Chapter 77: Carrying Bamboo Leaves
There were chickens being raised on Qianzhongcui Mountain, so Ying Kongtu and the others gained one more daily task—feeding the chickens.
That morning, they brought cracked corn up the mountain bright and early to feed them.
Their motorcycle had only just reached the side of the chicken shed, and they had not even fully parked yet.
The chicks, hearing the movement, had already raised their little wings and crowded to the fence in a half-running, half-flying rush. They stared fixedly at them with eyes like black beans, chirping as they waited for their meal.
“The chicks really are lively.” Ying Kongtu carried a bag of cracked corn. The moment he opened the fence gate, he was surrounded by the flock.
Wen Zhongshan followed behind him. “If they’re this lively, from another perspective, it also means they’re very healthy.”
“That’s true.” Ying Kongtu used a little divine power and gently separated the chicks.
The other chicks obediently retreated to the side. Only one chick, after sensing the divine power pushing it away, instead flapped its tiny wings and leapt up fiercely, trying to attack him.
“Hm?” Ying Kongtu gently picked up the chick whose neck feathers had puffed up slightly and took a look.
Wen Zhongshan also looked over and lightly teased its beak with his finger. “It’s so fierce.”
“The chick Shuangzhong brought back is a little rooster. It might become the king of the whole flock.” Ying Kongtu identified it briefly and soon came to a conclusion.
“Then won’t they become fiercer and fiercer?”
“Not necessarily. But with such a fierce little rooster, if it can grow up smoothly, the next generation at the core of the flock should be pretty good.”
Such a fierce chick could truly only be encountered by chance.
Ying Kongtu gently put it down and infused it with a little more divine power.
He hoped it could grow up smoothly, become the king of the flock, and spread excellent genes.
After feeding the chickens, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan briefly cleaned the chicken coop, then checked on their condition.
The chicks were already quite sturdy. After another period of time, they would no longer need to watch them every day. It would be enough to check on them every few days.
They spent a little extra time checking the flock today. By the time they returned home, it was already almost eight-thirty in the morning.
Yet Tiaozhu and the others still had not come back.
Ying Kongtu found it a little strange.
After they finished breakfast and prepared breakfast for the furry ones as well, the furry ones still had not returned. That made it even stranger.
“Why are they so late today? I’ll go look for them.” Ying Kongtu stood up, intending to go take a look.
“Wait.” Wen Zhongshan wrapped his arms around his waist and made him sit back down on the chair. “Don’t be nervous. Maybe they ran out to play.”
That was true.
Tiaozhu and the others were sometimes like children. When they occasionally got too excited playing, they would forget the time.
Ying Kongtu sat back down again. With Wen Zhongshan holding him by the waist, he said somewhat helplessly, “There have been a lot of people in the county town these past two days. I’m a little worried something will happen if Xian Niao and the others are seen.”
Wen Zhongshan said, “Probably not. They know what they’re doing.”
As the two of them were talking, Ying Kongtu suddenly heard the faint sound of wings flapping.
He looked up and saw Shuangzhong flying in from the sky with something in its beak.
Before he could see clearly, the door was pushed open by Jingwei’s big head. Tiaozhu came in first, also carrying something in its mouth.
After that, Dart, Jingwei, and Xian Niao came in one after another, all carrying things in their mouths.
Ying Kongtu finally saw clearly. They were carrying broad bamboo leaves.
No, they were bamboo leaves used for wrapping zongzi.
Ying Kongtu quickly realized that what they were carrying were ruo leaves specially used to wrap zongzi.
“Where did you pick these ruo leaves?” Ying Kongtu reached out and gently took the ruo leaves in Shuangzhong’s beak.
Shuangzhong landed beside his foot and spat out the leaves. “Ki!”
Ying Kongtu looked carefully. This stack of ruo leaves had more than thirty leaves in total. Every single one was broad and smooth, without a single spot or tear. They looked so lush and beautiful, almost like works of art.
Ying Kongtu could not help rubbing Shuangzhong’s head. “So many. This is amazing. You worked hard.”
