Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Mr. Big Octopus hid the received checks in the safe, said goodbye to the capitalists one by one, and ordered the female secretary to send the following telegram to Little Crab: "The meeting of madness has been held. Two donkeys give one. If Please call if you agree. Big octopus." After receiving the telegram, the little crab understood that the big octopus decided to give the little wink and the big liar not two million, but only one million.This didn't surprise the little crab at all, because he knew very well that Mr. Big Octopus was always prudent in his work and never spent money in vain.The little crab is satisfied that the dog octopus did not refuse the money, so now he can count on that since he agreed to spend one million, he will still have to spend two million in the end.

Mr. Crab had considered the situation thoroughly, and decided not to mention the receipt of the telegram to Little Blink and Big Liar, because if they knew the contents of the telegram, they would think that there was something to do with it. If it's still going well, he may raise his price for leaving this place.When Mr. Crab saw them both, he said he hadn't heard anything from Mr. Octopus, but he shouldn't lose hope that the matter would end well. His words still troubled Mr. The Great Liar, who was impatient to get away with the money as quickly as possible. "Mr. Big Octopus is not in a hurry, and that's a pity," said the big liar. "Our stock business is coming to an end, now is the best time to put oil on your feet, simply put, and slip away."

"Okay," said the little crab, "I'll send a telegram to the big octopus to try to remind him." In fact, the little crab sent no telegrams to anyone that day.He went to the restaurant to have a hearty lunch, then went back to the hotel and slept for an hour, swam in the swimming pool for a while, and then met with Little Wink and Big Liar.After the three friends got together, they had dinner first, and then went to the nightclub, where they could throw rotten apples on the actors for a little money, and had a good time. When he woke up the next day, Mr. Little Crab didn’t say anything to anyone, but sent a telegram to Big Octopus: “Two donkeys want two, but don’t agree with one, what should I do? Little Crab.”

On the same day, I received a telegram from the big octopus, in which there was only one word: "Advise." After receiving this telegram, the little crab waited for another day. Instead of persuading the little wink and the big liar, he replied to the big octopus with two sentences: "I persuaded them, and they insisted." It is not known what this telegram exchange would have led to if the miser had not appeared at the hotel where Mr. Crab was staying the next morning.The miser carried a cane and was dressed in his usual attire: a black jacket with a double front at the back, black trousers, and a tall black hat called a top hat.Scrooge bumped into the little crab who was walking out of the hotel. He opened his arms wide and screamed in a nasty voice:

"Ah, hello. Mr. Crab! Nice to meet you!" "Hello," said the little crab, trying to grin, though he was visibly not pleased to meet the famous cheapskate. "How are you doing? How are you?" asked the miser, evidently wanting to strike up a conversation. "I am in good health," said the little crab. "My health is also very bad." Miser echoed without hearing what the little crab said, and then continued: "It's so lucky to meet the faces of acquaintances in this ghost city of Squeeze City, which is better than in our City of Lies A thousand times higher, what do you think?"

"Lie City is a beautiful city, but Squeeze City is not bad, please believe me." "Totally agree with you," said the miser, nodding his head. "I've never seen such a bad city anywhere. It's a hell of a city! I have something to ask you. I see you live in this city." Hotel. What do you think of this hotel, please?" "Very good hotel." The little crab confirmed. "Maybe it's expensive? Huh?" "Yes, a little more expensive." "You see! What a blast! I have a proposal. If you like, I'll not just have a room, I'll share it with you, and that way we'll each pay half the price, what?"

Mr. Crab was not very happy to have such a person living with him, but he had already considered in the course of the conversation that Scrooge had a good reason for coming to Squeeze.The little crab thought for a while, and decided to squeeze, and use the opportunity of being close to the miser to find out his plan. Mr. Crab went back to his room with Mr. Miser, and said: "Please stay here. You see, this place is enough for two people." Mr. Miser scanned the room with his eyes, and there was a smile on his face, which could easily be seen as an expression of disgust. He thanked the little crab, and then went straight to the bathroom.In the bathroom, he took off his top hat and took out his toothbrush, tooth powder, towels, half a dozen handkerchiefs, a change of socks, two old nails and a length of copper wire he had picked up in the street.There is no doubt that Mr. Scrooge's top hat is not only a hat, but also a travel suitcase and a scrap warehouse.

Mr. Miser put these things on the shelf, and took out a bar of strawberry soap from the top hat, but at that moment, he saw the same bar of soap belonging to the little crab on the shelf by the sink.Mr. Miser put his own soap beside the bar of soap, looked at the two bar soaps for a while, and then vigorously soaped his hands and face, but not with his bar of soap, but with the bar next to it.At this time he felt sincerely happy, because he had saved some money again. After a serious wash, Mr. Miser wanted to brush his teeth again, but he didn't put the toothbrush into his own tooth powder box, but into the little crab's tooth powder box.After brushing his teeth, Mr. Miser opened one box and another box for a long time, trying to figure out which box was more fragrant: his box or the little crab box.At last he sneezed as he put his nose on the tooth powder box, and the box of tooth powder flew upward like a cloud, and that was the end of the story.

