Making Money While Slacking Off

Chapter Forty-Six

Quite a few people passed by. They had only meant to cast a casual, wandering glance, but instead experienced the shock of a truly breathtaking glimpse.

Especially after that auntie's cry of surprise, everyone with gossiping instincts hidden inside them turned to look, witnessing a miraculous hen together.

"..." Jiang Hansheng was stunned as well. He found it hard to believe. "What's going on?"

They had only discovered this recently. Li Wenchuan patted Coo Coo on the head, skillfully pulled out a handful of rice from his pocket and scattered it on the ground, then said leisurely, "We only found out not long ago. Coo Coo really is different from other hens."

Did Old Chen have some secret, never-shared chicken-raising technique?

"Could Meng Po's Soup in her past life have been watered down?" Jiang Hansheng raised a brow.

"If she could talk, I'd suspect she never drank any at all," Li Wenchuan said. "Don't get any ideas either. I checked the other chickens at Old Chen's house, and none of them are like this." They were all perfectly ordinary chickens. They were not afraid of people, but they could not understand human speech.

At that thought, Li Wenchuan actually showed a faintly disappointed expression.

Jiang Hansheng's mouth twitched. Chickens not being like this was normal, wasn't it? If every chicken in the world were like Coo Coo, would anyone still dare eat chicken?

Some curious onlookers gathered around. "Young man, have your chicken perform another trick."

"Yeah, let us see again."

"This is the first time I've ever seen a chicken like this."

"It's practically like a dog."

Li Wenchuan skillfully had Coo Coo perform all sorts of actions—actions ordinary chickens could not do.

Everyone had assumed he used food to lure the chicken, like the parrots at animal shows. Every action earned them a little food. At first, the parrots might not listen, but after enough time, they formed a habit and became obedient. They knew that after performing the movements taught by their trainers, they would get something to eat.

That was basically how animals were trained, using food to guide them into fixed patterns of thought.

But Coo Coo was different. Li Wenchuan did not give her anything to eat, aside from that handful of rice earlier. Since birds had straight digestive tracts, he did not think relieving herself wherever she pleased was a good thing.

If he did not know that the thought was a little excessive, he would have wanted Coo Coo to learn to control her bowel movements.

The market was bustling, and Jiang Hansheng was not idle either. If they did not earn anything today, Li Wenchuan would have to eat the worst food with him.

He opened Baidu on his phone and began searching:

—How can I spend only sixty yuan in one day?

Answer: You think spending sixty yuan a day is little? I only make sixty yuan a day from work. The rich reek of wine and meat!

Jiang Hansheng: ...

—How can I use sixty yuan to make more money?

Answer: Buy lottery tickets, or scratch-offs.

That did not sound very reliable either. He wanted a proper method.

After searching for ages, Baidu finally recommended that he post a question himself and wait for kind people to answer it. Jiang Hansheng did, but the question sank without a trace, and no one answered.

Any normal person who saw it would probably think it was bait.

Helplessly, he put down his phone and prepared to discuss what they should do next with Li Wenchuan.

Su Mingwei's career was flourishing, Tang Jingran's place was packed tight, and only theirs was deserted—deserted as what? What was that phrase again?

Jiang Hansheng stared wide-eyed at the money on the ground. The denominations were not large, mostly one-yuan and five-yuan bills, with ten yuan being the most, but all of it together was still money.

Like an ordinary street vendor, Li Wenchuan called out skillfully, "Hen performance! Hen performance! You won't lose out, and you won't be fooled! One yuan for each standard action you request. Other actions cost extra depending on the situation."

That was way too stupid. Who would be foolish enough to pay for that? Jiang Hansheng thought.

Then someone actually came over. A woman holding a child who was sobbing his heart out tossed down twenty yuan and immediately coaxed him, "Baby, don't cry. Don't cry. Come on, Mommy will take you to see an animal. This chicken is amazing."

Li Wenchuan accepted the money and understood her meaning. He signaled for Coo Coo to begin.

Coo Coo clucked several times, then began circling and pacing in place. Sometimes she spread her wings, and sometimes she stretched her neck back and forth in time, as if following a beat. Even some adults laughed at the sight. The child's attention was drawn away, and his crying gradually quieted until he began hiccuping from sobs.

"Mommy, touch... hen, touch it," the child said, tugging at the woman's clothes.

Seeing that her child had stopped crying, the woman let out a huge sigh of relief. Her husband had gone to set up his stall, and she had taken the child out for a stroll. Everything had been fine until the little brat suddenly started crying. Buying him things, telling jokes—nothing could calm him down.

When she saw people gathering in one spot, she noticed a rather handsome young man performing tricks with a hen. In that instant, she decided to treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

But when she heard that her child wanted to touch the chicken, she did not know what to do.

She was not unreasonable. She understood that this chicken had to be important to them. Her own child was a little destroyer who could tear even plastic toys to shreds. Was he going to pet the chicken or slaughter it?

"Be good. That belongs to the big brother. Be good, baby."

Hearing that he would not be allowed to touch it, the child's mouth puckered, and he looked ready to start crying again.

Li Wenchuan picked up Coo Coo and brought her closer to the child. "You can touch her, but be gentle. She can feel pain."

This big brother was so pretty. The child nodded. He was not usually disobedient, and he was even more obedient around pretty people. He carefully reached out and stroked Coo Coo's head.

"Fluffy! So fluffy!" The child clapped and laughed.

The woman hurriedly thanked him as she soothed her child. "Thank you." Seeing that her child was no longer fussing, she let him play with the hen for a while before leaving contentedly.

Even more people came to watch now. Although most were simply there for the excitement, quite a few paid money after arriving.

Jiang Hansheng had never expected their ridiculous day to take such an unexpected turn. What an unforeseen gain.

Some people were envious and wanted to buy Coo Coo from Li Wenchuan, but they were all refused.

Once the crowd thinned out, Jiang Hansheng counted the money nearby. As someone born and raised in the city, he had not handled physical cash in a long time. It had been the same in his previous life; at this age, he had not touched gold or silver either.

Li Wenchuan pulled out another handful of rice and fed Coo Coo. She had to be tired after performing for so long. He also took out a small pouch and put it over Coo Coo's rear to keep her from relieving herself everywhere.

He had seen online that, with technology being so advanced these days, pet chicken and duck diapers were available for sale. They could buy some for the household later if needed.

"How much did we make?" If it was enough, they could call it a day. After all, this was basically exploiting an animal.

Considering his current line of work, Coo Coo could become an internet celebrity in the future. That way, she could make money without even leaving home.

Jiang Hansheng counted twice to make sure he had not made a mistake. "Three hundred and forty-one." It was unexpectedly high. Perhaps because it was a holiday and market day, people flowed through in a constant stream, and the money added up.

Most of it was still in one-yuan bills, making up a thick stack.

Before long, more people gathered again, but this time they were not there for them. They were headed for Wang Qiao and Wu Chen's stall next door.

"Heaosen Fiber Probiotic Drink, specially formulated for middle-aged and elderly people! Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties passing by, come take a look! Free samples available! You won't lose out or get scammed by buying it!"