Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

Tang Li hugged Wang Yuyu's round body tightly, pressed her cheek against his fluffy, soft tiger fur, gently stroked his head, and began to murmur her instructions:

"Once you return to the wild, remember to protect yourself. Be very careful of humans. Don't rush towards them foolishly. Keep your distance from them."

"There are many bad people in this world. They will hurt you, and you can't outmaneuver them, you know?"

"Don't worry about your territory either, we've been keeping an eye on it for you!"

"For the past two months, no other predators have come to invade your territory, except for the wolf pack that lives next door, which has encroached on part of your territory!"

"When you get back, remember to drive them away and hold onto your territory."

"Also, the weather will gradually warm up soon, and the reserve will release some wild boar and deer herds into your territory, so you won't have to worry about food anymore!"

"Now you're practically a 'staff member' of the reserve, so you should wander around more often and patrol your territory. Don't just eat and sleep all day and become increasingly lazy."

"The reserve has developed a new generation of small balls with metal detection capabilities, which can help you find metal traps in the wild. If you carry it with you, you won't have to worry about stepping on a trap and getting hurt."

"But don't rely on this thing too much. In crucial moments, you still need to rely on your own vigilance and not let your guard down, understand?"

"..."

Tang Li kept talking, gently stroking his tiger fur, her eyes full of concern, afraid of missing any instructions.

Wang Yuyu nestled obediently in her arms, no longer throwing a tantrum, listening attentively to every word she said, occasionally nodding her tiger head gently, and rubbing her cheek with her fluffy head, responding to her concern and instructions in her own way.

…………

It was past six o'clock in the evening, and the sky was completely dark. A few scattered cold stars dotted the deep night sky, and the cold moonlight was freely poured onto the snow.

At the back gate of the zoo, warm yellow lights illuminated the shadows of a man and a tiger, casting long shadows.

Tang Li squatted on the snow, watching Wang Yu slowly finish a piece of meat, then pushed the rest of the meat aside, shook her head, clearly having eaten and drunk her fill.

She quickly took a towel out of her pocket and carefully wiped Wang Yuyu's mouth and paws.

As she wiped him, she kept nagging and giving instructions, her voice full of concern, her eyes slightly red: "You have a secure job, so be careful on the road. Avoid traps, stay away from humans, and don't get hurt again."

"If you miss me, come find me here. I'll always be here, okay?"

Wang Yuyu squatted quietly on the snow, without struggling, letting Tang Li wipe her. The arrogance and mischief of the past had faded from her amber eyes, leaving only a deep reluctance.

He nodded slightly, gently rubbed his fluffy tiger head against Tang Li's hand, then snuggled into her arms, burying his head in her neck and nuzzling her, as if he were being affectionate or expressing his reluctance to part, making low, aggrieved purrs in his throat.

A moment later, he reluctantly lifted his head from Tang Li's embrace, took one last look at her, and turned to walk into the depths of the woods.

Below his neck, a small silver ball swayed gently, half-hidden in the fluffy tiger fur, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

This is the latest generation of small balls developed by the reserve's research base. It has metal detection capabilities and is firmly attached to a high-tech thin rope with a diameter of only two millimeters.

This thin rope was also a rare item, with excellent elasticity. Wang Yuyu even used his claws to pull on it with great effort before he could barely break it.

Moreover, it felt light and airy around his neck, without any sense of restraint. He didn't feel any discomfort at all, which is why he reluctantly agreed to let Tang Li put it on for him.

If it were anything else, he would have torn it to pieces and thrown it far away.

As they walked deeper into the woods, Wang Yuyu suddenly stopped, slowly turned around, and looked back at Tang Li standing under the lamplight.

Those amber tiger eyes sparkled, as if they held starlight, and the reluctance in their eyes was almost overflowing, as if they wanted to etch her image into their hearts.

Tang Li stood still, waved her hand vigorously, and shouted at him with a barely perceptible sob in her voice, "Establish a secure job, be careful!"

"Take good care of yourself. If you miss me, come back to me. I'll be waiting for you!"

Wang Yu nodded vigorously at her, his amber eyes flickering slightly. Then, without hesitation, he turned around abruptly, took firm steps, and quickly disappeared into the dense forest. His figure soon vanished into the dark night.

Only when Wang Yuyu's figure was no longer in sight did Tang Li slowly lower her waving hand and sigh softly, "Sigh, I really can't bear to part with him... Now that this stinky tiger is gone, there will be no tiger to play with me or to coax me. I'm really not used to it."

She looked around. The little wooden house where Wang Yu lived, the big red ball he played with, the big cardboard box he slept in, the festive snowman, and the lanterns and couplets that hadn't been taken away were all quietly in their original places. Everything was still the same as before, except that she could no longer see that proud and cute tiger shadow, and she could no longer hear his impatient growls and smug snores.

Tang Li stood there, stunned for a long time, before slowly coming back to her senses. With somewhat heavy steps, she slowly walked towards the iron gate.

Meanwhile, on the distant mountain ridge, Wang Yuyu had already quickly climbed up using her agile skills.

He looked down at the brightly lit zoo below, its warm glow contrasting sharply with the dark, silent forest.

His gaze was fixed on an office building in the park, a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes. He let out a low growl, as if uttering a harsh threat:

"You old geezer, just you wait! You've stopped me from enjoying my life time and time again. You better not leave the house, or I'll teach you a lesson!"

Having vented his resentment, he flicked his tail, no longer lingering for the lights below, and turned to continue walking along the ridge.

He wanted to return to his territory as soon as possible and reclaim the land that belonged to him.

Although Tang Li had said that his territory had not been occupied by other predators, only that pack of blind neighbor wolves had secretly invaded a small part of it, he was not going to let his guard down.

These animals in the forest are all highly skilled, and they have plenty of ways to evade human observation and secretly seize territory.

He had been gone for two months, and no one knew what changes had occurred deep within the territory or whether there were any hidden dangers. Only by seeing it with his own eyes could he truly feel at ease.

"Seeing is believing, hearing is deceiving"—this is a principle passed down from our ancestors, and he wouldn't be careless about it.