Chapter 7
The Secret Under the Bed
Whoever heard the name "Prosperity Villa," and then went there, was in for a big surprise.
Such a "prosperous" villa was indeed extremely rare.
Big G laughed, "We not only don't have any lamps there isn’t any oil either. Good thing I brought back some candles, otherwise it would be black eat black. "
Dash: "Black eating black is actually pretty interesting, as long as we don't end up in somebody's nostrils."
Normally the first thing he would do after getting home would be to take off his shoes and get into bed. But today, he didn't even walk over to his bed, he sat as far away as possible, "If you don't mind a little dirt, please have a seat on the ground."
The Golden Lion laughed, "This is an old custom you know, our ancient ancestors also sat on the ground."
Big G: "We take ancient tradition very seriously, we even sleep on the ground."
Golden Lion: "What about that bed?"
They were hoping nobody would notice the bed, but whoever walked through the door couldn't help but notice that bed.
Dash: "Only I sleep on the bed."
Big G: "It's not that he is a stingy landlord, we just can't stand how filthy it is."
Only the three of them were speaking, Forest, Swally, and The Rod didn't say a word. The person dressed in black didn't even step inside, he was standing in the courtyard with his hands behind his back; his gloomy figure, the dark courtyard, and the cold night seemed to have merged into one.
Golden Lion: "Such outstanding kung fu for a young man, which master did you study under?"
He naturally changed the topic away from the "bed," which was a relief for everyone.
Big G: "I have had many masters, but I am their only disciple."
Golden Lion: "And who might they be?"
Big G: "My first master was old Tiger Liu, the 'Fists of God Legend,' then it was old Yang, the 'Undefeated Blade,' teacher Zhao, the 'Spear of Nine Dragons,' and master Hu, 'Iron Arm Blade of God'..."
The Golden Lion was listening with eyes wide, the more names he listed, the wider his eyes became, he seemed shocked.
He truly had never even heard one of these names before.
There was a strange phenomenon in martial arts circles, the people with the most outrageous names were normally the ones with mediocre kung fu. Especially names like the "Spear of Nine Dragons," and "Iron Arm Blade of God," were often hustlers, if a true master actually used such a name, people wouldn't be able to contain their laughter.
It was no easy task for Big G to recite all these extraordinary names, "You must have heard of my masters before," he said smiling.
The Golden Lion coughed a couple of times, "Yeah of course, ‘COUGH’, I have heard so much about them."
His feet suddenly sprang up, leaping over to the bed he grabbed the edge, he jumped up pulling the bed with him.
Big G, Dash, Swally, and Forest, the four of them felt as if they had been yanked up as well.
If the five chests were discovered under the bed, even if they could withstand the Golden Lion's knife, The Rod's claws, and the blacked-dressed person's sword today, the disastrous reputation of being thieves would never go away.
They were still young, if they were branded as thieves, how many years would they have to live keeping their heads down?
× × ×
There was not a single chest under the bed, absolutely nothing.
Big G barely stopped himself from yelling out in surprise.
The Golden Lion was also stunned, slowly putting the bed down, he forced himself to laugh, "I am certain I just saw a mouse under the bed, how did it disappear all of a sudden?"
"Was the mouse white or black?" Dash asked coldly.
Golden Lion: "This... I didn't get a good look."
Dash: "A white mouse means good fortune, they normally appear when there is gold stashed nearby. I should start digging tomorrow, who knows, maybe there will be a few chests buried here."
His face was cold as ice, completely expressionless.
Big G glanced at him, "Stay a while Golden brother, there might be a small fortune awaiting you."
The Golden Lion laughed awkwardly, "That's ok I’m not destined for wealth in this life."
Even though the villa was old and dilapidated, the structure had previously been quite magnificent. The ground was covered in rich stone tiles, but there was moss growing in all of the cracks.
Anyone could tell just by looking that these stones hadn't been moved for at least ten years.
The Rod suddenly stood up, "I’m intoxicated, farewell."
He clearly hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, and was clearly talking nonsense while sober, but nobody was interested in refuting him.
