Chapter Eighty-Five Camping (Four)

  Listening to the occasional sound in the camp: "Open fire". Ju An and Wang Fan both laughed, who said that the devils found it difficult to learn Chinese? The key is to see who is interacting with them. Looking at these three people shouting, they are speaking authentic Mandarin, which made Wang Fan and Ju An feel a little proud in their hearts.

  Everyone gathered around the bonfire and started eating dinner. Each person had a piece of beef, two small lettuce leaves, and a small piece of meat, plus a few slices of potato. Tiger Head and Garlic Head also managed to get some beef and chicken ribs, and they ate with great relish. Wu Song, on the other hand, quietly tore off a few strips of chicken and fed them to his dog, along with half a pear.

  Old Taylor then shared the red wine he brought with everyone, Anderson praised the good wine, and even Wang Fan nodded in agreement. Old Taylor said with pride: "I've kept this bottle of wine for many years, today I took it out to wish our business gets better and better." After finishing speaking, he raised the ceramic jug in his hand.

  Everyone followed and toasted with Old Taylor, shouting: "Business is getting better and better". It's a pity that Ju An actually can't tell the good from the bad, no matter what red wine it is, Ju An doesn't like it very much, thinking that it's not as good as the old wine at home that costs 5 yuan a bottle. Seeing everyone praising the good wine, even Wang Fan nodded after drinking, so he had to pretend and said "good" twice.

  After finishing dinner, they cleaned up the dishes and sat around the bonfire, chatting. The sky had already darkened completely, and the high flames of the bonfire accompanied by the faint night color hid the angular faces of several people, making each face look rounder. Hu Tou and Suan Tou lay quietly beside the bonfire, while Ju An held Wu Song in his arms, occasionally stroking the soft fur on his body. Everyone sat around the bonfire drinking beer that had been chilled in the creek water for a while, with a hint of coolness and fragrance, discussing the interesting stories of tourists from several pastures during this period.

  After chatting for a while, Keli took out his own guitar and started playing and singing.

  "Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling"

  From glen to glen and down the mountain side Echoing through the valleys, disappearing on the other side of the mountain

  Summer's gone and all the flowers are dying

  You must go and I will wait

  Keli's low, muffled singing rose around the campsite, and the bright moonlight cast a layer of faint silver on several people. The red bonfire contrasted with it, occasionally echoing with bird calls or the sound of horses scattered to graze, happily whinnying. Ju'an felt as if time had almost come to a standstill, and his entire being, both body and soul, became clear and refreshed, just like the mountain stream's crystal-clear water, so serene, so pure.

  As Kuri finished singing, it took a while for everyone to gradually come back to their senses from the sound of the song. They followed with a gentle applause, almost without making any noise, as if they were afraid of disturbing this beautiful tranquility.

  Keli handed the guitar to Ju'an, who shook his head and passed it to Wang Fan beside him. Wang Fan strummed a few notes, whispered a sentence to Ju'an: "She's in her dream", then plucked the strings again. Ju'an followed Wang Fan and started singing.

  How quiet our night is

  Watching you sleep beside me

  Like a child

  I wish I could wake you up

  Let me tell you how much I love you

  Lover, look at me

  When the song was over, Wang Fan handed the guitar to Old Taylor. Old Taylor and Anderson also sang a duet of the famous "Hotel California". Everyone took turns singing two songs each, nobody spoke, continuing to listen as Cui sang alone, his low voice harmonizing with the crisp guitar sound, echoing through the mountains.

  Everyone sat in front of the bonfire until after nine o'clock, then went to the creek to brush their teeth and each retired for the night. Some of them put pads on the ground, placed sleeping bags on top, used their saddles as pillows, while Cried used his dark cowboy hat instead. Of course, they all had their long guns by their sides.

  He lay down comfortably and left Wu Song beside the tiger head and garlic head on the ground, followed Wang Fan into the tent, pulled up the door of the tent, and soon fell asleep with the birdsong and the fresh mountain wind.

  Just as they were sleeping soundly, Tiger Head and Garlic Head suddenly let out a frantic barking. Ju An immediately woke up with a start, listened for a moment, then quickly got dressed, grabbed his rifle, and followed Wang Fan out of the tent.

  At this time, Old Taylor and the others had already woken up and stood up. Hu Tou and Suan Tou were circling a tree not far away, jumping towards the tree.

  They walked under the tree and shone their flashlight up at it, discovering a dark thing climbing upwards.

  "What's going on? This tree is climbing quite smoothly."

  Taylor frowned and said: "Look at this little brown bear, it's only a few months old. Everyone be careful, the mother bear might be nearby."

  I picked up the flashlight and shone it upwards, and after a closer look, I found that it was indeed a half-grown bear cub squatting on the tree, looking at a group of people and two dogs below.

