CHAPTER 976: CHAPTER 564: PASSAGE OF TIME (PART 2)

...

After dinner.

Miao Zhe, Hu Jun, Zhang Chi, Yan Tianpeng, all four gathered in the empty classroom of Class 8.

Hu Jun looked at the two and said, "Agreed, whether it works or not, each person gets 50, travel expenses on your own!"

Yan Tianpeng rubbed his hands, his bear-like body bent down: "Don’t worry, don’t worry!"

Hu Jun was satisfied with this.

Last week, after he and Miao Zhe did a job, tasted the sweetness, and became addicted to this money-making method. Miao Zhe later found two more lost pet posts.

There was one where they searched for a pet for an afternoon, but didn’t find it, so they had to give up.

In the following case, they did find the pet, but when the owner saw that they were students, they backed out. Instead of the originally agreed 1000, they only gave 50.

Miao Zhe was furious at the time, but luckily Hu Jun stopped him, otherwise, it would have been ugly.

However, Hu Jun couldn’t swallow this grievance, ’Is it your right to pocket my money too?’

He lured the owner’s dog away from home, and then the owner put up the lost pet notice again.

Today, Hu Jun hired two thugs to demand the debt face to face.

At a command, the four set out.

On the bus.

Due to the Evergreen Liquid-sponsored marathon set to start tomorrow, there were noticeably more passengers today than usual.

There were even passengers on the bus talking about the marathon.

Yan Tianpeng: "Chi Zi, your luck is really good!"

Zhang Chi laughed mischievously: "It sure is!"

After the prize announcement for the Evergreen Liquid last week, countless people were fighting to get on the marathon list, but Zhang Chi drew it in one go, his luck was heaven-defying.

Now he’s just waiting for the marathon to start tomorrow, planning to take a place!

Miao Zhe sat in a slightly back seat, not participating in their conversation, he opened a bottle of purified water and took a sip.

Hu Jun, on the other hand, opened his thermos cup and drank a sip of warm goji tea: "Zhe Zi, it’s getting colder, and there will be more situations like this, I suggest you buy a thermos cup, drink some warm water, it’s more comfortable and saves you money!"

"Right, each bottle of purified water costs you a dollar, it adds up."

Miao Zhe calculated, "Indeed, I’ll order a thermos cup online later."

Hu Jun felt warm inside, Miao Zhe seemed hard to approach on the surface, but once you got to know him, he was quite easy to get along with and quite persuasive.

Hu Jun had always wanted to find someone to inherit his skills, initially choosing Cui Yu, but ever since Cui Yu competed in magic with Jiang Ning and swallowed the big spider.

Cui Yu gave up learning the craft, leaving Hu Jun very disappointed.

Over twenty minutes later, the bus stopped at the Snowflake Park West station, and the four got off.

Hu Jun: "Let’s go, retrieve my teddy dog."

Miao Zhe took another sip of purified water, Hu Jun felt parched watching this, wanting to moisten his throat too, as he patted his hands, he exclaimed:

"Damn, I left my thermos on the bus!"

He watched helplessly as the distant bus drove onto Snowflake Lake Bridge...

...

Hu Jun overcame his sadness, first retrieving the teddy dog from the park, and then using Zhang Chi’s phone to call the pet owner.

Then they chose a secluded spot to wait.

Zhang Chi, holding the teddy dog, and the robust Yan Tianpeng went to the agreed-upon location to negotiate with the pet owner.

Miao Zhe looked at their backs, worried, and said, "Will it work?"

The day before yesterday, after he and Hu Jun found the teddy dog, they were really happy, which meant the 1000 reward was in hand.

The pet owner was a middle-aged couple, who, when speaking, were aggressive and threatened in every possible way.

Especially that plump middle-aged woman, her nostrils flaring, looking down on them, "Don’t you know? Not returning a pet is illegal, believe it or not, I’ll call the police to arrest you?"

In the end, having no other choice, Hu Jun returned the dog to them.

Before leaving, that middle-aged woman even arrogantly shouted, "Behave yourself, stop thinking about crooked ways."

Miao Zhe was very upset about this, and thinking about it now, he still feels deeply unjust.

If Hu Jun hadn’t dragged him away, Miao Zhe might have had a confrontation with them.

Fortunately, Hu Jun has great skills, allowing their dog to go missing again.

This time, with Zhang Chi taking charge, Hu Jun wasn’t worried at all. He said quite steadily:

"Leave professional matters to professionals and keep calm."