Everyone felt that now was a perfect time for an excuse to leave.
× × ×
Big G waited until The Rod and the Golden Lion had left for quite some time before finally letting out a long sigh of relief, "That was impressive old Mr. King, if you didn't move those chests, things would have gotten very interesting," he said with a smile.
Dash: "Who is old Mr. King?"
Big G: "You of course."
Dash: "You think I would move those five chests all by myself and then hide them?"
Big G stood there confused.
It you wanted Dash to move the chests, it would probably be easier to have the chests move him.
Big G was scratching his head, "If it wasn't you, then who moved the chests?"
He turned his head and looked at Swally.
Swally: "Don't bother looking at me, I’m almost as lazy as Dash."
Forest: "I have never moved chests in my entire life."
Forest’s hands were pale and slender, his face looked more delicate than that of a young lady.
Big G practically scratched a hole in his scalp, "If none of you moved the chests, did they just grow legs and run away?" he said exacerbated.
Dash: "Although chests don't have legs, Sour Plum has legs; not to mention, she definitely has a nice pair of legs."
× × ×
When Dash spoke, it was normally a conclusion.
Other than Sour Plum, they couldn't think of anyone else who would have known about the five chests under the bed, and certainly nobody else who would have moved them.
Swally: "Looks like she achieved her goal, so naturally there is no point in her leaving the chests for us."
Forest: "So she must have took the opportunity to move the chests as soon as she knew that we left the mountain."
Dash stretched out his waist lazily, "It's a good thing she moved those chests, otherwise lying on my bed would be uncomfortable."
Forest: "I am just curious about one thing, none of us even looked towards the bed, how did the Golden Lion become suspicious about what was under there?"
Dash: "Maybe he was suspicious because none of us would even look towards the bed."
× × ×
This was also a conclusion.
The more you pretend you don't care about something, the more obvious it becomes that you truly do care about it.
Especially with girls.
If a girl is friendly with everyone, but you are the only one she ignores, perhaps there isn't anyone in her heart, except for you.
× × ×
Forest sighed, "Seems like this Golden Poodle is a formidable character."
Swally: "He is a crafty old scoundrel, smiling while planning on how to stab you in the back, he truly is more dangerous than The Rod."
Big G had remained silent for a long time, "Sour Plum couldn't have moved the chests," he suddenly said.
Swally: "If not her then who?"
Big G: "If she wanted to move the chests, then she wouldn't have left them here yesterday."
Swally: "Why not?"
Big G: "If you wanted to move the chests out of the city, it would be much harder today than it was yesterday, so why would she wait until today? Is she really that stupid?"
Swally: "Of course she isn't stupid, I’m the idiot, I just can't seem to think of who else could have moved the chests," he smiled callously.
Big G suddenly laughed, "Why do you get mad every time I bring up Sour Plum, have you secretly fallen for her? I will let you have her, problem solved."
Swally: "You will let me? Is she actually yours?"
Dash sighed, "You two haven't even tasted the Sour Plum juice, but have already indulged in drinking bitter vinegar, why all the trouble?"
Swally smiled.
An exceptional smile, very attractive.
Most people smiled first with either their eyes or their mouths.
But when Swally smiled, his nose would smile first. His nose would wrinkle slightly, and two very defined dimples would slowly start to appear on both cheeks.
Big G looked at him, "If this little guy wasn't such a ruffian, I swear he would be a girl," he muttered.
Swally glared at him, "If I was a girl, then you would be a hermaphrodite."
Big G: "I obviously know that you’re definitely not a girl, but your smile, those dimples..."
Swally: "What about dimples? Dimples means that you know how to drink, what do you know?"
Big G suddenly grabbed his hand, "Let's go drinking."
Swally: "Go drinking where?"
Big G: "Down the mountain."
Swally: "We still have alcohol here, why would we go down there to drink?"
Big G was winking, "I heard Old Mr. Barley barbeques his meat in the middle of the night, and I want to eat half of a freshly roasted duck."
Swally: "I am not a glutton like you, go by yourself."
Big G: "You know that I never drink by myself."
