☆, Chapter 25: Feeding
“Do you want to go see your mother?” Hao Ren checked the time and found that it was still early, so she asked the three little leopard cats with a smile. The mother leopard cat had been transferred to the zoo and should be in the leopard cat enclosure. With a human accompanying them, it wasn’t too difficult to see her.
Hearing Hao Ren’s words, the three little leopard cats immediately stopped crying and pounced over at top speed.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“Alright! Then I’ll take you to see your mother today!”
“Really?”
“Of course, it’s true!”
“Mom… we’re going to see Mom…” The three little leopard cats were so excited they ran around the field, startling the other little friends in the park into a frenzy. It took Hao Ren a while to calm them down.
Since Hao Ren was going to the zoo, Hao Yi of course accompanied her. The two of them led the three little leopard cats home, packed up, and then headed to the suburban zoo. The three little leopard cats were not big now, and an ordinary pet carrier could hold them.
The driver who took them to the zoo was still the same Mr. Wang from before. Hearing that the two of them were going to the zoo, the smile on his face was very ambiguous. It was obvious that he still hadn’t figured out Hao Ren’s true identity and probably still thought the two of them were on a date.
Hao Ren didn’t want to explain, and she couldn’t stand his strange gaze, so she could only lower her head and play with the cats. This pet carrier had been used by Auntie Mei to carry a Teddy she had previously owned. Perhaps because it was too crowded inside, or because they smelled the Teddy’s scent left on it, the three little ones were obviously a little uneasy lying inside. But because they knew this was to see their mother, although they were uncomfortable, the three little ones were still trying their best to endure it.
Anyway, they were still in the car. Hao Ren opened the bag and took the three of them out, placing them in the space between her and Hao Yi. Perhaps because he had been scratched by them last time, Hao Yi’s expression was a little nervous when he saw Hao Ren let them out.
“Oh, it’s these three again! These are leopard cats, right? I have a relative who has a Bengal cat, and it’s very fierce. You two should be careful not to get scratched!”
“It’s fine, they’re very well-behaved!” As soon as Hao Ren’s words fell, one of the little leopard cats actually climbed onto Hao Yi’s lap, circled around, and lay down comfortably. Hao Ren looked closely and found that it was the very one that had scratched Hao Yi’s claw fiercely before. Felines were indeed very emotional; you never knew what attitude they would have towards you in the next moment.
Hao Yi, who had been very nervous, stiffened at the sight of this.
“It’s fine, it’s in a good mood today. You can pet it.”
Hao Yi reached out his hand dubiously, testing it before daring to put his whole hand on it. Feeling Hao Yi’s touch, the little leopard cat closed its eyes comfortably and even purred like a domestic cat. Seeing that the little leopard cat did not resist his touch, Hao Yi let out a sigh of relief.
“We want some too!” Seeing this, the remaining two quickly jumped onto Hao Ren’s lap, one on each side, asking for pets.
And so, on the way to the zoo, Hao Ren and Hao Yi stroked the fur of the three cat masters all the way.
At the entrance of the zoo, they put the three little leopard cats into the pet carrier and told them not to make a sound. Only then did Hao Ren follow Hao Yi into the zoo.
Without much delay, the two of them, with the three little ones, went straight to the leopard cat enclosure. It was a weekend, and there were many people with children visiting the zoo. The air was filled with the shouts of children. And leopard cats are nocturnal animals, usually sleeping in their dens during the day, so there was not even a shadow of a leopard cat in the outdoor exhibition area at this time.
“Come here! Come here!” A few adults were shouting at a leopard-spotted shadow at the entrance of a cave, trying to lure out the one lying there. Unfortunately, that one turned a deaf ear and continued to lie there motionless.
“Mom, Mom, I smell Mom’s scent…”
“Mom… Mom, we’re here…”
“Uncle, don’t block the way, let our mom come out…”
The three little leopard cats cried out one after another.
Hearing the voices of the three little leopard cats, the male leopard cat blocking the entrance immediately poked its head out and ran to the fence, curiously pressing its head against the wire mesh to look at the three in Hao Ren’s bag. But its gaze flickered the moment it touched Hao Ren.
