Chapter 148 Causing a Sensation

More and more people were arriving. Snake farm owners arrived. Experts arrived. More snake farm owners kept coming. Boss Hong’s connections were indeed quite impressive, though most of them were just here to watch the spectacle.

The television station crew also arrived, led by Zhao Xinghua. Le'er and Li Ying were reluctant to appear before the cameras, but avoiding it was no longer an option, especially for Le'er, who was the central figure.

"Brother Le'er, you really must cooperate with us," Zhao Xinghua said with a hearty laugh, looking at Le'er's bitter, distressed expression. "Many people would give anything for a chance to appear on television."

Naturally, Feng Shuya did not miss the opportunity to appear on camera. Her poise, elegance, and calm composure left a very favorable impression. She spoke sparingly, but every word she uttered was carefully considered. Most of the time, she maintained a low profile, deflecting credit onto other leaders.

This demonstrated her maturity.

Green Rainbow loved to pester Le'er, yet she showed no interest in Zhe Fuhai, the young master. Zhe Fuhai should have been the most charismatic young man around; not only was he handsome, but his father was not only the Snake King of Zhejiang but also had business ventures in numerous fields, with a personal fortune of at least half a billion.

Furthermore, Zhe Fuhai constantly sought opportunities to approach Green Rainbow, while she remained lukewarm toward him.

However, Le'er and Li Ying departed first. Feng Shuya also used the excuse of assisting Le'er to return with them to Taosha Village, leaving the entire hospitality task in the hands of Director Ma.

Upon returning to the snake farm, Le'er was immediately met with a complaint from Yinxiang.

"Le'er, are you going to do something about that damned, shameless snake?" Yinxiang's face was flushed red with anger. "If you don't handle him, I'll stab him to death with a knife myself. The bastard actually tried to touch a young girl's face today."

Yinxiang lost her temper. With both Li Ying and Feng Shuya present, Li Ying's face turned pale upon hearing Luo Yinxiang's words.

"Yinxiang, don't get upset," Li Ying said, steadying her emotions. "Tell us slowly. What happened?"

Just as Luo Yinxiang was about to speak, Changping walked in.

"Oh... Director Sha and President Li are both here?" Changping forced an awkward smile upon sensing that the atmosphere was somewhat strange. "Didn't Chairman Hong come?"

Le'er glared at him.

"Director Sha, what's wrong—"

"Are you even human, you bastard?" Le'er was truly infuriated. "What on earth are you trying to do?"

"Oh... Director Sha, why are you—"

"I feel like beating someone up right now!" Le'er stepped forward. "Are you asking for a thrashing, you bastard? Tell me, are you even a human being?"

"Director Sha..." Seeing the furious look on Le'er's face, Changping felt a twinge of fear. "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

"Why the hell did you go touch some girl's face?" Le'er forcefully suppressed the blazing anger in his chest. "Didn't I tell you? Not even a day has passed and you're already acting wild."

"Director Sha, I want to resign and go back to Guangzhou. I'm going to Foshan to work for Boss Hong. It's suffocatingly boring here."

Everyone's expression changed.

Only Le'er let out a cold laugh.

"Oh, you want to go back to Guangzhou? Then go ahead, leave right now," Le'er said indifferently. All anger had vanished; he had grown calm. "Boss Hong is in Shaoning City; he'll probably arrive here tomorrow. But I can tell you this: do you think Boss Hong's place is somewhere you can come and go as you please?"

Lai Changping softened. Boss Hong had warned him long ago not to return to Foshan once he was here. He had no other skills besides raising snakes.

He needed money, and without money, he couldn't play with women.

"Director Sha, that's not what I meant," Lai Changping said pitifully. "I just meant there... there's no... nothing to do here. It's too boring. I've been doing my job well."

Le'er looked at the wretched fellow, who was like a pile of cow dung, and surprisingly found himself unable to stay angry.

"Come here."

"Where to?" Lai Changping asked timidly. "You... you're not allowed to hit people."

Li Ying and Feng Shuya watched in a mixture of exasperation and amusement as Changping followed Le'er to an empty corner. Lai Changping looked back frequently, hoping someone would rescue him.

*Spineless wretch!*

Le'er cursed inwardly.

"Director Sha..."

"Don't worry, I won't hit you," Le'er simply smiled. "Do you desire women that much?"

"Without women, what's the point of living?" Hearing the calm tone in Le'er's voice, Changping smiled again. "Director Sha, we live in this world—you tell me, if there are no women, why toil and sweat? Why struggle desperately to make money? Hehe... As long as there are women, I never feel tired."

Le'er took out a cigarette and handed him one.

"If you pour all your energy into women, how can you have any heart left for your work?"

"Wrong, dead wrong," Lai Changping exhaled a puff of smoke, growing somewhat agitated. "After being with a woman, my energy is even better than usual. If I don't have women, that's when I have no energy at all."

"You bastard, you're simply a rutting bull," Le'er truly didn't know what to do with this fellow. "Finding women is easy. But I'm warning you, you must behave yourself at the farm. Once these few days pass and Boss Hong and the others leave, I'll rent a room for you in town. You can stay in town whenever you have free time. There are plenty of women there for you to enjoy as much as you like."

"Really?" The fish out of water just moments ago now felt like it had returned to the stream. Lai Changping instantly came alive. "Director, you are my soulmate! Hehe... It's just that I'm not familiar with the situation here, and I'm afraid the police will catch me."

