Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 405 - 402: Establishing the Emergency Aid Station 2

Sun Qihai offered to help Yin Li write the application.

He was well-acquainted with the trainees and, since his specialty was Snow Leopards, he knew a lot about the ins and outs of this niche community.

What those teachers and students needed, what help he could offer—he knew it like the back of his hand!

Of course, he had his ulterior motives. For instance, if it really got built, he could shamelessly ask for the first batch of placements, and he would have an excuse with his teachers and his mother.

More importantly, he could rightfully stick around.

Letting Yin Li and Sun Qihai discuss, Chen Ying went with a bottle of milk to feed the Little Leopard Cub.

Er Niu tried hard enough, but she still fell a bit behind, mainly because Big Zai had a bit too much of an appetite.

She pulled the three cubs out of the den and placed them on a specially prepared cotton mat, giving each cub a bottle of milk.

Big Zai skillfully lay back, clutching the milk bottle and started guzzling noisily.

The youngest was rather delicate, insisting that Chen Ying hold the bottle before it would drink, drinking a bit then playing with its own paws while still holding the nipple.

The middle cub drank milk properly but kept its eyes on its sister's tail the whole time.

Though a Little Cub's tail isn't as pretty as an adult Snow Leopard's, anyone who has had a cat knows that a cat and its tail are two different entities, and in a cat's eyes, the tail is like a cat teaser toy!

After guzzling down a bottle of milk in no time, the middle cub tossed aside the milk bottle and sneakily crawled from behind toward its target: the sister's tail.

Big Zai, next to it, had finished its milk but was reluctant to let go of the bottle, embracing it with both forepaws and vigorously kicking with its hind paws, as if that would squeeze every last drop out of the bottle.

But in the instant it saw its brother pounce on the sister's tail, Big Zai gave a fierce kick, sending the milk bottle flying, hitting the middle cub right on the buttocks.

The middle cub yelped, all four paws off the ground, performing a vertical leap in place.

The ruckus from the brothers frightened the youngest, making it shiver and successfully pee on Chen Ying's leg.

So, in the end, was his innocent trousers the casualty?

Chen Ying, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, picked up the youngest, pulled the nipple off and placed it on the mat, then went to fetch a cotton cloth to clean its buttocks.

As he just stood holding the youngest, the two brothers collided like wild dogs going for food, and they knocked the poor milk bottle off the wooden stand onto the ground.

Seeing its bottle fall, the youngest got so mad it ditched its usual chirp and started howling like a true northeastern sister.

All three cubs, each one an acting master.

After wiping the youngest's buttock fur clean, he placed it back on the cotton mat, poured some water to rinse the nipple clean, and coaxed it to finish the rest of the milk quickly.

After bustling around for a while, Er Niu and the Snow Leopard came back.

Judging by their bellies, they had feasted on their way.

"Aw, I found a suitable cave. It's up on the mountain, a big crack in the cliff with deep grass outside. The cubs can play by the cave mouth without worry, the grass will hide them well."

Chen Ying scratched Er Niu's neck, a bit regretting not letting it carry the small camera when it went out, or else he could have seen its chosen spot.

Er Niu mentioned there was no rush to move the cubs there; they still needed to grow a bit more.

Moreover, it was not a close journey, and neither it nor the Snow Leopard could take them all at once, they would definitely need the Two-legged Beast's help.

It would be best if they could ride in that big vehicle; it also didn't want to run, tired feet!

Er Niu affectionately twisted on the cotton mat, even stickier and more coquettish than its three cubs.

Chen Ying was packing up, ready to leave, when suddenly Little Sen's video call came through.

"Brother Ying, I can't handle it anymore, I really don't understand what Jinya is up to, you talk to it."

A distressed Little Sen stepped away from the camera, and a furry face approached, showing its big eyes.

"Aw ow, Two-legged Beast, where are you, why haven't you come back yet?"

"I'm here with Er Niu, it just had cubs," Chen Ying hurriedly explained, lowering the camera to show Er Niu's face on the screen.

He didn't know if Jinya could see Er Niu in the phone, so he pinched Er Niu's neck to make it greet Jinya.

Er Niu obediently cried out, and Jinya, on the other side, looked stunned and scurried behind the phone to see where Er Niu was hiding.

"Silly girl, Er Niu isn't on that side, just talk to it."

The two big cats curiously stretched out their paws wanting to fiddle with the phone, continuously calling out plaintively.

Hearing about Er Niu giving birth, Jinya was so anxious it spun around, its voice changing in aggravation.

Unable to scold its own Two-legged Beast, Jinya turned around and vented on Little Sen.

Though it didn't extend its claws, a few feline punches still wore Little Sen down a bit.

After Jinya ran into the woods to vent, Little Jin cautiously emerged.

"Little Jin, what did you do to make Jinya so mad?"

Little Jin looked dejected.

"No, I just happened to look one extra time when a group of Golden Cats were fighting."

"Really? Is Jinya that petty?"

Little Jin looked away, "There was a little female cat."

Chen Ying didn't know how to continue. Was he supposed to ask Little Jin if he was interested in that little female cat, or ask what exactly was going on between Little Jin and Jinya?

He guessed they didn't even know what to do themselves.

After a moment of silence, Little Jin meowed a couple of times, indicating that he wasn't really into that little female cat, but just thought its color was a bit odd, which prompted a second glance.

