NOVPUBChapter 315 -315 Er Niu, Are You Raising Fish?
Envy, how could they not be envious, their eyes were red with it.
If the leaders hadn’t still been there, those who were showing off would have been hammered by their colleagues.
After the leaders had inquired about the situation, they left. What remained were the cadres from the Pastoral Village and the leaders of the local Forestry and Grassland Bureau.
The leaders of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau focused their inquiries on the few snow leopards and lynxes, watching the videos captured by the enforcement cameras closely, as well as the footage from the camera worn by Er Niu and the audio recorded on the tracking collar that Lynx Jin Ya was wearing.
“Thank Dr. Chen, if it weren’t for you and the lynx you brought along, the two children might have been in much greater danger.”
The leaders of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau were also somewhat relieved that they hadn’t blocked this joint project at the time.
Although this time it was luck as well as an accident, but thinking about it, if this project hadn’t existed, Dr. Chen Ying hadn’t brought the lynx over, would those two children have survived?
The leaders of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau praised all the personnel involved in the rescue and also glanced through the rear window of the car at Jin Ya and Little Jin who were lying obediently inside their cages.
“Dr. Chen, if you need any resources, you can submit a report to our bureau. Although Dr. Chen’s organizational affiliation isn’t with us, you are the head of the joint research group, and our side will also fully support the research of the group.”
After pleasantries were exchanged for about ten minutes, the leaders had other matters to attend to and had to leave.
Once everyone was gone, Chen Ying and Yin Li exchanged glances, preparing to get in the car and return to the Protection Station to rest.
They had just gotten out of the car, not having the chance to speak, when a group of herders rushed over, wanting to kneel down and kowtow to them.
This frightened Chen Ying so much that she hid directly behind the car.
Yin Li quickly stopped the leading herder and called over team members to help take everyone to sit down in a small meeting room.
Those who came were relatives of one of the two children, three uncles, two aunts, and several older and younger cousins.
“The child’s father passed away a few years ago, and his mother was so grief-stricken, she became a nun. Afterward, the child has always lived with us and attended the small Pastoral Village elementary school nearby.”
This summer, the child’s mother returned to see him and told her brothers that she didn’t have much longer to live.
After overhearing this news, the child had been very sad, feeling that the heavens were unfair.
“Last month, a university student from the Mainland came to tour the area, stayed at our home for a while, and taught a lot to my child and the children in the neighboring family.”
“However, that person spoke a bit weirdly, seemed to really believe in deities, and kept asking around the village about which snow mountain was a sacred mountain.”
Chen Ying gave a start and asked a few more questions. The age and gender matched up, but the name wasn’t clear; all they knew was that he said his surname was Cheng.
“If you want to investigate, I can ask around the village for you. Any guests who stay here have to register with the village.”
“Forget it, if the police comrades come to ask you, just tell them the truth.”
Chen Ying briefly revealed that they had found the belongings of a deceased person on the road, which were likely those of that university student.
“I heard him say that he wanted to find the Snow Mountain Elf. He also said he was studying folklore and wanted to see what the deities of the grand snow mountain looked like.”
The youngest boy suddenly spoke up, “At the time, I showed him the photos I took of snow leopards, lynxes, and brown bears. He asked me for a long time where they were taken because he wanted to go see them, too.”
“Right, he also asked if sky burials were practiced here. I told him we don’t do that here; only closer to Northern Tibet is it practiced. He seemed a bit disappointed then.”
Chen Ying and Yin Li exchanged a glance, nearly certain that the university student had entered the uninhabited area intending to die.
Seeking the Snow Mountain Spirits, inquiring about sky burials, he was probably looking to seek help from external forces, so that his soul could be released.
An orphan, a terminal illness, so young.
Those elements combined in one person are truly hard to bear.
After sending off the herder family, Chen Ying and the Patrol Team members went back to rest.
That evening, another group came; it was the family of the other child.
The child’s family worked in the city, and he usually lived with his aunt. This incident had caused a quarrel between the child’s parents and his uncle and aunt.
The one who came was his aunt.
“It’s clearly his own behavior, but they blame me for not watching the child well. If they think I can’t watch him, then why don’t they watch him themselves? Isn’t it because they despise the child for being born deaf in one ear?”
After thanking them, the child’s aunt rambled on for a long time.
She said that the child’s parents only cared for their eldest son and youngest daughter and had no concern for this second son, who was born with a disability. Using their busy work as an excuse, they sent him back to the pastoral area and only gave him five hundred yuan a month for living expenses.
“The clothes, shoes, and school expenses for the child are all provided by my family. We have three children of our own, but my husband has never uttered a word of complaint, raising him as if he were his own.”
“I don’t know why the child would run off into the uninhabited zone. The child’s parents are now causing a scene in the hospital, and they even want to cause trouble for the neighbors, saying their child lured ours out.”
Tears fell as the child’s aunt spoke.
“How can parents be like this.”
“I’ve discussed it with my husband, and we plan to go to the police station the day after tomorrow to get the formalities done to move the child’s household registration to our family register. Even if he is not my own, in my heart, he is no different from my own child.”
The child’s aunt dragged over a snakeskin bag that was by her feet.
Inside were dried goods she had prepared over the summer, a large half bag of mushrooms, and a cow’s leg.
“Our family isn’t well off, and these are all done by myself, to thank you for helping us find the child. Thank you…”
Chen Ying sat with a tense body beside him, with Jin Ya and Little Jin squatting by his side.
