Chapter 10

Faced with Coal Boss’s fierce reaction, Kong Bi looked innocent. As someone who had handled hundreds of stray cats since childhood, her massage skills were absolutely market-tested. Aside from a small number of cats who weren’t particularly fond of it, almost every cat that allowed Kong Bi to touch them would want more.

Although Coal Boss looked fierce, it was a typical high-attack, low-defense cat. Among the cats Kong Bi had petted, it not only had one of the best feels but also a high sensitivity.

You know, even the spots that most cats like, there will always be some cats that aren’t interested. After all, sensitivity points aren’t something every cat has. Coal Boss was different; it had sensitivity points all over its body. The feelings that other cats needed catnip to experience, Coal Boss could feel with just one pet.

If it weren’t for Coal Boss’s inherent wariness, and the fact that no one else had ever petted it before, Kong Bi thought it might even become more affectionate than Chuchu. After all, some things are addictive and hard to quit.

Experiencing this for the first time, Coal Boss was undoubtedly terrified. It didn’t feel any closer to Kong Bi, instead, it was filled with fear. What kind of sorcery was used to make it lose its vigilance for a short time? If someone took its partner away next time under these circumstances, it might not even notice!

Thinking of this possibility, Coal Boss immediately bristled, looking like a dark, spiky sea urchin.

“Woof meow?” Chuchu looked at Coal Boss in confusion, not understanding why Coal Boss, who had been so engrossed just a moment ago, suddenly turned hostile.

“Meow meow meow!”

Coal Boss let out a series of frantic meows at Chuchu, as if warning it about Kong Bi’s sinister intentions. Without waiting for Chuchu to respond, it tried to carry Chuchu away, despite Chuchu likely weighing only a pound or two less than itself.

Obviously, it couldn’t lift Chuchu, but Chuchu did take a few steps with it, looking at Kong Bi with a slightly confused expression. In the end, it left with Coal Boss.

Kong Bi wasn’t disappointed. Getting a stray cat to follow you always required a long-term effort. Based on Kong Bi’s experience of neutering and spaying over a hundred stray cats in the neighborhood, she knew they wouldn’t avoid the territory she had already claimed just because of this one encounter.

After all, every cat has its own territory, and leaving rashly means having to reclaim new territory, which is very risky. Moreover, Peacock Mountain has a stable food source, and there are many people outside, making Coal Boss exhausted just from guarding Chuchu from being taken away. Going deeper inside means entering the nature reserve, where there are very dangerous creatures for them. Coal Boss might be fine on its own, but it’s uncertain with Chuchu.

Therefore, they would never leave unless absolutely necessary.

Most importantly, the carrot is still dangling in front of them!

Places where food can be easily obtained are always enticing, and for Coal Boss, today’s experience will definitely leave a lasting impression. It won’t be as repulsed as it showed. If Chuchu encourages it to come over again, Coal Boss might just go along with it…

Kong Bi was very confident about this. Her experience told her that a cat that is flattened like a ‘pancake’ in her hand had at least a 60% chance of returning the next time it saw her. If they had experienced it three or more times, they were basically impossible to chase away.

After all, she was a seasoned veteran, a well-known massage master among cats.

With the two cats gone, Kong Bi resumed her interrupted work. After packing everything up and making sure everything was neatly arranged, Kong Bi left with the two cabbages in her hands.

These two cabbages were for the green peacocks. In the wild, they wouldn’t naturally have such food in their diet. Green peacocks have very high requirements for their habitat; otherwise, their population in China wouldn’t be so critically endangered, even rarer than giant pandas. But when it comes to food…

They’re all pheasants, so there’s not that much difference from raising chickens.

At least, a cabbage is enough for them to change their taste and try something new.

With Kong Bi’s arrival, the green peacocks in the peacock garden swarmed over, leaving the white peacock isolated and pushed to the side, prompting Huājiāo to habitually tear off a leaf and give it a private treat.

In artificially raised environments, differences in plumage don’t lead to much rejection, even in groups with low intelligence. However, those who come with Huājiāo are inherently among the smarter individuals in the group, so they can clearly recognize the differences between the white peacock and themselves. Accepting an outsider is naturally not something that can be done in a day or two.

So if nothing unexpected happens, it may not be accepted until the beginning of next spring.

Because the beginning of next spring is the breeding season for green peacocks, at that time, it can observe how other male peacocks in the group attract female peacocks. At the same time, its opening tail and calling will also attract the attention of some female peacocks. After that, it will become much easier for it to integrate into the group, but it will take several years to find a partner.

