Grace's parents lived in Boulder City, a southeastern suburb outside Las Vegas. But the meeting place was at a shooting range outside the city.
格蕾丝的父母住在拉斯维加斯城市外东南市郊,博尔德城.但是会面地点在城外射击场.
When they arrived by car, they learned the shooting range was privately owned by the family—today was a family gathering, with an outdoor barbecue.
开车到达后才知道这个射击场就是他们家私有的,今天是家庭聚会,在这里户外烧烤.
By the time they arrived, long tables were already set up, grills were being lit, and the charcoal needed time to catch. Grace had two younger brothers, and they had both brought their families. The children mingled first and started playing together, while the women watched from the side.
到达时候已经有长桌摆好了,烤炉正在点火,木炭燃起来需要时间.格蕾丝还有两个弟弟,他们也都带着家人,孩子们最先混到了一起玩耍,女人们在一边看着.
Grace, as the eldest princess of the family, went straight to her mother to act spoiled the moment she returned to her parents' side.
格蕾丝作为家里的大公主,回到父母身边就去妈妈那里撒娇了.
The rough work of tending the fire and adding charcoal was left to the men, but the conversation here was all about Lin Yuhui possessing Hunter.
这边生火加炭的粗活就只有男人围着忙活了,然而这里的话题都是关于林语晖附身亨特的,
"Hey, Hunter—no, Theodore—um, I don't even know what to call you. I heard..." Grace's brother Hank asked somewhat awkwardly.
"嘿,亨特,不,西奥多,嗯,我也不知道该怎么称呼,听说..."格蕾丝的弟弟汉克有些不自然地问,
"Heh, yeah, did you hear it from Grace?"
"呵呵,没错,你是听格蕾丝说的吗?"
"No no, it's secondhand from Mom. Hey, bro, can a person's soul really possess someone?"
"不不,是从妈妈那转来的二手消息,嘿,兄弟,人的灵魂真的能附身吗?"
"Yeah."
"是啊,"
"How did you do it? What does it feel like?..."
"你是怎么做到的?什么感觉?..."
Lin Yuhui only caught the first half of Hank's rapid-fire questions, because he had noticed the conversation between Grace and her mother over there.
汉克一连串的发问林语晖只听到了前半部分,因为他注意到了那边格蕾丝和她妈妈的对话,
"...truly different, he's not like those two brothers at all."
"...确实不一样,他和那兄弟俩都不一样,"
"Sigh, as long as he's gentle and considerate, and treats you well, who cares who he is..."
"唉,既然温柔体贴,又对你好,管他是谁..."
After half a lifetime, finally hearing his mother-in-law's approval of him after his own death, Lin Yuhui couldn't help but feel emotional. If it weren't for the enormous family fortune, a life without worry, no need to strive, he wouldn't have been gentle either. If it weren't for Grace's gentleness, virtue, loyalty, and devotion, he wouldn't have been considerate.
时隔半生,终于在自己死后听到了岳母大人对自己的认可,林语晖不由得心中感慨,要不是家资巨富,生活无忧,不用奋斗,自己也没有温柔.如果没有格蕾丝的温柔贤淑,忠诚臣服,自己也不会体贴,
His mind was racing, but Hank's expectant eyes were still in front of him. Lin Yuhui had to answer him quickly.
脑子里飞转着,面前依然是汉克期待的眼神,林语晖还得赶紧答对他,
"Oh, I couldn't bear to leave your sister behind. That kid Hunter wasn't studying hard anyway... Heh, I'm using his body—one less troublemaker in the family, one more good husband, one more good son, one more good dad," Lin Yuhui said with feeling, still needing to answer Hank. But whenever he mentioned "son," something always felt off in his heart.
"哦,我舍不得丢下你姐姐啊,亨特那小子反正也不学好...,呵呵,我用用他的身体,家里少了一个麻烦制造者,多了一个好丈夫,一个好儿子,一个好爸爸,",林语晖感慨着,还得答对汉克,只是说到儿子的时候,心里总是觉得别扭.
"Hahaha, you're talking smack about yourself, this is actually kind of funny."
"哈哈哈,你在说你自己的坏话,这事情真有点滑稽,"
"Yeah, because I'm not Hunter." Lin Yuhui wanted to say that Hunter had bullied your sister back then, but on second thought, he decided not to air the family's dirty laundry everywhere, so he continued,
"是啊,因为我不是亨特,"林语晖想说,当时他欺负你姐姐,可转念一想,这家丑还是不要到处宣扬了,便接着说,
"He was on drugs at the time, and I just entered his body, like putting on clothes."
