Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 374 - 372 Hungry Mama, the cat is risking its life

Xiong Youming lived in a local guesthouse in the town.

Little Yin didn't drink, so he drove Chen Ying back up the mountain.

"Dr. Chen, I'm really sorry. I didn't know he had such plans, I thought he was just asking on behalf of his unit."

While driving, Little Yin explained, fearing that Chen Ying might misunderstand him.

"It's okay, I asked around, and Teacher Xiong seems to be a decent person."

Chen Ying shared the information he received from his classmates with Little Yin.

"You should double-check with your sister later, and if it really is as I found out, I think we could possibly collaborate."

During the conversation, the car stopped outside the protection station, and Little Yin picked up his phone and looked at it for a while, clicking his tongue.

"So, you mean he genuinely has the interests of the observation station at heart?"

"Probably," Chen Ying was still chatting with his classmate about Xiong Youming's unit, and he responded offhandedly.

"Little Yin, please relay a message to Brother Xiong for me. We can discuss this matter, but it can't be just between us two. I can assist him in scientific projects, we can apply officially for a project, and I can serve as a consultant or something."

Chen Ying wasn't very familiar with research related to giant pandas but could offer some help if starting from individual dietary and behavioral differences.

But frankly, the results they would achieve by Xiong Youming and his three colleagues at the observation station would definitely not meet the high standards he desired.

After all, high-level research usually comes from well-equipped labs, and Xiong Youming's unit didn't even have a decent lab.

However, if this project truly yielded results, it should be possible to achieve their goal of improving the working and living conditions at the observation station.

Back at the emergency station, he chatted with Little Sen about what kind of person Xiong Youming was, and unexpectedly, Little Sen knew a bit about him.

"He was born in a big city, and his family's financial conditions were somewhat decent. After graduation, he could have stayed in the city to work, but due to his passion, he willingly applied to work at his current place. Their unit used to collaborate with a national large-scale research center and set up a national-level observation station, where many trainees would go to volunteer and conduct research projects."

Three years ago, their collaborative project ended, and the research center withdrew from the station, but Xiong Youming and his colleague Gao Lu stayed.

"I heard people say, Xiong Youming and Gao Lu got married, and Gao Lu's younger brother also went to work at their observation station two years ago, but I don't know much about the specifics. Brother Ying, if you want to know more, should I ask around?"

Chen Ying stopped him.

The information he found was similar to what Little Sen had said, except he didn't mention that Xiong Youming's wife was also his colleague.

Chen Ying went online to search for the observation station where Xiong Youming worked and found many related reports and articles written by researchers in the circle on their personal blogs.

From these writings, Chen Ying pieced together a draft of an observation station deep in the mountains and reinterpreted Xiong Youming's intentions.

Early the next morning, Chen Ying got up to take Dong Sheng for a walk in the woods and greeted Little Sen rubbing his eyes as he came out.

"Brother Ying," Little Sen mentioned, "last night I asked a few classmates about it, and I sent the general information to your VX. Take a look when you have the time. That Teacher Xiong is quite admirable; I don't think I could do what he does."

Curiously, Chen Ying took out his phone and browsed for a while, clucking his tongue softly.

Indeed, birds of a feather flock together.

Xiong Youming and Gao Lu had been dedicated to wildlife and plant conservation since their university days. They had been at the observation station for nearly ten years, having passed up numerous opportunities to transfer elsewhere.

When the research project ended, the research center wanted to transfer Xiong Youming back to the capital, but he refused, choosing to stay in the impoverished conditions at the station.

He didn't just stay himself, but also persuaded his wife and even his brother-in-law to join them.

Gao Wen, an engineering whiz, solved many problems for them as soon as he arrived at the station.

For instance, he fixed imprecise equipment placements, expanded the range of the walkie-talkies to ten kilometers, and improved the security of their surveillance monitoring and humanoid recognition systems, increasing the security of their anti-poaching and illegal harvesting operations, among other things.

What a gem of a guy!

Eventually, Little Sen mentioned that Xiong Youming's visit to seek Chen Ying's help wasn't for his own career advancement. He wanted to rise to the rank of research fellow to maintain the observation station and secure some research funding to improve the station's infrastructure.

After reading all the content sent by Little Sen, Chen Ying thought for a long time and called Xiong Youming.

"Brother Xiong, I've thought about what you mentioned yesterday all night. How about this, I'll come over next month to do an on-site inspection. It would be ideal if I could encounter that giant panda, but if not, I still need to observe the area where it usually lives and moves. There are some questions that aren't convenient to discuss over the phone; I'd rather talk to you face to face."

Although the giant panda was important, there were already too many researchers studying it. With Sichuan Province being internationally leading in this field, how could an ordinary conservation researcher like him compete?

To preserve the observation station, it wasn't necessary to focus exclusively on one animal; botanical research could also fulfill his aspirations.

