Chen Hao still had half a dried biscuit dangling from his mouth, his eyes fixed on the swaying grass. The way that strange insect jumped out and tapped the ground earlier looked just like some kind of code, making him see every blade of grass as if it were an undercover agent.
Just as he reached out to pick up the fallen biscuit, the ground shook again.
This time it wasn't an insect.
It was the sound of hooves.
From afar, wave after wave crashed down, shaking the very earth. His neck stiffened, and he stopped picking up the pancakes, rolling over to the back of the field ridge and grabbing the stun gun leaning against the mound of earth.
"Again?" he panted. "Is this some kind of conference?"
Nana stood still, her optical eye already scanning the interface, data scrolling rapidly. Instead of drawing her weapon, she manually turned off the alarm system.
“The frequency is stable,” she said. “The stride intervals are consistent, and there are no signs of acceleration.”
"You can tell what it's trying to do just by listening to its footsteps?" Chen Hao lay on the edge of the field, his head barely peeking out. "Last time, they knocked over three rows of my bean seedlings without even chewing them."
“Last time it was a panicked escape.” Nana pulled up a waveform chart. “This time the heartbeat was stable and the nasal breathing rhythm was normal, indicating an organized approach.”
Chen Hao squinted and looked over. Dust rose in the distance as a group of dark figures slowly advanced. Leading them was a gray-bristled wild boar with crooked tusks and an old wound on its back—the very same one that had been hit by the laser last time.
"Oh," he sneered, "So you've brought your family back to petition?"
The herd of wild boars stopped about ten meters from the farmland. They didn't charge or make a sound. A dozen or so of varying sizes lined up in a semi-circle, gently pawing the ground with their front hooves and emitting low grunts, as if they were collectively clearing their throats.
Chen Hao's finger was on the trigger, sweat streaming down his temples: "If they poop here, I'll really have to consider moving to another planet."
“We’ve ruled out any intention to excrete,” Nana suddenly said. “The infrared scan shows a full abdomen, normal body temperature, and no aggressive hormones being released.”
"So you're just causing trouble after you've eaten your fill?" he gritted his teeth. "Typical antisocial behavior."
“It’s more likely a social behavior.” She switched the audio capture mode, and an ear-like receiver popped out from her shoulder. “Low-frequency resonance, lasting four seconds per set, for a total of three rounds—78% database match rate, similar to a group call signal for cooperation among mammals.”
Chen Hao was stunned: "You mean... they're greeting each other?"
"The probability is higher than 63%."
"You dare draw that conclusion based on 63%?" He rolled his eyes. "Are the remaining 37% probably thinking of stewing me up to make me nutritious?"
Before the words were even finished, the gray-maned wild boar took two steps forward, its nose pointing to the sky, its front legs slightly bent, and then—it nudged out a carrot with its snout.
Chen Hao almost fell off the edge of the field.
He still remembered that carrot. He had casually tossed it by the field three days ago, intending to feed it to the rabbits, but instead of finding any rabbits, a wild boar had taken it.
Now, not only has it not eaten it, it has also been returned to us.
And it was placed quite neatly.
"Did it...bow to me?" he asked, his voice weak.
“The gesture doesn’t meet the standard definition of a bow,” Nana said calmly, “but it does have the characteristics of a symbolic act of returning something.”
Chen Hao swallowed hard and slowly put down the stun gun. He took out the remaining three carrots from his backpack and placed them one by one in his palm.
“If you’re really here to discuss cooperation,” he muttered, “you should at least treat me to a meal, right?”
He closed his eyes and threw it.
The first one flew off course and landed in the mud. A little wild boar ran over, sniffed it, glanced up at it, and then pushed it to the feet of the big wild boar.
The second one landed on the edge of the field. The wild boar walked over, curled its snout around it, but instead of swallowing it, it gently placed it next to the loosened clod of earth.
On the third one, Chen Hao aimed and threw.
The wild boar caught it perfectly, flicking its nose and landing the carrots precisely next to the two that had been there before, lining them up neatly in a row, like a formation.
The air was still for a few seconds.
Chen Hao turned to Nana and asked, "Should we give them a 'Best Etiquette Award of the Year'?"
“I suggest prioritizing testing of interactive feedback mechanisms,” Nana said calmly. “Their behavior may be related to farming.”
"Farming?" he scoffed. "You don't really think—"
Before he could finish speaking, the wild boar suddenly lowered its head, its tusks plunging into the soil. With a thud of its shoulder, a large patch of hard earth was turned up, and decaying leaves mixed with wet mud were thrown up. The whole movement was smooth and fluid, much more efficient than when he used a hoe.
Then, the second, the third... followed one after another, digging in an orderly manner between the ridges. Some were responsible for loosening the soil, some used their hind legs to kick the gravel to the side, and one even specially piled up the weeds into small heaps, stacking them like a stack of firewood.
