Chapter 22

Might as well try his luck.

With that thought, Qing Mengzhu finally tapped the draw button. After the system deducted the fee, the wheel spun rapidly.

Qing Mengzhu stared at the wheel and pressed stop with his thumb.

The next second, a line appeared in the center of the screen: "Congratulations, you have obtained hay x1."

He knew it would be a consolation prize.

Qing Mengzhu stared at the screen and clicked his tongue.

Ever since drawing the lotus seeds last time, he hadn't won anything good from the Interstellar Mall on his own.

It seemed he could only save up his luck and see if he could ask Ming Chunxi to help him draw something better next time.

Qing Mengzhu's luck with draws wasn't great, but he had always done a good job managing his fields.

While fertilizing the chili plants lately, he hadn't forgotten to fertilize the lotuses and vegetables as well, so they were all growing nicely.

The vegetables in particular had earned him quite a bit of money lately from sales to Di Caiyong and the others. His savings hadn't fallen since he'd been fired; they had even grown a little.

With the vegetables growing so well, he tended them even more carefully, fertilizing them roughly once every three days.

That afternoon, he went behind the house to get fertilizer and saw small paw prints in the loose, damp soil after the rain.

The prints looked a little strange, like large leaves. They resembled cat prints somewhat, but were elongated ovals, suggesting the animal that left them was much bigger than a cat.

He wondered if the animal had discovered the ruffed grouse he was raising behind the house.

At the thought, Qing Mengzhu hurriedly drove the grouse out and counted them.

There were fifty grouse in all, not one more or less. They seemed reasonably lively, too, and didn't look frightened.

Qing Mengzhu was puzzled. What animal had left those prints? What had it come here for?

It looked like a fairly large one.

Qing Mengzhu searched online but couldn't find an answer, so he specifically asked Tan Wenlei to come take a look.

Tan Wenlei examined the prints closely several times and even held out his palm for comparison. After quite a while, he said, "They look a bit like otter prints."

Qing Mengzhu didn't immediately recognize the word. "What kind of otter?"

Tan Wenlei turned to look at Qing Mengzhu. "The animal you call a water otter. We just call it an otter cat around here."

Qing Mengzhu was surprised. "We have otters here too?"

Tan Wenlei nodded. "Yes. There are lots of rivers around here, and there used to be lots of otters. I often saw them when I was little. Then the environment got worse, and nobody saw them for years. It's improved in recent years, and there have been signs of otters in the wild again."

Qing Mengzhu said, "Then it was probably an otter. I wonder what it came here for. Could it really have been after my grouse?"

Tan Wenlei said, "It's possible. You should put your grouse in cages for now. Otters can be vicious when they kill live animals. Sometimes they'll kill every living creature they see."

Qing Mengzhu said, "They do that?"

Tan Wenlei remarked, "Yes. They may look cute, but they have nasty temperaments."

Qing Mengzhu took his advice and promptly put the grouse in cages. He also went up the mountain to cut bamboo and built a tightly packed fence around the back of the house. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.

He thought that with a fence around the backyard, the otter wouldn't be able to get in and wouldn't come back.

To his surprise, a huge hole appeared under the fence the next day. The paw prints at its entrance were still fresh; clearly, it had just been dug.

The sight made Qing Mengzhu's heart go cold. He thought his grouse must have fallen prey to the otter.

But when he went into the backyard, he found all fifty grouse huddled together on top of the compost barrels and vats, trembling. Not one was missing.

Perhaps because the grouse could fly, the otter had failed to catch them.

Qing Mengzhu walked around the backyard and found some shed fur.

Some of it was ash gray, while the rest was yellowish brown, and the textures were different too. Qing Mengzhu couldn't help wondering if more than one otter had come.

Could a group of otters have set their sights on his grouse?

Qing Mengzhu happened to mention the matter while chatting with Zhao Hexi.

Zhao Hexi: [!!!]

Zhao Hexi: [You have otters there?! The cute little ones that rub their faces with their paws at the zoo?!]

Qing Mengzhu: [It's an otter, but I don't know if it rubs its face with its paws.]

Zhao Hexi: [It definitely does! Ah, I really want to come over and pet an otter.]