Mr. Miser was dismayed to see how much tooth powder he had lost through carelessness.However, he found that the box in his hand was not his own, but the box of Little Crab, and he was immediately relieved.Moreover, seeing that there was still a little tooth powder left in the box, he poured it into his own box, and went back to the room in a very happy mood. "Nice to meet you," he said to the little crab waiting for him. "Honestly, I would have talked to the imbecile little wink and the big liar first, but I don't think it would make much difference to talk to you. I even think it's better. Let's It's a small, profitable thing to do together. You see what I mean?"

"What is this little matter of yours?" The little crab asked with interest. "As you probably know, the Megalomania has agreed to pay these two swindlers three million Fieldings..." began Mr. Scrooge. Mr. Crab just didn't know anything about the three million Fielding, because he knew that Blinky and the Liar only asked for two million.But he guessed at once that Mr. Big Octopus wanted to make a fortune on this matter, and pocketed a million in his own pocket.But Mr. Crab didn't appear to have learned an important secret from the miser, saying: "Yes, yes, of course I know that."

"Very well," went on the Scrooge. "Please believe me, the Big Arrogance may agree to give not three million, but four million, or even five million. We can hint to Little Wink and Big Liar that we should ask for five million, and then we will propose The condition is that they will give us one million after they get the money. Wouldn’t it be bad for us to get half a million each, huh? That’s not a small amount of money! Huh?” Listening to what the miser said, the little crab calculated the pros and cons of his suggestion in his mind.Of course he understood at once that the suggestion was of no use to him personally.For if he disobeyed the will of the Great Madonna, he would run the risk of arousing the wrath of those capitalists with unlimited authority.They would not forgive him if he deceived them.At the same time, the little crab saw that the miser was playing a dangerous game.The foolish little winks and big liars may not be satisfied with only five million. At that time, it is not clear what the end will be.The little crab learned from the conversation that the miser refused to hand over his share of the money and escaped from the meeting of the Great Madness, so he decided not to reveal his intentions. He said: "I will be happy to help you, Mr. miser. If you If you like, we can find Little Wink and Big Liar right away, they live in a villa outside the city, we can get there in a blink of an eye in my car, and we can also have lunch at their place." "Have lunch, all right, that's all right," the miser cheered. "It's not bad to have lunch. The restaurant here charges too much, and it kills customers, and the money is not enough. It's okay to have a meal." "That's great," said the little crab. "With your permission, I will only be away for a little while, and then we shall go." Mr. Crab came out of the room, called the messenger boy, and ordered him to send the following telegram to the post office: "It's time to finish with the donkeys. The cheap and miser from the city of bullshit has come to this city. I don't care about the consequences." Take charge, little crab." "Okay," he said, returning to the room. "Now we can move." Mr. Scrooge put on his top hat, and five minutes later they were speeding around town in Mr. Crab's eight-cylinder limousine.Scrooge is in a great mood.He was genuinely happy to get a free ride in a limousine and a free lunch, not to mention, in his own words, a small, profitable business. The car turned a few turns, sped along the street for a while, left the city, and drove on a flat, straight asphalt road like an arrow.On both sides of the road, there are flowering lunar sunflower fields stretching for a while, and buckwheat fields for a while. The buckwheat exudes a refreshing, sweet, sizzling, honey-like aroma in the air; .The car drove past the village with gardens and vegetable gardens. Miser turned his head excitedly about, and was amazed by the sight of nature.As soon as he saw a herd of sheep in the pasture, or a goat tied and grazing, he poked the little crab on the elbow and exclaimed excitedly: "Look, look, they're sheep! Really, it's not human to lie! How cute! There's a goat! Look, goat! Why don't you look?" The little crab held the steering wheel with his hands and just secretly smiled.The road suddenly made a big arc and turned to reveal a green meadow with a large pond on which a flock of white geese swam.The calm water, the blooming lilies and water lilies, and the snow-white waterfowl resting lightly on the mirror-like surface of the water had a great effect on Mr. Miser, making him so happy that he could not speak a word.He grabbed the little crab by the sleeve, shook his arm silently for a while, and then called straight into his ear, "Goose! Goose!" "Why, have you never seen a goose in your life?" The little crab asked strangely. "No, really, it's not human to be a liar! That is, to be precise, I don't remember ever seeing one. Because, to be honest, I've never been out of town." "Is this true?" The little crab agreed in disbelief. "Really, Mr. Crab. How can I have time? I've been making money all my life, and I've never been to the zoo. Besides, what am I going to do there? It costs money to get in. If this goes on, eventually Bankrupt! . . . Wow, people have come up with such an idea! Why spend money just to see the animals and not eat them?" "The animals have to be fed too, and the money is used to buy feed," said