Live Cat Appraisal: Starting with a Beast That's Got a Long Prison Record

Chapter 124 You'll Get Used to Outrageous Things

(Whose takeout can I pick up?)

Chen Nian squatted down and gently poked the stiff pika on the ground with her fingertips. Its fur was cold, carrying the unique chill of a high-altitude morning.

This confirms that it was deliberately left behind by the thief.

He looked up at the jagged rocks where the bandits had disappeared, and a smile that was both helpless and delighted crept onto his lips.

"Oh, come on over, no need to be so polite!"

"What a mess this is!"

Even so, he didn't hesitate at all and deftly picked up the 'gift' from the local cat lovers.

"July! Look!"

Chen Nian carried the heavy pika and proudly waved it at Xia Qiyue.

His face beamed with childlike pride: "We can have an extra meal tonight!"

".oh."

Xia Qiyue merely glanced at it indifferently.

His expression was so calm that it was as if he had only seen Chen Nian pick up a stone.

Although wild felines actively 'feeding' humans is an outrageous event that is completely outside Xia Qiyue's comprehension.

But if this human is Chen Nian...
The initial surprise in her heart quickly subsided.

She even began to think that if that elusive thief were to one day come running to her with his bedding roll, asking to be adopted by Chen Nian, she would probably be able to help build his nest without batting an eye.

Having been with Chen Nian for a long time, Xia Qiyue's threshold for this kind of thing has been lowered.

It has already been refreshed to an outrageous level.

Inside the live stream, the newly arrived cat lovers were still buzzing with excitement in the chat:
"Holy crap?! Did I see that right? A Pallas's cat delivering takeout to a streamer?!"

"Is this Pallas's cat the streamer's free-roaming pet?! I want the same one!"

While the new cat owner is still in shock, the old cat owner has already collapsed in bed.

Then casually replied with:
"Sit down, sit down, Teacher Chen, that's basic stuff."

Instead of the 'normal' event of being fed by the Pallas's cat, most people were more attracted to the cries of the thief.

Woof woof woof?

That voice was exactly like that of a puppy!

"Chen Nian, why did that thief's bark sound so much like a dog?" Xia Qiyue asked curiously as she leaned closer.

The cat lovers in the live stream were also asking:

“The dog I saw at the rescue station before wasn’t called that.”

"Did the thief see the dog before? Is he imitating it?"

Chen Nian explained with a smile, "The secret lies in their hyoid bone."

"The Pallas's cat's hyoid bone is not fully ossified, falling somewhere between the growl of a big cat and the purr of a kitten."

"This special intermediate structure allows Pallas's cats to produce peculiar sounds that are neither typical cat meows nor roars, but include low, short sounds similar to dog barks."

After saying that, he winked mysteriously.

The conversation changed:
"If we are lucky enough to find a snow leopard, remember to listen carefully to its call. Snow leopards don't roar, and..."

He seemed to remember something amusing, and chuckled softly to himself.

"Its cry might surprise you even more!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Qiyue and the cat lovers in the live stream were all aroused with intense curiosity.

It felt like a feather tickling the tip of my heart.

They tacitly suppressed the urge to ask further questions.

The decision was made to leave this mystery to the future snow leopard to reveal.

As the herd of blue sheep gradually emerged on the distant mountain ridge, moving like gray pearls, Chen Nian's smile grew even brighter and more confident: "This time, we will definitely gain something, definitely!"

He patted his pants, which were covered in grass clippings, and stood up briskly.

"Let's go, July, it's time to take our 'eyes' into the sky!"

"Ah."

Xia Qiyue agreed.

But her finger quietly slid across the camera screen and tapped the group photo that had just been taken again.

On the screen, two people are laughing side by side against a backdrop of magnificent snow-capped mountains and clear skies. But at the edge of the photo, a thief with a pika in his mouth, wide-open golden eyes, and a face that screams "I've been spotted?" is conspicuously captured in the frame!

That stunned and shocked expression could easily be used as a meme.

No wonder it has the most expressive face of any feline in the world.

Xia Qiyue watched and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

She quickly put away her camera.

They didn't tell Chen Nian about this little surprise of her unexpected appearance in the shot.

