Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

Chapter 281 - 281: The Mighty Northern Expedition, Reclaiming Lost Lands

A bowl of sweet fruit finally appeased the Black Bear Sister.

Mama Bear, however, disdainfully refused to let her son return and left the two of them with Chen Ying to help look after for the night.

Seeing Mama Bear still seething with anger, Chen Ying had no choice but to agree to watch the two children.

After finishing dinner and cleaning up, the three from the Protection Station and Dao Meihua and Xiao Shen were preparing to leave when Sesame returned slowly from foraging outside.

Xiao Shen's eyes suddenly lit up; he didn't want to leave anymore.

No one could resist petting Dumplings; no one!

It's just a pity that Dumplings was not something you could pet whenever you wanted—it was a treasure beyond reach.

Sesame ignored everyone, walked straight to Chen Ying, and plopped down by his feet.

"Two-legged beast, I, I kind of want to go out for a walk."

Perhaps it was a bloodline awakening or maybe because its body was gradually maturing; these past few days, Sesame had suddenly developed a great interest in the outside world.

It was no inexperienced little bear.

Having been forced to live alone away from its mother at an early age, Sesame's abilities were definitely strong.

Even if it couldn't fight adult bears right now due to its youth, the intelligence it displayed was superior among the bears.

Chen Ying looked at it for a while and then made a decision.

"In a couple of days, come with me," he said, "I'm heading north to check out the forest conditions there. You can come with me."

"If you think it's alright, then head north to take over your own territory. Or if you prefer some other place, go for it—fight for it, and if you win, you'll be the king of that land."

Sesame looked up at Chen Ying, bewildered yet somewhat tempted.

The two-legged beast stretched out a hand, the warm palm resting on its forehead.

Sesame placed its paw on that hand, remembering the warmth that came from its forehead in that moment.

As the personnel left, only Chen Ying and Little Sen remained in the emergency station.

No, there were also two mischievous little bear cubs.

The next day, when Chen Ying woke up, he heard laughter downstairs.

Peering down, he saw Old Gao, walking with a cane, had returned.

To facilitate his movement, Little Sen had helped clear out the room outside the warehouse the day before, turning it into a temporary dormitory.

With Old Gao in his current condition, making him climb to the third floor would mean he might not be able to come down again.

It was also fortunate that there were far fewer animals in the emergency station, and the few large ones that took up space had left.

Jinya and Little Jin spent more time in the treehouse above, sometimes leaving for days before returning.

The little lynx was cared for by Little Sen during the day and slept with Chen Ying on the big bed at night; the lynx was living a comfortable life, seemingly too pleased to think of home.

Compared to its siblings, the little lynx was very thin and would even get tired during play, lying on the ground like a kitten, huffing with half of its tongue out.

But it was happy.

There were two-legged beasts who pampered it, fed it tasty food, and aunts and uncles who groomed it and played with it.

Although it didn't quite understand why its uncles were a different breed from them, it didn't matter—being the happiest little lynx, of course, it would have an uncle no other lynx had!

Big and Small Yueya got along well with the little lynx and would come to play with it every now and then, but they weren't allowed to take the little lynx further than a hundred meters from the woodland nearby.

If they dared to run off with the little lynx, its terrible and fierce Aunt Jin Ya would extend her sharp claws to threaten them.

But Big Yueya really wanted to take the little lynx to play with Black and White Bear's three cubs, especially to make all three of them howl together—it would be so much fun!

As for this overly bearish child, Chen Ying had one solution: to hit.

The bear's hide was thick, its flesh firm; if one beating wasn't enough, he would give another, and eventually, he'd stop when the hitting no longer affected it.

Over the next two days, the three completed their survey of the designated area.

Seven toxic plants were found; those that could be transplanted were moved, and those that couldn't were marked with metal tags.

Of course, these tags were for humans to read; animals were unable to recognize the words.

But normally, animals wouldn't consume these plants; the worry was for the several brazen cubs at home, bursting with curiosity and eager to taste any fruit they saw.

