Carrying a Jurassic on me

When Yan Fei woke up in the morning, he felt refreshed and invigorated. Even the sun seemed more charming―he'd slept in a little, so the sun was already high up in the sky.

In his good mood, he remembered to first check if the chickens had any food left. These chickens were now his amulets, protecting his daily eggs. If he lost them, he might have to hide when eating eggs just like when eating rabbit meat.

After a quick meal, Yan Fei headed out, saw that Xu Xiaoyan wasn't outside her house, and headed east down the street.

Not far to the east was a crossroad. Country folks selling chickens, ducks, geese, eggs, piglets, and the like would set up their stalls there.

He went there hoping to see if anyone was selling wild chickens or rabbits. He wanted to get a sense of the prices. But there was no luck. There was nothing.

He hadn't been very hopeful, just trying his luck. So the lack of price information didn't disappoint him too much.

Upon returning home and shutting the door, he walked back into the cave, picked up the jute bag containing the rabbits and wild chickens, ready to go out. He looked at the bag in his hands and paused again.

He went back, found a short wooden stick and a piece of rope, opened the bag, took out two wild chickens and a rabbit one by one, tied them up again, and hung them on the stick.

Now it felt much better to carry them this way.

When they were in the bag, nobody could see them!

Just as he was ready to go out, he paused again.

Standing in the courtyard, he used a small stick to poke at the hanging wild chickens, making them squawk loudly.

Not long after, the effect he wanted was achieved.

"Yan Xiaofei, what are you up to now?" Xu Xiaoyan's voice came from the neighboring house.

Yan Fei didn't respond, just continued his agitation.

As expected, without a response, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't resist coming over.

Seeing the wild chickens and the rabbit, Xu Xiaoyan's eyes lit up: "Yan Xiaofei, where did you get these?"

"Caught them outside last night." Yan Fei finally spat out the sentence he'd held back for so long.

"I don't believe you." Xu Xiaoyan responded directly. "They're all alive, and they don't look injured. I don't believe you could catch them."

Yan Fei was frustrated: "Don't believe me, fine! It's not like you caught them. I spent the entire night catching them, it wasn't easy! Look, see these scratches? That's from the rabbit."

Xu Xiaoyan laughed upon looking: "Where? Where? Why can't I see it?"

Yan Fei was embarrassed too. It turned out the rabbit had only brushed against him during the night, and the skin hadn't broken. The mark had vanished overnight. Although a faint trace was still visible, Yan Fei was so embarrassed and angry that he retorted: "Believe it or not! Anyways, I was planning on selling them in town."

Watching him leave, Xu Xiaoyan started believing him. After all, this kid has always been a bit strange, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he did something extraordinary.

"Fine, fine, I believe you, where are you going to sell them?"

Yan Fei stopped in surprise: "I thought you would ask me why I'm not eating them."

Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes at him: "Aren't you always talking about making money? Seeing you like this, I knew you were planning to sell them for money. It's a good thing though, at least you're thinking of making money. Otherwise, you'd be living off of your parents soon."

Yan Fei grinned at Xu Xiaoyan's response: "Are you hoping I earn a lot, build a house, and then you can be my wife?"

Xu Xiaoyan was unfazed: "If you're going to sell them, just go already! If you don't know which restaurant will buy them, just ask someone."

Yan Fei was surprised: "You're acting a bit strange today, why so nice all of a sudden? Don't you want to be angry anymore?"

Xu Xiaoyan answered him with a rather literary phrase: "You've completely upturned my understanding of shamelessness, so from now on, no matter what you say or do, I won't think it's strange, nor will I get angry."

This comment deeply wounded Yan Fei's pride and self-confidence, so he humphed: "Watch the house for me."

Then, without looking back, he left the house, slung the bag of wild chickens and the rabbit over his shoulder, and walked out.

As soon as he left, Xu Xiaoyan broke out into giggles in the courtyard and held up a victory sign towards his retreating figure.

The morning sun was already blazing, so there weren't many people in the market. Yan Fei strolled along the street with the wild chickens and rabbit slung over his shoulder. People who recognized him on the way would stop him and ask questions about where he got them, how he caught them, and since he mentioned wanting to sell them, they would praise him for being capable, sensible, and thrifty.

At first, Yan Fei patiently answered. But it wasn't long before he got annoyed.

Some even started asking if he had any "secrets" to catching wild chickens and rabbits, making it sound like if they knew his secrets, they could do it too. But not one person said they would buy them.

"A bunch of country bumpkins. If you can't afford wild chickens and rabbits, then don't ask." Yan Fei grumbled to himself, then continued gloomily towards the small marketplace that sold chickens and ducks.

This stuff would definitely be popular in a big city, but in a small town, these two types of game aren't even as sought-after as home-raised chickens! Yan Fei, who had prowled the market back and forth several times, was already feeling his spirit ebbing away. There were one or two interested buyers, but their offers were too low.

Feeling like there was no hope here, he heaves the goods on his shoulder and walks towards the west. He didn't believe that no one would buy in such a long street.

As he approached his own house, he glanced furtively inside the front gate, Xu Xiaoyan was sitting there, head bowed over a book, not even looking up at the street.