Shuangzhong immediately became proud, puffing out its chest high. “Ki!”
Hearing Shuangzhong being praised, Dart was the first to be unable to hold back. It trotted over and also stuffed the ruo leaves in its mouth toward Ying Kongtu’s hand.
“Meow.” Seeing that Ying Kongtu did not take them at once, Dart even rubbed its fluffy round head against his hand, signaling for him to hurry up and take them.
Ying Kongtu quickly accepted them.
Dart had gathered relatively fewer ruo leaves, but every single leaf was extremely broad and perfect.
It was rare enough that despite having a mouthful of tiny sharp teeth like a stapler, it had not bitten through a single leaf.
Since Dart had delivered its ruo leaves into Ying Kongtu’s hands, Tiaozhu, Jingwei, and Xian Niao also lined up and handed over the ruo leaves they were carrying.
The number of leaves each of them had gathered varied. Xian Niao had gathered the most.
Ying Kongtu collected all the ruo leaves. After counting, he discovered that there were a full 274 leaves in his hands.
Ying Kongtu understood and asked, “Did you see people going into the mountains to gather ruo leaves this morning?”
Tomorrow was the Dragon Boat Festival. These past few days, people had been going into the mountains to gather ruo leaves. Some gathered them to wrap zongzi for their own families, while others gathered them to sell.
The people gathering ruo leaves would not enter Ying Kongtu’s private mountain forest to gather them, but Tiaozhu and the others patrolled the mountain and could see people moving around on the nearby mountains from afar.
Dart opened its mouth. “Meow-ao.”
That was an affirmative answer.
Ying Kongtu rubbed Tiaozhu’s head. “Do you want to eat zongzi?”
Tiaozhu said, “Ao.”
The other furry ones also squatted in a row and nodded.
Dart nodded especially hard. Its fluffy face almost showed naked longing.
Ying Kongtu smiled and said, “Then let’s try making zongzi. It’s been a long time since I last wrapped zongzi.”
Ying Kongtu did not really celebrate human festivals.
Back when he had been alone, there had been many things to do, and he had been so busy he could hardly spare himself.
On top of that, as a single mountain god, his home had been cold and empty. He had not had much interest in celebrating festivals either. He would just deal with them casually, and that was that.
Now that he had a whole family in tow, he really ought to try celebrating properly.
Ying Kongtu decided that they would wrap zongzi. Conveniently, they already had the ruo leaves, so there was no need to go gather more.
They only needed to wash, scrub, and soak them clean.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan let the furry ones stay at home while they went to buy groceries.
In fact, all the furry ones at home were carnivorous furry ones. Even if they could eat a small amount of carbohydrates and vegetables, their main diet still had to be meat.
If they were wrapping zongzi, they would also make meat zongzi with meat as the main ingredient, adding at most a little glutinous rice to balance things out.
The two of them went to the market and bought the best chicken, ribs, and beef. They also bought glutinous rice that someone else had already soaked. After cutting and marinating the meat, they finally began washing the ruo leaves and preparing to wrap the zongzi.
When ruo leaves grew in the mountains, insects had crawled over them, and birds and beasts had touched them.
Ying Kongtu had never minded whether ingredients had been carried in the mouths of the furry ones at home.
The ingredients they brought back could be used directly after being washed.
However, ruo leaves that grew in the wild had a lot of dust on them, so they needed to scrub them little by little.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan sat beside the well, soaking the ruo leaves in a big wooden basin and scrubbing them bit by bit.
The furry ones stayed beside them, some sitting and some lying down, watching them intently.
The ruo leaves the furry ones had brought back were large and excellent. It was obvious that they had carefully selected every single leaf.
Holding up a ruo leaf as green as jade, Ying Kongtu praised, “Where did you pick these ruo leaves? They’re much better than the ones sold at the market.”
Hearing this, Shuangzhong cried out rather proudly, meaning that it had found them.
A golden eagle circling in the sky did indeed have an advantage when looking for mountain treasures.
