Chapter 415

There are always some monkeys that don't like coming down the mountain; during the few days Zheng Tan stayed at Peiliang's house, the several monkeys he always encountered on the mountain had never come down, but whenever Zheng Tan went up the mountain, those monkeys would bring him things.

At first it was that little monkey, bringing a fruit Zheng Tan had never eaten and offering it to him; Zheng Tan was then with Peiliang, Er Mao and the others, and the little monkey was still wary of strangers, seeming even more cautious and fearful of people than of other animals, so after placing the fruit in front of Zheng Tan it ran away.

"This fruit is edible; I've tried it once." Peiliang walked over, took a look, and said. He had also received it from Qi Dada before, tried eating it, and it wasn't poisonous; it's just that he didn't particularly like the taste, or perhaps it's just delicious in the monkeys' eyes.

"Black Coal, I'll hold onto this for you first and give it back when I return." Er Mao came over, picked up the fruit, looked at it, then put it into the bag he was carrying, and said to Peiliang: "How did that little monkey come to like hanging an empty drink bottle around its neck? Do the monkeys on your mountain have this habit?"

Peiliang shook his head. "I don't know."

In the past, Peiliang had indeed never seen such a thing on the mountain; whether on the mountain or down below, monkeys are curious about many things and quick to learn, but he had never before seen a monkey with an empty plastic bottle hanging from its neck.

That little monkey with a plastic bottle hanging from its neck had been seen by Er Mao and Peiliang when they went looking for Zheng Tan last time; Peiliang just thought some tourist on a whim had given the monkey a bottle, and once the monkey lost interest it would toss it away. But over these few days on the mountain, every time they saw that little monkey, the empty plastic bottle was still around its neck; it could only be said that the monkey really liked doing this and hadn't gotten bored yet.

"However, I think Black Coal must have helped that little monkey. Monkeys are also emotional creatures. I once chatted with some students at the university base, and they told me that if monkey A helps monkey B, the latter will repay with tasty food, thereby establishing a tolerant cooperative society. Besides that, if there are two people—for example, person A and person B—the probability of monkeys taking food from either hand is almost equal, showing no preference for one over the other. But if B refuses to cooperate with A and acts selfishly, many monkeys will then choose to avoid food offered by B. Some say this is because they develop an aversion to B, evaluating the other's character and ability from an emotional standpoint, feeling that B might be hard to get along with. Our Qi Dada is just like that: very emotional and very crafty."

As he spoke, Peiliang pointed at Zheng Tan and then continued: "Since that little monkey chose to offer food to Black Coal, one possibility is that Black Coal helped it; another is, based on that little monkey's behavior just now, I infer that it probably finds Black Coal easy to get along with and is showing friendliness."

Er Mao glanced at Zheng Tan, who looked bewildered beside them, and said: "Black Coal seems to get along well with many animals."

Zheng Tan, meanwhile, was thinking, what exactly have I helped those monkeys with? Apart from twisting a bottle cap, there's nothing else, let alone providing food for the monkeys—Zheng Tan never brings food when he goes up the mountain. For many wild animals, isn't food the top priority?

Without dwelling further on the issue, the group continued up the mountain. Er Mao and Wei Leng were up today to help Peiliang handle some mountain affairs, so they hadn't brought their wives and children, their pace was a bit faster, they aimed to finish early and descend early, then get a good night's sleep, planning to leave the next day.

On the way down, they encountered that little monkey again, plus several other large monkeys; upon seeing Zheng Tan, they called out to him, and a few came over to bring things—various fruits, some the same kind the little monkey had brought before, others different, the wild fruits that grow on the mountain in this season.

"What are they chattering about?" Er Mao asked Peiliang.

"They're greeting him. To be precise, they're greeting Black Coal." Peiliang explained.

"Black Coal really has good rapport with animals." After a pause, Er Mao laughed and shouted at Zheng Tan: "Black Coal, look how well these monkeys treat you—why not stay here and be the mountain stronghold?"

Zheng Tan ignored Er Mao, gathering the fruit together and waiting for Er Mao to come collect them. There were a few kinds of fruit he hadn't eaten before; he would try them later when he got back.

Er Mao also helped Zheng Tan take several group photos with those monkeys; one monkey, probably used to posing with tourists, was familiar with the camera, and when Er Mao took pictures, it came over and stood beside Zheng Tan, striking poses, making faces, then even put an arm around Zheng Tan's neck like brothers.

Zheng Tan kicked that monkey away.

"By the way, Senior Brother Pei, what did you bring last time you went to see the master?" Er Mao asked.

"Nothing much, just some homemade liquor, some local specialties, and a few photos. I couldn't bring more because there was too much, and besides, the master doesn't lack anything; ordinary gifts would just annoy him." Peiliang said.

"Then what should I do? Keep sending tables?" Er Mao said.

"Among the fellow disciples, you've sent the most tables; his habit of slapping tables is all your doing." Wei Leng complained from the side.

