Chapter 6: The Troublesome Jinya Sister

The animal shed had a special pool designed for the injured animals to drink from, which occasionally served other purposes.

Chen Ying planned to take the lynx girl to the pool to wipe down her body.

Having tumbled down the hillside earlier, her skin had suffered numerous scratches, and after applying medicine, the dried medicinal liquid made her fur stick together, nearly forming dirty, tangled locks.

Soaking was definitely not an option, she had to moisten the fur with a wet towel and then slowly comb it out with a metal comb.

"How about I give you a name? What do you think of Jinya? Your fur is so beautiful and gleaming gold in the sunlight, and you're such a graceful girl, do you like the name?"

"Meow-Ao."

"You agree? Well then, Jinya it is. Little Jinya is so good, once I sort out your fur, we could be on a magazine cover straight away."

As she carefully cleaned the lynx's fur, she chatted with it.

At four-thirty in the afternoon, Yin Li and Brother Liu returned, bringing back the bodies of two birds along with a bird-catching net.

The regulations had been strict in recent years, and these types of bird nets were rarely found.

Yin Li said they found it on the way to Tahe Village, probably some villager's underhanded doing.

Brother Liu took the bird bodies and the discovered net back to the center to report, while Yin Li had to log the forest patrol diary and apply to repair damaged equipment.

Chen Ying cooked dinner. The cooked wide noodles were directly covered with stir-fried hot and sour pork strips and smoked bamboo shoots, which tasted better dry mixed.

The soup was just noodle broth with a bit of green onion and a dash of salt.

After dinner, Chen Ying cleaned up the kitchen and began preparing a bedtime snack for several of the patients.

The first one he fed was Jinya, the lynx girl who was at her hungriest stage, devouring several pounds of dry food a day.

Yin Li knocked on the window from outside.

"Brother Ying, the Leopard Mother has woken up, and the two little cubs are fussing. Should we feed them milk?"

"No need for now, let me check first."

The little leopard would usually be fed milk every three hours during the day, while at night it was typically every four hours. As they grew bigger, they could drink meat broth and eat minced meat, and wouldn't need to be supplemented with milk at night.

After Jinya finished eating and had her face wiped with a towel, Chen Ying stood up ready to head to the leopard shed.

Jinya bit onto the hem of his pants and whined, not wanting him to leave.

Chen Ying crouched down with a heart full of helplessness to reason with her, but Jinya shook her head and wouldn't listen.

"Whining and not listening, it's like casting pearls before swine."

He struggled to drag one foot to the door; seeing Jinya still playing stubborn, Chen Ying was at his wit's end. After thinking for a moment, he asked Yin Li to close the iron door on the first floor. He planned to take Jinya for a walk around the Leopard Mother's sickroom.

Of course, this approach was very likely to agitate the Leopard Mother, so Chen Ying didn't plan to let Jinya enter the observation room—lying down by the door would be enough.

Next to the observation room was the Ingredient Room where Chen Ying took out two sticks of jerky and a bowl of prepared meat strips.

He gave the thicker jerky to Jinya to hold and gnaw on, while the meat strips and another stick of jerky were for the Leopard Mother.

While Jinya was busy with the jerky, Chen Ying quickly slipped into the observation room.

Indeed, the Leopard Mother had already perked up her ears, her gaze fixed intently on the door of the observation room.

Seeing Chen Ying enter, she bayed once, but her gaze did not shift.

"Don't look, it's Jinya, your fellow patient."

Putting on gloves, Chen Ying placed the food bowl before Leopard Mother, then picked up a little cub into his arms.

The two little cubs still had their bellies round and didn't need milk for the time being.

Taking advantage of Leopard Mother's mealtime, he also took the opportunity to clean up the area around her. Before he finished, he heard the scratching of claws against the door of the observation room.

"Coming, coming, Jinya, you need to be good, you are a girl."

Chen Ying quickly changed Leopard Mother's animal diaper and refilled the water in the dispenser before he hurriedly ran to open the door.

