Chapter 56 (continued)

Upon learning this, Zhao Hexi exclaimed to Qing Mengzhu in astonishment, "I never imagined that God Ming would be so love-obsessed. If he doesn't have a boyfriend, who does?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No, right?"

Zhao Hexi said on the other end of the phone, "Hmm? You're right."

Qing Mengzhu, holding her phone between her fingers, chuckled and admitted, "Okay, we're both a bit love-struck, no sarcasm allowed. Are you free this week? Want to come over for dinner?"

Zhao Hexi: "Won't this disturb your time together?"

Qing Mengzhu: "You can fish outside for thirteen hours a day, how can I disturb you?"

Zhao Hexi chuckled twice, "Then I'll come over this weekend and bring my new fish bait, which costs eighty yuan a bucket."

Since being with Ming Chunxi, Qing Mengzhu felt that everything was going smoothly, even the bamboo planted in the flowerpot had sprouted new branches.

Although the newly grown branches are thin and weak, not even as thick as a toothpick, it is still a good start.

After keeping this piece of bamboo in the large flowerpot for a few more days, he will transplant it, pot and all, to the mountain.

The bamboo's growth has entered a new stage, and that evening, Qing Mengzhu specially prepared new fertilizer for the bamboo.

He has now reached a basic level in bamboo cultivation and can easily formulate several fertilizers suitable for the current condition of the bamboo.

The fertilizer I mixed this evening was a mixture of fermented fertilizer and humus; the proportions need to be carefully considered.

While Qing Mengzhu was busy, she suddenly heard the shouts of the Dharma Protector and Guard coming from the backyard.

The "woof woof" sound was extremely loud and piercing, completely unlike their usual playful barking.

Qing Mengzhu felt a little puzzled, so she put down the small shovel in her hand, washed her hands, and went to the backyard to take a look.

The Dharma Protector and Guard were howling around the otter's burrow, and an otter poked its head out of the burrow, growling threateningly at them.

The Dharma Protector seemed to want to rush up and bite the otter, but the otter dodged him each time.

The otter also tried to scratch the Dharma Protector's eyes and bite its nose, and whenever this happened, the Guard would come to its aid.

The otter, wary of its Guard, missed its first attack and retreated back into its burrow, continuing its standoff with the two dogs.

After watching for a few minutes, Qing Mengzhu went up to mediate Guard Dharma Protector, what are you doing?"

When the otter saw him approaching, it darted back into its burrow and refused to show itself again.

Qing Mengzhu felt something strange, but she didn't know where it came from.

He called to the two dogs, "Don't bully the otter!"

The two dogs were indignant, especially the Dharma Protector, who puffed out its chest, lowered its tail, and barked at Qing Mengzhu: "Woof woof woof!"

The villagers heard what was happening and even went around to check. "What's wrong here? Are you alright?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It's nothing, just the dog and the otter cat arguing."

The man glanced at the Guard and Dharma Protector: "Wow, your dog is pretty fierce, still not convinced?"

Qing Mengzhu squatted down and rubbed the necks of the two dogs. "They usually get along well, I don't know what's wrong today?"

The man chuckled, "They probably had a fight. Animals fight all the time. It's good that they're alright. I just heard a lot of noise over here and was worried the dogs might bite someone, so I came to check."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's nothing, they just had a little argument. I'll take them back and discipline them."

Qing Mengzhu rarely saw the Dharma Protector Guard like this, and after looking closely, she couldn't find the reason.

Unfortunately, the two dogs couldn't speak, and even if they were very smart, they couldn't possibly explain the whole story to Qing Mengzhu directly.

Qing Mengzhu was still criticizing them, but seeing them whimpering and looking so aggrieved, even their eyelids drooping, she couldn't bear it anymore and had to say a few more words before hastily ending the conversation.

Qing Mengzhu continued to prepare fertilizer for the bamboo. After finishing, seeing that it was still early, she planned to take a walk around the field.

The dog and the otter had a fight today, so when he was patrolling, he focused on checking the pond.

Then he found otter footprints on the pond's embankment; they were messy and overlapping.

