Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 408 - Chapter 408 Chapter 392 Man and Monkey

Chapter 408: Chapter 392: Man and Monkey Chapter 408: Chapter 392: Man and Monkey There was once a report on genetic research that stated humans share a very high similarity with chimpanzees, only differing by about 1-2%. However, it’s this 2% difference in genes that leads to significant disparities in intelligence, behavior, and psychology between chimps and humans, embodying the saying, “A miss is as good as a mile.”

But this does not mean chimpanzees and monkeys are stupid. Compared to many other animals, they are quite clever.

Those monkeys watched Zheng Tan twist the bottle cap open, tighten it, open it again, and tighten it repeatedly. After a few times, they probably got an itch to try themselves. Zheng Tan, thinking they had seen enough demonstration, put the bottle back on the ground and took a few steps back.

The little monkey that was cradled by the mother monkey couldn’t wait to break free as soon as it saw Zheng Tan’s action and went to grab the empty mineral water bottle. This time the mother monkey didn’t drag it back by the tail. A few of the larger monkeys huddled closer, watching the little monkey’s moves.

Zheng Tan hadn’t tightened the bottle cap much, so after the little monkey mimicked Zheng Tan’s movements twice, it managed to unscrew the cap. Seeing its own success, the little monkey danced excitedly, chirping and squealing as if showing off.

One of the larger monkeys took the bottle, placed the cap on the opening, and nudged it–it fell off. It tried to put it back on and it fell again. Another large monkey, unable to watch any longer, snatched the bottle and carefully placed the cap on top, twisting it with its fingers. That wasn’t right. It twisted it again, still not right, looked at the bottle for a moment, and then twisted it from another direction. This time, it was correct.

After vigorously shaking the plastic bottle a couple of times without the cap falling off, the large monkey happily “woo-wooed” in delight.

Zheng Tan just watched as the monkeys crowded around to snatch the bottle and play. The little monkey couldn’t compete this time and, after looking around, scampered off. By the time the mother monkey looked back, the little one was already far away, beyond recall.

Now, Zheng Tan finally understood why this little monkey was previously alone. Among human children, this would be the kind that never listens to advice.

It wasn’t long before the little monkey found a slightly smaller beverage bottle. The cap wasn’t on tight, and after some fumbling, the monkey managed to twist it open and then struggled to screw it back on.

Watching these monkeys play with the bottle cap, Zheng Tan sighed in his heart–a mineral water bottle could also serve as a toy and bring so much joy.

Just then, Zheng Tan’s ears perked up; he heard people’s voices. Er Mao and the others were coming over.

Suddenly, the monkeys also noticed those approaching and became a bit wary. The little monkey was called back by its mother. When it climbed onto the mother, it didn’t let go of the little beverage bottle in its hand.

When Er Mao and the others got to the steep slope, Zheng Tan had already climbed up to wait.

“Black Coal, what are you doing here?” Er Mao asked. Actually, Er Mao also had his doubts, thinking back to the orchid seedlings that the cat had led them to four years ago.

Taking a step forward, Er Mao glanced down the steep slope.

“Hey, Senior Brother Pei, has there been a fire here?” Er Mao asked, pointing down.

Pei Liang said helplessly, “Yes, the truth is, not many people come to this spot. And because of that, some of the mountain patrollers didn’t pay attention to this area. Plus, some people were neglecting their duties, overlooking this part. There used to be a lot of trash accumulated down there. During the May Day holiday, someone carelessly threw something down there and started a fire. It burned almost all the plants at the bottom of the slope, and the surrounding rocks are still black.”

Despite the signs posted in many tourist spots, some people still show no regard, throwing things wherever they want, spitting freely, and even carelessly tossing dangerous items maybe just for fun.

What would the person who threw the fire source think if they knew how much their act cost?

“After that incident, they put out a few more trash cans around here,” Pei Liang said, pointing to something that looked like a wooden stake.

To blend with the environment near the tourist spot, the trash cans were made to look more natural.

Zheng Tan looked at the trash can. There was one here, and there should be quite a few others placed around the area. But even with the trash cans, Zheng Tan still spotted plastic bottles thrown on the ground below. Although it was not as bad as it was four years ago, with trash everywhere, the problem still persisted.

“The littering hasn’t gone away, huh?” Er Mao commented, noticing some inconspicuous wrappers below the steep slope.

“We’ll never completely avoid it, but the monkeys also have a ‘hand’ in it,” Pei Liang explained.

“What ‘hand’?”

“The monkeys on the mountain are very vigilant and keep their distance from strangers, so they rarely come down to the village to interact with people. But at the same time, they’re very curious. I’ve seen them rummaging through trash cans several times when I went up the mountain. Cleaners can’t always keep an eye on all the trash cans. With such a vast area and hundreds of bins, it’s impossible to clean them up all at once. Even with a lot of cleaners, they can’t be monitored all the time.”

“Heh, so those monkeys have this habit? Er Yuan, my good girl, let’s not learn from those bad monkeys,” Er Mao said to Er Yuan.

With the children, it wasn’t good to stay on the mountain for too long, as they didn’t have as much energy, so they only stayed for half a day before descending to the village in the afternoon.

The next day, Er Mao and Wei Leng did not go up the mountain but took their children to stroll around the stalls instead. Zheng Tan followed Pei Liang up the mountain as Pei Liang had to visit the guesthouse on the mountain, and Zheng Tan headed to the steep slope.

When Zheng Tan arrived, he happened to see the little monkey with a water-filled bottle coming to the spot with the long-leafed sprouts, imitating Zheng Tan from the day before, pouring water over them. The technique was a bit clumsy, and twisting the bottle cap was still not smooth, but it was much better than yesterday when it knew nothing.

