Li Du did not expect Steve to really catch the fat manul. It had seemed to him that the manul’s escape was certain.
However, Steve would have a hard time trying to tame the manul. It was a real beast, one that had grown up in the wild.
Steve set him up on purpose, hiding the manul so that Li Du would think he had failed to catch it.
After kidding around with Li Du, he took the manul out.
Li Du held his nose and said, “I want to cook now. Can you take this away? God, did it roll in dog poop? Why does it smell so bad?”
Steve rolled his eyes and said, “Come on, the little one just fell into the swamp. Don’t you know that? By the way, I gave it a name, can you guess it?”
Li Du looked at the fat manul and asked, “Is it Ah Pang?”
Steve grinned. “Seriously, you could guess it. The name comes from your culture. It took me some time to come up with it.”
Li Du could not guess it, and Steve was too lazy to tease him, so he said, “the name is Kuafu!”
This name made Li Du give Steve a vacant look. “Kuafu? Kuafu from the Kuafu Chase the Sun? How did you come up with that?”
Steve said triumphantly, “Well, what about the name? Isn’t that nice?”
Li Du smiled wryly and said, “It’s really very chic, but I don’t know how you came up with such a name.”
Steve said, “The reason is very simple, man. You see, this kitty can run very well. It’s been running south, so isn’t it like chasing the sun? I wanted to name it Apollo at first, but I decided that Kuafu was better.”
Just as Chinese people liked to give their pets English names, foreigners would sometimes give their pets Chinese names, which was a trend that could show the owner’s style.
Li Du broke the eggs and stirred them in the bowl. “Aren’t you going to wash your God of Sun, man? Is it good to leave it so smelly?”
Kuafu was staring at the bird eggs in Li Du’s hand, and it quickly withdrew to the corner of the cage when it noticed Li Du was looking at it.
Li Du threw an eggshell into the cage, and Steve waved. “Go, go, don’t insult my Kuafu like that…”
Before he was able to finish his words, Kuafu was already biting on the eggshell, holding on to it with its short legs and licking it with apparent relish. Eggs and birds were top-rate delicacies for manuls.
.
Li Du asked again, “won’t you give it a bath?”
“Wait a couple of days,” Steve demurred. “We don’t know each other yet. It would not let me touch it. I do not dare to let it out to wash it, as it might run to chase the sun again.”
Li Du ignored him and mixed the eggs with a little pepper and soy sauce. He cut some chopped scallions and mixed them well. Then he sprinkled the eggs with flour to prepare the omelet.
Feminine came over with his arms folded and said, “Boss, are you ready to make pancakes? Shall I make you a stone pancake then?”
Li Du smiled and said, “Ok, show your skills.”
Feminine went to find a stone the size of a washbasin, put it over the fire and heated it well.
Madman said helplessly, “God, are you using this to make pancakes? What happened to your brain? The sun is going to set before you cook even one!”
Feminine wiped his hands and said, “Come here, let’s watch you in action, go ahead and do it yourself.”
Madman curled his mouth and whistled as he strolled away.
The stone did not take very long to heat up. The flames were so strong that they licked the stone from all sides and soon heated the surface.
Li Du knew what he wanted to do. His bodyguard clearly meant to heat a stone, grease it and cook a pancake, but the question was, was it clean? Would it be edible?
As soon as the stone was burned by the fire, it turned black. Li Du felt deep doubt whether anything cooked over it would be edible.
Feminine greased the stone until its upper layer was shiny. When he brushed the oil over the stone, the smoked black area vanished.
Olive oil dripped down the stone into the campfire, making the flames burn even hotter.
Waiting for the smoke to subside, Feminine spread the egg batter. At the same time, he spread some diced meat and ham that were prepared in advance.
He asked, “Any lettuce? This goes best with lettuce.”
Since they went into the wilderness, they could not replenish their stock of vegetables, and now there were not many fresh vegetables left.
Li Du rummaged in their supplies and finally found a small box of lettuce.
The stone heated up slowly, so one of the advantages of using it for pancakes was that they wouldn’t get burnt on the bottom while remaining insufficiently cooked on the top.
As the fire burned, Feminine duly took the egg pancake off. The pancake was a little black. It was unavoidable, as they used wood to cook with, and there would inevitably be smoke marks.
