Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 122 - 63 The Meaning of Freedom_1

Chapter 122: Chapter 63 The Meaning of Freedom_1

The three of them enjoyed three large portions of beef noodles. Yan Fei originally wanted some more beef, but the beef Fifth Sister-in-law put in his meal was abundant. Both ladies disapproved of him ordering more meat.

Ji Yunyun ate her meal while her eyes darted all around, particularly when Fifth Sister-in-law was busy calculating the bill. Xu Xiaoyan felt embarrassed by her continuous staring and had to poke her a couple of times before she could concentrate on her meal.

It took a while for Yan Fei to understand that Ji Yunyun had heard this restaurant was owned by an old gangster and was afraid it might be a gangster inn. When Yan Fei tried to defend Fifth Brother, who owned the restaurant, Ji Yunyun argued, "You see him every day so obviously you’re not afraid. If you saw a demon every day and it didn’t eat you, then obviously you wouldn’t be scared either!"

Fortunately, she spoke quietly, otherwise Yan Fei would have been embarrassed. After they finished eating and Yan Fei wanted to pay, Fifth Sister-in-law pushed him out the door, fervently inviting him to come again. Ji Yunyun felt embarrassed and remarked: "That family seems quite nice. I didn’t realize you two were that close. They didn’t even ask for money?"

Yan Fei had no explanation. The intricacies of human relationships were confusing. Close neighbors could ignore each other, whilst instantaneous friendships could bloom with strangers. Maybe they simply found Yan Fei agreeable!

Ji Yunyun couldn’t forget that Yanfei hadn’t paid for the meal and raised her demand from two meals with wild rabbit meat, which she’d previously "extorted", to three.

"Three meals it is," Yan Fei agreed nonchalantly, as it was no big deal to him.

Buying books in the afternoon was much quicker. Particularly after Xu Xiaoyan had accepted a big pile of clothes, she had become unusually quiet and seemingly invisible. When Yan Fei made occasional remarks, she blushed for apparent reasons.

Yan Fei didn’t care whether she blushed or not. As long as she didn’t demand his opinion on everything, he was happy to let her have some quiet time and quickly bought a few books to pass the time.

There was not much to buy at such a stall. Either they were famous domestic and foreign books, or they were junky magazines. The only advantage was the particularly affordable prices. If they were to be sold as waste products later, some money could be made back.

After eating, Ji Yunyun accompanied him for a while and then left after signing off some books. Just before leaving, she whispered confidentially to Yan Fei reminding him to hunt for wild rabbits when he got home.

Xu Xiaoyan was totally out of touch with the pace, carrying a pile of clothes and following Yan Fei in a trance. When Ji Yunyun left, she accidentally ran into several other classmates. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she immediately announced her intention to return to the school.

Yan Fei looked at the time and figured it was almost time for her to leave, so he let her return to the school with her classmates.

Yan Fei had trouble accepting the goodwill of others easily. He was still thinking about the meal that he’d had at Fifth Sister-in-law’s place without paying, which made him feel somewhat uneasy. Therefore, he was keen to return home quickly and prepare some medicinal liquor, so that in return he could gift it to anyone who helped him in the future.

In the past buying liquor meant spending money, but now he made it himself. Gifting his own brew showed his sincerity and saved some money too.

Since it was the weekend, people were everywhere. It was challenging to find a secluded place, but luckily he was not far from the bridge. Yan Fei planned to sneak underneath it and continue tunneling.

Just as he had nearly reached the bridge, he saw a bus from Sancha River Town approaching. The bus was easily identifiable, with a sign in the window displaying the route it took from Sancha River to Tanghe. After crossing the bridge, the bus stopped and a few people disembarked.

Among them was a young man, dirty from head to toe. As soon as he stepped off the bus, he took a deep breath and shouted out, "I am free, hahaha....."

His raucous laughter drew strange looks from the surrounding people, especially from a few girls who looked like students, and caused them to keep a wide berth, as though he were suffering from some contagious disease.

Instead of feeling embarrassed, the young man seemed to enjoy the attention and proudly pointed his finger around, and then shouted out in a proclaiming manner, "Do you understand the meaning of freedom?"

Just as he was about to swagger off with his messy hair, his expression suddenly changed. He swallowed hard and managed to say in a strained voice, "Hey, Brother Fei, what are you doing here?"

Seeing the embarrassed expression of Heizi, Yan Fei was speechless. He stared at him until he was fidgeting uncomfortably and then casually asked him, "Did you finish your work this morning? Let’s go. It’s time to feed the cows again!"

Yes, this young man with "advanced consciousness," an understanding of the "meaning of freedom," who was kicked out of home due to gambling, and who worked on the ranch while inwardly longing for "freedom," was none other than Heizi.

Upon hearing Yan Fei mention feeding the cows, Heizi shamelessly began to flatter: "Brother Fei, your wisdom is infinite. I was just coming to find you to go back together because tonight we need to feed the cows. Without your guidance, those cows wouldn’t eat well!"

Yan Fei didn’t bother to respond and just walked towards Sancha River Town. Following behind him, Heizi continued to mumble, "If a man is to be in plight, the salt he uses would get maggots."

But it was too late to regret now, so he had no choice but to follow Yan Fei and trudge homewards without much enthusiasm.

After a while, he realized, "Hey, I don’t think this is the way home. The bus is in the opposite direction!"

Seeing that Yan Fei didn’t pay any attention to him, he exclaimed, "Surely you’re not making me walk home? In broad daylight, we can take a bus!"

Yan Fei glanced at him, annoyed, "The bus is slower than walking. We’ll take the shortcut home, it’s faster and saves some bus fare. Or you could offer to pay for the bus?"

"If you want me to pay, then I’ll pay. It’s only a bit more than a yuan. Do you think I can’t afford it?" Heizi responded. But then seeing Yan Fei’s displeased expression, he quickly changed his tone: "Well, never mind. Let’s walk!"

He followed Yan Fei reluctantly. As they crossed a river, he gazed at the water and suddenly realized, "It seems there is truth in the old sayings. The incessant flow of the Eastward Yangtze River symbolizes that we cannot avoid inevitable misfortune."

By the time they returned to the ranch, the others nearly split their sides with laughter upon seeing Heizi.

As it turned out, Heizi, the moment Yan Fei left early that morning, had planned his escape. However, he didn’t have any money for the bus fare. He had to beg and wheedle for half a day to borrow ten yuan from Ma Chao. Before leaving, he hesitated for a while and then solemnly said goodbye to each and every one at the ranch, shouting "Long live freedom!" as he got on the bus to the county town.

But not even a full afternoon had passed, and he had returned.

Facing the ridicule from everyone, he shamelessly continued his philosophical musings: "A man’s fate is destined. If one wishes to accomplish great things, one must endure hardship first! Remember that Lord Guangwu started out by begging for food here. I consider this ordeal as a test from the heavens."

Yan Fei, after hearing of Heizi’s escapade, wanted to laugh, but decided to rain on his parade: "You’re comparing your luck to Lord Guangwu’s? To me, your fate is shoveling cow dung! Accept your reality!"

With those words, Heizi hung his head in despair, and amidst everyone’s laughter, he resignedly went to shovel cow dung.