Strictly speaking, the police dog nursing home was located on a low hill, not a mountain. There was no water source on the mountain, and the road was difficult to walk on. There was no development value, so no one had contracted the nursing home.
Fu Tao pushed the wheelbarrow through the sparse deciduous forest and arrived at an open space.
It was very quiet, and there were some small trees planted in the open space. The thickest ones were as thick as an adult's forearm, and the thinnest ones were as thick as a wrist. Compared to the deciduous trees that had been growing for a long time, they looked very fragile.
In front of each small tree was a small mound with a wooden sign nailed to the tree's waist.
Fu Tao stopped the wheelbarrow and found a suitable place to stand. He lifted the plastic sheet, picked up the shovel, and started to dig the soil.
Zhang Zian walked to the side of the small tree and saw many wooden signs with words, indicating the birth and death dates of each police dog buried here, as well as the unit and place of service. Some of the information was incomplete. Maybe for confidentiality purposes, the location of the unit was written "unknown," but at least the names of the police dogs were written.
He roughly counted and found that there were about seven or eight similar small trees with wooden plaques nailed to them.
The ground was frozen hard in the winter. Fu Tao was not young, but after digging and shoveling for a while, he was out of breath. His breathing was very heavy, and his forehead was sweating.
"Master Fu, take a break. I'll do it." Zhang Zian took off his coat, hung it on a branch, and walked over from the side.
Fu Tao inserted the shovel into the mound of soil and stared at Zhang Zian suspiciously. Zhang Zian looked like an ordinary person, like a young white-collar worker in the city. He didn't look like someone who had done heavy work. Fu Tao was worried that Zhang Zian might not be able to help and instead sprain his waist or ankle. If that happened, he would have to put Zhang Zian in the wheelbarrow and push him back.
Zhang Zian didn't say much. He pulled out the shovel and jumped into the shallow hole that Fu Tao had dug. He shoveled a piece of soil into the ground and continued to dig.
Fu Tao thought that Zhang Zian would be tired after a few times, but he didn't expect Zhang Zian to become more and more energetic. His every movement was full of strength, and his breathing was even. Zhang Zian didn't know how to use force at first, but he gradually mastered the method. The rhythm of his shoveling was rhythmic, and his expression even looked a little relaxed.
His body was stronger than Fu Tao had imagined, thanks to Old Time Tea's training over the past six months.
However …
"Good luck!"
"Good luck!"
“Motto！ Motto！ Kaka! "
Richard curled up in the hood of Zhang Zian's coat and kept making noise.
"What is the parrot saying? What are you talking about? Does it want to eat peaches? "Fu Tao asked curiously as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Zhang Zian was speechless. How embarrassing!
He brandished the shovel menacingly at Richard, and it quieted down for a moment, but it was not long before it was back again.
“Sigai！”
“Sigai！ Motto！”
It shouted lines from Japanese movies in a variety of ways.
Fina and Snowy Lionet squatted lazily on a long stone, yawning in boredom. It was good enough that they didn't complain. They couldn't be counted on to help Zhang Zian and Fu Tao dig.
Pi looked left and right in the sparse forest, and found the thickest tree with the most branches. It looked like the easiest tree to climb, and used all four of its limbs to try to climb up.
This was the first time it had climbed a tree. Although it wasn't a real monkey, it still had some monkey instincts.
Fu Tao, who was resting, saw it. "Hey, your monkey is climbing the tree. Are you going to ignore it?"
"Pi, be careful. Hold on tight. Don't fall," Zhang Zian said loudly as he looked up and saw that Pi was halfway up.
"Eeek."
Pi made a gesture with one hand, indicating that it was okay, but this made Zhang Zian even more worried.
"Aren't you going to call it back?" Fu Tao reminded him. "Maybe it won't come back after running away."
"It's okay. Let it play. It'll come back when it's done." Zhang Zian smiled confidently. It was normal for Fu Tao to have such doubts, but Pi wasn't an ordinary monkey.
"It's up to you. But if it runs away, I won't help you find it." Fu Tao snorted and didn't say anything else. He had an expression that said, "If you don't listen to your elders, you'll be at a disadvantage." It was as if he was certain that Pi would run far away and not come back.
Galaxy noticed a group of sparrows that had landed not far away. They were looking for seeds and nuts among the fallen leaves, and it chased after them.
When the sparrows saw that their natural enemy was coming, they immediately took off. They circled in the air for a few times, then landed on a nearby branch. They seemed reluctant to leave and would rather live next to their natural enemy. Perhaps there was a shortage of food in winter, and there were many tree species that could fill their stomachs in this unfrequented place.
