Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 295: Setting a Trap for Dogs (2nd Update)

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Without a doubt, the dead rat was finished off by the crow in the tree.

At that moment, Feng Jun found it somewhat amusing. Originally, he had planned to get rid of the crow, but seeing how tactful it was—not only did it refrain from eating yesterday’s rat, but it also understood to exterminate the rat to please him—he found he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

It’s said that creatures with spirit are likable, and indeed it seemed to be the case.

He had been pondering whether to get a cat to prevent a mouse plague in the neighborhood, but the crow had taken care of the matter.

And in these times, whether cats can still catch mice is also debatable; isn’t it more convenient to feed them cat food? Plus it seems classier.

However, he didn’t want this crow to go around catching mice and then dropping them in his yard.

So, he picked up the dead rat and walked around the yard. Then he lifted the rat and shook it at the crow.

The crow tilted its head to look at him but made no sound.

Feng Jun wasn’t sure if it understood, so he pointed outside the yard, then pointed at the crow and mimed a few times with his mouth—catch them outside the yard, and you can eat them yourself.

Then he turned around and hung the rat under the eaves. He didn’t plan on hanging a string of rats there, but this particular rat’s death was especially gruesome, which he was sure made its corpse a more potent deterrent.

Just after he had hung up the dead rat, a chorus of barking erupted from outside the yard.

Feng Jun looked to the side and saw a woman in her forties passing by the front of the villa with a dog.

This dog was one of the ones that had lain in front of the villa’s gate that day. It was said to be a Border Collie, a very intelligent breed.

The owner of the dog was a minor executive at the Funiu Province Mobile Company. He purchased a house from the Management Committee, and his wife worked at an insurance company, also holding a minor executive position.

The woman leading the dog was the one from the insurance company.

The day the Management Committee captured the dog, she went to them and made a scene, claiming her dog was a pedigree worth a substantial amount of money, and complained about the brutality of the capture; it not only injured the dog but also terrified it.

Upon hearing this, the Management Committee, recognizing that she wasn’t one of the notoriously difficult residents, didn’t indulge her: Such an expensive dog should be tethered by you; you’re lucky we caught it for you, otherwise someone might have killed and eaten it by now.

Affronted by their response, the woman demanded compensation, threatening that they should be careful of poor mobile signals in the resort area.

Such threats sounded rather low-grade; nowadays, the service industry goes out of its way to please customers, and even monopolistic enterprises, formerly known as electricity bullies, shudder at the word “complaint.”

But this still depends on the context. Peach Blossom Valley is a resort area that values visitor experience.

The electricity bullies dare not act rashly, and when Peach Blossom Valley is pushed, they could generate their own electricity; even the Water Tyrant behaves because drilling a well is not that expensive.

But… if there were no mobile signal from Funiu, surely Peach Blossom Valley couldn’t just set up its own network, could it?

If the mobile signal were poor, it might lead to a loss of regular customers living in Peach Blossom Valley.

But how few are the local residents compared to the number of tourists who visit each year?

Visitors who come for tourism won’t switch to other operators just because Funiu’s signal is poor; tourism is just a matter of one or two days after all.

What they’re more likely to choose is—avoid Peach Blossom Valley if the signal is bad, why go there?

And if someone points this out in a travel guide, then the issue could become even more problematic.

So, regardless of how accommodating the mobile company is when acquiring customers elsewhere, when it comes to the local Management Committee of Peach Blossom Valley, the mobile company takes a strong stance—I am the hardware you need for your tourism development; you need me to cooperate to raise your hardware standards.

Of course, unless absolutely necessary, everyone still prefers a win-win situation; the mobile company doesn’t want to lose a single customer.

Property management was somewhat troubled when they heard this, so they said, your dog always lying at someone’s front door is not right; it’s the request of the homeowner here.

The woman turned around to find the homeowner to complain.

As it happened, Xu Leigang was in the villa, and he was not one to take such things lying down. He immediately declared, picking on you is no act of manhood; your husband works for the mobile company? Come on, tell me who he is!

The woman dared to confront the Committee’s property management, but when faced with ordinary people, she really didn’t have the confidence, especially since Fatty Xu had a bit of a gangster aura and a bit of a spoilt air. She could feel this person was not easy to provoke.

So she threw down a couple of harsh words and left, and later, probably having learned of Xu Leigang’s identity, she didn’t come back to pick a fight.

But these past few days, she’d been leading her dog past this place daily, more than once, and on one occasion, when Li Xiaobin happened to come out, she even released the dog leash, scaring Li Xiaobin to the point of trembling all over and shrieking for his life.

At that time, Wang Haifeng was there. He pushed open the villa gate and stepped out, prompting the woman to hurriedly drag her dog back.

Coach Wang also had a dog at home, but he prided himself on his quality—he always cared about his image.

So he declared on the spot that if he saw her dog unleashed again, he would kill it outright.

All in all, the dog was quite spirited and hadn’t done anything too wrong, but its owner was just too… bad for the dog.

Feng Jun looked at the dog and then up at the crow in the tree. Both were spirited animals, yet why was there such a difference?

