Chapter 14: Released into Loneliness

Jinya had a feast and then, fitted with her collar, was led by Chen Ying through the bamboo forest to the edge of the jungle.

"Go on, Jinya, you're free now. Return to your world, be the coolest cat, find the strongest boyfriend, and have the healthiest little cubs."

He gave Jinya a final scratch on the neck and patted her sturdy buttocks, signaling that it was time for her to leave.

Jinya sat down blankly and cocked her head to look at him.

"Aw, what are you doing? Why aren't you leaving? Come play at my place. Hurry up, we need to get back before it gets dark."

Hearing Jinya's words, Chen Ying couldn't help but laugh and cry.

He squatted down to meet her gaze.

"Big baby Jinya, you need to leave on your own. I have to go back to take care of Leopard Sister. You belong to the free spirits, so go, and remember to come back to me if you feel unwell."

Jinya tilted her head and held his gaze for a long time before she leaned in, licked his face, and then hopped away, disappearing from sight in a few bounds.

Her tongue was naturally retracted; otherwise, that lick would have sent Chen Ying straight to the beauty hospital.

At the edge of the bamboo forest, Director Bai and some colleagues were observing and recording from behind.

Seeing Jinya lick Chen Ying's face, Director Bai turned and smiled, "It seems Dr. Chen's medical skills are really good. Look, even the animal patients are falling for him."

Teacher Luo and Brother Liu laughed as well.

"Little Chen's skills are indeed great, plus he's clever and loves to learn. When we thought about transferring him back to the center, he didn't want to go. He said the Rescue station needed him more. He's a good comrade who's devoted to his work."

It takes everyone to lift a litter, and Teacher Luo was well aware of the relationship between Director Bai and Professor Bai, and Chen Ying was Professor Bai's direct disciple. Maybe he would follow Professor Bai to pursue doctoral studies in a few years.

It was just a few good words and didn't require any effort from him.

Just as he finished speaking, Chen Ying came over.

"Director Bai, Teacher Luo, shall we head back for a bit? Could you please check how Leopard Sister's injury is healing?"

Despite primarily focusing on the giant pandas, Teacher Luo wasn't completely detached from other matters.

Chen Ying considered that Mendun'er was coming to the rescue station for further feeding, and Teacher Luo would likely come over frequently to guide the work. Establishing a good relationship with him would greatly benefit his plans.

The group returned to the rescue station and also visited the newly renovated Panda House.

Teacher Luo, being an authority in this area, took Chen Ying aside and gave him a lot of advice.

"There are basically no problems. Once the pandas are sent back, adjustments can be made according to the feeding situation."

Meanwhile, Sister Dai took the publicity officer to shoot Meng Yan.

"I'm telling you, last time Little Chen posted a video of Meng Yan on the work account, it became quite popular for a while. It's the first time netizens have seen a red panda without their fur pants on. Plus, Meng Yan loves standing up begging for Guoguo; it looks like a cane is stuck on that hairless leg, really funny."

Sister Dai cut half an apple for Meng Yan.

Meng Yan, just waking up, smelled the sweet scent of the fruit and dragged his injured leg over, clinging to the railing wanting to eat Guoguo.

Sister Dai placed the cut fruit into the feeding bowl and slipped it under the railing, and Meng Yan grabbed the bowl, nearly stuffing his whole body inside.

They both watched Meng Yan with an aunt-like smile, suddenly hearing a bellow and the childish cries of a little leopard.

Sister Dai dared not approach Leopard Sister and her family of three and quickly called Chen Ying, asking him to come over and check the situation.

Chen Ying hurried over, opened the door to the animal shed, and saw Leopard Sister angrily swatting at her cub.

"What's happened, what's happened? Leopard Sister, calm down, it's your own child!"

Meng Yan hastily pulled the eldest from under a leopard's claw, and grabbed the second one into his arms, watching Leopard Sister wrapped in rage pacing back and forth in the animal shed, Chen Ying carefully stuffed the two little leopards into the cat nest and cautiously went over to hug Leopard Sister's neck to smooth its fur in comfort.

"Don't be angry, don't be angry. Getting sick won't help anyone. If they don't listen, I'll discipline them for you, so please take care of yourself."

"Roar, Roar Roar!"

These little cubs are too much trouble, they're already big leopards and still don't know where to urinate, look, they peed all over me!

Chen Ying almost lost his composure.

Luckily, the little cubs didn't eat much meat, so the urine didn't smell too strong. Plus, the shed was small, and even though he cleaned it two or three times a day, it still smelled a bit, so he genuinely hadn't noticed that the wet patch on Leopard Sister's head was from the little leopard's urine.

Ah spit, he had just rubbed Leopard Sister's head, wasn't that... he also had a mouth full of urine?

He hastily fetched water to clean Leopard Sister's head, and fiercely rinsed his mouth and washed his face.

After inspecting the facility's equipment at the rescue station, Director Bai and the others prepared to head down the mountain.

Seeing Chen Ying washing Leopard Sister's face, Director Bai's gaze flickered.

"Does Little Chen always interact with the leopards like this?"

Sister Dai, who had been around longer, was used to it.

"Exactly, Yin Li said that Little Chen is like a Druid, there's no animal that doesn't like him. He gets along with the rescued wild animals much easier than others."

Director Bai nodded, said nothing more, greeted Chen Ying, and left with his team.

Chen Ying breathed a sigh of relief after seeing his colleagues off.

Usually, it was just him and Yin Li, quiet and accustomed, the sudden presence of several more people made him uncomfortable.

He needed to overcome this habit; Mendun'er was returning soon, along with its therapy team, and although there were usually only one person staying, the others coming in the morning and leaving in the afternoon, as the designated veterinarian, he couldn't avoid greeting others.

It was frustrating.

After cleaning Leopard Sister, he also took a shower, changed his clothes, then let Leopard Sister out in the yard to roam freely while he prepared lunch for the two little leopards.

Today's main task was releasing Jinya, he had started with the release preparations in the morning, leaving the cubs with a much simpler breakfast than usual, probably they were hungry by now.

Sure enough, as soon as he put the meat paste on the ground, the two little leopards dived into the plate, eating messily with faces all smeared, a complete mess.

He whipped up something simple for lunch, then took Leopard Sister and her family back to the animal shed, setting up a cot in the adjacent observation room to take a nap.

Just as he was about to drift off, a dream barely started, he was awakened by the alarm.

He hurried outside to see Jinya with something in her mouth, her whole body dangling from the iron gate, giving a silly impression.

"How did you come back?"

Chen Ying rushed over to open the gate, found that Jinya hadn't come down, but moved along with the door.

Taking a closer look, he almost burst into laughter.

The silly girl had a wild rabbit in her mouth, its fur caught on the end of a wire used to reinforce the protective mesh on the iron gate.

Unable to pull free, and unwilling to let go of her prey, Jinya was left hanging by her own silly mishap.

Gently coaxing Jinya to open her mouth, and after she landed, Chen Ying removed the wired rabbit and handed it back to Jinya.

She licked her lips but didn't take it, leisurely wagging her tail as she walked into the yard.

So, was this a release into solitude?