When Galaxy ran a little further away, the sparrows flew down again, looking for food among the fallen leaves and grass.
Xinghai meowed again, and the sparrows took off again. Both of them were having fun …
Richard covered its face with its wings. It couldn't bear to look at its kind, which had a negative IQ.
Pi climbed higher and higher, and found a hidden nest at the fork of a branch. There was no bird in the nest, only an oval-shaped egg lying there. There were light gray spots on the outside of the eggshell, and green bird droppings were stained on it.
Birds usually didn't lay eggs in winter. Pi scratched its head. It didn't know what kind of bird laid this egg. Its book was left in the car, so it couldn't be searched. It wasn't worried that the book would be lost. With Old Time Tea in the car, no one could take the book away. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to understand it.
It turned its head and looked left and right. Where was the female bird that laid the egg?
Where was the male partner of the female bird?
After a fruitless search, Pi blinked its eyes and stared at the lonely bird egg.
Maybe the female bird that laid the egg had already flown to the far, warm south for the winter.
Maybe both the male and female birds had been killed by the air guns of the villagers nearby.
Of course, the biggest possibility was that both the male and female birds had flown out to look for food. After all, it was hard to find food in winter, and they might have to fly far away.
Thinking of this, Pi slipped down from the tree and ran to find Zhang Zian's coat hanging on the branch. It fumbled in the coat pocket for a while and took out a handful of nuts. They were all pure nuts, which were Richard's snacks.
Pi's palm was very small, so it couldn't hold many nuts.
"Quack! What are you doing? Are you trying to steal my stuff? "Richard saw its movements and asked cautiously.
"Eeek!"
Pi gestured and pointed to the bird's nest on the tree to defend itself.
Richard rolled its black eyes. "I can give it to you, but you have to find a way to pay me back twice … No, five times!"
"Eeek."
Pi nodded and climbed back up the tree with its hands and feet. It scattered the nuts in its hands into the nest and pressed the withered grass covering the nest tighter to keep the egg warm. At the same time, it could prevent other birds from discovering the nest and taking it over.
When the parents of the eggs returned from foraging, these plump nuts would surely bring them a pleasant surprise.
The temperature had risen a little, and it was not as cold as it was during the coldest days. If the chicks in the egg were lucky enough, they might be able to welcome the arrival of spring when they hatched.
Pi looked up. The sky was getting darker, and it was very close to the top of the tree. However, the tree trunk was getting thinner and softer, making it harder to climb.
It continued to climb, and learned to use its tail to keep its balance. When it was unsteady, it would use its tail to hook onto a branch to prevent itself from falling. This was probably the correct way to use its tail.
Not long after, Pi finally climbed to the top of the tree.
It clung onto the tree trunk tightly, and looked down from the top. It was very high and very far.
Zhang Zian, who was digging, and Fu Tao, who was standing next to him, had become very small. Fina and Snowy Lionet had become two balls of yellow and white fur. The noisy Richard was so small that it could barely be seen. Only its voice was still hoarse, loud, and penetrating.
Looking further away, Zhang Zian could see the gray roof of the police dog nursing home through the bare canopy of trees. The car parked in the courtyard looked like a shiny tortoise shell. The lights in the house were on, and people stopped in front of the window from time to time, leaving behind a black silhouette.
The sun was setting in the distant mountains, and the evening mist shrouded Binhai City on the horizon. The usually bustling city looked like a tired beast that was resting, and would be reborn the next morning.
Firecrackers sounded in the nearby villages, and the New Year's atmosphere was getting stronger.
Whoosh!
In the forest not far away, the group of sparrows that were startled by Xinghai flapped their wings and took off again, but this time, they didn't land.
As the sun set, night was coming. The group of sparrows with congenital night blindness seemed to realize that time wasn't on their side, so they didn't want to play the cat and mouse game anymore. They collectively flew in the direction of Binhai City, where there was more food in the garbage bags in the residential area.
They finally figured it out. There were plenty of fish in the sea, so they didn't have to look for food here.
Xinghai chased after the sparrows for a while, and finally returned.
When it passed by the tree where Pi was, it raised its head and squinted at Pi.
Pi waved at it, asking it to come up and play with the scenery.
Xinghai shook its head, and raised a front paw to wave at Pi, asking it to come down.
Even though the view from the top was good, Pi still had an indescribable feeling in its heart. It wanted to say something, and it wanted to shout. Maybe this was why ancient poets liked to recite poems when they climbed a mountain, just like what Richard had recited, "Far away, when my brother climbed to the top, there was only one left in the world." But the wind at the top of the tree was a bit strong and cold, and there was no point in staying there, so Pi returned to the bottom of the tree on all fours.
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