Chapter 135 Myna
The Bafang Hotel in Huancheng City is located near the provincial road and close to the entrance of the expressway. Because of its convenient transportation, it is always crowded with guests, and there are many large trucks and cars parked at the door every day.
From a building built by a farmer in 1980, sixteen years have passed. After several renovations, changes and expansions, Bafang Hotel has now become an eight-story restaurant full of modern atmosphere. The daily turnover of the owner Zhang Hongtu is as high as hundreds of thousands, which is really a huge profit.
Zhang Hongtu, who is nearly 50 years old, is no longer the small boss who sits on the first floor to receive passing drivers every day. He has hired several young and beautiful waiters to be responsible for reception. When I have nothing to do, I raise fish, walk my birds, and drink morning tea. My life is very carefree.
The proprietress Meng Sha no longer cleans and cooks every day like she used to. She has now become a wealthy lady and plays mahjong, goes shopping, and does beauty treatments with her friends every day, and has started her retirement life in advance.
Their children have grown up and have their own families. The couple are now wealthy and live a leisurely life, just like many relocated farmers in Huancheng.
However, being too idle is boring. Although the couple made enough money, they still went to the Bafang Hotel every day when they had nothing to do.
Mengsha likes to inspect the kitchen.
The reason why Bafang Hotel has been able to grow bigger and bigger is inseparable from her cooking skills, especially her expertise in making special dishes from other provinces, which is still an important factor in attracting customers to Bafang Hotel. After all, drivers who travel all over the country are on the road all day long, and what they want to eat most is the hometown food.
Zhang Hongtu likes to sit in the hotel lobby.
This is his territory, his domain, and also a tool for him to make money. Sitting in the lobby and watching people coming to dine and stay, he felt very happy.
The weather in Huancheng is still hot in October.
The hibiscus on the roadside is in full bloom, the bougainvillea in the corner is flourishing, and there is still a lot of traffic in front of the Bafang Hotel.
Zhang Hongxiang, with his sparse hair and big belly, walked around as usual, carrying a bird cage and came to the door of the hotel lobby.
Suddenly, an authentic Hunan accent caught his attention.
When I turned around, I saw a woman and two men checking in.
The woman was only in her early twenties, with a denim backpack on her chest and a suitcase at her feet. Her big eyes looked around with both caution and curiosity.
Behind her stood two men, one short and the other strong. The two men were timid and looked like the girl's followers.
Based on Zhang Hongtu's many years of experience in running hotels, he knew that the three people in front of him should have come to Huancheng to do business. This girl had a pair of wild eyes and looked like a person who was adventurous, unrestrained and daring. She was obviously the one in charge among the three.
The girl spoke Hunan dialect to the two men, but when she turned around and talked to the waiter, she spoke Mandarin. However, her Mandarin was still tinged with her local accent, and she couldn't tell the difference between Hu and Fu. The last word of every sentence always unconsciously fell to a flat tone.
After the waiter checked her in, the girl turned around and saw the little starling in the birdcage that Zhang Hongtu was carrying. Her eyes lit up and she whistled.
Strangely enough, when she whistled, the little starling in the cage started jumping up and down excitedly, making all kinds of chirping noises, and seemed very happy.
The girl came over, stretched out her finger and tapped the bird cage gently, and said with a smile: "Little starling, can you talk?"
The starling fluttered a few times in the cage, opened its yellow beak, and uttered a low, hoarse voice: "Hello! Hello! Wish you good fortune and prosperity."
The waiter saw this and couldn't help laughing: "Oh, the sun rose from the west today? Fa Cai is actually talking auspicious words."
Zhang Hongtu was also a little surprised. He lifted the bird cage higher and looked at the excited and well-behaved starling.
Zhang Hongtu has raised this little starling for three years. It has always been a disobedient and naughty kid. It never speaks properly when he teaches it to. If you ask it to say "hello", it will say "get out". If you ask it to say "happy new year", it will say "raining and thundering". This gives Zhang Hongtu a headache.
The girl is Xia Mufan. This time, she plans to take an unconventional approach to investigate the case. She will go incognito and check into the Bafang Hotel directly, investigating the case as a resident.
As soon as Xia Mufan saw Zhang Hongtu with a little starling, he knew that his opportunity had come. Although this starling looks young, only about three or four years old, and doesn't know anything about the case back then, maybe Zhang Hongtu would involuntarily make a few calls to it when feeding the bird? Even if Zhang Hongtu did not reveal the news to Myna, it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to bring the two sides closer.
