Forest Ranger: Starting with a Giant Panda Mom Clinging to Me

Chapter 03: Petting the Monkey King

The apple, nurtured by spiritual water, wasn’t just incredibly delicious. It also had the subtle effect of enhancing physical condition and intelligence.

The golden snub-nosed monkey king fell in love with it after the very first bite. The half apple, split open, was devoured in just a few bites. After finishing, it even licked the apple juice off its fingers, unwilLin to waste a single drop.

The surrounding monkey troop, catching the aroma wafting through the air, grew restless.

Lin Tian placed the remaining half of the apple in front of the troop. The monkeys couldn’t hold back and leapt down from the tree, scrambLin to grab it.

> “Wow, is this apple that good?”

> “Look, they’re practically fighting over that half apple!”

> “The streamer’s so sly—this is straight-up bribing the monkey king!”

> “Damn it, I want to feed golden monkeys too!”

…

That half apple nearly sparked a brawl among the troop. In the end, it was the monkey king’s roar that finally calmed the golden monkeys down. As for the half apple, it had long been snatched and stuffed into the mouth of some quick-witted monkey.

The monkeys that didn’t get a taste were visibly disappointed. Even the monkey king seemed reluctant to let the experience end. It stared at Lin Tian, its gaze no longer as hostile as before.

Seeing the apple had worked its magic, Lin Tian breathed a sigh of relief.

He pulled another apple from his backpack and negotiated with the monkey king, “I’ve got another apple here. If you and your troop move out of my courtyard, I’ll give it to you for free.”

“Ji ji…!”

(Delicious fruit!)

The monkey king’s eyes lit up when it saw Lin Tian produce another apple. The surrounding troop grew restless again. But this time, Lin Tian didn’t hand the apple over. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the monkey king.

The message was clear: You move out of my courtyard, and then I’ll give you this apple.

“Ji ji!”

(Fine, we’ll leave! But you have to give us the delicious fruit!)

The monkey king understood Lin Tian’s words.

For the chance to taste that delicious apple again, it turned and let out a few low growls at the troop on the tree behind it. Soon, one by one, the golden monkeys leapt from the tree to the courtyard wall.

They then climbed over, settLin on a few large trees outside the courtyard.

> “No way? The golden monkey troop actually moved out?”

> “Streamer, you actually managed to communicate with the monkeys?!”

> “Azhen, you’re for real?!”

> “How did you even do that???”

> “Holy crap! Brother Tian, you’re awesome!”

> “This move is straight-up legendary!”

…

The growing number of viewers in the live stream, watching the golden monkey troop actually leave the courtyard, were utterly stunned.

Equally shocked was Wang Jian, standing in the courtyard. He had thought Lin Tian was joking. Negotiating with golden monkeys to give up the house? That sounded like a ridiculous fantasy. And bribing them with a single apple? It was too surreal.

But somehow, Lin Tian had actually pulled it off. It was beyond comprehension.

“It worked.”

Seeing the monkey troop leave the courtyard, Lin Tian let out a breath of relief. At the same time, he felt a bit fortunate. Luckily, the troop he encountered was the mild-mannered golden snub-nosed monkeys. They were polite and easy to communicate with.

If this had been those rowdy monkeys from Mount Emei, even with his ability to understand animal thoughts, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

“Ji ji~.”

(Fruit, give me the delicious fruit.)

The only one left in the courtyard, still perched on the jujube tree, was the monkey king. It stood on the tree, demanding the apple from Lin Tian.

“Alright, alright, here you go.” Lin Tian took out the apple but didn’t place it under the tree. Instead, he held it in his hand. At the same time, he waved to the monkey king on the tree. “Come, this one’s yours.”

The monkey king looked at Lin Tian, still cautious and hesitant. But the aroma of the spiritual water apple was too tempting. After a moment of internal struggle, it leapt down from the tree, standing upright and cautiously approaching Lin Tian.

Lin Tian crouched down, extending the hand holding the apple, smiLin warmly at it. The monkey king could sense the goodwill emanating from Lin Tian. It didn’t hesitate any longer and carefully stepped forward, grabbing the apple and immediately biting into it.

At this close distance, Lin Tian got a good look at the monkey king. Its two large, dark eyes with big pupils were utterly adorable. Its golden-yellow fur was soft and long, incredibly fluffy.

It must feel amazing to touch.

With that thought, Lin Tian reached out and touched the soft fur on the monkey king’s head. This action startled Wang Jian, who was standing nearby.

This was a wild golden monkey! And not just any monkey—the king of the troop! If Lin Tian touched it recklessly, he could get scratched!

The live stream audience was equally stunned.

Wang Jian was about to intervene, but Lin Tian’s hand was already on the monkey king’s head.

To Wang Jian’s surprise, the monkey king didn’t react with the expected aggression. Instead, it focused on eating the apple in its hand, completely unbothered by Lin Tian’s head-petting.

Lin Tian stroked the monkey king’s fur, marveLin at how comfortable it felt. It was clear the monkey king kept itself clean. Its fur was smooth and beautiful, with an amazing texture to the touch.

> “Let go of that monkey and let me have a turn!”

> “Golden monkey, I wanna pet it!”

> “I wanna pet!”

> “Brother Tian, let go of that monkey—if you’ve got a problem, come at me!”

> “Yo, the guy above, something’s off with you!”

…

The live stream audience watched with envy. This was the golden monkey king! They all wanted to pet it too! Not only were the viewers jealous, but Wang Jian, standing nearby, also felt his hands itching.

That fluffy fur looked so tempting to touch. But he didn’t have Lin Tian’s courage. If the monkey king scratched him, it’d be a hassle.

After petting the monkey king for a bit, Lin Tian stood up and walked into the courtyard. The sky was starting to darken, and he needed to clean up the courtyard soon.

Wang Jian followed him inside.

“I didn’t expect this courtyard to be so big. Cleaning up the house is probably going to be a lot of work.”

“We might be at it well into the night.”

After entering the courtyard, Lin Tian realized the house was even messier than he’d imagined. The 200-square-meter courtyard had four single-story rooms. He spent half the day just clearing out the scattered furniture. By now, the sky was almost completely dark, and there was still a ton of work left to do.

…

An hour later, Wang Jian wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up, looking at the chaotic state of the rooms with a troubled expression.

“Lin Tian, I’ve got to head back. It doesn’t look like we’ll finish today. Why don’t you come stay at my place for now?”

Wang Jian hadn’t expected the house to be this messy. But he couldn’t stay to help. He had work tomorrow and needed to head down the mountain before dark.

“If only we could hire someone to help, it’d be done in a day. Too bad there’s no one around here except a bunch of monkeys.” Wang Jian sighed.

He thought to himself that if this were in the city, they could hire someone to clean it up. But out here, there were only monkeys.

Hearing Wang Jian’s words, Lin Tian’s eyes suddenly lit up. He excitedly clapped his right fist into his palm.

“That’s it! How didn’t I think of that? There may not be people here, but there are monkeys! Brother Wang, thanks for the reminder!”

With that, Lin Tian rushed out of the house excitedly.

Wang Jian, left behind in the room, was stunned by Lin Tian’s sudden departure. Then it hit him.  Lin Tian … he couldn’t possibly be planning to ask those golden monkeys outside to help clean the house, could he?

No way, right? That’d be way too far-fetched! Humans and monkeys are different. Why would monkeys agree to help with chores?

—