I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

"Yeah, the guys who went early said there wasn’t much left."

Zhao Ergou’s reply confirmed Zhao Wendong’s suspicion, and Zhao Wenwu finally relaxed. His reasoning was simple: if other people got something, they had to get it too. Otherwise, they were losing out.

"Wendong, are we going to look for that tree you mentioned today?"

Zhao Wenjun asked Zhao Wendong. Wendong had already told them what Guan Yongguang said, and everyone was fired up about it. They all knew how valuable Forest Frogs were, so the chance to get more was definitely a good thing. Hearing the question, Zhao Wendong looked at everyone’s condition. He included—they’d been up all night and were still incredibly tired. None of them looked very energetic.

"No. Today, we’ll just head over to the waterfall pool, cast our nets a couple of times, and that’s it. We’ll get a good night’s rest tonight and look for the big tree tomorrow."

Everyone nodded. When Zhao Wendong was around, they were used to just following his decisions. They weren’t even halfway there when Xiaojin couldn’t take it anymore. It kept beating against its cage, clearly sick of being cooped up. After Zhao Wendong let it out, Xiaojin let out a few excited cries and shot straight into the sky.

Zhao Wenwu watched with envy as Xiaojin gradually became a tiny black dot and finally disappeared from sight, his eyes filled with longing.

"Wendong, I want to fly in the sky, too."

"Sure, no problem. I’ll take you on a plane someday."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Okay."

Zhao Wenwu was instantly overjoyed and committed this to memory. Wendong always kept his promises and would never lie to him.

Dahuang and the other two dogs were also exceptionally excited. They pulled their little sled, which carried small things like gunny sacks and hemp ropes, and sprinted ahead with glee. Xiaobai trotted alongside them like a little sidekick. This reminded Zhao Wendong of Lin Zhiyin’s white weasel. That Little Xiaobai loved nothing more than sprawling out on the warm kang bed to sleep. When it was awake, it would be snuggled up with either Lin Zhiying or Little Tuanzi. It really knew how to enjoy life.

As usual, they left the sled at the old spot at the foot of the mountain before the group headed in. Zhao Wenwu was looking all around, searching for something, and Zhao Wenjun couldn’t help but ask him.

"Wenwu, what are you looking all over for?"

"I’m looking for squirrels. I’m going to dig up their burrows."

Zhao Wendong found this amusing. ’Those squirrels have already been raided twice. If they lose a few more caches, they might actually starve to death.’ Luckily for the squirrels, their luck held out. They didn’t run into Zhao Wendong’s group this time and managed to protect their winter food supply. The four of them made their way to their cave hideout and stored the various items they didn’t currently need inside, including the two carrying poles they’d specifically brought.

After grabbing the dragnet they had left behind, the group prepared to set off for the waterfall pool. Out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Wendong glimpsed the small diesel generator in the corner of the cave and grew thoughtful. Little Shanghai had left him half a bucket of diesel before he left. Thinking about that, and then about the hand-crank generator he had broken yesterday, an idea began to form in Zhao Wendong’s mind.

The four of them ambled over to the waterfall pool. They could clearly feel they didn’t have their usual energy; after all, they had been up all night, and their bodies hadn’t yet recovered from the fatigue. There were some fresh animal tracks in the snow by the pool. Zhao Wendong examined them closely and discovered that, besides the tracks of the usual animals, there was also a set of leopard prints. A thought struck him. ’Could it be the one I encountered when I found that wild boar?’

"Looks like animals have been coming here to drink again. It’d be awesome if we could bag another six roe deer."

Zhao Ergou said hopefully, seeing Zhao Wendong carefully examining the tracks.

"You can’t have that much good luck."

Zhao Wenjun shook his head noncommittally. An eagle’s cry sounded from above as Xiaojin descended, once again offering up an unlucky wild rabbit. It was a good thing these creatures reproduced quickly; otherwise, at the rate Xiaojin was hunting, they’d easily become an endangered species.

Zhao Wendong took the rabbit and pulled out all of his drawings. He showed all of them to Xiaojin, except for the one of the big tree. He didn’t bother checking which ones the eagle had memorized, simply feeding it a strip of meat. After gulping it down in one bite, Xiaojin didn’t leave immediately. Instead, it tilted its head and watched Zhao Wendong and the others as they chiseled at the ice.

The ice hole they’d made before was still there, just frozen over again. Since not much time had passed, the new layer of ice wasn’t very thick. Reopening the original hole would save them at least half the effort. The four of them quickly broke through the ice and lowered the fishing net into the pool once more.

"This pool looks really deep. The net didn’t even hit the bottom. There must still be plenty of fish."

Zhao Wendong shared his assessment, and the others all nodded in agreement. They started a fire to boil water and have some lunch to regain their strength. Xiaojin lingered for a while longer, then, perhaps out of boredom or because it had rested enough, it let out another cry and soared away.

"I’m pretty envious of it, too."

Zhao Wendong said with a smile to his three brothers, watching Xiaojin fly away.

"It has no natural predators. It’s the king of the sky."

"Then what’s the king of the mountains?"

Zhao Wenwu suddenly asked.

"Tigers, of course."

Zhao Wenjun replied casually. Zhao Wenwu nodded and asked again.

"What about in the sea?"

Zhao Ergou thought for a moment, then looked uncertainly at Zhao Wendong.

"Is it the Tiger Whale we ran into last time?"

"That’s right."

Zhao Wendong nodded in confirmation. He wasn’t absolutely sure about the king of the mountains, but those troublemakers of the ocean were truly the apex predators of the sea—the very top of the food chain.

"Wendong, you’re amazing!"

Zhao Wenwu said with sincere admiration. Zhao Wendong was taken aback by his comment. ’What does that have to do with me?’

"You know all these kings, and you’re even raising two of them! You should raise that Little Tiger Whale you saved, too. Then you’ll be the king of the kings of the land, sea, and air—the Grand Marshal of all three!"

"Hahaha, Second Brother is right!"

Hearing Zhao Wenwu make such a rare, logically coherent statement, Zhao Ergou immediately started clapping and cheering him on. Zhao Wendong was stunned for a moment. ’You know... Second Brother has a point. It seems I really might have a chance to assemble the masters of the land, sea, and air!’