Instead, he planned to develop the photos when he got back and give them to Chen Nian as a surprise.

I think Chen Nian would really like it. Hmm... I'll wash two portions.

Chen Nian gets one, and she gets one.

Xia Qiyue packed up her camera and quickly followed the tall figure ahead.

buzzing-

five minutes later.

Two drones gracefully ascended into the clear blue sky of the plateau, like two keen eagles, looking down from above and tracking the herd of blue sheep moving on the cliffs below.

The camera clearly captured the breathtaking leaps and bounds of these high-altitude rock climbing masters as they traversed near-vertical rock faces!

Chen Nian and Xia Qiyue focused intently on controlling the device.

His gaze swept across every corner of the screen, not missing a single trace of the snow leopard that might appear.

Until the herd of ibex plowed the ground and disappeared contentedly on the cliff.

The two then reluctantly retrieved the drone.

Embarking on the journey home.

As soon as he returned to the camp, Wuji Xiaoliang greeted him with a smile, his eyes filled with anticipation:

"So, did you spot 'Big Cat' today?"

Chen Nian shook her head, but her face showed no sign of disappointment; instead, it held a strange sense of pride: "We didn't catch a glimpse of the snow leopard, but..."

"Dang-dang-dang!"

As if by magic, he pulled a rather large pika from his bag:
"I was fed dinner by a kind-hearted citizen."

He took the not-so-small pika out of the bag.

The infinitesimal stared at the fresh pika, clearly stunned.

"Feeding? Who fed them?"

“Who else could it be…” Xia Qiyue chimed in, her tone as calm as if she were just saying the weather was nice: “It’s that Pallas’s pika called Sun Thief. Chen Nian and I were waiting for the ibex on the hillside, and it followed us all the way. After I spotted it, it abandoned the pika and ran away, faster than a rabbit.”

"."

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Wild cats would actually give up prey that they were about to catch?

This completely goes against their survival instincts.

So it's quite possible that the thief deliberately left this pika for Chen Nian!

For a time, even the infinitesimal amount was somewhat stuck in Bengbu.

"Teacher Chen, did you feed it catnip soup?"

This is the first time I've ever encountered something like this in all my years of traveling around the country!
Outrageous!

He then looked at Xia Qiyue, who remained calm: "Also, how do you manage to be so calm?"

Xia Qiyue sighed softly, "You get used to it after seeing it so many times."

"."

Chen Nian proudly raised her chin: "Hey! Forget about those unimportant things. Since it's a gift specially brought by that scoundrel, we can't waste it!"

"I'm going to find Uncle Gesang for an extra meal tonight!"

Then he picked up the pika and went to find Gesang.

Soon, everyone in the camp knew about 'Chen Nian being fed by the bandits'.

The rich aroma of rabbit meat filled the camp.

Every single person in the camp wore the same ridiculous expression as the Tibetan Fox Chief.

It turns out Chen Nian's fans weren't joking after all!

Feeded by wild cats?
This kind of treatment is something only a true 'new era Elvis' could enjoy!
That evening, everyone ate a barbecue of rats and rabbits with tears in their eyes.

It smells very good, but it's also very sour!
Professor Lu's eyes reddened after being stood up by the black-necked cranes for two days: "If I could be so favored by birds, I would be willing to live two years less!"

An elderly professor who was watching Chen Nian's live stream.

He even presented the new research topic to the students overnight.

'On the mechanism and probability assessment of wild felines actively offering food to specific human individuals'.

The answer to the question left the old professor speechless once again.

Immediately afterward, he grabbed his phone without hesitation and started enthusiastically recommending it: "Old Zhang! Old Wang! Old Li! Hurry! Watch Chen Nian's live stream replay! Yes, it's the one I mentioned last time, the one about Chen Nian identifying cats. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't watch it!"

"What? You don't believe me? After reading this, you'll understand why I have insomnia!"

This mind-blowing, tangy sensation is something even the old folks should experience!
However, to everyone's utter surprise...

This time, the pikas were fed.

This is just the beginning.
(Takeout! Can't I just order it all at once, meow!)

　More and more!
　　To all the family members who love this book! Love you all!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)