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After exchanging a few pleasantries, the operator adjusted the harvester's parameters and began harvesting from outside.

The bean stalks were quite hard, and the harvester made a loud chugging noise as it drove by. The little foxes, who were playing in the yard, all ran away when they heard the noise.

Small animals have exceptionally sensitive hearing and dislike such sounds.

Shi Wen didn't mind. He followed behind his master and used a tricycle to catch the harvested beans.

As the harvester crushed the bean pods, it kicked up a lot of dust. Wearing a mask and hat, he ran back and forth between the harvester and the warehouse, smelling the slightly sweet, raw smell of beans.

Although harvesting is tiring, there is a joy in it.

He made trip after trip, working with his master, and spent most of the day finally finishing harvesting the large plot of land in his backyard.

The beans were almost dry on the stalks, but not quite ready to be stored in the warehouse.

The weather was nice today, so after harvesting the beans, he simply spread out a lot of plastic sheeting outside the warehouse. He then used a tricycle to transport the beans over and laid them directly on the plastic sheeting to dry.

In the August sun, just two days of sun exposure will completely dehydrate the beans, allowing them to be stored for three to five years without any problem.

Their beans are very good; the beans are plump, golden, round, and have a slight bean aroma.

These beans, if left out to dry, will definitely attract a whole flock of birds.

Their Bress chickens also roam the neighborhood, and when they smell the beans, they often come over to steal some.

After chasing away the Bress chickens and birds a few times, Shi Wen planned to go to the main courtyard to bring Cong Zai over to help, Cong Zai was the best at chasing birds.

To my surprise, when I went to the main courtyard, Cong Zai wasn't in his usual sleeping spot, nor were the little fox and the little snow leopard.

Shi Wen was puzzled, so he went and brought over Shi Suo and Yan Shi's horses, asking them to guard the area and instructing them not to steal from the guards.

Yan Shi called out "xi lü lü," but it was unclear whether she had responded.

Shi Wen had been busy at home all day. In the evening, Yan Kexing back and they finished up the remaining work together.

With Yan Kexing, he felt much more relaxed. He went to take a shower and then came out refreshed to feed the little ones.

It was only then that Shi Wen realized Cong Zai hadn't come home yet.

Shi Wen sensed something was wrong and asked Yan Kexing, "Have you seen Cong Zai?"

"I saw it this morning; it even ate all the food in its food pouch." Yan Kexing knew Cong Zai wasn't outside, but he didn't think much of it. "Maybe it went out to play?"

Shi Wen thought about it and realized, "We're harvesting beans at home during the day, and it probably found it too noisy, so it went outside to sleep."

Yan Kexing smiled and said, "Don't worry, look how calm the dogs at home are."

When the dogs heard Yan Kexing call them, they all perked up their ears, but seeing that he had no further instructions, they lowered their heads and continued eating.

Dogs are indeed quite well-informed; their lack of anxiety suggests that nothing has happened.

Shi Wen temporarily suppressed her anxiety about not being able to find Cong Zai.

With Cong Zai's abilities, there aren't many people or animals nearby that could harm it, and besides, their ranch is always peaceful, so nothing usually happens.

Shi Wen was exhausted after a long day. After making sure she was alright, she ate dinner and fell asleep quickly.

They left some meat in Cong Zai's bowl; Cong Zai 'll probably eat it when he comes back tonight.

The next morning when they woke up, Shi Wen took out some frozen goat milk from the refrigerator and heated it up to feed the snow leopard. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Cong Zai's food bowl was still full of meat.

Their little one has been strictly trained and generally won't take away other people's jobs.

Cong Zai's rice bowl is full, which means it didn't come back at all last night!

Shi Wen's head buzzed, and he immediately realized something was wrong.

Their food is so delicious that even when Cong Zai goes out to hunt for food, he never misses a meal at home.

Even if it catches a mouse, it will at most keep it for a snack, but it will never eat it as a main meal.

Cong Zai hasn't eaten its cat food, then there's a big problem!

Shi Wen's voice trembled as he called out to Yan Kexing inside the house, "Yan Kexing, come out quickly and see what's going on! Cong Zai didn't come back last night!"

Yan Kexing out and took a look, confirming that Cong Zai hadn't returned last night. His expression turned serious. "It didn't come back? Where did it go?"

Cong Zai is a rather lazy cat. Apart from patrolling the storeroom and catching mice, it spends most of its time sleeping.

The dogs would sometimes go out in packs to catch prey, but Cong Zai never participated in such activities.

Aside from eating, sleeping, and catching mice, it seems to have no other hobbies.

Shi Wen said anxiously, "I don't know, let's split up and search quickly. Do you think there might be a female kitten nearby that it followed?"

Yan Kexing: "Probably not. It's neutered, so it's unlikely to be attracted to female cats. Let's look for it and see if we can find it."

"Yes, let's look for him first." Shi Wen called Heiwa and the others over, "Heiwa, Wolf King, have you seen Cong Zai?"

The dogs huddled together and ran out.

Shi Wen pointed at Cong Zai's cat bowl, looked into Heiwa and the Wolf King's eyes, and asked, "Where did Cong Zai go? Do you know?"

Heiwa tilted his head and reacted for a moment, then quickly walked up to Shi Wen, but stretched out his paw and scratched at the little snow leopard that Shiwen was holding in his arms.

Shi Wen immediately realized, "You mean, it's related to the snow leopard cub?"

Heiwa: "Woof woof!"

The Wolf King howled, glanced at Shi Wen, and then made a running motion.

Shi Wen, "Wolf King, do you mean that Cong Zai went outside?"

The Wolf King howled again, ran a few steps, then turned back to look Shi Wen, seemingly waiting for him to catch up.

Shi Wen: "You want to take us to find it?"