Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Sand Cat Sheriff Captured

Xu Ying felt a sudden “thump” in her heart after hearing the contents of the phone call.

Uh-oh, has her Rescue Station 032 been burgled?

Qi Xiao was holding the little ear fox and showed concern on his brow after listening to the call: “Should we go back to Rescue Station 032 and take a look first?”

“I’ll go with you.”

Qi Xiao glanced at the stockpiled supplies inside Rescue Station 028: “I’ll help you deliver some supplies over; these are what they’ve been withholding from you.”

Xu Ying thought that asking Qi Xiao to bring over milk bottles and formula today was already troublesome enough for him.

Qi Xiao noticed her hesitation, “If anything happens, one more person means one more helping hand.”

Qi Xiao was tall and strong, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his muscular build giving off a sense of safety; just standing by one’s side, he seemed like he could handle three people’s worth of trouble.

Life comes first, so Xu Ying didn’t object: “Then I’ll trouble you with that.”

“Qi Xiao, thank you so much for today.”

Xu Ying patted her chest and promised: “If you ever encounter any difficult problems at your ranch, you can come to me. Although I just graduated, and I’m not bragging or anything, my veterinary skills are top-notch.”

Qi Xiao was infected by Xu Ying’s confident and cheerful smile, his usually cold phoenix-shaped eyes softened with a slight curve: “Hmm, I believe you.”

“You seem reliable at first glance.”

Xu Ying caught the affirmation in Qi Xiao’s eyes and blinked.

Did Qi Xiao notice during the livestream that there were many negative comments questioning her because of her age and appearance, so he said this to comfort her?

That was so heartwarming!

Xu Ying’s livestream was interrupted when the call came in.

She posted a video of the ear fox cubs running and playing, thanked the enthusiastic netizens in the caption, and announced the daily livestream schedule, then immediately started packing up to return to Rescue Station 032.

Xu Ying glanced back at the five little foxes in the rescue station. Before she could find their mother, she had to take care of them for now.

Though adding five little ones to care for was more work, Xu Ying was quite willing!

But she was a bit afraid that spending more time with the fox cubs would foster an emotional connection, making it very hard for her to part with them when they were returned to their mother.

Such a sweet dilemma!

Xu Ying crouched down to instruct the baby foxes: “Darlings, stroll around here for a bit to digest, then we’ll head back to Rescue Station 032 together.”

The fox cubs, hearing this, had bright eyes full of excitement.

[Wow, we’re going to stay at sister’s place!]

[Great! I don’t like the smell of those two bad people in this rescue station, finally we can move to a new home~]

[I’m so curious what sister’s dorm looks like and how it differs from this rescue station?]

Xu Ying and Qi Xiao picked out some essential supplies, packed them into boxes, and strapped them onto Qi Xiao’s motorcycle.

Rescue Station 028 had gasoline for motorcycles, and Xu Ying filled up the tank.

After getting everything ready, they rode their motorcycles—one carrying the supplies, the other carrying the airline crate—rapidly heading toward Rescue Station 032.

They reached Rescue Station 032 within an hour.

When they arrived, there was already a Jeep parked near Rescue Station 032.

Hearing the motorcycle engines, a skinny old man in a dark blue jacket got out of the Jeep.

This was the original superior, Director Yi, Yi Yuanzhou, who was fifty-two this year and had reportedly worked in the desert for thirty years.

To be honest, Xu Ying felt a bit anxious about meeting her superior.

As a result, the moment Director Yi got out of the car, she immediately spotted the old man carrying a milk tea bag familiar from a well-known brand, walking toward her.

Seeing the familiar brand of milk tea bags, Xu Ying was stunned. How did this little old man manage to get them in this godforsaken desert?

“Comrade Xu Ying. I heard you youngsters love milk tea, so I brought this for you.”

Director Yi’s plain and weathered face showed sincere apology, making one feel sympathetic: “It was my negligence at work that caused such excessive bullying from colleagues, it’s my oversight, and I apologize to you.”

“I’m already applying for post subsidies and compensation for you, currently going through the approval process.”

With about seventy rescue stations in the desert stretched far apart, Director Yi couldn’t oversee everything.

After learning that Xu Ying had been abandoned in the desert by Tan Ming and her brother, nearly losing her life, he felt deeply guilty.

There are already few young people willing to work in the desert, and if matters like these aren’t handled with gravity, it can easily dishearten the younger generation.

When the current old folks can’t work in their positions anymore, who will be willing to take over?

Xu Ying took the milk tea thermal bag and realized it was still ice-cold.

Director Yi urged Xu Ying: “Hurry up and try it, I didn’t know what flavor you preferred, so I asked the server to make two popular ones for youngsters.”

Xu Ying couldn’t resist her curiosity: “Director, thank you, where did you get the milk tea? It looks freshly made, not very old.”

Director Yi smiled sheepishly: “I’ve been in another province for a meeting lately, the milk tea was bought in the city today before I flew back on a military transport plane.”

“I figured that with extra ice packs, it should still taste good.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Ying was stunned. This was the most remarkable delivery she had ever received—arriving on a military transport plane!

There’s a military airport in the desert; when leaders go on business trips, they usually fly from the military airport nearby.

Seeing Director Yi’s modest attire, Xu Ying felt a mixture of warmth and appreciation, with a hint of sourness.

Gosh, it’s the first time I’ve encountered such an understanding leader, genuinely feeling his sincerity.

If it were those bizarre leaders she’d encountered in her career, their first reaction to any mishap would be to threaten the victim to keep silent.

It’s unlikely for those leaders to ever admit faults or apologize.

Xu Ying tried to give Director Yi one of the milk teas, but he waved it off.

“You youngsters drink it, I only have red date and goji tea at my age.”

After saying that, Director Yi extended his hand to Qi Xiao standing beside Xu Ying. “Comrade Qi Xiao, nice to see you again, thank you so much for helping our rescue station so many times.”

Qi Xiao shyly smiled: “You’re welcome.”

Xu Ying blinked, realizing they were old acquaintances!

She handed Qi Xiao a cup of milk tea, then turned her gaze toward the door of Rescue Station 032, “Director Yi, have you seen the situation inside the rescue station?”

The rescue station was essentially just a single-story iron sheet house, appearing quite shabby from the outside.

“Not yet.”

Director Yi shook his head: “I was waiting in the car in case anything came up.”

Qi Xiao untied the long package from his motorcycle’s back seat: “Let’s go, we’ll check it out together.”

Qi Xiao walked at the forefront, unwrapping the package as he went, revealing an alloy bow and arrow.

With a creak, the slightly ajar door of the rescue station was pushed open.

The inside of the rescue station was bare; apart from the bed, storage cabinet, and a table with a broken leg, there was nothing else.

Qi Xiao frowned: “This thief cleared out your rescue station entirely.”

Xu Ying scratched her head sheepishly: “No, it looks like nothing was stolen. My rescue station just has a poor and destitute style.”

The original owner was lacking in supplies, having no extra capacity to furnish the rescue station with things.

Suddenly, Xu Ying froze.

She saw messy footprints on the floor of the rescue station and a pool of blood!

The footprints included human shoe prints and something like paw prints looking like they were left by a cat.

Qi Xiao and Director Yi also clearly noticed it, their expressions instantly turned serious.

Just as Xu Ying was in suspicion, a system task activation prompt sounded in her mind: [The Desert Cat was taken by suspicious individuals inside the rescue station, please proceed with the rescue!]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep