34. Two Monkeys

The capital city is divided into four cities, East City, West City, South City, and North City. East City is mainly the imperial city. South City is the area where dignitaries live. West City is the commercial area, and merchants basically live here. North City is a slum area, and people who live here are all poor or lowly.

  West City is the commercial area, very prosperous and lively. There are shops, restaurants, and guest houses here. There are also various stalls on both sides of the street. The hawking here is loud from morning to night.

  Zhao Yao sat on Liang Run's shoulder, looking around curiously. He found that there were many new shops and stalls here after he hadn't been here for a while.

  Liang Run saw the stall in front selling sugar paintings, carried Zhao Yao over, and asked the boss to draw a tiger. There was another stall selling red dates and yam cakes in front, and Liang Run bought some for Zhao Yao.

  Zhao Yao sat on Liang Run's shoulder, eating the sweet sugar paintings and the delicious red dates and yam cakes.

  There was a performer not far ahead, performing such acts as spitting fire from his mouth, breaking rocks with his chest, and throwing large porcelain jars.

  Many people were watching, and when they saw something exciting, they would applaud and praise. At this time, someone came up to everyone with a cymbal, and everyone would give him some money.

  Liang Run also gave two copper coins, and then carried Zhao Yao forward. There was another performer ahead, an old man directing a big monkey and a small monkey to do all kinds of interesting and fun actions, making the onlookers laugh.

  The two monkeys had golden fur all over their bodies, handsome faces, and very lively expressions, which were very popular with the onlookers.

  The big monkey was still performing boxing, and the little monkey came up to the onlookers with a broken big bowl, humming something in his mouth.

  Although the onlookers could not understand what the little monkey was saying, they could probably guess what it meant, so they gave it a few copper coins and put them in the bowl.

  The little monkey was very human, and when someone gave it money, it would bow to thank them.

  The onlookers saw that the little monkey was so polite, and they liked it even more. People who originally only gave a copper coin would not be able to resist giving another one or two copper coins.

  After a while, the little monkey walked in front of Zhao Yao. Not long ago, Zhao Yao asked Liang Run to put him down.

  The little monkey was a little afraid of Laiman who followed Zhao Yao. Seeing its fear, Zhao Yao asked Laiman to hide behind him.

  "Laiman is very good, it won't bite you." Zhao Yao said, and put the five copper coins in his hand into the broken bowl in the little monkey's hand. "What's your name?" He asked again, "You are so beautiful, are you a boy or a girl?" It was the first time he saw a monkey covered with golden hair.

  The little monkey felt a sense of intimacy with Zhao Yao, which made it boldly step forward. It opened its mouth and said to Zhao Yao: [My name is Xiaoniu, I am a girl.]

  Zhao Yao squatted down and stretched out his hand to the little monkey: "Xiaoniu, my name is Yaoyao, can we be friends?"

  The little girl looked at Zhao Yao with her eyes wide open in surprise, [Can you understand what I say?

  Zhao Yao smiled and said, "Yes, can we be friends?" The

  little girl was surprised to see someone who could understand her for the first time. She imitated Zhao Yao's movements and stretched out her right hand.

  Zhao Yao stretched out his hand to hold the little girl's right hand and shook it gently: "Then we are friends." Lai Man

  poked his head out from behind Zhao Yao and whispered to the little girl twice; [My name is Lai Man, and I am Yao Yao's friend. You are Yao Yao's friend now, so you are also my friend.] The

  little monkey was a little scared and shrank his neck. It looked at Zhao Yao for help.

  Zhao Yao reached out and touched the little monkey's head, smiled and said, "Lai Man is my good friend, he is very good, he will never bite you, don't be afraid."

  Lai Man hurriedly said: [You are my and Yao Yao's friend, I won't bite you.]

  The little monkey nodded, then turned his head to look at Lai Man: [If you don't bite me, then I am not afraid of you.]

  Lai Man happily shook his tail: [Girl, you are so beautiful. ]

  The little girl was praised for her good looks, and a happy smile appeared on her pretty face.

  "Little girl, is it your mother?" Zhao Yao pointed at the dancing big monkey and asked the little monkey.

  The little monkey nodded and said: [Yes, it is my mother. ]

  "What's your mother's name?"

  [Big girl. ]

  In the eyes of others, a beautiful child was talking to a beautiful little monkey. The little monkey was babbling, and the little boy seemed to understand what it was saying and talked to it very seriously. This scene was funny, cute and warm, and everyone present smiled.

  "Little boy, can you understand what the little monkey is saying?" An aunt standing next to Zhao Yao asked.

  "Yes, it said it is called Little Girl and its mother is Big Girl."

  The aunt pretended to be surprised: "Little boy is really amazing." Of course, the aunt didn't really think that Zhao Yao could understand what the little monkey was saying. She thought Zhao Yao heard the old man calling the two monkeys' names.

  "Your child is really handsome." The aunt said this to Liang Run.

