A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 24 The Wild Boar Girl Arrives

They returned to Happy House with "King Kong," who was whimpering all the way. Today was probably its happiest day, having spent the entire day in the pigsty. It got all smelly, and Zhang Niu had to put in a lot of effort to wash it clean. In the middle of the night, the howling of wild wolves echoed loudly from the dark house.

Zhang Niu was dreaming of playing mahjong with the Duke of Zhou (a figure in Chinese mythology associated with dreams). Suddenly, he was awakened by the howling of wolves, his face flushed with anger. "King Kong" was also up early. Judging from the howling, it seemed to be coming from the nearby wasteland. With "King Kong" beside him, Zhang Niu decided to go out and see what was going on.

I put on my coat. I took out the small flashlight that I had hidden under the pillow for "Little One". I called out to "King Kong" and followed, pulling out "Little One" who was still fast asleep. "Little One" was still waving its little paws while it was fast asleep.

Seeing the noisy "little one," he casually tossed a chestnut to him. This was something Zhang Niu had noticed over a long period. It was true that if you didn't discipline him for three days, he'd be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles; it seemed he himself had done the same thing when he was a child. The result was a backside covered in his father's handprints.

A cool breeze blew in as soon as I stepped outside. I picked up the iron water pipe leaning against the outside and followed the sound. But strangely, the continuous howling of wolves suddenly stopped.

Still puzzled, Zhang Niu didn't notice that "King Kong" beside him ran towards one of the fruit seedlings, grunting continuously. It sniffed the seedling once and then ran off. They say pigs have a better sense of smell than dogs, and it seems that's really true.

By the time Zhang Niu realized what was happening, "King Kong" had already dashed into the darkness. He shone his flashlight ahead, but the dim light made it difficult to see anything. "Forget it, I'd better go back to sleep. I wonder if King Kong's wild boar girlfriend has come looking for him." Meanwhile, "Little One" on his shoulder squeaked and chirped, urging him to go back.

"Little Dot" is squawking loudly. Actually, it just wants to go back to sleep; this guy is a stoic at night. He goes to bed on time every night and disappears during the day, either looking for "Thug" or "King Kong." Recently, after we got a new batch of ducks, it's been running around the duck shed in broad daylight, acting like the boss. You can always see Little Dot followed by a small line of ducklings, constantly giving orders with its little paws.

The little one happily crawled back into his little bed, hugged his head, and fell fast asleep. He even pulled the corner of the blanket up.

Just as dawn broke, several groans came from the doorway. Zhang Niu, lying in bed, felt as if someone had forced the door open. "King Kong" hadn't returned last night, so the front door hadn't been closed. Opening his eyes, Zhang Niu was startled by what he saw. The room, which had been relatively spacious, was now suddenly filled with several dark figures darting around.

Zhang Niu rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things. Before him appeared a black wild boar, a size smaller than "King Kong," circling around it. Around the house were several gray-black piglets, nudging and rooting at whatever interested them. He'd woken up to find several piglets in the house; the smaller one was definitely the mother. Judging by their affectionate manner, Zhang Niu felt a headache coming on. He'd only talked about it last night, and today she'd brought home a whole family.

The little one, still fast asleep, seemed to sense something unusual. When it saw it was a wild boar, it excitedly waved its little paws at the mother boar. Zhang Niu was a little confused. Did the little one know this mother boar? He thought for a moment, "Could it be that we met when I brought 'King Kong' back last time?"

The mother wild boar wasn't shy at all when she saw "Little One" and ran right up to Zhang Niu's bed, grunting a few times as a greeting!

"King Kong" ran to the bedside. After grunting a few times, the little wild boar cubs who had been playing around immediately surrounded "King Kong." It seemed that "King Kong" was quite majestic. Zhang Niu counted six little wild boar cubs in total.

The wild boar piglets were all lying on the ground, their big eyes darting around; it was clear they weren't the restless type. After greeting the mother boar, "Little One" jumped off the bed and ran to the piglets. The piglets, who had been noisy just moments before, wagged their short tails and became incredibly docile upon seeing the bright red little one approaching.

"Little One" seems to be having a lot of fun being the leader lately! He squealed loudly at the six little wild boars, then ran outside. The other piglets, after checking on King Kong and their mother, quickly followed. It seems Little One's authority is quite considerable.

No wonder "King Kong" disappeared in the blink of an eye yesterday. He probably went looking for this family. Thinking about the domestic piglets down the mountain and then looking at this wild boar, it feels like their fighting power is on completely different levels. Now the original mate has even brought her piglets out.

It seems the sow has found "King Kong," who hasn't been home in a while. Looks like we'll have to build a small shed for the wild boars. Zhang Niu kicked King Kong a few times. He chuckled to himself, "King Kong, even your original mate has come. What are you going to do with the domestic pigs in your village? How about we sell them for you? Solve the problem, save your wild boar mates from getting jealous." He glanced at the sow.

"King Kong," still beaming with delight, bared his sharp fangs at Zhang Niu a few times after hearing this. The message was clear: if you sell Pig Girl, watch out, my fangs will poke holes in you and teach you a lesson.

Zhang Niu had occasionally wondered before if "King Kong" might have some sows following him on the mountain. After all, King Kong was considered quite fierce among wild boars, and now he was approaching 300 jin (150 kg). But what was with the howling of the wild wolf last night?

The answer to this question was given as soon as they stepped outside. Outside, "Little One" was leading the wild boar cubs toward the duck shed, and upon closer inspection, three white-furred wolf cubs were following behind the wild boar cubs.

Seeing this, Zhang Niu knew the wolf cubs were probably brought by the mother wild boar. The wolf cubs and the boar cubs seemed to be getting along peacefully, reminding him of something else. A tigress at a zoo gave birth to cubs, but because it was her first time raising them and she didn't know how, she simply abandoned them. The newborn cubs quickly became emaciated and refused to drink any milk. Someone suggested finding a sow that had just given birth to piglets. The sow took the cubs to her and the cubs immediately latched onto her sow and started nursing. The sow treated them like her own babies. As the cubs grew, they became very close to their pig brothers.

Could it be that those three wolf cubs are like that too? Zhang Niu couldn't help but smile wryly at this unexpected opportunity. He worried that the wolf cubs following "Little One" might eat the ducklings in the shed; that would be a disaster.

First update! We're having a "welcoming the case" event today, and I need to help out. If I get back early tonight, I'll quickly write the second chapter. If I'm late, it'll only be one chapter today, so I'm really sorry. Please recommend and favorite!