Little River-Woods Circus 9-10

9.

Less than five minutes, Naughtie opened his eyes with a mysterious smile, saying towards the Old Monkey King: “Grandpa, I have got three steps, next I will share to all of you one after another.” The Monkey King said: “Very good, you go ahead!” Naughtie turned to Xiu and TG saying: “We could move forward via the following three steps: First, those locusts already in the circus can start training from now on; Second, we need to find more people on board, and recruit those who have interest, passion, and talent to join us; Third, we should plan our show and performance.” The Old Monkey King came near pretending he’s gonna hit Naughtie with his paw: “Stop showing off! Just let us know who needs to do what.” Naughtie looked back at his grandfather: “Come on grandpa bear with me, I am about to tell you now. Xiu and TG, could you please depart now seeking for new blood in the woods? Fox mum could help with all the materials that a circus will need. And I, well, I will be managing the show designing and the training program!” The Old Monkey King finally smiled with satisfaction. They all agreed with Naughtie’s arrangement, wished to take action following the plan as soon as possible.

10.

Naughtie then urged them saying: “I truly hope that we could all accomplish our goals, but no matter we have done it or not, it is necessary that we meet after two weeks talking about the process of each other. Let’s say that we meet at Xiu’s home the first Monday of the next month. God bless us!” So Xiu and TG set foot on the journey looking for partners. But it wasn't as easy as they thought, after spending two days and two nights walking around the woods, they have visited quite a lot of animals, yet none of them was interested. Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, they found a rhino and a hippo laying together in the mud near the river. They asked them excitedly if they wanted to join their circus. The rhino shook his head saying that he wasn't interested at all, a quiet life in the mud would suit him just fine. While the hippo said to them: “I may think about it if you could offer me enough food to eat.” TG was very happy as finally someone might join them, he looked at Xiu expectantly, but Xiu was determined to refuse him saying: “We are really sorry to disturb you guys.” The hippo shook his head and immersed himself into the mud. TG had to go away with Xiu together. After a while, Tiny Green said to Xiu with a bit of sadness and confusion: "It was a good opportunity and the first one after three days, why have you refused it?" Xiu realized why TG was upset, he apologized to TG: "Sorry Tiny Green I didn't consider your feeling. Please allow me to explain: My mum once told me that if someone tells you about his requirement, he must be very eager about it, you have to consider whether you can meet his need. We only have two blueberry pies with us, definitely not enough for the hippo, let alone do we have that much food for him at home. So he would not join us for sure.” TG understood and said admiringly: "That’s why! I was too naive. Just realized that I still have a lot to learn. It's great to have you here during this journey." Having said that, they still felt like somewhat frustrated. They walked slowly away from the mud.