Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 326 - Chapter 326 Chapter 319 The Donkey Cart

Chapter 326: Chapter 319 The Donkey Cart Chapter 326: Chapter 319 The Donkey Cart On the second day of my visit to my hometown, Mr. Jiao was still resting in the morning. He hadn’t had much rest lately; at school, he had to pay attention to students and was busy with research projects. The drive back home was also tiring, but once he arrived, he relaxed completely and, for once, had a good night’s sleep.

Early in the morning, many people in the village were already up, with only some children and a few who had returned home from work outside still resting in their houses.

Although Zheng Tan was still a bit sleepy, Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan were up, saying they were going to help Old Sir Jiao in the orchard. Zheng Tan figured he had nothing else to do and might as well go along to see; Jiao Ma and the grandmother were busy preparing for the New Year’s goods inside, and Zheng Tan couldn’t be of much help there.

The orchard wasn’t owned by Old Sir Jiao, but he was well-acquainted with the people there and had helped them out a lot. That was one reason why the Jiao family never lacked fruit. Now, because of the snow disaster, Old Sir Jiao went there every day to help out, and Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi, having nothing better to do at home, had been going along to the orchard for a few days. Even if they couldn’t be of much help, it was still good to look around.

The orchard wasn’t too far from the old house, but because of the weather, the roads weren’t easy to traverse, and it was cold in the morning, so they had been taking a donkey cart there these past few days.

Another reason Zheng Tan followed them was the donkey cart; neither in his human years nor in his cat ones had he ever experienced a donkey cart ride. At first glance, it seemed quite fresh and was filled with a rustic charm.

The family that kept the donkey didn’t live far from the old house. After about a five-minute walk, a house with green tiles came into view, with newly built bungalows behind it. However, during construction, the tiled house wasn’t completely demolished, and part of it was preserved. This family also bore the surname Jiao. Mr. Jiao called the old man there “Fifth Cousin,” and by rights, Jiao Yuan should call him “Great-Uncle Fifth Cousin,” but it felt awkward to them, so Old Sir Jiao simply told the two kids to call him “Fifth Grandpa,” which sounded more endearing. It was said that on the day Jiao Yuan and the others returned, Old Sir Jiao even planned to send the donkey cart to help transport them from the county to their place if they couldn’t find a ride. “Fifth Grandpa” was too old to drive the family’s agricultural vehicle, but he was skilled with a donkey cart.

Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi were taken inside by Old Sir Jiao, but Zheng Tan didn’t follow them right in; he was more focused on the nearby donkey shed. He had heard from Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan the day before that the donkey was just over a year old, apparently found by “Fifth Grandpa” in the mountains. It was a small donkey back then and had followed him home without knowing where it came from.

Initially, “Fifth Grandpa’s” family considered raising the donkey until it was big enough to sell. There was a good demand for donkey meat in the county, and restaurants would pay a decent price for it, but one day, watching the young donkey gallop alongside his son on a motorbike, old man had a change of heart, and that’s how they ended up with a donkey cart.

At that moment, a donkey tied in the shed pricked up its long ears and gazed at Zheng Tan, circles of white around its eyes.

Zheng Tan was always on guard around creatures with colored circles around their eyes, knowing many donkeys looked this way, but this donkey in front of him kept reminding him of that damned bird from the courtyard.

Shaking his head, Zheng Tan thought he was probably overthinking it.

Just as he pondered, he saw the donkey amble over to the low wall beside the shed, where a cotton pad was placed on a section of the wall sticking out of the shed, probably for the driver to sit on. Not far from the low wall was a two-wheeled wooden cart, also with a similar pad on it.

However, at that moment, a yellow and white spotted cat lay sprawled on the cotton pad of the low wall. Villagers kept cats mainly to deter mice and didn’t fuss over them like city people, seldom giving them baths. That cat looked like it had rolled somewhere; the white parts of its fur were stained with gray marks and bits of grass. It seemed indifferent to the surroundings, kneading with its paws, hunkering down on the cotton pad and dozing off with closed eyes.

The donkey wasn’t very tall, noticeably smaller than a regular horse, but when it lifted its head, it could just poke half its head over the low wall.

Watching the donkey gradually approach, sniffing at the cat with its nose, the cat was too lazy to even open its eyes, only trembling its ears while maintaining its position.

Just when Zheng Tan thought the donkey would give up, it approached again and this time rather than blowing air, it bit the corner of the cotton pad and gave a gentle tug. The pad didn’t move, nor did the cat on it.

The donkey then pulled harder, and the cat, unprepared, rolled off the pad onto the other side of the wall. Zheng Tan heard a soft thud from that direction. There was a haystack there, which softened the cat’s landing, causing the sound.

The donkey let go of the cotton pad, flicked its tail, opened its mouth, and brayed “Aah-ong-ong-en-ong-en” in a melodious manner, looking quite smug and mischievous.

Zheng Tan: “…” My first instinct was right after all!

While the donkey was still feeling smug, a shadow zipped up from the other side of the low wall.

The spotted cat jumped on the wall, supporting itself on its hind legs, with its body standing upright, and with its front paws extended, it slapped the donkey’s face left and right like a boxer.

This cat and donkey squabble unfolded as Old Sir Jiao came out with some others, including an old man who must be the “Fifth Grandpa” that Jiao Yuan and the others had mentioned. This old man’s back was slightly hunched, but he looked spirited and walked steadily. He had also been helping out in the orchard these days.

