Chapter 173 of "New Urban Farmers" (10128): Golden Monkey Troops and Flying Stones (nearly 6,000 words)
On the tenth day that Zhang Guodong stayed in the mountains, the restaurant next to Green Stew Treasure Pavilion was taken over by a beautiful young woman who was said to be opening a small restaurant there.
This proprietress was elegant and generous. Originally, there was a flower shop next to Green Treasure Pavilion, but this beautiful woman offered a transfer fee of 200,000 yuan, allowing the other party to pocket 60,000 yuan. The flower shop owner's initial "no" immediately turned into "agreement," and in less than a day, the shop was in the hands of this beautiful young woman.
The proprietress wasn't alone; she had a young female assistant in her early twenties by her side. With the help of this assistant, the business license was quickly obtained. Then came the renovations, furnishing, and hiring staff—everything was quickly set up, but the restaurant was still not open for business.
Xiaodie went upstairs and found the lazy landlady. The landlady was wearing loose pajamas and reclining on the sofa, her belly slightly protruding. Xiaodie was a little envious of the landlady's pregnancy! She wondered who the landlady was thinking about? How could she have such a wonderful woman like the landlady!
Xiaodie followed the landlady to the provincial capital, where the landlady was going to open a small restaurant, and she followed her all the way.
The landlady tiptoed upstairs and, seeing Xiaodie, lazily asked, "Xiaodie, is there anything I can help you with?"
Xiaodie stuck out her tongue and said with a grin, "Did the little guy kick you today, Sister Ye?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Yun's maternal glow immediately shone on her beautiful face, and she smiled slightly, saying, "Yes, this little guy is already restless at only four months old, moving around all the time!"
"It must be a big, chubby boy! I've heard boys like to move around a lot. Congratulations, Sister Ye!" Xiao Die said with a grin.
In private, the two are like sisters, not boss and employee. Bu Die is the girl Ye Yun rescued from dire straits in Qingyang, and now she's devotedly following her.
"Sister Ye, our restaurant is all renovated and we've hired staff. We've been waiting for several days now. When will it open?" Bu Die continued.
She knew Sister Ye was waiting for that man, but who was he? How long would this waiting ever end?
Ye Yun gently stroked her protruding belly, feeling a little bitter, but then she became determined.
That young man probably doesn't know she's pregnant with his child yet, right? What would happen if he did find out? Would he keep the baby?
However, she must give birth to this child. She doesn't plan to get married anymore, and now that she's pregnant with that young man's child, at least she has something to look forward to. She will raise the child alone!
But where is that little man now? It seems like Green Treasure Pavilion hasn't been open for a long time, right? I asked the property management company, and Green Treasure Pavilion hasn't terminated the lease, so naturally Zhang Guodong is still coming back.
"Let's wait a little longer," Ye Yun said softly.
Xiaodie hesitated for a moment and said, "Sister Ye, he doesn't know you're in the provincial capital yet, right? Why don't you call again? You can't keep your phone off forever, can you?"
Ye Yun thought about it and realized that he didn't know that she had opened a restaurant next to Green Treasure Pavilion.
"Okay!" Ye Yun took out her phone and dialed Zhang Guodong's number. Her heart was pounding. Would she get through this time?
"It's connected?" Ye Yun was pleasantly surprised, but then she realized Zhang Guodong seemed to be on the phone with someone. Who was he talking to?
The person who spoke with Zhang Guodong was Xiang Chunyan!
"Guodong, when are you coming back?" Xiang Chunyan asked with a tender yet playful giggle over the phone. "Li Yun's dad is about to be transferred to a central government position. She needs me to bring her boyfriend back this time to test him out before we get married. If you don't come soon, Li Yun might be snatched up by someone else!"
It's obvious that Li Yun had a lot of suitors. She came from a prominent family, was incredibly beautiful, and had countless eligible bachelors of similar social standing. But for some inexplicable reason, she chose Zhang Guodong. That's probably how the story of the princess and the frog prince came about.
