Chapter 704: Chapter 563: Fishing, Sure Thing

Yunyun brought her two children to the water’s edge. The mother and her kids chose a riverbank with deadwood, squatting down to stare at the water’s surface.

Chen Ying quickly aimed his camera lens at Yunyun, guessing that she was preparing to teach her children how to fish.

Yunyun’s gaze was sharp and focused as she looked at the water’s surface, while the children appeared somewhat excited and curious.

They followed closely behind their mother, occasionally approaching the water as if trying to glimpse the mysteries beneath.

Yunyun patiently waited for an opportunity and did not stop her children from exploring the water world. (*´・ｖ・)

The smaller kitten got restless with the dull waiting, turned around, and ran to dig in the nearby bushes.

The other kitten mimicked her mother, attentively watching every subtle change on the water’s surface, and her ears twitched now and then, seemingly trying to discern sounds from underwater.

Time passed by, and the water remained calm like a mirror. Yunyun patiently continued to wait, knowing that fishing required patience and timing. The kitten beside her looked up at its mother, then quietly lay on the wood, no longer distracted.

Finally, a fish slowly swam over, unknowingly approaching the deadwood stump.

At that moment, quick as lightning, Yunyun extended her paw, swiftly hooking the fish. The movement was clean and agile, and before the fish could react, it was flipped onto the shore. In the next second, Yunyun bit it down, and no matter how the fish struggled, it couldn’t escape from the cat’s mouth.

Yunyun, holding the fish, glanced in the direction where Chen Ying and his group were, then turned and walked the other way.

The two kittens were reluctant to leave, wanting to imitate their mother’s fishing technique themselves, but soon Yunyun’s call echoed from the darkness, and the two kittens bounced away to follow her.

“Wow, tonight is impressive!” came a suppressed cheer from two students inside a nearby tent, indicating they hadn’t missed the spectacular moment of Yunyun teaching her kids to fish caught on video.

However, upon further consideration, Chen Ying thought Yunyun might not be purely a leopard cat; she could possibly be a hybrid offspring of a leopard cat and a fishing cat, as both belong to the leopard cat genus.

Yet, according to biology, while leopard cats and fishing cats belong to the same genus, they are not the same species, and their hybrid offspring are typically sterile.

But Yunyun had two kittens, indicating she was fertile, which posed a paradox.

Well, these questions should be left for zoologists to solve. For now, his task was to collect Yunyun’s genetic samples and determine her identity.

It was already three-thirty. Uncle Yan Wenyan mentioned that there were relatively few animals around this time, and they would increase again around four or five o’clock.

Chen Ying and his companions decided to head back to the camp to rest, carrying tents and equipment, while a student carried the blood samples to follow Uncle Yan Wenyan to their village, planning to ride a motorcycle to deliver the samples to the research station at dawn.

As dawn broke, a hint of rice fragrance wafted through the camp.

Uncle Yan Wenyan brought some jerky and grilled fish from his home, paired with special tomato dipping sauce and a bit of pickled radish, making for an extremely sumptuous breakfast.

A good breakfast is essential, as for lunch, they would be out searching for target animals, making it inconvenient to light a fire for cooking, relying instead on cold food to fill their stomachs.

Fortunately, due to the warm weather in Dian Province, everyone was accustomed to eating mashed dishes with anything.

In the morning, they would prepare the side dishes and condiments, and at noon they mixed them with rice noodles for a meal.

Aunt Yu Xiang’s cooking skills were exceptional, so much so that even the local guide remarked they had never tasted such delicious sticky rice and mashed family meal.

“Just for this delicious food, I’d be willing to stay here for ten days or half a month, provided I could eat Aunt Yu Xiang’s cooking every few days.”

Even Dao Meihua thought it was the best mashed dish she had ever tasted; indeed, the real experts might be among the common folk.

“I’m responsible for this section, and my brother oversees the next one. He’s been ill recently, so I’ve been helping with patrols.”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw the brother and sister from the previous day rowing over, with Yunyun still on the boat, though the two kittens were not visible.

“Uncle, uncle, wait for us.”

The brother and sister paddled near the shore, lifting a small basket.

“Uncle, this is food from my mom and aunt for you. It’s grown on our farm.”

Uncovering the banana leaf on top revealed home-grown jackfruit and bananas.

“And this, my aunt’s special wrapped dish, you can eat it for lunch.”

Chen Ying and Dao Meihua exchanged puzzled glances, unable to comprehend the gesture.

Uncle Yan Wenyan graciously helped to accept it, then patted Yan Han’s head, “Why aren’t you two at school today?”

“Our mom asked for leave for us.” Yan Han scratched the back of his head, flashing a bright smile, “Today my brother is getting engaged, and mom wants my sister and me to stay home to help.”

With a large family living under one roof, including grandparents, family matters were handled together.

Beside him, Yan Han’s sister couldn’t bear her brother rambling on without getting to the point, and she pulled him aside.

“My mom heard there’s a research team here, so she wants us to invite you to the engagement celebration tomorrow.”

The young girl’s Mandarin was clear and crisp, her voice melodious as if she were singing.

Uncle Yan Wenyan quickly explained on her behalf, saying that the villagers had a great respect for educated people. If they had the chance to meet a team from higher learned institutions, they would certainly wish for them to join such family celebrations, hoping some prosperity might rub off onto their children.

While it might not mean much in the city, in these remote areas, a college degree was highly esteemed, and a master’s, a Ph.D., or even a professor was regarded as an honored guest the whole village would compete to host.