Chapter 412: Those Monkeys

Four years later, Zheng Tan returned to Qi Dada's hometown again. Looking at the scenery and buildings outside the car window, he compared them with the images in his memory and found that the village seemed to have expanded outward quite a bit. Even though the National Day holiday was over, there were still many people here, and the street vendors setting up stalls around were much more numerous than four years ago.

The planning was done, the advertisements were put out, and the number of tourists increased. People like Wei Leng and Er Mao, who only go out after the peak season, are obviously not few.

After the number of tourists increased, management here became much stricter. Previously, when Zheng Tan came, he still saw monkeys throwing things at each other, but now on those stalls one passes by, the monkeys either stand obediently to the side or do some little performances to attract customers; in short, the incident of monkeys throwing things that happened four years ago did not occur.

That makes sense, since they want to properly plan this place as a tourist attraction, they wouldn't allow these monkeys to be too arrogant; what would they do if the monkeys threw feces and hit a tourist?

That's not just a complaint issue; nobody would want to be hit in the face by a suspicious lump while traveling.

Er Mao also asked about this issue.

Peiliang proudly said, "The monkeys coming down the mountain now have reformed; they're not as mischievous as before. These guys are smart—they know that behaving that way won't get them anything good, but if they just act cute and put on a little show, they can still earn quite a bit of food."

Peiliang drove ahead, leading the way; because the area had been re-planned, the route was also somewhat different from four years ago.

Zheng Tan originally thought Qi Dada would show off wearing its tiger-skin skirt and wielding a "golden hoop staff," but he didn't expect that Qi Dada had been too showy a few days ago, got carried away while shaking, was hit by a falling stone, injured, and is now resting at home.

"It's not a big problem, is it?" Er Mao asked.

"Nothing much, just lay still for two days at first, then became active and jumping around, but the elders at home were afraid it would jump around and infect the wound, so they confined it to the house."

When Zheng Tan saw Qi Dada, that silly monkey was sitting on a bamboo chair at home, with one leg lifted, holding something and eating. Its head was wrapped in a bandage, but looking at its expression, there was nothing wrong; it was in high spirits.

After seeing Zheng Tan, Qi Dada immediately jumped up from the chair, looked down on him and chattered, seemingly trying to intimidate him.

Zheng Tan ignored it. Every time they meet, it does the same thing, with no novelty.

Compared to Zheng Tan's indifference, Er Yuan and Wei Xiao Pangzi were quite interested, being brought over by their own father.

"Qi Dada, this is Wei Xiao Pang, and this is Er Yuan; please treat them well," Peiliang said to Qi Dada.

Qi Dada's wary gaze shifted away from Zheng Tan. Its attitude toward Wei Xiao Pang and Er Yuan was much better, though it still occasionally glanced at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan didn't care at all about Qi Dada's little thoughts; he knew Qi Dada couldn't beat him and had suffered several losses, so it was on guard against him, but Zheng Tan hadn't come here just to look at that monkey's face. He was thinking about when he could sneak up the mountain to take a look.

As per the old custom, rest well on the first day of arrival, then go out on the second.

Originally Er Mao wanted to first take the kids around the village to buy some little trinkets, but the two children seemed more interested in the mountain, especially after hearing Peiliang's youngest son say there were wild fruits to eat on the mountain and even more monkeys, after which the two children wanted to go up the mountain even more.

That worked out fine; Zheng Tan followed and ran up the mountain, while Qi Dada remained forcibly kept at home to recuperate.

On the mountain, unlike the village, there hasn't been much change.

Wei Leng and Er Mao took their wives and children to take photos, while Zheng Tan simply ran off.

"Black Coal! Don't run too far!" Er Mao shouted.

"Dad, where did Hei Ge go?" Er Yuan asked.

"Your Hei Ge went off to play with some little companions," Er Mao said.

"Hei Ge's little companions?" Er Yuan became curious, "Let's go see them too." She was very interested in Hei Ge's little companions.

Wei Xiao Pangzi was obviously the same; he didn't want to stay put taking photos either, and pulled Wei Leng to go over.

Wei Leng gave Er Mao a punch, telling him to stop spouting nonsense!

Er Mao shrugged his shoulders; he was just making things up off the cuff, never expecting the two children to take it seriously and insist on going over.

Looking around, Zheng Tan had already run out of sight, but since he was wearing a cat collar with a positioning function, he wasn't hard to find. So Er Mao took out his phone, opened an app, looked at the display on the screen, pointed the way, and said, "Over there."

Although Er Mao knew Zheng Tan's location, Zheng Tan was running while Er Mao was walking, and he also had to look after two young children, so he was much slower.

After not coming for four years, his memory was a bit fuzzy; Zheng Tan followed some fragments of his memory, searched a bit, tried a few times, and found the approximate location.

However, as he approached that steep slope, Zheng Tan encountered a slight obstruction.

This time there was no disturbance from Qi Dada, so no more monkeys would be summoned; Zheng Tan had run all the way, encountered a few monkeys, shaken off some trouble, and as for the guy now hiding in a tree throwing fruit at Zheng Tan, it was a small monkey.

Why did this monkey kid run over here instead of following its mother and its group?

Zheng Tan glanced up at the tree; after seeing Zheng Tan, the little monkey shrank back somewhat timidly into the branches.

Seeing that, Zheng Tan didn't have the heart to bully the weak, turned around and continued to approach the steep slope.

Thud!

Something smacked his forehead.

Zheng Tan: "……"

Who said the monkeys here have reformed?!