Sure enough, seeing the little starling behave so obediently in front of Xia Mufan, Zhang Hongtu's eyes also smiled, and he took the initiative to greet Xia Mufan: "Hello, where are you from? What are you doing in Huancheng?"
Xia Mufan said, "We are from Hunan Province and we plan to go to Huancheng to buy some clothes."
Huancheng's clothing industry is very developed. There are many clothing source factories. The clothing prices are low and the styles are new, which has attracted many small vendors engaged in the clothing industry to come here to buy goods.
The identity that Xia Mufan made up for himself was very reasonable and did not arouse Zhang Hongtu's suspicion.
Zhang Hongtu handed over a business card with a smile, introduced himself and said, "Huancheng doesn't have much else, but there are many clothing manufacturers. If you need help, our hotel can also introduce you to some."
Xia Mufan took the business card, his eyes sparkling, and complimented him: "So you are the boss of Bafang Hotel, awesome! We plan to go around Huancheng in the next few days, and we will definitely come and trouble you if we need anything."
Zhang Hongtu was obviously pleased with the compliment from the young girl. He smiled even more happily: "It's just a small hotel, doing some small business, not a big boss. Ah, you are from Hunan Province, your taste is heavier than ours, but it doesn't matter, I specially invited two Hunan cuisine masters, the Hunan cuisine they make is very authentic, I guarantee it will suit your taste."
Xia Mufan thanked him, opened his eyes wide, and looked proud of his hometown: "The three of us are from Huishi. Huishi, have you heard of Boss Zhang?"
When the word Hui City was mentioned, Xia Mufan observed that Zhang Hongtu's eyes flickered. It was obvious that he was deeply impressed by the disappearance of Yang Jiawei and Cai Chi that year, so much so that hearing the word Hui City still caused waves in his heart.
Zhang Hongtu's smile was a little forced: "Listen, I heard about it, it's a good place."
Xia Mufan narrowed his eyes and said, "Well, Hui City used to be a small county town, and then it slowly developed. In recent years, many state-owned factories have been restructured, many workers have been laid off, and more and more people are doing small business. The competition is also very fierce, and it's difficult."
As soon as he said the words "state-owned large factory", Zhang Hongtu's eyebrows twitched.
Zhang Hongtu didn't want to continue this topic. He held up his bird cage and shook it, then asked Xia Mufan, "You seem to be good at entertaining birds. Do you have birds at home?"
Xia Mufan's ability to make up lies is quite high now: "My uncle opened a small stall in the flower and bird market. In addition to cats and dogs, he also sells starlings, parrots and other things. I often go to my uncle's shop to play and get to know those birds very well. Basically, they all listen to me."
Zhang Hongtu couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "Look, how is my starling?"
Xia Mufan glanced at the starling and curled his lips slightly: "Your starling is all black, with bright yellow beak and feet, and the feathers on its head and neck have a green metallic luster. It seems that you have taken good care of it."
Zhang Hongtu was so delighted by her praise that he was about to brag about it, but Xia Mufan changed the subject: "But your mynah bird has a bad temper, doesn't it? It goes west when I tell it to go east."
Zhang Hongtu leaned forward when he heard this, shortening the distance between him and Xia Mufan, and his eyes became focused: "How did you know? Is there any way?"
Xia Mufan took a half step back, dragged the suitcase and headed towards the elevator: "Of course I know, I'm the best at training birds. But I just arrived in Huancheng and I have a lot of things to do. I really don't have time to help you, sorry!"
Zhang Hongtu was so tempted by her that he quickly stretched out his hand to block Xia Mufan's way: "Well, I'll give you 20% off the room fee, and you help me train this bird. Fa Cai is quite good at talking, but he just won't listen to me."
Xia Mufan stopped, thought for a moment, and said reluctantly, "Twenty percent off? Well, OK. You hand over your starling to me, and I'll try to make it behave better. But I only have an hour, and I have to go out to do some work later."
Zhang Hongtu handed the starling cage to Xia Mufan, looked at his watch and said, "Okay, it's nine o'clock in the morning. I'll wait for you in the lobby at ten o'clock."
Xia Mufan took the bird cage and curled his lips slightly: "Okay, then you wait."
Sun Xianbing and Yu Jing followed Xia Mufan into the hotel elevator.
Sun Xianbing asked: "Are you really helping him train birds?"
Yu Jing was also a little curious: "Boss Xia, can you really make the starling obey you?"
