Chapter 44 The Dud Round

The atmosphere turned strange and awkward and Chen Yixuan failed to summon any courage to further ask any more questions. Master Six was busy filling their cups, bellowing loudly for toasts after toasts with a reckless abandon to get drunk and wasted. After drinking for some time, Master Six's hand slipped into his pocket and took out the small bundle wrapped with his handkerchief. Only now Chen Yixuan finally saw what it was: a bullet round, one which had been a dud. There were scorch marks at its end, the sign of being struck by a firing pin when the bullet was fired from a gun. Master Six handled the opened bundled to the old man. "Grandfather, look! Is this one of ours?" The old man took the bullet and peered at it closely. At last, he handed it back, saying, "Indeed. It is one of ours; my cousin's in fact!" "Your cousin?" Master Six blurted loudly, as he quickly remarked, "Is he not at the cotton factory?" "He is," said the old man, nodding. "He has been there for years!" Master Six smiled. "I'll visit him in the afternoon!" He quipped. The three young men sitting looked at him with approving smiles hung across their faces. If they did not believe that Master Six was a relative of theirs before, they certainly did now, especially after hearing Master Six's blunt remark.