In the white forest covered with heavy snow, not only Xia Runrun was surprised to see the group of squirrels in front of her, thinking that they were like elves in the forest, but even the squirrels felt as if they had seen their dream lovers.
Don’t be fooled by this cub, it’s chubby and has no nice fur all over its body, but!
...They just think this little cub is smart, cute and good-looking!
Some mother squirrels who had just given birth to baby squirrels were filled with love and unconsciously took a few steps closer. Even the threatening sounds in their throats had long since disappeared. They looked very friendly, with curiosity shining in their eyes.
"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" (Don't be fooled! This thing in front of you is clearly not a baby squirrel! It's clearly a human! Squeak!)
The big squirrel with the Central Plains Red on its head waved its little paws and shouted vigorously.
In the atlas, the squirrels' atlases appeared vaguely, as if they would be persuaded by the big squirrel and disappear from the atlas in the next second.
"Squeak! Squeak!" (These humans are no good! Look at this human, he's actually hanging out with crows and bad cats! He's even trying to steal the winter food we found first. He's just like those bad guys by the stream!)
The big squirrel put its hands on its hips, and its cries became more and more excited and indignant. Even its tail exploded into fireworks, becoming more and more inflated. It seemed that it had seen Xia Ruanruan and Egg Yolk 666 join forces to drive away all the squirrels, and the tragic fate of everyone starving to death in the snow and ice.
"Zhi...?" (Really?)
The squirrels around them felt as if someone had poured cold water on them. They looked at each other, their hearts starting to waver slightly, and they began to whisper among themselves. Even the good impression they had originally had for Xia Ruanruan had dissipated a lot.
"No...I never thought of stealing your winter food!"
The little girl frowned, her cheeks puffed with anger. She imitated the leader, her hands on her hips and her belly puffed out. She huffed, "I know squirrels store food for the winter every year... but I didn't know you were the first to find the oranges on this tree."
"As the saying goes, ignorance is innocent! You didn't write a sign to prove that you were the first to find this orange tree... nor did you leave one or two squirrels behind to divide the work and prove that you were the first to find this tree..."
"Since I didn't know this orange tree belonged to you, what was wrong with me picking oranges here? This is a suburban forest, anyone can come here."
The little girl shook her head and spoke righteously.
But the little look of pretending to be an adult was very adorable. Even several squirrels nearby could not help but be attracted by Xia Ruanruan again. They watched the little girl shaking her head, and even the slightly curly bangs on her head swayed with the movement of the little girl's head. The female squirrels who had just been shaken were once again moved by the little girl's cuteness, and even the expressions on their faces were slightly stained with some love for the cubs.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!” (I think she’s right. We’d all gone back to put the fruit away before, and there were no marks left on the tree… Who could have known we’d discovered this fruit tree first?)
"Squeak, squeak...!" (Yes, yes... I think what this little guy said makes sense.)
"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."
The female squirrels began to support Xia Ruanruan, and the other squirrels also began to waver and express their own opinions. However, this made the big squirrel inside furious. Who was it working so hard for? Wasn't it all for these guys in the tribe?!
Why leave one or two squirrels to work together?
Although they are in the same squirrel group, each squirrel has its own family. They need to bring food back to their nests for the winter. How could any squirrel take the time to pick food and stay alone by the fruit trees?
The big squirrel bared its teeth at Xia Runrun, furious, and waved its claws and shouted at the other squirrels in the group, fearing that one of its own people would be fooled by the two-legged beast in front of it and give the food that was about to be obtained to the hateful two-legged beast in front of it!
"Squeak! Squeak!" (How can you trust humans so easily?! This guy must be saying this on purpose, trying to defraud us of our food! He wants to take all the fruit from the tree!)
"Squeak...?" (Really...?)
"Squeak..." (I think what the leader said makes sense...)
The squirrels started talking again, feeling a little shaken.
Xia Runrun sighed. Although these squirrels were particularly easy to believe her, they were also particularly easy to be persuaded by their companions.