Leopard Mother watched him bustling about quite calmly, her golden-brown leopard eyes tracking Chen Ying's movements.

As he cautiously opened the door, Leopard Mother sniffed the air, picking up the unpleasant scent of Big Cat.

"Chuff," Leopard Mother blew air from her nostrils, lowered her eyes to glance at the two rambunctious little cubs for a while, then picked them up by the scruffs of their necks, hugging them close to ensure they were safe before closing her eyes to continue sleeping.

Jinya wasn't exactly determined to enter the observation room; it's just that as a fellow feline, competing for affection is in her nature.

Seeing that Chen Ying indeed quickly came out, Jinya's voice softened a lot, and she kept rubbing her head against his feet.

Who could resist a fawning Big Cat? Certainly not Chen Ying.

Seeing that Jinya didn't want to go back to the Animal shed, he simply took her to the iron gate and sat down, looking at the stars together.

The iron gate on the ground floor faced the forest, and given its high position, it offered a wide view, making it a great spot for enjoying the scenery.

Chen Ying sat on the steps, with Jinya resting her head on his legs. Human and leopard sat there calmly, watching the scenery and chatting.

Yin Li was writing in the forest protection journal in the opposite office. When he looked up and saw how Chen Ying and Jinya were getting along, he didn't think much of it, took out his phone, and snapped a photo, uploading it to his social circle.

The incomparable relaxed vibe of my Brother Ying.jipg

After posting, he put away his phone, stepped outside, and squatted a meter away from the iron gate.

"Why aren't you two sleeping? What stars and moon are you watching?"

"You pleb, you wouldn't understand."

Chen Ying gave Yin Li a disdainful look; Jinya also opened her mouth and made a couple of coy sounds, then with the motion of being petted, she rolled over, presenting her backside to Yin Li, and gently flicked her tail twice.

"Ali, pass me some Bamboo, I need to feed Meng Yan before I go to sleep."

Meng Yan might have been scared by the scent of the two big cats and had become very well-behaved these past days, not causing trouble. She ate when given food, and slept when there was none. It was uncertain how much weight she would gain once she recovered from the fracture.

Yin Li sat outside, and Chen Ying held Jinya inside. Together they prepared Meng Yan's midnight snack, cutting some of her favorite fruits and mixing them with plant powder to make round pellets for a supplementary meal.

While making the pellets for Meng Yan, Jinya curiously stretched her head over to sniff, nearly sneezing, but luckily Chen Ying was quick, lifting the feed bowl high just in time.

Jinya shook her head and walked to one side to lie down, stretching her paw out and hooking Chen Ying's pant leg, yawning and closing her eyes to sleep.

Yin Li, feeling somewhat envious, moved closer to have a look, hoping to sneak a pet on Jinya's tail, but just as he was about to touch her, Jinya, who appeared to have her eyes closed, flicked her tail away at the last moment.

Yin Li slumped, patted the iron railing, and got up to clean up the remnants on the ground.

Jinya quietly opened one eye, unable to suppress her smirk.

Chen Ying, amused, vigorously rubbed Jinya's head, patted her body, and got up to deliver the midnight snack to Meng Yan.

This time, Jinya didn't follow; she lay there rolling around, wrapping another layer of residue into her freshly groomed fur.

When Chen Ying came out, Jinya went over and rubbed against him.

"Owow, woo woo~" Clean, clean it off, dirty.

Chen Ying laughed exasperatedly, standing with his hands on his hips, staring at her.

"Knowing it's dirty, yet you purposefully roll around in it!"

Checking the time, it was nearly ten o'clock; today's work log had yet to be written. He still needed to prepare medicine and food for Leopard Sister for tomorrow morning, and he had to get up at least once during the night to feed the little leopard cub milk. He couldn't continue playing with Jinya.

Coaxing and deceiving, he locked Jinya back in the Animal shed. Chen Ying stretched his shoulders, nearly worn out from fatigue.

Just as he turned around, he saw a dark shadow quickly dart past the iron gate.