Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

"Mr. Chen Ying? This is Tiger Leopard National Park, and we need your help with something. I was wondering if you could spare some time for us."

Chen Ying furrowed his brows and stepped back a couple of steps from the security checkpoint that was within arm's reach.

"I'm about to go through security now, can you first tell me what's going on?"

"A sub-adult Northeast Tiger got into a fight with an adult tiger. The sub-adult has sustained serious injuries. Its left eye needs emergency surgery, and there are obvious fractures in the right leg and vertebrae. Most importantly, the neck vertebrae might have been damaged by the adult tiger."

Three photos and a twenty-second video were immediately sent to Chen Ying's phone.

He glanced at them, and goosebumps covered his skin.

The sub-adult tiger appeared to be hanging by a thread.

"What can I help you with?"

"We hope Mr. Chen could help calm down the injured sub-adult tiger, which can't settle down due to fear. We dare not use a large dose of sedatives on it. We also need Dr. Chen Ying to assess the extent of its bone injuries."

Chen Ying thought for a moment and agreed to the request.

"Then we'll send a car right away..."

"No need, I'm at the airport, and it would take too much time for you to get here. I'll take a taxi; just give me the address."

The other party hurriedly expressed their thanks, sent him the location, and also sent a red envelope of five hundred yuan for his fare.

By the time Chen Ying arrived at the Breeding Assistance Center, staff were already waiting at the entrance.

Without delay, Chen Ying changed clothes and went straight to the operating room.

"The situation is very bad right now. The medical team at the center is still trying to save it, but..."

"What about the results of the previous checks? Show them to me."

Chen Ying didn't ask why they called him if they thought it was hopeless.

He was already there; he might as well do what he could and have a clear conscience.

After reviewing the examination results and the orthopedic X-rays.

All he could say was that this little guy was fairly lucky: the third cervical vertebra was dislocated, the trapezius muscle was penetratingly injured, the shoulder bone was fissured, the fourth lumbar vertebra had a grade II slip, and the tail vertebra was fractured.

Since it was usually built solidly, the thoracic vertebra and the major organs weren't badly damaged during the scuffle.

The park used a small dose of sedative to prevent it from struggling, but pain still caused the sub-adult tiger to thrash around from time to time.

Chen Ying entered the operating room where the eye surgery had been completed; the right eye of the tiger had been removed, and it would probably only be able to receive an artificial eye in the future.

Approaching the pitiful big tiger, it seemed to sense the closeness of humans, its muscles tensed, ready to flinch again.

Chen Ying rubbed the corner of its mouth with his palm, then placed it in front of its nose to let the tiger familiarize itself with his scent.

"Don't be afraid, little guy, I'm here to help you."

As for the treatment of the bones, Chen Ying was now extremely adept.

Starting from the tail vertebrae, the whole manipulation for realignment took far less time than the medical team outside the operating room had anticipated.

It wasn't longer, but shorter.

It hardly seemed like he did much—just seemed to stroke the tiger's bones once—and then turned to tell them that the bones were back in place.

This seemed almost childish, right?

A few of the younger doctors muttered their discontent quietly, but the two orthopedic experts beside them exhaled a long breath of relief.

"We had heard before that Dr. Chen Ying was unparalleled in orthopedics, and now it seems his reputation is truly well-deserved. With that skill, he must be among the top three of the young generation in national orthopedic circles."

"About right, but he is not a clinical medical student; he studied veterinary medicine, although he did study under a master of orthopedics, he still isn't qualified to practice clinical medicine on humans."

"Tch, those guys..."

The old doctor with white hair grumbled a few words in displeasure under his breath. Apart from him and the one standing close to him, no one else heard what he was complaining about.

The young people standing in the back, especially those who had doubted Chen Ying, turned red in the face.

Still, they were skeptical about Chen Ying's treatment because, for them, the feel of the hand was not as precise as the certainty provided by instruments.

"Could a doctor come in and help me secure the tiger's head, please?"

The middle-aged doctor who had been standing closest to the door hadn't spoken, but he was the first to enter upon Chen Ying's request.

The others could only continue to watch regretfully through the glass window.

"Doctor, please help me steady its head like this, we need it stable. I might use some force later, and you'll need to hold its head to prevent it from falling."

These words sounded a bit frightening.

It wasn't a beheading, but the head still needed to be prevented from falling.

Chen Ying didn't seem to catch the ambiguity in his words, as he was focused on the feedback from his fingertips concerning the tiger's neck vertebrae.

As the tiger had been bitten on the neck, the pain would inevitably worsen during realignment. Chen Ying had the teachers put on specially made protective clothing, primarily to protect their arms from being bitten by the tiger.

Under the nervous yet expectant gazes of everyone, Chen Ying moved her shoulder bones and adjusted her stance, giving the teacher supporting the tiger's head a signal to begin realignment.