Zhang Guodong gave a wry smile, feeling ashamed, but immediately said, "Sister Xiang, I'm currently in the mountains. I'll leave tomorrow and arrive in a week. Tell Li Yun that I'm not going anywhere this time. As soon as I leave the mountains, I'll go see her parents first!"
“Hehe, Li Yun is taking a shower, should we call out to her? You should tell her that,” Xiang Chunyan said.
Zhang Guodong immediately said, "Sister Xiang, the signal is bad. Wait for me to come back!"
He was currently searching for the monkey troop in the mountains. Accompanying him were Dahei, Erhei, Daqing, Erqing, Yi Lao, Xiaohu, Zhang Baoshun's eldest son Zhang Chengzhu, and two strong young villagers, Zhang Daniu and Dunzi.
This place is called Qianlonggou.
The emerald green pool before me, bathed in the blazing sun, resembled a smiling virgin, its surface spanning hundreds of square meters. Thick, white ribbons of water, as thick as buckets, cascaded down from a height of over ten meters, splashing and scattering countless droplets across the smooth, rounded rocks, creating gentle, rippling waves.
Not far away, on a shallow beach paved with pebbles, the group rested. Each person carried a machete and a backpack. Zhang Chengzhu, Zhang Daniu, and Dunzi carried horn bows and a quiver of more than ten featherless arrows.
But they had been walking for two days and had not seen the monkey troop. Perhaps the only way to find the monkey troop was to go to the abyss where Old Man Yi had his accident.
After asking Xiang Chunyan for help, Zhang Guodong shook his head. He seemed to have a terrible relationship with women. But there was nothing he could do at the moment; the medicine cauldron was a crucial matter and had to be forged.
On the other side, Ye Yun finally waited until the young man finished his call with someone else and dialed back, only to find that there was no signal on the other end. She smiled bitterly.
While resting in Qianlonggou, everyone ate some dry rations and drank some water. Dahei and the others ran to the pool to play in the water. The weather was hot, and Dahei's thick fur made it necessary for them to cool down.
"These monkeys are really hard to find. I've seen documentaries on TV before, and they usually search for several days and still don't see them. Mr. Yi, I really know now how tedious it is to search for these guys here!" Zhang Guodong said, taking a sip of water.
Although he seemed to habitually keep an eye on some medicinal herbs along the way, he didn't actually find many new herbs; you could count them on two hands.
But it's all accumulated over time!
Old Master Yi smiled slightly. Since taking the "Longevity Pill" and the "Health Pill," his body had become remarkably healthy. He could now walk in the mountains almost as strong as a young man, which greatly surprised the three men accompanying him. However, Zhang Baoshun's eldest son, Zhang Chengzhu, was a rather honest and simple-minded farmer in his early thirties, strong but rarely spoke, mostly just chuckling. Zhang Daniu and Dunzi, on the other hand, were younger men who treated Old Master Yi with great respect, even somewhat admiration.
No one would doubt that something strange had happened to Old Man Yi.
“Golden monkeys also need to eat. There’s not a huge amount of food for them in these mountains, but there’s not a huge amount either. Once there’s a drought, food becomes scarce, and the monkey troop has to migrate. To find them, we need to understand the abundance of food in different parts of these mountains!” Old Yi said.
Zhang Guodong became anxious upon hearing this. He was planning to start his return journey tomorrow, so he had to find it today, or at least go and see that abyss.
Dionysus was very attractive to him.
"What's wrong?" Old Yi noticed the anxiety in Zhang Guodong's eyes.
Zhang Guodong gave a wry smile and described the situation outside Pingshan.
Old Yi chuckled, "The wedding is important, but we might not be able to get there by tonight. Besides, we don't have much time to find the Dionysus Herb." "That's all we can do," Zhang Guodong said helplessly. He had been out there for far too long! He had to go back no matter what.