"他当时嗑药了,我就进入了他的身体,就像穿衣服一样."
"Oh." Hank and Torre listened and nodded.
"哦,"汉克和托雷边听边点头,
Soon the barbecue preparations were done and they started eating. Between bites and chatter, Lin Yuhui learned that Grace's second brother Torre had inherited their father's trading business. From his introduction, there was even a share in interstellar trade. Lin Yuhui was curious and pressed for more.
很快做好了烧烤的准备工作就开餐了,边吃边聊之间林语晖才知道格蕾丝的二弟托雷是继承了他父亲的贸易生意,听他的介绍,还有星际贸易的份额.林语晖很好奇,就急忙追问,
"What would aliens buy?"
"外星人会买什么?"
"Haha, art, oil paintings and such, or clothing and toys."
"哈哈,艺术品,油画什么的,或者服装玩具,"
"Toys?" Lin Yuhui chuckled too.
"玩具?"林语晖也乐了,
"They play with our toys too?"
"他们也玩我们的玩具?"
"No, some of them like collecting our replica vintage car models, train models, things like that. Their technology is very advanced, so low-tech products are scarce over there."
"不是,他们有人喜欢收藏我们仿真老爷车模,火车模型之类的.他们的技术很发达,所以低技术的产物在他们那里是稀缺的."
"Oh, wait—do you collect secondhand toys to sell to them?" Lin Yuhui asked.
"哦,哎?你们收集二手玩具卖给他们吗?"林语晖问,
"Brand new, mass-produced. Why would we sell secondhand? The cost of collecting is way too high," Torre said.
"全新批量生产的啊,为什么要卖二手的呢?收集的成本多高啊,"托雷说,
"Oh, I've heard in the past that some people have superpowers—like touching an object and sensing who's handled it, and seeing scenes from those people's lives. Maybe aliens universally have that ability. They might be interested in stories from Earth."
"哦,我过去听说有些人有超能力,比如接触一个物体就能感知到谁碰过它,以及那些人的生活中的画面.或许外星人普遍有这个能力,他们会对地球上发生的故事感兴趣的."
"Oh, worth a try, hahaha," Torre said with a laugh and a nod.
"哦,值得一试,哈哈哈,"托雷说笑着点了点头,
Lin Yuhui smiled and made small talk in return, but between the lines of casual conversation, he could sense that Torre was a sharp man, while the youngest brother Hank still had some youthful immaturity and fiery spirit. This shooting range was run by Hank, so he was even more lively on his home turf.
林语晖也陪笑寒暄,但是闲谈的眉眼之间,他能感觉到托雷是个精明人,而最小的弟弟汉克似乎还有些年轻的稚气和血气方刚,这个射击场就是他在经营,所以在他的主场就显得更活跃,
"Hunter, this is your first time here. After you finish eating, you can try some different firearm shooting experiences. Interested?"
"亨特,这是你第一次来这里,一会儿吃过烤肉你可以顺便体验一下不同的枪械射击体验,有兴趣吗?"
"Sure." Lin Yuhui turned to glance at Grace. She was with the other women looking after the children, but she also kept looking over at the men chatting here.
"好啊,"林语晖扭头看了一眼格蕾丝,她在和其他女人一起照顾孩子们,但是也不时地朝这边聊天的男人看过来,
He met her gaze, saw she was in good spirits over there, and went back to chatting with Hank.
与她对了个眼光,看见她在那边兴致很好,自己就接着和汉克闲聊了,
"Got any recommendations?"
"你有什么推荐的吗?"
When Hank heard Lin Yuhui was interested, his face lit up and he launched into his introduction.
汉克一听林语晖有兴趣,他眉飞色舞地开始了他的介绍,
"This shooting range mainly has traditional firearms. From the Vietnam War era—AK47s and M16s—to the Chechen War—AK74s and SVDs—to the Iraq War—HK416s and SCARs—to the Russia-Poland conflict—L129s and HK433s."
"这个射击场主要是传统火器,一百年之内的从越南战争的AK47和M16,到车臣战争的AK74和SVD,伊拉克战争的HK416和SCAR,俄波冲突的L129和HK433,"
"I'm curious, what's the status of electromagnetic guns these days?"
