Chapter Fifteen

  Left Little Dragon's hand was shaking as he opened the gate to the sculpture garden. On their way back, the warm Pacific summer breeze had turned cool and blew against his left hand, causing it to ache. Back at their residence, Big General was watching TV in the garden. Because there was no cable TV, they could only receive a fixed number of channels, but both Left Little Dragon and Big General felt that this way of watching TV made them feel more satisfied. Left Little Dragon stretched out his swollen middle finger to show Big General and said: "It's broken."

  Zuǒ Xiǎo Lóng Dào: Wǒ yě jué dé shì.

  Translation:

  Left Little Dragon Way: I also think so.

  Isn't this going to wreck my car?

  Having said that, he got up and went to see his motorcycle.

  Left Xiaolong Road: Didn't fall off. Are there seatbelts?

  The commander rummaged through the drawer for half a day and found some tape, saying: Make do with it.

  Zuo Xiaolong broke off a small, tender branch from the nearby tree to secure his middle finger and then wrapped it with tape. After taking two painkillers, he was done treating himself. Zuo Xiaolong had never been afraid of pain since childhood. He used to enjoy watching war movies and reading war books, and seeing his own limbs severed from his body didn't seem like a big deal to him. When he was young, he admired Hitler, thinking that the dictator was like a lone hero. However, after reading Hitler's biography, he discovered that Hitler only had one testicle and would shout "Save me!" in pain when hit by bullets. Zuo Xiaolong's admiration for Hitler instantly disappeared, reducing him from a lone hero to a lone coward. Zuo Xiaolong believed that as a man, you just can't cry out in pain.

  It really hurts.

  This night was particularly unbearable for Zhou Xiaolong, and a mosquito that didn't know better bit his left index finger. The bite happened to be right on the fracture site, which made it even more unbearable. Sometimes pain can be endured, but itching is harder to bear. Enduring without being able to scratch is the most unbearable of all. At this moment, Zhou Xiaolong suddenly thought of Niuba. He wondered how that little girl was doing now. Tomorrow, he should go find her and tell her about his injury, of course, after meeting with Huang Yin.

  Here is the translation:

  The second day dawned, and Xiao Long woke up early. He had to go to work at the thermometer factory. For this job, he had to wear his jeans inside out and unzip them to make it easier to insert the thermometer into his anus. The first batch of testing began, and after waiting for three minutes, he pulled out the finished thermometer from under his armpit and was shocked - 39 degrees! Xiao Long didn't hesitate and inserted the thermometer into his anus again, but when he pulled it out, it still read 39 degrees. He shook off the reading and put it in his mouth, holding it there for half a day before pulling it out to see that it still read 39 degrees. Now he had to take medicine. Xiao Long was the least fond of taking medicine; he believed that the human body could solve all problems on its own. But due to professional ethics, this job required him to have a constant body temperature, so he reluctantly took two tablets of anti-inflammatory and antipyretic medication. He really didn't like this job, but for the sake of his motorcycle's new engine, he had to do it. Until today, he was unwilling to walk down that street again or hear that song "Hooked on You". But things hadn't ended yet - evil had temporarily triumphed over justice, and justice was still simmering. This was the current situation, but everything would be turned around in... an unknown future.

  But Zuo Xiaolong really couldn't finish the work of packing and testing, he could only be persuaded to go back and rest. Zuo Xiaolong walked with his middle finger up, dragging his hot body on the street, walking with difficulty. Suddenly, he wanted to take a look at his big motorcycle under the scorching sun, Zuo Xiaolong felt a bit cold, he had to find something to distract himself. He decided to give his motorcycle a name.