Chapter 503: Eleven Feet and Nine Inches
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The middle-aged man in front of the door was Caucasian and short, and he had a tan mustache. He was obviously a man of authority, at least to these dogs.
Before Famous understood what was happening, a few young men burst into the room, and pushed a lot of cages out of the room. The sounds of the wheels and the barking started fading away.
One of the men walked towards Famous. When Famous moved back, its body hit cold iron bars. It wasn't until then that Famous realized that it was locked in an iron cage, no different from the other dogs.
"What are you doing?" Famous shouted, "Let me out! Let me out!"
Famous was a dog, but it considered itself to be more than just a dog, and it shouldn't be treated violently like this.
However, these people couldn't understand it. From their perspective, Famous was no different from the other dogs barking out of fear. The young man who was pushing Famous's cage snapped at it. "Shut your mouth! What are you barking at? You think we're going to slaughter you? You're such a fool!"
Several rows of cages were pushed into an open field, a German Shepherd in each cage. With its cage placed in the middle, Famous looked around and soon discovered something weird. There were about twenty male German Shepherds here that were similar in size and age, but there was no female German Shepherd here.
Was this a coincidence?
What was with that middle-aged man who shouted about the selection of stunt doubles?
"Is that all? All the dogs are here?" the middle-aged man inquired.
"Yes, boss," replied one of the subordinates, "they are all here. Per your request, these dogs were bought by us locally and from the neighboring states."
"Okay." The middle-aged man nodded with satisfaction.
The dogs barking upset him, so he held his whip and snapped it. A shallow dent appeared on the ground. The sharp noise and power of the whip silenced all the dogs in the field.
He raised his whip and pointed it toward a large tree not far away. He threatened, "You bastards, you better behave well later. Whoever dares to cause trouble, I'll hang it upside down from that tree, whip it 20 times, and then peel its skin."
When he spoke, his facial expressions were fierce and serious, even if the other dogs didn't understand him, they could at least feel his murderous tone. When the dogs saw the reddish-brown color of the soil under that tree, they knew what he said was more than an empty threat.
Just then, a bizarre looking black coupe drove from afar at a slow speed. The wheels of the car raised a lot of dust, like the beginning a small sandstorm.
Famous thought that the vintage car traveling on a bumpy road may fall apart.
The car stopped. When the dust settled, a man dressed in a suit and a pair of round glasses got out of the car. He had two small patches of moustache on his upper lip. He wore a bowler hat, his shirt was clean and white, and he had slender fingers. From his appearance, Famous could tell that he was a man who took pride in wealth and honor.
The arrogant and domineering middle-aged man quickly spat the tobacco out of his mouth. He put on a friendly face and ran towards the man, extending his hand, "Mr. Charles! I am Roger Leslie, you can call me Roger. Welcome to my farm."
Charles turned a blind eye to Roger's hand. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his glasses.
Roger timidly withdrew his hand. To cover up the awkwardness, he struggled to keep a smile. He noticed the car and his eyes suddenly lit up as he exclaimed, "My God! Mr. Charles, forgive me, but your car is so beautiful! It's the latest Model T Coupe of Ford, right? I saw the commercial for this car posted on a theater wall when I went into the city. What's the slogan for that ad? 'The Doctor and His Car!' So, this is the Doctor Coupe, right? The car appeared in Chaplin's movies. Only doctors, lawyers, actors, and top executives, like you, can possess such an excellent car!"
Roger flattered Mr. Charles incessantly. He cautiously touched the warm engine hood. The shiny paint job made the hood smoother than the skin of the most beautiful woman in the countryside, though it was now covered with a thin layer of dust. He dreamed of owning a car like this, which would surely attract numerous women. When his dream did come true, he could date a different woman every day.
Roger circled around the car, as if looking at a precious work of art. "Wow! I heard that it has a revolutionary load of batteries and electrical ignition system, that the engine can even work in the worst weather? Driving it must feel like riding the wildest woman."
His spit when he talked about the car. If he could own a car like this, his whole life would have been worth it.
Hearing his respect and admiration of this car, Roger's workers came forward to see the car out of curiosity. One of them wanted to reach out and touch the car, but Roger punched him and scolded him, "F**K! How dare you touch this car?"