Perhaps sensing his emotions, Jin Ya placed her paw on his leg and gently rubbed against him.
Yin Li drove the child’s aunt back to the Pastoral Village, and the dried goods she left behind were placed in Chen Ying’s room.
Chen Ying looked at the pouch, her mind a mess.
The child was unfortunate to have such family members, but he was also lucky to have a kind aunt and uncle.
It would be impossible to say she hadn’t heard a bit of gossip, but overall, he was a lucky kid.
Chen Ying called Duanmu to ask about the situation of temporary ecological guardians in different areas.
She had only recently heard of this position, which seemed to be a subsidy provided by the neighboring Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve to herding families restricted from grazing their livestock due to fenced areas.
Duanmu said they didn’t have such a position for the time being; after all, the uninhabited area was different from Sanjiangyuan.
If it’s called an uninhabited area, it suggests it’s not suitable for human habitation, and the harsh environment makes it dangerous without proper arrangements—no one would dare to let herders enter to monitor the ecology.
After understanding the cause and consequence from Chen Ying, Duanmu said he would think of a solution.
The medical area at the center was not small, and although official staff could not be added to the roster, there was still room to create one or two temporary positions.
Chen Ying was not indiscriminately kind-hearted; she always felt the deaf child went into the uninhabited area to accompany another child.
But she couldn’t say that, or else the kid’s parents would probably make a fuss.
In the middle of the night, the phone suddenly rang.
It was Yin Li, asking her to come to the back of the Protection Station, to the rescue enclosure.
From Yin Li’s tone, there was a hint of helplessness, mixed with a trace of amusement.
Chen Ying wrapped herself in a thick coat and braved the chilly wind to see what was going on—ha, those shameless Big Cats had chased out the Tibetan gazelles from the rescue area and had taken over the livestock shed that had just been filled with fresh hay.
Upon seeing Chen Ying, Er Niu shivered, then mustered its courage and let out two cries.
Chen Ying looked behind it—sure enough, there was a Snow Leopard on each side, both males!
Jinya and Little Jin were cuddled together on a hay bale in the wooden rack, watching the excitement and munching away like spectators.
The Lynx Sister with grey fur had chosen another bale to reside on.
The Snow Leopard Cub, nestled against Er Niu, was sound asleep, not even bothering to open its eyes amid the commotion.
Yin Li pointed at the camera in the corner of the shed’s roof, “We saw them in the monitors; nearly scared the on-duty staff to death. They were terrified the cats were after the Tibetan gazelle. But after chasing the gazelle out, those rascals didn’t bother it anymore.”
When Yin Li got the news, he had relocated the Tibetan gazelle before calling Chen Ying to sort out the situation.
What else could be done? Just leave it as it was; they would leave by themselves when daylight came.
However, Chen Ying hadn’t expected that the simple Er Niu would be so appealing to the opposite sex.
Had it been ostracized at Zhuonai Lake because the ones ostracizing it were Female leopards?
Good lord, I thought you were just simple-minded, but you’re actually the king of hearts!
No wonder there are no fish in the uninhabited area; apparently, they’re all swimming in your pond.
Chen Ying went over and rubbed its head vigorously.
“You few, leave before dawn, go find something to eat, and don’t scare the staff,” she said.
Er Niu uttered a sound and rolled over, hugging the Snow Leopard Cub, all innocent and obedient.
Yellow Fur, the Snow Leopard, yawned and buried his head back to sleep, but the slight wagging of his tail indicated he hadn’t completely let his guard down.
After all, besides siblings, when do you see two adult male Snow Leopards coexist peacefully in the same space?
Even if they are siblings, they would completely go their separate ways after leaving their mother, each looking for their own territory.
By daylight, except for Jinya, Little Jin, and the Snow Leopard Cub, the other Big Cats had vanished from the animal shed.
Jinya and Little Jin, having eaten and drunk their fill, continued to catch up on sleep.
The Snow Leopard Cub had caught a rabbit on its own, pressing it down to eat. When it saw Chen Ying coming over, it looked up, twitched its tail as a greeting, and continued flaunting its prey.
By nearly noon, Er Niu and Yellow Fur returned together.
“Where’s your friend?” Chen Ying asked.
“Oh, he went back home. He just came to check us out; he didn’t plan to leave with us.”
After saying this, Er Niu approached Chen Ying with a mysterious look, placing his forelimbs on her knee.
“Two-legged beast, do you know? Today, when we went out, we met a Lynx. She had run over from another place. She said some Flower Leopards suddenly appeared in her area and almost bit her to death.”
“Flower Leopard?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what Flower Leopards look like either.”
Er Niu, eyes wide with curiosity and clearly eager to see one, gazed at Chen Ying, as if by staring she could get what she wished for.
But her flirting was lost on the blind; Chen Ying didn’t notice Er Niu’s “coquettish gaze.” She took out her phone and checked the news. Indeed, there was a report from last month mentioning Flower Leopards spotted in the Grand Canyon area of the neighboring Sanjiangyuan.
Currently, nearly a hundred Snow Leopards and several Flower Leopards were reported to coexist in the Sanjiang area.
The report included a photo taken by a temporary ecological guardian who had a chance encounter with a Flower Leopard.
(Flower Leopard: Darn it, what should I do, go out or step back, is that Two-legged beast leaving or not, what’s it holding pointed at me, I want to look!)
