Gu Shi Yi finished cautiously cleaning the sheep pen and tending to the little monkey, who was quite well-behaved but just refused to eat anything. The old man had given a basket of shiny, fresh fruit—some red, some yellow, and some an unblemished white. She couldn't tell what kind of fruit it was from the fragrant aroma alone. Gu Shi Yi had worked the entire day without a single grain of rice entering her mouth; she was so hungry she could feel her back stick to her chest. Now, with the scent of the fruit, saliva rushed to her mouth. Gu Shi Yi resisted the urge to send the fruits into her own mouth, coaxing the little monkey,
"Good... take a sniff, this fruit is so fragrant. Have a bite!"
The little monkey turned its face away, ignoring her. Gu Shi Yi coaxed it further,
"Smell it, it's tasty. Go ahead, eat it. Little friend, you need to eat to grow. If you don't eat, you won't grow tall, and if you're not tall, no one will like you. If no one likes you, you'll end up like your sister, a bachelor dog for ten thousand years!"
"Squeak..."
The little monkey bared its teeth at Gu Shi Yi, emitting a mocking laugh and kept its mouth tightly shut. Seeing that sweet-talking it didn't work, Gu Shi Yi put on a stern face to scare it,
"Are you going to eat or not? If you don't eat, you're getting a spanking!"
The monkey looked at her with disdain, utterly unafraid. Gu Shi Yi became somewhat angry,
"Are you eating or not? You really don't know good fortune when it's staring you in the face. These fruits are so nice, and I don't even get to eat them, and you still turn your nose up at them!"
Having said that, she suddenly paused and glanced over at the main hall, noticing the old man dozing off with his eyes closed. She cautiously brought a fruit to her mouth, her eyes darting around. Seeing that the old man had no reaction, she tentatively bit into it gently. The bright red skin gave way to reveal the sweet flesh inside,
"Look at this, isn't it delicious? Have a bite, just one. Your sister has tried it for you; it's fragrant and sweet!"
The little monkey still turned away, but Gu Shi Yi felt that the bite of fruit in her mouth disappeared before she could even taste it, as if it vanquished more quickly than Zhu Bajie devouring a Ginseng Fruit. It was as though her mouth took on a will of its own, opening wide unconsciously, and with a crunch, she took another large bite, nearly consuming half the fruit in one go,
"Mmm! Delicious!"
Now Gu Shi Yi really tasted it—fragrant, sweet, and tinged with an indescribable flavor,
"What flavor?"
Gu Shi Yi bit another piece and chewed carefully,
"Meaty?"
She looked stunned,
"What kind of fruit is both fragrant and sweet yet tastes like meat... What on earth is this fruit?"
She finished a fruit the size of a fist in three bites, then reached for a yellow one. Taking a bite, she said,
"Hmm... this one is soft and juicy, just like a peach... delicious..."
Gu Shi Yi consumed the yellow fruit in two bites and then reached for a purple fruit that looked like an eggplant. By this time, the little monkey had caught on, finally realizing that this woman was not here to feed it, but to compete for food.
"Waa waa waa..."
The little monkey let out a furious roar, darting atop Gu Shi Yi's head like lightning, gripping her hair with its tiny paws,
"Ah..."
Gu Shi Yi screamed in pain, but still couldn't bear to release the basket, biting down on a fruit while freeing one hand to pull the monkey down,
"You don't eat yourself, but you won't let others eat either!"
After saying that, she tossed it to the ground and ran away with the basket,
"Waa..."
The little monkey, outraged, bared its teeth and chased after Gu Shi Yi. Hanging onto her arm, it bit down hard on her wrist,
"Ah!"
Gu Shi Yi let out a cry of pain, dropping the basket onto the ground. The monkey immediately pounced on it, snatching away the basket. Gu Shi Yi looked down to see an O-shaped bite mark on her wrist, from which blood faintly oozed,
"Fuck, you really bit me hard!"
Pain mixed with anger, Gu Shi Yi lunged at the little monkey,
"Waa..."
Thinking that Gu Shi Yi was after its fruit, the monkey continued to shriek, struggling with the basket as it clambered onto the rooftop. It found a spot, sat down, and started eating heartily with both hands. Gu Shi Yi, fuming and seeing stars, turned to search for stones in the yard, determined to hit that infuriating little thing,
"Waa waa waa..."
The monkey kept dodging, still voraciously eating the fruit. It didn't take long before it finished them all, and then it smugly flung the empty basket down, aiming for Gu Shi Yi's head. Gu Shi Yi dodged just in time, fuming, she was about to explode right there, rolling up her sleeves while cursing,