Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

Feeling increasingly aggrieved, he muttered to the little ball, "Damn it, if only they had taken me into the zoo earlier, none of this would have happened!"

"I was so proactive, practically running to the zoo entrance begging to be recruited, and they just sent me back!"

"Go to hell..."

All the grievances I've suffered these past few days—being tricked by Tang Li into going north to find a female tiger, fighting with three male tigers, driving away invading brown bears, and now having my food supplies taken by poachers—have all erupted at this moment.

He lay there in the snow, cursing at the little ball, sometimes complaining about how unreliable humans were, sometimes feeling sorry for his wild boar food, his tone full of grievance and resentment.

In the research base, the researchers looked at Wang Yuyu's aggrieved yet somewhat "devouring" eyes on the screen, and listened to his intermittent low growls and complaints. They were too frightened to stare any longer and silently manipulated the small ball back into a spherical shape, afraid of further provoking this wronged "mountain lord".

Meanwhile, Tang Li, who works at the zoo, has already obtained approval from the zoo director for her business trip and is returning to her dormitory to pack her luggage.

This time she's going deep into the mountains, which could take anywhere from three or four days to a week, so she needs to make sure she has everything she needs.

Looking at the neatly folded new coats on the bed, Tang Li hesitated for a moment, then put them all away. Instead, she rummaged through the drawers and found two old coats that were faded from washing and even had many patches.

I put one set on and wore it directly, and folded the other set and stuffed it into my backpack.

Not long after, Tang Li walked out of the dormitory with a bulging backpack on her back.

I ran into my colleague Chai Wanqing as soon as I walked onto the path in the park.

Chai Wanqing, seeing her "shabby" attire, curiously approached and looked her up and down: "Xiao Tang, what happened to you? Why are you going out in such shabby clothes? Don't you have any clothes to wear? Ask the principal for some; it's not like we won't give you a change!"

Tang Li smiled helplessly and tugged at her old coat: "Sister Wanqing, I'm going to see my secure job."

"You saw the 'iron rice bowl'?" Chai Wanqing's eyes flickered for a moment, then she immediately leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Did something happen to the 'iron rice bowl'?"

"No, no," Tang Li quickly shook her head and explained, "It was Tie Fan Wan who discovered poachers' traps in the forest. Uncle Ji and the others were worried that the forest rangers going over would upset Tie Fan Wan, so they asked me to go and keep an eye on things and see if I could be of any help."

"It's those damned poachers again!" Chai Wanqing's face instantly darkened, her eyes filled with anger. "These people are destroying our beautiful forests!"

But the next second, she stared curiously at Tang Li's outfit, looking her up and down twice. As if she suddenly understood something, a gossipy smile appeared on her lips, and she leaned close to Tang Li's ear and whispered, "Little Tang, did you offend someone with a secure job?"

Tang Li's face flushed instantly, and she quickly waved her hands, explaining, "No, no! Sister Wanqing, you're overthinking it!"

She pointed to her old coat and made an excuse, "We're going into the mountains, aren't we? There are lots of trees and dense branches there, and new clothes will easily get torn. I won't feel bad if I wear something a little worn out!"

As she spoke, she tried to slip away while Chai Wanqing wasn't paying attention, but as soon as she turned around, Chai Wanqing grabbed her arm.

Chai Wanqing grinned mischievously and pulled her towards the shade of a nearby tree, teasingly saying, "Little Tang, don't try to fool me! You think your little tricks can escape my sharp eyes?"

She simply wrapped her arms around Tang Li's neck, holding her tightly, and pressed her in a low voice, "Tell me quickly, what bad thing did you do that you're afraid of being punished by your job security? Tell me, and I promise I won't tell anyone!"

Tang Li struggled for a long time but couldn't break free. She was so entangled that she had no choice but to surrender helplessly: "It's nothing... it's just that Uncle Ji asked me to guide Iron Rice Bowl to find a tigress so that he could have cubs."

"He actually fell for it, and he was furious. He even yelled at me."

"Hahaha!" Chai Wanqing couldn't help but burst into laughter after hearing this. "You're something else, Xiao Tang! You actually dared to fool that petty tigress!"

"No wonder you wore such shabby clothes; were you afraid he'd hold a grudge and tear your new clothes to shreds?"

Tang Li's face turned even redder. Taking advantage of Chai Wanqing's breathless laughter, she suddenly broke free from her grasp, turned around and ran towards the parking lot, shouting back as she ran, "Wanqing! You absolutely mustn't tell anyone else! If it gets to my ears, I'm finished!"

"Okay, okay! I promise I won't tell!" Chai Wanqing replied, clutching her stomach and laughing loudly. Watching Tang Li's hurried figure disappear into the distance, she laughed even harder.

Tang Li ran all the way to the parking lot, opened the car door and got in. She couldn't help but pat her burning face, secretly relieved: Luckily she got away, otherwise she might have been pestered by Sister Wanqing for a long time.

She composed herself, started the car, and drove towards the meeting point she had agreed upon with the forest ranger.

In the mountains and forests, Wang Yu saw that the small ball had shrunk into a ball, and he lost interest in continuing to curse.

He flicked his tail, picked up the small ball from the ground, and turned back the way he came.

The fact that the wild boar carcass has been sitting here for so long without even a small animal daring to come and gnaw on it is itself eerie.

Clearly, there was a danger lurking nearby that all animals feared, and they had already instinctively avoided this area.

Wang Yuyu wasn't stupid; there was no reason for him to risk venturing into dangerous territory just to save the already lost food supplies.

He carried the small ball and walked quickly for several hundred meters, completely away from the area where the wild boars were, before stopping on a sunny, gentle slope.

It's sheltered from the wind, gets plenty of sunshine, and has thick snow, making it a great place to spend the night.

He made up his mind to stay here for the night.

The nest-building action was skillful and efficient.

He first lay down suddenly in the snowdrift, his huge body pressing down heavily, creating a snowdrift that fit his body perfectly with a "plop".

Then, he rubbed himself back and forth in the snowdrift, compacting the snow around him and under him.

These compact, unmelted snow mounds act like a natural insulating mattress, effectively blocking the cold air from the ground.

After compacting the snowdrift, he climbed out, turned around, and crawled into the nearby bushes. He used his sharp claws to pluck a large handful of dry leaves, then ran back to the snowdrift and laid them out.

They found a few more pine trees, cleared away the snow beneath them, picked up the soft, fallen pine needles, and layered them on top of the leaves.

Finally, he used his forepaws to smooth out the fallen leaves and twigs, creating a fluffy "soft mattress" to completely insulate against the cold air from the ground.

With everything ready, Wang Yuyu jumped into the snowdrift with satisfaction and curled up.

Its tail, like a fluffy scarf, wrapped around its hind legs and gently covered the tip of its nose. Finding the most comfortable position, it quickly fell into a deep sleep.