Xia Ruanruan left the egg yolk's protective circle and took two steps forward to the sack filled with oranges. She clumsily took out all the oranges from the bag and sighed like a little adult, "I don't need your winter food... Since you found these oranges first, I'll give them back to you..."
She could find other food even if she didn't eat oranges, but the little squirrels in front of her, scurrying around in the snow every day looking for food, might not be as lucky. Squirrels have a very limited diet, and winter is not a season when it is easy to stock up on food.
One, two, three...
The little girl took out the big yellow oranges from the sack one by one, and even pushed them forward to the tree where the leading squirrel was.
"You don't have to fight for me, I'll return these oranges to you..." The little girl was short, and her chubby little hands looked like lotus roots. The movements of taking out and pushing the oranges were too strenuous. Immediately, beads of sweat oozed out of her forehead, wetting the girl's hair.
The short black hair was neatly attached to the little girl's fair cheeks, which made her chubby face with a slight blush, making her look particularly cute.
The whole group of squirrels, including the big one leading them, all saw the oranges piled under the tree...
Just as the leading squirrel was stunned and shocked.
The squirrels in the surrounding group were not happy and started to squeak and condemn the leading squirrel - "judging others by one's own standards."
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" (Chief, how dare you slander a young cub? Look, she didn't even want the fruit she had just picked, and gave it back to us! She's clearly not the hateful human you described!)
"Squeak, squeak, squeak...!" (That's right, that's right! In my entire life, I've never seen a bad guy give up his food. Only kind-hearted squirrels give their food to those in need...!)
The giant squirrel leader: "..."
The big squirrel scratched its cheek with its little paw and listened to the complaints of the tribesmen around it while pursing its lips and saying nothing. However, its little head kept lowering, and even its tail, which had exploded when it was angry, gradually shrank back, little by little. Amid the complaints of the tribesmen, it became limp and looked like it was about to tuck its tail between its legs and act like a rat.
The big squirrel raised his head, looked at Xia Ruanruan under the tree, and then looked at the picked oranges on the ground...
It felt as if... as if... as if it was making some random guesses.
The cub under the tree had long eyelashes and was soft, white and tender like a fat, shelled pine nut. The big squirrel suddenly felt a little guilty... At the same time, the picture book above Xia Ruanruan's head moved automatically without wind.
"Shuashuashua..."
The sound of pages turning echoed above Xia Ruanruan's head. Suddenly, the squirrels, which had been flickering and fading, suddenly lit up like a series of electric lights. A white light suddenly illuminated the entire area above the illustrations! Three pages of images were completely illuminated, and even some were golden!
"Squeak, squeak, squeak..." (Never mind... I'll just give these fruits to you...)
The big squirrel stammered twice, his voice was dry and hoarse, as if he was forced by other squirrels in the group. In fact, if the illustration of the big squirrel leader had not appeared in the "Infrastructure Illustrations" at this moment, it might have been more convincing.
It’s a pity that Xia Runrun didn’t see it and thought it was other squirrels who lit up the picture book.
"...No need... Egg Yolk and I are planning to leave now..." After being blown by the wind and snow all day, Xia Runrun's voice even had a hint of nasality. She shook her head and refused the oranges given by the big squirrel.
"Squeak? Squeak..." (Why not? Okay, okay... Actually, I... uh... Actually, we're not as unreasonable as you think. Now that everything has been explained, it's fair to say that I, I was wrong, right?)
Thinking that the cub was angry about what had just happened, the big squirrel thought about it, gritted his teeth and apologized, then jumped down from the branch and pushed the big oranges that Xia Runrun had piled under the tree directly in front of Xia Runrun, then raised his head and faced the little girl.
"Squeak! Squeak!..." (Take it, take it! There are still many fruits on this tree!)
“Squeak, squeak, squeak…” (Yes, yes, even the leader has spoken, so just accept the cub…)
Seeing that Xia Ruanruan didn't seem to be planning to accept their oranges, several anxious little squirrels jumped down from the tree one after another. They imitated the leading big squirrel and quickly pushed the oranges in front of Xia Ruanruan. Two clever ones shook their ears and even snatched the sack from Xia Ruanruan's hand and quickly stuffed all the mutant oranges into the sack.
