Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

Chapter 274: Chapter 274 Mendun’er, aren’t your 3 kids enough?

The Old Gaos had hired a caretaker for him, Mrs. Gao went home to rest every night and came back the next day to accompany her son for his checkup.

After Duanmu and Chen Ying arrived, they let Mrs. Gao go home to rest first. Duanmu would stay the night, but he had to catch a flight back to River Source Rescue Center for work at noon the next day.

Chen Ying couldn’t stay long either; he needed to rush back to Jiamu Gully to submit the medical records.

“Old Chen, remember to save some of that yak meat the villagers sent for me. Once I’m better, I’ll head back to Jiamu Gully to recuperate.”

Chen Ying nodded helplessly, “Alright, alright, I’ll keep it for you. Just listen to the doctor’s advice and try to get discharged early.”

As for whether he could recuperate in Jiamu Gully after discharge, it depended on the attitude of the elders in Old Gao’s family.

When Duanmu escorted Chen Ying downstairs, he pulled him aside and pleaded, “Brother Ying, whether I get any good news this year depends on you. Please, can you say some good words to Xiao Song for me?”

Chen Ying gave him a cold snicker and turned away without a shred of mercy.

He was definitely going to help, but he needed to make his stance clear.

Although he met Duanmu first, he was definitely one of Lady Xiao Song’s family members!

The next day, upon returning to the mountains of Jiamu Gully and barely reaching the emergency station, he saw Little Sen with two assistants blocking Mendun’er.

“What’s going on here?” He approached with his backpack and glanced over. “Wow, Mendun’er, whose child did you steal this time?”

Even if it had been a month or two since he’d seen them, he still remembered what Mendun’er’s children looked like; this light brown Giant panda was clearly not one of Jiamu Gully’s cubs.

“What happened? Whose cub is this?”

Chen Ying reached out directly, pulling the little cub from Mendun’er’s embrace.

Chubby and quite heavy in hand.

“This is a cub from the center that was released into the wild. Its panda mother was taking it for wild training several dozen kilometers from here. No one knows when Mendun’er found its way over there and stole the cub back.”

The two young assistants were interns from the center and were on the verge of crying.

Anyone would be scared sick if a panda cub they were responsible for suddenly disappeared.

“Why did they choose such a close place for wild training?”

Chen Ying had a mental map, and based on Little Sen’s words, he roughly figured out where the wild training location was.

If there weren’t many panda mothers raising cubs this year in Jiamu Gully, releasing the cub here for wild training would make sense. But this year, this side was obviously oversaturated. Plus, with male pandas around, was choosing this location somewhat ill-considered?

“No, Brother Ying, the place they chose is actually quite far, but as soon as the cub was released, its mother headed straight this way. We suspect that the wild training mother bear thought the food here was more abundant and the climate more conducive for the little cub’s growth.”

Chen Ying didn’t bother with his backpack and squatted down to pry at Mendun’er’s bear face, asking why it had stolen someone else’s cub.

“Are your own three cubs not enough trouble for you? Or is someone else’s cub cuter?”

“Moo moo, that’s not it. There’s something off about this cat cub – its coat color isn’t normal. I brought it here for you to see if it has the same problem as my slow-witted brother.”

Slow-witted brother, Great Bai?

Great Bai was a Giant Albino Panda, but this one was obviously brown due to inheriting its father’s characteristics.

Asking the interns confirmed it: the cub’s paternal line was a Giant Panda from Qinling that arrived years ago for an exchange, carrying the brown trait.

“The last two cubs bred were normal black and white, but this time the cub turned out to be brown. Originally, the center considered not letting it out, but all its checkups were great, so in the end, the leaders decided to give it a try.”

According to current mainstream theories, the panda mother must carry the same recessive gene as the paternal Giant Panda for a brown Giant Panda to appear in their offspring.

Only experts really know the specifics of the research. Right now, Chen Ying needed to make sure the cub wasn’t harmed.

After a thorough examination, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief; the little cub was exceptionally healthy and ate heartily.

It was lucky that Mendun’er, also a panda mother, had milk to offer this little bear, otherwise… humph.

After checking the cub, Chen Ying finally had a chance to continue questioning the two interns.

“What about the wild training mother bear? Just letting her cub be stolen like that, doesn’t that make her unqualified?”

The two interns looked pained, hanging their heads as if they had wronged the cub.

Little Sen came over with a bowl of milk when he heard Chen Ying’s words, and quickly explained.

“From what we can tell, it probably isn’t the mother bear’s fault, but it is a demerit, and we need to keep observing. Brother Ying, I have to take these two and bring the cub back soon. Can you look after things here?”

“You don’t need to go, let Mendun’er take it back. It stole it, so it should solve the problem itself.”

Chen Ying added solemnly, “Haven’t you considered that the mother bear might come chasing after it?”

“Shouldn’t be a risk, we have colleagues monitoring over there, we haven’t heard them say…”

Before they could finish, the two interns’ eyes widened, “Shoot, she really is coming!”

Their work group chat was in chaos – a team was following the wild training Panda Mother.

But the panda navigated the mountain trails with ease, while they, as two-legged beasts, struggled to keep up.

The photo sent en route showed a party of five looking completely bedraggled.

Chen Ying glanced at it, then slapped Mendun’er on the back of its head.

“Look at the mess you’ve made. Still eating? Hurry up and go, return the cub to its family.”

