Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 257 - 117 Thief, Hurry Up_1

Chapter 257: Chapter 117 Thief, Hurry Up_1

Truth be told, Yan Fei’s practical skills were pretty strong, and at his age, he was capable of learning new things extraordinarily fast.

Upon being cajoled into practicing calligraphy seriously by Xu Xiaoyan, he grasped the essentials and was soon able to write acceptably.

And by ’acceptably’, it didn’t mean his writing was aesthetically remarkable. Rather, it was recognizable as being written by brush and ink, not just their random strokes with a paper roll or an ink-dipped twig.

This development was a pleasant surprise for the girl.

However, for Yan Fei, this surprise wasn’t exactly a good thing. His initial plan was to just practice a bit and slack off once the girl dozed off.

Who would have predicted she’d be so energetic! She’d been thrilled over finalizing paper-selling details during the day and now that her instruction on calligraphy was yielding results, she was even more motivated.

It wasn’t until Yan Fei memorized the content of ’The River Runs Red’ from the practice book verbatim that the girl showed signs of fatigue. Seeing her stifle a yawn, Yan Fei immediately advised her to get some sleep.

Thank goodness for his stamina because, otherwise, writing calligraphy on dozens of large sheets of paper with an elevated wrist would’ve drained him.

Once the girl fell asleep, he headed into Vegetable Garden Island.

The place was an unorganized mess that needed sorting.

As soon as he stepped inside, three half-grown puppies appeared from nowhere. Ever since Yan Fei stashed all sorts of machine parts there, they abandoned their kennel to roam and nap here freely and comfortably.

Before he could do anything else, he heard a splashing noise.

That’s when he remembered the pond full of catfish, which could no longer be left like this. He was busy enough without having to chop meat for them every few days. It’d be better to find a place where they could survive on their own or die naturally.

He’d throw them into the large lake on the Circular Island.

Yan Fei had observed this lake for a while but still hadn’t figured out if any strange creatures lived there. It always looked serene and beautiful - almost eerily so.

Now, he had an idea. He’d let these catfish scout the waters first!

Watching them plunging into the lake and swimming away joyfully just added to Yan Fei’s annoyance.

He’d caught a lot of catfish, roughly a hundred, amounting to several hundreds of catties altogether.

In the future, catching this many predatory catfish would be unimaginable. Considering the number of other fishes in the rivers they could consume, especially other carnivorous fishes, it was a wonder how many were actually there.

However, that was the reality.

Later, as fish prices increased and pesticides became more prevalent, people discovered a herbicide remarkably effective at killing fish. They’d toss a few bottles in the river and pick up the big fishes randomly. A full round of fishing could easily fill a tricycle’s woven bag.

For instance, if the water receded quickly after a flood, the grassy riverbanks would be filled with squirming small fishes: Silver carp, Crucian carp, don’t even get started on the crabs that love crawling by the shoreline, you could just pick them up.

No wonder nobody ate crabs nowadays! Those who didn’t keep poultry at home would even be too lazy to pick them up.

While keeping a hundred catfishes in a small pond was excessive, in this vast lake, it was far from too many.

After keeping an eye on it for a while, there was no movement in the lake. Yan Fei ran out of ideas. Fine, let’s just catch a giant salamander and take it back to Vegetable Garden Island!

The next morning, Xu Xiaoyan, still half-asleep after breakfast, dispensed with martial arts practices and yoga. She had to rush back home to wait for the news about paper selling that Teacher Chang was supposed to inquire for her.

Before leaving, she advised Yan Fei, "Run less today and return home early to practise your calligraphy. I must make your handwriting beautiful before school starts."

Until the motorcycle arrived at her front door, she did not forget to turn back and make a thumbs-up gesture at Yan Fei. She mouthed the words, "Keep it up!"

She had initially not allowed Yan Fei to escort her home, but since Yan Fei mentioned he had something to attend to after, she had no choice.

Yan Fei was not lying, he indeed had something up his sleeve.

Upon entering his old house, he rummaged around to find some of his grandfather’s old clothes, and a worn straw hat.

Back at the cattle farm, he switched into his grandfather’s expansive and historical short coat, paired with big shorts. With broken slippers on his feet, and a worn straw hat on his head, he resembled a classic image of a raw farm hand.

As if this wasn’t enough, he picked up a wooden stick, gathered a big bunch of straw rope and slung it over his shoulder. He clamped something wrapped in old newspapers under his arm and out he went, with no one knowing what it was.

If it weren’t for someone studying his face up close, no one would recognize him as Yan Fei.

Walking on the road, he recalled what Xu Xiaoyan had said about his face being too clean. With that thought, he plunged his head into a nearby stack of wheat straw, coming out with messily combed hair studded with wheat stalks and his face dusted grey. Only then was he satisfied.

It goes without saying, his disguise was an instant hit. With the stretch of vegetable fields between the cattle farm and the main road, many familiar faces were encountered who recognised him.

However, today he bumped into two old men who frequently visited the cattle farm. Both of them gave him a puzzled look and didn’t recognize him at all.

With this reaction, Yan Fei felt pleased.

The fat man from yesterday had reminded him, boasting about his Green-Dragon-White-Tiger outfit. Though he didn’t say it outright, Yan Fei could sense his pride.

If even such a cowardly chubby man knew to disguise himself, and if even bad guys on television covered their faces while doing misdeeds, not to mention undercover cops, why couldn’t he do the same?

He knew that whenever he got involved and took matters into his own hands things could get messy. Especially after all the injuries from yesterday’s fight. Disguising himself and acting lowkey now became very necessary.

Keeping this low profile, he didn’t even haggle when the bus conductor asked for twelve dollars for the ticket fare, which was four dollars more than yesterday for travelling to the same place. He counted the scattered coins and kept the remaining two dollars safely before settling back into his seat.

It’s undeniable that if a person really puts their mind into doing something, they get it done. Based on his dressing and act today, he would have no problem playing a supporting role on a television drama.

Finding a corner on the bus, he sat down. Alienating everyone around him, nobody tried to start a conversation.

But he wasn’t idle. Though he seemed to be dozing off, his ears were wide awake, not letting any conversations slip away. He heard quite a few fabricated stories which he found interesting.

All the while, he kept a mental chant going: let the thieves come, let the thieves come...

If everyone on board knew what he was praying for, they would have had a lifelong grudge against him irrespective of his dressing.