“Hmph, there’s always a way! Do I need a servant to tell me what to do?” Lin Fang scowled.
A cockerel that could win the fight…
In fact, Lin Fang was struggling.
In a twinkling of an eye, New Year was over. Lu Xiao Shu looked forward to every single day to pass, and finally, it was the tenth day after New Year’s day.
Everyone in Feng Ye Village knew about the grand temple fair. Countless people were excited to have fun at the fair. The festive atmosphere was at its peak at that moment.
As expected, Lin Fang came early in the morning in a carriage to pick them up. He entered their house and greeted Lu Zhong and Miao Cui Lan. Then, they were ready to leave.
Miao Cui Lan didn’t stop them, she smiled and asked Lu Qi to look after his two sisters: Don’t let the others bully them! Lu Qi made a promise to his mother.
Then, the siblings changed into thick clothes and leather boots. They took the pocket money given by Miao Cui Lan and joyously left home.
They coincidentally met Xiao Yu, Shi Tou, and their friends who were all going downtown to the temple fair. Lu Xiao Shu noticed that they were going on foot, she looked at Lin Fang and smirked, “Is there room for people in your carriage?”
They were delighted and they stared eagerly at Lin Fang.
Although Lin Fang was not very willing to ask them to come along, however, he would never reject Lu Xiao Shu’s request. He nodded and forced a smile, “The carriage should be able to accommodate a few more people, but you will have to squeeze in the carriage…”
Shi Tou cheered before he finished his sentence, “It’s okay, it’s okay! We’ll just squeeze for a while! Young Master Lin is such a kind man!”
Xiao Yu tried hard to please, “Luckily Xiao Shu brought this up, we have to thank Xiao Shu!”
“Yes, yes! Thank you, Xiao Shu!”
“We ought to help each other. Besides, the more people the merrier!” Lu Xiao Shu grinned.
Lin Fang also smiled, “Xiao Shu is right, the more the merrier! Let’s go!”
They hurrayed and climbed into the carriage.
The space in the carriage turned out to be insufficient for all of them. Four of them took the initiative to curl up together with the coachman outside the carriage.
The country kids were not fussy about it. They were still excited because squeezing in a carriage was still faster than walking on foot. They chatted and cracked jokes along the journey.
As they approached the town, there were increasing crowds of pedestrians, donkey carts, ox-carts, and carriages. The hustle and bustle of the town were more lively than the usual market.
Everyone in the carriage couldn’t help but to unveil the curtains to look outside: This temple fair is really impressive!
They entered the town shortly. The place was a mob scene, people were packed like sardines, and the atmosphere was incredibly clamorous. People could not feel the cold even if it was during the winter, in fact, they were enthusiastic like a raging fire.
In addition to the people from different villages who came to enjoy the excitement, hawkers took the opportunity to expand their businesses. There were loud vibrant hawking mixed among the rowdy crowd. Although it was not any festival season, the atmosphere was even festive.
The carriage had a hard time going through the crowd, they took a long time to move only a few inches.
The group jumped out of the carriage and chose to walk as it was faster.
They arrived at the Cheng Huang Temple in no time under the guidance of Lin Fang. The spacious courtyard in front of the temple and the surrounding streets were flooded with people.
The variety shows have not started yet because it was still early. However, there were already vendors selling myriads of knick-knacks. People were dazzled by the dazzling array of goods.
Shi Tou and the gang had a look around and found their own favorite goods. They parted ways, and Xiao Yu was left alone as she followed the trio of siblings.
“Hey, where is the cockfighting pit? How is our fighting cockerel?” Lu Xiao Shu patted Lin Fang on his shoulder.
Lin Fang was prepared for this question. He smiled, “I was going to tell you! See the platform over there? That’s the cockfighting pit! The cockfight has not started yet, let’s have something to eat first! I’ve booked a private room in a restaurant, Cricket will be there to look after our cockfight!”
Although Lin Fang knew Lu Xiao Shu did not mean what he was thinking, yet, he liked to hear Lu Xiao Shu mention the word “Our”.
Lu Xiao Shu giggled and looked at her brother and sister, “Xiao Xue?”
Xiao Xue grinned, “It’s very noisy here anyway, let’s go!”
“Okay!” Lu Xiao Shu nodded.
“Let’s go then!” Lin Fang smiled and led the way.
Lin Fang booked a place in Ying Xian Ju near Cheng Huang Temple. They went to the private room on the second floor. Cricket ushered them in with a bright smile and asked the waiter to serve breakfast.
Lu Xiao Shu caught sight of a cockerel in a cage in the corner.
Lu Qi saw the cockerel was locked in a bird cage, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. He remained composed as he watched Lin Fang curry favor with his sister.
Lu Xiao Shu and Lin Fang went over. The cockerel had a well-proportioned frame with an upright neck and long legs. It had layers of dark blue feathers that were trimmed short, and the tail feathers were kept long to keep the body balanced.