  It is said that nephews look like their uncles. Zhao Yao and Liang Run are somewhat similar. The aunt thought Zhao Yao was Liang Run's son.

  Liang Run was very happy when her nephew was praised for his good looks. She said with a smile: "He looks like his mother." Yaoyao looks very much like his sister, especially his eyes, which are exactly the same.   

  "Aunt, you are also pretty." It is a matter of courtesy. When someone praises him for his good looks, he should also praise others for their beauty.

  The auntie immediately smiled like a flower: "Young master has a sweet mouth." After that, she took out an apple from the basket she was carrying, "Young master, here you go, it's very sweet."

  Zhao Yao was not polite, he stretched out his hands to take it, and then gave the auntie a bright smile: "Thank you, auntie."

  The auntie couldn't help but reached out and touched Zhao Yao's head, "You're welcome."

  "Auntie, can I give the apple you gave me to the little girl?"

  "Of course."

  "Thank you, auntie." Zhao Yao turned around and put the red apple in the little girl's bowl, "Little girl, here you go."

  The little girl liked to eat apples very much, and immediately thanked Zhao Yao: [Thank you Yaoyao. ] After that, she took the apple back to the old man and gave it to the old man.

  The old man bowed to Zhao Yao to thank him, and then put the apple in the bamboo building beside him.

  The little girl continued to hold the bowl and asked the onlookers for money.

  Seeing Zhao Yao staring at the monkeys, Liang Run picked him up and asked, "Yaoyao, do you like these two monkeys?"

  "Well, they are very beautiful and very smart." Monkeys are smarter than other animals, and most importantly, they can do many things like humans, which other animals cannot do.

  "If you like them, we will buy them."

  "Second uncle, the old man should not sell the little girls." Zhao Yao could see that the old man liked his two monkeys and treated them as his own children. The most important thing is that the two monkeys can make him money and let him survive in this world. "But, second uncle, we can ask the old man to take the little girls to do things for us."

  "Do things?" Liang Run asked, "What things?"

  "Second uncle, they can do too many things." Zhao Yao smiled meaningfully, "Second uncle, let's come find them after their performance."

  "Okay." Liang Run couldn't see what was special about an old man and two monkeys.

  Zhao Yao followed Liang Run to the teahouse not far ahead. They sat by the window on the second floor, just in time to see the performance of the old man and the two monkeys.

  About half an hour later, the performance of the old man and the two monkeys ended. Seeing this, Liang Run hurried out of the teahouse and walked to the old man. He said something to the old man, and then the old man followed him into the teahouse with two monkeys.

  The little girl was very happy to see Zhao Yao, and she jumped towards him.

  Zhao Yao hugged her, and she hugged Zhao Yao's neck with both hands and rubbed Zhao Yao's face. Zhao Yao rubbed her face back.

  The old man led the big girl and greeted Zhao Yao politely.

  Zhao Yao asked the old man to sit down.

  Liang Run poured a cup of tea for the old man.

  The old man had been traveling around the world for decades and had long developed the ability of "fire eyes and golden pupils". He could tell at a glance that Zhao Yao was of noble status, and he could also see that Liang Run respected Zhao Yao.

  "Grandpa, how old are the big girl and the little girl this year? Have they always followed you?"

  "To answer the young master, the big girl is three years old this year, and the little girl just turned two this year." The old man said respectfully, "More than a year ago, I accidentally saved the big girl and the little girl who fell into a trap..."

  The big girl and the little girl fell into the trap set by humans and were seriously injured. The old man took them home for treatment. Under the old man's dedicated care, the big girl and the little girl gradually recovered.

  After the injury healed, the big girl did not take the little girl back to the forest, but chose to stay with the old man and live with him.

  The old man had no children and was alone. Seeing that the two monkeys were willing to stay with him, he was naturally happy. So he adopted them.

  The big girl and the little girl were very smart and could understand people talking. So the old man trained them to perform and make money. Although the money earned was not much, it was enough to support the three of them. In this way, the three of them depended on each other.

  "Grandpa, are you willing to take the big girl and the little girl to work for me?" Zhao Yao said, "I will pay you wages every month and provide you with a place to live, so that you don't have to perform everywhere."

  "Young master, what do you want us to do for you?"

  "Grandpa, don't worry, I won't let you do anything bad." Zhao Yao said to the old man while touching the little girl's belly, "Grandpa, you should know that it won't be safe and sound for you to perform with the big girl and the little girl. Sooner or later, the big girl and the little girl will be coveted by others. After all, the big girl and the little girl are too eye-catching, and then there will be danger."

  These words touched the old man's deep worries. He knew very well that the big girl and the little girl were not only good-looking, but also very smart and human. The most important thing is that they can perform to make money, which will make those with ulterior motives worry about them. With his ability, he can't protect the big girl and the little girl at all.

  "Young master, we are willing to help you." The old man has always wanted to live a stable life and doesn't want to wander around anymore. Now someone hired them and provided them with a place to live, which is exactly what he wanted.

 (End of this chapter)