Chapter 39

Today, the village was without electricity, so I only managed to upload this chapter now. Everyone, thank you for waiting!

After arriving at the mountain, everyone was immediately captivated by the scene of abundance. As genuine city dwellers, Yuan Yuan's family had never experienced such a setting before. The fruit trees, densely packed with fruit, were right in front of them, and they could reach out and touch the fruit on the trees. The bright red hawthorns, jujubes, green apples, and furry chestnuts were so appealing that one couldn't help but want to pick and taste them.

The elders might still feel a bit embarrassed, but the young people were not so reserved. Wang Gang took the lead, picking the largest apple he could see from the tree. He took a bite, but immediately spat it out.

"Phew! It's not ripe yet!"

This caused everyone to burst into laughter. The veteran who adopted Wang Dajun was assigned to the security department of the Southeast City Revolutionary Committee upon his return to his hometown. His family was from the city, so Wang Gang had never lived in the countryside. As a result, his lack of common sense led to a major embarrassment.

Seeing Wang Gang's embarrassed face, Wang Yong hurried over and said, "This tree is a Fuji apple, which is usually harvested in mid to late October. There's a Yellow Yuan Shuai tree over there, an early-ripening variety, which can be eaten now. If you like apples, you can pick some to take home. They taste pretty good, just a bit dry, not very sweet, and a bit sour and mealy."

"Which one? Is it this one?" Wang Gang pointed to a tree full of apples and asked.

"Yes, that's the one. See, the skin is yellow. When you press it, it feels less hard than other apples. Of course, you can only use this method when it's ripe. This is one of the earliest ripening varieties in the entire orchard."

Wang Gang picked one and took a bite.

"Hmm, it's okay, quite tasty, sweet and sour, and soft. Really good!"

Hearing Wang Gang's words, everyone rushed over to pick apples, leaving Wang Gang speechless. It turns out they were using him as a guinea pig! No wonder no one had started picking earlier; they were all so shrewd! Ignoring Wang Gang's muttering, Wang Yong led the group, biting into apples as they continued up the mountain. Suddenly, they heard Wang Han's exclamation:

"Ah! So cute!"

Everyone looked over and saw Wang Han and Wang Qian, who was holding Xiao Ming, staring at a chestnut tree. They didn't know what they were looking at. As they got closer, they realized a small, gray-furred squirrel was perched on the tree. The little guy was only about ten centimeters long, holding a jujube with its tiny front paws, and staring at the approaching group with wide, adorable eyes. Those with good eyesight could see that the little guy was trembling, his eyes filled with fear.

"Squirrel, I want a squirrel!" Xiao Ming shouted. Hearing Xiao Ming's cry, the little guy trembled even more.

Wang Yong immediately understood. Either the old squirrel had died, or the little one had been abandoned. Squirrels usually have their young in the spring, and after so long, the little one was still so small, clearly often hungry. It didn't know to hide from people, indicating a lack of survival skills. The old squirrel must have had an accident! Thinking of this, Wang Yong felt a deep sympathy for the little guy. He quietly shared his thoughts with the group, which immediately stirred the maternal instincts of the women.

"Brother, catch it and keep it! Look how pitiful the little guy is!" Wang Han tugged at Wang Yong's sleeve, pleading pitifully. She knew her brother, who had been mischievous and playful with Wang Qiang, was an expert at catching small animals in the mountains. When he was young, he had given her many small squirrels, hedgehogs, and beautiful birds, but she had secretly released them back into the mountains. When Wang Yong found out, he always scolded her, saying he would never give her any more, but whenever he caught something good, he would always bring it to her first.

Seeing Wang Han's compassionate nature, Wang Yong rolled his eyes. He turned to look at Wang Qiang, as if asking, "You or me?" Wang Qiang shook his head, having lost interest in this childhood pastime.

Seeing Wang Qiang's reluctance, Wang Yong walked directly toward the little squirrel, not worried about scaring it away. He had confidence. Since merging with the small world, he had mysteriously become able to attract animals. Initially, it was Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai, then the geese, ducks, and deer, though it didn't work with fish and shrimp. Even without the small world, with his childhood experience of catching countless squirrels, he knew this little one, untaught by the old squirrel, had no survival skills. It would freeze in fear, unable to run, making it easy to catch.

Amidst the group's exclamations, Wang Yong walked straight to the tree, reached up, and gently picked the little guy from the tree, then turned to face the stunned group.

"Wow! How did you do that? Did it recognize you as its godfather?" the fatso asked, unable to resist a jibe.

"Can't communicate with a pig brain like yours. Go stand somewhere cool," Wang Yong retorted.

"Give it to me, let me hold it."

"I'll hold it first, brother, give it to me."

Wang Han and Wang Qian, who was holding Xiao Ming, both vied to hold the little guy. In the end, Wang Qian, holding Xiao Ming, couldn't compete with Wang Han, and the little guy was passed to Wang Han. At first, the little guy was reluctant, but after Wang Yong's reassurance, it settled in Wang Han's arms. Yuan Yuan and Wang Qian both ran over to look at the pitiful little guy.

