PCJ – Chapter 316 The Missing Yuanbao

Zhang Jiaohua’s method to win the giant was a secret that couldn’t be disclosed. Even with the immense strength gained from his Mei Mountain stacking skills, Zhang Jiaohua probably wouldn’t have a hundred percent guarantee to flip the giant over. But having Jinhu and the others lend a hand made things much simpler. To put it simply, when Zhang Jiaohua smashed the flipping board down with all his strength, Jinhu would take the opportunity to flip the giant over, solving the problem. Strictly speaking, Zhang Jiaohua was indeed cheating, but Ma Sibao wasn’t exactly innocent either; using such a huge object in a cheating scenario was hardly different.

“Jiaohua, you must not tell my dad about today’s events. If he finds out I tore up the textbook to make a flipping board, he will definitely beat me to death,” Zhang Yuanbao said.

“A few miscellaneous textbooks are nothing to worry about,” Zhang Jiaohua comforted him.

“No, I also tore up the language and math books,” Zhang Yuanbao said, his face a picture of misery.

“Then you’d better prepare for your death. Your language teacher will probably come for a home visit soon,” Zhang Jiaohua quickly decided that Zhang Yuanbao didn’t deserve any sympathy. He deserved to be beaten to death. Such behavior would cost him dearly. However, Zhang Jiaohua felt that his uncle wouldn’t be too harsh, while his aunt likely would, but ultimately, his uncle would intervene. Nonetheless, this fool would certainly face some punishment. He wondered whether it would be a beating with bamboo sticks while hanging in the pigpen or being pressed down on a bench and struck with the soles of shoes. Thinking about it, the scene was truly… ahem, quite enjoyable.

“Jiaohua, since your grades are so good, your teacher wouldn’t care if you skip class. Can I borrow your language book for class tomorrow?” Zhang Yuanbao suddenly panicked. During language class today, when the teacher asked Zhang Yuanbao why he hadn’t brought his language book, he didn’t dare say it was used to make a flipping board; instead, he said he had forgotten it. But if he said he forgot it again tomorrow, he might not get away with it.

“What good is my second-grade language book to you? You might as well ask the older students if anyone has a spare,” Zhang Jiaohua replied impatiently.

“Is there really anyone who still has it? It was worth just a few cents a pound, long gone to the scrap collectors,” Zhang Yuanbao then remembered that Zhang Jiaohua was only in the second grade; the covers of their textbooks were obviously different.

“Well, I can’t help you. You might as well wash your backside and prepare for the worst,” Zhang Jiaohua said with a smile.

“Jiaohua, teach me the divine strike technique. Isn’t the Mei Mountain Water Master known for the divine strike? If I master it, I won’t fear anything they throw at me,” Zhang Yuanbao quickly thought of a solution.

Zhang Jiaohua had heard of the divine strike but had never practiced it. His old master said that this technique was of no benefit for cultivation, so he had never practiced it. In fact, this skill was quite useful. For instance, if one did something wrong and got punished by their parents, they could call upon the divine to take the beating for them—whether it be with a stick, pine leaves, or bamboo, it wouldn’t hurt at all. Zhang Jiaohua indeed knew that it took considerable effort to master the divine strike.

“Do you really want to learn?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“Really want to,” Zhang Yuanbao nodded.

“Okay then, I’ll teach you, but you have to wake up early tomorrow,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

That day, after returning to the garden, the two of them ate and then stayed in the house. Zhang Jiaohua never did homework; even with a new teacher, this habit hadn’t changed. Zhang Yuanbao had completely torn his books to make the flipping board, so there was no way to do homework. The two of them just sat there watching TV. The garden didn’t have an outdoor antenna, so using just the indoor antenna, the images received were quite unclear. But this did not dampen their enthusiasm for watching TV at all.

“Jiaohua, are you really going to teach me the divine strike tomorrow morning?” Zhang Yuanbao asked.

“Yeah. But you need to get up early. If you can’t, that’s your problem,” Zhang Jiaohua knew that Zhang Yuanbao lacked perseverance.

That night, Zhang Jiaohua didn’t fall asleep again; he actually woke up at around five in the morning. Zhang Yuanbao was still sleeping soundly.

“Yuanbao, Yuanbao,” Zhang Jiaohua called a couple of times before giving up.

The weather was getting colder, and in the early morning, the kids were still huddled in their blankets. Yuanbao turned over, tightly wrapped in his quilt.

Outside, it was already a vast expanse of white; the ground of the garden had turned into a large, fluffy blanket of snow. Zhang Jiaohua still walked towards the Mei Flower Stump. The stump was also covered in thick white snow. However, Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t prepared to give up on his morning exercise. Ignoring the snow on the stump, he jumped up, stepping on the snow beneath his feet.

After practicing all morning, Zhang Yuanbao finally woke up.

“Oh no, the snow is so thick! Jiaohua, why didn’t you wake me up this morning? We agreed you would call me to practice the divine strike,” Zhang Yuanbao complained unhappily.

“Well, that’s just how it is. I called you several times; if you didn’t wake up, that’s not my problem. There’s no time to practice today, hurry up or we’ll be late,” Zhang Jiaohua rolled his eyes and replied impatiently.

