Chapter 194: Who Did It
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Racc.o.o.ns were good swimmers. But as Crispy Noodles was kicked into the pool unexpectedly, it was only natural that the racc.o.o.n panicked and struggled in the water.
Li Du quickly got into the pool and held Crispy Noodles in his arms.
The poor racc.o.o.n was frightened and hugged Li Du’s arm tightly with its paws, whining, and Li could feel its heart pounding furiously.
Ah Meow needed to be taught a lesson for bullying Crispy Noodles.
Li Du stared at Ah Meow. Both Li and Ah Meow’s eyes met for an instant and the ocelot immediately bolted and disappeared amongst the green bushes.
Hans laughed loudly at the funny scene he witnessed. "Li, what are you going to do now?"
Li Du was cross. He was angry with the ocelot for bullying the racc.o.o.n and running away to avoid punishment.
Li Du called out for Ah Meow furiously. "Ah Meow, come back here! I am really, really angry now!"
A furry cat head slowly appeared among the bushes, looking at Li Du cautiously. Ah Meow looked like it was ready to escape anytime.
Li Du had a cold expression and waved to the vigilant ocelot. "Ah Meow, come here!"
Hans laughed, "Come over if you want to get spanked. I guarantee you won’t be able to move for three days!"
Ah Meow shuddered while looking at Li Du’s expression, withdrawing its head back into the safety of the bushes, leaving only a pair of big, round eyes visible.
Li Du gave Hans a dirty look and made a "get out" gesture to Hans, as though he were saying, "Just go away, you troublemaker!"
But when Li turned back to look at Ah Meow, the young ocelot had disappeared; even its eyes were nowhere to be seen.
Crispy Noodles now understood that Li Du wanted to discipline Ah Meow.
Its spirits lifted; it jumped off from Li Du’s arms and waved its paw in the air—as if to signal to Li that it knew where Ah Meow had gone—before running after the ocelot.
The racc.o.o.n’s forepaws had nerves that could sense light and smell, functioning similarly to the eye and nose.
When racc.o.o.ns looked for food, they depended on this unique ability of the front paws more than their eyes and nose.
Crispy Noodles led the way, detecting Ah Meow’s presence by using its front paw.
Li Du followed Crispy Noodles closely behind.
The racc.o.o.n led Li Du to the public pool; each pool had an area of around 260 square feet, with over a dozen patrons soaking themselves in each one.
Suddenly, they heard a loud caterwaul; Li Du knew had come from Ah Meow.
Soon enough, Ah Meow came running toward them. Arrogant laughter came from one of the pool.
"That’s an ocelot—be careful of its claws!"
"If it dares to come near me again, I will seize it and sell it to the Middle East!"
"You should‘ve caught it. These animals are valuable. I heard they could fetch a price of over 100,000 dollars in the Middle East!"
"F*ck, why didn’t you say so earlier? I wouldn’t have burned it. I would have caught it and earned that huge sum of money!"
Li Du’s face turned dark as he heard the loud conversations.
Ah Meow had wet patches on its back when it came running toward him.
As Li still had that displeased look on his face, it looked hesitant for a moment and dashed to the nearby golden privet bushes, and meowed softly, but pitifully.
Li Du knew the meaning of the meowing sounds that Ah Meow made: the ocelot must have been in pain from the burns it suffered.
He quickly smiled and waved to Ah Meow. "It’s okay now, Ah Meow. Come to Daddy."
Ah Meow looked up to see Li’s expression before it leaped into his arms.
The ocelot was still a kid. It was around 30 to 40 cm long, but Ah Meow wasn’t heavy, so Li Du could easily hold it in his arms.
Li Du then inspected the wet parts of Ah Meow; its fur was still hot and when he touched it, Ah Meow twitched a little from the pain. Li Du had seen the skin was red too.
Li Du was enraged that Ah Meow had gotten hurt. He went in the direction where the laughter was heard.
"Hey, that big cat seems familiar. Don’t you think so? Ah, that ocelot looks just like that Chinaman’s baby."
"What? China Li? Freddy, are you kidding me?"
Li Du was surprised to hear that. It looked like the group of people might be treasure hunters; otherwise, they wouldn’t know him or recognize Ah Meow at all.
When he reached the public pool, 15 men were soaking in the bath and talking, and he noticed that one of the black men looked familiar.
That guy was Freddy, a muscular guy with cornrows, the one who had provoked them before in an auction.
This was only the second time Li Du had met Freddy, but his name and face were already etched into Li’s mind.
When Li attended an auction at Phoenix in order to take revenge on Rick for the Hundred Thousand Club incident, a fellow treasure hunter had warned them that Freddy was poking around for information on both Li Du and Hans.
Looking at these people, Li had an angry expression on his face and asked coldly, "Who burned my cat?"
Li Du stood by the poolside, glaring down at the group of men soaking inside the pool with a furious expression; the aura he emitted was intimidating.
n.o.body answered him. The group of men remained silent; some looked down at the water while others closed their eyes and relaxed.
Li Du pointed at the group. "Why? Can’t hear me? Who just hurt my cat? Who wanted to sell it to the Middle East? Why? Lost your b.a.l.l.s? No guts to own up?"
Freddy was sitting directly across from Li. His arms were spread out openly, resting on the edge of the pool. "Hey Chinaman, be careful with your words—this is not Asia!"
Mr. Li narrowed his eyes and glared at Freddy. "Are you the one then?"
Freddy replied with disdain, "If I were the one, your cat would already be cooked."
A tall, lanky black man laughed. "We would have some cat meat then."
Li Du stared at the tall guy. "F*ck you. So it was you then?"
When the tall guy spoke, Li recognized his voice: it belonged to the man who had said he should have caught Ah Meow and sold it to the Middle East.
The tall guy shook his head. "D*mn, you idiot! Don’t accuse me—I didn’t splash hot water on your cat!"
Li Du sneered, "Did I say that you splashed hot water on my cat? Don’t cross people if you’re lacking in the brains department—I should just use the word ‘idiot.’"
Several men in the group started to express their opinions as well:
"Wow, Bart, you’re really an idiot!"
"Ha! You should have left that cat alone! You’ve asked for it!"
"This guy’s a fool—he’s been tricked by Freddy!"
With the group of treasure hunters mocking him, Bart felt ashamed, but at the same time he became enraged as well.
He stood up from the pool and shouted, "So what if I’m the one?"
Li Du took a quick glance at him—when he noticed the disposable swimming trunks that Bart was wearing, a perfect, sinister idea came to mind.
The disposable swimming trunks came in one single size. This meant that the disposable trunks would be able to fit most people, including those who were obese as well. That also meant the leaner and slimmer guys would find them loose.
Li Du released the little bug to absorb the time energy in Bart’s disposable trunks.
The elastic band of the trunks quickly lost its elasticity and slid down Bart’s waist in an instant, just a few seconds after Bart stood up from the pool.
There were a few gasps and exclamations in the group, yelling and pointing to Bart about his trunks.
Bart was dumbfounded for a second before quickly pulling up the elastic band of the trunks.
As Bart was in a hurry to pull up his swimming trunks, he had used a bit more force than usual and rip, the elastic band separated from the rest of the trunks.