Seeing the commotion at the low wall, the old man walked over and patted the donkey’s head before starting to organize things on the wooden cart. As for the dispute between the cat and the donkey, he was already accustomed to it; the pair were always causing a ruckus.

After securing the ropes and checking the bridle, he set the bag he was carrying onto the wooden cart and called to the others to get ready to leave.

The donkey cart rattled along the rugged mountain path, creaking and groaning with each bump.

The donkey didn’t look like much, but surprisingly, it was quite capable of pulling the cart, which didn’t seem too difficult even with four people, one cat, and several bags.

The two old men chatted all the way, discussing recent news from various TV and radio stations. The total loss from the disaster was heavy, especially for forestry farmers; in the affected areas, forestry income accounted for more than 50% of their total income. This snow disaster not only significantly reduced the income of forestry farmers for this year but also affected their income for the next three to five years. According to some official stations, in several southern agricultural and forestry provinces, the loss to forestry accounted for 40% to 60% of the total disaster losses.

The seedlings, bamboo forests, and newly planted woods were severely damaged. Just as Old Sir Jiao had been lamenting lately, the phenomenon of seedlings being frozen to death was widespread. The area of damaged bamboo forests in our province accounted for nearly 80% of the total bamboo forest area, and in some areas where farmland was returned to forest, 75% of the fruit trees were affected. Based on the results of the investigations, the affected areas are mostly those where forestry has been developing the fastest and is most vibrant, and also where the best forest resources are located, which will have a serious impact on the country’s ecology. There are many things that money can’t easily fix. Every time this topic came up, Old Sir Jiao’s face was full of worry.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the orchard that Old Sir Jiao had mentioned.

The types of trees planted in the orchard were not single; citrus was just one of them, and there were quite a few new varieties promoted for planting. However, Zheng Tan saw that most people working in the orchard looked worried.

Some varieties had autumn shoots with browned and curled edges and backs due to frost damage; the fresh shoot tips had turned brown and withered, and others would drop leaves after curling due to frost. Some fruits left on the trees over winter had frozen over a period, which after the thaw, would quickly dehydrate and shrivel up, their juice sacs contracting, resulting in little juice and bland taste. All these conditions were being recorded by someone.

Timely removal of ice and proper tying and pruning of broken branches was essential. Some pruning could not be done now, to prevent a second frostbite. Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi followed Old Sir Jiao and his group. Although they didn’t have many chances to help hands-on, they weren’t idle either. Sometimes they volunteered to pass tools or do small cleaning tasks. Moving about also warmed them up, and their visit here was quite educational. The orchard would be even busier once the freezing conditions were over.

After the frost, there would be pruning and fertilizing tasks, and during the severe freeze years, replacing the frost-damaged autumn shoots with spring shoots was one of the effective measures to ensure citrus fruiting. Spring shoots are new shoots that emerge in the spring, while those that come out from August to October are called autumn shoots. Different varieties have different methods of treatment, and frost-resistant and frost-susceptible types would use different methods.

Zheng Tan initially thought pruning was a simple task, but after listening to the people there, he realized there were many intricacies involved. Some pruning had to be done below the branching node, and for trees with bark splits due to freezing, it had to be cut a certain number of centimeters below the split. The cut needed to be treated, sometimes with nylon wrapping or using lime paste to coat the wound. For young trees with severe frost splits, if the splits occurred above the graft union, the tree should be cut above one or two buds while also leaving spring shoots to retrain the tree crown, among other things. All this made Zheng Tan’s head spin.

Realizing this wasn’t his forte, Zheng Tan decided to wander around instead. Considering that Little Youzi and the others would be staying here for a while, possibly half a day or even not returning until after dinner, Zheng Tan just needed to make sure to return before lunchtime.

There were quite a few people in the orchard, so Zheng Tan decided to walk further away. Those busy in the orchard looked at Zheng Tan as if he were a rare sight, all because he was wearing a vest.

After arriving at the old house yesterday, Zheng Tan had transferred some items from his vest. Now, other than a bag of pork jerky Jiao Ma had stuffed into it, there was nothing else in the vest, which made it more comfortable and less subject to inspection. Although Zheng Tan had not liked wearing the vest often before, yesterday afternoon, a spike of ice fell straight onto his back while he was outside. Thankfully, the ice spike wasn’t thick, and he was wearing the vest, so he only felt a slight pain and was not hurt. Therefore, Zheng Tan decided it would be safer to wear the vest when going out for a walk.

After jogging for a while and seeing no one else around, Zheng Tan leisurely strolled until he reached the edge of the orchard, where it was fenced in with a wire net that had a locked gate.

Zheng Tan looked at the tall wire net, turned, and intended to head somewhere else. Suddenly, he paused and pricked up his ears.

He heard a faint sound, and not being sure, he listened carefully again.

It seemed to come from a person, but it wasn’t clear.

Should he go check it out?

After hesitating for a moment, Zheng Tan decided to climb over the wire net and headed towards the direction of the sound.

There was an open space beyond the wire net, followed by a strip of woodland from where the sound emanated.

No one had cleared the snow here, so it wasn’t completely melted on the ground.

Listening to the sound, the person making noise seemed to be in a bad situation, so Zheng Tan quietly ran towards the source.

Hiding behind a tree, Zheng Tan looked over. There were two people tied to the trees. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (NovelFire.net), and cast your monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)