Ying Kongtu said, “Amazing. The aunties in the county definitely couldn’t outdo you.”
The furry ones became even prouder.
Wrapping zongzi was not especially troublesome, particularly when all the ingredients had already been prepared like this.
The truly troublesome part was the entire process from picking the ruo leaves to boiling the zongzi.
This year, Wen Zhongshan was there with him, and the two of them sat in the courtyard, slowly wrapping zongzi.
In ordinary households, zongzi contained more rice and less meat. Their zongzi, however, were the exact opposite: more meat and less rice.
The meat was all cut into large pieces. Once wrapped in the ruo leaves, it would not leak out, which greatly reduced the difficulty of wrapping zongzi.
However, while they were wrapping zongzi, the furry ones were very curious and kept poking their heads over to look.
Dart and Shuangzhong were especially interested in the meat in the basin.
Ying Kongtu fed the furry ones meat in turn and felt that they were almost full from eating meat alone.
“There doesn’t seem to be much hardwood left at home.” Ying Kongtu glanced at the firewood pile and asked, “Tiaozhu, can you go up the mountain and pick up some firewood? Hardwood would be best.”
Tiaozhu said, “Meow-ao.”
The other furry ones also agreed, crying out chaotically.
Ying Kongtu smiled and said, “Then go on. Remember to pick up hardwood. Zongzi need to be boiled for a long time. Ordinary firewood burns up very quickly, and then we’d have to keep watching the fire. That’s too troublesome.”
Tiaozhu looked at Ying Kongtu solemnly. “Meow-ao.”
The furry ones lined up and ran out again.
Ying Kongtu watched their backs disappear outside the courtyard gate and let out a breath of relief.
Wen Zhongshan asked, “Is it reliable to entrust them with picking up firewood?”
“I don’t know. I’m just finding something for them to do, giving them a sense of participation.” Ying Kongtu looked at the basin. “Otherwise, all the meat in the basin will be eaten up.”
Wen Zhongshan smiled. “It probably wouldn’t go that far. I think they’re almost full.”
“Then let them move around and digest a little,” Ying Kongtu said.
Ying Kongtu had originally thought Tiaozhu and the others would return very quickly.
In the end, the zongzi were all wrapped and placed into the big pot to boil, yet they still had not come back.
It was only when the sun was almost setting that Tiaozhu and the others finally came running back excitedly, each carrying a stick of firewood in their mouth.
“Hm?” Ying Kongtu smelled the sweet-and-sour fragrance of berries.
He casually scooped up the nearest Dart, held it in his arms, placed it on his lap, and looked at its chin.
Dart stuck out its tongue and licked its mouth. “Meow.”
Ying Kongtu touched its chin. “Your fur is covered in fruit juice. Licking won’t help.”
Dart looked at Ying Kongtu with its beautiful eyes, stuck out its tongue to lick the web of his hand, and called out in an even more affected voice. “Mi.”
Ying Kongtu laughed. “Are the mountain raspberries ripe?”
All kinds of berries in the mountains had long since flowered and had also produced hard fruits.
However, even within the same broad category of berries, there were many varieties, and they ripened at different times.
The berries Dart and the others had eaten were probably mountain raspberries, a type of nearly spherical, red, sweet berry.
Holding Dart, Ying Kongtu turned to look at Wen Zhongshan. “Come to think of it, the wild fruits in the mountains are ripe. Should we go on an outing? We can celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival while we’re at it.”
The county would hold activities for the Dragon Boat Festival, including but not limited to lion dances, dragon boat races, square-dancing competitions, and so on. On the day of the festival, it would be lively from morning until night.
Ying Kongtu had already seen the push notification from the local public account.
However, Dart and the others were not suitable for appearing in places with large crowds. Accidents could happen easily.
They might as well go up the mountain to play and watch the liveliness on the human side from afar.
Before Wen Zhongshan could agree, Shuangzhong had already squeezed over excitedly. “Kikike!”
Dart followed suit and also squeezed forward.
