Chapter 414

A previous report on genetic research said humans and chimpanzees are highly similar, differing by only about 1-2%, and it is precisely this 2% genetic difference that causes chimpanzees to differ greatly from humans in intelligence, behavior, psychology, etc.; as the saying goes, 'a small error leads to a great mistake'.

However, this does not mean that chimpanzees or monkeys are stupid; compared to many animals, they are quite intelligent.

Those few monkeys watched Zheng Tan twist open the bottle cap, tighten it, twist it open again, tighten it again, repeating several times; they probably got itchy hands, and after Zheng Tan felt the demonstration was sufficient, he put the bottle back on the ground and stepped back a few steps.

The baby monkey that the mother monkey had scooped up in her arms, upon seeing Zheng Tan's actions, eagerly broke free to grab the empty mineral water bottle. This time the mother monkey did not pull it back by the tail, and several large monkeys gathered to watch the baby monkey's movements.

Zheng Tan had not tightened the cap when he twisted it earlier, so the baby monkey, imitating his earlier motions, tried twice and managed to unscrew the cap. Seeing its success, the baby monkey became excited, waving its arms and legs, chirping 'ji ji a a' as if showing off.

A large monkey took the bottle, placed the removed cap on the mouth, moved it, and the cap fell off; it put it back, and it fell again. Another large monkey nearby couldn't stand it, snatched the bottle, then carefully placed the cap on top, pinched it with its fingers and twisted—wrong, twisted again—still wrong, stared at the bottle a few times, changed direction, and this time it was correct.

After swinging the plastic bottle hard twice with no cap falling off, that large monkey happily cried 'o-o'.

Zheng Tan watched as those few monkeys gathered to grab the bottle and play. This time the baby monkey couldn't compete, looked around, and ran off. When the mother monkey turned her head, the baby monkey was already far away, and calling couldn't bring it back.

Now Zheng Tan finally understood why that baby monkey had been alone before; among human children it would be the type that doesn't listen no matter what you say.

Not long after, the baby monkey somehow found a slightly smaller drink bottle, the cap not screwed on tight, it fiddled a bit and unscrewed it, then fiddled to tighten it again.

Watching the monkeys play with bottle caps, Zheng Tan sighed inwardly. A mineral water bottle could make them this happy as a toy.

Just then, Zheng Tan's ear twitched; he heard voices—it was Er Mao and the others coming over.

Soon the monkeys also noticed the approaching people, some becoming wary. The mother monkey called the baby monkey over; while clinging to the mother monkey, the baby monkey did not discard the small drink bottle in its hand.

When Er Mao and his group arrived at the steep slope, Zheng Tan had already climbed up and was waiting.

"Black Coal, what are you doing here?" Er Mao asked. Actually, Er Mao also had doubts in mind, recalling the orchid sprouts that this cat had brought out four years ago.

After taking a step forward, Er Mao glanced down at the steep slope.

"Hey, Senior Brother Peiliang, did a fire start here?" Er Mao asked, pointing downward.

Peiliang helplessly said: "Yeah, actually not many people come to this place, and that's why some mountain patrols didn't notice it; plus some people neglected their duties and overlooked this area, so garbage had accumulated below. Sometime around May Day, someone threw something unknown down there, it caught fire, and the vegetation on the slope was almost completely burned, leaving the surrounding stone walls still black."

Many tourist spots, even with signs posted, still have people who ignore them, littering and spitting indiscriminately, even tossing dangerous items carelessly, presumably just for fun.

If the person who tossed the fire source knew how much money this blaze had burned, what would their feelings be?

"After that incident, several more trash cans were placed around here," Peiliang said, pointing to something that looked like a wooden post.

To match the surrounding environment of the tourist spot, the trash cans were made to be more nature‑friendly.

Zheng Tan looked at that trash can; there is one here, and nearby there should be many more places with such cans, yet even with trash cans present, he still saw discarded plastic bottles down below—not as ubiquitous as four years ago, but they still exist.

"The phenomenon of littering still exists," Er Mao said, looking at some inconspicuous wrappers down the slope.

"It definitely can't be completely avoided, but those monkeys also deserve some 'credit' for this," Peiliang said.

"What credit?"

"The monkeys on the mountain are very alert, keeping strangers at bay, so they rarely go down to the villages to interact with people; yet they are also very curious—I've seen monkeys rummaging through trash bins several times when I went up the mountain. Cleaners can't constantly watch the trash cans; over such a large area with hundreds of bins, it's impossible to clean them all at once, and even if there were many cleaners, they couldn't pay attention all the time."

"Heh, those monkeys even have this habit? Er Yuan, my good daughter, let's not learn from those bad monkeys," Er Mao said to Er Yuan.

Bringing the children, it's also not good to stay too long on the mountain; the kids don't have that much energy, so they only stayed half a day and went down the mountain in the afternoon to return to the village.

The next day, Er Mao and Wei Leng didn't go up the mountain; instead they took the two kids to stroll the small stalls, while Zheng Tan followed Peiliang up the mountain—Peiliang was heading to the mountain lodge, and Zheng Tan went to the steep slope.

When Zheng Tan arrived, he happened to see the baby monkey carrying a water-filled bottle to the spot with several long-leaf sprouts, imitating Zheng Tan's actions from yesterday by pouring water there; its technique was still clumsy, the cap turning not so smooth, but it was much better than yesterday when it knew nothing.

Originally Zheng Tan worried the orchids there would dry out and die, but now he worries about overwatering; since he can't immediately teach the monkey moderate watering, he can only think positively—surely it won't die from lack of water? The weather here has indeed been dry lately.