Swally: "Why don't you get old Mr. King to go with you?"
Big G: "Even if I held a knife to his throat right now, he wouldn't leave his bed."
Swally: "If he doesn't go, then I'm not going either."
"It's not like you are a young women having to worry about the two of us all alone," Big G said smiling.
Swally's face seemed a little red, "No is no, why are you so set on dragging me along?"
Big G laughed, "It has to be you, whether you are a man or a women, it has to be you."
Dash sighed, "The way I see it, you should go with him, it's your fault for making friends with someone like him, and if you stay I will never be able to get any sleep."
"At least I’m a man, I don't know how any women would be able to stand him," Swally moaned.
Big G smiled, "If you were a women I would be the one who couldn't stand you."
× × ×
There was really nothing you could do with someone like Big G.
In the end Swally was dragged out, as soon as they got out the front door they were both shocked.
It was late at night, all the people in the town should have been asleep, with some of them even getting ready to wake up soon.
Who would have known that the base of the mountain was full of bright lanterns, Big G had already lived here for three months, but he had never seen so many bright lanterns before.
Big G: "Is today the New Year?"
Swally: "I don't think so."
Big G: "What is with all of the commotion if it isn't New Years?"
"I doubt that even New Years is this exciting," Swally muttered.
Big G grabbed his hand again, "Hurry, let's go check it out."
Swally: "I know how to walk, why are you always grabbing my hand?"
Big G giggled, "If you don’t want me to hold your hand, then you hold mine."
Swally groaned, "I think I have to change my name again, to Swally Eight."
Big G: "Why?"
Swally: "After meeting someone like you, I am sure to die again."
Notes:
1. "You two haven't even tasted the Sour Plum juice, but have already indulged in drinking bitter vinegar, why all the trouble?"
Eating (drinking) vinegar in Chinese represents jealousy.
2. Swally: "What about dimples? Dimples means that you know how to drink, what do you know?"
Dimple in Chinese (酒窝/ jiǔ wō) is a combination of the words alcohol and nest.
Chapter 7
The Secret Under the Bed
Whoever heard the name "Prosperity Villa," and then went there, was in for a big surprise.
Such a "prosperous" villa was indeed extremely rare.
Big G laughed, "We not only don't have any lamps there isn’t any oil either. Good thing I brought back some candles, otherwise it would be black eat black. "
Dash: "Black eating black is actually pretty interesting, as long as we don't end up in somebody's nostrils."
Normally the first thing he would do after getting home would be to take off his shoes and get into bed. But today, he didn't even walk over to his bed, he sat as far away as possible, "If you don't mind a little dirt, please have a seat on the ground."
The Golden Lion laughed, "This is an old custom you know, our ancient ancestors also sat on the ground."
Big G: "We take ancient tradition very seriously, we even sleep on the ground."
Golden Lion: "What about that bed?"
They were hoping nobody would notice the bed, but whoever walked through the door couldn't help but notice that bed.
Dash: "Only I sleep on the bed."
Big G: "It's not that he is a stingy landlord, we just can't stand how filthy it is."
Only the three of them were speaking, Forest, Swally, and The Rod didn't say a word. The person dressed in black didn't even step inside, he was standing in the courtyard with his hands behind his back; his gloomy figure, the dark courtyard, and the cold night seemed to have merged into one.
Golden Lion: "Such outstanding kung fu for a young man, which master did you study under?"
He naturally changed the topic away from the "bed," which was a relief for everyone.
Big G: "I have had many masters, but I am their only disciple."
Golden Lion: "And who might they be?"
Big G: "My first master was old Tiger Liu, the 'Fists of God Legend,' then it was old Yang, the 'Undefeated Blade,' teacher Zhao, the 'Spear of Nine Dragons,' and master Hu, 'Iron Arm Blade of God'..."
The Golden Lion was listening with eyes wide, the more names he listed, the wider his eyes became, he seemed shocked.
He truly had never even heard one of these names before.