The crow’s intelligence wasn’t limited to just this.

Not long after Feng Jun had hung up the second rat, just about two hours or so, there came a “caw caw” from outside.

“`

The villa’s renovation was genuinely done with solid materials, and the soundproofing was quite impressive. Nevertheless, he still heard the noise.

As he stepped outside the front door, he burst into laughter. As it turned out, the crow had caught another mouse and placed it on a branch of the poplar tree, stretching its neck and calling incessantly towards the house.

Only when it saw him emerge did it cease its cawing. Lifting one claw, the crow patted the mouse on the branch, looking quite pleased with itself.

This mouse was small, about half the size of the other two mice. Perhaps because it was easier to catch, it was pecked pitifully full of holes.

After patting the mouse, the crow made no further movement but cocked its head to the side, continuing to watch Feng Jun.

“Is it waiting for my command?” Feng Jun was somewhat taken aback. “Has this crow really become spirit-touched? But we’re well past the era of legends.”

He blinked, deciding that he should no longer mimic chewing motions. The crow’s intelligence was limited after all, and if it mistook his gesture as a desire to eat the mouse and tossed it over from the tree, that would be terrible.

After some thought, he went back inside to get an apple and started eating it voraciously. Then he waved a hand at the crow.

The crow was indeed smart. Seeing Feng Jun eat an apple, it held the dead mouse down on the branch, tilted its head to ponder for a bit, then bent down to peck and eat.

As mentioned earlier, Feng Jun wasn’t particularly fond of pets, but if he had to choose one, he’d probably go for… tropical fish?

Yet, this crow had truly piqued his interest. He even felt a sudden urge to take out the Spirit Stone to see how it would react.

But fortunately, Feng Jun was usually quite rational. The priorities of animals should come after those of humans.

This happened around noon. In the afternoon, after withdrawing from the stock market, Feng Jun received a WeChat message from Feng Jing.

Feng Jing: Are we on for the East Three Provinces? [Question]

Luo Hua: [Sweating] I’ve been quite tied up recently and might not make it. When do you plan to go?

Feng Jing: Little Year, the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month. If we go any later, we won’t make it back in time for the New Year.

Luo Hua: Then let’s wait a bit longer. I’ll contact you when it’s time.

Feng Jing: Still waiting? Are you sure you can get a ticket? Or… do you not realize there’s a massive migration called the Spring Festival travel rush?

Luo Hua: [Sweating] I really can’t confirm right now… Oh, by the way, I’m now promoted to the rank of God of Stock. [Picking nose]

Feng Jing: [Question] Didn’t you empty your portfolio? What stocks are you dealing with lately?

Luo Hua: It’s… complicated. How about dinner tonight?

Feng Jing: I have classes this evening. I’ve been overloaded with teaching to prepare for the trip. Just say it over WeChat.

Luo Hua: That won’t do. The secrets of a God of Stock can’t just be casually shared. [Proud] Haven’t you heard? ‘To learn, one must sleep with the master.’ [Smirk]

Feng Jing: …

Feng Jing: Not only are you good looking, but you think highly of yourself too. I’m not interested in young men. [Proud]

Of course, Feng Jun would reply with a standard answer: I’m not small; I’m quite big.

Feng Jing ignored his flirtation and after a pause, sent another message, “How about lunch tomorrow? It’s my treat.”

Even through his mobile phone, Feng Jun could sense her hesitation. He was very certain that Feng Jing had feelings for him.

So he seized the opportunity and insisted, “Only dinner will do, not lunch. [Struggle]”

Feng Jing fell silent for a while before replying, “Afternoon tea then, or forget it.”

Feng Jun didn’t immediately agree but responded, “We’ll get in touch when the time comes.”

Switching to the stock market app, his 2.5 million yuan in the market had now grown to over 3.3 million, equivalent to three consecutive daily limit-ups. And he had achieved this in just over ten days.

Had it not been for the worry of drawing too much attention, he could have earned even more.

Just then, his mobile phone rang. The name “Zhang Weihong” flashed on the screen.

Sister Hong’s call was to inform him that in a couple of days there would be a jewelry and jade industry meeting in the province. Li Dafu, one of the organizers, had invited her and hoped Feng Jun would also attend.

Feng Jun said he was too busy, that her presence was enough.

Zhang Weihong hung up, curling her lips in frustration. “This guy really treats me like a nanny.”

Zhang Caixin was absorbed in her mobile phone, engrossed in the beauty tutorials of Fierce Red, and without looking up said, “Didn’t you tell him about the national meeting in a few days?”

At the mention, Zhang Weihong blushed slightly. The national meeting wasn’t being held in Funiu, and if she accompanied him, there would be too many opportunities for interaction.

If she used this meeting as a topic of conversation, wouldn’t it imply a hint? That shameless guy…

After watching the tutorial for a while and noticing her sister didn’t respond, Zhang Caixin looked up, “I find it strange. Feng Jun is quite handsome, tall and well-built…”

She stopped mid-sentence, realizing her sister’s hesitation, and stood up decisively, “If you like him, just say it. Why be so coy with me? I’ll go find him for you…”