Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 398 - 395: Er Niu Upgrades to Motherhood (Vote for Monthly Tickets)

At night, a shadowy figure slipped along the wall and into the rest area.

It paused briefly at Chen Ying's door before quickly darting past and charging into the Dog Wet Nurse's territory.

The Mother Dog lay at the entrance of the doghouse where inside, three little cubs and two little foxes cuddled together, sleeping soundly.

The doggie wet nurse raised its head vigilantly in the darkness due to the intruder, but did not make a sound.

The familiar scent let it know immediately who had come.

The Little Snow Leopard came near the Mother Dog with a rabbit in its mouth, dropped the rabbit in front of her, took a step back, and lay down.

Indoor shelters blocked the howling cold wind, and the temperature was a bit higher inside than outside.

Moreover, Chen Ying and others had modified the electric heating elements, utilizing solar panels on the roof to power indoor electric heaters so the room wouldn't drop to subzero temperatures during the coldest times.

Solar power couldn't keep all the room heaters operating, so after discussing with Sun Qihai, only the doghouse was installed with heating elements, and their own main source of heat was electric blankets.

After lying down for a while, the Little Snow Leopard felt uncomfortable and walked over to the heaters. It found a suitable spot and lied down.

Hmm, this is nice, warm and cozy, I'll sleep here until dawn, then leave.

Ten minutes later, the Snow Leopard was snoring heavily, sleeping like a log on its back.

On the warm mat, the Mother Dog let out a long, fatigued breath. With such noisy snoring, how could any dog get some sleep?

In the wee hours of the morning, when the dew just started to form ice pearls, Yellow Fur and the Snow Leopard came one after another, each carrying a young even-toed ungulate cub in their mouths.

They knew better than to drag their prey into the room and dropped it at Chen Ying's door before they too entered the Mother Dog's room.

It wasn't known exactly when during the night Er Niu also came over to mooch off the heater. She and the Little Snow Leopard huddled together, sleeping in all directions.

The Mother Dog was in the middle of nursing the little ones and looked lifelessly towards the two snow leopards that passed by outside her doghouse, in a sort of resigned despondence.

She slightly turned her body, ensuring no creature from outside could see her own cubs and the adopted Little Foxes.

With plenty of nutritional intake, this Labrador-mix wet nurse had ample milk, feeding five little cubs with no burden.

The little foxes were much smaller and stood no chance against the three dog cubs.

However, the Mother Dog clearly understood that without the two adopted foxes, she and her own cubs would not be able to live such a good life. Therefore, she would suppress her own children from grabbing food with her mouth and satisfy the needs of the two adopted ones first.

But the little foxes had tiny appetites, got full quickly, politely made way, and curled up to sleep near the Mother Dog's chin.

Whether it was or wasn't understanding something, they always settled down to sleep only after feeling the warm breath from the Mother Dog's nostrils.

After finishing feeding the kids, Chen Ying also came in with a food bowl.

At the sight of four leopards that hogged the doghouse, he closed his eyes, seemingly forcefully suppressing his anger.

Setting the food bowl in place, Chen Ying went to check on Er Niu.

Er Niu's belly had grown quite large. Feeling his presence, she just opened her eyes, then turned her head, leaned on his arm, and fell asleep again.

He had consulted a Snow Leopard expert from Qing Province, who said that snow leopards are very sleepy before giving birth, and their appetite increases too, so he should pay more attention to her condition.

Typically, a mother will go to the place she feels safest before giving birth, which is why Chen Ying made the Snow Leopard's den as comfortable as possible, worrying that Er Niu would be uncomfortable in her confinement.

But this girl, rather than sleeping comfortably in her own den at night, came to the doghouse to get warm.

Truth be told, the doghouse wasn't even as warm as her own den.

Seeing Chen Ying with a dark face, the three other leopards, including the Little Snow Leopard, hurriedly scampered out.

When Chen Ying brought Er Niu over, the three snow leopards on the neighboring animal shed's wooden platform looked at him with innocent faces.

"Alright, you three don't play pitiful here. There are a few little cubs over there too, show a little concern will you?"

The Snow Leopard let out a huge yawn and kicked Yellow Fur.

"What are you doing here slacking around? Off with you, go do whatever you need to do." Then turning to his sister, his look slightly contemptuous, "You too, hurry off and come back after Er Niu gives birth."

Unwillingly, the Little Snow Leopard who was sent away by its older brother didn't dare to utter another word of protest.

Yellow Fur could have a bout with the Snow Leopard, but approaching it would only mean getting beaten up.

Watching the Little Snow Leopard leave reluctantly, waving its tail, Yellow Fur howled twice at the Snow Leopard before jumping down.

After greeting Er Niu at her den, it scampered, catching up to the Little Snow Leopard.

The two leopards whispering to each other, unintelligible as to what was said, Yellow Fur accelerated, and the Little Snow Leopard followed in pursuit.

The Snow Leopard finally got rid of the two gloomy leopards, feeling as if the air had cleared up considerably.

It did not stay for long; before Er Niu gave birth, it had to patrol the surroundings.

Ever since they arrived here, the Snow Leopard had claimed this wasteland as its own territory.

And truth be told, they were the boss wherever the four Snow Leopards went, and no other leopards dared to contest their territory.

Previously wandering female leopards, after sensing Er Niu and the Little Snow Leopard's scent, moved even further away. Whether or not they were grumbling while moving could only be known to the female leopards themselves.

On the third day after the three leopards left, Er Niu seemed to show signs of going into labor.

From early morning, she appeared restless and agitated.

Chen Ying stayed by her side in the animal shed the whole time.