He added in his heart: "It takes one rascal to deal with another."

Soon, a pitiful dog’s howl came from afar. Miao Zhe exclaimed, "Did the negotiations break down?"

Hu Jun: "Keep it steady, don’t panic."

Then came Zhang Chi’s furious roar: "Damn it, see my ID, I’m underage, believe it or not, I’ll smash it to death!"

Miao Zhe’s eyelid twitched: "They won’t start fighting, right?"

Hu Jun: "Don’t panic!"

Five minutes later.

Zhang Chi and Yan Tianpeng returned, both with big smiles and a spring in their step.

Yan Tianpeng took out a wad of cash and slapped it into Hu Jun’s hand: "Take it!"

Hu Jun counted: "Why are there only 7 bills?"

Yan Tianpeng opened his mouth to explain, but Hu Jun said, "We agreed on a 1000 fee, don’t you want to cooperate next time?"

With these words, Yan Tianpeng put on a smile again and fumbled in his pocket: "Oh, damn, my pocket is too tight, I must have missed 3 bills."

Now it’s complete.

Yan Tianpeng extended his hand and said, "Look at my hand, there’s even a red mark, scratched by that woman, add a little more to the reward!"

In the end, Hu Jun gave each of them 100 bucks.

"The bus is here, you guys go on!" Yan Tianpeng pointed at the bus.

After Hu Jun and Miao Zhe got on the bus, Yan Tianpeng and Zhang Chi didn’t.

As the bus drove away, Yan Tianpeng pulled out another wad of cash:

"Chi Zi, look at the red mark on my hand. If I didn’t say it was from a dog scratch, they definitely wouldn’t have agreed to give another 1000. I’m telling you, I should get 800!"

Zhang Chi: "Screw you, I even threatened them that if they didn’t pay, I’d kill the wild dog, my throat is hoarse from shouting!"

Finally, Zhang Chi got 500, plus the reward from Hu Jun, making a total of 600 bucks.

Zhang Chi: "Damn it, I must hang out with Hu Jun more in the future!"

...

Before afternoon class.

Xue Yuantong told Jiang Ning that on the west side of the bungalow, a new greenhouse was built for growing strawberries.

Boss Yang, relying on his principled nature and his father-in-law’s connections, made a successful business out of a small rural tourism spot, attracting visitors every day.

He didn’t stop there and opened a strawberry garden to expand the business environment.

"Will we have strawberries to eat in the future?" Xue Yuantong looked forward to it.

Winter strawberries are especially delicious, the only downside is they’re too expensive, and Xue Yuantong couldn’t afford them in previous years.

Jiang Ning: "Yes."

He also let Shao Shuangshuang pick the finest varieties, and he planted a batch on Hu Qi Mountain, ready for harvest this winter.

The desk behind, Chen Siyu, joined the conversation, claiming that she and her sister love picking strawberries in the greenhouse, filling a big basket every time, even breaking even!

Xue Yuantong generously expressed the intention to invite them to pick strawberries in winter.

Jiang Ning listened in on the side.

Since Hu Qi Mountain was contracted by the Evergreen Liquid, it has been on lockdown, with anyone forbidden from climbing.

The road at the foot of the mountain sees many security members patrolling day and night. Furthermore, he set up a Spiritual Energy Array using Hu Qi Mountain as the base to ensure foolproof security.

After this period of development, the mountain has many spirit fields, and even though the temperature drops to minus 10 degrees in winter, Hu Qi Mountain remains spring-like all year round, with various herbs blossoming and thriving.

He not only uses Hu Qi Mountain as a spirit grass cultivation base but also plans to build some leisure facilities.

Recently, Jiang Ning has been using spells to survey underground thermal energy in an attempt to find sufficient geothermal water resources, which could allow him to create a hot spring well.

Anyway, the flying sword he refined is gathering dust, he might as well use it for drilling and honing skills.

Even if Hu Qi Mountain has no geothermal water resources, he can still use arrays to generate hot springs. Once the hot springs are set up, Jiang Ning plans to build a private villa around it as the center.

Thinking of escaping the city’s hustle and bustle, being surrounded by mountains and forests, soaking in hot springs, and listening to birds chirping softly, it surely would be refreshing and would wipe away exhaustion.

With Xue Yuantong’s chattering voice lingering in his ears, Jiang Ning smiled, she must not have soaked in a hot spring before.

"When the time is right, I should show her."

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