Chapter 95: Hiring Monkeys
The salvia seedlings grew larger day by day. They were not especially sturdy, but for the time being, there was no risk of them dying.
Ying Kongtu and the others could finally move their attention away from the salvia seedlings and temporarily focus on other matters.
Now, they had officially entered mushroom-picking season, and there were extremely many mushrooms on the mountain.
Ying Kongtu and the others had to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms twice every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Every time, they could bring back two large back baskets and two large hand baskets full of mushrooms.
With so many mushrooms, aside from selling them online, they also set up a stall outside the market every morning and evening.
Fortunately, their family’s mushrooms sold quickly, and selling them was not especially difficult.
Proportional to their busy work was their income.
Ying Kongtu had not expected that after the mountain forest was properly managed, so many mushrooms would grow, and they would be so valuable.
He had originally planned to plant another batch of wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms in autumn and winter, then work intensively for two or three months to earn the year’s income.
Now it seemed there was no need. They only had to finish these three or four months of mushroom-picking season, and the earnings would already be enough.
Not to mention, they also had an additional kiwifruit orchard this year.
The kiwifruit vines were already covered in dense clusters of kiwifruit.
These little kiwifruit were working hard to absorb sunlight and rain, nourished by divine power, growing far more fresh and lively than ordinary kiwifruit.
If nothing unexpected happened, this batch of kiwifruit would also bring them a decent income.
This year, Ying Kongtu’s financial pressure had already been completely relieved. He could even save up a sum of money to prepare for buying mountains next year.
Looking at the mushrooms in the mountain forest, Ying Kongtu said to Wen Zhongshan, “There are too many mushrooms. If there are even more, should we hire people to come up the mountain to pick them?”
Wen Zhongshan said, “We can take out Bihai Mountain and Gongshen Mountain separately and hire people to pick mushrooms there. For the remaining mountains, we’ll still pick them ourselves?”
Bihai Mountain and Gongshen Mountain had received less nourishment from divine power, so there were relatively fewer mushrooms on those mountains.
Thousandfold Verdant Mountain raised chickens, so there were not many mushrooms there either.
As for Wuchuan Mountain, Baogu Mountain, Xiwu Mountain, and Qingfang Mountain, Ying Kongtu had spent endless effort managing them. They had been deeply nourished by his divine power. Now, there were extremely many rare plants on those mountains, and the mushrooms were as numerous as stars.
Such mountains were not very suitable for inviting people over to pick mushrooms.
Ying Kongtu thought for a moment. “That works too. If we mainly focus on gathering mushrooms from Wuchuan Mountain and the other few mountains, we should be able to manage.”
As they were speaking, the furry ones had finished patrolling the mountain and were nearby, keeping them company.
“Awoo.” Listening to their troubles, Xian Niao suddenly opened its mouth and gave a soft cry.
“You can help too?” Ying Kongtu lowered his head to look at Xian Niao, conveniently stroking its big head. “Mushrooms can be poisonous, so they aren’t very suitable for you to carry in your mouths. You already help a great deal by patrolling the mountain.”
Xian Niao insisted, “Awoo.”
After calling, Xian Niao turned around and walked into the forest. Soon, it carried over a black bolete in its mouth.
“Wu.” Xian Niao gently bumped Ying Kongtu’s hand with its muzzle, signaling for him to take the mushroom.
Ying Kongtu took the mushroom from its mouth and looked at it. This black bolete was large and complete, with an extremely beautiful appearance.
Even if they searched carefully through the forest, they might not necessarily find a black bolete with such a beautiful appearance.
“So impressive.” Ying Kongtu placed the black bolete into the back basket and rubbed Xian Niao’s big wolf head. After thinking for a moment, he said, “If you’re the one picking mushrooms, then it really shouldn’t be a problem.”
Xian Niao nudged Ying Kongtu’s hand with its head and softly said, “Awo.”
Tiaozhu, who was beside them, looked at them, then turned and charged into the forest.
Shuangzhong hurriedly followed. After running a few steps, it flapped its wings and flew into the forest.
Dart and Jingwei were waiting behind and joining in the excitement. Excitedly, they also ran toward the forest.
Looking at Tiaozhu’s back as it disappeared into the woods, Ying Kongtu said quietly to Wen Zhongshan, “I knew Tiaozhu wouldn’t accept losing.”
Wen Zhongshan said, “Tiaozhu should also recognize mushrooms?”
“Tiaozhu and Shuangzhong both can. They’re so smart.” Ying Kongtu said softly, “Dart and Jingwei probably can’t. They can’t really distinguish all the colors, and they don’t quite understand why some mushrooms are poisonous while others aren’t.”
