Chapter 19 Leopard Sister with a Sharp Tongue but Honest Heart

Chen Ying also saw the disheveled return of Yin Li and hurriedly got up to take over the load he was carrying on his back.

"What in the world are you carrying there?"

Yin Li's makeshift woven basket was crudely crafted, about to fall apart at any moment.

"Not bad, Ali, you even know how to weave baskets now."

While teasing his good buddy, he greeted Mr. Lepus who was slowly approaching.

"Hello Mr. Lepus, are you here to see your sister?"

Jinya had already dashed over, warmly rubbing her head against her brother.

What a sweet girl she was!

The large lynx sat down, watched Chen Ying for a while, and let his sister rub up against him in all sorts of ways.

"Ow, ow, owr." Keep an eye on my sister for me. There's a big guy roaming around here.

After licking his sister's head and gently biting her ear, the large lynx saw that his sister was jumping around unharmed, even a bit too lively, and immediately got up to head back.

Jinya wanted to follow, but her brother bit her cheek and used his tail to shoo her away.

"Jinya, come back." Chen Ying quickly went to hold Jinya down, and the lynx girl immediately lay down listlessly.

"Ow, doesn't brother like me?"

"No, your brother is worried about you running into danger and doesn't want you to follow him."

Taking Chen Ying's words to heart, Jinya rolled on the ground and scampered off to rummage through Yin Li's basket.

She had smelled something tasty earlier.

By this time, Yin Li had caught his breath and uncovered the grass and branches on top of the basket to reveal a pile of rabbits beneath.

"Wow, Ali, did you raid a rabbit burrow?"

"Give me a break, I don't have that kind of patience to dig rabbit burrows." He wryly pulled out a rabbit and tossed it to Jinya. The lynx girl gleefully took the rabbit up a tree and started eating. "It was the large lynx that did the digging. Skilled moves, perfect design. I just lent a hand mainly to do the heavy lifting, helping to bring the rabbits back for his sister."

Such touching brotherly and sisterly affection!

Staying outside wasn't a solution; they also needed to introduce the new buddy to Yin Li.

Even though they were from two different units, they worked together and needed to get to know each other.

They brought the rabbits back, skinned them, stuffed them in the freezer, then picked out a small one to trim the meat and bones, finely chop them, and put them in a bowl to feed the two little leopards an extra meal.

They trimmed a chunk of meat the size of a fist, enough for the two to tear apart all day.

The other parts were given to Leopard Sister for an extra meal.

Jinya saw the others entering the courtyard and also wanted to follow, but Chen Ying did not agree.

If it were just him and Yin Li, perhaps, but with others around, they couldn't let Jinya think all humans were harmless. This kind of thinking could endanger her.

After a lot of coaxing and scaring, Jinya finally sulkily leaped into the dense forest.

"Brother Ying, isn't Jinya a bit too friendly with people?"

Zhao Manman furrowed her brow and voiced her concern.

"The wildness could be taken out of her this way. I think it's better to keep a proper distance."

Chen Ying nodded: "I know, but I was the one who saved Jinya when she was injured, and she trusts me a lot. There's nothing I can do about it. I can't go around scaring her, right? What if she gets injured again and doesn't come to me for help because she's scared?"

Little Sen and Duanmu Lin exchanged glances and took over the conversation.

"Older Sister Zhao, wild animals being friendly also depends on who they're dealing with. Our Brother Ying has a talent for attracting wild animals that others can't replicate. Otherwise, you can try next time and see if Jinya will be affectionate towards you."

Although the two had not interacted with Jinya, thanks to Yin Li, they occasionally received videos of Jinya and Chen Ying interacting in the work group chat, and now everyone at the center knew that a lynx girl had taken a liking to Chen Ying.

But even so, Jinya's attitude towards Chen Ying was completely different from her attitude towards Yin Li.

Chen Ying could pet and nuzzle with Jinya, but whenever Yin Li got a bit closer, Jinya would bare her teeth and then distance herself from him.

