A year and a half later.
"I have a Little Donkey, but I never ride it.
One day, on a whim, I rode it to the market.
With a little whip in my hand, I was feeling quite pleased with myself.
Then, for some reason, splash splash splash—I fell into a pile of mud."
On a broad, level road, Ma Hongjun sat leisurely atop a tall horse, humming a tune with his terribly tone-deaf voice.
Beside him, Oscar, who was chewing on a sausage, frowned and shouted at Ma Hongjun, "Damn it, Fatty, can you shut up? Do you have any idea how awful your singing is?"
"Ah, Xiao Ao, the road is so boring. How could you bear to stop me from singing away my loneliness?" Ma Hongjun grinned and chuckled slyly.
"Damn it, then at least don't keep singing the same four lines over and over! I'm seriously impressed. There are only four lines, a few dozen characters total, and not a single word is on key. And you sing it over a hundred times every day, yet no two renditions have the same tune. Fatty, you really are a talent."
"Ah, you flatter me, you flatter me." Ma Hongjun put on an act and cupped his hands toward Oscar. The shameless look on his face made flames rise in Oscar's head.
Ma Hongjun was so excited because they were about to enter the city that he kept singing those four lines, which he had no idea where he had learned.
In truth, when they had left the small village where they had stayed that morning, the villagers had told them that Star Luo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire, was only half a day's journey away. Oscar had been excited as well.
Over the past