"Now things have changed; with his age, he can't keep having tables split open every time. If they don't split, he loses face, so he hardly slaps them anymore. Er Mao, you should send something else instead. If you really send a table, you'll get scolded. This time is different from before—before it was just you, so getting beaten, scolded, and losing face didn't matter. But now you've brought your wife and kids; do you want to be reprimanded in front of them?" Peiliang said.

Unlike Wei Leng and Er Mao, Peiliang often brought Qi Dada around before, visiting the master several times, and once Qi Dada even filmed a TV drama nearby. This time, he only came along because Er Mao and Wei Leng were going, and he happened to be free, so he just tagged along.

This time Qi Dada will stay home to recuperate; Peiliang's wife will stay home to look after the elders, children, and monkeys, so she won't go with him. Moreover, Peiliang's eldest son and daughter have heavy schoolwork now, and having been taken to the master's place several times before, Peiliang doesn't plan to bring them this time—only his youngest son.

Peiliang's youngest son, Peijie, is about ten years old, and he's at that mischievous age, spending all day running around with the village kids and the monkeys. When Peiliang isn't home, Peijie acts like a little demon, refusing to listen to anyone except Peiliang.

Knowing he would be taken out to play by his own father, Peijie immediately grabbed a large travel bag and started packing. Because he's too young, he has gone out with Peiliang far fewer times than his older siblings, so it was a rare occasion when Peiliang said he would bring him along; Peijie was so delighted he howled at the monkeys on the roof for nearly half an hour until Peiliang caught him and made him behave.

And what made Peijie happiest of all was that going on a trip meant no school—how wonderful!

On the day of departure, Qi Dada stood at the doorway with tearful eyes, looking abandoned; if not held back, it would have already scrambled into the car without a care.

Peijie dragged his bag and flung it into the car; as he passed the doorway, he reached up and lightly patted Qi Dada's uninjured occiput, saying, "Just stay home and rest your injury!"

"Er Yuan, say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, uncles and aunts, older brothers and sisters, and Qi Dada." Er Mao said to Er Yuan.

Hearing that, Er Yuan poked his head out the rear car window, called out to each person one by one, and waved. Xiao Pang Wei also poked his head out from the front vehicle to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan, who was gnawing on fruit, poked his head out the window beside the passenger seat, hooked his hand, and flung the pits he had just eaten at Qi Dada, then ignored the furious screeching of Qi Dada.

As the car pulled away, Zheng Tan gazed at the receding mountain ridges and wondered when he would be able to come back next time. Last time he had come was four years ago; would the next visit have to wait another four years, or longer? Or perhaps he would never come again? As for the pitiful orchids on the mountain, he could only place his hope on that little monkey.

After the car left the village and got onto a road with little traffic, Er Mao put on his Bluetooth earpiece and called his master.

"Hey Master, your beloved disciple is coming to see you!" Er Mao exclaimed affectionately.

There was a pause on the other end, then a slow reply: "Who all is coming?"

"Me, Senior Brother Pei, Senior Brother Wei."

"Did you bring the kids?"

"Brought them, brought them!"

Where's the wife?

He's brought her too, sitting in the back! My senior brother Wei Leng and I are a family of three heading out, and Senior Brother Peiliang brought his son Peijie.

Where's the cat?

I brought black coal; I've left Hei Mi with my mom for now.

Oh, that's good.

After the other side finished saying those few words, Er Mao heard the beeping sound of the phone hanging up.

After taking off the headset, Er Mao said via the walkie-talkie to Wei Leng and Peiliang, "We've attracted suspicion again."

"Not the first time." On the other end of the walkie-talkie, Wei Leng said, "Right, how old is Big Mountain now? Seventeen? Eighteen? I remember it's been several years already."

"It's almost twenty years old. Back when I was just a young whippersnapper, it was already there, though back then I guess it wasn't fully grown; it looked about the size of an ordinary cat, and I really did treat it as an ordinary cat back then. Who knew it would keep growing bigger, to the point even a blind person could tell it wasn't an ordinary cat." Er Mao recalled a bit and said.

"I saw it carrying a rabbit in its mouth when I went there in the first half of this year; that doesn't look like a twenty-year-old old cat." Peiliang shared his recent observations.

"As long as it's healthy, that's fine; otherwise our master would be lonely again." Wei Leng clicked his tongue.

"Wasn't the idea to find it a companion?" Er Mao was very interested in that.

"We've tried; the master had people look for several candidates, but each time after a while they'd chase the other away."

Er Mao and his three senior brothers were chatting, while Zheng Tan pricked up his ears to listen.

From early on, Zheng Tan had been curious about the "master's cat" that Wei Leng and them mentioned, but Wei Leng and Er Mao and them hadn't really wanted to talk about that cat before.

Upon hearing Er Mao say that the cat was almost twenty years old, Zheng Tan really was a bit surprised. In Chu Hua Shi he had seen plenty of old cats, some of which couldn't even jump when they were over ten years old, but Big Mountain at twenty could still go catch rabbits, showing it was not ordinary. (To be continued...)