Words alone prove nothing; after spending some time understanding the situation, she would know.

The veterinarian's room on the ground floor was usually locked, and besides Chen Ying, only Little Sen and Duanmu Lin had keys to open the door.

Zhao Manman initially wanted to capture more videos of Leopard Sister to enrich her content library, but Chen Ying refused her.

With two little leopards present, Chen Ying didn't want too many humans involved in the cubs' upbringing.

Zhao Manman understood the reasoning and could only regretfully give up.

When it came to familiarity with the mountains, naturally, Yin Li was unmatched.

Chen Ying spent more time busy at the rescue station, only occasionally wandering the nearby areas.

If Zhao Manman wanted to shoot more footage of wild animals, she had no choice but to ask Yin Li to accompany her up the mountain.

Yin Li, assigned to this task, wasn't too pleased; he was just a simple guy, not at all thrilled about the prospect of close contact with a beauty.

"I've just come back; why do I have to go up the mountain with her," murmured Yin Li to Chen Ying in the Ingredient Room, "If it were up to me, I'd send a male comrade. One person could go up the mountain, and it wouldn't interfere with our work."

Chen Ying gave him a glance and elbowed him in the stomach.

"How can you speak like that? Ms. Zhao is quite capable. She once went to the Qiangtang Snow Leopard Reserve alone to film, without any company. This time she's here to fulfill a task from higher-ups. Besides, the mountain is dangerous; regardless of being a man or a woman, even if I go into the mountain alone, I have to be extremely cautious. Every time you patrol the mountain, I'm as anxious as your father."

"Get lost; are you taking advantage of me?"

Yin Li, hands occupied, butted Chen Ying on the head with his own.

"Damn, you soulless guy, you've given me a concussion!"

As the two brothers roughhoused in the Ingredient Room, outside in the yard sat Zhao Manman under a soapberry tree, occasionally glancing at the window of the Ingredient Room.

She personally would have preferred Chen Ying to accompany her up the mountain, but he had a point; with Leopard Sister and her two cubs needing care, his absence would pose many challenges for Little Sen to take over.

"Brother Ying, look at your phone, the video we posted this afternoon exploded!"

Little Sen hung over the railing of the balcony on the second floor, shouting down.

"It's the one with you interacting with Jinya – my God, already nearly six thousand shares and over two thousand comments."

"Mine too, not as many comments as yours, but already over thirty thousand views."

Normally, their videos struggled to get triple-digit views, mostly sympathy likes from classmates and colleagues. Suddenly hitting five digits, they felt like fortune had come knocking.

Yin Li popped his head out to show off to the others diagonally above him.

"What's the big deal? The video I shot of Brother Ying and Mendun'er is almost at a hundred thousand views. Am I proud?"

Chen Ying shook his head with a smile, ignoring their nonsense, and carried the extra meal for Leopard Sister into the animal shed.

Leopard Sister had stayed in her room all day and seeing Chen Ying come in, she yawned, rubbed against him to signal it was showing off time.

While showing off, she also inquired what those two-legged beasts outside were going crazy about.

"Roar, they're so unruly, all that shouting has driven away my sleep."

"Hey, can I go out for a stroll tonight? Staying in this small room for too long is uncomfortable."

Chen Ying scratched her and wiped her back with a wet towel.

"Let's not go out today, they still haven't settled in, always running around. How about the day after tomorrow when Mendun'er returns, I'll find someone to secure an area with wire for you to have a place to walk around, okay?"

"Roar, forget it, I don't want to trouble you. Once my wounds are healed, I'll just head back to the mountains."

Leopard Sister wasn't interested in a paw-sized hillside; it was just accustomed to going out for air these past few days and felt itchy all over if it didn't move around.

"How about later tonight I ask them to go upstairs, and you can have some time in the yard?"

"Roar, whatever."

After devouring her extra meal, Leopard Sister stretched out vigorously, then leisurely walked over to the water basin, gulping down a few mouthfuls of water, and washed her face earnestly, much like a girl meticulously grooming herself before heading out.