"我很好奇,现在的电磁枪的地位怎么样?"
"We have them, but the downside is they can't roast meat."
"有装备,但是缺点是不能烤肉,"
"Haha." Lin Yuhui laughed along.
"哈哈,"林语晖配合着笑了,
Hank was still going strong.
只见汉克依旧兴致勃勃,
"Electromagnetic and plasma weapons have advantages in muzzle velocity and energy, but power supply and reliability still aren't satisfactory. So I still equip my security teams with conventional firearms. After all, they're just dealing with personnel, which is enough." As he spoke, Hank pointed at his brother Torre.
"电磁和等离子武器虽然有初速和能量优势,但是能量供给和可靠性还不尽如人意.所以给他的安保队伍还是装备普通火器,毕竟只是对付人员就够了."说着汉克指了一下他哥哥托雷,
"Security teams? Isn't Torre in trade?"
"安保队伍?托雷不是做贸易吗?"
"Trade needs security too. Whether it's raw materials or product transport—precious metals or high-tech chips—someone will always have designs on it. There are even aliens who'll target you."
"做贸易也要安保啊,不管是原料还是产品运输,比如贵金属或者高科技芯片,总会有人打主意的,甚至还有外星人会打你的主意."
Lin Yuhui looked at Torre beside him curiously, as if asking for confirmation. Torre just smiled and nodded.
林语晖好奇地看了一眼旁边的托雷,像是在向他求证,只见他笑着点了点头.
"So our equipment and technology are already enough to deal with high-tech aliens?" Lin Yuhui asked with some curiosity.
"那么我们的装备和技术已经足以对付高科技外星人了吗?"林语晖有些好奇地问,
"Some low-tech ones, yes. Space pirates, drifters—the kind that rob and do illegal deals."
"一部分低技术的,可以对付他们,属于太空海盗,流浪者那种,专门打劫然后做非法交易的."
"Oh." Lin Yuhui nodded, deep in thought. Since someone in Grace's family was in the security business, why hadn't Theodore's security been guaranteed?
"哦,"林语晖点了点头,若有所思,既然格蕾丝的家族中有人是做安保业务的,为什么西奥多的安全却没有得到保障呢?
"Then what about Theodore's security?" Lin Yuhui couldn't help asking.
"那西奥多的安保?"林语晖忍不住问,
"Unfortunately, our business isn't private security. We mainly protect assets and run mission operations—more like mercenaries. It's a different specialty." Hank said, shaking his head.
"很遗憾,我们的业务不是私人安保,我们主要保护资产和任务行动,更像雇佣兵,是不同的专业."汉克说着摇了摇头,
"We can't prevent poisoning."
"我们防不了投毒,"
"Oh." Lin Yuhui nodded, understanding what he meant. But he immediately thought of the car Theodore had left behind, the one that made him uneasy.
"哦,"林语晖点了点头,明白他的意思,但是马上又想到了让自己有些不放心的西奥多留下的那辆车,
"Then can you check for car bombs?"
"那你们能检查车辆炸弹吗?"
"Hahaha, counterinsurgency warfare?" Hank laughed.
"哈哈哈,治安战?"汉克笑了,
"That we can do."
"这个可以,"
Lin Yuhui pointed to the car they'd driven here.
林语晖指了指开来的那辆车,
"That's Theodore's car. It didn't blow up when I drove it over, heh, but I never feel safe about it. Your sister and the kids use it too..."
"那是西奥多的车,我开过来的时候没有炸弹爆炸,呵呵,但是我总是对它不放心,你姐姐还有孩子们也要用它..."
"No problem. Leave it here today. I'll send it for inspection on a workday."
"没问题,今天把它留下,等工作日我把它送去检查一下."
"Well, thank you."
"那,谢谢你了,"
"Don't mention it."
"别客气."
After settling this, Lin Yuhui couldn't help but think: Grace's family had defense operations, trade, and possibly even ties to alien forces. Could Theodore have been killed because he got too close to them? Now that Lin Yuhui had taken his place, he had to consider all the conflicting interests he might be caught in.
说完这件事,林语晖不由得想,格蕾丝这边的家族有防务,有贸易,可能还与外星势力有着丝缕的联系,是不是西奥多因为与他们走得太近而遇害呢?接替了他位置的林语晖不得不设想他自己可能涉及的各种利害冲突关系.
(Translated by ERNIE Bot)