"Don't you worry about that," Le'er frowned. "As long as you do your job well and don't engage in illegal activities, no one will arrest you."

Le'er didn't want to say anything more. After all, Lai Changping was the farm manager, so he had to save him some face, but a warning was still necessary.

"Also, do not disturb any women these next few days, or you'll find out the consequences."

"Rest assured, Director Sha," the thin, monkey-like man said cheerfully, following closely behind him. "At most, I'll just look at them. The girls here are truly gorgeous, nothing like the ones in the city—so plump and full of life. It's a real treat for the eyes, hehe."

"Go on and get back to your work."

Lai Changping trotted off happily. Aside from his lust, the fellow was indeed enthusiastic about his work and not afraid of hardship.

"That shameless rascal?"

When Le'er re-entered the office, Luo Yinxiang was still nursing some discontent.

"He went back to work," Le'er smiled. "Don't worry, he won't cause any more trouble."

Li Ying and Feng Shuya looked at Le'er with suspicious gazes, saying nothing.

"You ladies rest. I'm going to check if Jin'er and Lele have returned."

Le'er walked toward the snake cave. Before he even reached it, he projected his thoughts to make the two little snakes come out of the cave and summon the giant pythons. So many sightseers had arrived, and he had no choice but to satisfy their curiosity.

The next morning, the pythons still hadn't emerged. Li Ying and Feng Shuya waited patiently, sitting in the office drinking tea. They grew somewhat anxious; if the snakes didn't show up, who knew what the guests would say? It wasn't until the afternoon that the outside world grew lively once more. Luo Yinxiang burst into the room.

"They're out!" she panted, running in breathlessly. "Go see—two water pythons as thick as water vats have come out! Good lord, they're terrifying."

"Let's go take a look."

Le'er was overjoyed, and Li Ying was equally excited, having never seen them before.

"Slow down. I'll make a call first to tell the guests to hurry over."

Just like the previous time, everyone watched from a distance. Le'er led the three women forward. When they were about thirty meters away, Feng Shuya and Luo Yinxiang did not dare to go any further. Although Li Ying felt a bit frightened, she stayed close to Le'er.

"Le'er, where are the water pythons?" Li Ying grabbed Le'er's clothes just like before, refusing to let go. "Walk slowly, I'm scared."

"Don't be afraid. With Jin'er and Lele around, it's completely safe."

The two of them approached the group of snakes. Jin'er and Lele, exactly as before, coiled atop the heads of the water pythons, stretching out their crested little heads and flicking their forked tongues at their surroundings. When Le'er walked to within eight meters of them, the two little snakes slid down from the pythons' heads and quickly climbed onto his shoulders.

Less than an hour later, the guests arrived. Television reporters arrived. Even though the snake farm owners raised snakes for a living, they didn't dare walk too close, stopping three meters away to watch.

"Le'er, they really are water pythons!" Boss Hong shouted from afar. "Good heavens, there really are water pythons here. Such massive water pythons—this is my first time seeing them!"

The television reporters began filming, and the experts took photographs. The two foreign experts were extremely excited, both carrying long-range telephoto cameras and adjusting their focal lengths. What interested them the most were still the two small golden snakes. One of the experts had already seen Jin'er in Foshan previously; because there was no second snake, many experts simply regarded it as a mutated species. Now that Lele had appeared, they could confirm the existence of a distinct population.

"Le'er, will they really not attack people?"

Zhao Xinghua shouted toward Le'er.

"They won't," Le'er replied with a smile. "Jin'er and Lele are here."

Thus, he led the film crew forward with a mixture of apprehension and courage. Water pythons were among the top ten most ferocious snakes; a water python this massive could easily swallow a human whole. Who wouldn't be afraid?

Yet they still didn't dare to get too close, stopping about ten meters away from the snake pack.

"Le'er, didn't you ride on top of the snake last time? Ride it again this time so we can film it."

Le'er had no desire to act like a monkey performing tricks for an audience, but he couldn't withstand the pressure of the crowd. Boss Hong and the other owners also began shouting. He walked toward the water pythons with Jin'er. Seeing Jin'er move, Lele also leaped off Li Ying's shoulder and sprang onto Le'er's shoulder.

"Sister, step back a bit."

Le'er called out to Li Ying. Lacking Le'er's protection, Li Ying was still somewhat terrified and immediately retreated a distance. The snake pack remained very quiet. Le'er walked up beside one of the water pythons. Jin'er sprang onto it first, while Lele hopped onto another. Le'er stepped across the body of the water python—the very same one he had ridden previously. At that moment, the giant reptile lay docilely on the ground, only lifting its head once Le'er was securely seated.

"Haha..."

Le'er waved and shouted excitedly to everyone. The people in the distance shouted back. The only one not shouting was probably Zhe Dongwang, who squinted as he watched Le'er riding atop the snake, his expression utterly placid.

"Film it! Hurry..." Zhao Xinghua shouted to the camera crew.

Ten minutes later, Le'er dismounted from the snake, with the two snakes coiled around his shoulders, and walked over to Li Ying. The water python led the snake pack as they slowly burrowed back into the cave. Only then did the crowd rush forward.

"There must be an underground river underneath," some experts began to discuss. "Yes, it's conceivable. These snakes must have other habitats; they can live inside the caves, but they need to bask in the sun."

"Indeed, there are likely alternative habitats."

As the experts debated, Le'er and Li Ying walked toward the farm owners.

This time, it had truly created a sensation.