Bird’s egg pancake with lettuce, gold and green, looked appetizing.
Li Du took a bite. The bird pancake tasted better than any he had ever tried, with a strong egg flavor and a chewy texture.
Steve tried some of the pancake and ate it with relish. “Well, it is delicious.”
Kuafu looked at him from the corner of the cage. Steve went to give it a piece, and it opened its mouth and almost bit his hand.
Fortunately, the bodyguard pulled Steve aside in time, or the young master’s palm would lose a piece of flesh.
Steve was furious. Glaring at the manul, he said, “You monster! I was so good to you, I gave you food, and you try to bite me?”
Li Du felt that in the manul’s place he would bite as well. This man caught it and caged it, and now thought that he could bribe it with some food.
However, food could certainly tempt Ah Bai. This little one had probably been hungry since its birth. It wanted to eat everything. It would run over to them whenever it saw someone opening their mouth to eat or yawn, just to make sure it wouldn’t miss on any delicacy.
Li Du tore a piece of pancake and handed it to the little monkey. Ah Bai took it and sat back. Imitating Li Du, it stuffed the pancake in its mouth and chewed happily.
This was what made the little white monkey different from other animals. Li Du thought it could be tamed very well even without the help of the little bug.
After eating and drinking, they continued on the road. They were in the wilderness that stretched as far as the eye could see, and could only rely on their own activities to amuse themselves.
After four or five days more in the wild, they crossed the Lower Tunguska River and approached the mountains of the Central Siberian Plateau.
There was a deserted town in the area. It was founded in the early days of the Bolshevik revolt. The aristocrats fled to Siberia to seek refuge, but the town they founded did not exist for many years. The red army took over, and the aristocrats were domed.
The ruined town has long been hard to find. In the wasteland between the town and the Putorana Mountains, there was the second ivory treasure.
However, Sophie’s mother was a historian; she was exposed to history since childhood and was very interested in this kind of abandoned town.
Steve, meanwhile, was a self-proclaimed adventurer. Venturing into a lost town was his dream.
Li Du did not expect Steve to really catch the fat manul. It had seemed to him that the manul’s escape was certain.
However, Steve would have a hard time trying to tame the manul. It was a real beast, one that had grown up in the wild.
Steve set him up on purpose, hiding the manul so that Li Du would think he had failed to catch it.
After kidding around with Li Du, he took the manul out.
Li Du held his nose and said, “I want to cook now. Can you take this away? God, did it roll in dog poop? Why does it smell so bad?”
Steve rolled his eyes and said, “Come on, the little one just fell into the swamp. Don’t you know that? By the way, I gave it a name, can you guess it?”
Li Du looked at the fat manul and asked, “Is it Ah Pang?”
Steve grinned. “Seriously, you could guess it. The name comes from your culture. It took me some time to come up with it.”
Li Du could not guess it, and Steve was too lazy to tease him, so he said, “the name is Kuafu!”
This name made Li Du give Steve a vacant look. “Kuafu? Kuafu from the Kuafu Chase the Sun? How did you come up with that?”
Steve said triumphantly, “Well, what about the name? Isn’t that nice?”
Li Du smiled wryly and said, “It’s really very chic, but I don’t know how you came up with such a name.”
Steve said, “The reason is very simple, man. You see, this kitty can run very well. It’s been running south, so isn’t it like chasing the sun? I wanted to name it Apollo at first, but I decided that Kuafu was better.”
Just as Chinese people liked to give their pets English names, foreigners would sometimes give their pets Chinese names, which was a trend that could show the owner’s style.
Li Du broke the eggs and stirred them in the bowl. “Aren’t you going to wash your God of Sun, man? Is it good to leave it so smelly?”
Kuafu was staring at the bird eggs in Li Du’s hand, and it quickly withdrew to the corner of the cage when it noticed Li Du was looking at it.
Li Du threw an eggshell into the cage, and Steve waved. “Go, go, don’t insult my Kuafu like that…”
Before he was able to finish his words, Kuafu was already biting on the eggshell, holding on to it with its short legs and licking it with apparent relish. Eggs and birds were top-rate delicacies for manuls.
