Chapter 933: Introducing a Sailor to You

Michael Higgins asked: "Xiao Peng, what are your requirements for recruiting crew members? Is it academic qualifications? Or ability?"

Xiao Peng spread his hands. "Higgins, let me be honest with you. We have highly educated and capable people on board, but the ones who stay are morally upright. That's almost always the case with job applications in this industry. I'm not without capable people around me. For example, I used to have a bodyguard named Bruch, who was very capable, but he was the first one to leave me. Now, let's be honest. If I were to say who has the strongest overall ability among the bodyguards around me, he would probably be the one. But what can we do if he has moral flaws?"

Michael Higgins looked as if he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

Xiao Peng smiled and said, "Higgins, if you have something to say, just tell me."

Michael Higgins said: "Xiao, I have a grandson..."

Xiao Peng laughed: "Do you hate him very much?"

"Ah?" Michael Higgins said: "No, no, no, I love him very much, and he is a good boy. Why do you say that?"

Xiao Peng spread his hands and said, "You want him to stay on my ship, right? How could you let him on my ship if you didn't hate him? You don't understand how boring life at sea is."

Michael Higgins smiled and said, "Xiao, you are such a smart man. I really want my grandson to go to sea with you, but this is not my request, but my grandson's. He actually sent you a job application letter, but in the end there was no response. You are about to leave Ireland now. If you don't reply to him in Ireland, his chances of being accepted in the future will be even slimmer, so he came to me. I hope I can help him."

Xiao Peng smiled bitterly and said, "There are so many people applying for jobs that my captain's email has exploded."

"Why don't you leave your email?" Michael Higgins was stunned.

Xiao Peng laughed and said, "Then my email address would be exposed too, wouldn't it? Besides, if I published my email address, damn, the consequences would be unimaginable. You might not believe this, but 99% of the people who sent me private messages during my livestream were asking for money. They were asking for help because they'd been unemployed for too long, because they were seriously ill, or because they were raising money for a charity... Oh my god, I was so scared that I turned off the private message function."

Michael Higgins was stunned: "So many people asked you for money? So what did you do?"

Xiao Peng said, "I turned off the private messaging function because I don't care about these things. In China, there's a word that's used for praise but has become a derogatory term: 'expert.' Expert is a good word, but there are so many fake experts. Ordinary people can't tell the real from the fake, and the end result is that 'experts' become 'bricks and mortar.' Similarly, I'm just an ordinary person and don't have the energy to distinguish true from false, so I simply won't help anyone."

Michael Higgins asked curiously: "Aren't you afraid of being called cold-blooded?"

Xiao Peng thought for a moment, took a sip of wine, and said, "My parents passed away early, and I came to France on my own. I encountered all kinds of messed up things and encountered all kinds of difficulties. How do you say that? Life is not satisfactory in nine out of ten cases. To put it bluntly, life is a repetitive process of encountering difficulties and solving them. When you really encounter difficulties, everyone hopes that someone will help you, but based on my experience, the only one who can truly help yourself is yourself. I'm not the kind of person who doesn't lend a helping hand. I've helped countless people, but I only help those I have seen with my own eyes or who I am sure of. I don't want my kindness to be used as a tool for others to deceive me."

"There's nothing wrong with being kind," said Michael Higgins.

Xiao Peng smiled wryly and nodded. "That's true, but it does give people a loophole. Our country even used to have 'begging villages'. The people in these villages didn't work or do anything, but went to the big cities to beg. They lived in their small Western-style buildings, and their lives were better than most hard-working people. They relied on taking advantage of people's kindness. But what's the reality? My classmate said something very good: In today's China, as long as you have hands and feet and are willing to work, it's difficult to starve to death! Anyone who is willing to work, even delivering food or express delivery, can earn a good income. Why blame others when problems arise and hope for something good to happen? Instead of that, you'd better look for the reasons within yourself."

"We Chinese are a kind-hearted people. For thousands of years, we've respected the elderly, cherished the young, and helped each other, which has led us to where we are today. But what about now? Because some people are endlessly exploiting our kindness, we've now faced a series of problems in our country, such as 'help or not,' 'I'm weak, so I'm right,' and 'moral blackmail.' To put it bluntly, it's all caused by the excessive consumption of kindness. I now find that knowing how to say 'no' is a very refreshing thing."

Michael Higgins was stunned: "Okay, Xiao, I think I understand what you mean. You are rejecting my proposal, right?"

Xiao Peng waved his hand and said, "Higgins, this is my fault too. Your grandson probably misunderstood me. I'm hiring ordinary crew members, not cadre crew members. To put it bluntly, they're just for work. It's extremely hard and dangerous. And he can't even think about enjoying the comforts of the Luna. The Luna is basically made up of the backbone of my team."

Michael Higgins said hurriedly after hearing this: "No, no, no. James... Johnny said that ordinary crew members can also do it."

Xiao Peng frowned: "How much do you hate him? Do you know how miserable the lives of ordinary crew members on the ship are? They are exhausted when they are working, and bored to death when there is no work to do..."

Michael Higgins said directly: "I'm not afraid, Johnny. As long as I can follow your boat, that's fine."

Xiao Peng frowned slightly. What exactly did Michael Higgins mean? Was he planning to send someone to track him? But with AIS, his whereabouts weren't a secret. What secrets was he trying to get from him? He didn't have any secret equipment on his ship! Even HOV had the technology. If they wanted it, they could just ask for it from the EU through technology sharing with France. They could even get more advanced technology. So what did he mean? He was being tortured on his own ship?

It wasn't that he wasn't worried about what Johnny might do. The people on the boat were all seasoned veterans. If Johnny really had some ulterior motive, they could make him itch so badly he couldn't find the source of the irritation. At worst, he could just have Ma Xiao and the others keep an eye on him.

Thinking of this, Xiao Peng felt more at ease: "Does this Johnny have experience working on a ship?"

Michael Higgins said: "No, but he has a language advantage! He studied Chinese and his level is quite good."

This is not surprising. The main languages spoken in Ireland are English and Irish, and the third language they learn is not German or French, but Chinese. Irish students can take Chinese as an elective in high school and on the college entrance examination.

"Okay, let him try!" Xiao Peng concluded.