PCJ – Chapter 297 A Group of Monkeys Arrives

“You can’t even be considered a mountain-clearing dog. Do you really think that having over forty mountain-driving dogs is more impressive than twenty-four mountain-clearing dogs?” Upon seeing Zhang Jiaohua’s mountain-clearing dogs, Shi Qingwang was first surprised and then spoke to Zhang with a peculiar expression.

“Four white, four black, nine yellow, and seven white—twenty-four mountain-driving dogs are indeed a complete set, but assembling these specific numbers of dogs is not that easy,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“Pure white mountain-driving dogs are indeed rare, but they do exist. I have a few myself. The rest is straightforward; you can assemble them here. How about I trade you seven white puppies for your dogs?” Shi Qingwang clearly also wanted to gather twenty-four mountain-clearing dogs.

“These dogs are well-trained now. Trading them wouldn’t be very useful for you. However, I have many female dogs here, and once they have puppies, I can give you some. But you still haven’t told me the real power of the twenty-four mountain-clearing dogs,” Zhang Jiaohua said, reluctant to part with his well-trained dogs.

“Do you know the twenty-four mountains? The twenty-four mountain-clearing dogs correspond to the twenty-four mountains. The dogs need to occupy different positions to unleash the full power of the twenty-four mountain array,” Shi Qingwang explained.

Zhang Jiaohua had not been systematically exposed to these concepts before, so he understood only vaguely. Shi Qingwang’s explanation made Zhang quickly realize that some of his previous assumptions were laughable. He had thought that forty-four mountain-driving dogs would be more powerful than twenty-four mountain-clearing dogs, but he realized his thinking was mistaken.

“Do you want to trade your mountain-driving dogs for my white ones now?” Shi Qingwang asked with a smile.

“Of course, but I can’t trade these trained dogs. I’ll have to find them gradually,” Zhang Jiaohua remained firm.

Shi Qingwang wavered. Given Zhang Jiaohua’s many mountain-driving dogs, it would be easy to assemble twenty-four dogs, or even several sets of twenty-four. However, Shi Qingwang knew that gathering so many mountain-driving dogs was not easy, and many of them were no longer purebred, which reduced their potential.

“Alright, I’ll send you a few white puppies in a while. Make sure to keep some puppies for me in the future,” Shi Qingwang agreed.

Zhang Jiaohua immediately accepted, “No problem.”

After Shi Qingwang left, Zhang Jiaohua went to find Wu Tong’an and Tu Chunlin.

“Originally, I shouldn’t help you two. According to the rules, I shouldn’t interfere with others’ spells. It would be alright if he was harming others, but you were at fault first. You two are really bold, to set your sights on Meishan. I’ve arranged with Mei Zicao that I would lift the spell for you this time. But if you provoke others again and get punished, don’t come looking for me. I won’t help you again. You’re lucky this time. If you had met some stricter Meishan water masters, you wouldn’t even have a chance to regret it,” Shi Qingwang warned.

Although Wu Tong’an and Tu Chunlin still held some resentment toward Zhang Jiaohua, they did not dare to oppose him further.

Since several bodyguards had been added around Fat Cat, Zhang Jiaohua had not had fish for several days. Zhang Wenrong and the others no longer dared to use Fat Cat as a fishing rod. They also lacked fishing skills, so they could only catch some loaches and eels.

“Jiaohua, isn’t it strange that the eels are now more expensive than grass carp in the town? Even loaches are more expensive than grass carp. Why do city people like eels and loaches so much? They have a muddy taste,” Zhang Wenrong said. Yesterday, they had found many eels and loaches while dredging the dry ditches in the orchard.

Since people in the countryside didn’t like eels and loaches, Zhang Jiaohua had Zhang Wenrong sell them. Surprisingly, eels and loaches had become a rare commodity, and townspeople scrambled to buy them. Zhang Wenrong made some money and was thrilled. Zhang Wenrong said that the money from selling the eels and loaches should go to Zhang Jiaohua, but Zhang Jiaohua refused and let Zhang Wenrong keep it all.

Zhang Jiaohua was puzzled by the city people’s tastes, “Who knows?”

“It’s said that eels and loaches are nutritious and good for health,” Zhang Jiao said.

“No wonder,” Zhang Hanggau said, patting the money in his pocket several times.

“Such a small amount of money, and you’re so happy. Jiaohua’s bamboo tube of tea is worth more than a hundred,” Zhang Wenrong tapped Zhang Hanggau on the head.