"How strange?" Chen Ying asked casually.

Little Jin tilted his head and scratched his neck with his hind paw, "Like the colors mixed together from the other side of the mountain."

Chen Ying thought about it, that black and red Golden Cat? Black with red spots or red with black spots?

It must be black with red spots, red with black spots would be a bit odd.

His darling still needed to be cajoled.

He had Little Sen bring Jinya back, and Chen Ying, holding Er Niu, talked with her for a good while to calm the cat's anger.

Jinya wanted to come and see Er Niu's cub, and Chen Ying worried, as he couldn't bring her here. Surely, he couldn't drive back just to bring her over.

Last time she came because Little Lynx needed surgery, and she had come as a companion animal. But how could he apply this time? Because his best friend Snow Leopard had cubs, and she wanted to come over for the Snow Leopard Cub's full-month celebration?

He wouldn't dare apply, and it wasn't certain if the leadership would dare approve.

Such a ludicrous reason, if he reported it, he would likely become the joke of the national Forestry and Grassland system. Even those who knew the truth would know he was speaking the truth, but it wouldn't work.

After finally soothing Jinya, Chen Ying felt he really needed to find a way to let Jinya and Little Jin follow him around.

Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard were the homebody types, they just wanted to peacefully live out their days in Jiamu Gully. But Jinya and Little Jin were different, probably because they were younger and had more contact with Chen Ying, so they were very lively and clingy.

You say they were in captivity, but once they ran out, they could stay away for ten days to half a month, surviving well in the wild.

You say they were wild, but they knew to come home when it was cold to sleep and bask in the sun, and would lazily chase after Little Sen when they wanted food.

However, apart from Chen Ying and Little Sen, Jinya was quite wary of other humans, including old acquaintances like Uncle Zhao. Without Chen Ying or Little Sen around, they couldn't even touch Jinya.

They talked for nearly an hour, Chen Ying's phone running out of battery, before he reluctantly ended the video call.

Er Niu lay back down, her chin on her front paws, appearing completely relaxed, her long and fluffy tail hanging down, making one want to stroke her again and again.

The day after Yin Li's report was submitted, even before he had a chance to return to River Source Station, the city's Forestry and Grassland Bureau leaders came with their staff for an inspection.

A group of people didn't wander over to Er Niu's shed, they just looked at the conditions of the three little cubs on the surveillance monitor.

"Director Yin, I've seen your report. Before this, some leaders from several universities had approached us hoping we could help with their research. I was going to come down and consult with the grassroots staff, but just as I arrived in the county, I saw the application submitted by Director Yin. Could you explain in more detail about a few issues for us?"

Would it be inconvenient? Yin Li hurriedly took out his tablet and called up his report, asking the leader which parts he needed to supplement.

Chen Ying least understood these matters and, seeing the opportunity, excused himself to feed the Snow Leopard Cubs, carrying the food basin and running off.

"Wasn't it said that that Snow Leopard could nurture three cubs?"

A researcher raised a question, and without waiting for Yin Li to explain, Sun Qihai took the initiative to answer.

Upon seeing the Big Cub on the display, which was clearly a quarter head larger than its siblings, the group exchanged glances. After Yin Li further explained about the mother leopard Er Niu's physical condition, everyone understood that, while she could keep them alive, whether she could properly nurture them was uncertain, hence why Chen Ying had decided to supplement the cubs with artificial nutrition.

"Besides Dr. Chen, no one else can approach the cubs," sighed Sun Qihai. "Dr. Chen mentioned that the two big Snow Leopards intended to move the Snow Leopard Cub to another place, they just hadn't managed to move yet."

"Why find another place?" The leader frowned, worried if the environment here was too poor?

It just looked like an adobe house, the insulation wasn't very good, and standing inside the room, the temperature felt barely different from outside.

"This needs to be turned into a first aid and observation station; house remodeling is a must," remarked the secretary next to him, taking notes on the leader's instructions.

"Besides treating animals, birds and reptiles should also be considered for treatment here."

"We've already considered this issue. We don't have many bird specialists on the center's side, so we've issued invitations to several cooperating units, hoping they can station bird specialists here."

The uninhabited area had not just animals, but also many birds.

Every year, the number of migrating birds exceeded ten thousand, and many birds also stayed here. In April of this year, a battle between two Golden Eagles and a lone wolf had occurred near Budong River.

In the end, it was pretty much a loss for both sides.

One eagle died, the wolf died too, and the other Golden Eagle mourned alone for two days and was never seen again.

Another reason why the team from the Forestry and Grassland Bureau came here for research was that they had discovered a large number of Black-necked Cranes nesting in the lake and marsh area, twenty kilometers away from the rest station. In previous years, Black-necked Cranes had been spotted occasionally, but never in such large numbers.

Upon receiving the news, the relevant research team submitted a report wanting to approach the marsh area for an investigation, which had not yet been approved.

The highland marsh was a dangerous pit if one wasn't careful.

The leaders were currently preoccupied with how to address the safety issues of the inspection team. The application for the construction of the first aid station and observation station came just in time to relieve the local leaders of their pressing problems.

Moreover, the station didn't even require local government funding, as it had already raised the money itself; to slow down the approval was to disrespect their own achievements in governance!