Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 401 - 398: You're a Dad Now, Can't You Be More Stable?

Lady Lynx had enjoyed a meal.

Actually, she did not eat much, as she and Er Niu had already mostly eaten during their previous hunt.

"Do you want to see my cub?" Er Niu offered the invitation.

Lady Lynx hesitated for a moment and then nodded reservedly.

She used to dominate over Er Niu in fights, but female friendships can also arise from such clashes.

Lady Lynx didn't come too close, she lay down and stared at the den for quite a while.

"Your child has grown well, he will definitely be a strong leopard," her beautiful eyes glanced at the neighboring one, "just like their father."

Er Niu also lay on her side, resting her head on her right front paw.

"Your cubs have left, haven't they? Don't you plan to have another litter?"

"Not yet, I don't plan to have cubs this year, I'll rest a bit longer. I plan to walk towards the mountains, the guys say there are strong males over there."

While Lady Lynx's previous cubs turned out fine, she was always slightly dissatisfied. After one left her, it had a territory dispute with another lynx and got beaten badly, forcing it to slink away to another place.

Though a child outgrows its mother's grasp, she had beaten every rival nearby; how could she have given birth to such a cowardly fighter? Surely, it must be the father's genes!

After a glance at the three little leopards, Lady Lynx prepared to leave.

But before she left, she hesitantly asked Er Niu why there was a fox smell around.

"The children's father picked up two fox cubs and handed them to the two-legged beasts to raise. He has no milk, so he found a dog wet nurse."

Lady Lynx's mouth visibly twitched.

She had never really understood the minds of two-legged beasts.

Never mind, Lady Lynx was off to feast elsewhere.

Lady Lynx appeared here also in pursuit of birthing Tibetan antelope. Although she had met Er Niu unexpectedly, friendship clearly wouldn't fill her stomach; she still needed to nourish her body better this year for stronger cubs next year.

Watching Lady Lynx disappear into the dusk, Er Niu looked up at the Snow Leopard in the next enclosure.

"Why don't you go too? I can manage alone, and the two-legged beasts will help me."

Snow Leopard glanced at her, jumped off its perch, came around beside Er Niu, and lay down.

"It's fine, I'm not picky about taste. Besides, that's not the only good meat to eat. Did you like the meat I brought you today?"

Er Niu nodded, her eyes slightly narrowed, showing a smile.

"I liked it a lot; the meat was chewy and the bones tasty."

Snow Leopard wrapped its paws around her neck, carefully licking the fur on the back of her neck.

"If you like it, I'll catch more for you."

"No need, I ate a lot today and still have plenty left. Go get some when I'm hungry."

The two leopards affectionately snuggled in the animal shed, watching the screen display. Sun Qihai took a screenshot, sent it to his phone, then added some text before sending it to his mother.

Sun's mother was a tough woman but also a mother.

Like most mothers, she hoped for her child to follow a bright, clear path into the future.

But Sun Qihai, like a young animal full of courage, hoped to rely on himself to claim his own territory and even planned to support his mother when he became more mature and stronger.

This was the source of their recent conflicts.

Even though Sun Qihai had already come to River Source, his mother still hadn't given up on persuading him to return to the lab.

Caught in the middle, Mr. Sun recently had the excuse of a business trip, and now he dared not even go home.

"Mom, these are my current research subjects, Er Niu, and her mate Snow Leopard. The three snow leopard cubs in the den are still too young to move, but once they can, I'll take photos for you."

Sun Qihai didn't continue to argue with his mother; the joy was apparent just from the photos and messages he sent.

His mother didn't reply, and after waiting a while, Sun Qihai turned off the chat and sent the photo to his classmate group.

Minutes later, his advisor called to inquire about the progress of his research.

He even proposed that Sun Qihai discuss with Chen Ying the possibility of setting up a research station there.

If Chen Ying agreed, it would be a collaboration under the school's name, with funding from the school. Chen Ying would only need to provide needed support.

Sun Qihai hesitated a moment, mentioning that it might not be convenient for many people to approach during Er Niu's cub-rearing period.

"I certainly know that. Applying for a project isn't that simple, you need to prepare, then implement external facilities and hardware, and finally select personnel. Besides, winter isn't suitable for research there, the earliest we can move in would be next March or April, when the Snow Leopard mating season starts."

After chatting with his teacher a bit more, Sun Qihai decided to ask Chen Ying for his opinion during dinner before responding to his teacher.

After sleeping all afternoon, Chen Ying was cooking when he connected with Little Sen to inquire about his situation.

Upon connecting, he saw two little cats sprawled on Little Sen's shoulders, making him look utterly despondent.

"What happened to you?"

Before Little Sen could speak, Ruan Mengmeng leaned in, "That group of small binturong cubs have taken him as their mommy. They climb on him all day and can't be pulled off."

