Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

Huihui protected four kittens and watched a grand drama.

After the Cat Mother calmed down, she led the four kittens back to the cave to sleep.

Huihui didn't bother to check if Pang Jin was injured and turned to run home.

He had to go tell his mom quickly, preventing that troublemaker from distorting the facts.

Left behind, Pang Jin had a few thin claw marks on its body, though not fatal, they were quite painful.

But it didn't matter, it had plenty of such injuries; they'd heal in a few days. Now it should focus on finding that plump mountain rat again.

When it licked its wounds and went searching for food, it couldn't find the mountain rat anywhere.

Fei Jin was utterly confused. Could it be that the rat it held onto earlier was just a figment of its imagination?

While Fei Jin was deep in thought, not far away, a leopard cat licked the corner of its mouth, let out a satisfied burp, and leapt away, leaving behind some bones and scraps of mountain rat fur.

Huihui returned to the emergency station just as the Two-legged beasts were having dinner.

The weather was cold, and yak meat stew was the perfect choice, paired with frost-touched radishes and greens, plus some tofu skin vermicelli, it was especially comforting and warm.

"From the first to the third day of the new year, Mengmeng and I will visit the elders on both sides, and we'll be back by the fourth. Old Gao said he has to go back for a marriage meeting and will be back around the eighth."

Old Gao finally gave in under the pressure of his family's expectations and agreed to a matchmaking meeting. It's said that from the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifth day of the new year, except for New Year's Eve and the first, second, and third day of the new year, there will be two matchmaking meals every day.

"Brother Ying, what are your and Sister Meihua's plans?"

Chen Ying paused, a bit embarrassed, and cleared his throat.

"I plan to confess to her on New Year's Eve."

"Oh, no wonder you didn't want Professor Bai and the others to come back early, you had it all planned out, right?"

Chen Ying nodded shyly, "The teacher plans to come back after New Year's Day for the New Year festivities. I want to fetch him and the teacher's wife, then use the opportunity to confess to Meihua."

"So how do you plan to confess? Do you want us to give some suggestions?"

Mengmeng and Little Sen were particularly excited, seeing Chen Ying and Dao Meihua about to get together made them happier than their own potential weddings.

Xiao Shen also joined in, offering several suggestions, mimicking the proposal ideas used by their school's graduate students.

"Ahem, I've already arranged everything, you'll see. Let's eat quickly, and then get to our tasks."

Chen Ying's ears turned red as he set down his chopsticks and went to bother Jinya.

Jinya: Two-legged beast, what are you doing? I want to sleep, stop bothering me!

After the major mountain patrol, Chen Ying and the others' lives slowed down.

Rescues weren't a daily occurrence, and most bird cases and simple treatments were directly referred to the Bird Research Institute and the Protection Station.

They slept until waking up naturally, then went out for a stroll, checking to ensure no one had set traps in the forest.

Indeed, setting traps had become very rare, especially as several nearby villages started tourism projects. Everyone spontaneously protected the surrounding environment. Should anyone do anything in the mountains, countless eyes would be watching.

As late December approached, Chen Ying finished his duties and headed to Dian Province with a backpack.

He still stayed at the Dao family's mountain villa, and upon arrival, discovered that Dao Meihua and her little niece were also there.

Between the two villas was only a garden and a small open-air hot spring pool.

By the time he arrived, it was already midnight. After a night's sleep, he came downstairs to see a pretty little girl following behind Old Gao.

"Uncle Gao, will this little bird die?"

"No, its wing is just broken. Once we apply the medicine and let it recover, it'll be fine. But you and your brother shouldn't scare it, it needs to rest peacefully."

"Okay, I'll make sure my brother doesn't cause trouble."

The little girl tiptoed, holding onto the table edge, watching eagerly as Old Gao bandaged the injured bird's wing.

Chen Ying deliberately made a sound, afraid his sudden appearance might startle the child.

Old Gao didn't even lift his head, directly instructing Chen Ying to help pass him the splint.

This splint was specially designed during his recovery here, suitable for fixing small birds' wings.

"What's wrong with this little thing?"

"Are you the magical uncle they talk about?" The little girl did not answer Chen Ying's question, instead she curiously asked him, "Can you understand animals, and can you understand turtles?"

