Chapter 325 - 228: Tuantuan: What Kind of Fake Bamboo Have I Been Eating?
Chapter 325: Chapter 228: Tuantuan: What Kind of Fake Bamboo Have I Been Eating?
The other students might have been afraid of the cold, but Jiang Cai’Er certainly wasn’t.
Take the recent mock exam, for example. Some students were shivering so much from the cold that their usually fluid handwriting became crooked and wobbly, seriously affecting their performance. But Jiang Cai’Er was completely unfazed. In fact, her abundant vitality made her complexion as radiant as a peach blossom, and she easily took first place in the entire school once again.
Her classmates were already numb to it. It would have been more shocking if Jiang Cai’Er had ever actually underperformed.
Since the heavy snow hadn’t let up, Li Xiang hadn’t organized anyone to help clear it for the time being.
He had given all his employees paid leave, but Yao Yao still braved the heavy snow to come. When she entered the scenic area, she found footprints in the snow.
And there, inside the National Tea House, Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui were starting a stove, planning to brew tea around it.
"Hey now, you two actually came to work behind my back? That’s just too much!" Yao Yao demanded.
Zhao Xueqing blinked, looking at her in mock surprise. "If you hadn’t snuck over here behind our backs, how would you have discovered us sneaking over here behind your back?"
"Exactly, exactly," Lei Xiaohui added.
"You’ve got me all confused. Fine, I’ll just join in," Yao Yao giggled, offering to help and jumping right in.
Brewing tea around a stove was naturally best done in the teahouse. It had everything they needed: tables, stoves, charcoal, tea leaves, and all sorts of tea snacks.
Of course, since brewing tea around the stove involved burning charcoal, they also opened the windows for proper ventilation. They didn’t open them too wide—just a few windows on the east and south sides, as the wind was blowing from the northwest.
Then, after they had everything ready, they invited Li Xiang over.
Li Xiang gladly went, strolling gracefully through the snow and passing through the Moon Gate.
He didn’t come alone; he brought a special group of little ones with him: Tuantuan, the Little Fox, Er Huang, three kittens, two goslings, a little hedgehog, and the large, red-crested, rainbow-feathered rooster.
With the strong winds and heavy snow, the scenic area was closed and devoid of tourists. The villagers of Li Family Village were mostly holed up in their homes for the winter. So, even when Tuantuan roamed around the village, no one found it strange; on the contrary, they thought it was adorable.
"Look, the giant panda is frolicking in the snow. Normally it doesn’t dare enter the village, but now that there’s no one outside, it’s come out to play."
When Tuantuan was running all over the village, some people hid behind their windows to secretly film it.
For example, Li Yucheng filmed a video and posted it online. As a result, Li Family Village’s Tuantuan went viral again. It’s just that with the heavy snow, it wasn’t convenient for people to come visit.
Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui also adored Tuantuan, hugging it and stroking its fur repeatedly.
Yao Yao even tossed a piece of purple-skinned sugarcane to Tuantuan. "Here, sweetie, try this."
Tuantuan caught it, took a bite, and its eyes instantly lit up. Then, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, it munched away, seeming even happier than when it ate bamboo shoots.
Moreover, it didn’t spit out the fibrous pulp; it swallowed everything.
Pandas don’t spit out bamboo fibers either. At most, they sometimes tear off the tougher parts. With the sugarcane, it also used its mouth to peel the skin and eat the tender flesh inside.
"Pandas eat sugarcane?" Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui looked at each other in bewilderment.
Li Xiang was also very surprised, as he thought pandas only ate bamboo shoots. ’But on second thought,’ he mused, ’it eats Spirit Fruits. Sugarcane is a kind of fruit, right? So why couldn’t it eat it?’
’Besides, it looks so much like bamboo, with all its segments.’
Yao Yao laughed sweetly. "Tuantuan must be thinking that the bamboo you all used to feed it was fake. It had no flavor at all, unlike the ’bamboo’ I gave it today, which is so sweet."
While eating, Tuantuan nodded repeatedly and grunted, as if to say, ’Yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking! Don’t feed me that fake bamboo anymore. Just give me this real bamboo from now on.’
Li Xiang said, "It’s better not to eat too much. This is sugarcane, which we humans use to make sucrose. Eating too much can raise blood sugar and affect cultivation."
Everyone deeply agreed.
Although Extraordinary Beings were generally immune to common illnesses, that was a result of their daily training and cultivation. They also emphasized a balanced diet. They were aware of what their bodies needed and lacked, allowing them to supplement accordingly rather than indulging indiscriminately.
Li Xiang took this opportunity to give a lecture to the three women and the small animals, sharing cultivation experiences with them.
