A small plot of land in a mountain village

A few days later, word spread in the village that there was a wild boar weighing over 200 jin (100 kg) at Zhang Niu's house at the foot of the mountain. What was strange was that this wild boar was very intelligent and wouldn't run away when it was let out to guard the house. After that, villagers gradually came to Zhang Niu's house to see what the big wild boar looked like.

"Hey! Look at those tusks and that head, I bet this is a wild boar king," a villager guessed.

"The Zhang family is in luck. That big wild boar will probably fetch a lot of money this time. I heard that the little wild boar from Er Gou's family next door sold for four hundred yuan last time," said the money-grubbing man.

"A wild boar guarding the gate, that's really a rare thing, the first time in our village! When I saw it, no one dared to come up here to steal anything, just looking at those sharp tusks is frightening," said a villager who was on guard against theft.

Our main character, King Kong, completely ignored the villagers' comments, snorted a few times, and ran back into the house.

Everyone who saw it said that this wild boar was really something else; it even knew how to put on airs.

The owner of a restaurant in the county town, upon learning of this, drove directly to Zhangjia Village. Guided by the villagers, he arrived at the foot of Daliang Mountain and saw this legendary, highly spiritual wild boar.

The boss offered Zhang Niu 1,500 yuan directly.

Zhang Niu only said that it was for guarding the house and he wouldn't sell it.

The boss offered a high price of 2,500. For the boss, this wild boar could be sold for several times the price once it returned.

Zhang Niu shook his head and refused to sell, letting the restaurant owner give up; he wouldn't sell the wild boar.

The restaurant owner, having no other choice, left Zhang Niu a business card, telling him he could call him whenever he changed his mind, and offering to pay an extra 500 yuan. Then, dejected, he went back down the mountain.

The surrounding villagers were all pointing and whispering, saying there was no reason for them to turn down the money.

Zhang Niu returned to the house and patted Jin Gang, saying, "You're really valuable. Look how good I've been to you. I didn't sell you even for a high price. You should thank me properly. How about you go to the mountains sometime and help me bring back a sow?"

This was met with grunts from King Kong.

The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, my country's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, the second largest traditional festival after the Spring Festival.

Taking advantage of the good weather these past few days, Zhang Niu made up his mind to go to the abandoned pond outside the village to collect some snails (also known as field snails). He hoped to have a good meal with them on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

People often take fishing nets to fish ponds or streams outside the village to catch snails. If they are lucky, they can catch twenty or thirty catties a day, which can be sold in the county for between eight mao and one yuan.

When catching snails, Zhang Niu prefers to feel for them in the mud with his hands. Although he can catch quite a lot with a fishnet, the net usually contains only mud, sand, rotten leaves, stones, and the like, making it a waste of effort.

When they came out, they were afraid that King Kong would cause trouble at home, so they brought this bodyguard with them. The little guy sat on King Kong's head and gave orders all the way.

The road was filled with little kids; after all, it was rare to find such an obedient wild boar that didn't make a fuss. Some of the bolder kids even rushed up to touch the boar, but King Kong grunted a few times and scared the kids away.

Today, Zhang Niu chose a spot near a deserted pond next to the mountains. This place is usually deserted, and he only found out by chance that there were snails in this deserted pond, and they were quite large. Whenever he thought of eating snails, he would come here to collect some to take home.

After taking off his clothes and wearing only his boxer shorts, he went into the water. I was going to ask King Kong to watch his clothes, but King Kong just jumped into the water with a "plop" and swam around happily. Finally, he ran to the edge of the pond and kept rubbing against the mud on the bank. The little guy didn't seem to be afraid of the water and was having a lot of fun there.

The pond is not deep, and the water temperature is very cool.

Snails generally prefer to stay in shady ponds, where the banks are usually covered with lush aquatic plants. They like to stay in these places. This pond has a lot of mud and rocks. If you walk along the bank, you can find snails clinging tightly to the roots of the grass or the rocks. You can find several at a time, and you can also find quite a few in the crevices.

Having spent a long time in the water, Zhang Niu's hands were already a bit white. Looking at the snails floating in the plastic basin, he felt that he had caught quite a lot today, enough to eat! Just as he was about to go ashore, he stepped on something flat. At first, he thought it was a stone, but when he looked up, he realized it was a river clam. The meat of this thing was quite good, and it tasted great when stir-fried. He found five more river clams nearby.

Once ashore, they called out to Little King Kong, who was having a great time playing in the water. King Kong ran to Zhang Niu's side, shook himself vigorously, and splashed all the water droplets off his body onto Zhang Niu, as if venting his dissatisfaction.

He took out a bag, poured in the snails and clams, and went home without even putting on his clothes.

When I got home, my mom was cooking, my dad was sitting in front of the door smoking a pipe, and my little sister was watching cartoons in the living room. I went into the kitchen, took out a bucket, poured in snails and clams, and added clean water. I also took some cooking oil from the kitchen and poured it in. The advantage of this is that the snails will expel a lot of mud every day. I change the water once a day, so there won't be as much mud when I eat them. I cover the bucket to prevent the snails from escaping at night.

After the meal, Zhang Niu was about to go home when he couldn't find Jingang. He called out to him several times but there was no response. His younger sister ran over and pulled Zhang Niu to the backyard. They found out that Jingang had run to the pigsty, and there was a sow inside, which made Jingang grunt and squeal outside the pigsty.

I thought you were going there to pick up girls, but it turns out you were just doing it for a while. Anyway, your time is up for today, so we have to go back now. We'll bring you back next time.

After humming a few times, Jin Gang reluctantly followed him back.

Looking at the listless King Kong on the road, Zhang Niu considered whether to build a small pig farm on the mountain. Now that meat prices are rising, he heard that the big, free-range pigs from the countryside are very popular with city dwellers. Everyone says that these big, free-range pigs taste very good and are raised purely on local grains. So why not just buy a few sows? Anyway, King Kong is at home, so there's no need to worry. If there aren't any piglets, he can just ask King Kong to work harder and breed more often.

Back at the foot of the mountain, Zhang Niu entered the space and brought King Kong with him. The fruit saplings he had planted a few days ago were now significantly taller than those outside, and the main trunks were much thicker.

Meanwhile, King Kong inside the space seemed very excited, constantly humming and barking. He even ran to the pond and drank water gulping down the sips, but didn't go into the water. No one knew why.

Zhang Niu pondered that the spatial water could accelerate crop growth, and looking at the King Kong drinking water by the pond, he wondered if it would also grow into a giant.

I filled several buckets with water and took them outside to water all the fruit seedlings in front of the house, to see if the water from the outside space would speed up their growth.

Second update! Still shamelessly asking for recommendations and favorites. Currently at 112 votes. If I reach 180 votes tomorrow, I'll add an extra update on top of that. Don't worry about me running out of words; I'm just worried about you not having enough votes.