Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start
Chapter 86: The Aloof Tabby Cat!

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: The Aloof Tabby Cat!

Vehicles began heading towards Xu Yang’s farm, with a few workers installing greenhouses.

In the village, some idlers with nothing better to do stood on the road, looking over in this direction.

Rural life being relatively boring, any construction in someone’s home would attract many villagers to come and watch.

They didn’t do much, just enjoyed watching the machinery at work.

Xu Yang was also busy with the renovation of the greenhouses.

The greenhouses being built this time were of higher quality, so they wouldn’t go up as quickly; it would take at least a week.

Xu Hongshan also came over, concerned about where Xu Yang was getting the money, worried he might have taken out loans.

In these parts, taking out loans for farming was very common: people would borrow money to rent a plot of land, then plant for a year, and at the end of the year, they would pay back the loans with the money from selling the crops, also known as "fending off famine."

Xu Yang didn’t want that kind of pressure, and he didn’t need to, either. A few more trips into the mountains would be enough to operate the farm.

Xu Yang responded to Xu Hongshan,

"No loans. I don’t need them. Went into the mountains, found ginseng, made some money. Don’t really want to spread the word about it."

Relieved to hear that no loans were involved, Xu Hongshan still advised Xu Yang to talk to the family if he needed anything.

Xu Yang just smiled. With his secret weapon, the Treasure Compass, he was determined not to put any more pressure on his family.

The greenhouses looked impressive lined up in parallel as they were being renovated.

The two puppies watched the workers with vigilance.

But since Xu Yang had certified the workers as "good people," they wouldn’t chase them away.

Xu Yang turned his head and saw the Tabby Cat Sang Biao sauntering on the grass.

Feeling playful, he walked over and shouted to the Tabby Cat,

"Sang Biao, come here, let me pet you!"

Hearing Xu Yang’s call, the Tabby Cat stopped, turned its head to look at Xu Yang.

"Come here, meow meow meow!"

Xu Yang crouched down, reaching out his hand to pet the cat.

The Tabby Cat looked somewhat helpless, turned around, and seemed a bit reluctant as it slowly approached Xu Yang.

When it got about one meter away from Xu Yang, the Tabby Cat lay down.

This guy was particularly cunning.

By lying down, Xu Yang would have to come forward.

This meant that it was Xu Yang approaching of his own accord, not the cat coming to him.

Xu Yang took a couple of steps forward, got in front of the Tabby Cat, and started to stroke its head.

The pedigree of the Tabby Cat was certainly good; its fur was short and dense, and its body was very sturdy.

The Tabby Cat squinted its eyes, enjoying the petting, but its face remained expressionless.

Only when Xu Yang touched the harder spot on its tail did Sang Biao unconsciously lift its butt even higher.

As if to say "a bit harder on that spot."

This cat was truly aloof.

Cats are like that, very prideful. If they do something stupid or embarrassing, and their owner laughs, they just lick their paws and pretend nothing happened.

"Catch more mice, we still need you for that,"

"If a Weasel comes by at night, you can go for it,"

"But if you encounter a Mountain Weasel or a lynx or something, just leave it be,"

Xu Yang told the Tabby Cat.

Mountain Weasels are leopard cats, second-level protected animals, pure wild cats, wilder than Tabby Cats, with their bodies full of leopard spots and adept at stealing chickens.

Many farmers’ chickens have been taken by Mountain Weasels.

The lynx, a medium-sized cat with a small "antenna" on its ears and an agile body, also occasionally steals chickens.

The Tabby Cat naturally couldn’t beat these guys.

Lynxes were rare and seldom came down the mountain, but Mountain Weasels were often seen around mountain villages.

Xu Yang’s biggest concern was that the farm’s chickens would be targeted by the Mountain Weasel.

These creatures were too ferocious in stealing chickens and ducks, pure wild animals turning human-reared poultry into hunting grounds, sometimes killing them just for sport, even when full.

In the mountain villages, it was tough for chickens and ducks to survive, and of course, survival meant being fated to become human food.

Xu Yang’s chicken coop was quite secure, with only a few small ventilation holes after the doors were closed, so for now, the poultry was doing well.

Still, it was better to keep an eye on these critters.

After petting the Tabby Cat for a while, Xu Yang went over to the henhouse to feed the chickens and ducks.

The Tabby Cat glanced at Xu Yang, then got up and continued its patrol, surveying its territory.

The chicks and ducklings were growing at a rapid pace; within just half a month, they were already fully feathered.

They looked even more delicious.

The farm’s current project was a large one.

Building two greenhouses, installing a surveillance system, and setting up a sprinkler system in the blueberry greenhouse.

Previously, Li Shan had to drag a hose into the greenhouse for watering, which was hard to control.

With the sprinkler system, watering would be as simple as the flick of a switch, and it could even be set to water automatically at scheduled times.

Li Shan watched the workers in the blueberry greenhouse, making sure they didn’t disturb the blueberries.

The pipes were installed overhead in the greenhouse, with sprinkler heads dangling down, lending a tech-savvy look to the place.

Xu Yang feeling somewhat idle, decided to start a livestream.

The farm was quite lively today.

Livestream title: Farm Construction in Progress

As soon as the livestream started, fans began to flood into the room.

[Old Xu, you’re live!]

[Good morning!]

[The farm’s developing pretty fast!]

The drone provided an excellent perspective for the livestream, free from too much noise.

When the number of viewers in the stream grew a bit, Xu Yang said,

"I’ve invested in two more greenhouses, planning to plant some good stuff, some Southern fruits."