The animal world’s preference for young and strong young people is mostly inferior to that of uncles. Living long often means that they are experienced. In the wild with many dangers, this is the most important thing. In comparison, young and beautiful is nothing.

Of course, green peacocks actually start to investigate their partners before the breeding season, and take the usual behavior of male peacocks into consideration when choosing a mate. After all, green peacocks live in groups, and they don’t want to have a selfish partner. So if the partner is not to their liking, even if they are overwhelmed by “love” in the spring, they will divorce later.

The white peacock, lacking guidance from elders, clearly didn’t understand this. If it did, it shouldn’t have accepted Huājiāo help. A male peacock who needed special treatment from a female peacock clearly wouldn’t win female favor.

However, the cautious and timid personality it had developed since childhood couldn’t be changed in a day or two. Kong Bi believed that the arrival of tourists would quickly help it build confidence.

People always have great enthusiasm for “oddities” within a species, like white orange cats among orange cats, black panthers among leopards, white lions among lions…

Their specialness, which is rejected by the tribe, often shines brightly among the crowd.

Although the white peacock didn’t have a good life, it didn’t suffer any bullying because it was accepted by Huajiao. At most, it was the last one to eat something delicious. It couldn’t sleep on the branch where the male peacock slept at night, so it had to stay on the same branch with other protected female peacocks. Apart from that, there was nothing else. After all, the food source of the green peacock was not particularly difficult to obtain, and it would not starve.

And, perhaps it was used to being rejected by its own kind, and was very grateful to the tribe that accepted it now, and had no intention of leaving the tribe to live alone.

Kong Bi didn’t intend to interfere with any of this. Anyone who has kept pets knows that if two pets are fighting, as long as it’s not too serious, intervening rashly isn’t a good idea. It won’t eliminate the hidden danger, instead, it will further deepen the conflict. After all, they’ll find their own comfortable way of getting along as they fight. Of course, some just can’t get along, but it clearly hasn’t reached that point yet.

Once the white peacock finished eating, Kong Bi beckoned it over and casually stroked its long tail feathers.

For green peacocks, who spend two or three hours cleaning their feathers every day, being petted is a very enjoyable experience. Especially since their body temperature can reach at least 41℃, the downy feathers combined with this warm body temperature make them feel incredibly good to the touch.

The white peacock felt very flattered by Kong Bi’s actions. When Kong Bi changed positions to pet it, it couldn’t wait to display its tail feathers. For peacocks, many situations can make them involuntarily spread their tails.

Showing off their beauty is also a part of their social interaction, similar to two friends meeting on the street and exchanging friendly greetings: ‘Wow, that outfit looks great on you today!’ ‘You too, that hairstyle really suits you!’ and such.

However, the white peacock was clearly self-conscious about its feathers. When it came to its senses, it unconsciously wanted to fold its tail feathers.

Kong Bi quickly stopped it from doing so.

You know, when courting, a green peacock has to keep spreading its tail for at least a few hours to attract the attention of a female, and this requires a lot of physical strength. If you don’t practice regularly, it’s basically the same as being single for life.

“Dukuo?”

The white peacock was confused. It had not yet fully integrated into the tribe, which could be heard from its accent. Kong Bi smiled and praised: “Very beautiful.”

“!!!”

Probably because it was the first time someone had praised it, the white peacock instantly became excited, and the big fan behind it trembled. Kong Bi scratched its chin: “From now on, you’ll be called Lord Shen. The one who had this name was a powerful and beautiful peacock.”

“Dukuo!” 

The white peacock’s eyes immediately lit up, as if it had found a belief. Kong Bi smiled and patted it. It wasn’t exactly a lie. Lord Shen in the animated movie^[1]Lord Shen from Kungfu Panda 2 was the main villain of the story, and his strength was certainly very strong. As long as the white peacock didn’t learn to be a villain like him, it would be fine.

However, that’s probably impossible. After all, Huājiāo who leads them, is a little monster. Unless the white peacock also becomes a spirit, it won’t be able to defeat her.

And the white peacock is of average intelligence and doesn’t seem like it can become a spirit on its own. In fact, it still stumbles when it sings, let alone spreads its tail and dances like other male peacocks—it’s already good if it can stand for a few minutes without falling.

As a male peacock, its size is even smaller than the other male peacocks in the group. It’s not surprising, it probably grew up struggling from the moment it hatched. It’s already been very difficult to survive to this age, so asking for anything else is unrealistic.

In the wild, most albino animals die shortly after birth. Their fur is too conspicuous, their siblings reject them, their parents reject them, and the group rejects them. Once driven away, their coloring is neither conducive to hunting nor survival. So, for them, simply staying alive is a victory.