Chapter 1916: Blocked While Foraging on the Mountain
Little Taotie and Hua Jinyan caught two chickens on a mountain behind the dormitory building.
On their way down, they encountered some older teenagers who were also looking for food.
"Caught red-handed!"
"How can you steal the chickens we’ve been raising?"
"We bought chicks to let them grow on the mountain, just to taste some wild game, and here you are, learning to take without working at such a young age!"
The teenagers blocked Little Taotie and Hua Jinyan’s path.
Hua Jinyan frowned: "Do you have any evidence that these chickens are yours?"
One of the teenagers really did produce evidence.
It was the invoice from when they bought the chicks and some photos.
"This is number 3, and this is number 8."
He pointed at the two chickens: "Flip open their wings and take a look."
Little Taotie flipped open the chicken wings, and all he saw was a bunch of feathers, "No writing."
"When they’re young, we write on them, and when they grow, the feathers naturally cover it. Hold on, let me shave some feathers off."
A teenager pulled out a razor.
Little Taotie: "You carry that with you?"
The teenager sighed: "My beard grows fast, can’t help it."
Little Taotie looked at him, then at Hua Jinyan, and whispered: "Do all boys grow beards when they grow up? Will you grow a beard too?"
Hua Jinyan: "...Maybe."
Some chicken feathers were shaved off, revealing the numbers inside, and they truly were "3" and "8"!
Little Taotie, puzzled, asked: "Without shaving the feathers, how did you know they were 3 and 8?"
"You can tell just by looking at their eyes, it’s simple."
Little Taotie: "Is it simple?"
Hua Jinyan: "Maybe he’s like those guys from the Seventh Captain, gifted in Beast Taming."
Little Taotie nodded in realization.
"Wow, you even know about the Special Department? My brother is from the Special Department’s Seventh Captain!" The teenager proudly puffed out his chest: "I, too, will join the Seventh Captain in the future and serve the country!"
Another teenager asked: "Now, can you return them to their rightful owner?"
Little Taotie pressed his lips, feeling a bit sad, but still returned the two chickens.
Not because he was afraid, but because they indeed produced evidence, the chickens were theirs.
Although they were free-range on the mountain, the original owners were indeed them.
Seeing Little Taotie lower his gaze, Hua Jinyan asked with a slightly heavy heart: "Could you sell one to us?"
The teenager pointed at his buddies behind him: "There are seven of us here, and two chickens aren’t enough to share, how could we give one to you?"
Hua Jinyan asked: "Can you roast chicken?"
This remark made the seven of them look at each other in dismay.
They all shook their heads simultaneously.
The leading teenager coughed dryly: "Can you guys?"
Hua Jinyan nodded: "I can."
"Brother Tie, give them a chicken, let them help us roast it?"
"Yeah, otherwise it’ll be like last time, we finally caught one and roasted it too much, ended up eating nothing!"
"They worked hard catching chickens too, we should share some with them, it’s not easy for two kids either, last time we spent over half an hour just catching one chicken."
"Alright."
The teenager handed Hua Jinyan a chicken: "You can have one, but on the condition that you help us roast one too, okay?"
Hua Jinyan nodded: "Okay."
A chubby guy who knew what was going on came forward, took the two chickens, and laughed: "I’ll handle the slaughtering then."
Hua Jinyan and Little Taotie didn’t refuse.
Hua Jinyan found a large rock and cleaned it, let Little Taotie sit down, and then took out various spices he had brought with him.
The leading teenager laughed: "You’re quite prepared!"