“Creak!”
The driver slammed on the brakes.
Wen Youning instinctively hugged the little golden monkey in her arms,
while Qian Nuo, who had her seatbelt fastened, was thrown forward for a moment.
The seatbelt caught around her neck, choking her and making her cough.
“Cough, cough… Driver, what happened?”
Qian Nuo coughed so hard her eyes were red, her voice hoarse.
The driver turned on the interior light, looked back at the two in the backseat,
and his gaze finally settled on the confused little golden monkey.
He sneered, “Hmph!”
Turning the steering wheel, he stepped on the gas pedal,
ready to turn back toward the entrance of the police station where they had just picked someone up.
Fortunately, this road was relatively remote, and it was late at night with few cars outside.
Otherwise, this sudden brake could have caused a chain collision.
Wen Youning saw him turn around and guessed what the driver might be planning.
“It’s a misunderstanding, it’s a misunderstanding, driver.”
“Right, right, it’s a misunderstanding.”
Qian Nuo rubbed her neck.
She definitely didn’t want to go back to the police station at this time of night,
“I’m a staff member of the zoo.
You can see my work ID.
The golden monkey is supposed to be sent back to the zoo.”
The driver glanced at the ID she handed over.
“What were you two talking about just now?”
Qian Nuo said, “Just chatting randomly, and besides,
we were right at the entrance of the police station when we got in the car.
If we were really involved in stealing the golden monkey,
do you think we could have just walked out of there?”
The driver thought about it and realized that this made sense.
“Sorry, I got too anxious.”
The driver turned the car around again at the intersection.
Wen Youning helplessly looked at the still confused little golden monkey.
“Let’s not go to the neighborhood for now,
let’s head to the wildlife zoo instead.”
“Okay.”
“I still have some water and spray,
where did I put the rope?”
Wen Youning had made full preparations when she brought the monkey out,
and though she said she wasn’t going to handle it herself,
she still had to bring the necessary protective items.
To fit all these things, she had specifically chosen a larger backpack,
and since the monkey wasn’t fully grown,
it was slightly smaller in size compared to an adult golden monkey.
When the items in the backpack were cleared,
the little golden monkey crawled in and hid quietly, not making a sound.
If you didn’t open the backpack, no one would notice.
The little golden monkey crouched inside, feeling around,
and pulled out a bottle of mineral water.
“Wuwu…”
‘Drink water.’
“Is this the only bottle?”
Qian Nuo teased it,
“What if I want some too?”
The little golden monkey twisted the bottle cap with its paws, blinking its beautiful eyes,
then carefully moved its feet inside the backpack.
It turned around and faced away from Qian Nuo.
‘Can’t hear, can’t hear.’
‘Can’t hear anything.’
The little golden monkey raised the opened bottle of mineral water.
“Wuwu!”
‘Sister, drink water.’
A barely noticeable smile crossed Wen Youning’s face,
and she tried to suppress the corner of her mouth from lifting.
“Hmm, thank you…”
By the end of her words, she couldn’t help but have a slight quiver in her voice,
tinged with a smile.
Qian Nuo: “???”
Damn!
Is this aimed at me!?
Looking at the little golden monkey’s round, fluffy, golden back of its head,
she couldn’t get angry no matter what.
Sigh, forget it.
The little golden monkey is just so cute;
who could bear to be angry with it?
Wen Youning handed the water to Qian Nuo while holding the golden monkey with one hand and pulling it out of the backpack.
The little golden monkey, hugging her arm,
had its tail caught in the backpack strap.
It turned around and grabbed its tail.
Wen Youning casually helped by lifting the tail and placing it into the little monkey’s arms.
“Isn’t it stuffy lying in there?”
The backpack wasn’t made of breathable material;
the only breathable parts were probably the small drainage holes at the bottom and the zipper at the top.
“Wuwu!”
‘No!’
‘I’m asleep.’
The little golden monkey’s eyes were like dark gems,
glimmering as the scenes outside the car window quickly flashed by.
After waking up, the little golden monkey was full of energy.
Wen Youning held the little golden monkey’s tail,
twirling it around her fingertips, playing with it.
“As long as you’re not uncomfortable, that’s good.
But this is too dangerous, we can’t do it like this next time.”
“Wuwu…”
It snuggled into Wen Youning’s arms, rubbing against her.
Qian Nuo, watching from the side, felt envious.
Her workplace wasn’t far from the Monkey Mountain,
but she couldn’t roam freely during work hours.
When she passed by the Monkey Mountain after work,
she could only tempt the golden monkeys with food to get them to come over.
But she had never had a golden monkey held like this by someone,
snuggled and cuddled in their arms.
