Forest Ranger: Starting with a Giant Panda Mom Clinging to Me - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: White-Headed Viper

> “Was he going to patrol the forest?”

> “Looking forward to it.”

> “I wonder if he could pick up another panda cub this time.”

> “Pfft, did you think panda cubs were cabbages on the street? Just lying around everywhere?”

> “Aren’t pandas standard issue for Sichuan households?”

> “Goddamn standard issue.”

> “I’m from Sichuan, so when is the government sending me a panda?”

> “Wake up, you can have anything in your dreams.”

…

The audience was excited about Lin Tian going out to patrol the forest. The comments were lively.

At that moment, Lin Tian had already slung the bamboo basket over his shoulder and was about to close the courtyard gate to set off.

“Panda mom, stay home and be good. Wait for me to come back,” he said.

Before leaving, Lin Tian waved at the Panda mom and gave her a reminder.

But who could have guessed, when Panda mom heard Lin Tian was going out, she immediately rushed back into the house, grabbed her two cubs in her mouth, and hurriedly dashed out again.

“Ying ying~”

(Wait for me, I wanted to go out too!)

Panda mom, carrying the cubs, trotted up to Lin Tian. Then, with her front paws, she stood upright, skillfully placing the two cubs in the bamboo basket on Lin Tian’s back.

After doing all this, the Panda mom excitedly wagged her chubby backside and walked ahead. She seemed thrilled.

From time to time, she turned her head and called out to Lin Tian, urging him to follow.

> “Hahaha, Panda mom is so cute!”

> “Brother Tian didn’t see that coming, did he? Panda mom has no intention of staying home!”

> “Panda mom: Hmph, trying to ditch me and go flirt with other female pandas in the mountains? No way!”

> “It was great that Panda mom came along too. I was worried we wouldn’t see her while Brother Tian was out.”

…

The audience was surprised and delighted to see Panda mom join.

Lin Tian saw that the Panda mom wanted to come along and didn’t stop her. Pandas naturally grew up in these mountains, so keeping her cooped up in the house wasn’t ideal.

However, wasn’t she a bit too trusting, just placing her cubs in his basket like that?

Lin Tian had no choice, so he went back inside to grab one of his jackets. He wrapped the two tiny cubs in the basket with the jacket.

At that moment, the two cubs, smelLin his scent on the jacket, slept soundly.

After two days of feeding, the cubs had started growing fine fuzz on their bodies. But it was very faint. You couldn’t tell unless you looked closely.

> “Why are the little mice always sleeping?”

> “Panda cubs: Who were you calLin mice???”

> “Hahaha!”

> “By the way, Brother Tian, haven’t you named the cubs yet?”

> “Yeah, I don’t think they have names yet.”

> “How about one called Shuke and the other Beta?”

> “Hahaha, those are still mice!”

> “Panda cubs: ???”

> “Panda cubs: You rude folks, how rude!”

…

The comments started chatting and suddenly brought up naming the panda cubs. They even threw out suggestions as if it were serious business.

Lin Tian glanced at the comments and realized at that moment; the two cubs indeed didn’t have names yet. Before, since he wasn’t sure how the bureau would handle the pandas, he hadn’t thought about naming them.

But now, the bureau had decided to entrust the two cubs to his care. So, he needed to come up with names for them. It would make it easier to tell them apart. He couldn’t just keep calLin them “little cubs.”

Lin Tian looked at the two cubs sleeping soundly in the basket. He quickly decided on names.

“It’s settled. From now on, one of you would be Little Dot,” he said. “And the other would be Little Cutie.”

Lin Tian had already checked the cubs’ genders. One was male, and one was female. The skinnier one was male, so he named it Little Dot. The female one would be Little Cutie.

Perfect!

Lin Tian was very satisfied with his naming.

The comments, however, were dumbfounded.

> “???”

> “What? That’s it?”

> “Brother Tian, aren’t those names a bit hasty?”

> “Little Dot, Little Cutie?”

> “Are you sure you didn’t just come up with those on a whim?”

> “Where did you pull those names from?”

> “Names like Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan would sound so much better!”

> “If not, at least check a dictionary. Zihan, Zihan, or Zihan would be great!”

> “Pfft, the universal Zihan, really?”

…

The comments protested Lin Tian’s chosen names. However, the protests were futile. Lin Tian had already made up his mind. He lifted the two cubs from the basket and announced, “From now on, one of you would be Little Cutie, and the other would be Little Dot. Their nicknames would be Keke and Diandian.”