To address this issue, Chen Ying asked Dao Meihua to collect some toxic plant roots, stems, leaves, and fruits, put them in odor bottles, and set up an exhibit rack next to the animal shed.

Whenever he had the chance, he'd take the cubs over to recognize them, not sparing any that dared taste or touch them from a good beating.

After two days of howling, the cubs at home learned that fruits with this smell couldn't be eaten; eating them would result in a beating, very painful indeed, and they would have their biscuits deducted!

Of course, the subjects of this education were limited to the bear cubs; the little lynx had no interest in plants and merely bounced around after its brothers.

Big Yueya was the slowest at identifying plants and received the most beatings.

Even though she had thick skin and didn't mind the pain, she couldn't help feeling a bit down.

After having dinner, Dao Meihua didn't rush to leave. She wanted to discuss the arrangement of the follow-up work with Chen Ying.

"I've been checking the data at the Protection Station these past few days. There are quite a few medicinal herbs on the mountain, and many of them require a special permit to harvest. I have contacted my professor, and the documents should be ready in about a month."

Dao Meihua's beautiful eyes slightly curved, "May I apply to build two rows of vertical flower racks behind the animal shed and the warehouse? They will be for planting and observation purposes."

As long as it wouldn't damage the forest's ecological environment, Chen Ying readily agreed, but she also told her that there were many bird and pheasant populations in the area. If she planted outside, they might lose a lot of samples.

Meihua wouldn't have overlooked this; since she made the request, naturally, she had a solution.

Xiao Shen hesitated for a moment before making his request.

He wanted to stay and learn how to take care of wild animals from Little Sen.

"As a veterinarian in the wildlife conservation industry, it's not enough just to treat illnesses and injuries. And I am too unfamiliar with the wild, so please give me some time, I will catch up with everyone's progress as fast as I can."

Xiao Shen's face and neck reddened as he spoke, worried that Chen Ying and the other colleagues would think he wanted to avoid responsibility by choosing to stay.

But for Xiao Shen, who had mastered nine out of ten skills when it came to the wilderness, he dared not rashly agree to patrol the forest with Chen Ying.

Ignorant courage could cause fatal danger to himself and others.

Chen Ying inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Okay, I'll give you a task—to observe and compare the lifestyle differences between Black Bear and Giant Panda cubs. To become a professional veterinarian, it's not enough to only 'cure the head when the head aches and the foot when the foot hurts.'"

Chen Ying earnestly cautioned, "Animals aren't like humans. Humans can communicate, but animals can't tell you their pain, so you'll need to observe for yourself—from eating habits to daily behavior, in-depth observation will help you better understand the animals you know."

Xiao Shen nodded solemnly, "I understand, Mr. Chen. Rest assured, I will complete all the tasks you give me."

"Don't be so stiff; we are all young here, and I'm only a few years older than you. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. You've joined the group, right? The other mentors in there are also very experienced; they're all role models for you to learn from."

"The new dormitory hasn't been built yet, you can arrange your own time. There are more experimental tools at the Protection Station, and if you need to do re

They figured the cubs were grown up and needed their own territory, but the Giant Pandas in this area were still very strong. They decided to just set out into the wilderness, and if it didn't work out, they could always come back.

Jiaojiao, with Little Cub and Leo in tow, was training in the wilderness while Great Bai hurried back to notify the two-legged beasts, lest they think Great Bai's family had an accident.

Leo and Little Cub already had trackers on them, which is why the Panda People were not overly worried about them.

Chen Ying called the protection center overnight, saying he was heading north and that Great Bai might take Jiaojiao and the two cubs with him. He asked if the center wanted to send someone over to follow them.

It was impossible to fully venture north; what they could do was to set up infrared cameras in the deepest places humans could enter and check every six months or so. They would analyze the data to determine the Giant Pandas' range of movement and trajectory.

The center was severely short-staffed this year.

Several projects were very successful this year, with many precious little cubs born, so the task of setting up cameras could only be entrusted to Chen Ying to handle.

Having packed up, Chen Ying held onto the Little Lynx, entrusting with care for a long time, before finally being hurried by Great Bai to set off with Sesame, heading north.