Ruan Mengmeng took Little Sen's phone and gave Chen Ying a tour.

Aside from the two on his shoulders, there were another two fighting in the back of his hood, and one more dangling from his back, practicing how to bite and claw.

The binturongs grow quickly, especially with hand-feeding and a well-balanced diet, this group, although still very young, already showed their talent for wreaking havoc.

It was just that Little Sen, being a particularly favorite Daddy, was liked by the cubs; otherwise, as feeders, they wouldn't climb on Ruan Mengmeng.

"By the way, Brother Ying, they've brought Elder Tiger back."

Little Sen took the phone to the entrance of Elder Tiger's animal shed.

Elder Tiger was lying leisurely on the ground, yawning from time to time.

"Elder Tiger is really cunning as an old tiger. After it was sent back, it refused to eat and caused a fuss. The keeper in charge hardly dared to sleep, worried something might happen to it. It was Professor Bai who intervened and had them bring Elder Tiger back here, and look, does it seem like it's fasting or making a fuss now?"

In front of Elder Tiger, Little Sen complained that the meat provided wasn't enough; it even went behind to catch rabbits and pheasants, and it had already eaten several Water Deer and Antelopes.

After listening for a while, Elder Tiger flicked its tail and unceremoniously smacked Little Sen on the leg, causing him to grimace in pain and glare at it grudgingly.

Seeing that Elder Tiger still had its imposing manner, Chen Ying was quite pleased.

After greeting Elder Tiger through the camera, he asked about the situation with the Tiger mother in the Huaqiu Valley cave.

"She has already left. They directly released her into the wild in the mountains near Shaos City. But they were worried she might not be familiar with the environment and unable to find food easily, so they specifically fed her every three days."

Little Sen forwarded the recent report from the other party to Chen Ying.

"Yesterday was feeding day again, but the food they delivered hadn't decreased by today; instead, other animals tried some. The monitoring staff said they hadn't seen Tiger mother and the two cubs for two or three days, and according to the last coordinates left, they must have moved deeper into the forest."

"Okay, just follow up on that situation. The focus should still be on our side. Do the binturongs have any issues being released without their mother's guidance?"

"There shouldn't be any. Although there's no mother cat, these little cats are very smart. By the way, Brother Ying, Jinya and Little Jin haven't been back for a long time. Recently, another cub appeared at the riverbank they used to frequent for water; Professor Bai says it's a small Leopard cat."

He looks kind of cute yet pitiful.

Little Sen thought for a moment, asking Chen Ying if he could go and feed this little cat.

"Not for now. You keep an eye on it. A cat this small should usually be learning with its mother; if it's out by itself, either something happened to her or it's not yet fully capable of independence and that's why it's this hungry. Just pay more attention to it."

Little Sen, who couldn't bear to see cubs suffer, felt reassured after receiving the flexible instructions from Chen Ying.

Little Sen asked about Er Niu's situation, and Chen Ying showed him a video of Er Niu's children. His eyes even teared up, he really wanted to pet the Snow Leopard cubs!

Petting was impossible, he could only take solace in looking at photos and watching videos.

After chatting a bit more, Professor Bai and Teacher's wif walked back hand in hand. It was a good opportunity to take the phone and gently scold Chen Ying.

"We have two universities' veterinarians and animal-related majors contacting me, wanting me to inquire if they could establish an observation and research station at River Source. This has already exceeded my expertise, and I told them to find you directly. If you're not sure, don't agree to it, let them inquire with Qing Province Forestry and Grassland Bureau themselves."

Professor Bai glanced at his student, "I'm planning to retire, only going to teach a little at the university, and mainly work on finishing the book I want to write. Do you want to take in your poor teacher?"

Chen Ying gave a wry smile, "Teacher, are you tapping me up here? You can stay at the rescue station anytime, and if that's not convenient, I'll get the village to clean up my family's house, and you can move there with Teacher's wife; it's not far from the rescue station, and if you need something, just have the village youths run errands, they won't refuse."

Professor Bai probably waited for this sentence, smiling reservedly and nodding, saying he wouldn't need to call, he would check it out himself when he was free.

After finishing the chat with his teacher, Sun Qihai called him out for dinner.

Taking advantage of mealtime, Sun Qihai directly revealed the matter his teacher asked him about.

"Brother Ying, what do you think I should tell my teacher? Don't worry about saving my face, you're in charge here."

Chen Ying thought for a moment and decided not to take on the task, suggesting they contact Qing Ye directly for collaboration.

Since Qing Ye was already handling related research, it would be purely disruptive to step in.

The two chatted while eating, and just after they finished talking about that, they suddenly saw the Snow Leopard rushing over, almost knocking the dining table over.

"Damn, even as a daddy now, can't you be a bit more composed?" Chen Ying quickly held down the table and glared at the Snow Leopard.