Qing Mengzhu: [You can't. They're under second-class national protection. Apart from otter fur, there might be fur from another animal behind my house. I don't know if it's from another otter. It seems a little strange.]

Zhao Hexi: [If you're wondering, why not install a security camera?]

Zhao Hexi: [Ming Chunxi sort of works in that field, so you could ask him about installing cameras and spend more time getting to know him.]

Qing Mengzhu hesitated: [He's so busy. I don't think I should bother him.]

Frustrated with him, Zhao Hexi replied: [Don't worry about whether he's busy!]

Zhao Hexi: [He's a big boss, and he's not stupid. If he really can't spare the time, he can just turn you down, right? If he doesn't, that means he can manage it, so stop worrying about him!]

What Zhao Hexi said made a fair amount of sense in a way.

Qing Mengzhu hesitated for a long time before finally contacting Ming Chunxi.

Sure enough, Ming Chunxi didn't refuse: [You can install a camera network to cover the front and back of the house.]

Ming Chunxi: [Do you have a floor plan?]

Qing Mengzhu: [The one on the property deed? Or do you need a plan of the outside? If it's the outside, I'll have to draw one now.]

Ming Chunxi: [The outside. It would be best to mark the length, width, and height.]

Qing Mengzhu: [Okay, I'll go measure it now. I'll send it to you once I've drawn it.]

Ming Chunxi: [No rush. Tomorrow's the Dragon Boat Festival. How are you spending it?]

If Ming Chunxi hadn't mentioned it, Qing Mengzhu really wouldn't have realized the next day was the Dragon Boat Festival.

He left WeChat and checked the calendar. After confirming it really was the festival tomorrow, he replied: [I'll probably spend it at home.]

Feeling that sounded a little cold, Qing Mengzhu added: [I grow a lot of vegetables and raise some small animals here, so I can't leave.]

Ming Chunxi: [Do you eat zongzi? I'll send you some.]

Qing Mengzhu looked at the message and hesitated for a long while, but he did want some: [Yes, thank you, bro.]

Qing Mengzhu hadn't called Ming Chunxi "bro" in a long time.

When their blended family had first come together, he hadn't accepted Ming Chunxi. Later, he developed other feelings for him and couldn't bring himself to call him "bro," either.

Only for a brief period in between, when he wanted Ming Chunxi's help-such as bringing him something or letting him copy his homework-had he called him "bro."

Now that he'd used it again, both of them were a little taken aback, and the conversation stalled for a moment.

After a while, Ming Chunxi wrote: [I'll send them later. There are two kinds: pork and salted egg yolk, and Yunnan ham and flower.]

Qing Mengzhu: [I'll send you some vegetables too. Will you be going back to Auntie's for a meal?]

Ming Chunxi: [Ms. Ming Lexin is on a business trip in Country F. She'll be back next week, so there's no need.]

Before Qing Mengzhu's mind had caught up, his hands had already typed and sent a message: [You're spending it alone? Why not come over?]

Ming Chunxi didn't reply immediately.

Qing Mengzhu looked at the message he'd sent, feeling somewhat regretful. He rested his thumb on it, hesitating over whether to recall it.

Before he could make up his mind, Ming Chunxi replied: [I've just arranged my work. I'll drive over later and bring the zongzi with me.]

For a moment, Qing Mengzhu didn't realize Ming Chunxi was working during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday too.

On second thought, he worked at a multinational company and was a boss, so he probably was busy.

But since he could arrange to come, did that mean there wasn't a problem?

In the end, Qing Mengzhu didn't stand on ceremony and simply replied: [What would you like to eat tonight? I'll prepare the food.]

Ming Chunxi: [Something simple is fine. I'm not very hungry. Thanks for the trouble.]

Qing Mengzhu: [Okay, I'll decide what to make.]

After a moment's thought, Qing Mengzhu added: [Let me know when you set off. I'll wait for you at home.]

Chapter 22

After chatting with Ming Chunxi, Qing Mengzhu went into the yard and chopped up the sweet potato leaves he had picked that morning. He mixed them with cracked grain and divided the mixture into two portions, taking one to the backyard to feed the grouse and the other to the pond to feed the ducks.