Chapter 619: Chapter 518: The Misfortunate Little Fairy

The cat, failing to find food, let out an aggrieved “meow~” and actually lowered its head to lick a drop of blood.

That lick nearly drained Chen Ying’s own blood.

He reached out to pick up the little cutie, and it didn’t struggle at all, uncharacteristically tame for a Forest Cat.

The bustling crowd outside made the little cutie shrink back a bit, but being held tenderly in Chen Ying’s arms reassured it slightly.

“Brother Ying, did you… did you just go down the mountain to buy a cat? No, this short period of time, how come I haven’t seen this breed before? Is it a Persian cat?”

Most non-professionals can’t distinguish the differences between cats.

Especially since both the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Siberian Cat are cold-resistant breeds of wild Forest Cats, unique to specific regions, they are very rare in the country.

“No, I found it in the last animal shed, it must have come on its own here looking for food. This is a Norwegian Forest Cat; from its appearance, the lineage seems quite pure. Very few people feed them domestically, and even if they do, they treat them as precious as their own eyes, so it’s almost impossible to see them outside.”

Earlier in the animal shed, Chen Ying asked where the cat came from, but it didn’t answer, only meowing that it was hungry.

So, once outside, Chen Ying immediately gave it some fresh chicken, slightly heated, to feed it.

Despite the little cutie’s ancestors being forest hunters, they have digestive systems that can’t handle cold food.

It’s an expensive, big eater, troublesome to raise, and requires enough space to roam, not to mention grooming its long hair can make a tough guy squeal. These factors combined are reasons why domestic cat lovers are limited in owning a long-haired cutie.

Such an expensive little cutie couldn’t possibly have come to the mountains by itself, so…

“No way, it’s so cold, the snow hasn’t even melted, and someone came to climb the wild mountain?”

In recent years, a trend of hiking through the primitive forest has swept across the country, and any mountain with some reputation inevitably gets measured by people’s footsteps.

But most hiking enthusiasts choose their time based on conditions, mostly in summer and during dry, rainless periods.

In this region, summer has lots of rain and due to geological reasons, sudden mudslides and floods are frequent, so April-May and September-October are the peak times for seasoned hikers.

And those choosing to enter the mountains in July-August are mostly novice hikers.

After all, despite the risk of mudslides due to the rain, the climate is warm, the grasslands lush, and wildflowers in full bloom, making it an ideal time for taking beautiful photos.

Yet, Chen Ying, having worked at Jiamu Valley for several years, heard for the first time about someone entering the mountains in January. Even the locals wouldn’t choose this time to climb. Could this person have a bit of a death wish?

After sitting down and feeding the long-haired little cutie, Chen Ying also started to fill his stomach.

Being comrades in the same trenches, there was no need for pleasantries; despite being split into ten tables, everyone was moving around, and ultimately no one sat in their initial place throughout.

“After this Spring Festival, we are sending off three retiring rangers from our side, and two new staff will be transferred over as replacements, with one remaining position likely to be publicly recruited from the four villages,”

The station head sipped his drink, pulling Chen Ying aside to discuss the staffing plan.

“I’ve been thinking that in recent years, quite a few local college students have returned to their hometowns upon graduation. So I want to recruit a young local with a high educational background to strengthen the team. Nowadays, technology is paramount; in the past, we measured this mountain forest solely with our feet, but now you can’t complete exploration tasks without knowing how to operate drones. Surely more advanced equipment will come in the future, but it’s hard for our veteran team members with limited education to take full advantage of it.”

The station head is a smart man, sensing from the rapid changes at Jiamu Valley Protection Station in recent years that an opportunity is about to arise. He doesn’t want to miss this chance, but relying on his own efforts alone to move up is quite difficult, so he hopes to ride on Chen Ying’s coattails to elevate the entire station.

If the Protection Station thrives, how could he, as the executive leader, not benefit?

As they chatted quietly head-to-head, the long-haired little cutie, having finished its chicken, came back to rub against Chen Ying’s calf.

