The young man looked up, glanced at Qi Yun, nodded and replied, "Sure, what's up?"
Even though the pronunciation was a bit odd, Qi Yun could at least understand what he was saying.
"Can you help me with something? I'll give you two hundred yuan, how about that?"
Upon hearing two hundred yuan, the young man instantly showed a happy expression on his face: "Sure, what do you want me to do?"
"I'm looking for an injured pigeon. It might be hiding in the villagers' sheepfold, but I'm having difficulty communicating with them. Could you help translate and take me to the villagers' sheepfold to search?" Qi Yun explained.
Without hesitation, the young man nodded and said, "Alright, no problem, I'll take you there."
Qi Yun immediately pulled out a hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the young man: "I'll give you one hundred first, once we find it, I'll give you the remaining hundred."
"Okay, let's go." The young man stood up with a smile, took the money, and tucked it into his pocket.
Qi Yun led him back to the households at the village entrance, where Zhong Rui was still struggling to communicate with an elderly Uighur lady.
The young man stepped forward, exchanged a few words with the lady in Uighur, and she nodded, pointing to a nearby house.
Turning to Qi Yun, the young man said, "She said her sheepfold is behind that house. We can go take a look."
Qi Yun gratefully thanked the elderly lady and then led Zhong Rui over to search the sheepfold.
With this translator, they searched much faster.
After searching through more than ten sheepfolds, Qi Yun finally found the injured pigeon in a corner of a pile of hay.
The pigeon looked almost identical to the one in the video, entirely gray feathers, its wings stained with blood, and it lay weakly curled up in the hay, occasionally letting out faint cooing sounds.
Qi Yun's eyes sharpened, and he immediately instructed Zhong Rui to fetch the cage from the car, while he gently approached and carefully cupped the pigeon in his hands.
The pigeon struggled slightly before calming down again.
Soon, Zhong Rui brought over the cage, and Qi Yun placed the pigeon inside, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for your help, here's the remaining hundred yuan." With that, he pulled out another hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the young man.
The young man took the money with a wide grin and ran off.
Qi Yun and Zhong Rui returned to where their car was parked, placed the cage in the passenger seat, and drove away.
Half an hour later, the car entered the city.
"I have some things to take care of, you can take a taxi home, remember to find me for reimbursement later," Qi Yun turned and said to Zhong Rui.
"Okay, boss." Zhong Rui nodded, opened the door, and got out.
"By the way, there's a five hundred yuan allowance for yesterday and today, remind me at the end of the month, and I'll give it to you along with the bonus from the last desert trip." Qi Yun added.
Upon hearing that, Zhong Rui's face lit up with joy, he bowed in thanks: "Thank you, boss, you're so generous!"
"Alright, cut it with the flattery." Qi Yun waved him off and drove away.
After driving some distance, he pulled the car to the side, took out his phone, and dialed the number left in the Douyin video by the pigeon owner.
"Hello, who's this?"
"I saw your video, are you looking for a pigeon? I happen to have found one that looks a bit like the one in your video."
The voice on the other end instantly turned excited: "Really? Can you video call me to show it to me?"
Qi Yun looked at the cage in the back seat and replied, "No problem, but when I found it, it seemed to be already injured."
"Injured? Please start a video so I can confirm if it's my pigeon."
"Alright, I'll add you on WeChat." Qi Yun replied, then hung up the phone.
He then added the owner as a contact and initiated a video call.
Soon, the pigeon owner answered the call, a Uighur middle-aged man with slicked-back hair appeared on the screen.
Qi Yun placed the cage in the passenger seat and pointed the camera at the pigeon inside, slowly moving it so the man could clearly see the pigeon.
"That's it, it's definitely it!" The man exclaimed excitedly on the other side, "How did its wing get injured?"
"When I found it, it was hiding in a pile of hay, I don't know exactly how it got injured." Qi Yun replied, frowning.
The man nodded and asked, "Mind telling me where you are right now?"
"I'm at the bird market."
"The bird market, huh." The man furrowed his brows slightly upon hearing that, thought for a moment, and continued, "Do you mind helping me take it to a vet first?"
Qi Yun nodded: "I can take it for treatment, but about the one million reward you mentioned in the video..."
"Money is not a problem." The middle-aged man immediately replied, "I can transfer you ten thousand yuan first if you help me take it for treatment."
"Regarding the one million reward..."
The man paused, thought for a moment, then continued, "If you trust me, you can airship the pigeon to Kashi first, and I'll send the money as soon as I receive it."
"Of course, if your schedule allows, you can also come personally, and we can make the transaction face to face."
Qi Yun naturally opted for the latter; he didn't even know the man's name, how could he trust him?
"Haha, my schedule is quite flexible, I can personally deliver the pigeon."
The man's expression remained unchanged as he nodded, "That works too, I will send you a photo of the pigeon's vaccination certificate later, it's needed for the air shipment."
"Alright, I'll take it for treatment now, but just to be clear, I'm only helping you find a vet, whatever happens afterward is not my responsibility."
"Of course, I'll transfer the ten thousand yuan to you right now."
"..."
After the call ended, Qi Yun turned off the ongoing screen recording, careful to save the video.
In matters like this, it's better to be prepared for anything.
Soon, he received another message on WeChat, confirming that the man had indeed transferred ten thousand yuan.
This demeanor certainly seemed like someone untroubled by money.
Without hesitation, Qi Yun accepted the money and then navigated to a pet hospital.
After a thorough examination, the vet said to Qi Yun: "It's nothing serious, I'll take it to treat the wound now."
Qi Yun nodded and waited nearby.
After a while, the vet emerged from the treatment room: "It's all done, the wound has been disinfected, medicated, and wrapped up. With proper care, it should recover quickly."
Qi Yun thanked him and took the cage.
"By the way, doctor, is the pigeon in a condition to fly?"
The vet furrowed his brows slightly, thought for a moment, and replied, "Theoretically, since the wound has just been treated, it's best not to fly to avoid high altitude pressure causing the wound to reopen."
Qi Yun paused for a moment, it was good he asked; if flying and trading resulted in the pigeon dying, it would be troublesome.
After leaving the hospital, he immediately called the pigeon owner again to explain the situation.
The owner pondered for a moment and replied, "Would it be possible for you to drive it to Kashi? I can pay you an extra twenty thousand yuan for your trouble."
Drive?
Qi Yun froze slightly, considering the distance to Kashi was nearly two thousand kilometers.
But for the one million reward, it seemed that enduring it wasn't impossible.
So he immediately replied, "Alright, I'll drive it to you."
"Great, thank you very much! Drive safely."
After the call ended, the man indeed transferred another twenty thousand yuan.
Qi Yun returned to the car, lit a cigarette, and took a couple of puffs.
If he drove alone, it would take at least a day and a half to cover two thousand kilometers, it was best to find someone to share the driving.
Plus, having more people gives one confidence, especially when going to another's territory for a transaction.
Upon thinking this, the high and sturdy figure of Liu Meng flashed in his mind.
Liu Meng, a veteran, strong and fit, can drive.
Perfectly fitting his requirements.
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