There was a strange phenomenon in martial arts circles, the people with the most outrageous names were normally the ones with mediocre kung fu. Especially names like the "Spear of Nine Dragons," and "Iron Arm Blade of God," were often hustlers, if a true master actually used such a name, people wouldn't be able to contain their laughter.
It was no easy task for Big G to recite all these extraordinary names, "You must have heard of my masters before," he said smiling.
The Golden Lion coughed a couple of times, "Yeah of course, ‘COUGH’, I have heard so much about them."
His feet suddenly sprang up, leaping over to the bed he grabbed the edge, he jumped up pulling the bed with him.
Big G, Dash, Swally, and Forest, the four of them felt as if they had been yanked up as well.
If the five chests were discovered under the bed, even if they could withstand the Golden Lion's knife, The Rod's claws, and the blacked-dressed person's sword today, the disastrous reputation of being thieves would never go away.
They were still young, if they were branded as thieves, how many years would they have to live keeping their heads down?
× × ×
There was not a single chest under the bed, absolutely nothing.
Big G barely stopped himself from yelling out in surprise.
The Golden Lion was also stunned, slowly putting the bed down, he forced himself to laugh, "I am certain I just saw a mouse under the bed, how did it disappear all of a sudden?"
"Was the mouse white or black?" Dash asked coldly.
Golden Lion: "This... I didn't get a good look."
Dash: "A white mouse means good fortune, they normally appear when there is gold stashed nearby. I should start digging tomorrow, who knows, maybe there will be a few chests buried here."
His face was cold as ice, completely expressionless.
Big G glanced at him, "Stay a while Golden brother, there might be a small fortune awaiting you."
The Golden Lion laughed awkwardly, "That's ok I’m not destined for wealth in this life."
Even though the villa was old and dilapidated, the structure had previously been quite magnificent. The ground was covered in rich stone tiles, but there was moss growing in all of the cracks.
Anyone could tell just by looking that these stones hadn't been moved for at least ten years.
The Rod suddenly stood up, "I’m intoxicated, farewell."
He clearly hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, and was clearly talking nonsense while sober, but nobody was interested in refuting him.
Everyone felt that now was a perfect time for an excuse to leave.
× × ×
Big G waited until The Rod and the Golden Lion had left for quite some time before finally letting out a long sigh of relief, "That was impressive old Mr. King, if you didn't move those chests, things would have gotten very interesting," he said with a smile.
Dash: "Who is old Mr. King?"
Big G: "You of course."
Dash: "You think I would move those five chests all by myself and then hide them?"
Big G stood there confused.
It you wanted Dash to move the chests, it would probably be easier to have the chests move him.
Big G was scratching his head, "If it wasn't you, then who moved the chests?"
He turned his head and looked at Swally.
Swally: "Don't bother looking at me, I’m almost as lazy as Dash."
Forest: "I have never moved chests in my entire life."
Forest’s hands were pale and slender, his face looked more delicate than that of a young lady.
Big G practically scratched a hole in his scalp, "If none of you moved the chests, did they just grow legs and run away?" he said exacerbated.
Dash: "Although chests don't have legs, Sour Plum has legs; not to mention, she definitely has a nice pair of legs."
× × ×
When Dash spoke, it was normally a conclusion.
Other than Sour Plum, they couldn't think of anyone else who would have known about the five chests under the bed, and certainly nobody else who would have moved them.
Swally: "Looks like she achieved her goal, so naturally there is no point in her leaving the chests for us."
Forest: "So she must have took the opportunity to move the chests as soon as she knew that we left the mountain."
Dash stretched out his waist lazily, "It's a good thing she moved those chests, otherwise lying on my bed would be uncomfortable."
Forest: "I am just curious about one thing, none of us even looked towards the bed, how did the Golden Lion become suspicious about what was under there?"
Dash: "Maybe he was suspicious because none of us would even look towards the bed."
× × ×
This was also a conclusion.
The more you pretend you don't care about something, the more obvious it becomes that you truly do care about it.
Especially with girls.
If a girl is friendly with everyone, but you are the only one she ignores, perhaps there isn't anyone in her heart, except for you.