“King! Her Majesty the Queen!” Then, it actually lowered its body in full view of everyone and bowed to Hao Ren.
The crowd, who had been cheering when they saw the leopard cat come out, was instantly silenced by this scene. Then, someone noticed the pet carrier Hao Ren was holding.
“The meow of the cat in your bag is so strange!” Because the three little leopard cats had been meowing at that side just now, this adult thought that the strange behavior of the adult leopard cat was because of the three little ones in the bag.
“Yes! It’s a cross between a domestic cat and a Bengal cat, so it’s quite special.” If people knew that she was carrying three nationally protected animals in her bag, it would be a lot of fun. Hao Ren could only lie helplessly.
The person sized up Hao Ren and Hao Yi’s attire and didn’t say anything more. It wasn’t strange for the children of rich families to have some special breeds of pets.
“Roar—everyone, cheer up! Her Majesty the Queen has come to see us!” Just as Hao Ren was happy to have escaped a disaster under the cover of the three little leopard cats, the adult leopard cat suddenly jumped onto a high rock in the exhibition area and let out an excited roar.
This roar was very loud. Hao Ren could clearly feel the entire zoo boiling after this roar.
“Oh no…” Originally, she had wanted to come quietly and leave quietly. With such a commotion, she wouldn’t be able to explain herself to everyone if she didn’t tour the entire zoo.
“Huh! Tiger roars, lion roars… what’s wrong, what’s wrong, the animals suddenly seem to be acting strange!” Not only Hao Ren, but even the ordinary onlookers could feel that something was wrong.
“Is there really something wrong with H City? Why have the animals been acting so crazy lately? Not to mention the small animals from other places running here, our own “pet” has secretly run away several times, but fortunately, I found out in time.”
“Do you think H City has some kind of special existence for animals?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, could a great demon have been born? Hahaha…”
…
There was no great demon, but there was a King of a Hundred Beasts. Hao Ren smiled wryly and brought the carrier closer to the fence. At this time, hearing the call of her three children, the mother of the children finally limped out of the cave. She had recovered well during this time. Although she had a lame leg, she still looked majestic.
The wild one and the one raised in the zoo were indeed not on the same level. Seeing the mother leopard cat come out, the male leopard cat, which had looked so imposing before, actually moved aside tactfully, its head lowered obediently. The mother leopard cat ignored it and went straight to her three children.
As the mother leopard cat approached, the three little ones immediately became restless.
“Mom, Mom, we miss you so much…”
“Baby… wooo wooo… baby…” The mother leopard cat tried to press her face against the wire mesh, wanting to touch her three children, but it was in vain. After trying several times and finding it impossible, she could only give up the struggle dejectedly.
The three little leopard cats and their mother stood opposite each other. Although they were only separated by a thin layer of wire mesh, they were in completely different worlds.
“Mom, you’ve lost weight…”
“It’s fine, I’m just not used to the new environment… How are you all?”
“We’re fine! There’s a lot of food over there… and the little friends are all very weak…”
Chatting about the weak little friends in the park, the sad emotions of the one large and three small leopard cats were finally relieved. The three little leopard cats even waved their little paws in the carrier from time to time to show off their strength. Their fierce movements made it a little difficult for Hao Ren to hold on. They chatted for a long time, inseparable. In the end, it was the mother leopard cat who ruthlessly turned around and returned to her den that ended this long visit.
Seeing their mother leave, the little leopard cats whimpered pitifully. Hao Ren promised them that she would bring them here often in the future, which finally stopped their crying.
Thanks to the howl of that male leopard cat just now, the entire zoo now knew of the arrival of the King of a Hundred Beasts. Hao Ren had no choice but to tour the exhibition areas one by one.
The closest to the leopard cat enclosure was the monkey mountain. When Hao Ren appeared, the entire monkey mountain boiled over. The monkeys jumped up and down like crazy, making the zookeepers think that something was wrong.
Hao Ren was afraid that the surrounding onlookers would notice something was wrong, so she greeted them and prepared to leave. To her surprise, before she could turn around, the monkey king suddenly threw something over. Hao Ren caught it reflexively. She looked down and saw that it was a fresh, large peach. As expected of the monkey king, its aim was good.
