Chapter 3 Poor little cub must be starving

At 5:30 a.m., Yin Li got up to clean the yard and heat up their breakfast.

When they had nothing special to do, the two would make themselves some good food as a treat. During busy times, they essentially lived on frozen food supplemented with soy milk powder.

Today, there were two injured little ones added to the mix, so aside from their own breakfast, Yin Li took some meat out of the fridge for Chen Ying to prepare nutritional meals for the two little ones.

With the "Beast Food Mixing Skill" at Level 100, today's nutritious meal was even more delicious.

The lynx girl and Meng Yan had different species and dietary habits.

Meng Yan preferred fresh bamboo leaves and fruit, occasionally eating some meat. So its nutritional meal was more plant-based, flavored with homemade jam, and the smell alone made Meng Yan so anxious that it started calling out.

"Don't rush, it'll be ready soon."

While Meng Yan was busy gobbling down its food, Chen Ying took the opportunity to check its injured leg, which was healing better than expected, and the cast could be removed in at most a month.

It would definitely need to be observed for some time before being released back into the wild; optimistically, the little one could stay at the rescue station for about half a year.

The red panda's mating season was in early winter, and its return to the wild would coincide with its first mating season.

The biggest problem now was whether Meng Yan, recently healed from its injuries, could defeat the other male red pandas and successfully win a mate.

That was something he couldn't help with; all he could do was take good care of it and hope that Meng Yan would recover soon.

After dealing with Meng Yan, Chen Ying went to the lynx girl's sickbay.

Big Cat had slept quite well and, seeing Chen Ying enter, lay on its side, stretched lazily, and cleaned its face.

"Ow, ow," the lynx girl stood up, still a bit weak on its feet.

"Here it is, here it is. Look, this is the nutritional meal I made for you. Try it and see if you like it."

Thanks to the Common Language skill, Chen Ying understood the lynx girl as soon as he entered.

She was asking when she could leave this place because it was too small and she didn't like it.

"You'll have to stay here for a couple of days, until the inflammation in your body has completely subsided. Then I will place you in the animal shed out back."

Chen Ying scratched the lynx girl's chin and rubbed her ears gently.

"The cage is much larger, but it's still nothing compared to the wild. Eat well, heal well, and strive to recover quickly so you can go home sooner."

The lynx girl grunted twice and, lowering her head, finished off her medicated breakfast. Then she turned her back and lay down, giving Chen Ying a cold shoulder.

"Chen, what are you up to? Hurry up and eat breakfast; we still have to head up to the Northeast Slope today."

Yin Li knocked on the window, urging Chen Ying to hurry up.

If he didn't prod him, his childhood buddy might not move an inch all day.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Is everything packed? When are Brother Liu and the others arriving?"

Since they would be out for a long time today, he had prepared Meng Yan and the lynx girl's lunch in advance and put it in the fridge. Brother Liu and his team could take it out and defrost it at noon, mix in the medication, and feed them.

They were all skilled workers who knew what to do without extra instructions.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Brother Liu and his partner's motorcycle pulled into the yard.

"Little Yin, Little Chen, you might need to change your plans. Just now on our way here, we were notified that an injured animal was found in Shandongzi Village, and it's a mother with a cub."

Brother Liu had barely finished speaking when Chen Ying grabbed a medical kit from the treatment room and rushed out.

Rescuing injured animals with just him and Yin Li would definitely be insufficient, so Brother Liu stayed behind to take care of the two injured animals and to also inspect the electrical and water facilities of the Forest Station and Rescue Station.

The rainy season was about to start, and for houses in the mountains, the biggest fear was aging electrical lines that could lead to fires.

The three of them didn't dally and quickly drove off in the Rescue Station's pickup truck towards Shandongzi Village.

In the past two years, the country had increased its efforts in the protection of plants and animals, which had also improved the environment substantially.

The road from the Rescue Station to Shandongzi Village used to be a man-made mud path that was impassable by vehicle on rainy days.

In the last two years, it had been gradually turned into a concrete road; it might be narrower, but it completely solved the issue of inaccessibility.

Half an hour later, the three of them arrived at Shandongzi Village.

Chen Ying had spotted a crowd gathered on the opposite slope and leaped out of the vehicle, rushing towards them.

"Make way, everyone, Dr. Chen is here," announced someone as they saw the three from the Rescue Station approaching. The villagers hurriedly went to help and carried a metal cage out from the truck bed, which was prepared for transporting injured animals.

While donning his protective gear, Chen Ying inquired about the situation.

"It was Third Boy who found it, down in the ditch. None of us dared to go down. The village chief threw a chicken down there, but the mother beast didn't budge at all. We suspect it might already be dead. But there's a cub under its belly, just stuck its head out a moment ago—two of them, this big," said a villager while gesturing, indicating that the cubs were only the size of an adult's palm.

After surveying from above, Chen Ying decided to go down for a closer look.

Yin Li intended to go down with him but was stopped.

"Let me go down first to check the situation. You all prepare for the rescue up here."

Chen Ying had initially held a tranquilizer gun, but since he noticed that the mother leopard hadn't moved, he did not dare to fire it rashly.

Carefully sliding down from three meters away from the mother leopard, everyone held their breath, fearing that even their breathing might startle her. They had not considered that if the noise of their earlier loud and agitated talking had frightened her, she would have lashed out by now.

Chen Ying slid down successfully to the bottom of the ditch, remaining squat without daring to move for a minute. After observing, he confirmed that the mother leopard was currently unconscious.

It was a Flower Leopard, distinguishable by its head shape and facial features.

The Rescue Station had recorded a video of a Flower Leopard with cubs the year before, never expecting this year's first encounter to be like this.

Typically, the breeding season for the Flower Leopard was in March or April, with a gestation period lasting about 90-106 days, and usually, they bore two cubs. There could be more, but that was mostly seen under captivation.

According to the time of year, there shouldn't be a Flower Leopard giving birth; this meant that either the female leopard had gone into heat early, or the cubs were born prematurely.

While analyzing the situation in his mind, Chen Ying cautiously approached the Flower Leopard.

He reached out and felt the mother leopard's head; she didn't move at all.

Chen Ying quickly checked her body and discovered she was a mother leopard who had given birth no more than two months ago. She had a deep wound in her abdomen, with intestines showing—a clear sign of a tear, indicating she must have fought with other ferocious beasts.

He pulled out two cubs from underneath the mother leopard's bloody belly.

They were indeed palm-sized, starving and desperately crying with open mouths, but no sound could be heard from them.

Chen Ying quickly wrapped the two little ones in a towel, while Yin Li, secured with a safety rope, descended to a position one meter above the back of the mother leopard to take the cubs.

As they were handing over the little leopards, a cry of alarm came from the ditch, and Chen Ying felt his thigh being firmly grasped.