Without a word, Hans jumped in his seat, started the truck up, shifted and furiously gassed the pedal. The truck rocketed ahead like some raging beast.
In her car, the elegant cop was flustered for a moment. She apparently did not know what had given her away; she had been trying to sneak up on them. She reacted quickly, however, flooring the gas until she eventually caught up to them.
Seeing the cop car catching up from his rear-view mirror, Hans grew angry and frustrated at their bad luck. "F*ck this damned bloodhound cop! Why is she chasing us? Has she fallen for me?"
"Are we in deep trouble this time? How about we call a lawyer? Let's not run anymore. American cops have permission to shoot in this situation, right?" Li Du asked nervously.
Hans skilfully steered and switched gears, and the car drifted, entering a side road. After hearing Li Du's words, he scoffed. "Chill. With the cars going so fast, how do you expect her to shoot? This is under my control, you just relax. I know their rules. So long as we're not caught red-handed, cops don't care about these small matters."
Li Du felt slightly calmer. "Then drive faster, don't get us caught."
"Sit tight," Hans replied confidently. "Let me show you the power of Flagstaff's God of the Streets!" At the end of his sentence a powerful force pushed them back. Li Du watched the trees at the side of the road rapidly disappear from his vision as the truck furiously accelerated. He didn't have the chance to put on his seatbelt because he needed to hold onto Ah Meow, who crashed into his chest once they started speeding up.
Hans accelerated even more. "What a lady! Her skills are pretty good if she can catch up with my Ford. But the best is yet to come. Let's see what else you can do!"
Li Du clutched Ah Meow in his lap and exclaimed worriedly, "Are you sure you can do this? Let's just stop running. It's a Toyota Prado behind us, and ours is just a pickup. We're not on the same level!"
"Ha! What determines the speed of the car was never the car itself, but the driver's determination and courage! Hallelujah!" After this strange cry, Hans furiously steered and braked. Ah Meow, who had just managed to stand without Li Du's help, was once again flung forward. The cat collided with the windshield, hissing in pain.
Li Du hastily tried to grab Ah Meow back. Ever since starting the chase he had been distracted with fear and excitement, and did not make the bug burrow into his skin. When trying to grab Ah Meow, the bug fell onto Ah Meow's head.
Poor Ah Meow was shocked! With the vehicle jolting, speeding, and braking, it was tossed around so terribly that it could not stop crying in pain. It looked out of the window for a moment. Seeing the trees and garbage cans flying past so quickly, the ocelot got even more fearful, crying and meowing uncontrollably.
Li Du felt heartbroken. He hugged and held Ah Meow's head in an embrace, softly consoling the cat. "It's alright, it's alright. Ah Meow is very brave, you are safe in Daddy's arms, you don't have to fear anything." Ah Meow nuzzled into his embrace, seemingly trying to burrow into his body.
At this moment, the bug that had been quietly sitting on Ah Meow's head suddenly twitched, looked down as if it was about to burrow into his palm, and borrowed into Ah Meow's skull.
At this sight, Li Du was stunned!
He always considered himself the sole host for the bug, as it had only burrowed into his palm. He never expected it to be able to enter the head of a cat! What was going on?
Soon the bug came out of Ah Meow's head, and for a second it appeared to look differently to Li Du. The bug then quickly jumped onto his palm and once again burrowed in.
Li Du had a strange feeling once it was in his palm, almost as if he seemed to have some connection with Ah Meow. It was an odd feeling, leaving him in a daze. He unconsciously looked down at Ah Meow, and the ocelot also raised its head to stare at Li Du. In that crystal-clear pair of eyes, some kind of powerful recognition seemed to be growing.
As the truck was still darting in the streets, Li Du could not understand what this feeling was. But he faintly remembered that the bug had some sort of change after coming out of Ah Meow's head. He called out the bug to take another look. What he saw surprised him; it had grown a pair of translucent wings!
The wings were as thin as a cicada's, and the shape was similar, but strange lines were on it. Li Du tried to study these lines but could not make anything useful out of them. They were not symmetrical, and he felt that they could be two Chinese characters. Unfortunately, he did not know what they were, but they seemed familiar.
After some thought, he understood what appeared to be going on. There were lines on the legs of the bug as well. He studied closely and confirmed this; the lines were the same for both the legs and the wings!
By focusing his consciousness on the bug, Li Du obtained the vision of the small creature. Swallowing his saliva, he tried to give a command to move its wings and fly.
Very successfully, the pair of wings vibrated, and the bug hovered up.