“Teacher Wen, let me hold it, please.”
Qian Nuo gently stroked her fingertips, touching the golden monkey,
feeling the soft, silk-like texture, making her fingertips tingle.
She really wanted to hug it tightly and give it a big squeeze,
then bury her face in its belly and sniff.
Qian Nuo, well-versed in cat-sniffing techniques,
tried to experiment with the golden monkey.
Wen Youning didn’t directly hand it over to her,
but instead asked the little golden monkey,
“This sister wants to hold you. Is that okay?”
The little golden monkey, sipping water in small sips,
understood Wen Youning’s words and looked toward Qian Nuo.
It put down the mineral water and stood up.
Qian Nuo thought she understood its meaning, her mouth opened in surprise,
and she stretched out her arms, ready to welcome the little golden monkey into her embrace.
But the next moment, the little golden monkey grabbed the backpack it was sitting on and put the water bottle inside it.
Then… it handed the backpack to Qian Nuo.
Qian Nuo: “…”
She stared at it.
“Does it mean I’m supposed to hold the backpack and drink the water?”
Wen Youning pressed her lips together,
silently looking out the window.
Her breath tightened, and her shoulders trembled nonstop,
showing signs of increasing emotion.
“Teacher Wen, if you want to laugh, I will hate this cold and heartless world for a second.”
“Haha…” Wen Youning spoke up to help the little golden monkey,
who didn’t understand social cues, save face.
“The little monkey might just not be familiar with you yet.
Once it gets to know you, it will be fine.”
Qian Nuo nodded in agreement.
That might be the case.
But then she stopped.
Wait a second… Teacher Wen has only known the golden monkey for less than a day, right?
She had occasionally gone to Monkey Mountain to feed the golden monkeys before,
so she had actually known them for a longer time.
Sigh—
She couldn’t think about it, the more she thought about it,
the more painful it felt.
In the zoo at dawn.
Most of the animals were still asleep.
The nocturnal animals and the staff had already begun their busy work.
This time of night was actually busier than one or two in the morning.
Wen Youning placed the little golden monkey into the backpack.
The backpack hung in front of her, with the zipper left open. The little golden monkey’s head peeked out, looking around curiously.
Maybe it was the first time seeing things from this perspective, but the little golden monkey seemed very curious about everything around it.
They walked past Bear Hill, where the little black bear and brown bear were huddled together.
The black bear took the best spot under a tree,
lying on its back with its belly exposed, paws draped over the ground, fast asleep.
The little golden monkey sniffed the air and looked up. “Wuwu…”
It smelled the same.
It seemed like it had caught a scent that reminded it of Wen Youning,
a scent similar to the black bear’s.
“Hm.” Wen Youning thought. She had held the black bear before going to Monkey Mountain.
As they turned into a small corner path,
the black bear rolled over and half-closed its eyes, seemingly noticing something.
It rested its head on a rock, noticing the golden monkey in the backpack.
It let out a low “Wuwu.”
‘Come down.’
‘Let the bear go in.’
The voice was faint, and Wen Youning instinctively looked back,
only to find the black bear still asleep, eyes closed, snoring softly.
She couldn’t help but smile to herself, thinking: What kind of dream is the black bear having, even fighting over something in its sleep?
“How is it even messier than when we left?”
“Hm?” Wen Youning quickly took a few steps, holding the backpack in front of her.
On the ground, there were apples that had been bitten into and bananas with their peels peeled off but left uneaten,
scattered among foam boxes and cardboard box fragments.
It was clear that the staff inside were too busy to deal with the situation on the ground.
The golden monkeys had run out of the indoor area at night,
and they were the ones who would be held accountable for it.
They had been sleeping soundly when the phone call woke them up with the bad news,
and they had rushed over to clean up the mess.
The staff inside made a “lo lo lu lu” sound,
trying to draw the golden monkeys over and carefully returned each one to Monkey Mountain.
The staff who knew what was going on, when holding a golden monkey, had to curse the person in charge.
Those despicable people—scamming the golden monkeys and even dragging them into it.
They were getting paid a pitiful wage and still had to take the blame, it was truly unfair.
“Sorry, we were busy last night…” The staff, seeing someone come in,
instinctively tried to cover up, trying to get rid of them with a few formalities.
But when they saw the golden monkey in her backpack,
they paused for a moment and then screamed sharply, “Quick, someone is stealing a golden monkey!”
Wen Youning: “…”
I didn’t, I didn’t do anything.
Wen Youning carefully took the little golden monkey out,
intending to take it inside.
But since she had already been spotted,
it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to enter the staff area anymore.
“I’m the one who called the police.
The golden monkey ran into my backpack when I wasn’t paying attention.
