Chapter 301: Chapter 301: The Obsessive-Compulsive Crow

The behavior of the second daughter of the Yuan Family seemed a bit eager for quick success, but everyone could understand.

After all, what kinds of hardships hadn’t the old master endured? If it could cure him, what’s a little pain?

After discussing among themselves, Yuan Huapeng bit the bullet and called Feng Jun—there was no choice, Li Ting had said she couldn’t make the call because she was a Li, not a Yuan, and didn’t have the authority to adapt to the situation as needed.

Feng Jun’s attitude was indeed good, but his answer was not what the Yuan Family wanted to hear.

“… There will definitely be some effect, but whether it can cure him, that’s hard to say.”

“… No, I can’t try. Think about it, he’s in his eighties and has been in a coma for over two months. There’s definitely little vitality left in his body, and this medicine is very draining of vitality, it’s a ferocious remedy; he certainly won’t be able to withstand it.”

He had made up his mind not to help, so he didn’t even discuss any treatment fees.

After thanking Feng Jun and hanging up the phone, Yuan Huapeng ignored the looks from others and turned directly to Elder Ye, “It’s a ferocious remedy that consumes a great deal of vitality. Considering my father’s health, can he withstand it?”

Elder Ye hesitated before speaking, “I have studied both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, but I’m not particularly proficient in Chinese medicine. I only know that ferocious remedies vary in strength and the burden on the organs differs…”

His words sounded somewhat like a complaint—was that master too presumptuous? Not saying anything but a mere “ferocious remedy,” wasn’t that like making everyone guess blindly with clenched fists?

Then he changed the subject, “However, from the perspective of Western medicine, at Elder Yuan’s age, all body functions are failing, and his blood vessels are definitely calcified and very fragile. Using a ferocious remedy now has a high risk of causing bleeding…”

—I won’t even mention vitality, just asking you, what if there’s a brain hemorrhage?

Hearing this, the four Yuan siblings fell silent in unison.

After a while, it was the eldest sister who broke the silence, “It seems more appropriate to take him to Merrick…”

Yuan Huakun really didn’t want to put his father through more trouble, so he turned to look at his wife, “Ruofang, could you ask Lei Gang to inquire with the master if there’s any alternative way?”

Xu Ruofang dialed Xu Leigang’s phone, but it was turned off.

“Then we should try to get in touch as soon as possible,” Yuan Huakun nodded, and then turned to find both his elder sisters looking at him in unison.

He rolled his eyes, “Why are you two looking at me? I asked Ruofang to contact him because I heard that that place might be able to treat him… Anyway, Hua Peng’s family also knows him.”

What was Xu Leigang doing at that moment? Of course, he was cultivating. In the past, he would set his mobile phone to silent mode during cultivation, but now, to quickly cultivate the third diagram and catch up with Wang Haifeng’s progress, he was really pushing himself to the limit.

Why was Feng Jun in a good mood? Because that crow had given him another surprise.

After discovering the secret of the villa, Zhang Caixin really didn’t want to leave, but staying overnight didn’t seem appropriate—after all, she was a young woman.

Feeling conflicted, she walked around the courtyard to clear her mind, and before long, she noticed a dark bird that kept flying around the yard, occasionally landing inside it.

Curious, she approached to get a closer look, and to her surprise, the bird wasn’t afraid of her. It wasn’t until she got very close that it took flight and cawed “ka ka.”

Zhang Caixin, being a girl who couldn’t name most birds, had a moment of realization upon hearing the call and shouted, “Feng Jun, Boss Feng… there seems to be a crow in your yard.”

The voice of Feng Jun came from inside the house, “Is that so rare? Most crows are resident birds.”

“I’m not talking about that,” Zhang Caixin stamped her foot, “come out quickly.”

When Feng Jun came out, she pointed at two mice hanging from the eaves, “The crow isn’t trying to eat these, is it?”

Feng Jun shook his head and said with a smile, “It won’t eat them.”

“That’s not necessarily the case,” Zhang Caixin replied, watching him shake his head, “Crows are omnivores, they eat both fresh and rotten meat.”

“This crow is an exception,” Feng Jun answered with a smile, but didn’t elaborate further.

Then he bent down to crush the cigarette butt he had in hand on the ground, and seeing another butt not far away, he walked over, picked it up, and threw both butts into the trash can at the entrance.

“Why wouldn’t it eat?” Zhang Caixin, looking at the crow in the poplar tree, asked curiously.

She was a city-raised child and wasn’t much in contact with wild animals; she also didn’t think crows were particularly ominous.

Feng Jun couldn’t tell her the answer—she hadn’t yet made her choice.

However, it wasn’t long before Zhang Caixin no longer needed his answer.

When the crow saw Feng Jun return under the eaves, it cawed and flew into the yard, landing on the ground.

What it did next was astonishing—it actually picked up a cigarette butt from the ground!

Zhang Caixin’s mouth opened wide in shock, emitting a strange sound, “Eh?”