[Tl: The nicknames correlate to their actual names. Xiao Dian (Little Dot) and Xiao Ke’ai (Little Cutie).]

The two cubs were sleeping sweetly in the jacket, unaware that their names had been so casually decided by their “milk dad.”

At that moment, after naming the panda cubs, Lin Tian didn’t delay further, slung the basket over his shoulder, and set out to patrol the forest.

…

The hundred thousand mountains of Sichuan Province.

Lin Tian treaded on thick fallen leaves, walking along the rugged mountain path. His memory was excellent. He had patrolled the route with Wang Jian two days earlier and had completely memorized it. At that moment, he observed his surroundings for anything unusual while recording the growth of plants and animals.

Panda mom waddled ahead. From behind, her chubby figure looked clumsy and adorable. As she walked, Panda mom sniffed wildflowers growing by the path, checking if they were edible. She occasionally nibbled a bit. Sometimes, there were mulberries or other wild fruits by the path, which went straight into Panda mom’s belly.

Lin Tian saw this but didn’t stop her. Panda mom had a big appetite, and eating bamboo alone didn’t provide much dietary fiber, so she got hungry again after a short while and needed to keep eating. Fortunately, the protected mountain area in his jurisdiction was well-preserved. There was no shortage of food for the Panda mom along the way.

Lin Tian himself occasionally picked wild fruits he found along the path to taste.

> “Good grief, watching Brother Tian walk and eat has made me hungry.”

> “So many wild fruits in nature!”

> “I wanted to eat a free fruit buffet too!”

…

At that moment, Lin Tian noticed some small red fruits ahead. They were tiny, pinkish, and looked a lot like strawberries. But they were smaller than strawberries.

Among a patch of green wild grass, their tender, vibrant red stood out.

Seeing them, Lin Tian’s eyes lit up. He stepped forward, carefully identified the red fruits, picked one, and popped it into his mouth. Instantly, a sweet taste with a slight tang spread across his tongue.

Delicious and appetizing!!

> “Were those strawberries?”

> “They look like strawberries.”

> “They seem pretty tasty.”

> “Damn, I want to experience picking strawberries by the roadside too.”

> “Now strawberries in the supermarket are selLin for 48 yuan a jin.”

> “Don’t remind me. Last time I went with my girlfriend to pick strawberries at a farm, we had fun picking, but when we left, they charged for all the strawberries we picked, and it was freaking 98 yuan a jin! They wouldn’t let us leave without paying!”

> “Hahaha, you got scammed!”

> “Tch, city folks and their tricks!”

…

The livestream audience, watching the wild strawberries, felt their appetites stir.

“Those aren’t strawberries; they are snakeberries. They look a lot like strawberries. If you grew up in the countryside, you’d probably recognize them,” Lin Tian explained. “The taste was pretty good too. I loved eating them when I was a kid.”

Lin Tian ate while explaining to the livestream audience.

Meanwhile, Panda mom saw Lin Tian eating the snakeberries and thought they looked tasty, so she started looking for the same small fruits to eat. Soon, she spotted a large patch of those small fruits in the distance. Her glossy black eyes lit up, and she excitedly waddled over, her limbs thumping.

Lin Tian saw this and initially didn’t plan to intervene.

But at that moment, he suddenly caught sight of a slender black figure in the grass. He was startled. “Panda mom, don’t go over there!” Lin Tian hurriedly shouted to stop Panda mom.

Panda mom, who was about to eat the small fruits, froze when she heard Lin Tian’s call. Her gaze fixed on the tempting fruits in front of her, clearly craving them. But Lin Tian wouldn’t let her go eat them.

“Ying ying”

(Why wouldn’t you let me eat the fruits?)

She turned to look at Lin Tian, her small eyes full of grievance.

“It wasn’t that I wouldn’t let you eat, but there was danger in the grass,” Lin Tian said.

Seeing Panda mom stop, Lin Tian let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Panda mom was quite obedient to him. Even if she loved eating, she would stop when he told her to.

The reason he stopped Panda mom was valid. In that patch of grass, a slender venomous snake was lurking behind the cover. Its body was covered in black scales, with only its head white.

It was a venomous snake unique to the region—the white-headed viper.

At that moment, the white-headed viper was slightly raising its head, coldly staring at the approaching Panda mom.

If the Panda mom took a few more steps forward, she would surely be attacked.