Forest Ranger: Starting with a Giant Panda Mom Clinging to Me
Chapter 18 - Too Many to Count

Chapter 18: Too Many to Count

The audience was stunned when they saw the lush bamboo forest. Wild bamboo forests were naturally very dense.

The previous night, Lin Tian had watered it with plenty of spiritual water. Naturally, it grew even more vigorously. Some of the bamboo reached nearly ten meters tall. Seeing such a thriving bamboo forest, the big panda froze. Her chubby face fell into a daze, as if she had never seen so much food. After a moment of stunned silence, the panda suddenly moved at a speed that belied her bulky frame, quickly scrambLin toward the bamboo forest.

Her waddLin limbs kicked up scattered leaves along the way. Finding her pace too slow, halfway there, she tucked in her head, curled her limbs, and rolled straight down the small slope. She tumbled all the way to the edge of the wild bamboo forest.

The panda lifted her head and swiftly climbed to the bamboo.

Crunch, crunch …

Soon, the panda dug with her two paws, quickly unearthing a small bamboo shoot and popping it into her mouth. Her big mouth bit down. With the six digits on her two paws, she swiftly peeled off the outer husk.

The fresh, tender, pale bamboo shoot inside was revealed. The big panda crunched it in her mouth. A crisp crunching sound rang out. The juicy sap of the tender bamboo shoot dribbled from the corners of her mouth. The audience watching on their screens swallowed hard.

> “Watching the panda eat bamboo shoots made me hungry.”

> “Doesn’t the panda prefer bamboo? Why’s she only eating shoots?”

> “Duh, bamboo shoots are obviously tastier than bamboo.”

> “Yum!”

> “I want some!”

…

The big panda crunched away at the bamboo shoots. Her paws dug into the soil, quickly excavating a pit to unearth a shoot, which she then popped into her mouth.

After finishing one, she continued digging. Another bamboo shoot was unearthed.

In the blink of an eye, the ground was dotted with over a dozen pits.

Seeing this, Lin Tian hurriedly intervened.

“You can’t just eat bamboo shoots. You need to eat the small bamboo too. No picky eating,” he said.

Bamboo shoots were the seedLins of bamboo. With the panda’s appetite, if she only ate the seedLins, this patch of bamboo wouldn’t be enough to sustain her.

“Ying ying…”

The Panda mom grumbled, sounding a bit aggrieved. Compared to bamboo, the sweeter bamboo shoots were far more tempting.

However, she was very obedient to Lin Tian. She shook her big head and looked for smaller bamboo stalks. Soon, she spotted a small bamboo. She bit it off in one chomp. Then, with practiced ease, she stripped the outer husk and ate the tender bamboo core inside.

With one bite, the panda’s eyes lit up. This bamboo was delicious too! Though not as tasty as the shoots, it was better than any bamboo she had eaten before! The panda perked up, happily munching on the bamboo with both paws.

Lin Tian, seeing this, shook his head with a smile. This bamboo forest had been nourished with natural energy, so the flavor was naturally good.

While the panda ate, Lin Tian reburied the roots of the bamboo shoots she had dug up, planting them back in the soil. They could grow into new bamboo the next year.

“Hm, what’s this…?” As Lin Tian filled the second pit, he suddenly noticed, beside the turned soil and under some wilted bamboo leaves, a strange plant sticking out.

It had slender, white flowers. From a distance, it looked like tiny white coral. But when Lin Tian saw the plant, he was startled. Then a delighted expression spread across his face. He carefully dug around the soil with both hands, unearthing the small flower.

> “Huh, what did Brother Tian find?”

> “Is it an herb?”

> “What’s that?”

The audience grew curious.

By then, Lin Tian had already dug up the fungal flower. The top was a plant, but below was a cicada husk!

> “Huh? What kind of flower is that?”

> “It looks so weird!”

> “Could it be cordyceps?”

…

The crowd buzzed with curiosity and guesses. Lin Tian didn’t keep them in suspense and said with a chuckle, “You got it half right. This thing is indeed a herb that grew in combination with an insect. But it isn’t cordyceps. It is a golden cicada flower! It usually grows in bamboo forests, sprouting from the larvae of bamboo cicadas. It’s rich in vitamins and proteins. It has significant medicinal and health benefits. Consuming it can boost immunity and nourish the kidneys and blood.”

While explaining, Lin Tian carefully plucked the golden cicada flower and placed it in the basket on his back. He planned to transplant it to his backyard garden. Even if he didn’t pick this golden cicada flower, it would naturally rot in a couple of months. It was better to plant it in his backyard, water it with spiritual water, and enhance its medicinal properties. Then he could use it to make tea.

> “I just checked Baidu. The host really picked golden cicada flower! And I heard wild golden cicada flowers have high medicinal value, selLin for 300 yuan a jin!”

> “Whoa, that expensive?!”

> “That’s like picking up 300 yuan off the ground!”

…

The audience envied the golden cicada flower Lin Tian had picked.

Lin Tian searched the area and found a few more, carefully digging them up and placing them in his basket.

Meanwhile, the big panda, munching on bamboo, noticed Lin Tian putting a small flower in his bag. Her small, beady eyes glanced over. Thinking it was something tasty, Panda mom sniffed with her nose and soon picked up a similar scent.

WaddLin clumsily on all fours, she lumbered to a small mound.

Lin Tian looked at the big panda curiously. He saw her dig with all four limbs, flipping over a rotten log.

When she lifted it, a large patch of golden cicada flowers was revealed underneath. White flowers, densely packed, formed a carpet! At a glance, there were probably over a hundred stalks!

> “Holy crap! So many golden cicada flowers!”

> “One, two, three, four… God, I couldn’t even count them all!”

> “Brother Tian struck it rich!”

> “So many golden cicada flowers could sell for a ton of money!”

> “Panda mom is awesome!!”

…