Zheng Tan turned his head and glared at the tree; the little monkey on it, seeing Zheng Tan looking over, which had previously exposed most of its body, retreated back into the branches.

Zheng Tan: "……" Damn it.

The monkey kid is as annoying as a brat.

Zheng Tan glared that annoying little monkey into the branches, then quickly ran to the steep slope and jumped down.

Just a moment ago he hadn't noticed, but after coming down from the steep slope, Zheng Tan discovered that this place was completely different from four years ago.

Four years ago here, although there was trash, there were also many plants and a large patch of orchids. Now, the trash is less, but everywhere there are traces of burning; although it looks like that disaster happened a long time ago, some weeds have grown back, but the blackness on the nearby stone wall remains. As for the original plants and those flowers, they were probably all destroyed in that fire.

I had thought that after the same amount of time, I would see large patches of orchids and more of the "Jade Cat Immortal," but I didn't expect it to turn out like this.

No wonder I didn't smell anything when I arrived.

This blaze consumed not only the rare flower that once caused a sensation, but also money. A single pot of "Jade Cat Immortal" is valued at tens of millions, and the many orchids originally here would be even more valuable.

If Old Man Lan found out, he'd probably get so excited he'd have to be hospitalized again.

Just then, a pebble struck the ground beside Zheng Tan's foot.

Zheng Tan looked up. It was still that annoying little monkey.

Because of the situation here, Zheng Tan's mood had turned bad; now, with this annoying little monkey causing trouble, his mood got even worse.

Zheng Tan intended to go to the place where the orchids originally grew to examine it carefully, then go up and settle accounts with that little monkey. But unexpectedly, as he approached that direction, the little monkey on the steep slope cried out even more shrilly, and its stone-throwing actions became more frequent.

Zheng Tan's steps paused; he dodged the stone the monkey threw at him, continued walking that way, while also diverting attention to notice the little monkey on the steep slope.

Seeing Zheng Tan ignore it, the little monkey panicked; as it saw Zheng Tan walking closer and closer over there, it slid straight down the steep slope, and because it was too hurried, it almost missed its footing and would have fallen, but fortunately there were some weeds below to cushion it, so it was unharmed.

After rolling in the weeds, the little monkey quickly ran to the place where the orchids used to grow, blocking Zheng Tan's front and jumping about, baring its teeth and claws in a bluff; if it were an ordinary cat, it would have run away, but Zheng Tan doesn't buy that act—he would kick even Qi Dada's like that, so he doesn't even regard this little monkey; he lifted his foot and lunged toward it.

Seeing Zheng Tan like that, the little monkey was frightened, dodged to the side, stared at Zheng Tan with fearful eyes, and made some sounds; it was unclear whether it was calling for help from its companions nearby or shouting at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan glanced at the trembling little monkey huddled beside him, pushed aside some weeds, and looked closely; upon looking, he found that the orchids were indeed gone, but in their original spot, some sprouts had emerged.

Zheng Tan smelled it carefully; the scent was somewhat like orchid leaves.

Zheng Tan smelled it again.

Zheng Tan could not tell whether it was a wild type or a natural mutant type.

However, having these few sprouts is better than total annihilation.

Zheng Tan's bad mood improved a little.

After glancing at the little monkey beside him, Zheng Tan wondered whether this monkey had been guarding these sprouts just now.

The little monkey had stopped calling and was now looking curiously at Zheng Tan.

Some noises came from above; it was a few large monkeys. The little monkey's mother was also among them; upon seeing the little monkey, she jumped down from above, scooped the little monkey into her arms, and watched Zheng Tan warily.

Zheng Tan ignored them, looked at the few sprouts; the surrounding soil was a bit dry. He glanced around and saw an discarded empty mineral water bottle in the corner, probably thrown away a few days ago.

Zheng Tan listened carefully to the surroundings, confirmed no one was coming, stood up, went over and picked up the bottle. Nearby there was a stream; Zheng Tan held the empty bottle, went to the stream's edge, unscrewed the cap, and filled it with some water. Sensing something, he turned around and saw the several large monkeys watching him from the side, while the little monkey clung to its mother, staring at his actions.

After filling it with water, Zheng Tan screwed the cap back on and held it as he walked back. The several monkeys followed him back to the steep slope, watching as Zheng Tan loosened the cap and poured water onto the orchid sprouts.

After pouring the water, Zheng Tan tightened the cap and placed the bottle aside.

A mountain breeze blew over, knocking the empty mineral water bottle over, and it rolled down the slope.

The little monkey that had been clinging to its mother quickly ran over and picked up the bottle; the mother didn't have time to stop it, probably because the little monkey was usually mischievous.

The little monkey tried to imitate Zheng Tan's earlier action, but found the cap impossible to open, and involuntarily let out two squeaks.

The several large monkeys also came over, took the bottle, fiddled with it twice, still couldn't open it, and looked as if they wanted to bite it open.

Zheng Tan couldn't bear to watch any longer and walked over.

Aren't the monkeys in the village at the foot of the mountain quite clever? They can do everything from taking exams to causing mischief, even tearing off roof tiles. But probably the monkeys up on the mountain, who rarely come down to the village, haven't had much exposure to those things.

The large monkey holding the bottle, seeing Zheng Tan approach, hastily threw the bottle down and retreated.

The little monkey still wanted to go pick up the bottle, but the mother monkey grabbed its tail a step ahead and dragged it back.

But when Zheng Tan picked up the bottle, several monkeys stretched their necks and stared at his actions.

Thus, while Er Mao and the others were looking for Zheng Tan, Zheng Tan was teaching these monkeys how to unscrew the bottle cap. (To be continued...)