Chen Hao's mouth was open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.
“I plowed the land for two hours yesterday and only managed to get this much soil.” He pointed to the little bit of soil he had painstakingly turned over that morning. “It took me less than ten minutes, but it’s almost as much as my work in a week.”
“Efficiency has increased by about 410%,” Nana quickly calculated. “Furthermore, the aeration of deep soil has improved significantly, and organic matter is mixed evenly, meeting the standards for a high-quality topsoil.”
"So they didn't come for revenge," Chen Hao murmured. "They came to apply for a job?"
“More accurately, it’s about seeking a symbiotic relationship.” Nana pulled up an ecological model. “The last time the laser chased it away didn’t cause fatal damage; on the contrary, it may have stimulated its awareness of human technological capabilities. This time, its return, carrying food to show goodwill and actively participating in labor, is consistent with the characteristics of the early stages of interspecies cooperation.”
Chen Hao squatted by the field, watching the wild boars busily working. Some of them even started to imitate the spacing he had used when planting rice seedlings, poking holes in the turned soil with their snouts.
"Wait a minute." He suddenly realized, "Could it be that they saw me working and thought the work was too tiring, so they wanted to do it for me and then let me feed them?"
“The logic holds true.” Nana nodded. “You provide food and shelter, and they provide labor, creating a complementary resource system.”
"So I'm surrounded by laborers?" He grinned, took out the last dry biscuit from his pocket, broke it in half, stuffed one half into his mouth, and threw the other half at the big wild boar.
The big wild boar lowered its head and sniffed it, but instead of eating it, it used its snout to push it in front of a small wild boar.
The little wild boar took a bite, raised its head and grunted, then wagged its tail.
Chen Hao was stunned: "It even knows how to divide the spoils?"
“There is a clear division of labor and hierarchical structure within the group,” Nana noted. “The leader allocates resources, and the young have priority in using them, which is consistent with an efficient collaborative organizational form.”
He sat on the edge of the field, leaning against his tool bag, and laughed out loud: "Wow, you guys are ruthless. Not only do I get a construction team for free, but I also get to be the logistics manager."
The wild boars worked with increasing enthusiasm. The previously compacted land was completely transformed, and several drainage ditches were cleared. One large boar even discovered a gap in the paddy field embankment that had been washed away by the water and took the initiative to fill it with mud using its snout.
Chen Hao clicked his tongue in disbelief: "If we could sign an employment contract, I'd immediately register an agricultural company."
"I suggest we develop collaborative guidelines immediately." Nana turned on the holographic projector and drew several dotted lines. "Reserve work passages, divide crop rotation areas, and avoid crop damage."
“That’s right.” He stood up, brushed the dirt off his pants, and said, “We can’t let them finish their work and then find out they’ve demolished their own house.”
Just as he was about to walk over to guide it, a young wild boar accidentally used too much force, and with a flick of its tusk, knocked a newly sprouted corn seedling away.
"Oh!" Chen Hao rushed over with heartache. "I planted those myself yesterday!"
The wild boar was stunned, standing still with its ears drooping down, as if it knew it had caused trouble.
Chen Hao stared at the fallen seedling, sighed, gently lifted it up, and then covered it with soil again and tamped it down.
The wild boar lowered its head, rubbed against his shoes, and grunted.
"Never mind." He waved his hand. "It's normal to make mistakes on your first day of work."
Nana walked over and placed a sign next to her: "Highly vulnerable crop areas have been marked. You can guide people to detour through the area using odor barriers."
"You actually take it seriously?" he laughed.
“Collaboration requires trust,” she said. “And it also requires rules.”
The sun was gradually setting in the west, and a breeze blew in from the woods, carrying the scent of earth and plant sap. The wild boar herd was still busy, but their movements had slowed down; they were clearly tired.
Chen Hao took half a bag of wheat grains from the storage box and poured it onto the wooden planks by the field. The wild boars gathered around and took turns licking it, in an orderly fashion.
After the wild boar finished eating, it walked up to him, lowered its head, and gently touched his hand with its snout.
Chen Hao was stunned.
The next second, he grinned and reached out to touch the rough mane.
"Alright, you've passed." He said, "Work starts tomorrow, and the wage settlement method is carrots and wheat grains. If you don't do well, your food rations will be deducted."
Nana stood to the side, her optical eyes flashing softly with blue light. The system was automatically generating a "Draft of Cross-Species Collaborative Farming Management," with the title below stating: "First Phase Trial Implementation, Expected Yield Increase of No Less Than 65%."
Chen Hao sat at the edge of the field, munching on a cold pancake, watching the wild boars resting in small groups along the edge of the field. Some rubbed against each other's backs, while others dug holes and rolled around with their hooves, as if they were giving themselves a holiday.
He took a sip of water and mumbled, "Do you think they might suddenly go on strike one day and demand social insurance and housing fund benefits?"
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