HLM – Chapter 79 An Unwelcome Guest

Wang Bo had no choice but to play along. He cried out in alarm, “Dale, what’s going on?!”

The little loli looked even more terrified. She waved her small hands frantically and shouted, “Brother, it’s not Dale’s fault! Dale only put in a medicine that makes your tummy go poop, not the sleepy-sleepy kind!”

“Sh*t!” The cowboy immediately stopped joking. He sprang up and stared at the little girl. “What did you say?! You’re messing with me, right?!”

Dale lowered her head and stared at her toes as if something fascinating was down there—even though there was nothing at all.

Eva stood up angrily, but Wang Bo quickly stopped her. “Don’t be upset. I don’t think Bowen’s in any real trouble. Kids love playing pranks—that’s just their nature. Don’t crush her spirit. I really like Dale, I mean it.”

He wasn’t just saying that to smooth things over. Although the little girl could be stubborn and mischievous at times, the way she combined innocence with surprising thoughtfulness was genuinely endearing.

Okay, if he were being completely honest—Wang Bo liked this little loli because she was ridiculously cute and beautiful. If some ugly kid had pulled that same prank on the cowboy, he probably would’ve lost it and stepped in to defend his buddy.

But now? Let Bowen suffer while he reaped the benefits.

Given what had just happened, Wang Bo felt awkward staying any longer. He tugged at Bowen, saying it was time to go and that they’d visit again another time.

Eva apologized repeatedly and invited him to come back again sometime—preferably when the little loli wasn’t home.

Bowen didn’t want to leave. Holding his stomach and grimacing, he asked, “Can I at least use your bathroom first?”

Wang Bo shook his head. “It’s not polite to use someone’s restroom on a first visit. Hold it in—I’ll find you one fast.”

Mainly, it was because Eva’s home had only two women living in it, and the bathroom was a more private area.

No one knew how much of the laxative Dale had used, but Bowen soon felt like his guts were under siege. His large intestine was strangling his small intestine, the small intestine was choking the duodenum, and the duodenum was tying itself in knots. It was absolute agony.

They drove around but found no public facilities. Bowen’s face turned red as he slammed the gas pedal and yelled, “Boss, just find me a place with no people! Do you see any woods? Quick! Or I’m gonna explode in the car!”

There weren’t any woods in sight, but Wang Bo finally found a dense patch of shrubs for him to hide behind. Thankfully, New Zealand had large-leaved gardenias planted in some areas—otherwise, Bowen would’ve been forced to perform on the side of the road.

The large-leaved gardenia is an evergreen shrub with leaves that grow over ten centimeters long—nice and wide. They also bloom with strongly fragrant flowers. As he squatted behind the shrubs with the floral scent in the air, Bowen actually thought the experience wasn’t that bad.

However, the plants weren’t tall enough to provide full cover, and Bowen could still be spotted from behind. So, he asked Wang Bo to move the car in front of him for better concealment.

Wang Bo didn’t have a driver’s license, and since New Zealand uses right-hand drive, the steering wheel was on the right side—meaning he definitely couldn’t drive.

But he had another solution. He simply pushed the car from behind until it rolled in front of the shrubs. He’d brought the Zhuang Ding fella with him today, and the pup stood up like him, pressing its front paws against the back of the car while its hind legs scrabbled at the ground, helping push along like a tiny, determined assistant.

The car was moved in front of the shrubbery, and immediately, a foul stench drifted over with the wind—the car was downwind, and the cowboy was squatting upwind.

Wang Bo tried to walk away, but Bowen cried out miserably, “No no no, boss, stay here and keep watch for me! I don’t want someone snapping a photo and posting it online!”

Wang Bo had no choice but to nod. After all, Bowen had only ended up in this situation because of him—he had to take some responsibility.

So, he leaned against the hood of the car and chain-smoked to fight off the stench.

The Zhuang Ding pup stayed behind the car as well. But unlike Wang Bo, it was sniffing the wind with relish, eyes squinting in pleasure as if savoring a fine aroma.

Seeing this, Wang Bo quickly slapped its butt and warned, “A wolf roams the world to eat meat, a dog roams the world to eat sh*t. You’ve got to be the wolf among dogs, understand? No eating random crap!”

He was genuinely worried the little guy might try to eat it—this rascal loved licking his face after all…

The pup wagged its tail and mimicked Wang Bo, squinting its eyes and pulling its lips back in a grotesque expression, glancing sideways at Wang Bo to see his reaction.

Wang Bo burst into laughter—but as soon as he took a deep breath, the stench hit him again full force!

Unable to bear it, he turned back and said, “Hey Bowen, what the hell did you eat this morning? Why does your sh*t stink so bad? Don’t tell me you actually ate dog—”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, because he saw Bowen tearing the large gardenia leaves off one by one and placing them beside him.

Wang Bo silently returned to the car, grabbed a pack of tissues, and tossed it to him. “For f*ck’s sake, if you didn’t have toilet paper, just say so. Don’t use the damn leaves. We need to keep things sanitary, man.”

Bowen froze, then quickly fished out a packet from his pocket. “You’ve got it wrong, boss. I was just bored and tearing leaves for fun.”

“Yeah right—like I’d believe that.”

After being tormented by the laxative, Bowen just wanted to crawl back into bed at the castle. Wang Bo was eager to leave too, but the pup was reluctant—it was still squinting and sniffing the air contentedly.

Wang Bo twisted its ear. “Goddamn it, a dog really can’t change its ways. That blissful look on your face is freaking me out.”

Over the past two months, the roads had improved significantly. About half of Route 8 had already been paved with fresh asphalt. Though it wasn’t ready for heavy traffic yet, a car or two wouldn’t be a problem.

Their Toyota drove onto the grassy path. Before long, they spotted a black Nissan sedan parked ahead—likely couldn’t go any farther. Wang Bo glanced around: no one was nearby.

Back at the castle, the parrot flew out first and whispered into his ear: “Ah, ah, idiot’s here!”

In the main hall of the fortress sat three white men. The one in the lead was a pot-bellied man in his forties, while the other two were younger and wore gold police badges on their chests—clearly officers.

Wang Bo assumed maybe one of their own had gotten into legal trouble, but Charlie explained that the three men were here to see him. The chubby man was the mayor of Tahiti Town—Robert Jard.

Wang Bo nodded, then suddenly paused. “Tahiti Town? Isn’t there a Tahiti section along Route 8? Don’t tell me…”

“That’s right—that Tahiti Town,” Charlie confirmed with a nod. “And they’re not here with good intentions.”

Wang Bo already suspected as much—his parrot had warned him, and the moment he stepped in, Robert and the others had been eyeing him with judgmental looks.

In fact, before construction even began on Route 8, Charlie had already warned him something like this might happen.

The South Island had little in the way of industry—most towns survived on agriculture and tourism. For these small towns, roads were their lifelines.

Just look at Sunset Town. Without a road, no one passes through, local agricultural products can’t be transported to market, and even getting around is difficult.

Now that Route 8 had been rerouted, it was a boon for Sunset Town—but a disaster for Tahiti Town. Without the highway, the town would quickly decline.