Why is This Clingy Snow Leopard Acting So Innocent? - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Wenwen, Looking Happier Than the One Eating

Shao Han propped himself against the car with one hand while holding a tent bag in the other, a hiking pack strapped to his back. The wind and snow had stopped. He watched the two figures standing close together nearby, their heads nearly touching as they whispered. Raising an eyebrow, he asked:

“What are you two chatting about?”

The two addresses clearly froze for a split second. Then, Yun Shu turned back to look at him. “Brother Shao, are you still going back to Xiye?”

With a flick of his wrist, Shao Han tossed the tent bag toward him. Only after seeing him catch it did he ask, “What’s up? Shu? You want to go?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I have a rotation day off coming up; I’m seeing if I can go with you.”

“Then you’d better explain yourself,” Shao Han said, folding his arms. “Are you going for a trip, or for work?”

Without hesitation, Yun Shu turned to look at Su Wen. “The day after tomorrow, I’ll drive you there.”

Shao Han: “…”

“Fine, fine,” he patted Yun Shu on the shoulder. “I’ll stop teasing you, you’re no fun. I’ll take you both, I’ll take you both. It saves us from having to use an extra car anyway.”

He thought it was “no fun,” but the two beside him thought it was plenty interesting. In fact, right after thanking him, they turned back to each other to huddle and discuss their plans.

Everything from what good food there was in Xiping, down to visiting Yun Shu’s old school after they finished watching the snow leopards.

Feeling pointedly ignored and a bit disgruntled, Shao Han forced his way between the two, pressing his head against theirs.

He looked to his left at Su Wen; Su Wen raised an eyebrow back at him, a hint of a “mood” in his eyes that Shao Han didn’t quite grasp.

So, he turned to look at Yun Shu.

“…” After a few seconds, he asked, “What’s with that look you’re giving your big brother?”

Yun Shu: “I think you’re a bit in the way here.”

Shao Han “tched” and straightened up. “Since when did you two get close enough to wear the same pair of pants?”

Su Wen averted his gaze, pointing toward a distant, snow-covered greyish-yellow rock. “We’re heading there today, right?”

Completely ignoring Shao Han, Yun Shu picked up the conversation: “Yes, right there. Let’s go, Director Cheng and the others are going to start rushing us.”

Shao Han: “…”

…

Today was another day of filming the snow leopard family. They had been following them for nearly two months; the two cubs had grown from being the size of a palm at birth to being longer than a human arm.

An infrared camera placed a dozen meters from the den had recorded the birth and growth of the two leopards in full.

Cheng Daozhi felt the infrared footage was too blurry and insisted on hiking up the mountain twice a week.

Su Wen thought she was out of her mind.

He had assumed the photographers felt the same way, only to realize later that they were on a rotation—he was the only one following the whole time.

Sometimes, he really felt that being famous had its perks, being a big shot had its perks, and having a company backing you had its perks.

At least in his first 24 years of life, he had never experienced a lead actor having to carry his own equipment.

Then again, maybe it was because he didn’t have an assistant following him.

A few days ago, Su Jian had called him specifically about a manager. It was phrased very nicely—worried that he was alone on the snowy mountain with no one to care for him. If he didn’t want Zhang Xiaoqian, they could arrange a new manager or a new assistant.

Give it a rest. Zhang Xiaoqian was sent specifically to watch him. Although he didn’t hover every second, Su Wen would buy a lighter one moment and receive a message from Su Jian telling him to hurry up and quit smoking the next.

It felt like swallowing a fly.

Thinking of this, even Cheng Daozhi didn’t seem so “crazy” anymore. He shifted the pack on his back, and it suddenly felt much lighter.

“What are you looking at me for?” Even through the face mask, one could sense Cheng Daozhi’s bewilderment.

“No, nothing,” Su Wen shrugged. “I just think you look quite endearing.”

Cheng Daozhi: “…”

…

The observation point today was on another ridge several hundred meters away from the den. Hidden behind rocks, it was discreet enough not to be noticed by the mother leopard.

Before coming, Shao Han had reminded everyone not to wear bright clothes and not to make loud noises to avoid startling the mother. “If she takes those two cubs and runs in this hellish weather, those little ones might not survive.”

“So everyone, pay attention.” After the tent was pitched and equipment set up, he reminded them again.

Spring had arrived, but the temperature had yet to rise. The world of ice and snow remained in its mid-winter state; only the den was warm.

Inside the den, the two little fluffballs had just eaten their fill and were nuzzling into their mother’s embrace.

Even from a distance, one could almost hallucinate hearing their tiny “aowu aowu” milk-voices.

One of them was learning to walk. Because they were born in the dead of winter, these two cubs were a bit behind their peers in hitting milestones.

The little cub, who hadn’t quite mastered its four limbs yet, wandered around, one paw stepping on its sister and the other kicking wildly against its mother’s belly.

The sister, lying in her mother’s arms, had her little tail stepped on before her mouth had even left her “lunch.” Reflexively, she flipped over onto her back on her mother’s stomach, a faint trace of milk still visible at the corner of her mouth.

The mother leopard licked her head gently as if to soothe her, then used a paw to turn her back around to settle things.

On the other side, the brat exploring the world also met with discipline. Before he could poke his head out of the den, the mother’s tail swept across, blocking his path.

Before long, the two little fluffballs fell asleep simultaneously against their mother’s warm belly, covered by her large, furry tail.

A hundred meters away, everyone held their breath, terrified of waking the family.

Lin Zhihuan had come with Song Haicheng to observe a few days prior. Thanks to the feeding from the patrol station, the rescue center, and several helpful villagers, the mother leopard—who had birthed two cubs in the freezing cold—was stronger than expected. The two cubs were even quite chubby.