There's another way: Zhang Guodong can go first, while Yi Lao and the others continue searching. They can take them with them when Yi Lao and the others come down from the mountain. However, Zhang Guodong can't bring himself to suggest this.
"Brother Zhang, come quick! There are fish here!" Just then, Xiao Hu, who was by the pond, excitedly shouted in this direction.
Big Black and the others were playing with Little Tiger by the pond, but Little Tiger's boyish nature meant he couldn't stay with the adults. So he decided to join in the fun. However, he didn't dare go near Big Black and the others.
But something was soon discovered.
"Go ahead!" Old Yi smiled helplessly. Little Tiger was playful, and Zhang Guodong also wanted to join in the fun.
Zhang Guodong chuckled awkwardly as he got up and ran over there. Zhang Daniu and Dunzi were also young men; if it weren't for Old Yi and Zhang Guodong being there, they would have wanted to jump into the water to wash themselves.
When Zhang Guodong, Zhang Daniu, and Dunzi arrived at Xiaohu's side, Xiaohu excitedly exclaimed, "Brother Zhang! Dahei is amazing! He actually caught a fish from the pond!"
"fish?"
Then, Big Black came running over obsequiously, carrying a snow-white, half-foot-long strange fish in its mouth, and placed it in front of Zhang Guodong.
Its beak is flat, its body resembles a knifefish, but surprisingly, it has no scales, or rather, its scales are so fine they are almost negligible. Its entire body is pure white!
"What kind of fish is this?" Zhang Guodong picked it up, looking at it curiously. Unfortunately, he didn't recognize it. "Do you guys recognize this fish?"
Zhang Daniu and Dunzi shook their heads after looking at it for a long time. Xiao Hu, needless to say, also didn't know.
Zhang Guodong laughed, saying that finding this fish in the mountain pond was quite lucky. Unfortunately, the fish was only about the length of a palm, unusually pure white, but too small. And it was killed in one bite by the big black fish!
"Can I eat it?" Little Tiger asked greedily.
Zhang Daniu and Dunzi laughed, teasing Xiaohu for being so greedy; even this small amount of fish wasn't enough to fill his stomach!
"They're definitely too small, who would want to eat them?" Zhang Guodong laughed. "Besides, there aren't many fish like that in this pond, are there?"
Without hesitation, Zhang Guodong tossed the small fish to Dahei, who devoured it in one bite! This greatly surprised Zhang Guodong. You see, Dahei and the others are quite picky these days; they might not even eat ordinary fish.
This time, however, he swallowed it whole!
Erhei, Daqing, and Erqing also ran over. They looked at Zhang Guodong with a mournful expression, but unfortunately, there was only one fish, and it was Dahei who caught it!
"Alright, you three, go catch yourselves if you want to eat!" Zhang Guodong said to them.
"Brother Zhang, can they understand?" Xiao Hu looked at Erhei and the others in surprise as they ran into the pool, not going too deep, but just watching them carefully in the deep water.
"You'll understand a little bit after spending more time together!" Zhang Guodong said with a smile, his tone vague.
This was just a minor incident, nothing unusual. Zhang Daniu and Dunzi lost interest and simply ran over to join Zhang Chengzhu and Yi Lao. Meanwhile, Zhang Guodong, Xiao Hu, and Da Hei were by the pond.
Before long, Erhei and the other two also caught some fish. They were also pure white fish, but some of them were even smaller than the one Dahei had caught. It seemed like these fish wouldn't grow very big.
Little Tiger's eyes reddened, so he rolled up his pants and went into the water. Sure enough, there were fish swimming by, but they were moving so fast that they couldn't be caught by hand.
"Brother Zhang, come and catch some fish! There are so many fish!" Xiao Hu couldn't manage alone, so he called Zhang Guodong to join him in the water.