× × ×
Forest sighed, "Seems like this Golden Poodle is a formidable character."
Swally: "He is a crafty old scoundrel, smiling while planning on how to stab you in the back, he truly is more dangerous than The Rod."
Big G had remained silent for a long time, "Sour Plum couldn't have moved the chests," he suddenly said.
Swally: "If not her then who?"
Big G: "If she wanted to move the chests, then she wouldn't have left them here yesterday."
Swally: "Why not?"
Big G: "If you wanted to move the chests out of the city, it would be much harder today than it was yesterday, so why would she wait until today? Is she really that stupid?"
Swally: "Of course she isn't stupid, I’m the idiot, I just can't seem to think of who else could have moved the chests," he smiled callously.
Big G suddenly laughed, "Why do you get mad every time I bring up Sour Plum, have you secretly fallen for her? I will let you have her, problem solved."
Swally: "You will let me? Is she actually yours?"
Dash sighed, "You two haven't even tasted the Sour Plum juice, but have already indulged in drinking bitter vinegar, why all the trouble?"
Swally smiled.
An exceptional smile, very attractive.
Most people smiled first with either their eyes or their mouths.
But when Swally smiled, his nose would smile first. His nose would wrinkle slightly, and two very defined dimples would slowly start to appear on both cheeks.
Big G looked at him, "If this little guy wasn't such a ruffian, I swear he would be a girl," he muttered.
Swally glared at him, "If I was a girl, then you would be a hermaphrodite."
Big G: "I obviously know that you’re definitely not a girl, but your smile, those dimples..."
Swally: "What about dimples? Dimples means that you know how to drink, what do you know?"
Big G suddenly grabbed his hand, "Let's go drinking."
Swally: "Go drinking where?"
Big G: "Down the mountain."
Swally: "We still have alcohol here, why would we go down there to drink?"
Big G was winking, "I heard Old Mr. Barley barbeques his meat in the middle of the night, and I want to eat half of a freshly roasted duck."
Swally: "I am not a glutton like you, go by yourself."
Big G: "You know that I never drink by myself."
Swally: "Why don't you get old Mr. King to go with you?"
Big G: "Even if I held a knife to his throat right now, he wouldn't leave his bed."
Swally: "If he doesn't go, then I'm not going either."
"It's not like you are a young women having to worry about the two of us all alone," Big G said smiling.
Swally's face seemed a little red, "No is no, why are you so set on dragging me along?"
Big G laughed, "It has to be you, whether you are a man or a women, it has to be you."
Dash sighed, "The way I see it, you should go with him, it's your fault for making friends with someone like him, and if you stay I will never be able to get any sleep."
"At least I’m a man, I don't know how any women would be able to stand him," Swally moaned.
Big G smiled, "If you were a women I would be the one who couldn't stand you."
× × ×
There was really nothing you could do with someone like Big G.
In the end Swally was dragged out, as soon as they got out the front door they were both shocked.
It was late at night, all the people in the town should have been asleep, with some of them even getting ready to wake up soon.
Who would have known that the base of the mountain was full of bright lanterns, Big G had already lived here for three months, but he had never seen so many bright lanterns before.
Big G: "Is today the New Year?"
Swally: "I don't think so."
Big G: "What is with all of the commotion if it isn't New Years?"
"I doubt that even New Years is this exciting," Swally muttered.
Big G grabbed his hand again, "Hurry, let's go check it out."
Swally: "I know how to walk, why are you always grabbing my hand?"
Big G giggled, "If you don’t want me to hold your hand, then you hold mine."
Swally groaned, "I think I have to change my name again, to Swally Eight."
Big G: "Why?"
Swally: "After meeting someone like you, I am sure to die again."
Notes:
1. "You two haven't even tasted the Sour Plum juice, but have already indulged in drinking bitter vinegar, why all the trouble?"
Eating (drinking) vinegar in Chinese represents jealousy.
2. Swally: "What about dimples? Dimples means that you know how to drink, what do you know?"
Dimple in Chinese (酒窝/ jiǔ wō) is a combination of the words alcohol and nest.
