Chapter 89: There’s a Plane!

The young man’s father, his eyes bloodshot from not sleeping all night, saw Li Xiangdong staring at the crickets without speaking and couldn’t help but speak first, “I spent all night catching these four crickets. If you don’t give me a good price, I’m not selling.”

Li Xiangdong looked up and sized him up. There were a few unknown blades of grass in his hair, his shoes were covered in mud, and he was filthy from head to toe.

[Writing this, I hope readers will remember our domain name. Read Taiwanese novels on Taiwan Fiction Network, 𝘁𝘄𝗸𝗮𝗻.𝗰𝗼𝗺, it’s awesome.]

No matter the era, it was truly not easy for farmers to earn a little money.

“3.5 yuan for all four. If you agree, we’ll make the deal.”

“Sold!”

The young man agreed before his father could speak.

“Sold what? You shut up.”

The young man’s father glared at his son. He pointed at the blood-clear white-flecked head cricket and said to Li Xiangdong, “Give us a little more. Not to mention anything else, this cricket is a good one. I’ve been catching them for so many years, and it’s rare to come across such a good insect.”

Li Xiangdong understood that he had met someone who knew their stuff. “3.7 yuan. Any more and you can keep them.”

“I’ll sell for 4 yuan.”

“3.8 yuan, no more.”

“I’ll say it one last time, 3.9 yuan. If you don’t want it, I’m not selling.”

“Deal! But you have to give me these four straw-woven cages.”

Seeing the young man’s father nod with a flushed face, he looked at Hou San and said, “Pay the money!”

Just as Hou San was about to take out the money, five burly men stood about twenty meters away from them. Each of them carried a wooden box on their back, and the leader was even shirtless. He shouted from a distance, “Who let you come here to buy crickets?!”

“It’s Qin Liu!”

Seeing the newcomers, the young man’s father reminded Li Xiangdong and his two companions, “You should go quickly. Those guys are not good people. You outsiders who come to buy crickets can’t afford to mess with them.”

Trouble had arrived. Li Xiangdong cursed his bad luck. He wanted to leave, but the problem was they had too much stuff and definitely couldn’t outrun them.

He stood up and handed his bag to Ah Zhe. “While they’re not here yet, you and Hou San go first. I’ll stay behind to hold them off for a while.”

“Dongzi, you…”

Seeing Ah Zhe still hesitating, Li Xiangdong urged in a low voice, “Go quickly! If you dawdle any longer, all our efforts will be for nothing. Go!”

He looked at the young man and his father. “I’m sorry, you two. I can’t give you the cricket money yet. I’ll have to trouble you to see my two friends off. Once they’re safe, we’ll pay double for these 4 crickets.”

“Ah Zhe, did you hear me?”

“I got it, Dongzi. You be careful.”

Ah Zhe knew he couldn’t delay any longer. He shouldered a sack, carried a cloth bag in his hand, and dragged the eager-looking Hou San, turning to run.

The young man looked at his father and said, “Dad, you go first. I’ll stay and see.”

The young man’s father didn’t say anything. He shouldered a sack, picked up his own cricket jars, and quickly chased after Ah Zhe and Hou San.

“You dog-born bastard, you dare to run!”

Seeing Ah Zhe and Hou San running away, Qin Liu cursed as he ran towards Li Xiangdong.

Seeing Qin Liu and his men getting closer, Li Xiangdong instead looked at the young man beside him and smiled, “My name is Li Xiangdong. Little brother, what’s your name?”

The young man scratched his head and said, “My name is Wang Erkui.”

“Brother Erkui, why aren’t you leaving?”

“It’s fine if I don’t leave. I’m just a cricket seller.”

“You have a point.”

After speaking, Li Xiangdong took a few steps forward and blocked Qin Liu and his men who were running over. “Is there something you need? You can just tell me directly.”

“Are you the leader?”

The ruffian named Qin Liu walked up to Li Xiangdong and started cursing, “You ten-thousand-donkey-fucked bastard, where did you come from? Who let you come here to buy crickets?”

He turned his head and ordered, “Lao Wu, you guys go after them. Are you going to let them get away? Ten-thousand-donkey-fucked!”

