The driver just thought Feng Yi looked good, a bit like the popular youngsters in the entertainment industry. In fact, he couldn't tell which was which, as they all looked similar to him. He had heard that a star was coming to Yangcheng to film a show recently, so he asked this question.
When Feng Yi said he was not a star, he believed it.
That’s right, how come a celebrity can’t even get a taxi
I heard that celebrities have cars to pick them up wherever they go. Besides, no celebrity would go to a place like Xiaofengshan, right
So, the thought of "Am I carrying a celebrity?" flashed through the driver's mind and then disappeared.
"What are you going to do in Xiaofengshan? For scientific research? To shoot videos? Or to explore? In the past two years, a few internet celebrities have been there to shoot videos, but their experiences were not very good, and now no one goes there anymore." said the driver.
"Looking for someone." Feng Yi saw that the driver was talkative and wanted to get more information from him.
"What is on Xiaofeng Mountain? This is my first time there." Feng Yi asked.
"There are snakes. It's called a snake mountain. Even birds don't build nests there. Oh, there are also many agriculture and animal husbandry-related companies there. There are large tracts of farmland and pastures at the foot of the mountain."
"Then if I want to go up the mountain, I can only walk?" Feng Yi asked again.
"Not necessarily. I heard that there seem to be people living on the mountainside over there, and there are cars going up and down the mountain. I'm not sure about the details, but if you're lucky, you can come across a car going up the mountain, and you can just pay them a little money to give you a ride. I heard it from someone."
"What should I pay attention to if I go there?" Feng Yi opened the memo on his phone, ready to write down the driver's words.
"What should you be careful about?" The driver smacked his lips. "Bring plenty of food when you go up the mountain. Don't touch anything in the wild if you can. You don't know if it's poisonous or not. And don't provoke animals no matter how curious you are. The security drones there are elusive. They come out for patrol every day at irregular times."
Recalling something, the driver continued, "Last June, three freshmen from other places came here to explore. They secretly carried a lot of things up the mountain to have a barbecue and catch snakes. A drone detected the fire source and flew over to catch them.
"Later, the three were arrested and educated. They had to take exams, such as secret forest management papers and ten sets of animal protection papers. They were only allowed to be released after passing the exams."
"What about animal protection?" Feng Yi didn't hear clearly.
"'Secret Forest Management Papers' and 'Ten Animal Protection Papers' are what we jokingly call them. They refer to the Forest Law, Fire Prevention Regulations, and Wild Fire Source Management Methods, etc., referred to as forest management. Animal protection refers to those related to animal protection and ecological environment protection. An expert summarized ten sets of test questions. Later, I heard that the three children, with an average height of 1.8 meters, cried while doing the test papers!"
Feng Yi suddenly realized and wrote down the key words.
The driver continued, "Anyway, that's a protected area. Don't touch any of the animals on the mountain, no matter if they are snakes, birds or frogs. Just treat them as protected animals. Stay away from them for safety reasons. If you kill or injure them by mistake, you'll be in trouble. Just remember one thing - if you touch one, you're breaking the law; if you touch ten, you'll be sentenced to prison."
"This... is a bit exaggerated. What if we encounter a rat? We can't fight it. There have been many rat plagues recently." Feng Yi asked.
"Are you kidding me? There are rats on Snake Mountain? Snakes are the natural enemies of rats! The tyrant of Xiaofeng Mountain is the King Elaphe, which is very good at swallowing rats. The rats there have been wiped out long ago!
“Do you know why there are still people living on the hillside of Xiaofeng Mountain? The people living there have to take care of feeding the snakes! They have to transport rats from other places every once in a while, otherwise the snakes isolated in the reserve will starve to death.”
"Oh, yes, the king cobra eats mice." Feng Yi nodded, "and it's non-toxic."
The driver smacked his lips again. "The Elaphe, which is what many people call the Rapa Cavalli. We also call it the King Cobra here. A long time ago, it was actually raised for food..."
"You are not allowed to eat it now." Feng Yi said.
Driver: "In my grandparents' generation, the elders said, 'If you don't kill a snake when you see it, you are guilty of three crimes.'"
Feng Yi: "Now it's 'one violation, ten penalties'?"
"That's about right." The driver sighed. "Why did the climate change so suddenly? Why did so many animals die so suddenly?"
Feng Yi was silent. He didn't know how to respond.
During the past two decades of abnormal climate, too many animals and plants disappeared, common species became endangered, and endangered species became functionally extinct.