Not only footprints, but he also found leftover shrimp heads and tails.

Qing Mengzhu felt something was strange. Otters are usually quite well-behaved and don't catch shrimp much. Even when they do, they only catch one or two, savoring them carefully, and don't throw the shrimp heads and tails everywhere.

I don't know what's wrong with them today? Maybe it's because the otters are in breeding season and are more restless, so their behavior is different from before?

That doesn't seem quite right either. The otters were perfectly fine when he checked them yesterday. Plus, otters reproduce all year round, so it's unlikely they suddenly entered their mating season.

Seeing this scene, Qing Mengzhu seemed to be able to guess why the two dogs and the otter were arguing.

If an otter catches a shrimp, the two dogs will definitely start arguing.

Qing Mengzhu had a bit of a headache. She swept the shrimp heads and tails aside, then took off the small boat next to her and rowed to the center of the pond.

He needs to check on the current condition of the shrimp; he's worked so hard to raise these shrimp, he doesn't want them to be ruined by otters.

Fortunately, while he was inspecting the pond, he found that there were still many plump shrimp swimming around. Although they were not very big, their translucent bodies were round and looked very tempting.

He reached down to try and scoop up the shrimp, but they bounced slightly and darted away quickly; without a fishing net, he couldn't catch them at all.

Seeing this, he felt a little relieved; if he couldn't catch them, he figured the little animals probably couldn't either.

Qing Mengzhu was struggling with the shrimp in the pond when Tan Wenlei came over and also noticed the otter footprints left on the pond embankment. "There are so many Dajiao. You need to think of a way to deal with the otters, otherwise it won't be right for them to keep stealing shrimp."

Qing Mengzhu defended the otter, saying, "It never stole shrimp before, and it even watched over the pond for me. I don't know what happened to it today?"

Tan Wenlei: "Maybe the shrimp have grown bigger. The shrimp used to be so small, there wasn't much to eat."

Qing Mengzhu looked at the pond. "Really? Let me think of something. What would a normal person do in this situation?"

Tan Wenlei: "Just keep watch. Like farmers used to grow watermelons, even after the watermelons were ripe, they would still keep watch to protect against badgers and wild boars—you learned that text in class, right?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded.

Tan Wenlei: "You should guard it or hire someone to guard it, otherwise they'll come back to cause trouble."

Qing Mengzhu had a bit of a headache and decided to have a good talk with the otter. This guy had eaten so much of his jerky; how could he possibly harm the shrimp?

After finishing her inspection, Qing Mengzhu went straight to the outside of the otter's burrow, intending to have a good chat with the otter.

Perhaps feeling guilty, the otter remained hidden inside its burrow.

He could hear the breathing inside. He called to the otter, but it didn't come out. He knocked on the outside of the burrow, and the otter burrowed even deeper inside.

This guy is really something else!

The otter's actions further convinced Qing Mengzhu that otters were communicative. He knocked again and jokingly said, "I know you're home, so don't stay indoors."

Just then, he heard a "whimpering" sound.

He turned his head in the direction the sound came from and saw an otter emerge from the red fox's den.

Meeting his gaze, the otter cried even louder, its voice almost turning from "whimpering" to "chirping," fierce and angry, looking extremely irritated.

Qing Mengzhu's hand, which was tapping on the cave, suddenly froze. She felt that being caught by Ming Chunxi wasn't so embarrassing.

It's obvious that the otter that emerged from the red fox's den is their friend, so who exactly is the creature currently inside the otter den?

After the otter emerged, the red fox also emerged, and even twitched its thick ears in front of Qing Mengzhu.

Qing Mengzhu suspected that this guy was watching the show with amusement.

The otter was furious and completely ignored the red fox, rushing angrily towards Qing Mengzhu.

Qing Mengzhu guiltily dodged to the side.

Instead of pouncing on and scratching Qing Mengzhu, it lowered its head, stuck out its rear end, and burrowed into the cave.

Then, Qing Mengzhu heard a "howling" sound coming from inside, a guttural sound squeezed out from the throat, which was very fierce and frightening.