Free Web NovelChapter 134: Chapter 132: The Monkey Troop in Dire Straits
It was a wonderful thing that the radish seedlings had survived.
Jiang Linhai also sighed. "It would be great if we could find a plant that produces cotton."
Then their lives would be even more stable.
It wasn’t that they were short on clothes. They were mainly concerned for Jiang Si and Qin Shen’s future children, and for the generations to come. What if there wasn’t enough, or if something unexpected happened to their supplies?
Lu Zhifeng suddenly joked, "With the effort it would take to find cotton, we might as well just shear the monkeys."
Suddenly, Jiang Si froze. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
’That’s... actually not a bad idea.’
’The fur on the Snow Monkeys looks incredibly soft and nice to touch.’
Jiang Si smiled. "If we don’t find any cotton one day, we’ll just go shear the monkeys."
Zhang Qingfang said, "That’s the only coat they have. In this frozen world, if we shear them, what will they wear? We should just forget it."
Jiang Chengwu chuckled. "Sisi is just joking with you."
Jiang Si shook her head. "Actually, monkeys can be domesticated. We have the greenhouse. We could shear their fur, and they could stay in the greenhouse. It would grow back next year. Isn’t that the same principle as raising sheep?"
’In my past life, it didn’t matter what kind of animal it was or how rare. As long as it was alive, humans could find a use for it.’
’As for Snow Monkeys... besides their meat, their fur really is quite good.’ freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
’If we could raise a few in captivity, it might actually work out. They’re intelligent. Maybe they could even help pick vegetables or do other chores.’
Thinking about the troop of Snow Monkeys, Jiang Si’s mind briefly drifted to a life of having servants.
But she quickly shook her head, dismissing the absurd idea.
’Since Snow Monkeys are smarter than moose, they would never be so obedient.’
’Putting all that effort into domestication would be better spent doing research in the greenhouse. We could see if we can grow cotton or hemp, and revive the ancient textile industry.’
But when Jiang Linhai heard Jiang Si’s words, he had a sudden epiphany. "So, should we go catch a few Snow Monkeys?"
With traps and guns, it would surely be easy for them to catch Snow Monkeys.
Jiang Si shook her head. "I was just kidding. Monkeys hold grudges. It would be endless trouble later. Better not. We have things to eat, so let’s not catch them."
’Monkeys are primates, relatives of a sort. It hasn’t been easy for any of us to survive this long.’
Jiang Linhai nodded. "Alright, we won’t catch them then." He turned to look at the nearly finished greenhouse. "We can get the roof on today. Once it’s completely done, we can start working on the house."
Zhang Qingfang said happily, "That’s great. We’ll be able to grow more and more grains and vegetables."
Everyone worked hard for another three days straight.
The greenhouse was finally finished. While not massive, it still covered a good-sized plot of land. Used efficiently, it could grow a considerable amount of vegetables and grains.
After celebrating that evening, Jiang Chengwu and Zhang Qingfang went to sleep in the ice house as usual.
But soon, they were woken by the roaring of Big Black and Little Black.
At the same time, Jiang Si, who was still in bed, was woken up by Qin Shen. "Sisi, the monkeys are here."
Jiang Si was instantly wide awake. "They’re here?"
’It’s been so many days. Why would they suddenly get the nerve to come tonight?’
Jiang Si and Qin Shen scrambled out of bed and got dressed.
Hearing the roaring of Big Black and Little Black, everyone else also got dressed, quickly grabbed their guns, and ran toward Jiang Chengwu and Zhang Qingfang.
After charging out of the ice house, Big Black and Little Black had cornered two Snow Monkeys inside the greenhouse.
Big Black had bitten them, and they had scrambled in fear to the top of the greenhouse, not daring to come down.
Meanwhile, the other Snow Monkeys had pulled up the radish seedlings from the ground and quickly fled.
When Jiang Si and the others arrived, Jiang Chengwu and Zhang Qingfang were trying to figure out what to do with the two Snow Monkeys.
Because this troop of monkeys had gone too far.
The moment they arrived, they had pulled up every single radish seedling in the ground.
Leaving two old Snow Monkeys behind felt like they were being intentionally left as bait.
Zhang Qingfang looked at Jiang Si. "Sisi, what should we do with these two monkeys?"
Letting them go just like that didn’t feel right.
But they couldn’t just beat them and expect them to bring the radish seedlings back.
Jiang Si said, "The monkey troop suddenly mobilizing to pull up all our radish seedlings probably means they were forced to do it because their own food supply has run out."
"Let’s go check on the situation. If that’s really the case, we can reconsider how to deal with them."
"Otherwise, the only way to completely stop them from coming to steal our food is to kill the entire troop."
"Okay. If you’re going now, be careful."
Jiang Si nodded. Qin Shen lifted her onto his back and headed toward the hot spring.
The sky hadn’t brightened yet. She couldn’t see, but it didn’t affect Qin Shen’s vision.
A short while later, after they had reached an ancient tree by the hot spring, Qin Shen said to her, "The monkey troop is chewing on our radish seedlings."
Jiang Si asked, "Are all those big radishes from before gone?"
Qin Shen nodded. "Gone."
’Even if the radishes are gone, there should still be fish in the water.’
’Last time I looked, there were quite a lot of them.’
’Could it be that because the radishes are gone, they’ve been fishing more, and now there aren’t enough fish in the hot spring pool to eat?’
Qin Shen seemed to know what she was guessing. After spotting the Monkey King, he said, "It’s also chewing on the radish seedlings. It looks like they really have nothing left to eat."
The troop of Snow Monkeys had once again reached a dead end, a matter of life and death.
If this had been her past life, Jiang Si would have definitely seen them as a feast delivered to her doorstep.
But in this life, many things had changed.
She suddenly felt they were a bit pitiful, just like herself in her past life, struggling on the verge of death.
Noticing a trace of loneliness in Jiang Si’s silence, Qin Shen comforted her, "We could raise them."
Jiang Si looked up, a little lost in thought. "Raise them?"
’A whole troop of monkeys this big? There’s no need at all.’
But for a moment, she was actually tempted.
’Actually, if we just chisel a hole in the sea ice, set a net for fish, and grow some more radishes, these monkeys could survive.’
’But I don’t do business at a loss.’
’These monkeys wouldn’t be grateful at all. That won’t do.’
Jiang Si said, "Let’s go back first and check on those two monkeys."
"Okay."
When the two of them returned, the two elderly Snow Monkeys could barely hold on any longer and were about to fall.
But with Big Black and Little Black there, they didn’t dare let go for even a second.
Fresh blood from their legs was still dripping down. DRIP. DRIP.
Jiang Si had her mom lead Big Black and Little Black out first. Then, she brought over some seafood, vegetables, and dry rations, placed them on the ground, and waited patiently for the monkeys to come down.
Finally, unable to hold on, they fell. But they still didn’t dare touch the food on the ground.
When they finally couldn’t resist any longer, they mustered their courage, picked up a familiar-looking radish, glanced at the humans, and took a quick bite.
Once they had eaten their fill and regained a little strength, they tried to scramble back up to the greenhouse roof.
Jiang Si shot out a net, catching them, and prepared to apply medicine to their wounds.
The Snow Monkeys struggled for their lives, baring their teeth and looking fierce.
Shen Baoying said worriedly, "We should anesthetize them."
But unexpectedly, as soon as Qin Shen approached and slightly raised his eyes, the Snow Monkeys suddenly went quiet, trembling in fear.