The baby monkey also noticed Zheng Tan; probably because it's so small, it isn't as wary as the large monkeys on the mountain, and yesterday's events have greatly reduced its wariness of Zheng Tan, making it less timid.

Having climbed the steep slope, the baby monkey raised its empty drink bottle toward Zheng Tan.

Is this… a request for credit?

Regardless, Zheng Tan walked over. Seeing the baby monkey not dodge, he raised a hand and gently patted its head.

Good child.

However, sneaking out alone like this isn't good; it's still a juvenile monkey. Could monkeys also have a rebellious phase?

After watering, the baby monkey had nothing to do, still clutching the small drink bottle; Zheng Tan saw that walking and climbing trees with it was too difficult, so he grabbed some vines, tied the bottle, and slipped it onto the monkey's neck.

The baby monkey was curious about this, taking the loop off and putting it back on, then shaking it and chirping 'ji ji' a few times to express its joy and delight.

Zheng Tan intended to stroll around the mountain; having stayed in the city too long, coming to nature instantly made his body and mind feel relaxed. Although the greenery at Chu Hua Da Xue is quite good, it is after all a plain area, still within the urban circle, and its natural environment differs from that of the mountain forests.

Walking leisurely while thinking things over, of course he also paid a bit of attention to the surrounding sounds and movements; wandering in the mountains, failing to notice details could lead to loss.

Sensing something abnormal behind him, Zheng Tan turned around to look back.

Besides the baby monkey with the plastic bottle hanging from its neck following along, there were other monkeys trailing— the two large monkeys from yesterday, as well as some Zheng Tan had never seen before.

Seeing that they had no hostile intent, merely tagging along, probably just to join the fun; seeing their companions follow, they did the same.

Zheng Tan walked on, seeing those monkeys still following; he had originally planned to sprint to shake them off, but after spotting a trash can, he changed his mind.

One monkey was rummaging in the trash can, not necessarily looking for food; Peiliang had said that whether monkeys like to go down the mountain or stay up there, they never lack food, and the locals treat them well. Thus Zheng Tan was more inclined to believe this monkey was just having fun rummaging. As it rummaged, some food boxes and wrappers were turned up inside the can.

Zheng Tan stood up, walked over, picked up a plastic bag, and tossed it into the trash can. Then he crouched nearby to watch the monkeys.

At first the nearby monkeys showed no reaction; after about half a minute, the baby monkey with the drink bottle walked over, picked up a clump of paper that had fallen beside the trash can, threw it into the can, then glanced toward Zheng Tan to test his reaction.

Zheng Tan thought it over, then walked over and gently patted the baby monkey's head.

The baby monkey happily chirped 'ji ji o o' for a while, then threw another piece of wrapping paper into the can and continued looking at Zheng Tan.

This time Zheng Tan couldn't be bothered to move.

But Zheng Tan stayed still; the baby monkey, seeing that, inched a step toward him, then another, and another, until it was right beside him.

After looking at the monkey beside him with wide eyes staring at him, Zheng Tan's whiskers twitched; he raised his hand and patted its monkey head again.

Watching another eager monkey rush over to pick up trash, Zheng Tan thought he might as well just sneak away.

Nearby, a large monkey that had been perched in a tree scratching an itch, seeing the baby monkey's behavior, probably thought it would be fun, so it climbed down and followed to pick up things and toss them in.

Once one did it, a second followed, then a third; the surrounding monkeys that had been just watching the spectacle also came over to learn.

By the time the baby monkey turned its head again, Zheng Tan had already run off and disappeared.

And here, nobody expected that the events unfolding among these monkeys would gradually and subtly change the behavior of large numbers of monkeys on the mountain; consequently, when later tourists visiting the area littered indiscriminately or tossed trash toward a can but missed, letting it fall beside the can, there would always be a monkey that came over to pick up the fallen item and throw it into the can.

For this matter, local TV stations and the provincial station came over to interview, using it as a typical example to educate some people, throwing trash into the trash bin is something even monkeys know, you don't understand?

However, when outsiders praise the high average quality of the monkeys here, most villagers just smile without speaking, thinking inside: You haven't seen how those monkeys behaved before; that's practically a negative example.

Of course, those are later matters; let's not mention them for now.

Zheng Tan also didn't expect that his spontaneous amusement would trigger this series of changes; he watched the time and went down the mountain on schedule to Peiliang's house. If it were later, Er Mao would go tattle to Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma.

In the evening, the two kids were taken to sleep by their respective mothers, leaving Wei Leng, why, and Peiliang—the three sworn brothers—drinking there.

People, most of the time when they're happy or sad, tend to drink too much and get drunk.

Peiliang even more so; after drinking too much, he teamed up with Qi Dada to perform a weird set of monkey fist, then each person and monkey took up the "Golden Hooped Staff" to impersonate the Great Sage, and they started arguing over who impersonated him better.

Yes, Peiliang, together with Qi Dada, one person and one monkey, though they spoke different languages, they argued heatedly.

Er Mao watched the flushed faces of the person and the monkey, laughing so hard he rolled on the ground, while Wei Leng, still somewhat sober, snapped several photos.

Peiliang's eldest son couldn't stand it, shut the door, and didn't let outsiders see his father's embarrassing sight.

Zheng Tan, watching from the side, recalled an old joke: It takes tens of thousands of years for a monkey to become human, but for a human to turn back into a monkey, all it takes is one bottle of wine. (To be continued…)

ps: I originally planned to come back early and release a second chapter, but after opening QQ I received three work emails, only starting to type at ten o'clock. I managed only one more chapter, then I'll type a bit more before sleeping; there's still a lot to do on the last day of September, and if I don't finish everything by November I won't be able to go back home. Here I apologize to everyone.

I originally planned to release "Big Mountain" today, but I can only wait until tomorrow.