“…”
Xia Ruanruan blinked twice, watching the squirrels go from fighting each other to the "gift-giving" stage. Xia Ruanruan felt a warm feeling in her heart, but she subconsciously remembered another thing...
The little girl tilted her head and asked curiously, "I remember... your favorite nuts are hazelnuts and pine nuts. Oranges and bananas, not only can't be kept for long periods of time in the winter, but squirrels aren't suited to eating them in large quantities... So why didn't you store your favorite pine nuts when you were storing winter food? And why did you come here to pick oranges instead?"
Don’t be fooled by the good looks of oranges. They are big, red and round, and each one is particularly festive and attractive.
But in fact, many animals are not suitable for eating oranges, and squirrels are one of them...
Could it be that after the virus outbreak, the mutated squirrels have become particularly resistant? They don't get diarrhea even if they eat too many oranges?
“…???!!”
The little girl's voice was obviously not loud, but at that moment it was as if a thunder suddenly exploded in the group of squirrels. When the leading big squirrel was filled with astonishment, the squirrels around him squeaked one by one, their faces full of indignation.
Xia Ruanruan listened for a while and carefully distinguished what the little squirrels were talking about, and then she understood what had happened.
It turned out that the group of little squirrels in front of them all lived in the pine forest by the stream. That pine forest not only had a large number of pine nuts and pine cones for them to eat, but also a lot of nuts such as hazelnuts as food reserves for them.
But just one month before winter this year, something unexpected happened!
A large group of stray dogs, about forty or fifty of them, came from nowhere and directly occupied the pine forest beside the stream. Whenever the squirrels dared to approach, the stray dogs would beat them until they cried for their parents and fled in panic.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" (Look at my big tail! Woohoo! My tail was so beautiful, but those dogs bit it off. It's so ugly without hair!)
A little squirrel holding its tail was crying very sadly. Its nose was twitching and it even hiccuped.
The little girl hugged the little squirrel and petted it, especially the tip of its bare tail. She comforted it in a sweet voice, "Don't be sad... Squirrels shed their fur every winter and spring... When the fur grows back next spring, it won't be ugly anymore."
The little squirrel with the bald tail blushed, thinking that the cub in front of it who could comfort it was simply the cutest cub in the world.
The other squirrels took a few steps forward and pushed the little squirrel with the bald tail away.
"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" (It's all the fault of those stray dogs living by the stream! They're so annoying, especially the black and yellow leader... Not only does he look fierce and have scars on his face, but he also has a terrible temper! I heard he's killed a lot of squirrels! He even kills crows!)
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" (That's right, that dog is so annoying... He always shows off his power because of his big body. I once saw him bullying the other dogs in the pack! He even bullied the other stray dogs in the group. That black dog is really fierce! Squeak!)
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" (If it weren't for this, we wouldn't want to eat oranges all winter! They're not tasty at all, and they can't be used to grind our teeth. I miss my pine cones QAQ~!)
The little squirrels complained to Xia Ruanruan one by one, with expressions of fear, disgust, and obvious anger on their faces.
Looking at the little squirrels' faces full of grief and indignation, and then looking at the dejected leading squirrel with an expression that said, "My home has been occupied by others, and I am an incompetent leader," Xia Runrun was silent for two seconds, touched the leading squirrel's head, and made a decision.
She planned to go to the pine forest by the stream in front to take a look at the specific situation.
If she, as an 'animal diplomacy mediator', could help the squirrels before her, that would be great. At the very least, facing the pack of stray dogs, she felt she would have no problem retreating safely.
However, this time...
The yolk is not dry.
Such a big orange cat seemed like a spoiled child. The whole cat fell to the side and started whining.
"Meow, meow, meow, meow..." (No, no, cat, don't go! Those are a pack of stray dogs. Any one of them can tear a cat in two. Cat, don't go to such a dangerous place. Cats are so weak and pitiful. How can they go to such a dangerous place? Meow~~ Cat, don't go, meow, meow...)
Facing hundreds of surprised eyes from the squirrels, Xia Runrun felt a little embarrassed.
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