Those who support the strictest protection laws do not necessarily have sympathy for those animals and plants, nor do they necessarily have any awareness of ecological protection. They regard large-scale extinction events as warnings. The survival status of animals and plants is also an indicator of the human living environment, and is the data that the sixth database needs to collect.
Therefore, "data" must be protected. This is a common awareness.
The atmosphere in the car was a little heavy.
But this heaviness began to become restless as we got closer to our destination.
There are fewer and fewer buildings on both sides of the road, but more and more warning signs, including signs with phone numbers printed on them.
The driver spoke up: "If you see a snake outside the quarantine area, call the number on the warning sign. It's likely that the snake is from the reserve and has escaped."
Feng Yi saw a cordon not far away, and the further he went, the closer the road got to the cordon.
This is already the area of Xiaofeng Mountain. Feng Yi can see that on a large rock in the isolation zone, a snake is slightly raising its front body and looking at them, as if it is looking at a loach that has strayed into a group of snakes.
The further you go in and the closer you get to the isolation zone, the more you can see figures crawling along the edge of the zone.
"There are indeed a lot of snakes here."
Feng Yi’s face turned pale.
The driver was fine, as it wasn't the first time they had come here, so he wasn't surprised. "They just like to get close to the edge of the isolation belt and watch the passing vehicles and pedestrians."
"Are you so brave?"
"These snakes are generally very brave and ferocious. Now that no one dares to eat them, they are becoming even more arrogant. Okay, here we are!"
The driver parked the car at the designated location, and Feng Yi had to walk the rest of the way by himself. No outside vehicles were allowed to go up the mountain.
Seeing Feng Yi tense up, the driver patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't be afraid, it's just a rat snake."
Feng Yi was not comforted.
"Cauliflowers everywhere" may just be a local drama, but "Cauliflower Snakes everywhere" is a horror movie!
The driver looked around the parking lot and parked the car in the smoking area. I didn't dare to smoke while driving on the road, because there is a special smoking area in Xiaofengshan where you don't have to get out of the car.
Lighting a cigarette, the driver watched Feng Yi put on his equipment.
Armed to the teeth.
The driver smiled and said, "We have an old saying here, 'If you see king cobras within a mile, there will be no poisonous snakes within ten miles.'"
There are two kinds of punctuation when listening to something:
There are no poisonous snakes in this place.
Ten Miles/No Venomous Snakes—There are snakes everywhere! They're just not venomous.
Actually they are all the same!
The driver said: "Although it sounds exaggerated, the king cobra also eats snakes. You have to believe that its ability as a foodie is unquestionable."
Feng Yi curled his lips: "Thank you, Master, you are really good at comforting people!"
The driver smiled and shook his head. "Look at you, you are so afraid of snakes, why did you come here? Aren't you looking for trouble?"
Feng Yi said faintly: "Life is not easy."
This instantly touched the driver's heart. He held a cigarette in his mouth and said with a sad look: "It's not easy for any of us."
Feng Yi asked: "Are you not afraid of snakes?"
Driver: "I'm not getting off the car, so what should I be afraid of?"
Feng Yi: “…” That makes so much sense.
Driver: "As long as I'm in the car, no snake can sneak into my car! I won't even go to the toilet! I'll find a place to relieve myself after I leave here."
Feng Yi: “… so rigorous.”
Driver: "We have a saying here, 'There will be thunder during the Waking of Insects, and there will be many insects and snakes.' After the Waking of Insects this year, the elders said that there might be more insects and snakes this year than last year. Now that the weather is getting warmer, there are indeed more snakes, insects, rats and ants on the mountain. Be careful."
"Thank you, Master. Please leave me your phone number and I will contact you when I return for extra money." Feng Yi said.
"Okay." The driver had a good impression of Feng Yi. He was reluctant to miss the big order and was also a little worried about Feng Yi.
After thinking for a while, the driver said, "How about this, within three days at most, if you don't call me, I'll call you, and if I can't get through, I'll call the police, okay?"
"OK!"
Feng Yi was also worried about his personal safety, and the driver's method suited his needs.
After exchanging phone numbers, the driver finished smoking, checked the car again, and left immediately.
Feng Yi was carrying a bag, turned his helmet somewhat uncomfortably, took a deep breath, and went up the mountain holding the snake-repelling stick.
Now that things have come to this, what is there to be afraid of
Going further up the mountain, there were isolation nets on both sides of the road. The rat snakes gathered on the other side of the isolation nets, spitting out their tongues and moving along with Feng Yi's movements.