Just when he wanted to test how fast the bug could fly, the pickup truck braked abruptly. As his consciousness was still in the bug, his body did not react properly, and he crashed onto the windshield while hugging Ah Meow.
Konk! A dull noise was heard when he hit the glass and Li Du cussed at the sharp pain he felt.
With his consciousness back, he saw that the bug was still hovering in the air, its pair of eyes shining a curious light as it stared at Li Du.
He waved his hand and recalled the bug. It transformed into a phantom-like state and returned onto his palm with a buzz sound. With a twist of its body, it tunnelled back into his skin like it always had before.
All of this seemed to Li Du a dream, and he could make no sense of what had happened. The bug seemed to have evolved, growing a pair of wings that could let it fly. This must have been connected to when it burrowed into Ah Meow's head. But in the past, when the both of them had been together, the bug hadn't burrowed into the cat—so why did it choose to do it now? And why did it grow a pair of wings after doing this?
All of these questions swirled in his mind, but he could think of no answers.
This at least seemed to be a good thing. The bug would not have to crawl around the storage units anymore. With flight, scanning for valuable items would take much less time.
While Li Du was lost in his thoughts, Hans looked over at him worryingly, asking, "Hey, buddy, did you hit your head?"
"Why did you brake so suddenly?" Li Du asked angrily. "Why aren't we running?"
Hans gleefully pointed to the rear window. "The Battle of Dunkirk has already ended. Look! That damn bitch was dragged to hell by the Big Fox!"
He had to admit that Hans's driving skills were truly amazing. Looking back, there was really no sight of the cop car anymore.
Between taking care of the trash, escaping the cops, and even obtaining real silverware and a set of brand new vintage furniture, this auction trip had been extremely successful. Besides this, profiting from his misfortune under the chase of the police, his bug for some mysterious reason had evolved. This was an unexpected bonus.
After driving home they had another few days of rest.
To be more specific, Li Du got a break while Hans got busy. He needed to find a way to sell the silverware and furniture, and also find out about the next auction.
When they got home, Li Du planned on going straight to bed. He’d experimented with flying the bug for quite some time and was exhausted again.
Hans tapped his shoulder before he could go to his room and smiled suggestively. "Bro, it’s fun playing with your own hands, isn’t it? I suggest that you go get a real girl. You won’t get addicted to the real thing, but you can get addicted to just doing it to yourself."
Without missing a beat, Li Du gave him the middle finger. "Ah Meow," he said to the ocelot. "Scratch him!"
Hans laughed heartily. "No way. Me and Ah Meow- sh*t!"
Without hesitation, Ah Meow hobbled over and swung its claws at Hans, tearing his track pants to shreds and leaving some bloody scratches on his skin.
It hurt like hell, and Hans rushed to get some disinfectant to clean his wounds, stunned and enraged. "Ah Meow, how could you? Who bought tuna for you? Who bought salmon for you? Who bought shark meat for you? You ungrateful creature!"
Ah Meow looked at Li Du. "Meoooww! Meoooww!" Its eyes remained clear and bright, and within them was a hint of humanlike wisdom that had not been there before.
Hans didn’t seem to notice it. Li Du stared at the cat and wondered. The bug had burrowed into Ah Meow’s head and grown wings. It looked as if Ah Meow had undergone some changes too.
He had guessed correctly. After bringing Ah Meow into the room, he decided to try ordering the cat again. "Go close the door."
Ah Meow stared at him, appearing confused. He pointed at the door and gestured as if closing something. Instantly, Ah Meow hobbled back over and pounced on the door so that it shut.
"Go, Ah Meow, bring that book for me. No, not the National Geographic. Not that astrology book either. Yes, that’s the one," Li Du chuckled. "Playboy magazine."
Getting the book, Li Du stretched onto his bed like some lord and waved his hand. "Go, Ah Meow, get me a glass of water."
Ah Meow looked at the water canteen and blinked. It sat down, not following the order.
Li Du also felt that this particular instruction was too difficult. He removed his shoes and pointed towards the shoe rack. "Ah Meow, put this on the shoe rack."
Ah Meow ran over. Just as Li Du was feeling excited about owning such an intelligent pet, Ah Meow picked up the shoes with its teeth and jumped onto the windowsill, flinging them out without hesitation.
Seeing this, he screamed. "Sh*t, my Nike shoes!"
Under that window was a drain!
...
Having slept soundly until daybreak, Li Du went outside to exercise and saw a rare sight. Hans was not just awake, but squatting on the lawn by the doorway, examining a cabinet.