Chen Ying was puzzled and looked at Old Gao.

Old Gao held back his laughter, lowering his head to avoid Chen Ying's questioning gaze.

After all, she was Dao Meihua's little niece, so Chen Ying couldn't ignore the young girl, and he squatted down to look her in the eye.

"Is it a problem with the turtle you're raising?"

"It has stopped eating, mommy said it needs to hibernate, but daddy said it's warm here, it doesn't need to hibernate."

Chen Ying thought for a moment and asked the little girl if her family had any heating equipment.

"No, mommy said it's warm here, there's no need for heating."

Chen Ying sat cross-legged, pulled out his phone to check the latest weather, and saw the temperature varied greatly, with mornings and evenings around seven or eight degrees, and midday warmer, nearing twenty degrees.

"Turtles enter shallow hibernation at 10 to 15°C, during which their appetite decreases and movements slow, preparing for hibernation, mostly in a state of waking and sleeping."

"When the temperature drops below 10°C, turtles enter deep hibernation. Just like we like to sleep at a comfortable temperature, they sleep soundly at 5 to 10°C. Once the temperature rises above 15°C, they'll exit hibernation, start eating and be active again."

"You see, the temperature lately has been fluctuating, so your turtle baby should be in a waking and sleeping state. You can go home and set up the turtle baby's winter hibernation room with your parents, then you won't have to worry about it anymore, it'll wake up by itself in spring next year."

The little girl comfortably snuggled into Chen Ying's arms, looked at the temperature on his phone, nodding repeatedly.

"Great, I've already prepared a little house for the turtle baby for winter. However, my parents are at work, can you accompany me to set up the turtle baby's room?"

"Of course, I'd be honored to serve the little princess."

The little girl laughed with squinted eyes, hugged Chen Ying's neck, and gave his cheek a scented and soft kiss.

"Uncle is so nice!"

Pulled by the little girl, he went to the villa opposite, and upon entering, saw Dao Meihua having a video conference.

The little girl didn't disturb her work, quietly took Chen Ying to the toy room on the first floor.

Unlike ordinary people who raise turtles with just a turtle box, the little girl's toy room had a special sunroom at the back, where a corner was about two square meters made into a sloped area specially for raising her beloved turtle.

The sloped area was covered with a thick layer of river sand, then filled with clear water, just enough to submerge the turtle's back.

There was a platform by the wall, also built with a slope, allowing the turtle to crawl onto the platform to sunbathe.

Its hibernation place was set below the platform, a bit away from the water surface, and the sand absorbed the water vapor to become moist.

Chen Ying asked the villa's gardener to bring smashed coconut soil, thickly spread it about five centimeters deep, then sprinkled soaked Chilean sphagnum moss on top.

This sphagnum moss was much better at retaining moisture than ordinary moss.

The entire process of setting up the turtle's hibernation nest was done by the little girl herself, with Chen Ying only providing technical support.

After setting up, Chen Ying helped the little girl check her three turtle babies.

"They're healthy, try to reduce feeding during this time, and when they have cleared their intestines, they can start hibernating."

Afraid the little girl might worry, Chen Ying wrote several reminders on colorful paper, pasted them on a whiteboard, and hung them on the wall above the turtle baby's winter platform.

After they finished, they discovered Dao Meihua had already ended work, sitting in the toy room with a tablet, offering silent company.

"Sixth Aunt, come see what I did with Uncle Chen, the turtle's hibernation nest."

Dao Meihua put down her tablet and glanced over, giving a thumbs up.

"Wanwan is amazing, once the turtle hibernates, Wanwan must pay close attention not to wake it up early, nor let the temperature drop too low, otherwise, the turtle will freeze to death."

"Yeah, I know, Uncle Chen told me to buy a lamp to keep the turtle warm."

The little girl looked eagerly at Dao Meihua, "Sixth Aunt, Wanwan doesn't have a shopping account, can you help buy a heating lamp for the turtle? I'll pay you back with my red envelope money after the New Year."

Dao Meihua giggled, tapping her nose.

"Sure, I'll order for you, just pay me back when you get your New Year money."

Chen Ying watched the two of them huddled together browsing heating lamps online, his gaze gradually becoming distant.