Chapter Twenty-Four

  The plants in the sculpture garden were at their most lush during the spring and summer. The statues gradually became submerged in the overgrown vegetation. Just a week later, when Zuo Xiaolong went to visit Confucius again, he could hardly find him. During this week, they had come to accept a cruel fact: the primary school student Er Yi was mute. Zuo Xiaolong was one of those people who would rather eat yellow lotus than be mute. But because his choir in his heart really lacked people, even if it was a mute person, he had to use him. However, how to use a mute person in a choir was indeed a big problem. Suddenly, Zuo Xiaolong thought of an idea: since he would be facing away from the audience with his buttocks, he could just sing himself and let the mute person pretend to sing.

  A chorus with only a few members is not enough, and the first member to join now is a little mute, who can only sing in the style of the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. The competition will be held in two weeks, and even the song that the chorus will sing has not been decided yet. Left Xiaolong was worried, suddenly remembered his motorcycle should have been repaired, rushed to the repair shop. The boss had already polished the motorcycle, parked it in a corner, at the same time, a new Ducati 695 had arrived, placed in the middle of the store. This is the first time Left Xiaolong saw a Ducati, and he couldn't help but be dazzled by its beauty. But soon, the glow faded away, Left Xiaolong felt that this motorcycle would not be his for a while, and the thought in his mind stopped instantly, even the desire to own it disappeared immediately. Left Xiaolong thinks that the fun of life lies not only in realizing one's long-cherished wishes but also in realizing one's fleeting thoughts. However, when the fleeting thoughts are clearly impossible to realize, don't let them flash again. This is true for motorcycles and women alike.

  Left Xiao Long rode his motorcycle onto the street, and for a moment, the world changed. Logically speaking, Batman without his black suit is just a hero, but in Left Xiao Long's heart, that was Batman. So this black suit was very important, even as important as the real thing itself. The new engine needed to be broken in, so Left Xiao Long only dared to carefully control the throttle. The new engine and old engine were basically... identical, this is what Japanese-made things are like, anyway they can't give you any surprises. From one o'clock to three o'clock in the afternoon, he was circling around Tinglin Town, the chorus team and how to pay back the muddy cushion money were all beyond his concerns.

  When he turned to the ninth lap, he suddenly found Mud standing in the middle of the road. The two had not seen each other for a while and were at a loss for words for a moment. In the movie, they should have been staring at each other, with people passing by like arrows. But the people in Tinglin Town loved to watch the excitement, so the whole scene was frozen like a screenshot. Everyone was staring at the two of them.

  Left Little Dragon asked: Niuba, thank you, how did you know I was here?

  Mud said: I heard the sound of the engine, I know this sound.

  Get on the bus and go.

  Ni Ba was once again bewildered. Every step of Zhou Xiao Long's was in sync with her rhythm. Without saying a word, she climbed onto the motorcycle and wrapped her arms around Zhou Xiao Long's waist. The last spring breeze blew through their hair as they rode the motorcycle aimlessly in the warm, toxic air of the outskirts, breathing in the chemical-scented air, following the colorful river, heading south. They headed south because... the crowded road had become a one-way street, so for now, they could only head south. Coincidentally, the wind was blowing north, and the air gradually cleared up, making them feel dizzy from the odorless air. They arrived at a new small town called Tian Ma, which happened to be outside of the polluted wind direction. Zhou Xiao Long stopped the motorcycle and let Ni Ba get off, and the two went into a noodle shop by the road to order egg noodles. The noodle shop only had them as customers. After the owner brought over the egg noodles, she said: "These eggs are good, they're our local free-range eggs, completely natural. You two are from Ting Lin Town, right?"

  Zuo Xiaolong stirred his noodles while asking: How did you know?

  The boss's wife said: Look, there is green dust on all of your hair.

  Ní bā Mǎ shàng kàn zhe Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng de jiān tóu, fā xiàn guǒ rán yǒu yī céng lǜ sè fěn zhuàng wù tǐ. Ní bā bāng Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng bǎ huī dǎn qù, xiào dào: nǐ kàn nǐ, zhēn xiàng gè lǜ máo guī.

  English Translation:

  Niba looked at Xiaolong's shoulder and found that there was indeed a layer of green powder on it. Niba helped Xiaolong brush off the ash and laughed, saying: "Look at you, you really look like a green-haired turtle."

  The boss's wife continued: I really envy you guys.

  Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng ate a mouthful of noodles and said, "What's there to envy?"

  The boss's wife said: You guys have money here, and you're still holding a prize-giving party.

  Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng wiped his mouth and said: What is a prize-giving party?

  The boss's wife said: The first prize for literary and artistic performance is 50,000 yuan.

  Bruce Lee said: Oh, it's a literary evening party.

  The boss's wife said: It's just a prize-giving party. We don't have that here, our government is not active, the development is not good, you see, everyone still has...

  The boss's wife thought for half a day, but only came up with the phrase "contented and enjoying one's work", but she felt that there must be a derogatory word here. After being stuck for half a day, she still couldn't think of any words, so she said: It's just the same old thing. You see, not many people come here, my business is also average, if I opened this store in Tinglin Town, how many outsiders would come to eat? Outsiders are easy to fool, and I can put less sauce on their dishes. Singing a song still earns 50,000 yuan, my old house can still collect rent, how much more money can I earn in a year?

  Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng will finish eating and say: Your eggs are really delicious.

  Out of the house, Niuba clung to Xiao Long and asked: What's on our bodies, green and oily?

  Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng stroked the oil tank cover covered with industrial dust and said: It fell from the sky.

  Is it poisonous?

  Zuo Xiaolong hadn't had time to respond when Niuba suddenly discovered that his left hand was unusual and asked: What's wrong with your hand?

  Zu Xiaolong lowered his middle finger and said: I'm a little hurt.

  Niuba asked: What's going on? Is it serious or not? How were you injured? Let me take a look.

  Zuo Xiaolong started the motorcycle, and Niuba hugged him tightly. The black-clad motorcycle drivers waiting at the nearby bus stop whistled loudly, causing Niuba to look at them in terror. Zuo Xiaolong said: Don't worry, they're just teasing us.

  The little dragon slowly drove the motorcycle out, and the driver of the black car next to him looked up and down at the mud, taking Zuo Xiaolong as his own worker. Taking advantage of the mud looking elsewhere, he secretly clenched his fist in front of his chest and swung it once, congratulating Zuo Xiaolong.

  Zuo Xiaolong smiled at him and responded with the same action, indicating that they were all motorcycle riders and brothers.

  Suddenly, the black car driver was enraged. He couldn't understand why his friendly good intentions were met with Bruce Lee's ruthless middle finger ridicule. He immediately started the motorcycle and said to the people around him, "This little rascal from Tinglin Town is giving us the middle finger."

  The surrounding black car drivers suddenly exploded and said: Those who come from Tinglin Town will be pulled over, chased up, and beaten.