Seeing this, Li Du greeted him. "Morning, mate! You’re working hard today. Is this the first time you’re seeing the Flagstaff sunrise this year?
Hans yawned, saying, "Shit, don’t insult me. I often leave the clubs to go home at half past six in the morning. I’ve seen many sunrises at this time of the day!"
Li Du just stared at him.
He eventually left for a run while Hans turned in for the morning.
Americans liked to exercise, and the morning runners ranged from children in their early teens to the elderly in their sixties or seventies. Of course, there were more young men and women out than there were older people.
Regrettably, some American girls didn’t put on makeup when they exercised, and Li Du really wasn’t interested in looking at their sweaty faces. When they had pale skin, any freckles or spots that appeared on their faces were quite obvious without the use of foundation. Their large skin pores were also rather visible.
Li Du pictured Dr. Sophie. He remembered that the lady doctor’s skin was very fine and smooth. He thought of the doctor’s curvy, S shaped frame and her gentle manner which contrasted with her sexy figure. Suddenly he grew hard.
He was in public, so this made him extremely embarrassed. Slapping his thigh, Li Du scolded "it" silently. I was only thinking. What are you getting excited about? Catching fire in some cotton like this, you’re hopeless!
Later in the day, after Li Du had returned to the house and showered, Hans woke up groggily from his sleep. It was the afternoon, and the first thing he did was grab a bottle of beer.
Li Du watched with concern. "Mate, this can’t go on. Late nights, girls, getting drunk and binge eating; this is all gonna shorten your lifespan."
Hans, taking a drag on the cigarette he was holding, spat out a mouthful of smoke. "I once knew a guy called Felix Fox. He never smoked a single cigarette or drank any alcohol his entire life. He probably never touched the hand of a girl his age, other than his wife’s, either. He ate on time, exercised properly, all of that stuff; but how old did he live to?"
Instinctively, Li Du asked, "How old?"
"Ha! Forty-two years old." Hans blew out a smoke ring.
Li Du pondered this for a moment before realizing something. "F*ck!" He exclaimed. "Isn’t Felix Fox your father? He passed away in a car accident!"
"Yeah, but he lived a very healthy life and died early anyways. So, life is short, my friend. Enjoy it while you can."
Li Du spread his hands. "I’ve got nothing to say to that. Let’s talk about how to handle this stuff instead."
Hans chucked the cigarette butt. "Fine. The silverware is easy. We just need to find a high-end general store to sell it to. But it’s a little more complicated for this furniture set. See that table over there? It doesn’t match the other furniture. We have to do our best to make it look like they’re all part of the same set."
The set of Neoclassical furniture had been laid out on the lawn. The armchairs, side tables and the long table had been placed together. Li Du studied them and felt that they all belonged to the same set. He said this aloud.
Hans shook his head. "No, the sofas and the side tables are from the same set. They’re of the Neoclassical style. The long table isn’t. It’s a European Classical piece of furniture.
"What’s the difference?" Li Du asked, mystified. "I can’t see any."
Hans smiled. "Of course. The European Classical style is one of the most prominent furniture styles in the world. It’s a continuation of the characteristics of the European royalty’s furniture from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Each detail is as fine as can be, pursuing a sense of luxury and elegance even in formality. This is an expression of European heritage and culture."
"Then what about Neoclassical European furniture?" asked Li Du.
"The Neoclassical European style did away with the overly elaborate details and décor, simplifying the lines. The combination of the Classical style, higher value on individuality, and modernization has led to a great deal of variety in furniture of the Neoclassical style."
Hearing his explanation, Li Du examined the set of furniture carefully, then shook his head. "I still can’t see it."
Hans pointed at the side tables which complemented the sofas. "Look. This belongs to the Neoclassical style. Even though it has the curved lines and surfaces of the classical style, it lacks the carvings characteristic to that period. It also uses the straight lines of modern furniture."
Li Du looked at the long table again, compared it to the side tables, and realized that there actually were more engravings on it. Carved with roses, bouquets and ribbons, cup shaped rosettes and the like; it was hard to notice at first, but it did look more grand.
The difference between prices of full sets of furniture and separate pieces was rather significant. After realizing the difference, Li Du sighed. "I made a mistake. Big Fox, in this aspect, you really are the boss."
Hans laughed, satisfied by the compliment. "Of course! Let me show you more of that. I’m gonna make this all into one set. At least, they will look as if they belong to the same set."
"How do you do that?"
Hans winked. "Just a little bit of handiwork."