Zhang Hanggau shrank his head but still smiled.

Hearing that eels and loaches were valuable, the villagers started taking action. Dumb had found a good place for catching eels and loaches, “Jiaohua, isn’t it strange? The ditches at your orchard attract eels and loaches. There are also a lot of crucian carp. I just dug up a section of the ditch, and it was full of loaches. Zhang Wenrong and the others made a fortune; they cleared all the eels and loaches from the ditch.”

“You’re not bad either,” Zhang Jiaohua laughed. He wasn’t too concerned about the money from selling eels and loaches.

“By the way, Yuanbao said he saw monkeys on the peach trees on the back mountain yesterday. The peaches on the back mountain are ripe, and these monkeys seem to love them. It would be great to catch a monkey,” Dumb said.

“Dumb, do you want to catch a monkey to beg for rice?” Zhang Jiaohua asked. Occasionally, people in the village brought a monkey to beg for rice. When they reached the village, they would make the monkey perform tricks. Out of courtesy, the host would put a bowl of rice into the bag the performer carried. It was a good business, and they often came back with a bag of rice on their shoulders, which was sometimes exchanged for money when they couldn’t carry it anymore. Zhang Xianyi’s family had once received rice from such people.

“I don’t want to beg for rice. I want to keep a monkey to pick the ripest peaches from the trees. Monkeys are excellent climbers,” Dumb said with longing.

“What kind of monkey? Is it a macaque?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“It wasn’t me who saw it; Yuanbao saw it first. I went to check, but I didn’t see any monkeys. I only saw the peach pits left by the monkeys,” Dumb shook his head.

As they were talking, Zhang Yuanbao came running, breathless.

“Jiaohua, come quickly. The monkeys are stealing peaches again. They’ve even come to our doorstep.”

“Why did you come to find me?” Zhang Jiaohua asked, puzzled.

“I want you to bring the mountain-driving dogs. We need to surround those monkeys and catch one or two to keep,” Zhang Yuanbao’s idea was similar to Dumb’s.

Zhang Jiaohua was also interested in the monkeys. Who wouldn’t want a monkey to perform tricks and fetch bird nests without climbing trees? Just thinking about it was exciting.

So, the three kids, accompanied by a group of mountain-driving dogs, headed towards the back mountain. When they arrived, the monkeys were in a standoff with the black cats. Having suffered a heavy loss from the macaques in Meishan, Fat Cat despised these monkeys. Zhang Jiaohua wondered why these monkeys had come to the village to steal peaches when wild peaches were abundant in the mountains. Although wild peaches were less tasty, monkeys didn’t seem to be picky. That was Zhang Jiaohua’s thought.

Fat Cat, along with its subordinates and a large group of black cats, was confronting the monkey leader. However, Zhang Jiaohua’s arrival disrupted the balance of power. The monkey leader, seeing the large number of mountain-driving dogs surrounding them, quickly fled. They were even better at climbing trees than black cats. Fat Cat couldn’t keep them.

By the time Zhang Jiaohua arrived at the base of the tree, the macaques had already disappeared.

Fat Cat looked at Zhang Jiaohua with some resentment, as if his arrival had ruined its revenge plan.

“It’s a pity. It would have been great to catch a monkey,” Zhang Yuanbao said, looking at the retreating monkeys with regret.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded, “These monkeys are too cunning. Mainly because they can climb trees. We can’t stop them.”

The monkeys were agile, and Zhang Jiaohua had no good solution.

“Why do these monkeys like the peaches here so much? Are the peaches really that good?” Zhang Jiaohua wondered. The peaches here were wild ones that people discarded. Wild peaches generally had poor flavor, being bitter and astringent. Villagers usually ate grafted varieties of juicy peaches.

“Let’s pick one and try it!” Dumb said, rolling up his sleeves and climbing the tree swiftly. In no time, he picked a few large peaches and threw them down. Zhang Jiaohua caught one, wiped it to remove some fuzz, and took a bite.

“Hm?” Zhang Jiaohua’s eyes widened. The monkeys had an excellent sense of smell. Even from a distance, they knew the peaches here were delicious. The peach was indeed sweet! Taking a bite, the juicy sweetness of the peach was irresistible. It was strange how the wild peaches had become so tasty.

“Dumb, don’t come down yet. Pick more, these peaches are really good,” Zhang Jiaohua urged Dumb to stay up in the tree and pick more peaches. Now he understood why the monkeys had come here.