Yan Fei took the opportunity to quicken his pace past his own house and tried to use others coming from the market as shields, just in case.

Even as he walked beyond, Xu Xiaoyan didn't look in his direction. He was rather relieved. Unbeknownst to him, while he was sneaking around, she had already seen him carting the wild chicken and rabbit with a guilty look. He had intentionally perched them so high on his shoulder after all?

The town's streets are quite small, so one can walk the length of them in less than fifteen minutes even at a slow pace.

Yan Fei thought about calling out to sell his goods, but strangely, although normally he could see others doing so easily, now he found it incredibly hard to open his mouth.

He marched around the bus that was always parked at the very west, ready to head to the county town, but still no one bought his goods. So, he began the walk back the way he had come.

What rotten luck! Did really no one want to buy this stuff? Should he look for a restaurant to ask if they wanted it? Wouldn't it be too shameful if he had to personally offer his goods, shouldn't they come out and ask him?

With his head lowered, he returned to the police station. Yan Fei looked at the sign hanging on the gate, paused, then quickly took a couple more steps.

He was afraid of being seen by Lin Baoguo, who worked here. If he got caught out at night, Baoguo might tell his parents, and then his ability to live carefree in the town might be jeopardized!

Just as he was about to quickly move past, he almost bumped into someone. His heart leapt at the sight of the uniform of an officer. But then he took a closer look, phew, it wasn't his uncle.

He knew this police officer, he had met him a couple of times at the station before. He was quite young but was already a leader of the station, he had seen him directing others before.

He was about to duck away when the officer spotted the wild chicken and rabbit on his back and called out to him, "Hey, kid, are those a wild chicken and rabbit that you're carrying?"

Yan Fei's heart leapt with hope, he immediately responded, "Yes, yes they are. It took me all night to catch them. Do you want them? I can sell them to you for twenty each, they are really delicious, even better than home-raised chickens..."

The police officer quickly cut him off, "I'm asking if these are wild chicken and rabbit?"

Yan Fei had some disdain for the officer's emphasis on the word wild. Wasn't it obvious they were wild? But he replied anyway, "Yes, they are wild chicken and rabbit, that's why I'm selling them for twenty each. It was tough to catch them, regular folks can hardly catch them..."

The policeman smiled bitterly, "Cough, nevermind, you caught these by yourself?"

Renewed energy flooded Yan Fei's spirit, "Of course, who else could have caught these, see? They are alive and unharmed."

At this point, the policeman finally recognized him, "Aren't you Old Lin's relative from the station? I think I have seen you before?"

Yan Fei was startled, admitting without being asked, "Are you buying it or not? If you buy it, I can give you a discount. Just promise not to tell my uncle that it was me who caught these!"

The policeman, who was the deputy director of the station, and was bound to be promoted to director in due course, Wang Zhanjun, was both amused and perplexed by him. He had intended to tell this kid that wild chicken and rabbits were also protected species, but he had got sidetracked. Considering his age and the fact that such a young kid had been out in the dead of night catching game, he decided to let it go.

He thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket, pulling out a few banknotes, "Fine, I'll buy them. Just stop loitering around the station entrance, they are all for twenty each, right? Give them to me for sixty."

Yan Fei stayed true to his ethos of fair business deals, "All three together for fifty, I said I'd give you a discount. Just don't tell anyone they were from me."

Director Wang burst out laughing, "Alright, alright, I don't need your discount..."

Before he could hand over the money, a passerby, seeing what was happening from afar, called out, "Officer Wang, are you trying to buy some game and savor the flavor, are you?"

Officer Wang turned his head upon recognizing the acquaintance, and jokingly said, "This kid is Old Lin's relative from the station, I saw him wandering around the station gate, I thought I'd better buy this stuff else he might bring it into our station to sell!"

On seeing who was selling the game, the acquaintance also laughed, "Hehe, isn't this kid called Yan Fei? My kid was talking about him recently."

Yan Fei looked at him, suddenly recognizing him as Yang Qian's father. He often saw Yang Qian's father in his shiny suits and well-polished leather shoes, behaving rather grandly while drinking and dining at the restaurant in town.

Yang Qian's father was more forthright than Director Wang, "Officer Wang, you're not buying everything, are you? I think I'll buy one to try out too."

Director Wang answered, "I don't mind, you pick first. As long as I'm able to briskly purchase these and ensure he doesn't lurk around the station entrance."

Yang Qian's father let out a hearty laugh, "Alright, then I'll just take a wild chicken!"

After Yang Qian's father left with his wild chicken, Yan Fei handed over the remaining rabbit and chicken to Director Wang, while he didn't forget his earlier words, "If you're buying both, I'll still reduce it by ten, so I'll take only thirty from you. Remember, don't tell anyone about this!"

Director Wang handed him forty and grabbed the merchandise, "I'll give you forty, hurry home! I'm not short-changing you and I won't rat you out, but I won't be able to keep it a secret from your uncle if he asks."

Would Baoguo ask? Did that even need to be questioned? With only a few officers in such a small station, wouldn't anyone who saw what happened mention it to him?

Yan Fei clutched the banknotes in his hands, looking as if all hope was lost. "Actually, I've always thought since I was small, that police officers are trustworthy..."