"Let’s see if they can be successfully cultivated."

"Right now, the farm is still in its initial phase, not yet profitable, and I’m still figuring things out."

"Running a farm isn’t that easy. The startup phase is the most important. If it turns a profit, it can continue; if it operates at a loss, there’s no choice but to give up."

Starting a farm is much like starting a business.

Many people think running a farm is easy, but end up overwhelmed with work, incur losses, and have to exit the business, disappointed.

Examples like these are prevalent.

Xu Yang grew up in a mountain village and was smart since childhood, so the farm’s development has been very stable.

[Old Xu, I suggest you focus on becoming a mountain rushing streamer, broadcast hosts earn more money!]

[Yeah, go into the mountains to hunt wild boars, isn’t that money-making?]

[You need to catch the hot trends, do more live streams fighting with wild boars, you’ll definitely go viral, and breaking 100,000+ followers is possible!]

Netizens kept giving him suggestions.

There really were many "gods" on the internet that could offer many useful pieces of advice.

For example, imitating Kobe’s, Gao Qi Qiang’s, or game characters who dig down deep to rise, they can all make over ten thousand a month.

According to them, Xu Yang just needed to go into the mountains to find wild boars, take a stick to hunt them, and he could really become popular.

But the type of audience attracted by such live streams are just there for the thrills, and after a brief flare of popularity, viewer fatigue sets in, and he was destined to fade.

The most important thing was that Xu Yang didn’t like that kind of life.

Who goes looking for wild boars to fight just for the fun of it!

And you can’t do everything just for the gimmick.

In the live streaming industry, if you really want to last long, it’s all about personal charm.

It’s about making others think the host is nice, interesting, to attract them.

Xu Yang waved his hand and replied:

"I’d rather be my farmer steadily, live streaming is just a hobby, sharing some interesting farm stories with everyone."

"Won’t be doing any grandstanding stunts."

Hearing him say this, a large crowd expressed their support.

That’s the kind of streaming that’s nice to watch.

At this moment, the Maquan dog came running over happily.

"Yuanbao, sit!"

Xu Yang teased the dog.

The little guy was really smart; when told to sit, he sat down immediately.

This dog also had some popularity on the internet, everyone knew it followed commands strictly, with strong execution ability.

At this moment, the mischievous netizens thought about causing trouble.

[Brother Yang, Yuanbao is so obedient, what would happen if you told it to bite you?]

[Hahaha, that’s true, it’s so loyal, would it bite you?]

[Try it!]

Xu Yang glanced at the viewers’ comments.

Seeing everyone talking about this, he said with a smile:

"Yuanbao definitely won’t bite me, it’ll pretend not to hear and act as if it’s very busy."

"Let’s try."

Xu Yang shouted to Yuanbao:

"Yuanbao, come here!"

The Maquan dog joyfully ran over.

"Yuanbao, sit!"

The Maquan dog immediately sat down.

"Yuanbao, spin around!"

The Maquan dog quickly spun in a circle.

At this time, Xu Yang stretched out his arm in front of Yuanbao,

"Yuanbao, bite me!"

Upon hearing this command, the Maquan dog seemed slightly startled, then in the astonished eyes of the viewers, it lowered its head and started rapidly digging at the ground with its front paws.

It was particularly amusing; it seemed to be saying:

"I’m busy, you can’t see me, you can’t see me."

When dogs feel awkward, they pretend to be very busy.

Xu Yang extended his arm further and called out again:

"Yuanbao, bite me!"

The Maquan dog whined softly and moved in a different direction, continuing to rapidly dig with its front paws.

This scene left the viewers in fits of laughter.

"Alright, that’s enough pretending, you don’t have to bite."

Xu Yang withdrew his arm and said with a laugh.

Upon receiving the order, the Maquan dog immediately smiled happily.

A loyal dog won’t hurt its owner, even when given the command; some dogs would pretend to bite lightly in such a way that they wouldn’t leave a mark.

The Maquan dog just pretended not to hear.

It was another display of intelligence.

Ignoring the command because it was busy, because it couldn’t hear.

Of course, to humans, such behavior seems rather comical.

The atmosphere in the live stream was light-hearted.

Xu Yang then went to inspect the construction of the greenhouse.

Greenhouses are graded. Some are just covered with tarps to provide insulation.

Others use more advanced tarps that can resist cold and keep warm; even in winter, it’s hot inside.

Of course, there are also the top-tier laboratory greenhouses, with indoor temperature control.

The new greenhouse Xu Yang built was a high-grade model, a double-layer greenhouse with two layers of tarps creating a hollow state in between for better insulation.

The ventilation was on the back side of the greenhouse, using a rear ventilation structure.

Upon entering, there was a smart control system that could adjust the temperature inside the greenhouse, which could also be connected and operated remotely via a smartphone.

Temperature regulation relied on an intelligent heat collection water tank; a whole row of water tanks lined the wall, absorbing solar energy during the day and providing heat at night, you could think of it as a large-scale heater.

This was the Northeast’s most representative high-grade greenhouse.

A 100-meter-long greenhouse required an investment close to 200,000.

Sitting on money was just sitting on it anyway, it’s better to invest it.

Greenhouse cultivation earns by three words: off-season.

In winter, without a big area of fruit and vegetable production, it’s the greenhouses’ turn to shine.

So, Xu Yang was in a hurry to plant a batch now; winter comes early here, it gets cold as soon as it’s cold.

By the time the fruits are ripe, they can sell for a good price.