One person couldn't watch two bears alone—there was no helping it—so Little Sen just had to grab Leo and strictly supervise him on the first-floor platform.
Leo was so mad he was bleating, his belly rapidly heaving, not even his delicious bowl of milk could calm him down.
Little Cub found his brother's belly heaving quite amusing and pounced over, nearly suffocating Leo.
Leo rolled over, toppled Little Cub with a nudge, and then pinned him down, swinging left and right.
Just as Little Sen came out of the house with some fruit, he saw Leo beating up Little Cub and hurried over to pull Leo away.
Furious, Leo bared his teeth and pushed Little Sen away with a slap, then ran to sit by the railing, his head leaning against it, legs dangling off the edge of the platform, seemingly crying.
Little Sen felt so heartbroken; he quickly took Leo's favorite, Little Apple, to console him.
Little Cub, not understanding what was happening, scratched his head and also scurried over with his favorite carrot.
"Brother eat." He pushed the carrot towards Leo's mouth, and Leo lowered his head to take a bite, almost biting Little Cub's fingers.
Not scared at all, Little Cub went back to bite another carrot, came to sit next to his brother, leaning against the railing, enjoying his treat.
Little Sen also sat down cross-legged on the platform, started scrolling through work-related and several group chats on his phone.
Because Brother Ying and Brother Gao had gone to the neighboring protection area's territory, and thanks to Little Deng's coordination, he had also joined a private group of the adjacent protection station.
They were discussing how Brother Ying had found short-tailed monkeys enjoying a hot spring.
"Those monkeys really know how to enjoy themselves. I've only seen monkeys soaking in hot springs online, never thought we'd have them here too."
"One of our station's PR officers edited a clip and posted it online, my goodness, shares and comments shot up to over a thousand in minutes, never had such popularity before."
"Just received the coordinates that Brother Ying posted through the backend, saying that the mountain top river beach area had sightings of two juvenile rabbit cats, suspected to be this year's cubs, didn't see the mother."
The opposite protection station was nearly going crazy, bustling like it was a festival.
"Uncle Wang and others have already filed the application, planning to head up to the mountain later to set up infrared cameras in the river beach area and also to check if other newborn animals are trapped."
Little Sen was extremely envious, but glancing at the two little cubs beside him, he instantly felt comforted.
He found a good angle, took a photo of himself eating with the two precious kittens, and posted it to the group.
"Ah, Brother Ying, Brother Gao aren't back yet, I'm struggling to take care of these two alone."
"…you little thief, scram!"
Instantly, Little Sen was bombarded by the group.
Elsewhere, Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard relentlessly followed Chen Ying's scent.
When they arrived at the hot spring, they certainly gave a group of monkeys a fright.
Leopard Sister sniffed carefully around the camping site, ignored the monkeys, and continued to run uphill.
The young monkey mother was eager to follow, but before she could even move, "smack," she got slapped on the back of her head.
The Monkey Grandmother looked at her sternly, chirped a few times pointing at the little monkey in her arms, and the young monkey mother, dejected, sat down to continue feeding her child.
"Chirp, I knew I shouldn't have had babies…" she muttered quietly, poking her finger at the baby's cheek, her face filled with despair.
Brother Leopard and Leopard Sister moved quickly, and Jinya and Little Jin weren't slow either.
They didn't need to find the scent themselves, just followed Leopard Sister.
Only that Little Jin wasn't quite suited for snow walking and was slightly slower.
As for Great Bai and Jiaojiao, these two rascals.
Not long after setting off, seeing the Arrow Bamboo Forest, they directly found a spot to sit down and start eating.
Well, eating well is the key to moving better, no fault there.
After a few bites, Great Bai suddenly stood up and looked up; he had caught the scent of another male.
Jiaojiao glanced at him, quickly ate the bamboo in her hands, climbed up, nudged him, and the couple continued leisurely up the mountain.
Brother Leopard and Leopard Sister had found Chen Ying when it was nearly midnight.
Their sudden appearance terrified Old Gao, who was staying up late.
Unable to discern if they were familiar leopards, Old Gao immediately woke Chen Ying, telling him to prepare for a possible enemy attack.
Groggy from sleep, Chen Ying got up and peeked outside, instantly sobered by the chilly wind.
"Leopard Sister, you're here?"
He patted Old Gao's arm to reassure him and quickly dressed to go out and greet Brother Leopard and Leopard Sister.
Just after heading out, Jinya came dragging Little Jin along.
Little Jin was struggling; the altitude and the climate were a bit too much for him.
Chen Ying hastily offered his thermal blanket to wrap around Little Jin.
He had called Leopard Sister up because he suspected that Old Leopard was related to her.
Though there isn't much familial affection among wild beasts, Leopard Sister was different; she was very sentimental and capable of protecting Old Leopard.
Anyway, one could only do one's best and leave the rest to fate.
Hearing this, Leopard Sister was a bit confused.
She wasn't born in these mountains, and her mother was probably not at an age to be waiting for death.
Brother Leopard bowed his head in thought, irritably flicking his tail.
If not Leopard Sister, then perhaps his own mother?
Brother Leopard did not have a vivid memory of his birth, but he remembered the meticulous care his mother took of him.
Once he reached the age to leave her, he remembered traveling far to find his own territory.
Such was the instinct of wild beasts, for population expansion, males would venture out to occupy larger areas and mate with more females.
Leopard Sister extended her paw to hold down Brother Leopard, then licked his ear.
"Stay calm, I'll come with you to search; we'll talk about it then."
After resting for a while, the leopard couple went out to hunt and search for Old Leopard under the cover of night.
Jinya looked at Little Jin, feeling quite disheartened.
"It's okay, Jinya, go find something for Little Jin to eat; it's fine, just needs some rest."
Given the cold mountain climate, Little Jin didn't have Flower Leopard's insulating fat or Jinya's thick long hair, and the long journey was making him uncomfortable.
After drinking some water and resting with the thermal blanket, Little Jin's condition started to improve.
"Am I really that useless?"
Little Jin lay beside Chen Ying, enveloped by a gloomy aura.
"How could that be?" Chen Ying reached out and scratched Little Jin's chin, "You are a Golden Cat, one of the kings of the jungle. It's just that every animal has its own suitable habitat, and this is not your battlefield."
"It didn't disdain you, besides, when it's unbearably hot in summer, aren't you the one mainly responsible for hunting and feeding it?"
Little Jin pondered, a bit perplexed. Was that true?
Jinya returned quickly, a fat rabbit in its mouth.
It placed the rabbit in front of Little Jin, nudging its head, "Eat up, if it's not enough, I'll catch more. I found a rabbit burrow with many fat ones."
Just as it finished saying this, an angry voice carried over.
"Where did you come from, stealing our stored food!"
(Bristling lynx, furiously barking)