But Er Niu did not seem to want to stay there, she went to Chen Ying's room, circled around, pulled his quilt to the foot of the bed, and rolled on it to sleep.

It was merely a quilt; Chen Ying did not mind at all.

While Er Niu was yet to give birth, he quickly consulted experts and prepared a postpartum nutritional meal in advance.

His phone was on the whole time, live streaming to experts in Qing Province who were also anxiously awaiting Er Niu's delivery.

At noon, Er Niu suddenly ran to the wooden frame in the animal shed and lay on her side, frantically licking her belly and the entrance to her birth canal.

Chen Ying was worried that she might give birth outside with no experience, but she began to uncomfortably turn her body, crying out in pain.

Chen Ying watched, his heart breaking, wanting to go over and comfort her, but the experts told him not to approach for the time being, as Er Niu had just started with contractions, and it was predicted that it would still be some time before she would give birth.

After more than two hours of such distress, Er Niu went back to her den and lay down without moving again.

Worried about Er Niu, Chen Ying and Sun Qihai had no appetite to cook; they simply boiled a couple of instant noodles to cope, then sat back in front of the monitor to watch Er Niu's condition through the den's surveillance.

In the evening, Yin Li drove over.

"Xiao Song told me Er Niu is about to give birth. I figured neither of you are in the mood to cook, so I brought some food. I'm off for the next couple of days, I'll take over the monitoring for you two. You both go get some sleep first, and I'll call you when there's any news from Er Niu."

Yin Li knew he couldn't be of much help, but before the birth, there was no need for Chen Ying and the others, they should take this time to get some sleep.

Sun Qihai was sent off by Chen Ying to rest in his room. Chen Ying wrapped himself in a down jacket and lay directly on the camp bed in the surveillance room.

The surveillance room was right next to his bedroom, and in addition to Er Niu's den, there were also cameras connected to the monitor at the dog's kennel.

Perhaps sensing Er Niu's agitation, the puppies and Little Fox cubs were a bit scared, huddling together, no longer eager to nurse.

The Dog Wet Nurse, on the other hand, had her ears pricked up, vigilantly guarding the entrance to the dog kennel, not budging an inch.

At two-thirty in the middle of the night, Er Niu began to agitate herself again.

Chen Ying woke up with a start, rubbed his face, went out for a breath of cold air, and became much more alert.

Armed with a thermos and milk bottles as well as meat he had prepared earlier, he headed to the animal shed.

The Snow Leopard had returned, lying beside the earth wall of the animal shed, visibly restless.

"Er Niu, don't be afraid, I'm here."

Chen Ying tossed the cotton pad he was holding onto the ground, sat down on it, and looked down into the den.

Unfortunately, it was pitch black inside and he couldn't see clearly.

Hearing Chen Ying's voice, Er Niu whined softly for a while.

Chen Ying clipped a small night light he'd bought online on the entrance to the den.

The light was soft, just enough for him to see Er Niu's condition.

After waiting for more than an hour, with the Snow Leopard going in and out three or four times, Er Niu finally began giving birth.

The first Little Cub was born quickly.

Without Chen Ying's help, she picked up Big Zai to her chest and began licking him carefully.

After a while, the second cub was born as well.

Er Niu looked very tired after the first birth, but she was gathering her strength, preparing to welcome the birth of a third child.

Chen Ying took the opportunity to feed her a few bites of fresh meat to replenish her strength.

Perhaps because both Chen Ying and the Snow Leopard were guarding her outside, although Er Niu was in pain, she didn't seem to be in a hurry.

When Er Niu worked hard to give birth to two small weak cubs, almost three hours had passed.

After the birth of the fourth cub the placenta also slipped out, signifying that the birth was truly over.

Chen Ying let out a long sigh of relief and hastily mixed water with milk powder and nutrition powder to replenish Er Niu's strength.

Almost half an hour later, after Er Niu had fed her children, she burrowed out and frantically showed off her full breasts.

Almost all the meat Chen Ying had brought was already fed to her, and before Yin Li could bring over more, the Snow Leopard dragged back fresh prey it had hunted.

Er Niu said nothing, just buried her head and started gnawing.

While she was eating, Chen Ying reached in to take out the cubs for measurement.

Er Niu merely glanced sideways at him, continuing to gnaw on the bones.

The Snow Leopard stepped up to Chen Ying, gently touching the little cubs with its nose.

Seemingly frightened by the smell of blood and milk on the little cubs, it involuntarily stepped back, uttering a surprised, questioning whine.

"You worthless thing," Chen Ying teased with a laugh, pushing away the Snow Leopard's head.

He carried each of the four little ones to the nursery box for measurement.

Length, weight, limb integrity, and struggle strength were all normal.

Sure enough, the last cub born was indeed the weakest, weighing a quarter less than its heaviest brother, and its cries were faint.

Among the four cubs, only the third one was a little sister, but she weighed a bit more than the fourth.

After measuring, he sent all four cubs back to the den, patted Er Niu's head, and Chen Ying left the animal shed with the items.

"How are they, the little cubs?" Yin Li came up to help pack up.

"Not bad, they're all healthy. Except for Si Zai being a little light, there are no issues."

He handed things over to Yin Li to tidy up and ran over to the computer, uploading the data of the four cubs into the database.

Qing Province received the data on the four cubs very quickly.

Immediately, specialized nursery teachers analyzed the data and provided individualized feeding plans.

These plans were also a backup, as they had to wait to see Er Niu's condition. If she couldn't manage to nurse all four cubs, human intervention would be necessary.

If she could handle it, it would undoubtedly be best for the mother to take care of them herself.