Chapter Thirty-Three: The Yellow-Furred Fox Steals Eggs

As night fell and the moonlight poured down, the poplar trees courted the Russian olives, a romance doomed to never bear fruit.

Zhong Di held a flashlight and slowly crept toward the chicken coop.

Woo woo... woof.

Yu Sheng barked again, and the chickens clucked a few times. Overall, things remained calm.

The yellow weasel, a creature steeped in old legends, could not be forgiven for sneaking into the chicken coop to steal chickens.

Thud thud!

Just as Zhong Di drew near, sounds came from the other side of the coop. The noise gradually grew distant, then faded completely.

The darkness grew still again, the only sounds left were the chirping of crickets.

"Damn it, let it get away."

Zhong Di muttered. The commotion just now had frightened off the yellow weasel.

He felt his way to where the noise had been and found a small hole in a corner.

The opening was tiny, about the size of a small bowl.

On the wire mesh, Zhong Di found a tuft of grayish-white fur.

He searched online for comparisons—sure enough, it was yellow weasel fur.

He had to think of something. With his chickens targeted by a yellow weasel, trouble was brewing. Once these creatures fixate on a place, they never let go.

Woo woo... woof.

Yu Sheng barked again, at the same spot as before. Even when Zhong Di approached, Yu Sheng hadn’t followed.

"Silly boy, what are you barking at?"

Zhong Di called Yu Sheng. This dog was always barking at nothing.

Grumbling, Zhong Di decided to check where Yu Sheng was pointing—there might actually be something there.

He shone his flashlight where Yu Sheng was looking and examined it closely.

"A hedgehog?"

These creatures were common in the countryside, especially in the woods around here. Drive at night with high beams, and you’d hit one or two without even trying.

Well, look at that—it’s stealing eggs!

Zhong Di looked at the broken eggs, feeling a pang of regret.

There were two hedgehogs, thieving together—bringing family along, apparently.

He entered the coop and, after some effort, managed to catch them both.

Hedgehogs were nowhere near as agile as weasels or wild rabbits. If you tried, you could always catch them. With a large bag or a bucket, they were easy to trap.

Yu Sheng hovered nearby. Zhong Di patted his dog’s head, encouraging him. If Yu Sheng hadn’t spotted the hedgehogs, they might have ruined plenty of eggs tonight.

Especially since the yellow weasel had also been discovered by accident. Normally, yellow weasels were hard to spot, but tonight Yu Sheng had stumbled upon it.

The hedgehog was found, and the weasel scared off.

After placing the hedgehogs in a bucket for safekeeping, Zhong Di went to cook dinner, frying up six or seven eggs and giving half to Yu Sheng.

Don’t underestimate two hedgehogs—when they wreak havoc, it’s never just a little. They’re omnivores and eat anything.

Wait a minute... Both a yellow weasel and hedgehogs suddenly showed up tonight to steal things—that couldn’t be coincidence.

Yellow weasels stealing chickens was normal, but hedgehogs going after eggs was unusual.

Perhaps the eggs’ unusual qualities were attracting these creatures.

After dinner, Zhong Di called his father.

"Hey, Dad, we’ve got a yellow weasel and hedgehogs stealing eggs in the orchard. Do you have any ideas?"

He got straight to the point. Egg theft was serious business—it was his steady income, after all.

"What? Yellow weasel? That’s trouble—they hold grudges. If you mess with one, the whole group comes for revenge."

There were plenty of stories about yellow weasels, superstitions about spirit foxes and the like, but their vengeful nature was real.

"So what do I do? I can’t let it steal chickens and eggs every day!"

If left unchecked, the losses could add up. Even if they took ten eggs a day, in a month that’s twenty or thirty kilos—enough to pay a worker’s wages. Absolutely unacceptable.

"Well, you really can’t afford to provoke the yellow weasel. Just leave a few eggs for it every day—see if it understands peaceful coexistence."

Zhong Tian thought about it; it wasn’t much of a solution, but the problem needed resolving. His son’s eggs sold for a high price—any loss was significant.

"Alright, I guess that’s all I can do."

Hedgehogs were easier to deal with; reinforce the perimeter and they couldn’t get in. As for the yellow weasel, there was no good way to handle it for now.

"By the way, I’ve finished negotiating the sheep deal. They’ll deliver tomorrow. Each lamb is twelve hundred, twenty-five in total, all top quality. Each adult sheep is twenty-four hundred, thirteen in total. I didn’t buy the cheap ones—these will be ready to breed lambs after some time. Total is over sixty thousand. They rounded it down to sixty thousand even."

This was meant for tomorrow, but since they were on the phone, he mentioned it.

"Alright, I’ll wait for the sheep tomorrow then."

His father had negotiated the deal, so it was likely safe. Though his father hadn’t made much money in life, he had a sharp eye.

He could tell at a glance whether something was worth it.

"We might need a sheep pen too. I’ll bring two guys over tomorrow. There’s a pile of wood at the north end for building a house—we’ll throw together a simple pen."

With that, he hung up.

The sheep were settled—good news.

But that troublesome yellow weasel was still a headache. Even if you reinforced everything, it could climb right over, unless you sealed it completely.

After considering the matter, Zhong Di decided to rest. No chicken dinner games tonight—he needed to mend his wounded heart before diving back in.

He opened his messaging app and checked his inbox.

"I heard your eggs can cure anorexia? When I have time, I want to see for myself. If Yang Yi values them, there must be something special."

As soon as he opened it, he saw a message from Su Rou—a very unusual girl.

Anyone who could befriend someone like Yang Yi, a rich second-generation, wasn’t ordinary—there was reason behind it.

To put it simply, you could tell much about a person’s character and background by looking at their circle. Even if there were differences, it wouldn’t be too far off.

Someone like that took the bus, lived in the development zone, knew brands well—a person you couldn’t easily figure out at first glance.

"Sure! Just come over. I’ll give you my eggs for free."

Zhong Di replied and closed Su Rou’s chat.

"Brother, come to Dongyang for a meal when you have time. We developed a high-end cuisine set with your eggs—it’s excellent!"

This was a message from Sun Miaomiao. After a brief thought, Zhong Di replied, "Okay."