Chapter 195 (continued)

"Such a rare cat, I couldn't resist," Shi Wen said softly, glancing around to make sure Cong Zai wasn't there. She continued, "I originally thought it wouldn't notice, and I figured a bath would do the trick when we got back."

Yan Kexing: "Now you've crashed and burned, haven't you?"

Shi Wen, "It's overturned. I'll make it some tomato and beef brisket later to appease it."

They used the same cow they slaughtered last time to make beef soup, but there wasn't much beef left in the freezer, and they didn't eat it very often.

Now that Cong Zai is angry, I definitely need to make something he likes to eat to appease him, which means I can only use the precious beef in the refrigerator.

Cong Zai's favorite dish is their special version of tomato stewed beef brisket. No water can be added when stewing it; only the juice from the tomatoes can be used. After stewing, cream and milk are added.

This method of stewing tomato and beef brisket makes it especially fragrant; Cong Zai can eat a small bowl of it in one go.

Upon hearing this, Yan Kexing said, "Then go outside and pick some tomatoes, and bring back the ripe ones."

Shi Wen, "Okay, is there anything else?"

Yan Kexing: "See if there are any loofahs. Pick a couple and make soup tonight."

The loofah was fine too; Shi Wen quickly went to carry out the requirements.

Yan Kexing maintained his usual high standard in cooking.

After he finished making the tomato stewed beef brisket, Shi Wen used a small fork to press the beef into small pieces so that it would be easier for Cong Zai to eat.

Every little one got a share of the tomato-braised beef brisket, but Shi Wen gave Cong Zai the most.

Shi Wen finished feeding the little ones, Cong Zai immediately buried his head in his bowl and ate without looking up.

It ate so happily that Shi Wen sometimes suspected it wasn't actually angry about petting the desert cat, but just trying to trick her into eating some tomato and beef brisket.

Shi Wen Yan Kexing saw Shi Wen return, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Shi Wen shared his guess, then said, "I have a feeling this is something Cong Zai could do; it has the intelligence for it."

Yan Kexing: "If it's Cong Zai, it's actually quite possible."

Shi Wen clicked his tongue and said, "This cat's really something."

Yan Kexing: "Cong Zai isn't that old. If you say that, it'll probably make a fuss."

Shi Wen quickly changed his tune. "Then I'll speak more quietly."

After finishing his meal, Shi Wen thought of the desert cat and took out his phone to specifically ask Zhou Hongzhong about it.

Zhou Hongzhong quickly replied: [It's fine, this desert cat is very healthy, it just needs a little deworming.]

Shi Wen: [That's good. How long are you going to keep it in the team?]

Zhou Hongzhong: [We'll probably keep it for about a week, then we'll put it back where it usually plays next week.]

Shi Wen: [Where?]

Zhou Hongzhong: [I don't know, we're still looking. So we need to take about a week to search slowly. In the short term, we don't know where to send it.]

Shi Wen: [If it's a desert cat, it probably lives in alpine meadows?]

Zhou Hongzhong: [That's true, but not all alpine meadows have desert cats; this area is mainly the territory of the Asian wildcat.]

Shi Wen had no other suggestions for the moment, so he could only say, "[Then keep searching! Call me if you need any help.]"

Zhou Hongzhong: [With those words from you, we certainly won't hold back.]

Shi Wen was chatting with Zhou Hongzhong on WeChat, Yan Kexing over, sat down next to him, and looked at the screen with him.

Shi Wen turned to look at Yan Kexing: "Do you have any suggestions? You must have seen a lot of wild animals when you went out on field expeditions, right?"

Yan Kexing: "We've never seen a desert cat here; we've only seen wild cats. However, one spring we did see several desert cats in G Province, and we've been conducting investigations there every year for several years."

Shi Wen: "Do desert cats live in the same place after they reach adulthood?"

Yan Kexing: "They probably live in the same area and are unwilling to migrate."

Shi Wen, "Are there many desert cats?"

"Not many either." Yan Kexing shook his head. "There aren't many wild animals these days. If there were really a lot, it wouldn't be a Class I protected animal."

That's true; the experts didn't just randomly assign protection levels.

Shi Wen suddenly thought of his two tigers, "If there aren't many of them, they'll have a hard time finding mates, won't they?"

Yan Kexing laughed upon hearing this, "Why did you think of that? It is indeed quite difficult. There was a zoo that bred desert cats, and they raised seven or eight desert cats in the zoo until they died, but they still couldn't successfully breed the next generation of kittens."

"How can it be so difficult?" Shi Wen, puzzled. "Shouldn't breeding felines be relatively easy?"

Yan Kexing: "I don't know, I haven't researched it. I hope the desert cat you found will have an easier time finding a mate."

Shi Wen, "Hopefully it can find another desert cat to mate with; that's probably not going to be easy."

Cats in China are quite closely related, with little reproductive isolation between them, and can interbreed.

A desert cat can find a mate with another cat, but it will be very difficult to produce purebred desert cats.

It's quite a pity.

Shi Wen has always been concerned about the desert cat.

After working on the ranch for several days, he thought of the desert cat and specifically asked Zhou Hongzhong, "Captain Zhou, you're about to release the desert cats back into the wild, right?"

Zhou Hongzhong: "They'll be released next Monday. They'll probably be sent to the Quenched Gold Mountain area; someone has spotted the desert cat there."

Shi Wen, "Is that a stray cat? If we send it to a male cat's territory, won't they fight?"

Zhou Hongzhong chuckled, "Then there's not much we can do. Theoretically speaking, there can't be only one cat over there. If there are cats, there should be female kittens too. Don't worry too much."

I often Shi Wen, "We've known each other for a while now. If it can't beat up other cats in a fight and gets beaten up by them, it's kind of heartbreaking."

Zhou Hongzhong: "It shouldn't be that bad. If you're really worried, you can come with us to release the animals."