the little crab. "Come on!" said the miser. "Let the fool get the money for feed. I can't afford it. I think the animals can get by without me." "However, I think you like animals very much after all," said Mr. Crab. "I like it. Lying is not human, so you're right. Sometimes I see a little animal and I really want to make out with it, touch it, say something nice, even kiss it...Why, don't you believe it? Really! Once I met a little dog in the street. A very fine poodle. I decided to go to the store and buy some liver sausage for him. But, fortunately, I didn't have any change with me. I don't want to exchange it for a banknote. Do you know that a banknote is such a thing that when a tenfielding is not broken, it is tenfielding, and even if it costs five senkirks, it is worthless? Not ten fieldings anymore. Mmm!" "When we get to Blinky and Liar, you can see all kinds of animals," said Mr. Crab. "There is a pond in their villa, and there are geese, ducks, drakes, and even swans in the pond." "Are there even swans?" "Yes, there are rabbits running freely in the garden, and guinea hens and pheasants flying freely. Besides, they have a tamed bear cub. They are so cute!" "Is it? Doesn't it bite?" "How can you bite? It's as docile as a lamb." "Can I pet it?" "Of course. When we get there, you can pet as you like." Mr. Miser was so anxious that he even fidgeted. He wanted to see the little bear as soon as possible and caress it. At this time, Mr. Crab had already turned off the road and drove the car onto a dirt road in the forest. On both sides of the dirt road were towering moon cedars, oak trees, hazelnut trees and moon bamboo bushes.These trees are not as big as those on our earth, but are as short as other plants on the moon.Mr. Crab chose a place where the trees were not too dense, reduced the speed, turned the steering wheel, and the car started driving in the forest with no road at all. Mr. Miser felt jolted, looked around, and saw that they were driving in an untrodden forest, and asked, "Why have we turned off the road?" "Closer like this," said the little crab. "Faster." After driving a long way into the forest, the little crab stopped the car suddenly, got out of the cab, opened the machine cover, and started tinkering with the engine.He quietly cut off the ignition, got back into the car, and put his foot on the starter pedal.The starter rattled like a whip on iron, but the motor wouldn't start. "Stuck?" asked the miser sympathetically. "It's stuck!" said the little crab worriedly. He got out of the cab again, fiddled with the motor, and tried to start it again.Later he said: "Maybe the engine was too hot, so we had to walk, and besides, it's not far from there." Scrooge reluctantly gets out of the car.Mr. Crab opened the trunk, took out a coil of rope, stuffed it into his pocket quietly, then closed the car door with a bang, and walked deep into the woods.Mr. Scrooge shuffled behind him, stumbling over the mound, cursing to himself with every step he took. After a while, Mr. Crab saw that the place they came to was quite remote, so he stopped and asked, "We seem to have gone the wrong way. What do you think?" "What can I say, my dear? I don't lead you, you lead me," pointed out the miser with good reason. "Indeed!" said the little crab. "It's okay, I'll climb up the tree right away, and see from a high place which way we should go. Just help me climb that cedar tree." Together they walked up to a cedar that was a little taller than the others.Mr. Crab looked up and saw that the branch that could be grasped by hand was very high, so he stuck the miser's back to the trunk and said: "You stand here, and I can climb on your shoulders." I have reached the branch. Just wait for a while, and I will take off my shoes first." The little crab bent down, but instead of taking off his shoes, he quietly took out the rope from his pocket, and in the blink of an eye tied the miser around his waist to the tree trunk. "Ouch! Ouch!" cried the miser. "What are you doing?" "Well, I have to tie you to a tree, or you will fall when I climb on your shoulders," explained the little crab. After finishing speaking, the little crab ran around the cedar holding the rope, and as a result, Mr. Miser's hands and feet were tightly tied to the tree, and Miser himself was tied tightly like a dried sausage. "Hey, don't joke!" cried the Scrooge, who felt he could not move his arms and legs. "Release me immediately, or I will call someone." "Why are you calling someone?" the little crab retorted. "If you need anything, I can help myself." As the little crab said, he picked up the top hat that fell from the miser's head, put it on his head, and leaned the lost walking stick next to him on the tree trunk. "Look how nice it is," he said. "Untie me, or I'll spit!" bellowed the miser. "Why are you spitting? That's not polite," replied the little crab. Still, the miser spat, but not on the little crab. "Look, this is not good." The little crab said calmly. "Now I have to gag you." He pulled out a dirty car rag from his pocket, rolled it up, and stuffed it into the miser's mouth.He also strangled his mouth with a handkerchief to keep him from spitting out the gag.The miser could only grunt and shake his head now. "Come on," said the little crab, looking the miser from side to side. "It seems to be all right. You can breathe the fresh air here and enjoy the beauty of nature. I think I can come back and untie you before dark. At the moment I advise you not to try in vain to break free. It is anyway." Nothing will come of it." Mr. Crab waved Scrooge goodbye, went back to his car parked in the forest, got into it, and drove to the city.