  Everyone had been crouching for almost half an hour, but the mother bear still hadn't appeared. Tyler said: "This little bear may have been abandoned by its mother or something happened to her. If not, she wouldn't be gone for so long. The little bear is probably starving and wants to get close to the camp to find some food."

  After finishing speaking, she turned around and went back to fetch a plate, poured some milk into it, and placed it under the tree.

  Jū ān pushed Hǔ tóu and Suàn tóu to the side of the bonfire, and people also kept a distance from the tree, observing the small thing on the tree from afar. After a while, the little bear slowly slid down the tree, sliding for a segment before stopping to observe, then sliding down another segment, taking a lot of effort to finally come down from the tree. Then it sniffed the milk in the bowl and happily started eating. After finishing, it even walked towards Jū ān and the others, walking for a bit before squatting and calling out twice. It seemed to be extremely afraid of Hǔ tóu and Suàn tóu by the bonfire.

  Taylor laughed and said: "It seems that the little guy is really starving, look at its thin skin and bones."

  Ju An saw this and turned around, taking an apple from the backpack beside the tent. He walked towards Little Bear, holding out the apple. Little Bear retreated a few steps, but seemed unable to resist the temptation of the apple and stopped again. This time Ju An crouched down, slowly approaching Little Bear. Little Bear didn't back away this time. Ju An placed the apple in front of Little Bear, who sniffed it before starting to eat. As he did so, Ju An stroked Little Bear's fur with his hand, which was a bit rough and scratchy. Just as Tyler had said, there wasn't much meat on its body - you could feel the bones right away.

  He touched two and then retreated back, standing beside several people.

  "Hey, this little guy is really skinny, you can feel his bones just by touching him."

  Taylor shook his head and said, "This little guy is lucky to have lived for so long, there are too many natural enemies of small bears in the forest."

  "Besides bears, what else can hurt a little bear?"

  Keli said: "Sometimes, the male bear will also kill the cubs to force the mother bear to mate again. In addition, wolves and mountain lions are natural enemies of the cubs. If they encounter them near their mother, it's a different story. Apart from humans and male bears, there's nothing that can harm these little guys, but now this little guy is basically just moving food in the forest."

  At this time, the little bear had finished eating the apple and was walking slowly towards Gu An, calling out as he went. When he reached Gu An's feet, he suddenly stood up on his hind legs, wrapped his front paws around Gu An's calves, and wailed loudly.

  Ju An's heart immediately felt a wave of sympathy, and she squatted down to touch the little bear's head. Then she walked to the edge of the tent and took out another pear from her bag to hand it over to the little bear following behind.

  Anderson laughed and said: "An, you might as well raise him yourself. Anyway, he won't survive if left in the forest."

  Wang Fan heard this and became happy, saying: "Right! Right! Anzi, you just take care of it then".

  After hearing this, Ju An thought for a moment and really moved her mind to adopt the little guy, saying: "What should be paid attention to when raising this little guy?"

  Taylor laughed and said: "Anderson was joking, what's the point of keeping this thing, when we get back, hand it over to the police, they'll take care of this little guy."

  Looking at the little guy eating pears, stroking its thin and bony back, he shook his head and said: "Let's see if it's still here tonight, if it's still in the camp tomorrow morning I'll raise it myself, the little guy is pretty good, if not then let it go."

  After finishing, he picked up the little bear and put it next to the bonfire. As soon as he put it down, the little guy threw away the apple, climbed onto Ju An's leg, and roared at Hu Tou and Suan Tou. Ju An patted its head, and Hu Tou and Suan Tou came over to sniff the little bear, then stuck out their tongues and licked its body a few times. The little guy immediately stopped roaring, stretched out its neck, and also licked Hu Tou and Suan Tou.

  Looking at the little bear licking the heads of Tiger Head and Garlic Head with a flattering expression, Ju An felt like laughing.

  Taylor then said to everyone, "Alright, let's all go back to sleep. We'll head back tomorrow." Ju An and Wang Fan turned around and walked towards the tent, while Xiao Xiong saw Ju An leave and immediately put down Hu Tou and Suan Tou, following closely behind him with quick steps.

  Watching Ju'an prepare to set up the tent, the little bear was anxious and wanted to drill in, still making a sad cry. Ju'an had no choice but to come out, put the little bear next to Hu Tou and Suan Tou, and put the remaining pears beside them. After turning around, he followed again, and it wasn't until several times that the little guy stopped following him. Staying by Hu Tou and Suan Tou's side, making a sad cry, looking at Ju'an, Ju'an had no choice but to say to Hu Tou and Suan Tou: "Hu Tou, Suan Tou, take good care of this little guy."

  Taylor and several others by the bonfire couldn't help but burst out laughing at this scene.

  The tiger and the garlic head stuck out their tongues, continuing to add to the little bear's face, this time the little bear didn't cry out anymore. Only then did Ju An turn around and return to the tent, pulling up the tent door.