Mendun’er rolled over, not quite willing to move.

Can pandas feel shame? Having made such a blunder, it was now hesitant and a bit afraid to face its mistake.

If the other bear hit it, would it fight back or not?

At home, other than Mendun’er, there were no other animals that could help, which made Chen Ying miss Leopard Sister and Jinya even more.

Just as Chen Ying was pushing Mendun’er to make it walk, Sesame came back.

Seeing Chen Ying, it trotted over quickly and hugged his leg, whining.

“Two-legged beast, you’re back, go check on Sister’s baby, they’re crying pitifully.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Ying’s face instantly darkened.

He grabbed Mendun’er by the cheek, “How long have you not looked after your own cubs?”

He knew he had forgotten something, this guy had run so far to steal cubs, but what about its own three cubs? Were they all left to the two-legged beast to take care of?

Sesame continued to tattle, angering Mendun’er, who directly lunged at it.

“You still talking, you still talking, I’ll beat you up!”

Sesame, accustomed to being beaten up by mom and sister, agilely climbed up a tree and then bleated from between the branches down below.

The bleating was a mess, Chen Ying didn’t even know how to comment.

He still wasn’t very reassured about Little Sen taking care of the cubs; after all, a mother bear’s combat strength was overwhelming, and even the human daddy who had raised it from a cub would get pounced and bitten if it got too angry.

Chen Ying had asked Mendun’er to return the cub because, although Mendun’er’s combat strength wasn’t great, it was surely in a different league compared to humans.

If the mother bear even injured Mendun’er, it wouldn’t be fatal; it just needed treatment afterward.

One must clean up the mess they’ve made.

Being forced to return the cub, Mendun’er, non-violent and uncooperative, walked at a snail’s pace, even trying to turn back to its own cave midway.

Chen Ying slapped it, expressing his displeasure, and only then did it dejectedly continue forward.

They hadn’t walked much further when movements ahead caught everyone’s attention.

Little Sen, clutching the tiny cub, and two interns had hidden themselves, while Chen Ying pressed down on Mendun’er, standing still.

A mother bear, wearing a tracking collar around its neck, appeared, radiating an aura of fury, no, burning with rage.

It hadn’t even noticed Chen Ying and, catching Mendun’er’s scent, lunged straight towards it to fight.

Mendun’er might act cowardly, but when really faced with trouble, it wasn’t a pushover.

Chen Ying didn’t rush to intervene; best to let the Mama Panda vent a little first.

Several minutes later, seeing the mood of the two pandas somewhat eased, Chen Ying quickly took the little bear from Little Sen and tentatively handed it over.

The Giant panda mother, blinded by rage, only then noticed her child was being held by a two-legged beast.

Compared to the purely wild giant pandas, the ones in wild training that had had contact with humans were slightly less wary and less resistant.

But that didn’t rule out certain mothers exhibiting doubled fighting strength during the period they’re raising cubs.

Luckily, this mother bear wasn’t one of those with extreme combat strength, or perhaps it was because Chen Ying’s scent didn’t feel threatening to her.

Taking her own cub back and sniffing it, the odor of a different bear was all over it.

The Panda Mother roared twice in anger, then sat down and began to frantically lick.

Before long, the whole little bear was sopping wet.

Mendun’er had already seized the chance to sneak away.

Little Sen walked with it; they went to check on its three cubs.

The two interns in panda suits crouched behind some rocks peeking out, unsure if they should go over or not.

After the mother bear had calmed down, Chen Ying stretched out a hand to tentatively touch it.

The mother bear, holding her child, turned half a circle, not resisting Chen Ying’s touch, but making it clear not to touch her cub.

That was good; Chen Ying roughly checked the Panda Mother’s collar and body surface, assured there were no issues, and then quietly left.

“Mr. Chen, is that it? Aren’t we going to bring them back for a checkup?”

“No need. Mendun’er didn’t steal the cub for more than twenty-four hours. This mother bear hasn’t rejected her child either. Let them move around freely. You ask the other instructors of the team what the plan is next.”

Mainly, the bear density was somewhat high in this area; if possible, it would be best to guide the mother and cub back to the originally established wild training location.

“Weren’t the mother bears with cubs supposed to be in the semi-wild training area the first year? Why did you let them show up outside the wild training area this time?”

“This mother bear has been part of the wild training with cubs before, so this time, after the first three months of wild training acclimation, we moved them to the second stage of the wild training area.”

“But we don’t know what happened; the night they moved out, she took the cubs and ran away from the wild training area. We were scared when we saw the signal moving quickly and were considering whether to retrieve her or let her choose freely when Mendun’er stole her cubs.”

While talking, the rest of the team’s staff also arrived at the scene.

Circling around the panda mother and child, they met up with the two interns.

“The lead’s idea is to first check if there’s a problem…”

“I’ve given it a check just now, it should be fine. The big trouble now is that there are many bears here, and food might be scarce. Plus, with Mendun’er and Fufu’s cubs growing bigger, territorial conflicts might occur later. I suggest it’s better to move her.”

Moving was definitely necessary, and the mother bear was willing to leave.

She didn’t even know what got into her, why she chose this direction, bear was so annoyed!

Let’s go, get in the cage quickly. The scent of cub-stealing bears lingered everywhere, and she couldn’t stay a moment longer!