Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The man pulled out a bunch of keys from his belt, found the corresponding one and untied the chain on the new monkey’s neck. He then turned his back to everyone and poked its head with his finger as a warning to not run away.
He arranged the two big dogs on each side of it to prevent it from running away.
The new monkey rubbed its sore neck and looked at the fierce big dogs. It curled up its body even tighter. He slammed his fists and typed it. Although it was better than before, it was often distracted when the big dogs and spectators were around.
The audience stood around for a long time and gradually became impatient. After all, the mosquitoes were still around, annoying everyone as they kept on biting them from time to time.
“Boss, is there anything new?”
“If not, then we’ll be on our way.”
“Yeah, just let the monkey do somersaults. It’s more interesting, plus I didn’t have time to record it just now so do it again!”
A chubby primary school student was holding a large bag of snacks in his hand and constantly munching anyway, creating turns of crunching sounds. His lips were covered in food residue, and from time to time he stuck his fingers into his mouth and sucked them.
“Stupid monkey! Stupid monkey! It can’t even type! It’s stupid! It’s stupider than me!” He cursed as he threw the finished snack bag onto the new monkey’s back. The remaining food and its juices flowed out and stained the monkey’s back.
The new monkey wanted to dodge, but at the same time didn’t dare to do so. For one, it feared that the man would’ve whipped it. Secondly, he was afraid that if he dodged, the juices would’ve splashed onto the keyboard and damage it.
It didn’t matter if it didn’t hide. It was nothing more than the hair on its back getting dirty. As for the humiliation, it didn’t care.
The real problem was that there were vacuum-packed chicken feet and soya sauce duck legs In the fat boy’s snacks. After eating, there wasn’t much of the juice left, but the juice essence was very rich. The juice didn’t mean much to people, but when the two big dogs immediately salivated upon smelling it, to the point where they almost couldn’t hold themselves back.
The two big dogs haven’t been trained to resist food yet. In their eyes, the monkey facing them was more like an oversized soya sauce duck leg.
In response to the fat boy’s behavior, the man only frowned slightly but did nothing to stop him. At most, he would’ve wiped the monkey clean when he returned. The customer was always right, and he couldn’t afford to offend them. This fat boy carried so many snacks with him, making it likely that his family spoiled him rotten. He probably had plenty of pocket money as well. Perhaps his parents were also watching the show at the side since peace brought wealth.
There were still people joining the crowd to see what was going on, but there were generally more people leaving.
The man was a little anxious, glaring at the new monkey whilst whipping the short whip to create sounds.
As people were coming and going, there was a gap in the circle of onlookers. A man squatting into the inner layer with a birdcage pointed to the man and said loudly, “Are you aware that you’re breaking the law?”
The spectators who were discussing the act suddenly became quiet, and everyone’s eyes fell on Zhang Zian.
The man was also stunned, looking back at him as he said, “Breaking the law? What did I do wrong?”
Zhang Zian wasn’t sure if he was actually stupid or pretending to be, but it was most likely the former. Based on how he looked and sounded, he didn’t seem like someone who studied a lot. Even if he did study a little, many people were still unaware that private rearing, buying, and selling of monkeys are illegal.
There were pet shops selling monkeys that have since closed down, some of them even digging their own graves who dug their own graves by broadcasting their monkeys on the Internet. The monkeys are a national second-class protected animal species. They are also close relatives of primates and humans and are not allowed to be raised privately without the authorization of the forestry department. This couple, who are performing on the streets, it is easy to guess that they are unlikely to have the correct documents that prove they are allowed to raise monkeys.
In this case, they used wild animals to illegally make a profit. Considering the severity of the case, the lightest punishment for them was a jail sentence of ten years.
The surrounding spectators didn’t bother to take action. Some of them may have already known, but they seemed to not care as long as they were satisfied. They would rather just watch the monkey show then stand up and take action.
“Do you have a certificate for raising monkeys? Did you know that it’s illegal to raise a monkey without proper documentation?” Zhang Zian asked.
“Documents?” The man was trying to deny it. As a bright idea suddenly came up, he looked around and said in a different tone, “Yes!”
“Then take it out and show us.”
“I have the documents, but why should I show them to you?” The man stretched out his neck and shouted to the surrounding spectators. “Everyone here, young and old! My wife and I are from out of town and have traveled south to make a living, which hasn’t been easy on us. This is the first time we are here in your town, so we are unfamiliar with your place. We did not know that we need to pay some protection fees here. That is our fault! Please, we are only a small business. Please help us get out of this mess!”
This person knew what to say to make himself the victim. His ploy shifted everyone’s attention away from himself. What they were doing was clearly illegal, but he managed to portray Zhang Zian as a local gangster forcing them to pay a protection fee.
People were always born with the tendency to sympathize with the weak. To everyone, this unkempt couple was pitiful. It wasn’t easy to bring a few monkeys to perform everywhere. They did not even have a house. On the other hand, Zhang Zian appeared neat, tidy, and even well-dressed. He also has a huge birdcage in his hand, much like a rich guy who was merely wandering around for fun.
“Hey, is it easy for ordinary people to earn a living?”
“Yeah, but everything you say involves breaking the law. If there were other ways to earn money, who’d want to work and earn money this way?”
“The rich people eat meat, and the poor do not even have proper soup to drink. Where is the equality in this?”
“Rich people probably have nothing better to do than creating trouble for other people. They only know how to bully the common folk. If you can, why not catch and report corrupt officials…?”
The public opinion has turned towards the couple, and they have accused Zhang Zian of being a busybody or merely spouting words without even thinking. Many people know that the private rearing of monkeys is illegal, but the couple was poor and would thus win the argument.
Some people have lived a bad life throughout the weekdays whilst working. They were now hiding amongst the crowd and stirring up people’s emotions.
The emotions of the masses were easily influenced by others. Almost in the blink of an eye, the people next to him started cursing and swearing at him. This was a rapid escalation from mere pointing and murmurings.
“Go! Go away if you are not watching!”
“Go away!”
“How ridiculous! It’s the festive season but you still want to make us mad!”
Zhang Zian was also a good man who knew not to pick a fight he cannot win. Seeing that the situation wasn’t in his favor, he decided to stand down. The hotheaded individuals were so agitated that they might’ve exploded at any moment. They may come together to beat him up then scatter immediately after. He wouldn’t be able to reason his way out; the law didn’t seem to work against a huge group.
“I couldn’t care less about other monkeys, but I want to take this monkey away,” He pointed to the new monkey and decided to take a chance.
