Chapter 656: Cooperation
After making up my mind to catch the b.u.t.terfly, I went directly towards the part of the stream where the girls were secretly swimming without dillydallying. That’s probably where Xiao Qin lost her straw hat.
I looked around the area, but still could not find Xiao Qin’s straw hat.
Maybe it fell into the stream and was washed away?
I could only hold the insect net reluctantly and patrolled around the vicinity for ten minutes, but I didn’t see any signs of the b.u.t.terfly.
This is bad, without the straw hat to attract the b.u.t.terfly, I have no obvious advantage compared to the others.
I anxiously walked towards the top of the mountain, hoping I would hit the jackpot and run into the $500,000 halfway. I saw two groups of gangsters in a fight not far ahead.
“It’s mine, I found it.”
“Who cares if you found it, I caught it.”
“Stop fighting, I heard you could get $50,000 if it’s dead.”
“I *** you ***. You dare hit my nose? Boys, get him!”
Both sides broke out in a large fight over a small blue b.u.t.terfly caught in their net. There were no convenient weapons outside, so they broke branches, and picked up rocks. In my opinion, the fight looked rather like a prehistoric human science film.
Unlike them, I have seen the blue b.u.t.terfly with my own eyes, so I knew the small b.u.t.terfly in their net was not the real one. But they were too obsessed with money and neither sides conceded. Eventually, it led to them knocking each other down and they had to withdraw from the b.u.t.terfly hunting army.
There were many other similar cases where they fought over the ‘suspected’ b.u.t.terfly and many of the gangsters were injured in brawls (over half of the ones who went up the mountain in less than an hour). The special education school sold a lot of spare stretchers and wheelchairs, thus earning a lot of money. The princ.i.p.al was overjoyed and said that he could finally give some bonuses to the teachers who were struggling financially.
I was very careful not to get caught up in their brawls. By 1 p.m, my stomach was growling since I didn’t eat lunch. I then ran into the Five Tiger Punishment Squad who were heading back down the mountain both battered and exhausted.
“What’s going on?” I saw the corner of Xing Xing’s forehead had been scratched by some kind of sharp object.
“Don’t, don’t mention it.” Xing Xing said with a sob, “Right when I saw a blue b.u.t.terfly, before I even raised my net, someone kicked me from behind, and my head hit a rock and I almost died.”
The one next to him said he was even more unlucky. He was urinating in the woods when a monkey suddenly jumped out and stole the food in his backpack, then also left several scratches on his neck.
So there are monkeys in Cui Song Mountain? No wonder Loud Mouth said the peaches she brought were stolen and we searched for half a day without finding the culprit.
“Wild monkeys may carry bacteria.” I said to them, “Hurry up and take him down the mountain to the hospital.”
Seeing that Xing Xing was still a little reluctant, I put more emphasis in my voice, “Wild monkeys have a high chance of carrying rabies. If you don’t take him to get a vaccine shot, he might go crazy then bite you all and send all of you to the afterlife.”
The ignorant ones were now afraid. They walked down the mountain while muttering:
“Brother Ye knows so much, I didn’t know that monkeys also have rabies…”
“I guess you don’t know. Look how the last four members of the twelve zodiacs are the monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. There’s only a chicken between the monkey and dog, so monkeys can easily get rabies from dogs.”
“So that’s how it is… but if that’s the case, wouldn’t chickens and pigs get rabies easier since they are the closest to dogs?”
“Um… bird flu and foot and mouth disease are probably both variants of rabies.”
The five dummies left as fast as they came. They didn’t really do anything other than lend me a net and give a monkey a free lunch.
I think it’s good that they quit as soon as possible. On one hand, they don’t lack money, and what if they met a group of gangsters who would fight to get the b.u.t.terfly, then they would have been beat to death.
As the five of them withdrew along with over half of the other b.u.t.terfly catchers, there were only about a dozen b.u.t.terfly catchers left on Cui Song Mountain, in addition to the students of cla.s.s 2-3.
The rest were all elites who were split into approximately three groups. They were respectively, the young entomologists and his buddies (professionals), the smart gangster (formed an alliance with the son of the elderly entomologist), and a bald bulky man with a long beard, who clutched a large fishing net in his hand. He appeared to be bold but not very astute, however, his group was definitely the strongest team in terms of fighting power.
I tried to avoid those three groups of people to prevent them from sabotaging me while I was alone.
In the end, I was the first to climb to the top of the mountain and arrived at cla.s.s 2-3’s campsite.
If you want to know why, it was mainly because I was hungry.
The closer you are to an athlete’s physique, the easier it is to feel hungry due to your fast metabolism and low body fat.
The book “The Chronicles of North Korea” that my dad read a few months ago had examples of a large famine where the tall and strong boxers starved to death first. It was the small and wrinkly old ladies who survived.
I heard how everyone had become obsessed because of the $500,000 bounty and no one was eating the barbecue, so I planned to fill up my stomach first, then figure out what to do next.
But I blanked out as I reached the top of the mountain.
No, no, no, it wasn’t because the real b.u.t.terfly appeared and then the cla.s.smates lost their minds in a fight over it, resulting in a b.l.o.o.d.y and tragic situation.
