But even so, as they watched the tireless, passionate black bear couple on the monitor, everyone in the know was still on edge.
Jiang Kai couldn’t sit still either and called Yang Qi into his office.
"Xiao Yang, is this situation normal?"
Jiang Kai pointed at the summary of observation logs from Brother Lin on his computer screen, his brow deeply furrowed. "I know animals get more active during mating season, but this is excessive. Their relationship just got back on track; I’d hate for them to wear themselves out."
Yang Qi looked at the data on the screen, knowing full well what was happening.
’This has to be the Creation (Fertility) Pill’s effects still going strong.’
’As long as the pill’s potency hasn’t dissipated, this "passion" won’t let up.’
He kept his expression neutral, thought for a moment, and said, "Director, do you remember the situation a few months ago, when the leopards Big Flower and Er Hua were mating?"
Jiang Kai paused. "The leopards?"
He thought back for a moment, and his eyes gradually widened.
"You mean back then, Big Flower and her mate, they were also...?"
"That’s right."
Yang Qi nodded. "Back then, the frequency and duration of Big Flower and Er Hua’s mating sessions far exceeded the records for normal leopards. The technician in charge of the logs even joked privately that he’d never seen such ’dedicated’ leopards."
Jiang Kai remembered now.
It was true.
At the time, the zoo had been worried, afraid the leopards wouldn’t be able to take the strain.
After a full examination, they couldn’t find any reason for it, so they just chalked it up to individual differences, bolstered their nutrition, and kept them under close observation.
The end result was—
Big Flower got pregnant.
With a record-breaking litter of seven, no less.
Jiang Kai sucked in a sharp breath and whipped his head to look at Yang Qi, a delighted surprise in his voice. "You’re saying that this time, with the black bears, it’s also possible..."
"I can’t make any guarantees."
Yang Qi replied quickly, "But the situations are similar. Maybe when certain animals reach a peak in both their physical and emotional condition, they exhibit this kind of extraordinary behavior. And that often means the chances of conception are extremely high."
He paused before adding, "Of course, their nutrition has to keep up, and we can’t let up on the monitoring. As long as their appetites are normal, they have plenty of energy, and they aren’t showing obvious signs of weight loss or lethargy, I think we can just keep observing them for now."
Jiang Kai fell silent.
He stared at the computer screen, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk as he mulled over Yang Qi’s words.
The success of the leopard septuplets was one of Donghua Zoo’s most impressive breeding achievements in recent years and had caused quite a stir within the field.
If the black bears could replicate that success...
After a long moment, he slowly exhaled.
"You’re right." Jiang Kai made his decision. "Bolster their nutrition and keep them under close observation. As long as all their health metrics are normal, we’ll let nature take its course."
Saying this, he looked at Yang Qi and remarked with admiration, "Ah, Xiao Yang, I’m truly impressed now. You’re not just amazing at communicating with animals; you’re a natural at guiding the breeding process too. You were involved in feeding the leopards, and now the black bears as well. I’m afraid your reputation as the ’Child-Giving Guanyin’ is about to spread far and wide."
Yang Qi’s heart skipped a beat and he quickly waved his hands dismissively. "Director, please don’t say that. It was just a coincidence, pure luck. Animal breeding is a complex science. In my case, it was like a blind squirrel finding a nut. I can’t possibly take credit for that."
’He really didn’t dare take the credit.’
’He only had three Creation (Fertility) Pills in total. He’d already used two, leaving just one in reserve for an emergency.’
’If he really got labeled a "breeding expert," and people started coming to him every time an animal couldn’t conceive, where was he supposed to magic up more pills from?’
Fortunately, after Wei Zongting’s high-profile show of support, the tides of opinion both inside and outside the Zoo had indeed turned.
Before, people might have muttered behind his back that he was relying on connections or just getting lucky.
Now, no one dared to point fingers anymore.
Even a few of the veteran keepers like Liu Fei and Ma Jun, who had always looked down on him, would now either lower their heads and pretend not to see him from a distance or simply take a detour to avoid him altogether.
For his part,
Yang Qi was perfectly happy to be left in peace.
...
With the black bear couple’s relationship back to normal, the feeding duties were handed back to Brother Lin, and Yang Qi’s daily routine returned to its usual track.
During the day, he fed the animals, cleaned enclosures, conducted behavioral training, made observational notes, and occasionally built some enrichment toys...
For example, making a puzzle feeder for the raccoons that required them to use their paws.
At night, without fail, he cultivated.
He would circulate the Great Derivation Spirit-Controlling Technique, and the pale cyan vortex within his Dantian would spin slowly, absorbing the Five Elements Spiritual Qi drawn in by the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array.
His cultivation was improving, bit by bit, steadily and surely.
In his spare time, he worked on the assignments given by Song Chunfang.
Recently, his teacher had him researching the "correction of stereotypical behaviors in large felines in captivity." She had assigned over twenty papers to read, on top of a thick stack of observation log templates to fill out.
Then there was the lottery.
The Demon Extermination Array was still running continuously. Although the mosquitoes were starting to become less active, they were still flying around for the time being.
Most of the time, he just won common rewards from the lottery.
Occasionally, if he was lucky, he could draw a Gathering Spirit Pill or an Invisibility Talisman.
The days passed by, as placid and unhurried as a slow-moving stream.
...
「Half a month later.」
The "high-intensity passion" over at Bear Mountain finally began to subside.
The frequency dropped from over ten times a day to seven or eight, then to three or four, and finally, they returned to the normal behavior of black bears outside of their mating season.
They ate together, played together, groomed each other, and occasionally lay together sunbathing.
The technicians and keepers in charge of observation all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Xiaozhao rubbed his sore eyes and said to Brother Lin, "Brother Lin, it’s finally over... If I had to keep watching this, I’d start feeling weird even looking at my own wife when I get home."