He remembered that Lei Jiaming had also reached Tier One Extraordinary status, so he gave him a call to ask if he was free. If he was, he should come over too.
Naturally, Lei Jiaming came running over at once.
After arriving, he secretly complained to his sister, "How could you not invite me to something this great? Am I not your real brother?"
Lei Xiaohui shot him a look and didn’t bother to explain.
They had wanted to spend time alone with Li Xiang, so of course they wouldn’t have called Lei Jiaming. Who would have thought Li Xiang would bring so many team members over.
For a moment, the main hall of the National Tea House was bustling with excitement. Humans and animals coexisted in harmony.
It was Lei Jiaming’s first time realizing that Li Xiang’s core team consisted not only of humans but also so many pets that had gained sentience. He was utterly stunned.
Li Xiang told him to keep it a secret, and Lei Jiaming thumped his chest, swearing he would keep his lips sealed, even from his wife.
Li Xiang joked, "I’m just worried you’ll talk in your sleep and reveal the secret."
Lei Jiaming quickly shook his head, looking serious. "I sleep very well at night. I almost never dream."
"Don’t be so nervous," Li Xiang said with a wave of his hand. ’In a few more years, after the Great Flood, the Apocalypse won’t be far off. By then, the entire country will probably have mobilized, and there will be no need for secrecy anymore.’
’Keeping it hidden all the time will only cause chaos when the Apocalypse truly arrives. It’s better to leak the information out bit by bit beforehand, making it easier for people to accept and get used to it.’
Since there were too many people and pets, Li Xiang and the others subsequently lit four more stoves, for a total of six including the original two.
The kittens lay lazily by the stoves, nibbling on dried fish snacks, looking utterly comfortable.
Not only were there tea and snacks from the teahouse, but Li Xiang also brought out his treasured, top-grade Darjeeling black tea, as well as some extremely fresh seafood.
Of course, the grilled seafood was kept separate from the other tea snacks, as it was a bit fishy and greasy.
Not only did the three girls and Lei Jiaming enjoy the seafood, but even the pets’ eyes lit up. The kittens, in particular, ate with great relish.
Even the large rooster got to share in the treat, tasting some deep-sea fish.
This rooster was kept firmly in check by the Little Fox, trained to be very obedient and loyal. In truth, animals have simpler minds, and they can’t be measured by human ethics or morals.
Animals are not people, after all. Many of their thoughts and perspectives are different from ours.
Li Xiang had always used a carrot-and-stick approach. If, despite this, there was still a troublemaker who refused to obey, the first thing to do was, naturally, to eliminate it. He wouldn’t waste time trying to educate or reform it.
This wasn’t just for animals; Li Xiang was the same with humans. He would not be lenient.
Rather than trying to reform someone to make them loyal, it was better to just screen for loyal people from the start.
Everyone and every animal around Li Xiang had been screened by him. This was even true for Xu Xuan. If there was even the slightest hint of being "out of sync," there would be no future relationship.
If they turned against him later, Li Xiang wouldn’t mind "culling" them.
But for now, all the people and animals were doing well, which could only mean one thing: his judgment of character, whether human or animal, was very accurate. Li Xiang was secretly quite proud of this.
This was the potential of a leader. Just like Liu Bang, he knew how to use people and judge their character.
Speaking of the heavy snow this year, the conversation inevitably turned to last year’s wild boar hunt.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, this year, not only the government of Sichuan Province but also many other provincial governments had issued a public decree to hunt wild boars, with buyback prices and policies similar to last year’s.
The official price was, of course, the lowest. It was essentially a market floor price, ensuring that people’s efforts wouldn’t be for nothing.
A fan asked in the group chat: "Brother Xiang, are you going to hunt wild boars again this year? If you do, you might even take first place in the country."
This was because a total of nineteen provinces had organized a wild boar hunting "league" this year, with a shared leaderboard, and many Hunter teams were eager to try their luck. Many of them had learned from their experiences last year and felt they could do better this time.
There were also many newly formed teams that hadn’t participated last year but were full of ambition and wanted to compete for the top spot.
Li Xiang replied in the group chat: "We might hunt this year, but only to protect our home. It’ll be just for fun; we won’t be competing on the leaderboard anymore. We should give other, more interested colleagues a chance."
Many fans were disappointed: "If Brother Xiang isn’t participating, it just feels like something is missing."
Lei Jiaming was also disappointed. Seeing this, Li Xiang encouraged him, "Why don’t you lead a team this year and compete for a spot on the leaderboard?"
As an Extraordinary Being himself, Lei Jiaming had a good chance of taking first place.