The resentment Su Wen felt earlier about Cheng Daozhi being “crazy” faded significantly. For these two little fluffballs, he’d be willing to climb another few thousand meters.

…

The group settled their lunch with compressed biscuits and water. To save time, they didn’t even set up the stove.

Su Wen chewed on the dry, throat-clogging biscuit. Before he could swallow, it got stuck.

“Water…” He clutched his throat, unable to speak clearly, his voice sounding like a hundred-year-old man. “Quick, give me some water—”

Yun Shu pulled a thermos from his bag and poured a steaming cup for him.

Taking it, Su Wen swirled it a couple of times in the minus-ten-degree air. Once it had cooled enough, he took a big gulp.

After several hard swallows, he finally forced the bit in his throat down.

Just as he recovered, he was choked by the remaining crumbs in his mouth and slumped there, coughing violently.

Yun Shu patted his back to help him catch his breath while simultaneously handing over the cup he had poured for himself.

After coughing for a while, Su Wen stopped. He grabbed the water handed to him and drained it in one go. After finishing, he shoved the biscuit—of which he’d only taken two bites—back into Yun Shu’s hand.

“I’m only saying this once: I’m not taking a third bite even if I starve to death.”

“Huh?” Yun Shu wanted to persuade him to eat a bit more. “You’ll get hungry, right? What if your blood sugar drops when we’re heading down the mountain?”

Su Wen pulled his face mask back on and gave a nonchalant wave behind him. “Then I’ll just deal!”

Of course, he was just talking big.

Two bites of compressed biscuit could last two hours at most. They had to observe and film for four hours, and the hike down would take another two.

As soon as the filming ended, Su Wen wilted. He looked like a shriveled quail as he shuffled back to the tent to rest.

As he sat there, his stomach began to growl. His mouth could be stubborn, but his stomach was protesting.

Cheng Daozhi’s young assistant, Chen Zhou, came in first. Su Wen lowered his pride and asked her, “Chen Zhou, do you guys have any compressed biscuits left?”

He had thought that because this girl was so small and thin, her appetite wouldn’t be large and she’d have at least half a piece left. To his surprise, she said:

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Brother Su Wen. I ate all of mine because I used up so much energy.”

Before Su Wen could say anything else, she added, “Let me go ask the others for you!”

Su Wen raised a hand to stop her. “No need. I was just asking. If there’s none, forget it.”

But Chen Zhou told them anyway. Though she only told Cheng Daozhi, the latter walked in seconds later. “Doesn’t that big piece of compressed biscuit keep you full? How are you hungry after only two hours?”

Su Wen was too embarrassed to say he’d only eaten two bites, so he replied sullenly, “Hungry? Who’s hungry? I was just asking.”

Cheng Daozhi, still holding her camera, gave a final confirmation: “Really not hungry?”

Su Wen was getting a bit impatient. “Really not.”

After saying that, he remembered something and asked, “Where did Yun Shu go?”

“Oh, he went with the photographer to…” Before Cheng Daozhi could finish, Yun Shu lifted the flap and walked in.

The cold wind rushed in through the gap, hitting Su Wen’s cheek like shards of ice. Within seconds, his face felt stiff.

Cheng Daozhi looked at Yun Shu, then glanced back at Su Wen. After a thoughtful nod, she lifted the flap and walked out without a word.

Su Wen, who hadn’t had time to put his mask back on, shivered from the cold again.

Now only the two of them remained in the tent. Yun Shu pulled off his mask and walked over, crouching in front of Su Wen. He propped his arms on Su Wen’s legs, looked up, and opened his large, round eyes:

“Are you hungry, Wenwen?”

Su Wen’s lip twitched. “Aren’t you supposed to call me ‘Brother’?”

Yun Shu blinked. “Doesn’t ‘Wenwen’ sound nice?”

Whether it sounded nice or not was one thing, but Su Wen was currently starving. He kept a straight face. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Hmm? Purposefully doing what?”

“Waiting to laugh at me.”

“No,” Yun Shu pulled off his gloves and pressed his warm palms against Su Wen’s cheeks. “Why didn’t you come to me first if you were hungry?”

The frozen feeling in Su Wen’s cheeks thawed instantly. He nuzzled into Yun Shu’s warm palms, still acting stubborn. “I didn’t say I was hungry.”

“Fine, fine,” Yun Shu cupped his face and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Before Su Wen could react, Yun Shu produced a bar of chocolate from his pocket like a magic trick.

Su Wen’s eyes lit up instantly, like a kitten seeing a fish or a puppy seeing a bone. He swallowed hard.

“How do you still have some?” His eyes didn’t blink as he watched Yun Shu unwrap it. “Didn’t you finish it all last week?”

He had only brought one box as a backup; he hadn’t expected to eat it so fast.

“Because this,” Yun Shu held the chocolate to his lips, “is magic.”

Su Wen didn’t bother with his nonsense. He opened his mouth and took a big bite, filling his mouth until it was stuffed.

He swallowed the whole bar in one go and, surprisingly, didn’t find it cloying like usual. Su Wen sat there satisfied, feeling his energy return.

Yun Shu remained crouched there, reaching out to wipe a smudge of chocolate from the corner of Su Wen’s mouth. He looked even happier than the person who had just eaten.

“Still hungry?”

“Phew,” Su Wen gave a non-answer. “I’m having a feast when I get home.”

Yun Shu propped his head on his hand. “Okay—”

Outside the tent, the cold wind howled. Cheng Daozhi gently closed the finger-wide gap she had pulled open. Without saying anything, she turned and walked away.