How many fish could there be in this pond? Zhang Guodong didn't believe it at all, but rather than resting and sweating in the heat, he decided to go for a swim and play for a while, his childlike spirit rising.
"Great! Maybe we can catch it and raise it!" Zhang Guodong patted his butt and got up to go into the water.
"Hey, there really are some!" Zhang Guodong also noticed that there were indeed fish in the water, but they were very fast, so they were hard to detect.
With fish around, things changed. Zhang Guodong became interested as well. With him involved, the harvest was different. Zhang Guodong was very quick. Fish that passed through water a foot deep could hardly escape Zhang Guodong's grasp. In half an hour, he caught seven of these pure white fish.
And they are all alive.
When Dahei and the others saw that Zhang Guodong had caught a fish, they all came over and frolicked around him, clearly wanting to eat it.
Zhang Guodong had an idea: Why did Dahei and the others want to eat this palm-sized snow-white fish so much? Could it be that this fish is an extraordinary species?
"Guodong and Xiaohu should set off!" Unfortunately, time slipped away unnoticed, and Old Yi was urging them on.
"Hey, they're here!" Zhang Guodong didn't even bother to deal with the fish, so he simply put some water in a plastic bag and put them in Taoyuan to study later when he had time.
"Little Tiger, don't catch him! I'll give you two back!" Zhang Guodong called up the unwilling Little Tiger, finding it somewhat amusing.
"Alright, Brother Zhang, you keep your word! Little Tiger's transformation from grief to joy is just childish."
After resting for an hour, eating and drinking water, the pedestrian regained his strength and set off again.
Around 4 PM, Zhang Guodong and his group arrived at the sinkhole "Abyss".
Zhang Guodong and his group seemed to be in a canyon. The canyon was surrounded by exposed rocks and relatively sparse trees. To the left, it appeared to be a deep valley. The bottom was not visible at first glance, but the surrounding cliffs jutted out first.
"That's the sinkhole. It's probably formed by tectonic activity in the past. It's very deep, probably several hundred meters deep. The opening is also quite large. It would probably take more than ten minutes to circle around it. The Dionysus herb was found on that side, above the waist. Right on the edge of the cliff." Old Yi pointed to the location for Zhang Guodong, his eyes still showing lingering fear. "Back then, there was a group of golden monkeys hiding in the woods above. The rock fell from above. Luckily, it wasn't too far away, and the rock wasn't big, otherwise I would have lost my life there!"
Zhang Guodong stared intently into the distance, but with his limited vision, he couldn't see any monkeys in that area. A question began to linger in his mind.
"Would the old monkey troop be up there? Although there are many trees up there, the monkey troop would be in great danger if something happened. I haven't seen any monkeys." Zhang Guodong raised his doubts.
Golden monkeys spend most of their time in trees. They seem to rarely come down to the ground, let alone jump around among exposed rocks.
"Perhaps the monkey troop has migrated to another place? Can you see the situation over there?" Old Yi asked in surprise.
"Grandpa Yi is a bit far away, so I can't see that clearly. I can only see rocks, hehe," Zhang Daniu said bluntly. "Dunzi, what about you?"
Dunzi was a dark-skinned but sturdy young man, only a year older than Xiaohu, but he was quite skilled at farm work and seemed much more mature.
Hearing this, he shook his head and honestly said, "Even without it, I can't see very clearly."
Zhang Guodong's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately laughed it off, saying, "I can only see my husband's body clearly; I need to look closely. We have to get over there; it's a bit far!"
"It's about two li!" Old Yi said without much doubt. "But when you start climbing, be careful of your footing and watch out for those monkeys overhead. They might throw stones if you encounter any danger!"
Everyone became serious.
A single monkey isn't scary, but a group of monkeys, especially one that's positioned high up, could result in serious injury if you get hit by a stone.
Zhang Guodong thought for a moment and said to Elder Yi, "I think I should go ahead with Dahei and the others? Dahei and the others are quite sensitive to danger. They might be able to smell where the monkey troop is. Elder Yi, you and I should keep some distance just in case!"
