The next day, Steve managed to link himself up with a truck .
Just as Li Du was about to leave in his car, the small white monkey caught up with him . It stood by his feet and looked up at him .
Li Du had stayed there for three days, and during those days, Li Du had been feeding the little monkey . Sometimes, he fed the monkey apples and bananas and other times, he gave the monkey some dried fruits .
The little white monkey enjoyed eating dried fruits . Li Du had been right in guessing that the animal's intelligence was way ahead of other animals . Very quickly, the monkey learned to crack nuts and even knew how to bite on the melon seeds with its teeth .
Li Du took out an apple and passed it to the monkey . Then he put out his hands and said, “You stay behind here by yourself . I have to leave . But I will probably be back . ”
The little white monkey hugged the apple and continued to look at Li Du . Its eyes were clear and it stared at Li Du with seriousness .
Sophie bent down and stretched out her hands to the monkey . Then, she asked, “Are you willing to leave with us?”
The little white monkey watched her and then looked up at Li Du again . It looked solemn .
Obviously, it had no idea what that meant .
After some thinking, Li Du got Brother Wolf to dig a hole . He wanted to see if they could bury the body of the other white monkey . If the monkey did not allow them to touch it, then they would leave it behind . Otherwise, they would bring the little white monkey along when they left .
The temperature on the surface of the ground was slightly warmer than in the cave . Furthermore, the bodies of the two white monkeys had been exposed to hot air . That had hastened the speed of their decay .
The carrion of the white monkeys was emitting a strange smell . Brother Wolf had dug a hole and put on his gloves . He intended to place the bodies of the monkeys inside the stone cave .
The little white monkey saw that and this time around, it did not stop them .
In fact, ever since the carrion had sped up in its decaying, the little white monkey had stopped going near the bodies, unlike previously . Perhaps its biological instinct had led the little white monkey to stay away from the rotting carrion .
Many animals would naturally avoid scavenging . Carrion contained a large number of bacteria, viruses and parasite eggs, which could easily lead to the death of whoever tried to eat it .
After burying the white monkeys, Li Du gave two peanuts to the little monkey again . The white monkey took them and held one peanut in each of its hands . Li Du opened the car door and got in . Then, the monkey started to hesitate and walked around with the peanuts .
After waiting for some time and seeing that the little white monkey refused to get in the car, Li Du sighed . Then he closed the door and said, “Let's go . ”
Driver started the car and Ah Meow suddenly looked up towards the backseat . Li Du peered out of the car and saw that the little white monkey had appeared by the car door . It was grabbing onto the door with one hand and pulling at the car window with the other . It was trying to climb up, agile and quick .
Even if the heavy-duty SUV were to speed up, it would not be able to shake the monkey off .
Li Du stretched his hand out, and the little monkey promptly jumped up and grabbed onto Li Du's wrist . Just like that, it was in the car .
Inside the car, the little monkey sniffed and spat out a peanut from its mouth . Then it picked it up and passed it to Li Du .
Li Du had no idea what the monkey wanted . Sophie grinned and said, “That's the monkey acknowledging you . It is sharing its food with you . In the animal world, that's considered accepting you as their partner . ”
Hearing that, Li Du could not help but grin . “That's the food I gave you, to begin with, you know?”
He then took out an apple and cut it in two halves . The little white monkey took one half and jumped onto the headrest of the front passenger seat . Swaying its legs, it started to eat the apple .
The terrain was rough and the car shook vigorously . However, it was as though the little white monkey had a balancing board on its bottom . Although its body swayed with the car, it never fell off the headrest .
Li Du turned to Sophie and asked, “This little monkey is now part of our family . I want to give it a name . What do you think we should name it?”
Sophie crossed her slim legs and said, “Going with your style, it should be named Ah Bai, right?”
Li Du laughed . “The name you suggested is too low-class . However, since you are my fiancée, I will listen to you . It will be named Ah Bai . ”
Sophie rolled her eyes and Li Du and said, “I have no class? I'm sure that's the name you wanted to give it . ”
Li Du was indignant, “Who said that?”
Sophie asked, “Alright, then you tell me, what names were you thinking of?”
“Ah Chi, Ah Hou, names like that,” Li Du laughed .
The truck did not return to Krasnoyarsk Krai, like the SUVs . It was left in the wilderness . The SUVs started on the return journey with the two mammoth tusks on the top of the car .
There were plenty of ivory hunters in Krasnoyarsk Krai . That was where the hunters took their rest and replenished their necessities . It was also a mammoth ivory exchange market .
Li Du had returned with two huge ivory tusks that looked to be in great shape . They would be considered in the top quality range in the market . Their car drove into the city, attracting the attention of many .
Some of them were the members of Flint's gang . They recognized the cars of Li Du and his group . Such magnificent SUVs were rare in the provincial city .
After they arrived in the city with the ivory, Li Du and his group headed for the bar .
The bar was named Golden Ivory . From the name, one could tell that it was a place for ivory exchange besides being a drinking spot .
The owner of the bar was named Sapog, which meant “boot” in Russian . In the past, he was also a mammoth ivory hunter, a rather famous one . He was known for his capability at looking for ivory .
However, there was one time when his party encountered an ice storm in the wild, just when they had run out of fuel . Hence, when the ice storm hit them, out of a group of six people, four were frozen to death, and the remaining two were frostbitten .
After that experience, Sapog never ventured out to the wild again . He spent the money that he had accumulated from ivory excavation to open a bar . He started to earn an honest living and stopped risking his life .
When Li Du and his group entered, there were dozens of people drinking and chatting inside .
Other than the owner, the staff included a bartender and a lady server . The owner tended the counter, where he presided like a king . He was a typical Slavic man of forty-odd years, with a chestnut-colored short hair and a strong physique .
Li Du sat there and took out a thick roll of dollars . He said, “Bring out any alcohol you have . Each fellow here will get a beer!”
Because the mammoth ivory market mainly traded in US dollars, the dollar was considered hard currency in the small town . It was even more popular than the Russian ruble . That was because the US dollars were stronger in the foreign exchange .
Hearing Li Du's words, the owner looked at him curiously and asked, “Buddy, today was a rewarding day for you, was it?”
Li Du nodded and smiled, “You guessed it . We got two big ivory tusks . ”
The owner let out a whistle and said, “That's cool, buddy . Congratulations . ”
Then, he raised his voice and said, “Everyone gets a glass of beer . Today, our friend got two big ivory tusks, so let's congratulate him!”
Hearing that someone was giving out free beer, some men started to bang on the tables in excitement . There were also a few who shouted happily . The atmosphere in the little bar became cheery and loud .
Someone walked up to them and asked, “Sapog, my old mate, this buddy of yours looks very familiar . Where is he from?”
Sapog smiled . “They are from America . They are in Siberia for the mammoth ivory . You guys gotta be careful, they are going to excavate all the ivory around . ”
Chapter end
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