Chapter 93: I’m Still Counting On…

Li Xiangdong watched as Wang Erkui raised his hand and pressed a bright red thumbprint on the paper.

“Brother Erkui, aren’t you going to see what I wrote?”

Wang Erkui shook his head, “Brother Dong, I can’t read.”

Hearing this, Li Xiangdong looked at Wang Erkui, who was rubbing the ink from his thumb, and thought to himself, *as expected, he can’t read*.

He had noticed earlier that Wang Erkui couldn’t even count money properly, which made him suspect that he was illiterate. He wanted to ask directly, but he was worried about hurting Wang Erkui’s pride.

Li Xiangdong folded the note and put it in his pocket. He finally felt at ease. The origin of the watch was now accounted for. At the very least, he would have no problem dealing with his family’s questions when he got home.

“Brother Dong, why did you write so many words on the note?”

“Mainly because you’re a good person, Brother Erkui. Naturally, I had to describe in detail how generous and righteous you are.”

“I’m not as good as you say.”

“You are. Brother Erkui, don’t be modest.”

…

…

Li Xiangdong waved goodbye to Wang Erkui and his father. Watching their receding figures, he touched the note in his pocket.

“Dongzi, stop looking. They’re long gone. We should go back too.”

Ah Zhe, who was carrying a cricket box at his side, looked at his childhood friend with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment.

*Really, two grown men making such a scene.*

“Let’s go. Let’s hurry back.”

Li Xiangdong smiled, and the three of them turned and strode towards the hostel.

Hou San sidled up to Li Xiangdong and asked, “Brother Dong, hurry up and tell us, how did you and that Wang Erkui escape from Qin Liu’s gang? And where did you two hide?”

Ah Zhe, at the side, added, “And what about these three cricket boxes? What’s going on? And why did we give Wang Erkui half of the cricket money?”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “You two have a lot of questions, don’t you? Well, here’s what happened…”

He briefly recounted the events that had transpired after Hou San and Ah Zhe had left, of course, focusing on Wang Erkui’s skills.

That ability to knock someone out without them even knowing was truly impressive!

“Brother Dong, if what you say is true, then that Wang Erkui is really something. I wish I had been there.”

Hou San’s eyes lit up as he listened, wishing he had been there to witness it.

Ah Zhe pursed his lips, “Hou San, use your brain and think about it. It was lucky that Wang Erkui didn’t have any bad intentions at the time. Otherwise, Dongzi would have been in danger.”

Hearing Ah Zhe’s words, Li Xiangdong couldn’t help but nod. He had indeed been wary of Wang Erkui afterwards.

Fortunately, Wang Erkui hadn’t gotten carried away and knocked him out in the cornfield too.

He still felt a little scared thinking about it now. After all, he and Wang Erkui had only just met, and the human heart was not something to be tested.

“Brother Dong, let me see that watch of yours.”

“Here.”

Li Xiangdong took the watch out of his pocket and handed it to Hou San.

Hou San looked at the watch and commented, “It’s so-so. It’s a far cry from mine.”

Li Xiangdong smiled, took the watch back from his hand, and put it back in his pocket. “As long as it works. I just need to tell the time.”

Ah Zhe also smiled, “Hou San, not everyone is like you, showing off their watch to everyone they meet.”

“Tch~”

Hou San replied smugly, “I, Marquis Hou, do as I please.”

The three of them chatted as they left the main road and turned onto a small path. In front of them was a low-walled courtyard with a patch of green vegetables growing inside.

Li Xiangdong stopped and said, “Ah Zhe, go knock on the door and ask if the cucumbers in their yard are for sale. If not, use grain tickets to get some. We can’t let these crickets starve.”

“Alright, I’ll go right now.”

Ah Zhe went forward to knock on the door.

Li Xiangdong and Hou San squatted at the entrance, waiting for Ah Zhe to talk to the owner.

After a while, Ah Zhe came out with a dozen cucumbers in his arms. “Dongzi, is this enough? My cloth bag is also full.”

Li Xiangdong stood up and said, “That’s enough. We don’t need that many. We can eat the rest as snacks on the way.”

Hou San took a few steps forward, pulled a cucumber from Ah Zhe’s arms, wiped it on his clothes, broke it in half, and asked, “Brother Dong, do you want some?”

“You eat it yourself.”

“Hou San, give me half.”

The three of them returned to the hostel. Li Xiangdong first went to the sink to wash up. Without drying himself, he took the kitchen knife from Hou San and started cutting the cucumbers.

Li Xiangdong looked up at Hou San beside him and said, “See? You learn from me and cut it into a thin, long strip like this.”

He then handed the knife back to Hou San. “Come on, I’ll go put the cucumber strips in the bamboo tubes.”

Putting the cucumber strips in was also a technical job. You had to use cotton to press it down to ensure it wouldn’t fall into the bamboo tube, otherwise it might injure the cricket inside.

He took Ah Zhe with him, teaching him as they worked. The speed was much faster.

“How much did you two spend this time? Hou San, include the money for your roast chicken and our noodles.”

“You two have also put in a lot of effort this time. The previous agreement of a 6-2-2 split is off for this time. After we go back to Beijing and sell the crickets, we’ll split the profits equally.”

“Let’s be clear, this is only for this time. In the future, it will still be a 6-2-2 split.”

“Hehe, thanks, Brother Dong.”

Hou San put down the knife, took out a handful of money and tickets, and began to count. “Brother Dong, I spent a total of seventy-nine yuan and eighty cents.”

Li Xiangdong nodded, “What about you, Ah Zhe?”

“I gave Wang Erkui 30 yuan for the three boxes of crickets. Plus some miscellaneous expenses, I spent a total of sixty yuan and thirty cents. Let’s just count it as sixty yuan.”

“Alright, yours will be counted as sixty yuan, and Hou San’s as eighty yuan.”

Hou San and Ah Zhe nodded in agreement with Li Xiangdong’s words. They didn’t care about a few cents.

Just as the three of them were chatting enthusiastically, Gao Xinmin arrived uninvited.

He stood at the door and saw the room full of bamboo tubes, as well as bamboo scraps and debris all over the floor.

“You three are really something. Clean all this up in a while. Otherwise, if the hostel gives you trouble for this, I won’t get involved.”

The three of them quickly stood up and said, “We know, Conductor.”

“Uncle Gao, we’ll clean it up in a while.”

Li Xiangdong stood up and invited Gao Xinmin into the room. He took the cigarette Ah Zhe handed him and lit it for Gao Xinmin. “Uncle Gao, what brings you here?”

Gao Xinmin smoked his cigarette and said, “You don’t want me to come?”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “Of course not. The three of us are very fond of you. I was just afraid of interrupting your work.”

“It’s no interruption. My job is to bring you all back safely.”

Gao Xinmin looked closely for a while and said in surprise, “Are you feeding the crickets cucumbers? Are you treating them like ancestors!”

Hou San, cutting the cucumbers, said, “Of course we have to treat them like ancestors. I’m still counting on…”