"Be careful!" Old Man Yi nodded and said.
That way, it's best if someone goes first and takes the lead, so the others are less in danger. He doesn't insist on this.
Xiao Hu and Zhang Chengzhu flanked Elder Yi. Zhang Daniu and Dunzi walked in front and behind, while Zhang Guodong led Dahei and the others at the front, with the two groups of people about 20 or 30 meters apart.
What reassured Zhang Guodong was that Dahei and the others walked on the rocky slope much more easily than he did, both in terms of strength and speed.
After climbing for a while, Zhang Guodong kept sensing his surroundings but didn't find the Dionysus. It was very quiet, and the blatant "intrusion" by the big black monkeys didn't attract the attention of the monkey troop.
"Could it be that the monkey troop has really left?" Zhang Guodong wondered.
Although there's still some distance to the top, there aren't many trees at this height, and most of them are quite old.
It's better to be careful!
He wasn't afraid of the monkey troop, but when a group of monkeys actually appeared and attacked, he couldn't escape. Dionysus herb... Dionysus herb, you're really hard to find!
Keep going up!
"Roar!" Suddenly, Big Black roared towards a spot above. Then, Little Black, Big Green, and Little Green also began to roar and howl!
Zhang Guodong immediately looked and finally heard some noise.
Then several things flew over!
Shi Can
Zhang Guodong cursed, "Damn it! Is this monkey really on the mountain? He throws stones the moment he sees me!" He quickly dodged.
"Old Yi, don't come up yet. The monkeys are throwing stones all over the mountain!" Zhang Guodong shouted.
Someone shouted from below, "Be careful!"
Bang! Crack!
The stones that hit the ground were about the size of a child's fist. There were four or five of them, and some even fell into the sinkhole. The thumping sound made Zhang Guodong perk up.
Big Black and the others got angry and charged forward.
"Chirp chirp!" Zhang Guodong heard a burst of chirping from above, and then the monkey troop finally appeared and things became chaotic. So these guys had been hiding all along!
Rocks flew as Big Black and his companions roared and approached. Finally, a large monkey let out a long cry and led its people in retreat. Although they could leap high into the air, the mountains weren't covered in trees, and the scent of Big Black and his companions made the monkey troop think they were facing a formidable enemy—a very dangerous presence.
"Big Black, Second Black, Big Green, Second Green. Come back! Stop chasing them!" Zhang Guodong shouted to Big Black and the others when he saw that the monkeys were running away because they couldn't beat them.
It would be good if they were scared away. If a real war breaks out, these golden monkeys, whose numbers are dwindling, are a Class I protected animal in China and must be protected. Otherwise, these adorable animals will become nearly extinct in a few years.
"Guodong, have all the monkeys run away?" came Old Yi's voice from below, and then they followed Jian.
Zhang Guodong chuckled and said, "They probably ran away. These guys are really clever; they actually threw stones at people, even though the stones weren't very big. But with such a height, it would be very dangerous if someone got hit!"
Old Man Yi looked at Big Black and the others and sighed, "Luckily, your pets went up there quickly to take a look. There might be Dionysus Grass up there!"
He wanted to continue, but lacked the strength. Encountering monkeys in that area was too dangerous.
Zhang Guodong and his group immediately began to climb. The higher they climbed, the more excited Zhang Guodong became. But just then, Dahei and the others roared wildly again.
Zhang Guodong's expression changed. Why did these monkeys come back again?
Note: Today's update is very late, the main text is 5600 words. It's 1000 words short, I'll make up for it later. I'm quite dizzy, I spent four hours in an internet cafe. It's already midnight.
Sorry to keep everyone waiting so long. Brothers and sisters online, go to sleep now. Goodnight! Even Tiandao has to go back now, he can't stay up all night anymore, hehe.
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