The crow didn’t look at her but rather glanced left and right with the cigarette butt in its beak, moved its short legs, and hopped and skipped to another spot two meters away—where there was another cigarette butt.

It put down the cigarette butt from its mouth, shook its head, and used its beak to place the two cigarette butts side by side, then, in one motion, picked them both up, flapped its wings, and flew to the stainless steel trash can at the entrance of the villa.

Standing on the edge of the trash can, the crow opened its mouth, and both cigarette butts dropped into the trash.

“This can’t be,” Zhang Caixin almost popped her eyes out.

She glanced at the crow, then turned to look at Feng Jun incredulously and asked, “Is this… your crow?”

“No,” Feng Jun shook his head and calmly replied, “It’s wild.”

Though I’m not fond of pets, if I were to keep one, surely my tastes wouldn’t be this bizarre, right?

“Not yours?” Zhang Caixin let out an exaggerated wail, “Wasn’t it said that… after the establishment of the nation, spirits weren’t allowed?”

“Making a fuss,” Feng Jun glanced at her, “Crows are actually very intelligent animals…”

“There was an experiment done once where someone scattered biscuits on the ground, and the crows would carefully stack them together and then take them all at once, ensuring their food wouldn’t get stolen by other crows… just as you’ve seen now.”

Zhang Caixin’s big eyes blinked for a long while before she asked half in belief, half in doubt, “Really? How could such a small bird have such a big brain?”

“Most mice have an even smaller brain than crows, aren’t they smart?” Feng Jun retorted and confidently added, “If you don’t believe me, you can search online to see if I’m right.”

His tone was very sure, because… he had just searched it a while ago, which is how he knew about that example of crows stacking biscuits.

Honestly, if it weren’t for that example, he would have had doubts whether this crow was possessed by some old gentleman or something.

Zhang Caixin didn’t take out her mobile phone to search, but chose to believe him.

However, she still seemed a bit puzzled, “You threw two cigarette butts, so it threw two as well. What if you threw three?”

Feng Jun wasn’t very interested in such a topic. He was satisfied with the crow’s performance but didn’t want it to stand out too much before Zhang Caixin made her decision—good enough was good enough; why persist until it raises suspicion?

So he deliberately changed the subject, “My yard rarely has cigarette butts; Peach Blossom Valley Scenic Area is a no-smoking zone. We all have manners and don’t litter cigarette butts.”

“Hey,” Zhang Caixin laughed again, “Just from picking up from the ground… there are already three cigarette butts.”

Feng Jun rolled his eyes and said helplessly, “Please, the wind has been strong these nights; they were blown in from outside the fence.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the crow flew down again, picked up a cigarette butt, and walked around.

It wasn’t easy finding the second cigarette butt; after searching half the yard, it found another one and, like before, put the two cigarette butts together and tossed them into the trash can.

In her astonishment, Zhang Caixin couldn’t help but give Feng Jun a glare, “You say you didn’t train it… Tell me, why doesn’t it throw each cigarette butt one by one? Why must it gather two before throwing them away?”

I’d like to know why myself, Feng Jun rubbed his chin and frowned, “Could it be… that this is a crow with obsessive-compulsive disorder?”

“Pfft,” Zhang Caixin laughed at his remark, momentarily leaving him alone, “Such an intelligent and hardworking crow deserves a reward… Do you have anything edible at home?”

It seems every woman harbors the dream of feeding.

“Don’t feed it,” Feng Jun said earnestly, “It’s a wild animal. Human feeding can lead to animals gradually losing their ability to survive in the wild.”

“Eh?” Zhang Caixin looked at him curiously, “This kind of Western concept is rarely known in Huaxia… where did you learn it from?”

“What Western concept,” Feng Jun said with a dismissive smile, “It’s all leftover from our ancestors.”

Zhang Caixin knew he was a liberal arts monk and didn’t bother to argue, but with a twirl of her eyes, she said, “It’s helping you pick up cigarette butts, which can be considered as labor, right? You should give it compensation.”

Feng Jun snorted internally, thinking that the creature already got much more than she could imagine, and now it seemed discontent with staying in the tree, actually wanting to enter the courtyard.

Although Feng Jun was a bit skeptical whether a crow could be that intelligent, there was no doubt that it learned to pick up cigarette butts as if trying to curry favor with the owner of the small courtyard.

You can’t really blame it for that; after all, the spiritual energy inside the courtyard was definitely a tad bit more than outside.

The only regret was that even the crow knew to cherish such an opportunity, yet a certain pinnacle of all creatures was oblivious to what she might be missing out on.

But a fool has his own kind of fortune; Zhang Caixin, although still hesitant about how to interact with Feng Jun, was greatly interested in this spirited crow. In the following time, she was bent on amusing the crow in various ways.

She even found an apple core from her room and declared with conviction, as it was human trash, it could be tossed anywhere, so… it didn’t count as feeding.