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Chapter 1: Just An Ordinary Day Until…
It was 9 a.m. in Nutwood, England, on Saturday, November 19th. After a breakfast of fried eggs, crumpets, pancakes (which they called flapjacks), orange juice, and peppermint tea, fifteen-year-old Rupert Bear headed for the door. Every day, even when he didn't have school, he was always in such a jiffy. He was off school for a week for the Thanksgiving holidays, plus a three-day weekend at the end.
"Bye, Mum!" he called. "I'm off to spend the weekend with Pong Ping!"
"Rupert," Mrs. Bear said, "don't slam the-"
"I won't!" Rupert closed the front door quietly.
"That young little chap," Mr. Bear chuckled. "Or I should say 'young big chap.'"
"I hope we'll get to see him again in the next few days," Mrs. Bear replied.
"I really wonder what my friend is up to this Thanksgiving holiday," Rupert said, walking towards the village of Nutwood. "I bet he has everything decorated at-"
"Rupert!"
BEEP BEEP!
All of a sudden, Rupert turned around, only to find the sixteen-year-old Pekingese, Pong Ping, behind the wheel of an neon blue 1993 Peugeot 306 1.9TD three-door hatchback. He pulled up beside Rupert.
"Zao'an, Rupert," Pong Ping greeted as Rupert opened the car's left door and got into the front passenger seat.
"Good morning, Pong Ping," Rupert replied as he closed the door. "Nice car! Where did it come from?"
"Well," Pong Ping said, "to make a long story short, I bought it at a dealer for only fifteen thousand pounds. The Emperor has paid me a great fortune for rebuilding a damaged statue at his palace."
"I didn't even know you could drive!" Rupert exclaimed. "What is this car, anyway?"
"This," Pong Ping stated, "is a 1993 Peugeot 306 turbodiesel. They made these until 1997 or maybe 1998." He put the car in first gear, turned the radio up, and drove off. The song playing out of the speakers was "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy. Rupert was laughing with excitement as Pong Ping drove down the gravel road at high speed, shifting gears. They came to a junction with a tarmac road. Pong Ping then revved the engine a few times, making black smoke come out of the exhaust pipe.
"Hold on!" he told Rupert.
Pong Ping made an abrupt left turn onto the asphalt and drove even faster, shifting gears again. Both of them came to a few serpentine corners and a jump, and then the car slowed down to a normal speed as the song on the radio ended. Pong Ping and Rupert started laughing.
"It is said: 'The art of happiness is more important than the waste of time,'" Pong Ping told Rupert.
"True," Rupert replied.
"Nutwood Wave FM, best of the 80's and more," a female voice said on the radio. "Good morning, listeners. It's getting better, kids are on holiday, crops are being harvested, and it's chilly and cloudy. Recent news show that archaeologists discovered a hidden, mysterious shrine in east-central China near the Great Wall. They are hesitant to enter."
Rupert and Pong Ping gasped.
"Sounds like we have a mission in our hands, Pong Ping," Rupert chuckled.
"I guess friends never disagree on a plan that they have," Pong Ping responded.
To be continued...