Well, it’s time to sleep after a full meal.

The Norwegian Forest Cat can weigh up to nine kilograms; this one is still a kitten, weighing around four or five kilograms. Despite looking so large, it’s mostly the fur. In local terms, it’s just fluffily chubby!

Chen Ying picked it up, and the little one hugged his arm and began to doze off.

A little cutie that didn’t particularly like getting close to humans voluntarily seeking a human cuddle showed clearly it had suffered greatly while wandering.

After finishing eating and cleaning up, everyone went their separate ways.

When Chen Ying wanted to leave the long-haired little cutie behind, he found it impossible as the cat clung to him.

He was also reluctant to leave the little cat at the Protection Station, but there was no choice. The rescue station was full of beasts. Though Norwegian Forest Cats’ ancestors were wild and adept hunters, this little one was obviously bred specially as a pet cat, and it would probably be terrified facing those big cats at home.

Just as Chen Ying and the little cutie were having their sweet tug-of-war, the Protection Station received a call from the police station at the foot of the mountain. Someone reported their pet cat missing, providing concrete evidence that the pet was worth tens of thousands.

According to market trends, a Norwegian Forest Cat with impure bloodlines costs a few thousand yuan, and a slightly purer one only cost about fifteen to sixteen thousand, unless it’s an imported Forest Cat with pedigree proof that’s worth tens of thousands.

“Officer Xiao Chen said the person who reported the missing cat was a foreign friend, touring here. They originally intended for the pet to just have some fun but it ended up as ‘letting go without a leash…'”

Everyone turned their gaze to the small cutie sleeping with its little mouth open and a hint of a pink tongue.

If it truly is this little cutie, it’s not surprising it could be worth tens of thousands, given its incredibly high appearance value.

“Brother Ying, the police station sent photos over, take a look, doesn’t it seem a little off.”

Chen Ying glanced at the phone of secretary Little Ai, “It’s this cat. The reason it seems different is the photo was retouched and previously, its owner groomed it meticulously. But think about it, after rolling around in the wild alone for several days, how could it possibly maintain a polished appearance?”

The cat in the photo had smooth fur, exuding a fairy-like aura all over.

The real-life kitty’s fur was tangled, barely any clean spots on it, its face muddy, looking like a city cat returning to the countryside for New Year’s.

The little cutie’s owner soon arrived on the mountain, accompanied by a young man.

The two were classmates when studying abroad. After the man returned home, he worked in self-media. This time he invited his friend over for New Year’s, shooting some videos of traveling with the cat along the way.

“My friend’s cat was scared away,” the man said with a wry smile. “The two of us came down from Snow Mountain, planning to head northwest to see the winter Jiuzhaigou. Upon arriving here the day before yesterday, we found the scenery stunning, so we decided to stay for a few days before continuing. The day we took Meidi to play in the mountains near the homestay, we encountered a big cat, Meidi got frightened and ran away in panic, and we couldn’t find her no matter what.”

Initially, they thought the cat would return on its own later, but they never saw it after it ran out. With a value of tens of thousands, it’s not something they could just abandon, so after two days of searching to no avail, they reported to the police following the homestay owner’s suggestion.

“A big cat scared it away?” While not interested in the little cutie’s owner’s itinerary, Chen Ying focused on the key point in her description: a big cat.

It’s worth mentioning that the Norwegian Forest Cat isn’t small, classified as a medium to large cat with its double coat. The big cat referred to by the owner and friend must be no smaller in size than it.

From this, Leopard Cat can be ruled out, and the Lynx and Snow Leopard wouldn’t descend to such a low altitude. The only ones left are the Golden Cat and Clouded Leopard.

Most of Jiamu Valley’s Golden Cats are around the rescue station and a bit further south, and in strict terms, where the two stayed, it belongs to the edge of Little Jin and Big Gold’s territory, so no third Golden Cat should be active there.

Thus, the final suspect cat should be the Clouded Leopard guy, often roaming the mountains like a drifter.