The cockscomb was also trimmed, leaving a length shorter than a nail. This was done to prevent other cockerels from having the opportunity to attack.
A cockerel that was trained to cockfight should be full of energy, have razor-sharp eyes, and have an aggressive manner. However, the cockerel in front of Lu Xiao Shu was different.
This cockerel was sluggishly standing inside the cage. It looked like it was in low spirits as its eyes were dull. The cockerel lazily glanced at the people around it with its lackluster little eyes and remained still.
“What’s wrong with it? It’s not aggressive? Look, he’s not even moving! Is it hungry?” Lu Xiao Shu asked.
Lin Fang was going to praise this cockerel to Lu Xiao Shu, however, she was clearly questioning whether this cockerel could win the cockfight. He was frustrated as he had a hard time finding even a cockfighting cockerel.
He immediately clarified, “This cockerel had its meal, don’t feed it anymore. Well, a cockfighting cockerel looks just like this, haven’t you heard of the term ‘be dumb as a wooden chicken’? This is the highest state of a cockerel, look, doesn’t our cockerel look just like it? It’ll remain calm even if anything happens. Think about it, what else will this cockerel be afraid of?”
“Is there really such a saying?” Lu Xiao Shu widened her eyes in suspicion.
She had never played this type of ancient gambling game in her previous life before, so she did not understand the concept.
“Of course!” Lin Fang was pleased when she believed him, his confidence amped up, and said, “I had a hard time finding this King of Cockfighting. You’ll wait and see, this cockerel will definitely win first place!”
Lu Qi had already turned away to secretly snicker as he was hearing Lin Fang’s fallacies.
“Really? That’s great! I’m looking forward to it to perform its capabilities!” Lu Xiao Shu clapped and beamed radiantly.
“Hehe, don’t worry!” Lin Fang was full of confidence.
Xiao Xue and Xiao Yu came over to have a look at the cockerel. Xiao Yu was skeptical about the cockerel, she couldn’t hold in and asked Lu Xiao Shu, “Win the first place? Is he really that incredible? Why does the cockerel look like it hasn’t even woke up? Ah, it’s strange that it is drooping down its head, this cage is so small that it can’t even raise its head!”
Lu Xiao Shu had a look. Indeed…
She pitied the cockerel and looked at Lin Fang, “That’s true! Look, the cage is too small, poor little cockerel!”
Lin Fang also noticed and grumbled, “It’s all because of Cricket, that stupid servant! I ordered him to find a cage to fit the cockerel, but look what he found! I’ll teach him a lesson when I get the chance!”
Cricket came in just in time, and Lin Fang interrogated him with a sullen face.
Cricket opened his mouth but stopped when he noticed the cage. “Ah!” He patted his head and apologized, “It was my fault! Young Master, don’t be angry, I’ll go get a tall and large cage now!”
“Go, now! Let it adjust to its best state! If he doesn’t win first place today, you, hmph!”
“I’ll go now!” Cricket covered his head and dashed out.
Cricket mumbled, “Isn’t this what you ordered earlier, you said you wanted a small cage to stay low-profile, but now you’re blaming me…”
Lin Fang noticed the waiters were serving breakfast, he smiled and asked them to start their meal.
Once they finished their breakfast, Cricket came with a boxy tall cage from nowhere. He moved the cockerel into the new cage, and the cockerel could stand taller and more comfortable than before. Lin Fang glared at Cricket with condemnation, and thought: Why doesn’t he use his brain when he is working!
The show was about to start, everyone went downstairs cheerfully and went towards the cockfighting pit.
At that moment, the cockfighting pit was surrounded with countless teenagers and idlers. If it wasn’t for Lin Fang, they could not even get close to the pit.
They had to queue up before cockfighting. Lin Fang ordered Cricket to take a number, and their cockerel was the twelfth to compete.
The rule of the competition is to have two cockerels per group in a knockout tournament until the final champion was chosen.
Those which failed to pass the first round of preliminary competition will not be eligible to enter the next round.
The rules were fair and square, and the cockfighting owners had no objections.
“Dang, dang, dang,” As the gongs rang, the emcee hosted the opening ceremony at the top of his lungs. The crowd were restless and could hardly wait for the show to start. He chuckled and stopped his speech. “Gong!” He hit the gong and announced the start of the game.
Every group would only participate one round in the first preliminary stage until the final pair was decided. The pair would compete for three rounds for the championship.
The competition went smoothly, and it was time for Lu Xiao Shu’s cockerel to compete in the sixth round.
The cockfighting competition was bustling and exciting. As soon as the two cockerels entered the pit after being cheered by their owners, the two cockerels maliciously started to attack each other. The fighting scene was nothing less than a sword fight of two knights. The leaps, moves, turns and shifts were spectacular!
Their menacing looks were fully displayed.
Almost all of the spectators were young men. Each and every one of them had high-spirits and boiling passion. The crowd burst into an uproar with endless cheering and screaming that amped up the atmosphere to an extreme level.