I’m here to return it.”
The staff looked at the golden monkey and then at Wen Youning.
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Why didn’t she say the backpack became alive and trapped the golden monkey?
“I can prove it! The golden monkey really ran into the backpack on its own.”
Qian Nuo pulled out her work ID to show that she was a colleague.
The staff member looked at the work ID,
“Mm, make sure you tell the police the same thing.”
Calling the police multiple times, it’s not really a waste of police resources, right?
Wen Youning still wanted to explain, but just then, a staff member suddenly shouted from the warehouse:
“Ah—what’s this? Why does it smell so spicy?”
Wen Youning’s eyebrows twitched.
That smell was strangely familiar.
She quickly took off the bothersome backpack, placed it on the table,
and gently took the little golden monkey out.
“Be good, little one.
Go back by yourself.
I’ll explain later.”
After saying that, she hurried into the warehouse.
“Hey, hey, hey—don’t go.”
The staff member put down the golden monkey in his hands and followed Wen Youning into the warehouse.
The empty boxes in the warehouse had already been cleaned up,
and the rotten fruits had been removed from the shelves.
Only two poor boxes remained, which seemed to contain fruits that could still be preserved.
The golden monkey was holding a can of pepper spray,
and not far from it, the staff member was covering his mouth and rubbing it non-stop.
It seemed that he had been sprayed.
Wen Youning said,
“Be careful, is there any water? Rinse it off with water.”
She hadn’t seen some of the clutter and the pepper spray.
After the golden monkey took those items from the backpack,
the other golden monkeys probably saw them out of curiosity and took them.
Golden monkeys are very intelligent animals.
After Wen Youning used them,
they figured out how to use these things on their own.
It was likely due to the height issue that only the staff member’s mouth was sprayed, luckily not the eyes.
Wen Youning walked over,
“Little one, can you give me the spray? This is not fun at all.”
The golden monkey shook the pepper spray in its hand,
reluctantly giving it to her.
“Good boy.”
Wen Youning turned around and went to ask the other golden monkeys for the items.
Fortunately, the golden monkeys were all quite easy to talk to.
Wen Youning counted and got everything,
then carried them out of the warehouse.
Qian Nuo was explaining to the staff member who was about to call the police,
trying to persuade him to minimize the issue.
Wen Youning, holding the pepper spray and the other items, walked out.
Through the two of them, she saw the backpack on the ground.
She raised her eyebrows and cleared her throat softly: “Hm.”
Qian Nuo, not understanding,
looked over, and the staff member felt a bit confused.
Wen Youning raised her chin, and both of them followed her gaze.
The little golden monkey had climbed onto the table and effortlessly opened the zipper,
head down, and crawled inside.
Halfway in, it fumbled around in the backpack,
turned itself around, and poked its head out the other way.
Then, the little golden monkey stretched out its paws and carefully pulled the zippers on both sides, using force to close it.
The zipper was pulled all the way to the middle,
and the little golden monkey’s golden fur peeked out a little.
The little golden monkey pressed one paw to its head,
while using the other paw to tightly pull the zipper shut.
The zipper was fully closed, and no golden fur was visible.
‘This is perfect.’
The little golden monkey’s mental voice carried a tone of satisfaction.
Although Qian Nuo had never doubted the truth of Wen Youning’s words,
seeing it with her own eyes now left her speechless.
The staff member, who had seen the entire process of the golden monkey putting itself in the backpack, was completely stunned: “???”
This… does this make sense?
The little golden monkey eating bananas below obviously thought this behavior of Slow was inappropriate,
so it also climbed onto the table, opened the zipper, and tried to squeeze in, competing with Slow for a spot inside the bag.
“Stop fighting!” Wen Youning hurried forward,
put down the bottles and jars in her arms, and hugged Slow out.
Slow had successfully left with Wen Youning earlier,
and the second time was already half successful, but it was forced to be exposed.
‘I’m angry.’
‘Slow is angry.’
The little golden monkey was puffed up, looking like a round, golden, chubby rice dumpling.
“Don’t be angry.” Wen Youning pinched its cheek, “You can’t go home with sister.”
“Woo…”
‘Can I go?’
The little golden monkey looked at her pitifully.
“Really can’t.” Wen Youning also liked the little golden monkey,
but if she took it home, it would be too much of a burden.
Even if the zoo didn’t pursue her taking the little golden monkey,
the law still doesn’t allow the private keeping of golden monkeys.
Wen Youning said: “It’s fine here too, if you miss me, I’ll come visit you.”
“Woo?”
‘Really?’
“Of course.” Wen Youning made a half-fist with her hand,
leaving out her pinky, “Come, let’s make a pinky promise.”