116. Has the Village Water Buffalo Gone Mad?

In the end, it was Du Ruo’s promise to take her to the tavern the next day for some dried small fish that finally stopped her from lingering around him.

They ate, drank, and chatted about their experiences on the grasslands and horseback riding, the whole family happily enjoying their time together.

Early the next morning, Du Ruo didn’t practice martial arts at home. After getting up, he immediately took Yaya and Maomao to the guesthouse by car.

Normally, he would have wanted to stay home a few more days to accompany his parents after just returning, but his mother was so daunting that it seemed she was about to start nagging again.

Besides, Du Ruo had been away for quite some time and suddenly remembered something important: he wondered if the clouded leopard on the mountain had given birth to her cubs. The last time he visited, her belly was already quite swollen, and he wanted to see if the newborn cubs were even cuter.

“Yuan Yuan, Aqi~”

Standing downstairs, Du Ruo called out.

“Boss Du, Yaya is here! Come upstairs yourself, Maomao too.”

Li Qiyao opened the window and, seeing Yaya and Maomao beside Du Ruo, immediately waved at them. Du Ruo had called them as he left home. They had just returned and planned to rest at home for a few days without going anywhere; having Yaya around was a pleasant distraction.

“Yaya’s in your hands now. I have an appointment with Chen Guang at noon; we’ll have lunch together.”

Du Ruo said to Li Qiyao. After she nodded, he turned and went to buy beef.

He bought quite a lot, not only for lunch but also to bring some to feed the clouded leopard.

As usual, he took the familiar path up the mountain behind Yang Chenguang’s tea garden. The journey was well known to him, and it didn’t take long before he arrived beneath the familiar giant rock.

Now, climbing onto the rock was easier for Du Ruo; with a slight stomp and a jump, he could grab the edge of the rock with his hands.

Upon reaching the rock, Du Ruo immediately spotted the clouded leopard lying in the grass beneath a pine tree not far off.

The clouded leopard was nestled in the grass, which had been pressed down in the middle to form a natural little nest. She lay on her side with eyes half-closed, while two tiny cubs lay against her—one on her belly, the other on her neck—both covered in soft fuzz, sound asleep.

“Meow~”

The leopard called softly upon seeing Du Ruo, then got up and walked toward him. The two cubs tumbled off her body; one remained asleep, the other “wooed” softly and sniffed around the nest with its nose until it crawled next to the sleeping sibling. Then, with a little smack, the two cubs piled on top of each other and resumed their deep slumber.

“Woo~”

The leopard rolled on the ground by Du Ruo’s legs, belly exposed, tail flicking incessantly.

“You really are something…”

Du Ruo laughed, took a piece of beef from the bag, and placed it on the ground.

Upon seeing the beef, the leopard stopped rolling and immediately stood, pressing her paws on the meat before happily devouring it. She hummed softly as she ate, clearly having gone a long time without a proper meal.

While the leopard ate, she paid no attention to Du Ruo.

He squatted by the grass and watched the two cubs in the nest.

They were tiny, about a pound each, covered in fuzz, and their eyes hadn’t fully opened yet.

“What’s the difference between these cubs and kittens? Could it be their mother picked them up like cats?”

Du Ruo was curious and couldn’t help but poke them with his finger. The two deeply sleeping cubs ignored him, except for the one he poked, which wriggled its bottom before going back to sleep.

Young cubs were irresistibly adorable, and Du Ruo was no exception, especially these little ones whose eyes were still closed.

He plucked some grass nearby and playfully scratched one cub and poked the other, enjoying himself immensely.

“Howl~ Howl~ Howl~”

But the cubs weren’t so happy; they were poked here and tickled there, unable to sleep. Perhaps frustrated or hungry, they circled in the grass, howling loudly.

“Meow!!”

The clouded leopard heard the cries, still holding unfinished beef in her mouth, and lay down at the edge of the grass before continuing to eat.

The two cubs stopped crying and each latched onto one of her nipples, suckling heartily.

“Woo~”

The leopard ate happily, then nudged Du Ruo’s hand with her head, licked her chest, and looked at him.

“…I’m not drinking it. You keep it for your cubs,” Du Ruo said after a moment of silence, stroking the leopard’s head.

Du Ruo didn’t climb further up the mountain; he stayed and played with the leopard family for quite a while. The cubs woke to eat, then slept again, completely indifferent to the outside world.

When the sun appeared again, Du Ruo leapt down from the giant rock, thinking he might bring his phone next time. Without pause, he quickly ran downhill.

…

After descending, Du Ruo drove straight to the market. Since he was inviting others for a meal, he needed to prepare more dishes. He wasn’t confident in his cooking skills, though.

He decided to buy all seafood, as both adults and children liked it, and no one had allergies. Seafood was also easy to prepare—whether boiled or steamed, it was delicious.

Du Ruo busied himself for a while, and when Yang Chenguang arrived, the entire table was already filled with seafood dishes.

“Du Ruo, did you do all this? Since when do you have these skills?”

Yang Chenguang asked in disbelief, seeing Yuan Yuan and Li Qiyao sitting with Yaya watching cartoons while Du Ruo was busy in the kitchen alone.

“Just boiled seafood; as long as you have hands, you can do it. Alright, let’s eat. Remember to take some of the local specialties I brought back,” Du Ruo said, subtly turning off his phone. The search history was all questions like: “Put seafood into boiling water or cold water?” “How long to steam prawns?” “When to add soy sauce to steamed fish?”…

“All set, let’s eat.”

Du Ruo carried the last plate of crabs to the table and called out loudly.

*Ring ring ring~*

No sooner had he spoken than Yang Chenguang’s phone rang, halting him just as he was about to sit down. He answered immediately.

“You guys go ahead and eat. There’s a water buffalo gone mad in the village; it just injured someone. I have to rush over.”

Yang Chenguang hung up and dashed to the door, running out without a moment’s delay.

“I’ll go see if I can help too. You all eat first; don’t follow me. Yaya, be careful of fish bones.”

Du Ruo thought for a moment, took off his apron, and followed Yang Chenguang outside.