Heizi glanced over there and whispered, "Do you think having a lot of people is useful? A hundred pounds tiger rushing over can slap away several people with one paw, an abundance of people is as good as nothing. Didn’t you notice I haven’t even climbed down from the tree?"
Upon hearing this, his cousin agreed, it does make sense!
Just think about it loosely, a tiger pouncing on people is like a strong man hitting a primary school student! Who could hold up to that?
But he was still puzzled: "Why did you invite so many people here to watch?"
Heizi explained: "If these folks weren’t here, what would we do if the tiger ran into the town later? If the tiger actually ran this way, having them here to stall, Brother Fei could rush over, then there would be no issue. Even if a few of them get hurt it’s better than letting the tiger run into town, right? You get going! Oh right, call back all those we are close with, hush not to alarm too many people. We still need these fools to stall the tiger!"
Upon hearing this, the cousin hurriedly nodded his head, and stealthily went to call the people he knew to leave.
These two were whispering here just now, and the crowd started to enlarge. At first, everyone thought the two were just chatting leisurely, but after seeing this young man secretly gesturing for several acquaintances to leave, the alert people began to become suspicious. One of the more familiar people quietly came over to ask what was going on, after all, it’s related to their own safety, everyone is concerned!
As a result, those who couldn’t refuse a favor secretly passed on Heizi’s ’little scheme’.
Once the crowd heard, oh my, this guy is too wicked! No wonder he kept inviting everyone here to watch the tiger, but he himself didn’t come down from the tree! He has repeatedly claimed that he needs a higher view to warn others, so it seems that everyone is actually risking their lives to stall the tiger!
Alright then, I better hurry up and leave too!
No way, I need to get my buddies to leave with me, I can’t wait for something to happen and let others say that I’m not loyal!
Having a group of people leave is one thing, but after a while, several groups of people left, and the remaining people couldn’t help but feel uneasy!
Heizi was still in the tree, reassuring everyone, don’t worry, the tiger hasn’t come, I haven’t seen it. The tiger must be afraid of our numbers and wouldn’t dare to come over.
The more he shouted, the more worried everyone became, word of mouth spread quickly, and everyone was extremely contemptuous of Heizi in the tree: This little bastard is not a good thing, he dared to scheme so many people! Looking at this kid’s character, nine out of ten times if he saw a tiger, he would pretend not to see it, so as not to scare everyone away.
The crowd which was lively just now, in the blink of an eye, continued to dwindle, less people mean even those unaware of the situation will start to feel that something is off, immediately guessing that there must be an insider, even if no one tells us, we need to get moving! Sooner or later we’ll find out why everyone’s no longer waiting here to watch.
In a little while there was no one left!
Heizi looked around: Did I overdo it?
Just as he was hesitating in the tree! From afar came the roar of a tiger, and the loud shouts from Yan Fei.
Anyway, it sounded quite lively, gradually, a tiger could be seen rampaging through the wheat fields, Yan Fei was chasing and shouting at the same time.
Finally, Yan Fei ’very laboriously’ caught up with the tiger, was setting up his stance, ready to fight the tiger for three hundred rounds, he looked up and was taken aback.
Isn’t this situation different from what Heizi discussed? Shouldn’t everyone be watching on the bridge?
The tiger didn’t know the script had changed, and was still joyously pouncing on him. It had been playing with Yan Fei for a while, and was in great spirits! Finally, it could run freely, although not in the mountains and forests, but it was more comfortable than being confined next to the greenhouse in a palm-sized piece of land!
Heizi slid down the tree and shouted as he ran towards Yan Fei, "Brother Fei, hold the tiger steady, I’m coming!"
Yan Fei wrangled the tiger into submission, waiting for Heizi to catch his breath to explain, "Ah, don’t mention it. People are too timid. I saw the crowd was plenty, so I added a tiny detail to heighten the tension. But now, everyone has run off."
While explaining, Heizi told Yan Fei about his bright idea to yell for his distant cousin. Yan Fei, still holding the tiger by its ear, was visibly vexed.
The pair had planned to show the crowd not only the tiger’s strength, but also its defiance of authority, discouraging them from stopping by for a gawk. Yan Fei had a whole plan – during the ’showdown,’ he was going to bulldoze a couple of trees – to make the scene feel intense.
But now, without an audience, what’s the point of performing?
Irritated, the two men led the tiger back towards the tent. Having thought about it, Heizi suggested to Yan Fei, "We’ll need some evidence of a fight, right here on this path. You break some trees, thrash about with the tiger. I’ll spread the word later, saying the tiger is still too dangerous to approach. Everyone should stay away for a few days and we’ll figure out what to do later."
That’s doable, Yan Fei got the tiger to roll about in the wheat fields, break some gnarled trees, scatters tree limbs to look like a battleground - a complete mess would do.
On the way, the pair decided to put up a few signs at the entrance to the path leading from the bridge: "Beware of the Tiger. No entry till next year. Any accidents will not be our responsibility." After all, there was no crop to tend to in the winter, and this wouldn’t affect anyone’s farming.
Then, Heizi found an opportunity to embellish his tale while drinking with his brothers.
Everyone knew the tiger was fierce, and Brother Fei was formidable too. Heizi excitedly described how man and beast fought tooth and claw. A nonchalant swing of the tiger’s tail could take down a bowl-thick tree, one swipe of its paw could smash another. It was a fierce battle, and even though man ultimately prevailed, it was grueling. Finally, Yan Fei overpowered the tiger, and they would have peace for some time.
This tale was as thrilling as the legendary Wu Song fighting the tiger on TV with verifiable evidence. If anyone didn’t believe, they could go see the broken trees themselves that no one dared to collect for firewood!
When asked if the pacified tiger was no longer a threat, Heizi explained the tiger was after all king of the jungle, and its untamed spirit might resurface. Yan Fei had already been tricked once when the apparently docile tiger had suddenly sprung loose.
Even a mad dog in the vicinity required the village’s collective effort to tackle. Imagine if that was a tiger; the consequences would be disastrous!
Heizi seized on this and urged everyone to spread word to stay away until the tiger was completely tamed. If worst comes to worst, Yan Fei would build a large cage later, and everyone could come watch then. But right now, going to see the tiger was a real risk - after all, Yan Fei couldn’t keep an eye on it 24/7, right?
This kerfuffle was so big that even Lin Baoguo felt compelled to visit. Once he understood Yan Fei’s predicament, he arranged for his men to caution everybody against going towards the bamboo forest as the tiger was still too dangerous there.
After a few spins, everybody eventually relented, understanding that it took time to tame a beast – even a domestic dog needed a few days to acclimatize. It seemed fair to give the wild tiger too some time to settle, and they would refrain from visiting for a bit.
After all, there would be opportunities for everyone to see the tiger once it was tamed, right?
As for Yan Fei, he stopped leashing the tiger, allowing it to roam around the premises when he wasn’t too busy. As long as there were no intruders, he wasn’t too bothered if it strayed a bit as he knew he could always chase after it to bring it back.
Once, the town nearby spotted the tiger loitering by the river, before Yan Fei hurried over to drag it back.
In no time, the place was deserted again.
All the trouble caused for a bit of peace was indeed no easy feat.