Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

He suppressed his inner grumbling, leaned closer, and gently licked Tang Li's cheek with his tongue, as a way of coaxing her.

Tang Li laughed and dodged away when he licked her, wiping the saliva off her face haphazardly and slapping his head in disgust: "Don't lick me! My face is covered in your saliva!"

"Do you think I need you to lick my boots? You sycophant!"

"Hmph!" Wang Yuyu instantly bristled, her temper flaring up. She turned and walked away, swishing her tail, her steps heavy with a hint of defiance. She was seething with resentment. "Damn it, I kindly licked you to comfort you, and you dare call me a licking tiger!"

"Why don't you go ask around in the mountains and see which animal I licked is still standing alive?"

"I'm not some simp. Compared to those guys who can't even get close, at least I managed to get close!"

Seeing that Wang Yuyu was really throwing a tantrum, Tang Li felt a little helpless. She quickly caught up with him and followed behind, nagging him to coax him, "Hey, hey, hey! You get angry just because I said a few words to you. You're so petty!"

"You're just like me, with that big, angry face. You can't be scolded or touched. You're so petty!"

"..."

She kept nagging, but Wang Yu just kept walking forward with his head down, his ears drooping, showing no intention of paying any attention to her.

Tang Li panicked a little and quickly ran a few steps to him, spreading her arms to block him.

She lowered her body slightly, waved her hand gently in front of Wang Yuyu's eyes, and softened her tone, with a hint of pleading: "Are you really angry? I promise I won't make you a sycophant anymore, okay? Please don't be angry with me, alright?"

Wang Yu raised his head and glared at her fiercely, but there wasn't much real anger in his eyes; instead, there was a hint of grievance. He muttered to himself, "Damn it, you still dare to talk! If you say another word, believe me, I really won't talk to you anymore!"

Seeing that he seemed to have given in, Tang Li immediately beamed and raised her hands in surrender: "I won't say it anymore, I promise I won't mention it again, please don't be angry!"

"Stupid woman! Foolish woman!" Wang Yu cursed inwardly, but slowly moved forward, gently nuzzling Tang Li's hand with her head, as if to forgive her.

Tang Li immediately hugged his tiger head, stroking and kneading it, and even kissed it a few times, as happy as a child who had received candy.

Wang Yuyu also enjoyed her caresses. The sensation of her fingers gliding across the tiger's fur was so comfortable that he squinted his eyes and kept tilting his head to rub against her body. His anger from earlier had long been forgotten.

Just then, Wang Yuyu suddenly felt her teeth pierce something soft, accompanied by a faint "hissing" sound.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked down. He saw that Tang Li's thick cotton-padded coat had been bitten into by him unconsciously, and the cotton was slightly exposed.

He glanced furtively at Tang Li, seeing that she was completely absorbed in comforting him and hadn't noticed her torn coat. He quickly and discreetly pulled out his tooth, pretending nothing had happened, and even deliberately snuggled closer to her, trying to cover up his clumsiness with intimacy. He secretly rejoiced, "Thank goodness I wasn't caught, otherwise I'd have my food allowance docked again!"

The man and the tiger lingered together for a while longer in the snow-covered open space when suddenly, a beam of flashlight pierced through the night.

"Little Tang? It's not even dawn yet, what are you doing causing trouble at the back gate with your secure job?"

Uncle Zhang, who was guarding the back door, poked his head out, holding a flashlight in his hand, his tone tinged with doubt.

He had already seen the two of them on the surveillance footage coming from the veterinary room. When they reached the back door, they stood in the snow playing around and hesitated to move forward. So he couldn't resist taking a flashlight and gently pushing open a crack in the door to take a look.

The presence of a stranger and the sudden light instantly triggered Wang Yuyu's innate vigilance.

He stood up abruptly, his muscles tense, his tiger fur bristling slightly in the cold wind. His amber eyes were fixed on the light, and he bared his sharp fangs at Uncle Zhang behind the crack in the door. A low, warning growl rolled from his throat, and his aura instantly became overwhelming.

Tang Li's heart tightened, and she immediately stepped aside to block Wang Yuyu, urgently calling out to the security room, "Uncle Zhang, please go in quickly! Don't frighten him!"

Uncle Zhang was so frightened by the tiger's ferocious appearance that he shuddered and quickly replied, "Okay!" before slamming the security room door shut with a loud bang.

Seeing that the lights and the smell had disappeared, Wang Yuyu's tense body slowly relaxed, but she still remained on guard, turning her head to stare at the door of the security room, her ears twitching from time to time, afraid that someone else would come out.

Tang Li breathed a sigh of relief and gently patted his head to comfort him: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, that's Uncle Zhang, the security guard at the back gate, he'll be your neighbor from now on."

"Huh? My neighbor?" Wang Yuyu suddenly looked up, staring at Tang Li in astonishment, wondering to herself, "Why do I have to be someone else's neighbor? Doesn't that mean I'll be watched every day?"

Tang Li was amused by his appearance and reached out to rub his face: "There's nothing I can do, all the cages in the garden are full, and there's no room for one for you."

"Furthermore, considering that you've always lived in the wild and certainly wouldn't be used to being kept in a cage, we've decided to let you roam freely in the back hills of the zoo!"

"Don't worry, we've fenced off a small, secluded area on the back hill, with 24-hour surveillance to ensure you won't be disturbed. You can rest and recover here in peace, while also retaining some personal space!"

Wang Yu frowned as she stared at Tang Li. "Living in the back mountain is fine, but what if I get bored? I can't just lie around all day, can I?"

Unfortunately, Tang Li neither understood Tiger Language nor could she read his eyes. She assumed he was worried about food and gently reassured him, "Don't worry about food. I'll bring you meat regularly. You'll never go hungry. You'll have plenty to eat every day."

"Alright, alright." Wang Yuyu immediately suppressed his worries and nodded readily, thinking to himself, "As long as there's food to eat, we can deal with boredom later. It's better than working ourselves to death hunting in the mountains."

He didn't dwell on it any longer; the current treatment was already far beyond his expectations. He would deal with other troubles when they came up.

Tang Li led Wang Yuyu to the heavy iron gate at the back door, which was locked with a large padlock.

She looked down at Wang Yuyu and said, "You stay here and wait patiently. I'll go get the key from Uncle Zhang."

After saying that, he turned and walked toward the security room next door.

Just as she reached the door, before she could even raise her hand to knock, the security room door creaked open a crack, and a cold key was handed out.

Uncle Zhang's voice came through the door: "Xiao Tang, here's the key, hurry up and take it out!"

"Haha, Uncle Zhang, don't be afraid. A secure job won't bite you; it's just that it's shy around strangers." Tang Li laughed as she took the keys, her tone slightly teasing.