“Can’t we practice later?” Zhang Yuanbao asked.

“You have to get up early. And with this weather, you can’t practice. It has to be a sunny day,” Zhang Jiaohua shook his head.

“Ah, is it really that hard to practice?” Zhang Yuanbao frowned.

Just then, a white snowball suddenly fell from the roof, landing squarely on Zhang Yuanbao’s head and exploding into a shower of snow.

“Who did that?” Zhang Yuanbao looked around and spotted a fat cat lazily lying under the eaves.

Zhang Yuanbao picked up a handful of snow from the ground, packed it into a hard snowball, and threw it directly at the fat cat’s head. The fat cat was fast asleep and got hit right on target.

“Meow!” The fat cat opened its eyes in anger.

“Fat cat, don’t think I don’t know it was you causing trouble. If you throw another snowball, I’ll toss you into the pond to feed the fish,” Zhang Yuanbao shouted.

The fat cat was enraged; it was bad enough to be hit while lying down, but now someone was threatening it. After all, it was the leader of the cat tribe, how could it endure such humiliation? So it summoned its feline army.

“Meow!”

With a call to arms, over a hundred black cats quickly gathered. These cats were truly clever, knowing how to use their paws to pack snowballs.

“Forgot to mention, the fat cat holds grudges the most,” Zhang Jiaohua looked at Zhang Yuanbao with sympathy.

Before Zhang Yuanbao could comprehend what Zhang Jiaohua meant, he heard Zhang Jiaohua say, “Don’t stay too close to me, or you’ll drag me into it.”

Zhang Jiaohua barely managed to move out of the way when countless snowballs began to rain down like raindrops. Thankfully, the fat cats’ paws couldn’t match human hands, and the snowballs weren’t too large, nor did they have much force behind them. Although Zhang Yuanbao was in a sorry state being hit by the snowballs, he didn’t suffer any real harm.

Seeing Zhang Yuanbao’s pitiful state made Zhang Jiaohua laugh until his stomach hurt.

Zhang Yuanbao, carrying an empty backpack, arrived at school only to be chased out of the classroom by his teacher.

Zhang Shunlin directly sent Zhang Yuanbao back home, “You little rascal, you didn’t even bring a book; what kind of school are you going to? Hurry back and get your books.”

Zhang Shunlin had come to school early and heard the kids in class saying that Zhang Yuanbao had torn all his books to make a flipping board and lost them all to Ma Sibao.

Zhang Shunlin thought: What a day! You think you’re Zhang Jiaohua? You dare to be so reckless, gambling with such a small amount. If I don’t teach you a good lesson now, how will you turn out when you grow up?

Zhang Yuanbao naturally had no place to go for books and didn’t dare to return home. If he went back, it would be asking for a beating. So, he ran to the nearby mountain to build a snowman, planning to return home after school.

However, with the snow falling and the weather freezing, he was on the mountain without any place to warm up, and the temperature there was much lower than in the classroom. Before long, he was completely chilled. But fearing a beating, he didn’t dare to come out.

“Jiaohua, did you know? Yuanbao was sent home by Shunlin. His tearing up of the textbooks was told to Shunlin by kids in his class. Shunlin was furious and sent Yuanbao home,” a mute boy went out to gather information. In truth, he wanted to borrow Zhang Yuanbao’s flipping board to play, but when he went, he found out Zhang Yuanbao had taken the giant flipping board home.

“He went home? Impossible. If he goes back, he’ll definitely get beaten. He must be hiding somewhere,” Zhang Jiaohua knew his cousin too well. He stepped out of the classroom and called out at the foot of the mountain, “Yuanbao!”

But there was no response.

“Could he have gone home?” Zhang Jiaohua wondered, feeling a strange unease in his heart. This feeling wasn’t good, making him anxious. He decided not to return to class and went back to the garden instead.

“Jiaohua, why are you back so early?” Zhang Youlian saw Zhang Jiaohua return and thought he had skipped class again.

“Has Yuanbao returned?” Zhang Jiaohua asked curiously.

“It’s not even dismissal yet; how could he come back?” Zhang Youlian asked, puzzled.

“Did he go home? The mute said Yuanbao was sent back by Shunlin early this morning,” Zhang Jiaohua had to speak the truth. He sensed something was off.

“Yuanbao hasn’t come back!” Zhang Youlian panicked.

“Uncle, hurry home and check. Also, look at Grandpa’s house. I’ll return to school. I’m not sure if Yuanbao went to someone else’s house,” Zhang Jiaohua frowned.

“Then I’ll go home and take a look first,” Zhang Youlian quickly dropped his work and ran home.

Hu Xiao Qing, seeing her husband rush back in a panic, thought something had happened, “Youlian, why are you running back so hurriedly? Did something happen at the garden?”

“Jiaohua said Shunlin sent Yuanbao back early this morning. But that little rascal hasn’t shown up since then. I don’t know where he went. He hasn’t come back?”

“No!” Hu Xiao Qing also panicked, quickly changing her shoes and heading outside, “I’ll go check the old house. You hurry to the school.”

“I’ll go with you to the old house,” Zhang Youlian decided to confirm the situation first.