall down. Moreover, there are a lot of wild animals in the forest at the foot of the mountain. We never get close to the snowy area when we’re leading groups."

"That’s exactly why we need experienced guides like you." Gu Fan was aware that this journey carried some risk, but nevertheless, they had to face it.

"No means no." Old man Tian was stubborn and firmly refused. There was clearly no room for negotiation. He then took a serious look at Ouyang Jin and in a more solid tone said, "Don’t take this group. No more discussions."

"Alright!" Ouyang Jin didn’t dare to disobey and watched Old man Tian stomp off back into the house, slamming the door behind him.

This posed a problem. Seeing Ouyang Jin’s embarrassed expression, Gu Fan figured that the guide was probably going to back out. Could it be that they had to find a new guide? However, considering Old man Tian’s attitude, perhaps the other guides would refuse too.

Ouyang Jin sighed, shaking his head in resignation, "I’m sorry, Gu Fan. If the old man doesn’t agree, there’s nothing I can do. Please understand."

"Alright!" Gu Fan didn’t know what else to say. Just as he was about to look for another guide and try his luck, the sound of Old man Tian’s voice suddenly came from the house. It wasn’t clear what he was saying, but it seemed like he was making a phone call, speaking in a hurried tone.

Let’s give up then, as Gu Fan and Su Hui were ready to leave, the house door suddenly flung open and Old man Tian strode out. He looked over Gu Fan and his group again, a hint of deeper meaning flashed across his eyes, and then he said, "The most important thing in doing business is honesty. Since I’ve agreed, I must fulfill my responsibility. But you all must follow my instructions so that I can ensure your safety. If, half-way through, I find that you’re not listening, I’ll turn back and completely wash my hands of you. Can you accept this condition?"

Having heard so much, Gu Fan, Su Hui, and Ouyang Jin were all flabbergasted. Just a while ago, Old man Tian had been so adamant about refusing – after going into the house for a bit, his attitude suddenly changed.

However, since he had agreed, Gu Fan, Su Hui and the others were more than willing. They quickly nodded in agreement, promising to follow all of Old man Tian’s arrangements. Then old man Tian said something that made Gu Fan and the others crumble, "Ouyang Jin has never been there before and didn’t know the risks and actual costs, so the price set before was too low. You’ll have to add more money."