The cla.s.s leader and Niu ShiLi were here, so they would not let it get that chaotic.
The reason why I blanked out was because Gong CaiCai was holding Xiao Qin’s lost straw hat.
“Huh, this straw hat…”
I sent a questioning gaze towards Gong CaiCai and the cla.s.s leader, who was next to her.
The cla.s.s leader looked at the net in my hand and said coldly, “I saw Xiao Qin’s straw hat hanging on the branch when I returned from the stream, so I picked it up and let Gong CaiCai use it to guard against mosquitoes.”
After Gong CaiCai learned the hat belonged to Xiao Qin, she tried to decline it and also didn’t dare to wear it on her head. She only hugged it in front of her chest, afraid Xiao Qin would question her on why she took her straw hat, but also afraid to lose it.
When I came, Gong CaiCai wanted to hand me the straw hat, “Um, Ye Lin cla.s.smate, please return the straw hat to…”
She blushed halfway and wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
It’s because the straw hat was stuck! It was stuck on her ample chest! Other people wear hats over their head, but Gong CaiCai can wear it over her chest!
I was anxious to get the straw hat that could attract the b.u.t.terfly, so I couldn’t wait and wanted to “pull” the straw hat out of Gong Cai Cai’s chest. When I reached my hand out, I felt something was off and stopped in mid-air.
In the end, it was the cla.s.s leader who relieved Gong CaiCai from her embarra.s.sment and handed the straw hat to me, but her gaze was still filled with disdain.
Um… cla.s.s leader, you misunderstood. The reason I was so excited to get the straw hat was because it’s an important tool used to trap the b.u.t.terfly, not because it had just been on Gong CaiCai’s chest.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that because my head was bigger, I couldn’t wear Xiao Qin’s straw hat. If I wanted to catch the b.u.t.terfly, it would be best for another person to wear the straw hat and walk in front to attract b.u.t.terfly, while I would hold the net behind them waiting for an opportunity.
So I decided to talk to Winnie.
She was a huge money-grubber and was attempting to climb up a pine tree, so she could search for traces of the b.u.t.terfly from a higher alt.i.tude. I called her down when she was halfway up the three and told her that I had a good way to capture the b.u.t.terfly and asked her to cooperate with me.
“Eh, why are you so kind? How should we split the $500,000?” Winnie asked with doubt and got straight to the point.
I remembered how she pushed me down last night and was slightly embarra.s.sed.
“Um… give the b.u.t.terfly to me, but I won’t necessarily split the money…”
“d.a.m.n, do you think I’m an idiot?” Winnie interrupted me, “If you’re going to get everything, then why should I cooperate with you?”
I held up a hand to tell Winnie to calm down first.
“I have… a relatively special use for the b.u.t.terfly. Although I can’t necessarily exchange it for money, nor will I necessarily split the money with you, but I can recommend you a job in the future. It would be similar to Peng TouSi’s job, working as a bodyguard for Ai Mi with very generous pay.”
In fact, I was only borrowing Ai Mi’s thoughts. Ai Mi has already expressed the idea of trying to keep Winnie around through similar means.
Winnie did not realize that what I promised her was something that already belonged to her.
“Eh~~~ that would be great.” Winnie said with joy, “I was worried about what to do in the future. If I keep on my current path, then relative all say I can only become an athlete. If I can’t get a gold medal, then I can only work in a bathhouse after retirement…”
Can you not give yourself such a miserable future? Also, please don’t use such a joyful tone to say something so miserable. You can definitely get a gold medal if you become an athlete, I will be cheering for you in front of the TV.
After we made a deal, I told Winnie to put on Xiao Qin’s hat (it was a bit small, but it still fit) and walk ahead as bait while I held up the net behind her, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
The cla.s.s leader shook her head in disappointment when she saw the behavior of the two PE committee members.
“Shouldn’t I learn a little martial arts if I become a bodyguard?” Winnie asked as she walked, “Ye Lin, can you teach me? It seems you know a couple moves.”
I concentrated on whether there were b.u.t.terflies approaching and casually replied, “It would be more appropriate to let Xiao Qin teach you, her martial arts is more genuine than mine.”
“Well, Xiao Qin’s mother is the world MMA champion, everyone in the cla.s.s probably knows that by now, but… Xiao Qin is mad at me.”
I told Winnie to walk around as quietly as possible, so as to avoid scaring the b.u.t.terfly away.
“Xiao Qin shouldn’t be mad at you forever. In any case, let’s catch the b.u.t.terfly first. As for learning martial arts, regardless if me or Xiao Qin teaches you, you will always have a teacher.”
Winnie found it difficult to suppress her desire to run fast. It looks like she was in pain when I told her to wear a straw hat and walk around slowly.
“Sigh, I actually think Peng TouSi is more powerful.” Winnie sighed, “Unfortunately, he refused to teach me. He first said it was a killing technique and it was very ominous, then later he said it was something only h.o.m.os.e.xuals could learn… what a pity.”
Winnie, you were deceived! Peng TouSi just didn’t think it was appropriate to teach you killing techniques. Do you really believe there are martial arts only certain people can learn?
Wait, what’s that thing on the upper right side. Isn’t that lovely blue ma.s.s the b.u.t.terfly I’ve been hoping for?