Xian Niao sat beside them, looking at the forest without participating in their conversation.
Soon, Tiaozhu and the others came out.
Tiaozhu held its head high and chest out, carrying a yellow bolete with an overbearing fragrance in its mouth.
Shuangzhong flapped its wings behind it, its mouth full of green russulas.
As expected, Dart and Jingwei had picked nothing. They had run in and then run out, their four paws pattering as they panted with their tongues out, mainly there to join the fun.
“Meow-ao.” Tiaozhu put down the yellow bolete, patted Ying Kongtu’s calf with its paw, and raised its head to look at him.
Ying Kongtu quickly stroked Tiaozhu’s head. “Tiaozhu, you’re amazing. As expected, you recognize boletes too.”
After praising Tiaozhu, Ying Kongtu stroked Shuangzhong. “Shuangzhong too. The green russulas you carried are of such good quality, and there are so many.”
Dart and Jingwei squeezed forward, and Ying Kongtu fairly stroked them as well.
Wen Zhongshan smiled and also stroked each of them one by one.
Ying Kongtu thought for a moment. “Since you know how to pick mushrooms, why don’t you bring baskets up the mountain when you patrol in the future? Put the mushrooms you pick into the baskets, so you don’t have to carry them one by one in your mouths. Your mouths will get too tired.”
Only then was Tiaozhu satisfied. “Meow-ao.”
And so, their mushroom-picking team suddenly went from two people to two people plus three furry ones.
Dart and Jingwei did not count. They were purely there to fill the numbers.
With Tiaozhu and the others helping, Ying Kongtu’s family’s efficiency in picking mushrooms improved quite a bit. For the time being, they did not need to hire anyone.
Xian Niao knew every kind of mushroom on the mountain. When it encountered poisonous mushrooms, it would even carry them out.
Ying Kongtu checked every day and found that the mushrooms they brought back were of extremely high quality. Even without further selection, there would not be much of a problem.
However, for safety’s sake, Ying Kongtu still carefully screened every single mushroom.
That day, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan were also up the mountain picking mushrooms.
The furry ones were on the opposite side, separated from them by a mountain. They could clearly see the furry ones’ movements across the way.
The main force picking mushrooms on the opposite side had always been Tiaozhu, Xian Niao, and Shuangzhong.
Dart and Jingwei also helped. They excitedly carried mushrooms to Xian Niao, and Xian Niao would further screen them. Sometimes it placed the mushrooms the two little ones brought into the basket; sometimes it directly threw them away.
Even when they were thrown away, Dart and Jingwei still happily went back into the forest to look for new mushrooms, not feeling discouraged at all.
Watching from afar, Ying Kongtu said to Wen Zhongshan, “Xian Niao really is reliable.”
Wen Zhongshan said, “Xian Niao has always been quite reliable. No wonder it asked for such a large basket.”
The baskets carried by the furry ones had all been handwoven by Ying Kongtu.
At the beginning, Tiaozhu, Xian Niao, and Shuangzhong each carried a large mountain basket to hold mushrooms.
After a few times, Xian Niao asked Ying Kongtu for an enlarged basket.
After understanding its request, Ying Kongtu good-temperedly wove this basket, large enough to fit Jingwei inside.
Unexpectedly, Xian Niao used this large basket to hold the mushrooms picked by itself, Dart, and Jingwei.
“Wait—” Ying Kongtu suddenly saw a macaque emerge from the forest.
The macaque half-walked, half-climbed as it slowly approached Xian Niao. Finally, it placed the mushroom in its hand at a distance from Xian Niao.
Xian Niao raised its head and glanced at the macaque. It picked up the mushroom the macaque had gathered and, after confirming there was no problem, placed it into the basket.
The macaque was greatly encouraged. Its movements as it left became much lighter, and it even called a few times toward the forest.
Soon, a group of macaques surged out from the woods.
They half-walked and half-climbed, quickly approaching Xian Niao. They set down the mushrooms in their hands, then retreated.
Xian Niao sorted through the mushrooms they had placed on the ground. The poisonous ones were discarded, and the non-poisonous ones were placed into the basket.
After sorting them, Xian Niao called toward the monkey group, “Awoo.”
The monkey group was encouraged. They chattered a few times and called their companions along before disappearing into the forest again.
Wen Zhongshan asked, “When did Xian Niao and the others learn to command these macaques?”
“They probably only just started.” Ying Kongtu stared at the opposite mountain. “Most of the mushrooms the macaques brought were poisonous and were left on the ground by Xian Niao. That means they’ve only just begun picking mushrooms and still can’t recognize most of the edible ones.”