The three of them had already agreed that during this mission they were not allowed to call the team leader "boss", but had to call him "boss". Hearing the title "Boss Xia" for the first time, Xia Mufan felt it was very fresh and smiled brightly: "Of course, are you still not confident in my ability?"
Sun Xianbing and Yu Jing looked at each other. They knew that Xia Mufan was good at raising cats and dogs, but how could he make a naughty starling obey him? They really didn't know this before.
Xia Mufan carried the birdcage into his room and closed the door, blocking the curious sight of Sun Xianbing and Yu Jing.
As soon as he entered the room, Xia Mufan opened his denim backpack and released the coal ash that had been hiding inside.
When Coal Ash raised his eyes, he saw the starling in the cage. His blood suddenly came to life and he pounced over subconsciously, scaring the starling so much that it flapped its wings and screamed loudly in the cage.
“Help! Help—”
Xia Mufan raised his hand to hold down the coal ash, patted its head, and whispered, "Squat down."
Coal Ash was ready to move, but thinking that he was a warning cat, he shrank back and squatted down obediently.
Xia Muchan closed the window, opened the birdcage and released the starling. The starling regained its freedom and fluttered around in the small room, having a lot of fun.
When the starling finally got tired of fluttering and stood on the curtain rod pecking at its feathers, Xia Mushige spoke: "What's your name?"
The starling's little eyes are sparkling.
[Oh, I can understand what you are saying, that’s great! You asked me my name, my name is Fa Cai, congratulations on your prosperity. 】
Well, it seems to be a noisy bird.
Xia Mufan asked: "How long have you been in this hotel? What kind of person is your host? What kind of words does he usually say to you?"
[I was bought by my master. I don’t remember how long ago he bought me, but it seems like a very long time has passed. 】
[My master has nothing to do every day and doesn't have to go to work. He just likes to raise fish and walk birds. He was a nice guy, but when he talked to me, his yellow teeth made it hard for me to breathe. He taught me a lot of words, but I was too lazy to learn and didn't want to pay attention to him. It was really boring to be locked in a cage every day. 】
[Hey, if you can understand what I am saying, you can talk to our master and ask him to let me fly out if it is okay. I should fly more often, otherwise my wings will get rusty after a long time. Also, ask him to find more playmates for me. I like playing with my friends. Otherwise, let me out to fly a few laps every day, and I promise to come back. If I go somewhere else, I have to take the trouble to catch insects to eat. But here with my master, there is food and drink, so I won't run away. 】
Mynah birds like to be in companionship and are used to playing and roosting with other bird groups. If a bird is left alone all the time, it will definitely have a bad temper.
Xia Mufan nodded: "Okay, I'll tell your master later."
It was rare that someone trusted it so much and allowed it to fly around the room, and the starling was so grateful that it burst into tears.
[You are such a good person. You can even understand what I am saying. If you need any help from me, just tell me. 】
Xia Mufan asked, "Did your master mention the names Yang Jiawei and Cai Chi?"
The starling Fa Cai raised his little head and shook it around.
[Yang Jiawei, Cai Chi? 】
[Oh, I remember now, it seems like there was one time when my master took me to see a few policemen, and the policemen mentioned these two names. After returning, the owner was in a bad mood. He locked himself in the room and muttered for a long time, and no one knew what he was mumbling about. 】
Xia Mufan asked: "Did he have nightmares or talk in his sleep at night?"
Myna Fa Cai shook his little head.
[No, no, no, the master never sleeps in the same room with me, I can't hear what he says. 】
Xia Mufan suddenly laughed, and there was a hint of mystery in his smile.
"Well, I'll give you a task. If you can complete it, I'll send you to the Bird's Singing Forest in the Guangzhou Zoo. There are many little starlings there to play with, as well as parrots, magpies, tits, larks... lots of little friends. Do you want to go?"
When the starling Fa Cai heard this, he immediately became excited.
Are there really so many birds? Do you still need to go out and find insects to eat? Can someone give me food and water? 】
Xia Mufan said, "Don't worry, there are special staff to give you water and food. You don't have to bother going out to find food. You just need to fly freely in the forest."
The starling Fa Cai flew up happily, flapping its wings and flying from the curtain rod to the table lamp, and from the table lamp to the bottom of the wardrobe, and finally landed on the tip of Xia Mufan's finger and pecked her fingernail.
[Ha ha ha, okay, okay, whatever task you tell me, I promise to complete it. 】
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