Don't ask why she didn't have two people come over to lift the tiger's head. Chen Ying needed stability, which two people simply couldn't achieve consistently. If something were to go wrong, one person holding on while the other let go would truly be disastrous.

An hour and a half later, the pain had greatly subsided for the injured tiger, which was taken to a special observation room. There, six medical staff and keepers took turns caring for it around the clock.

Back in the doctors' office, the one who had helped support the tiger's head suddenly "oh"-ed.

"Dr. Chen hasn't looked at the examination results for the disabled tiger cub sent back today, has she?"

He operated the computer, opened a page, and had Chen Ying sit in his place to look, "All the examination results aren't out yet, but we have the X-ray results now, Dr. Chen Ying, take a look."

The other two orthopedic doctors called over also crowded around.

They were originally here for Little Tiger. Treating the injured subadult tiger was an unexpected task.

Seeing that it was inconvenient for everyone to crowd together, another doctor cleverly turned on the projector and cast the results onto the big screen.

The outcome of the orthopedic examination was almost identical to Chen Ying's diagnosis, but there were also some surprises.

First, the tiger's age wasn't as Chen Ying had thought, just born this year. It was actually a ten-month-old Big Tiger Cub.

The reason it was so small was indeed related to its poor development.

Cubs with such congenital deficiencies wouldn't normally be raised by their mothers.

From this point of view, that first-time mother, the female tiger, truly exemplified the rare case of maternal love overpowering instinct.

Before this, Chen Ying had suspected that Little Tiger had a hip joint problem. But looking at the examination results, it confirmed her thoughts about the hip joint, but there was also a pathological change in the nerves that governed the hind limbs.

As for this kind of pathological change, there wasn't yet a good treatment method in the domestic animal field.

After all, it wasn't just nerve damage but an issue that had occurred during embryonic development.

The two orthopedic specialists had a conversation with Chen Ying. From their perspective, it was difficult to resolve the condition of the Tiger Cub solely with surgery; for its entire life, it probably wouldn't be able to stand and walk like other tigers.

Chen Ying felt a headache coming on.

Treatment of the hip joint alone might still be manageable, but when it came to neurodevelopmental issues, not to mention him, even the top experts wouldn't dare claim they could definitely cure it.

"Excuse me, may I ask, can this case be sent overseas for consultation with colleagues?"

"Of course, that's possible." The previous middle-aged doctor immediately responded, "In fact, after the results came out, we sent this case file through our cooperating units to several experts who specialize in related diseases. However, we haven't received any responses yet."

Chen Ying nodded without asking further.

He took out his cellphone, opened his email, and sent the Center's prepared report on the Tiger Cub's case to Professor Everett.

Although the professor specialized in West African Lions, that wasn't all he studied. Besides, a big shot's friend is also a big shot; he could also help seek the assistance of other experts.

Because of the issues with the two tigers, Chen Ying had canceled his flight ticket, with the loss borne by the Center.

His temporary residence was arranged in the staff building of the medical area.

A three-bedroom apartment with a shared living room and bathroom. The other two rooms housed the two orthopedic experts who came in support.

Back in the apartment, the three continued discussing the subsequent treatment plan for the two tigers in the living room, and they also extended the conversation to human treatments.

The more they talked, the more regretful the two orthopedic clinical experts became.

"Little Chen, why were you so unwilling to enroll in medical school back then?"

Chen Ying smiled without answering. A veterinarian is also a medical student, after all; the only difference is the patients they work with.

Animals are much easier to deal with than people, and there are no medical disturbances!

The two doctors were a bit older and after discussing for a while, they went back to their own rooms to rest and wait for dinner.

Chen Ying also returned to his room, but didn't rush to rest. Instead, he took out his tablet to continue reading the Tiger Cub's test report.

The medical assistant he was working with was very conscientious, updating the report with each new test sheet that came out.

"This problem is still a bit too serious." Massaging the back of his neck, Chen Ying thought it was more appropriate to bother his teacher first.

"...I've finished reading the report. What are your plans?"

"Of course, I want to keep the Tiger Cub close by for continued treatment and observation. According to the preliminary treatment plan I've devised, the first phase needs at least three months, focused on stimulating the growth of its meridians and bones given its physique. The second phase is to resolve the development issues with the hip joint. With three months' time, customizing equipment shouldn't be a problem."

As for the subsequent treatment concerning the nerves, he only had a preliminary idea and still needed to discuss its feasibility with his teacher and Professor Everett.

Although, thanks to the already faltered system, Chen Ying's medical skills were the strongest among his peers, experience still played a role.

Presently, he still wasn't daring enough to claim that he could outdo his mentor or stand above Professor Everett.

But he felt that with a couple more years of work, by the time he was thirty, his medical expertise should not be inferior to his mentor's.

Professor Bai pondered for a long time and then proposed a plan that was highly likely to work.

"There's no problem with the procedures; I can personally take care of it. The only issue is whether the Northeast Tiger can adapt to the climate in the Southwest. If not, this plan would need to be adjusted."