Two-meter-long rat snakes are not uncommon here, and there are also larger ones, but Feng Yi did not go to see them.
He now felt like goose bumps all over his body were about to explode.
I have lived in the city for more than 20 years, and the only ways I have been able to get close to nature have been by visiting major tourist attractions or elegant farmhouses. This is the first time I have been close to a wild ecological reserve that seems to be sparsely populated and where plants and animals grow wildly.
Every few blocks of the road, you can see waves of flying insects whose names you can't tell. When Feng Yi walked over, several flying insects rested directly on the visor of his helmet.
Something flew onto his shoulder, and flew away after a while. Feng Yi only caught a glimpse of a black figure.
It's not even summer yet, but these flying insects are already active.
We continued walking up and saw a checkpoint where someone was guarding it. Feng Yi was allowed to go up the mountain only after registration, and the location of the Feng family's ancestral home was also told to Feng Yi.
"There is only one old house on this mountain. It seems to belong to the Feng family. I'm not sure where it is. There is only one person living there. If you are talking about that old house, just follow this road up and you should be able to see it. You can also ask people you meet on the road. They will know."
After Feng Yi thanked him, he continued walking up the mountain.
Fortunately, I didn’t walk far before I heard a car approaching and got a ride.
The two people driving the car were from a feed factory at the foot of the mountain, and they had work to do when they went up the mountain.
"Feng family ancestral home? Are you going to look for Uncle Ya?" someone asked.
"Uncle Ya? That should be the case. The elders in my family just told me that someone is taking care of the house there. I have something to do at the old house." Feng Yi said.
The other party looked at Feng Yi's equipment and said, "From your appearance, I can tell that this is your first time here."
"You live in the mountains? Is it good living there?" Feng Yi asked.
They both laughed.
One person explained: "Who would want to live in the mountains now? Even if there is WiFi, there is no one to deliver takeout at night. Not to mention that there are eight snakes watching you squatting in the toilet. Would you be willing to do that?"
"Isn't there an isolation zone?" Feng Yi said.
"The isolation net is right next to us. When you look out the window while squatting on the toilet, you will see seven or eight snakes clinging to the isolation net not far away, staring at you. Except when we are on duty or temporarily assigned tasks, we live in the company dormitory at the foot of the mountain. Those who can live safely on the mountain are not ordinary people."
"Like Uncle Mute?"
"Yes, Uncle Ya is really not an ordinary person. He lives a very happy life."
"What's Uncle Ya's last name? What's his name?" Feng Yi asked.
"What's his name? Just Uncle Dumb. I don't know his last name, but everyone calls him Uncle Dumb because he can't speak."
The mountain looks desolate, but the road is well built. The car does not feel bumpy when driving on it, and even slightly larger stones cannot be seen.
"There are vehicles that clean the road every day." One person explained, "Uncle Ya often asks people to carry his things for him. There aren't many vehicles going up and down the mountain, but it's not uncommon. We'll take you up the mountain first and come back later."
The car drove up the mountain for a while. After passing the mountainside, the isolation belt gradually moved away from the lane. Traces of human activities could be seen in the woods on the side of the road. The planted trees were obviously planned. Some were fruit trees that had already borne fruit, and some were ones Feng Yi had never seen before.
Just as he was thinking, Feng Yi suddenly heard someone next to him shouting, "Hey, I saw Uncle Ya! Uncle Ya!"
The car stopped by the roadside.
Feng Yi looked in the direction they pointed.
A man who looked to be about seventy years old and dressed like an old mountain farmer came out of the woods.
His face was dark and had deep wrinkles, probably because he was often outdoors. He wore cloth clothes, rubber shoes, and a large bamboo basket. His trouser legs were covered with half-dried mud. He wore a straw hat slightly tilted on his head, with a few strands of long gray hair sticking out from the brim of the hat, swaying with his steps.
The bamboo basket on the old man's back was filled with freshly picked fruits and vegetables. Feng Yi couldn't recognize most of the varieties, as they were all specialties from the mountain.
The young man in the driver's seat opened the car window and waved to the old man, "Uncle Ya, you have a guest at home, I'll bring it to you!"
Uncle Ya looked into the car.
Feng Yi met his gaze and did not see any gloom in his eyes.
Uncle Ya raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face and gave Feng Yi a bright smile.
Then, Feng Yi saw the old man take out a latest smartphone from his pocket which was covered with mud and debris.
It is from the same series as Feng Yi’s phone, but the old man’s model has a “plus” in the end.
The top model is three thousand more expensive than the one Feng Yi has. And it is hard to buy.