Jingwei was even clever enough to place its muzzle on Wen Zhongshan’s leg, looking up at him from below with gentle eyes.
Wen Zhongshan could not refuse anymore. He could only stroke Jingwei’s thick, soft big ears. “All right.”
Ying Kongtu said, “Then let’s sleep early. Tomorrow, we’ll go up the mountain for an outing.”
Hearing this, the furry ones erupted into another chaotic round of cries, excitedly squeezing around their feet.
Very soon, the first pot of zongzi was ready.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan waited until they had cooled slightly, then peeled open the zongzi and divided them among each furry one.
Xian Niao and Jingwei could eat two. Tiaozhu, Dart, and Shuangzhong could only eat one. In addition, they were given the food they usually ate.
The pure-meat version of zongzi was quite tasty too. It tasted very fragrant.
The furry ones all liked it very much.
Ying Kongtu ate it once in a while and felt it was all right—he himself preferred food with both meat and vegetables.
The one who liked meat zongzi the most was Wen Zhongshan. This guy could actually eat three in a row.
Ying Kongtu secretly touched Wen Zhongshan’s stomach.
His abs were still there.
Ying Kongtu curved his eyes, and his hand naughtily moved upward. Wen Zhongshan had eaten so much, yet his stomach had barely bulged.
Wen Zhongshan’s ears turned a little red. He pressed down on Ying Kongtu’s hand, not letting him move around recklessly.
After dinner, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan finished boiling the second pot of zongzi, and the day’s work was done.
The two of them told the little ones to rest well, then returned to Wen Zhongshan’s house hand in hand to sleep.
The next day, the furry ones came to Wen Zhongshan’s house bright and early to call at the door.
Their “meow” and “awoo” sounds even made a neighbor come out specially to see what exactly was going on.
Ying Kongtu was helpless. He kicked Wen Zhongshan and told him to hurry up and open the door.
They were going out for an outing today. Jingwei had brought its little backpack first thing in the morning—the ones Wen Zhongshan had bought. Every furry one had a corresponding little backpack, making it convenient for them to carry things.
And so, Tiaozhu and Dart carried cat-doll-shaped bags, Xian Niao and Jingwei carried dog-doll-shaped bags, and even Shuangzhong carried a bag shaped like an eagle doll.
“Meow-ao!”
“Awoo!”
“Kiki!”
They lined up excitedly along the little path and went up the mountain from Wuchuan Mountain, some running and some flying.
They were extremely fast, their long fur all flying in the wind.
Ying Kongtu’s steps paused. He leaned slightly closer to Wen Zhongshan and sighed, “It’s been so long since we brought them out just to play. No wonder they’re so excited.”
Wen Zhongshan also lowered his voice. “When we’re not so busy in the future, we can bring them out to play more often.”
The furry ones did not know what the two of them were thinking. They had already run to the edge of the hillside and were looking down at the scene inside the county town from above.
The dragon boat race had already begun. Each dragon boat team followed the river, racing from upstream to downstream, chasing and overtaking one another.
The drummers on top of the dragon boats beat the drums with all their strength, while the rowers paddled desperately in rhythm.
The long dragon boats seemed almost to fly across the river, swiftly moving forward, while the rowers’ movements were neat and uniform, as if they were limbs growing out of the dragon boat itself.
That feeling of strength and beauty fascinated the furry ones.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan walked forward and watched together with the furry ones.
In a dragon boat race, the boats needed to paddle from upstream to downstream first, then from downstream back upstream. The first team to reach the finish line would win.
This process lasted quite a long time.
As the furry ones watched, they gradually squatted down.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan also sat down on the grass, gazing from afar at the river below the mountain.
The two of them and the furry ones watched while peeling fruit, unwrapping zongzi, dividing jerky, eating and drinking as they watched. Occasionally, they cheered for the dragon boat team they favored.
By the time the dragon boat race was over, it was almost eleven in the morning, and the furry ones still had not had enough.