Li Xiangdong once again blocked the men who wanted to chase after Ah Zhe and Hou San. “Don’t bother chasing. You’re just after money, right? The money is all on me.”

Qin Liu took two steps forward and sneered, “You’re quite a cheapskate, aren’t you? You look like a monkey with shifty eyes, very arrogant!”

Li Xiangdong turned to Wang Erkui beside him and asked, “What did he say?”

Wang Erkui twitched his lips and translated, “He said you’re a bastard, you look猥琐 (wěisuǒ – sleazy), and he doesn’t like the look of you.”

Damn you!

It was one thing to curse him, but to lie with his eyes wide open? How was he sleazy?!

“There’s a plane!”

Li Xiangdong pointed to the sky. As soon as Qin Liu looked up, all the resentment in his stomach was concentrated in his foot, and he kicked Qin Liu in the groin.

“Where… Oww~!”

Qin Liu fell to his knees in front of Li Xiangdong with a thud, his body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Hiss~”

“Hiss~”

Wang Erkui and Qin Liu’s underlings, seeing Qin Liu’s miserable state, were all stunned, and couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.

While everyone was still stunned, Li Xiangdong reminded Wang Erkui, “Run!”

After speaking, he took off running.

Wang Erkui glanced at Qin Liu on the ground. He had originally thought he would need to help mediate, but who would have thought that this person beside him would be so accurate and ruthless with his kick!

He couldn’t care about anything else. In this situation, even watching the excitement was a crime. He started running with all his might.

Qin Liu, lying on the ground, tilted his head, his eyes bloodshot, and saliva drooling from his mouth. “Hiss~ What are you idiots staring at? Ouch~ Hiss~ Aren’t you going to chase them!”

“Grandma’s bear, kill him!”

“You ten-thousand-donkey-fucked bastard, you dare to hit our Brother Liu! We’ll kill you!”

Hearing their leader’s words, Qin Liu’s underlings charged desperately in Li Xiangdong’s direction.

Li Xiangdong looked back at the burly men chasing him. To protect his future happiness, he could only run for his life!

“Run this way!”

Wang Erkui, beside him, turned and led the way into a small alley. Li Xiangdong followed closely behind, and the two of them twisted and turned, running into a cornfield.

“Let’s rest, let’s rest. I can’t, I really can’t run anymore.”

Li Xiangdong said, panting heavily, and sat down on the ground.

Wang Erkui sat down next to him, panting heavily, “We should have shaken them off. Unless Qin Liu and his men are crazy enough to set the field on fire, they definitely won’t find us.”

“That’s good. I’m exhausted.”

Li Xiangdong’s body went limp, and he lay down on the ground. “It’s just a pity. I’m afraid I won’t be able to buy crickets anymore.”

Wang Erkui hesitated for a moment and said, “Li… hehe, what was your name again? I didn’t remember.”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “Remember it this time. My name is Li Xiangdong, from Beijing. Brother Erkui, thank you so much this time. If you hadn’t led the way, it would have been hard for me to shake them off.”

Wang Erkui also smiled, “Comrade Li Xiangdong, don’t thank me. I’m not after that. Qin Liu and his men only dare to bully you outsiders. I’m not afraid of him. I wanted to ask you, do you still want to come here to buy crickets?”

“I do, but the problem is, after what happened, I can’t come even if I want to.”

Li Xiangdong sighed, “And don’t call me comrade. I’m older than you. You can call me Brother Dong. When you have a chance to go to Beijing in the future, I’ll definitely treat you well.”

Wang Erkui shook his head, “Brother Dong, forget about going to Beijing. I can’t get a letter of introduction, so I can’t even get on a train. If you still want to buy crickets, you can come directly to our town to find me next time. Qin Liu and his men don’t dare to come to our town to cause trouble. If they dare to come, we’ll beat the shit out of them.”

Hearing Wang Erkui’s words, Li Xiangdong stood up and asked, “Which town are you from?”

“Sidian Town. Many people in our town catch crickets, and outsiders often come to buy them…”

Wang Erkui was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly said in a low voice, “Brother Dong, someone’s coming.”