Zheng Tan had been worried that the orchids there might die from drought, but now he was concerned about overwatering. Teaching the monkey moderation in watering was not something that could be done momentarily, so Zheng Tan could only think positively. After all, the spot would not wither from lack of water, would it? The weather had indeed been quite dry recently in this area.

The little monkey also noticed Zheng Tan. Maybe because it was so young and did not share the great caution of the mountain’s larger monkeys, and also because of yesterday’s interactions, its wariness of Zheng Tan had decreased a lot, and it was not as timid.

Climbing up the slope, the little monkey showed Zheng Tan the now empty beverage bottle in its hand.

Was it seeking praise?

Whether it was appropriate or not, Zheng Tan approached and, seeing that the little monkey did not shy away, raised a hand and lightly patted the monkey on its head.

Good kid.

However, it’s not good for it to always sneak out alone, especially since it’s still a minor among monkeys. Could monkeys have a rebellious phase too?

After quenching its thirst, the little monkey had nothing to do. Still clutching the small beverage bottle, Zheng Tan found it difficult to watch it struggle to walk and climb trees, so he tore off some vines, tied the bottle up, and looped it around the monkey’s neck.

The little monkey was very curious about this, taking the loop off and putting it back on, shaking it a few times while chirping happily to express its joy and satisfaction.

Zheng Tan planned to wander around the mountains. Having stayed in the city for so long, he instantly felt relaxed in Nature, even though the greenery at Chuhua University was quite nice. After all, it’s located in a plain area, still within the urban circle, which is different from the natural environment of a forested area.

He walked leisurely while pondering over things, and of course, he allocated some attention to his surroundings. Being careless in the mountains can lead to trouble.

Sensing something unusual behind him, Zheng Tan turned around to look.

The little monkey with the plastic bottle around its neck was following him, and that was fine, but there were also other monkeys, including the two larger ones from yesterday, as well as some Zheng Tan hadn’t seen before.

They didn’t seem to have any intention of declaring war, just following along, probably joining the crowd out of curiosity, seeing a companion following and joining in themselves.

Zheng Tan walked for a while, and seeing that the monkeys were still following, he initially planned to run quickly to shake them off. But after spotting a trash can, Zheng Tan changed his mind.

A monkey was rummaging through the trash can, not necessarily looking for food. Pei Liang had said that whether the monkeys liked going down the mountain or stayed up in the mountains, they were never short of food because the people here treated them well. Therefore, Zheng Tan was more inclined to believe that the monkey rummaging through the trash can was just doing it for fun. As it rummaged, some food containers and wrappers were tossed out of the trash can.

Zheng Tan stood up, walked over, picked up a wrapper, and threw it back into the trash can. Then he squatted nearby to watch the monkeys.

At first, the nearby monkeys didn’t respond. After about half a minute, the little one with the drink bottle walked over, picked up a piece of paper that had fallen next to the trash can, threw it in, and then looked at Zheng Tan tentatively.

After some thought, Zheng Tan went over and gently patted the little monkey on the head.

The little monkey was so delighted that it chirped and hooted for a while, then threw another piece of paper into the trash can and continued to look at Zheng Tan.

This time Zheng Tan was too lazy to move.

But seeing that Zheng Tan wasn’t moving, the little monkey moved a step towards him, then another, and another, until it was right beside him.

Looking at the monkey next to him, staring at him with big eyes, Zheng Tan’s whiskers twitched, and he raised his hand to pat its head once again.

Seeing the monkey excitedly going off to pick up trash again, Zheng Tan figured he should probably slip away quickly.

A larger monkey that had been itching itself while standing in a tree, seeing the little one’s actions and probably thinking it looked fun, also climbed down and started picking things up and throwing them in the trash.

When one started, a second and third followed, and the monkeys that had been originally there for the spectacle joined in the imitation.

When the little monkey looked back, it found that Zheng Tan had vanished without a trace.

And no one would have expected the events that transpired among these monkeys to subtly transform the behavior of a large number of monkeys on the mountain. As a result, when tourists later came to the area and carelessly dropped trash or failed to toss it into the trash can properly, there would always be monkeys that picked up the fallen items and put them into the trash can.

Because of this, local and provincial television stations came to cover the story, using it as an example to educate others. Throwing trash into the trash can is so simple even monkeys know how to do it, don’t you understand?

However, when outsiders praised the high average quality of the monkeys here, most villagers would smile without saying anything, thinking to themselves: That’s because you haven’t seen the previous behavior of these monkeys, which was simply a bad example.

Of course, these are stories for another time and shall not be mentioned for now.

Zheng Tan had no idea that his spontaneous actions, meant just for fun, would trigger this series of changes. He checked the time, went down the mountain on schedule, and returned to Pei Liang’s house. If he was late, Er Mao would complain to Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma.

At night, the two children were taken to sleep by their respective mothers, leaving Wei Leng, Wei Mao, and Pei Liang, the three brothers, drinking together.

People, mostly when they are happy or sad, tend to drink excessively and get drunk.

Pei Liang was no exception. After drinking too much, he and Qi teamed up to perform a weird Monkey Fist routine. Then, each wielding a “Jingu Bang,” they played Sun Wukong, even arguing over who imitated him better.

Yes, Pei Liang and Qi, a man and a monkey, with different languages, argued heatedly.

Er Mao rolled on the floor laughing at the sight of the red-faced duo, while Wei Leng, slightly more sober, took several photos.

Pei Liang’s elder son couldn’t stand it and closed the door, to prevent outsiders from seeing his father making a fool of himself.

Zheng Tan, observing from the side, remembered a joke from the past: It takes thousands of years for a monkey to evolve into a human, but only a bottle of alcohol for a human to revert to being a monkey. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (NovelFire.net) to vote with your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.NovelFire.net.)