"Let's call you Xiao Liankan! Xiao Liankan, Xiao Liankan." Wang Yong found the name Wang Han gave the little guy quite helpless, but seeing the girls and Xiao Ming clearly satisfied with it, he knew his objections would be futile.

"Xiao Liankan! Xiao Liankan!" A hesitant child's voice came from above, leaving everyone puzzled. Besides the three-and-a-half-year-old Xiao Ming in Wang Qian's arms, there were no other children here. Could it be...

"Ghost!" the fatso shouted, causing many timid people to join in.

"What ghost? Fatso. It's broad daylight, where would a ghost come from?" Wang Qiang, calm and composed, scolded the fatso. The fatso, used to being disciplined by Wang Qiang, dared not argue with this childhood leader (the other being Liu Bin, the son of the former village chief and party secretary). He shrank back and began looking around cautiously.

"Fatso, stop looking around, it's right above you," Wang Yong couldn't help but point out.

The fatso looked up and saw a black bird. What kind of bird was it? Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he shouted, "I know, it's a myna bird!"

Everyone, who had been carefully observing the talking bird, was startled by the sudden shout and turned to look. The fatso, rarely blushing, lowered his head. But a voice made the fatso, who was embarrassed by his overreaction, suddenly angry and glare at the myna bird.

"Fatso!" The myna bird, clearly annoyed by the fatso's shout, which had nearly scared it off the tree, retaliated.

Seeing the fatso glaring at it, the bold little bird fearlessly retaliated:

"Fatso, Fatso!"

Angry, the fatso picked up a clod of earth and threw it at the myna bird. Unfortunately, his aim was poor, and the clod flew far past the bird. The myna bird, sensing the danger, immediately flew away, still shouting, "Fatso, Fatso!"

This caused everyone to burst into laughter. The fatso, furious, kept throwing stones, but none hit the target. Just as his aim was improving and the stones were getting closer to the myna bird, the bird made an incredible move. It flew straight to Wang Yong's head and gently landed on his shoulder, whispering in his ear:

"Help, help!" Everyone's eyes nearly popped out in shock.

"Alright, alright, fatso. Why are you picking a fight with a bird?" Wang Qiang said from the side.

Everyone joined in to calm the fatso, who, in a huff, picked an apple from a nearby jujube tree and started munching on it, a common tactic for him—turning frustration into food. Most of his fat had been accumulated this way.

Everyone curiously watched the intelligent myna bird perched on Wang Yong's shoulder. Not only could it talk, but it seemed to understand a lot of words, which was quite rare. They all tried to make the myna bird speak. When Wang Han, holding the little squirrel, approached, the little guy in her arms did something very puzzling. It held out the jujube in its paws to the myna bird and chirped incessantly.

"What kind of monster is this!" Liu Jiang couldn't help but exclaim. A myna bird understanding human speech was one thing, but a squirrel offering food to a myna bird was quite another.

But the myna bird wasn't grateful, shouting, "Stupid, stupid, very stupid!"

The little guy, who had been enthusiastically holding out the jujube, immediately lowered its head, tucking it under its body, clearly ashamed of its behavior. It had forgotten to run and just lay there, allowing itself to be easily caught, though the person who caught it felt very familiar.

Everyone was confused. What was going on? Could it really be a demon?

"Maybe the myna bird raised this little squirrel from a young age, so the squirrel sees the myna bird as a family member. The myna bird might have taught the squirrel some survival skills. But the little guy's behavior just now must have disappointed the myna bird. That's why you saw what you did," Wang Yong explained his theory.

"Wow! What a loving myna bird!" Wang Han gushed, looking at the myna bird adoringly.

"Yes, the myna bird is truly great!" Wang Qian agreed.

"Let's keep the myna bird too, so it doesn't get separated from Xiao Liankan," Yuan Yuan suggested softly to Wang Yong.

The myna bird, hearing Yuan Yuan's words, seemed to understand. It immediately jumped from Wang Yong's shoulder to Yuan Yuan's, using its beak to help her comb her hair. This display of intelligence left even Wang Yong impressed. Thinking that Yuan Yuan liked it, he decided to keep it. It wouldn't be much trouble, and he could always put it in the chicken coop where it wouldn't starve.

"Little guy, what's your name?" Yuan Yuan asked, holding the myna bird in her hands. Her serious, gentle tone made everyone smile, showing that she was a kind-hearted girl.

"Diuzhu, Diuzhu" No one expected the myna bird to actually speak. Everyone was stunned, and the fatso fell on his butt in shock. Wang Yong knew myna birds could mimic speech, like parrots, and had probably learned "Diuzhu" from people playing games.

Yuan Yuan frowned and said softly to the myna bird, "Are you called Diuzhu? That doesn't sound nice. How about we call you Congcong, since you're so smart?"

"Diuzhu, Diuzhu" The myna bird flapped its wings and kept shouting. It didn't appreciate the better name, a stubborn and foolish creature.

"Alright, alright, stop it. You can be called Diuzhu then."

As soon as Yuan Yuan finished speaking, Diuzhu immediately calmed down and obediently flew to her shoulder.