“Your Majesty the Queen, this peach is very sweet!” Seeing Hao Ren catch the peach, the entire monkey troop instantly fell silent, and all the monkeys’ gazes were fixed on Hao Ren.
Not only the monkeys, but even the humans’ gazes were fixed on her.
“Eat it! It’s really sweet!” The monkey king looked at Hao Ren eagerly, its expression full of anticipation.
Hao Ren had no choice but to take out a tissue, wipe it, and then take a big bite. The food at the zoo was good; this peach was really sweet.
“Thank you!”
“Hoo hoo hoo—yo yo yo—the King ate our peach—Everybody, check it out—” Seeing Hao Ren eat, the troop of monkeys instantly cheered excitedly.
The onlookers’ expressions became even more stiff.
“I’ve only ever seen people feed monkeys. This is the first time I’ve seen a monkey feed a person.” An uncle next to Hao Ren joked with a smile.
Fortunately, Hao Ren had worn sunglasses and a hat before going out. Otherwise, it would have definitely caused a commotion. She became more and more worried about her future. She had inexplicably acquired the title of the King of a Hundred Beasts, and Hao Weiguo had even pushed her into the public eye with a publicity stunt. She was very worried that one day in the future, she would be captured and dissected by the relevant departments.
Seeing Hao Ren eat the peach, the monkey king threw another banana over. This time, the aim was not good enough, and it hit the wall. The monkey troop let out a unanimous sigh. The monkey king, not believing in bad luck, threw it again, and this time it was successful. The monkey troop once again cheered excitedly as before. These guys must have thought it was fun. They threw another apple, two potatoes, and cheered each time. The onlookers were completely stunned.
Seeing that the monkey king was about to throw a steamed bun as well, Hao Ren hurriedly pulled Hao Yi and ran away as if fleeing.
Hao Ren returned from this trip to the zoo with a full load. She had received a peach, a banana, an apple, and two potatoes from the monkey troop; two carrots from the giraffes; a yellow croaker from the penguins; the elephant had even wanted to give her half a gnawed watermelon, which she had refused on the grounds that she couldn’t carry it; the tigers and the like were even more exaggerated, directly preparing to give her a large piece of fresh meat. Unfortunately, the space in the fence was too small to fit it through, so they had to give up. That tiger had a bad temper and even angrily rammed the fence a few times, scaring the tourists; she had also received a handful of green leafy feed like grass and vegetables…
The few pandas in the panda enclosure had originally wanted to give her a few bamboo shoots, but unfortunately, with their body shape, they had failed to throw the bamboo shoots up after several attempts and had to give up. In the end, the female panda even angrily scolded her useless husband, causing the repeatedly defeated panda to cover its eyes and whimper for a long time, which made Hao Ren laugh out loud.
“Unlucky Ren, if we have nothing to eat in the future, let’s just come to the zoo! We can cook several dishes for dinner tonight! We even have fruit!” Hao Yi looked at the pile of food enthusiastically given by the animals in his arms, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. This guy had long since determined that Hao Ren was not an ordinary person, and he was relatively calm in the face of the animals’ incredible actions.
The zoo was also helpless. It was probably the first time they had encountered someone coming to the zoo to fleece them. The director, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, had a very conflicted expression when he saw Hao Ren and Hao Yi leaving with a pile of zoo feed. He was probably already hesitating whether to add another sign next to the “No Feeding” sign, saying “No Accepting Feeding”…
In any case, today’s trip to the zoo was quite successful.
When she got home, Hao Ren began to worry about the whereabouts of the three little leopard cats. Hearing them excitedly boast to their mother about how weak the little friends in the park were, Hao Ren realized that the small park was not their ideal growing environment.
“Do you want to come with me? I just moved recently. There’s a small mountain next to my house, and the environment there is more suitable for you.”
Unfortunately, the three little leopard cats refused without a second thought.
“We’re not going! It’s close to Mom here, and there are many little friends!”
“We like little friends…”
“Yes, yes! We’re not going!”
Hao Ren didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Do you like little friends, or do you like bullying little friends? Since they insisted, Hao Ren could only send them back. Anyway, they were still young, so it wasn’t a big deal for them to cause trouble for a while longer. With that German Shepherd there, they probably wouldn’t go too far.