Crack!

A sharp crack rang through the air. The fishing pole whipped back, making Chen Zhao stumble back. The string had snapped.

Everyone was a bit disappointed but also happy. They were happy because Earl Eric wasn’t caught by an outsider. Their belief and wishes could continue.

But they were disappointed because even someone as strong as Chen Zhao couldn’t catch Earl Eric. Could anyone fish it out?

Chen Zhao shrugged helplessly. It wasn’t his fault. Even the tempered fiber string had a limit to what it could bear.

Even though he was disappointed, he didn’t obsess over it. Plus, even if he did catch such a large fish, he probably had to let it go in the end.

Laurent didn’t see Chen Zhao pull Earl Eric onto land, but he’d brought Chen Zhao here, so he was still proud.

“Ha. Powell, how’s Chen? Better than your failures, right?”

Powell didn’t speak. After all, he’d lost the fight. As of now, Chen Zhao was also the only one who could go up against Earl Eric.

In the past, everyone who’d tried to go against Earl Eric had failed. In fact, Earl Eric’s highest record was pulling six guys into the water at once. It was the king of the river!

Today, the king of the river met its match.

So, he’d lost utterly and completely today.

…

On the way back, Chen Zhao was upset. He’d come out to fish but didn’t catch any. Instead, he had to fight and go home with a face of bruises. How could he be happy?

On the other hand, Laurent looked satisfied as if he’d won a fight.

As expected, Chen Zhao couldn’t fool around with Laurent anymore. Whether he did it on purpose or not, Laurent was just bad luck.

“Chen, if you can catch Earl Eric, I’ll let you be with Fali.”

“You’re crazy.” Chen Zhao didn’t feel like caring about someone as immature as Laurent. He had no hope.

It was his last day here though, so he didn’t give Laurent a hard time.

When they got home, Fali, Faur, and Winnip had returned too. They saw Chen Zhao, Karim and Howard come in with bruised faces.

“You guys went to fight?”

“It was amazing!” Laurent said, spittle flying. “We taught that old *sshole Powell a lesson. You can’t imagine how pissed he looked. It was great.”

Winnip glanced at Laurent, completely unimpressed. “What does this have to do with you? Did you fight?”

“I didn’t fight, but if I didn’t give strategic pointers from the side, Chen wouldn’t have been able to win at all.”

Laurent shamelessly assigned the honors to himself. Chen Zhao didn’t feel like refuting him.

Do whatever you want as long as your happy.

…

Next day

Chen Zhao, Fali, and Faur packed up and prepared to return to L.A. Winnip bid farewell to them one by one. As for Laurent, he still looked at Chen Zhao with a hateful expression.

Chen Zhao didn’t act nicely either. When they hugged, they expressed their hatred without holding back and cursed each other.

“Come to L.A. when you have time. I’ll let you enjoy a near-death experience.”

“You better never come to Sacramento again. Next time, I won’t welcome you so gently.”

“Ha… As if you can do anything to me.”

“Don’t get cocky. I didn’t prepare well enough. Next time, I won’t let you leave Sacramento alive.”

“I’ll be waiting. Don’t disappoint me, old *sshole.”

Chen Zhao went to the car. Winnip then said goodbye to each pet. When they left, Winnip cried. No one knew if it was for Faur and Fali or Princess and the others.

“What did you say to Dad? You guys seemed unwilling to part, hugging for so long.” Fali was still fooled by the fake friendship. She didn’t see the truth at all.

“I invited Laurent to L.A. He says that he’s excited to go next time.”

“You guys have a great relationship. Are men’s friendships all so pure?”

“Ha.” Faur glanced at the rearview mirror and scoffed.

Faur would drive this time, but she’d demanded that Chen Zhao and Fali had to be within eyesight. They couldn’t do inappropriate things as if no one was around.

“Faur, drive to the Sacramento Zoo.”

“Why?”

“Say bye to a friend,” Chen Zhao said.

“You made new friends in Sacramento?”

Fali and Faur were shocked. If Chen Zhao went to say bye to him, then they must be great friends.

When they reached the zoo, Chen Zhao went to the Africa part. Sharman was already waiting. Fali and Faur were surprised to see him too.

“Sharman, you and Chen know each other? When did you guys meet?”

Sharman chuckled wryly and changed the subject. “My princesses, how are you two?”

“I’m very well.”

“I’m good too.”

“Oh, Chen said he’s here for an old friend. Who is he meeting?”

Sharman glanced at Chen Zhao, who looked back at him. He made the staff leave and opened the door to the lion cage.

Chen Zhao walked in. Fali and Faur watched as Chen Zhao went to interact intimately with a pride of lions. They were immediately frightened.

After a while, Chen Zhao walked out of the cage with two cubs.

“Chen, this…” Fali and Faur were both confused.

These were two newly-born lion cubs, right? Chen Zhao had promised the lioness to take her babies that were about to be born. She didn’t want her babies to be trapped in this tiny cage.

“Don’t let anyone see,” Sharman said.

“Thank you, Mr. Sharman.”

“We’re even now.” Sharman clearly didn’t have a good impression of Chen Zhao. After all, he was stealing two baby lions right before his eyes.

Back in the car, Fali asked, “Chen, are we going to raise them?”

“Yes.”

“Is Sharman the friend you wanted to say bye to?”

“No, it’s their parents,” Chen Zhao said.

Fali could tell that Chen Zhao loved these cubs.

“What are their names?”

“Simba and Nala.” Chen Zhao had already decided on these names. It was the pair from Lion King.

They were a couple in Lion King, but these two were siblings. If he had the chance, he would send them back to Africa. Of course, he needed both the chance and the ability.

He didn’t have the ability right now.

They also couldn’t survive on the African plains. Merely a baboon could kill them.