After rubbing his glasses, Charles turned to look at the several rows of cages and said impatiently, "Save your bulls**t. I'm not listening to you rave about my car in this awful place! Are these the dogs I asked for? Let's finish up here. I'm already sick of the dirty countryside."
"Yes!" Roger quickly agreed. "Mr. Charles, all these dogs were selected based on the photos you sent me. Don't they all look alike?"
Charles said with a straight face, "Look alike? Buddy, I need more than that! There are about eighty thousand dogs that look alike all over our country. Our star can jump over a bar that is 11 feet and 9 inches high, that's how it became a star. Do you understand?"
Roger was stunned, "11 feet and 9 inches? My God, that's so high..."
Charles grunted. "Of course, I am not expecting these wild dogs from the countryside to be as excellent as our big star, but their jumping ability should at least be close to that, otherwise how can they be the stunt double?"
"Close...uh, of course. Mr. Charles, I'm sure that one of these dogs can jump close to that height." Roger's head was sweating. He didn't know which dog could jump that high.
Roger was a lazy guy who cared about nothing, but eating and gambling. He was in a great amount of debt. When he heard that a movie company in Hollywood was trying to find stunt doubles for a well-known dog, he thought it might be a good opportunity to earn money, He bodly invited Mr. Charles, the senior executive of the movie company, to come to his farm.
Prior to the meeting with Charles, Roger sent his employees and his neighbors's children to search for German Shepherds that looked like the star, promising them abundant rewards. Around 20 German Shepherds were found, but he wasn't sure if there was a dog that could jump almost 11 feet high.
"What are you waiting for? Get started!" Charles frowned, looked at the soles of his shoes in disgust, and prayed that he didn't step on chicken manure or dog poop.
Roger shouted at his workers, "Did you hear him? Go, go, go! Bring the dogs over so that Mr. Charles can see them!"
The workers quickly set up a simple bar about 11 feet high, and opened each cage one by one. They pulled out the dogs, and let them line up to jump over the bar. If a dog couldn't or didn't want to jump, it'd be kicked hard by studded boots. The German Shepherds whined, but they couldn't escape with the chains tied to their necks. If any dog dare show its fangs, Roger would whip it.
So far, no dogs succeeded in jumping over the bar, and there were few dogs left. Roger kept rubbing his forehead. He had spent the last of his savings to buy these dogs. If all of them were rejected, his only choice would be to sell the farm and become a beggar in the city.
Soon, it was Famous's turn.
A young man opened Famous's cage and grabbed its collar to pull it out.
The cage was exceptionally small. Famous thought of rebelling, but when it saw the revolvers under Roger's arms and the calluses on his hand from holding the gun, Famous immediately gave up on the thought. Even Old Time Tea, who was a magnificent martial arts master, didn't dare say that it wasn't afraid of bullets.
Roger looked like a quick shooter, or he would have been beaten to death for his bad manners a long time ago.
Famous was held in front of the bar. The young man released his hand. Roger pointed to the bar and said, "Jump over it! Understand? You fool! If you don't want to be kicked or whipped, you'd better jump over!"
During his time living with Old Time Tea, Famous had learned a piece of advice. A wise man knows how to withdraw himself from a bad situation. Famous had no alternative but to jump over the bar, otherwise it'd suffer.
Charles was stunned at the first glance at Famous. He thoughtfully stroked his mustache and sized it up. This dog looked almost identical to the star of the movie. They had the same shape, body color, and were the same age. However, their eyes weren't the same.This dog's eyes were very strange. He had never seen a dog with such eyes. How could he put it? Its eyes were almost like the eyes of a human.
Ha!
Since Famous refused to jump, Roger snapped his whip and shouted, "You idiot! What are you waiting for? Jump! If you don't jump, I'll whip you to death!"
Famous looked up at the bar. Without running, it just slightly bent its knees to lower its body and jumped up like a spring!
Famous jumped over the bar as if it was flying above the mists and clouds. In fact, during the jump, there was space left between Famous and the bar. So, Famous could jump even higher than it did.
Famous landed on the ground stably. Everyone was silent.