Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

The old village chief glared at him with exasperation, then turned to Fan Zhengcheng with a fawning smile: "Captain Fan, we've found him, it's this kid."

"Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Our village will fully cooperate with the investigation!"

Fan Zhengcheng nodded, stepped forward, and fixed his serious gaze on Su Lao Er: "Do you know what you trapped in the trap you set in the back mountain?"

Su Lao Er suddenly looked up, his eyes full of confusion: "Latch... lassoed what? I just set a small lasso, trying to see if I could catch a rabbit..."

"You've caught a red fox!"

Fan Zhengcheng's voice suddenly rose, "Red foxes are protected animals under the 'Three-Protected' list in China. Hunting or harming protected animals without authorization is a violation of the law!"

He paused, his tone growing more serious: "Tell me honestly, how many traps did you set in the back mountain?"

Everyone initially thought the injured fox was a white fox. Fang Xiuming and Min Xueyi also thought it was a white fox when they first saw it. Only after carefully rescuing it did they realize that the little guy was a red fox whose fur turned snow-white during its winter molting season.

"Is it...illegal?"

Su Lao Er was so frightened by Fan Zhengcheng's words that his legs went weak and he almost knelt down.

He trembled as he held up one finger, his voice barely audible: "Just...just one! Really just one!"

"Just one?" Fan Zhengcheng frowned, clearly not believing it. "If you dare to lie, and we find other traps, your crime will be compounded. Do you know the consequences?"

"I'm not lying! There really is only one!"

Su Lao Er was so anxious he was almost crying, tears welling up in his eyes. "I just came back and had nothing to do, so I watched a video of someone using a snare to catch rabbits. I was curious and wanted to try it. I had no idea I would snare a protected animal... I really didn't mean to poach!"

"I made the lasso myself using wire from home. I put it on the hillside a few days ago, just to see if I could grab something..."

Fan Zhengcheng stared at his expression for a few seconds and saw that he looked panicked and didn't seem to be lying. Just as he took out his phone to call Fang Xiuming to report the situation, a deafening tiger roar suddenly came from the direction of the back mountain.

"roar!"

"roar!"

"roar!"

Each shout was more furious than the last, each one louder than the last, echoing through the valley like muffled thunder, making one's eardrums ache.

All the villagers were stunned by the sudden tiger's roar. They all turned to look at the back of the mountain, their faces filled with terror. The previous chatter vanished without a trace.

"Oh no! It's a secure job!"

Fan Zhengcheng's expression changed drastically, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately dialed Fang Xiuming's number, his tone extremely urgent, "Fang Xiuming! What's going on with the 'iron rice bowl'? Why are you yelling so agitated? Has something happened?"

At this moment, on the mountain ridge, Fang Xiuming was carefully holding the injured Red Fox, with Min Xueyi standing beside him. Both of them were staring intently in the direction from which the tiger's roar came, their expressions solemn.

Hearing Fan Zhengcheng's voice on the phone, Fang Xiuming's voice trembled: "Captain Fan, we don't know either! We just got here, and the 'iron rice bowl' (a metaphor for a secure job) has already moved deeper into the territory to continue patrolling..."

"Don't worry, Min Xueyi and I will follow his footprints and see what's going on!"

"We'll report to you immediately if anything happens!"

"Alright! You two be very careful!"

Fan Zhengcheng cautioned, "They're talking so loudly about the 'iron rice bowl,' they must be in trouble. Don't get too close, be careful!"

"Don't worry, Captain Fan, we know what we're doing!"

Fang Xiuming hung up the phone and carefully handed the red fox in his arms to Min Xueyi. "Take the fox down the mountain and wait for me. I'm going to check on the 'iron rice bowl' situation!"

"No, we have to go together!" Min Xueyi shook his head, putting the red fox into his rescue kit. "More people means more protection!"

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing tension in each other's eyes. Without further hesitation, they quickly followed the clear paw prints Wang Yu had left in the snow.

From the small mountain village, the tiger's roars coming from the back mountain grew more and more violent, rolling across the valley like muffled thunder.

Su Lao Er listened intently for a few seconds, roughly discerning the source of the sound. His body trembled violently, his heart skipped a beat, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, trickling down his cheeks.

"No...it can't be that bad, can it?"

His voice trembled, and his eyes darted around in a panic. "I only set two lousy traps, and...and both of them went in?"

Seeing that Fan Zhengcheng had hung up the phone, Su Lao Er could no longer hold back. He staggered forward a couple of steps and murmured softly, "I...I roughly know what happened on the back mountain..."

As soon as he said that, the whispering crowd fell silent instantly, and all eyes turned to him with curiosity and eagerness.

"Speak! What else are you hiding from me?"

Fan Zhengcheng strode forward, his brows furrowed, his voice filled with anxiety.

The tiger's roar from the back mountain grew increasingly fierce; every second of delay increased the danger for Wang Yuyu.

Su Lao Er's face was ashen, tears welled in his eyes, and his voice trembled with sobs: "That...that tiger, it probably fell into that big pit where we were digging stones!"

"impossible!"

The old village chief immediately exploded, slamming his cane on the ground. "We surrounded the pit tightly with branches after we finished digging out the stones, just to prevent animals from falling in! How could anything have happened?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the old village chief seemed to suddenly remember something. His eyes widened, and he angrily pointed at Su Lao Er: "Did you, you brat, tamper with things again?!"

Su Lao Er stiffened, lowered his head even further, nodded with a pale face, and said in a voice barely audible, "Mmm..."

"I...I moved the branches that were around the pit to the top of the pit and laid them out, thinking...thinking to see if any stupid thing would fall in."

He became increasingly panicked as he spoke, and tears finally streamed down his face. "It's been snowing for the past few days, and the snow has completely covered the tree branches. That tiger must not have seen clearly and stepped into the void..."

"How is what you're doing any different from poaching!"

Fan Zhengcheng's temples throbbed with anger. He roared, "Do you know that's a Class I protected animal? If anything happens to the tiger, can you bear the responsibility?"

"I really didn't intend to poach!"

Su Lao Er hurriedly waved his hands, crying even harder, tears mixed with cold sweat streaming down his face. "I was just bored and curious if that pit could trap anything. I wanted to see which idiot would fall in and have some fun!"

"I originally planned to move the branches back to their original state the next day, but the snow has been so heavy these past few days that all the roads into the mountains are blocked, and I couldn't get in, so I forgot about it!"

"Even that fox trap, I only intended to leave it out for a day to test its effectiveness; I never expected it to catch any animals!"

"I really didn't mean to, who knew I'd fall into both traps... Waaaaah..."