Indeed, Chen Ying had his own hidden motives.

Yin Li, although he had taken up an official career, could only regard the work at the Protection Station as within his normal scope of duties. To achieve notable results, besides completing the assigned tasks, conducting research was indispensable.

Furthermore, Yin Li wouldn't be working at River Source forever; he needed to plan ahead for his future.

Collaborating with Xiong Youming and Gao Lu on a project, even if Yin Li was only playing a supporting role, would nevertheless enhance his resume if the project was successful.

The information Chen Ying had gathered online was certainly not as comprehensive as that of Xiong Youming and Gao Lu, who had lived there for over a decade, so it was essential to meet and discuss the details in person.

Moreover, when he learned that there was also a population of clouded leopards there, he was very eager to understand how their living environment compared to that in his own region.

During lunch break, Chen Ying received a call from his mentor.

"What, sending the mother tiger and two little cubs to Huanan?"

He felt that Jiamu Gully had too many tigers, but was it necessary to send them so far away?

"Ah? They want to emulate the giant pandas for wild reintroduction, so they're interested in the mother tiger? But she's with her cubs, I guess she won't be looking to mate for a couple of years."

Professor Bai told him that they hoped to leverage the presence of the mother tiger to train the released male tigers in the wild to regain their wild instincts.

They didn't expect the mother tiger to teach the male tigers, but rather hoped that the cubs raised by the mother could adapt to the environment of Huanan Forest and, in the future, directly breed there.

As for the mother tiger, if there was hope that she might mate with a releasable male tiger after a couple of years, then they'd have struck it big.

"By the way, you mentioned that the mother tiger from Old Northern Gully's cub should also be independent by the second half of this year, right? Have you considered sending them to live in Huanan?"

Chen Ying didn't even know how to respond to his teacher's question.

Did he want this? Shouldn't they consider that the climates and vegetations of the two places are different, and whether local tigers can adapt to a new environment is uncertain?

It's not like in a zoo with doctors and keepers watching over them twenty-four hours a day.

Besides, he had just agreed to go and inspect the area with Xiong Youming; to turn around and tell them he wasn't coming, that he was going to Huanan instead...

He just couldn't open his mouth to say it.

Professor Bai probably knew this was a difficult matter, so he told Chen Ying not to feel pressured. They would first go and negotiate with the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau.

Chen Ying quickly told his teacher about his commitment to visit their reserve, and Professor Bai, more decisively, told him to go now and come back once they had negotiated a solution.

"No, I still have things to handle here. Big Tiger is scheduled for an artificial eye transplant, Elder Tiger's other eye needs a cataract surgery schedule, and Dong Sheng's treatment is currently at a bottleneck. If I leave now, I'll need to find someone to provide special physiotherapy for him. Ruan Mengmeng and Little Sen alone can't handle these Big Cats."

Upon hearing this, Professor Bai scoffed with disdain, "A tiny problem and you're worried. It's perfect timing as I've just taken on some new graduate students this year. I'll send them over, and let Little Sen guide them through the steps of animal treatment and post-operative care."

Professor Bai was busy and the new graduate students were being taught by a few doctoral senior brothers.

Now it's only April, and undergraduate students are busy with final thesis defenses and such.

The graduate students studying with Professor Bai were directly admitted through recommendation. They also needed to write their theses, but they were closely related to the current research projects.

Helping out at the rescue station would also resolve their thesis issues. If they performed well, they might even join the project directly upon enrollment in the second half of the year.

After sorting out the manpower, what Chen Ying needed to handle were the few Big Cats at home.

Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard didn't need much attention; they could even help take care of the three disabled tigers of varying sizes.

As for Jinya and Little Jin, these two enjoyed wandering around and it was normal for them not to return home for several days. As long as they didn't encounter any large feline predators or bears, they were almost invincible in the mountains.

Just as he finished jotting down the tasks at hand and was about to find Little Sen and Ruan Mengmeng to discuss everything, he heard Jinya's call from the woods.

"Two-legged beast, come quick, there's an emergency!"

Little Sen and Ruan Mengmeng couldn't understand Jinya's language, but they could still detect the urgency in her cries. Including Old Gao's younger sister at school, the three of them immediately ran to the balcony and looked in the direction of the sound.

Jinya appeared from the woods in a panicked state, her fur disheveled and muddy.

Following her, Little Jin came running with a clump of mud-covered prey in his mouth, also looking completely disheveled.

Chen Ying, who was giving Dong Sheng a massage on the first-floor platform, saw this and immediately jumped off the platform.

Taking the mud-covered small animal from Little Jin's mouth, Chen Ying, without even identifying its species, hurriedly took it to the sink, using a soaked towel to clean its clogged mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

After ten minutes, the pitiful little creature finally revealed its true face.

Chen Ying's hand, holding it, shook with fear.

"We're in cat trouble now, Little Sen, call the Panda People over quickly!"

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