A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 33 Pigs Taking a Bath

Behind them, "Little One" suddenly appeared from somewhere, climbed onto Zhang Niu's shoulder, and held a bright red nectarine in its tiny paws. There were even a few tiny mouth marks on it. It held the peach towards Zhang Niu's mouth, gesturing for him to take a bite. So this "Little One" has learned to fawn over people! "Little One" seemed unhappy with being told this, squeaking and throwing the nectarine away. It seemed to be angry. Seemingly quite individualistic!

The peach was tossed out. It rolled a few times on the ground and landed in front of the door. "King Kong," who was standing at the door, ran out and swallowed the peach whole in one bite. Ever since Zhang Niu took peaches out of his spatial storage, "King Kong" had taken a liking to the fruit. Because of its enormous appetite, Zhang Niu would only give it two at most each time, which always resulted in a protest from King Kong. Did having a big appetite mean it had to eat less?

After a playful tussle with "Little One," Zhang Niu was now facing a headache over the ironwood tree and Buddha's hand citron in front of him. It seemed he would have to go back to the village tomorrow to find someone to help; doing things alone was never as efficient as working with a group.

The village chief woke up in the evening, saying he'd drunk too much again at lunch. He told Zhang Niu not to tell his wife, lest they find fault with him. He said Zhang Niu was just a drunkard who'd go out drinking and fall asleep all the time.

Zhang Niu chuckled and said it was nothing. He added that he'd talk to him about it after he finished his current tasks. The village chief said he understood and then headed home.

Old Zhang went home around noon to busy himself with the autumn silkworm rearing. This year, his family raised several silkworms, and every day before dawn, he would go to pick mulberry leaves. He would then spend the afternoon feeding them, and today, villagers had to find the leaves in the mulberry fields. Zhang Niu, who hadn't been home for several days, planned to take some of his spatial fruit back home tonight for his younger sister, as well as the bighead carp.

The pool net also holds a few bighead carp. The fish there are getting increasingly slippery. It's not easy to catch them with just a fishing rod. You need a net. Otherwise, it will be really difficult to catch fish in the future.

I divided the cycads in the open space in front of the yard into dozens of pots, along with Buddha's Hand citrons. I plan to plant them in my spatial dimension when I get back tonight. I'll plant the rest around the large tiled house, forming a ring around it, and then water them with water from my spatial dimension. I estimate the flowering speed won't be too slow. The information says that cycads usually take six to ten years to flower, but that's just an approximate time.

No wonder they say it's a rare thing for a cycad to bloom; there's definitely some truth to that. Just as Zhang Niu was thinking about the cycad blooming, he heard grunting sounds. It turned out to be a sow returning with her piglets. However, the piglets were covered in a thick layer of black mud, indicating they hadn't been in the mud pit for long.

It seems these wild boar cubs are as mischievous as ever. Having no other choice, Zhang Niu took "King Kong" and herded all the piglets to the two ponds in front of the door, giving them a thorough wash. The wolf cubs, on the other hand, were clean and didn't join the wild boar cubs in their wild antics.

With their "King Kong" dad around, the piglets stood obediently as Zhang Niu carried them one by one to the pond and scrubbed them vigorously with a bristle brush. After digging the pond last time, to make it easier to carry the fish later, five steps were dug at the inlet and then covered with red bricks. This way, they could stand in the water without slipping into the pond, and occasionally they could even use it to clean the toilet or something.

After a thorough washing, the mud-covered wild boars were all clean. I initially thought of dragging "King Kong" to the pond for a wash, but considering its current weight of 300 pounds, I decided against it. I wasn't even sure I could move it. If it wouldn't budge, no one could do anything about it.

After living there for a while, the wild boar piglets, along with the three wolf cubs, are no longer as thin and bony as they were when they first arrived. They are much stronger now, especially the mother boar. She still has plenty of milk, and the piglets and wolf cubs frequently run to her to nurse.

But the "little one" on my shoulder really is tiny. It shows no signs of growing at all. It's still the same, except its fiery red fur is even shinier. It feels smoother than shampoo. Making a leather jacket out of it would be a pretty good idea. But every time I mention it to the "little one," I get even more claw marks on my body.

The wolf cubs are much more docile than before. Under "Little One's" leadership, they've become his accomplices. A few days ago, one evening, the three wolf cubs caught a pheasant on the mountainside. However, when they brought it back, only the pheasant's head, wings, and neck remained. The three wolf cubs were chewing on the pheasant's parts. Zhang Niu was both amused and exasperated. He never imagined that catching a pheasant would turn into a battle. In the end, of course, it became their dinner.

I brought a bighead carp and a small bag of green plums from my spatial storage. They were sour. Little One didn't like them and never picked any. Zhang Niu picked quite a few himself and made a bottle of plum wine, which he kept in his spatial storage. I heard plum wine is even better than bayberry wine.

I didn't take "King Kong" down the mountain to see his piglet mother that night. Instead, I asked him to watch over the cycads and Buddha's hand citrons in front of the yard. The little wild boar, after being washed, kept running around in the cycad pile. Looks like I need to discipline him properly.

I hopped on my bike and rode towards the village. Carrying the fish was incredibly difficult; I don't know if it was because the fish were kept in a spacious environment and had a strong vitality... Anyway, the fish kept jumping and shaking in my hand.

I rode home just as my uncle came out of the house. After greeting Zhang Niu, he left, taking the fish into the kitchen to be prepared by Zhang Ma. My younger sister also happened to come back from outside and quickly saw the green plums on the table. She grabbed one and put it in her mouth. "Brother, these green plums are so delicious. Not sour at all!" she said, stuffing a bunch into her pocket. With a handful in her hand, she ran outside, clearly going out to show off again.

Old Zhang picked up a few and tasted them himself, and they were just as his younger sister had said. These green plums really weren't sour. Zhang Niu nodded in agreement. Then he asked his father who in the village knew anything about building bamboo houses. Old Zhang was a little confused. Why did this sudden thought of building bamboo houses come up?

After Zhang Niu explained, he learned that if fruit was produced on the mountain in the future, or if people came to stay overnight, they could stay there. His father thought for a moment before mentioning that there was an old craftsman in the next village who knew how to build this. He just didn't know if he could still do it. He told Zhang Niu to go and ask him when he had time. The silkworms would be going up the mountain in a few days, and things would be busy then. He also reminded Zhang Niu to come home and help harvest the cocoons.

This year, spring silkworms can sell for thirteen yuan per jin (approximately 0.5 kg). I don't know about autumn silkworms. In previous years, they were around seven or eight yuan. However, Mr. Zhang estimates it should be much better than in previous years because the silkworm seedlings he got this year are not easy to raise. Only about two out of three batches of seedlings survive. If that's the case for his family, it goes without saying that other families are in even worse shape.

The little girl who had just run out came running back, followed by Wenwen from next door, who was also her playmate—a wild girl. She often followed boys all over the mountains.

It turned out that the little sister had been showing off the green plums she'd taken out to her friends. Everyone wanted some, and she was very kind, giving out one or two to each person. Before long, she'd almost finished distributing them all. Wenwen, however, hadn't gotten any and was watching longingly. The little sister patted her chest and said it was okay, her brother had brought back a lot today. Then she took Wenwen home.

Zhang Niu gave Wenwen quite a few green plums, telling her to take them home and eat them slowly. But he warned her not to let the other boys snatch them away. Wenwen nodded repeatedly, indicating she understood.

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