They had not finished the zongzi, fruit, snacks, and other things they had brought. Ying Kongtu estimated that everyone was not hungry either, so he smiled and suggested, “Do you want to go boating on Ai Lake?”
“Meow-ao!” Tiaozhu’s eyes immediately lit up, and it raised its head to cry out at Ying Kongtu.
The other furry ones also became excited.
Ying Kongtu said, “Let’s go. We’ll go to Ai Lake and row our own dragon boat.”
Tiaozhu and the others ran forward, while Shuangzhong flew at the very front to lead the way.
The whole big family of furry ones lined up and continued running up the mountain.
Dart was the first to run out of energy. It squatted on the ground, panting like a little dog.
This time, before Xian Niao could act, Shuangzhong flew over, grabbed Dart by the back of the neck, lifted it straight up, and flew forward with it.
“Meow-ao!” Dart struggled for a moment, then immediately curled up, wrapped its tail around its paws, and flattened its ears back while letting Shuangzhong carry it through the air.
Ying Kongtu had not expected Shuangzhong to learn how to pick up cats too, and the one it picked up was a slightly overweight little cat like Dart. His scalp immediately tingled. “Shuangzhong!”
Shuangzhong did not understand the tone in Ying Kongtu’s voice. It tilted its head and happily looked back. “Ki!”
Ying Kongtu said, “Come down!”
Shuangzhong understood a little now and landed on the ground. “Kiki!”
“You can’t play like this. It’s too dangerous!” Ying Kongtu’s head hurt. It was a holiday, so he did not want to scold it. He could only patiently explain, “Dart is just an ordinary cat. If you don’t hold it steady, you’ll drop it to its death.”
Ying Kongtu had Xian Niao take Dart ahead first, then held onto Shuangzhong and seriously reasoned with it.
Shuangzhong listened until its head drooped and its brain seemed wilted. Only after quite a while did it flap its wings and follow the group.
Wen Zhongshan gently patted Ying Kongtu’s back. “Gradually, it will understand what it can and cannot do.”
Ying Kongtu said with a headache, “Too naughty.”
Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened afterward, and they smoothly arrived at Ai Lake.
Ying Kongtu pulled the little wooden boat out of the mud, scrubbed it clean, and placed it on the lake surface.
The two of them squeezed into the little wooden boat with four furry ones. Shuangzhong truly could not fit, so it landed on Ying Kongtu’s shoulder.
Unlike last year, there were now many more pondweeds in Ai Lake. It did not look as clear, but it was full of more vitality.
Groups of Ai fish swam back and forth among the pondweeds.
Using the cover of the pondweeds, they hunted insects, flying birds, and small animals that came to drink water. They were simply like little crocodiles in the water, extremely fierce.
With this vitality, the Ai fish would definitely grow well this year.
“Fun, isn’t it?” Ying Kongtu smiled as he looked at the furry ones’ curious gazes.
Tiaozhu softly said, “Meow-ao.”
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan slowly rowed the boat, taking them around the lake.
Unlike the intensity of dragon boat racing, their dugout canoe moved very gently, and their lake outing was extremely leisurely.
The furry ones gradually quieted down and admired the scenery in the mountains.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan exchanged a glance. At the same time, they felt the tranquility of the mountain, and smiles appeared on their faces.
This year, Shuangzhong had descended, and the two of them were together now too.
A whole big family going boating on the Dragon Boat Festival truly was a rare experience.
The two of them quietly held hands.
Author’s Note:
Tiaozhu found a patch of wild catnip by the field. Whenever it had free time, it liked to go roll around in the catnip.
Dart discovered its secret base and also happily followed along to roll around.
The two cats always rolled until they were covered in bits of grass, then lazily came back.
Ying Kongtu searched through books, wanting to plant something similar to catnip for Xian Niao and Jingwei too, something that could make little wolves excited and happy.
Until he discovered that he did not need to plant anything at all.
When Xian Niao and Jingwei cuddled with him, their tails would start moving on their own, and their paws would uncontrollably want to dance tap dance.