.
Li Du asked again, “won’t you give it a bath?”
“Wait a couple of days,” Steve demurred. “We don’t know each other yet. It would not let me touch it. I do not dare to let it out to wash it, as it might run to chase the sun again.”
Li Du ignored him and mixed the eggs with a little pepper and soy sauce. He cut some chopped scallions and mixed them well. Then he sprinkled the eggs with flour to prepare the omelet.
Feminine came over with his arms folded and said, “Boss, are you ready to make pancakes? Shall I make you a stone pancake then?”
Li Du smiled and said, “Ok, show your skills.”
Feminine went to find a stone the size of a washbasin, put it over the fire and heated it well.
Madman said helplessly, “God, are you using this to make pancakes? What happened to your brain? The sun is going to set before you cook even one!”
Feminine wiped his hands and said, “Come here, let’s watch you in action, go ahead and do it yourself.”
Madman curled his mouth and whistled as he strolled away.
The stone did not take very long to heat up. The flames were so strong that they licked the stone from all sides and soon heated the surface.
Li Du knew what he wanted to do. His bodyguard clearly meant to heat a stone, grease it and cook a pancake, but the question was, was it clean? Would it be edible?
As soon as the stone was burned by the fire, it turned black. Li Du felt deep doubt whether anything cooked over it would be edible.
Feminine greased the stone until its upper layer was shiny. When he brushed the oil over the stone, the smoked black area vanished.
Olive oil dripped down the stone into the campfire, making the flames burn even hotter.
Waiting for the smoke to subside, Feminine spread the egg batter. At the same time, he spread some diced meat and ham that were prepared in advance.
He asked, “Any lettuce? This goes best with lettuce.”
Since they went into the wilderness, they could not replenish their stock of vegetables, and now there were not many fresh vegetables left.
Li Du rummaged in their supplies and finally found a small box of lettuce.
The stone heated up slowly, so one of the advantages of using it for pancakes was that they wouldn’t get burnt on the bottom while remaining insufficiently cooked on the top.
As the fire burned, Feminine duly took the egg pancake off. The pancake was a little black. It was unavoidable, as they used wood to cook with, and there would inevitably be smoke marks.
Bird’s egg pancake with lettuce, gold and green, looked appetizing.
Li Du took a bite. The bird pancake tasted better than any he had ever tried, with a strong egg flavor and a chewy texture.
Steve tried some of the pancake and ate it with relish. “Well, it is delicious.”
Kuafu looked at him from the corner of the cage. Steve went to give it a piece, and it opened its mouth and almost bit his hand.
Fortunately, the bodyguard pulled Steve aside in time, or the young master’s palm would lose a piece of flesh.
Steve was furious. Glaring at the manul, he said, “You monster! I was so good to you, I gave you food, and you try to bite me?”
Li Du felt that in the manul’s place he would bite as well. This man caught it and caged it, and now thought that he could bribe it with some food.
However, food could certainly tempt Ah Bai. This little one had probably been hungry since its birth. It wanted to eat everything. It would run over to them whenever it saw someone opening their mouth to eat or yawn, just to make sure it wouldn’t miss on any delicacy.
Li Du tore a piece of pancake and handed it to the little monkey. Ah Bai took it and sat back. Imitating Li Du, it stuffed the pancake in its mouth and chewed happily.
This was what made the little white monkey different from other animals. Li Du thought it could be tamed very well even without the help of the little bug.
After eating and drinking, they continued on the road. They were in the wilderness that stretched as far as the eye could see, and could only rely on their own activities to amuse themselves.
After four or five days more in the wild, they crossed the Lower Tunguska River and approached the mountains of the Central Siberian Plateau.
There was a deserted town in the area. It was founded in the early days of the Bolshevik revolt. The aristocrats fled to Siberia to seek refuge, but the town they founded did not exist for many years. The red army took over, and the aristocrats were domed.
The ruined town has long been hard to find. In the wasteland between the town and the Putorana Mountains, there was the second ivory treasure.
However, Sophie’s mother was a historian; she was exposed to history since childhood and was very interested in this kind of abandoned town.
Steve, meanwhile, was a self-proclaimed adventurer. Venturing into a lost town was his dream.
