frightfiction Chapter 437 The Surprise of the Little Beast Under the Car
Chapter 437 The Surprise of the Little Beast Under the Car
Li Ju'an went back inside and came out to take out a driver's license book from his pocket. It was a bright red surgical license book with a red background and yellow lettering, a large badge on top, and the words "Motor Vehicle Driver's License" written below. On the left was the driver's motto: "Take care of your vehicle, conserve fuel, drive carefully, and obey the rules." On the right was Li Ju'an's photo, with his name clearly written in black and white.
In the 80s, having a driver's license like this was something to be envied.
Driver Xiao Zhang opened his mouth in surprise, repeatedly checking the driver's license in Li Ju'an's hand. Genuine, absolutely genuine! Guaranteed authentic.
He looked at Li Ju'an in astonishment and said, "Mr. Li, you really know how to drive?"
He even changed his form of address from "that comrade" to "sir".
Li Ju'an laughed and said, "The roads are covered in snow in this heavy snow, and the towns haven't spread salt to melt the snow yet. You'll need to tie chains to your tires so they don't slip. Otherwise, the road down the mountain will be difficult to drive on later."
He went back inside and retrieved a thick iron chain. Originally, the chain had been bought along with a thinner one for eagle training. Now that the eagle was well-trained, only its feet needed to be chained. He fastened the thick chain to the rear tires, replacing it with a thinner one when the thicker one wasn't enough. He also fastened the thinner chains to the two front tires to prevent slippage.
Driver Xiao Zhang revved the engine twice and exclaimed in surprise, "It works! It really works! It really doesn't slip anymore!"
He gave Li Ju'an a thumbs-up repeatedly and said with a smile, "Mr. Li, it just so happens that there's a strange noise coming from my chassis. Could you help me check it out?"
Chen Xiangqian laughed and scolded him: "What's wrong with you, Brother Zhang? If you order Li Pao around like this, be careful that Li Pao tells my dad when we get back. The division commander will blame you for slacking off and doing nothing."
The driver, Xiao Zhang, scratched his head sheepishly and said, "We really can't figure it out. It's strange, the sound is odd, but not very loud. I asked a few of my colleagues to help, but they couldn't find anything either. We're really out of ideas."
Li Ju'an checked the handbrake of the Lada sedan. He placed bricks under the four tires to prevent them from shifting. In this heavy snow, on a mountain road with a slope, tires were most prone to slipping. If he happened to crawl under the car, he could easily be killed while repairing it.
After inspecting the paving stones, he grabbed the side bar of the vehicle, crawled inside with both legs, and took out his toolbox to inspect the chassis.
Chen Xiangqian was still fiddling with the driver, Xiao Zhang, asking about the car when Li Ju'an shouted from under the car, "Here you go. I'm fixing the car and you guys are just chatting away."
The driver, Xiao Zhang, was all smiles and fawning, bustling around helping Li Ju'an fetch snails and handing him his toolbox. Chen Xiangqian was even more obsequious, showering Li with flattering words and compliments.
"Li Pao is really something else. He can drive and fix cars. What girl wouldn't like him?"
While inspecting the items, Li Ju'an cursed, "Don't talk nonsense in front of me. Your sister-in-law is still listening in the house. Do you want my ears to be torn apart when I get back? You're up to no good and are just trying to get revenge on me."
Chen Xiangqian laughed heartily and said, "Nonsense. I was genuinely praising Li Pao for being awesome and tough. If I were a girl and had met Li Pao three or five years earlier, before my wife was even born, I might have begged him to date me."
Li Ju'an cursed, "You want me to be a kept man? I'm strong enough, I'm not suited to be a kept man. Go find that scumbag Lu Zhiqiang, he's weak-willed and likes to leech off women."
The group chatted and joked, discussing how Lu Zhiqiang and the young nurse from the fishing village of Huma River were doing.
"They're almost done. Haven't you seen that Lu Zhiqiang has stopped going to the mountains and is now rushing to the fishing village every day? We don't lack fish anymore. We're always getting grass carp, bass, mandarin fish, and whitebait. I heard that Lu Zhiqiang rolled up his sleeves and went with his future father-in-law to the frozen river to break the ice and bring them up."
Chen Xiangqian was taken aback and said, "Brother Lu is so amazing? I didn't realize that. He used to always slack off when he went mountain runs. He's always been lazy and cheating. When has he ever been serious and dedicated?"
"You don't know, because you're not Lu Zhiqiang's future father-in-law. He's been cleaning windows and shoveling snow for this girl, he's really hardworking. If you don't believe me, go ask Lu Jinyang. Even Lu Jinyang can't stand it anymore."
The group laughed so hard their eyes crinkled. The driver, Xiao Zhang, said, "That's for sure. I didn't have a house either. There are five brothers in my family, so how could they give me a house? I had to rely on myself for everything. It's fortunate that my wife's family didn't look down on me."
Chen Xiangqian said, "Your father-in-law doesn't look down on you, does he? It's all the result of your hard work. Just look at that window you cleaned for your father-in-law, how many times have you cleaned it? Count them."
The driver, Xiao Zhang, felt embarrassed and kept telling him not to mention it. He said the child was already in elementary school, so why bring up such old, trivial matters? Anyway, he hadn't cleaned the windows since getting married.
Chen Xiangqian jumped up, pointed at him and shouted, "See that! Brother Li, look at him, his true colors are showing! He's married now and doesn't bother cleaning his mother-in-law's windows anymore!"
Amidst laughter and chatter, Li Ju'an crawled out from under the car, carrying a nest of warm, cuddly babies in his hands.
He said, "Brother Zhang, the noise you heard was coming from this thing."
Driver Xiao Zhang stared blankly at the three furry little animals; he never expected them to be wild animals. No wonder he heard strange noises while driving, but couldn't hear them anymore after he parked and crawled under the chassis.
"What is this?"
How long have you been hearing that sound?
"It's been two or three days."
"Where did you hear that for the first time?"
"It seems to be in your village. Mr. Chen often comes to this area. I parked my car and went to pee, and one day I suddenly heard a noise."
Li Ju'an nodded, "That's it."
The small feline animal, which looked like a kitten, was making weak, faint cries that sounded rather cute. However, the little animal appeared dehydrated and weak, and being a newborn, its eyes were not yet open and it could not lift its head.
"Brother Li, what is this thing? A lynx? Wow, it really looks like a cat."
Chen Xiangqian teased the three furry little animals, growing more and more fond of them, and even wanted to take them home to raise. Li Ju'an scolded him: "You keep talking about lynxes, but you don't seem afraid at all. How big would a lynx be when it grows up? It could take on and kill an adult woman by itself. You're asking for a beating, you need to be disciplined. I'll call the division commander to beat you up."
Chen Xiangqian stuck out his tongue and said, "It might not really be a lynx. Who could tell when they were kids? Besides, if there were lynxes around your village, would it still be alive today? So many hunters would be eyeing it, wanting to hunt it."
Li Ju'an nodded, "That makes sense."
Lynxes are plentiful in Northeast China, all of them wild Eurasian lynx. The Eurasian lynx is the largest of the four lynx species, with adults reaching 80 to 130 centimeters in length. An adult lynx could easily take on and kill an adult woman. Keeping one as a pet would truly be like raising a tiger to cause trouble.
But Li Ju'an looked at it, hesitated for a moment, and said, "It's not a lynx cub."