Ying Kongtu became interested and pulled Wen Zhongshan. “Come on. Let’s secretly follow Xian Niao and the others.”
The two walked to the opposite mountain and attempted to follow the furry ones, checking how they were picking mushrooms.
A large group of macaques kept moving with the furry ones, gathering all kinds of mushrooms for them with great enthusiasm.
Tiaozhu was not very interested in the macaques and did not allow them to come close.
Shuangzhong, meanwhile, stared at the mushrooms the macaques picked and tried carrying them into the basket. After putting them in, it stared at the basket for a long time, then uncertainly carried them back out. After going back and forth several times, the basket was still empty.
It tilted its head and looked at the basket, then repeated its previous actions. A single golden eagle busied itself for a long time and still achieved nothing.
Only Xian Niao sorted them both quickly and steadily. In a few minutes, it finished sorting the mushrooms carried over by the macaques and gave a soft cry, signaling for the macaques to continue searching.
The furry ones led the macaques through the forest in search of mushrooms.
When they reached an area near a peach grove, Xian Niao gave a soft cry, and the macaques happily ran into the peach grove. In a few moves, they climbed up the peach trees and picked peaches to eat.
Ying Kongtu followed from afar and said softly, “The peaches in this grove are tastier than the peaches elsewhere. Xian Niao is helping the monkeys choose tasty peaches.”
Wen Zhongshan said, “So that’s why the monkeys are willing to help.”
“I think so. But there aren’t many fruits on the mountain. I wonder how they’ll continue trading after the macaques finish eating this batch of peaches?”
“Maybe tender wild vegetable stems, and fruits like oranges and downy rose myrtle?”
“That’s also possible.”
The macaques were full of interest in picking mushrooms. They moved through the mountain forest every day and knew the forest far too well.
Wherever there were mushrooms, none escaped their eyes.
After cooperating a few times, the macaques picked more and more mushrooms. Xian Niao grew very tired from selecting mushrooms, and its super large basket was almost unable to hold so many.
That day, it held Ying Kongtu’s clothes in its mouth and signaled for Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan to follow it to meet the macaques.
When the macaques saw Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan, they were a little afraid. They scratched their ears and cheeks, standing far away, not daring to come closer.
Only after Ying Kongtu released a little divine power were they attracted over.
“Ji ji.” The monkeys cried, cautiously arriving at a spot more than two meters from Ying Kongtu’s feet, looking somewhat reverent.
“Come here.” Ying Kongtu beckoned.
The monkey king hesitated, then slowly walked over.
Ying Kongtu stroked its back. “You’ve been helping us pick mushrooms recently? Thank you.”
“Ji ji.” The monkey king became happy. Its eyes as it looked at Ying Kongtu were full of trust, along with a little shyness. Its expression was extremely vivid.
Ying Kongtu glanced at Xian Niao, who was crouching beside him. “In the future, we’ll give you baskets. After picking mushrooms, place them in the baskets first, then give the baskets to us. How about that?”
The monkeys could not understand human speech.
Ying Kongtu gave them baskets and repeatedly demonstrated the action of putting mushrooms into baskets, showing them what to do.
The monkeys slowly understood.
The monkeys’ mushroom-picking efficiency was actually quite good. They just could not distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms, stuffing both poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms into the baskets all at once.
After observing for several days, Ying Kongtu discovered that it was not that they truly could not distinguish them at all. They were just somewhat impatient, too lazy to tell them apart, and simply stuffed everything into the baskets.
Expecting a group of monkeys to have a sense of responsibility was impossible.
After Ying Kongtu discovered this situation, he slightly changed the way he paid the monkeys.
He placed fruits into the baskets and determined the number of fruits exchanged based on the number of non-poisonous mushrooms in each basket.
After training them like this for several days, the proportion of non-poisonous mushrooms among the mushrooms the monkeys picked increased.
Wen Zhongshan found it rather interesting. “I didn’t expect that without assessment, even monkeys would slack off.”
Ying Kongtu said, “That’s normal. Laziness is every animal’s nature. It’s enough that they’re doing well now.”
With the monkeys, perhaps they really would not need to hire anyone to pick mushrooms, and they could still manage.
Author’s Note:
Dart has been sickly these few days. It does not go out and barely eats.
Xian Niao carries it to Ying Kongtu, looking at it worriedly.
Ying Kongtu hurriedly checks it but cannot find any problem.
They hold Dart and take it to see a doctor.
The doctor uses all kinds of equipment and examines it for half a day.
The final conclusion:
The weather is hot, Dart is being lazy, and it is pretending to be sick.
