Chapter 315: Chapter 314: Hospital Completed

Qi Xiao’s stern brows and eyes were particularly gentle at this moment, his fingertips lightly brushing over the ears of the little ones, his technique of petting the foxes had become very skilled.

"Looks like when I wasn’t here, Brother Qi Xiao took good care of you all?" Xu Ying squatted down, tapping the nose of Fox Boss with her fingertip.

[No, it’s not like that!] Fox Boss jumped up in a hurry, [We were taking care of him! He can’t even set up the food bowl right!]

As Fox Boss spoke, he proudly showed off the rearranged pile of golden sand, although it looked no different than before.

Qi Xiao’s eyebrows twitched, but he patiently explained, "They said to sort it by digging location, but once I organized it, they got confused again..."

Xu Ying couldn’t help but laugh. She walked over to Qi Xiao and took the food scoop from his hand.

"Even our Boss Qi has times when he’s stumped?" she joked with a smile.

Qi Xiao chuckled lightly, reaching out to remove some gold sand stuck in her hair, "Compared to this, I’m better at mixing formula for hungry little foxes."

Before he finished speaking, Fox Xiao Wu suddenly jumped down from his shoulder, and dropped something into Xu Ying’s palm—it was a natural gold nugget, with a crooked little heart carved into it.

Xu Ying looked at the golden little heart in her palm, "This is..."

[We took turns biting it!]

The foxes said in unison, their furry chests puffed up high. [It’s from Brother Qi Xiao~~]

Qi Xiao turned his face away, but Xu Ying still caught the fleeting curve at the corner of his lips.

Xu Ying couldn’t help but smile, her eyes curving into crescents, "Thank you, Boss Qi~ It’s been hard taking care of these little ones!"

Qi Xiao was just holding an ear fox trying to burrow into his collar, and upon hearing her words, his stern brows and eyes remained expressionless, but the tips of his ears were already red: "...Just a small favor."

"But, next time don’t leave me to handle these little troublemakers alone."

Xu Ying smiled warmly, "Alright!"

As dusk drew in, the two finally managed to calm the excited furry bundles.

Qi Xiao stood by the window adjusting his collar, and unexpectedly felt a warm touch from behind.

Xu Ying was on her tiptoes, helping to remove the fox fur stuck on his shoulder.

Qi Xiao turned around, the twilight blurring his usual sternness.

Outside the window, the last trace of the setting sun stretched their shadows long, entwining over the floor of gold sand. The culprits were already cuddled together in a warm heap in the corner, sleeping soundly, occasionally letting out a contented snore.

*

After winter comes spring.

Xu Ying spent the entire winter busy and warm like this.

On an early spring morning, Xu Ying was lying on her bed, drowsily daydreaming, when her phone suddenly chimed with a notification.

She unlocked her phone and immediately opened her eyes wide.

"[ICBC] Your account ending in 74366 has received a deposit of RMB 300,000.00 on September 13 at 15:20:16, balance 8,781,652.00, Summary: Bonus."

Xu Ying sat up, bewildered, reading the message several times. How did she suddenly receive a bonus?

As Xu Ying pondered in confusion, Ji Xuehui called.

"Little Xu Station Chief, have you received the spy-catching bonus?"

Xu Ying was even more bewildered, "I received it, three hundred thousand, but I remember I only caught a spy in the desert once, and the bonus was already given....."

—"Do you remember the female corpse you discovered at Ice Lake in early winter?"

Ji Xuehui explained, "After you helped us catch the murderer Zhao Yicheng, we launched an investigation into Zhao Yicheng."

"We discovered he was a spy sent by an overseas pharmaceutical company to West Mountain Pharmaceutical Research Company, aiming to steal the core data and seeds of West Mountain Snow Lotus."

"Thanks to him, our police caught a batch of spies who came to steal the unique Chinese herbal medicine data and seed samples of Dragon Country."

After listening to Ji Xuehui’s explanation, Xu Ying understood. She didn’t expect such an unexpected reward from helping to find the murderer.

"Little Xu Station Chief, thank you for your support of our police work, let’s continue cooperating in the future~"

After ending the call with Ji Xuehui, Xu Ying counted the numbers on her bank card balance, still feeling a surge of excitement.

The explosive popularity of "Desert Survival Law" brought her considerable income, and this was just the personal reward she received. The public account of the rescue station had already accumulated over fifty million in public welfare funds, so the Desert Rescue Station no longer had to worry about funding, and Xu Ying was promoted to Station Chief of the Desert Animal Rescue Station.

Before she knew it, it was the vibrant April, and the large desert animal hospital donated by the Qiao Group was completed!

The April sunshine gently spread across the golden dunes, and the newly completed "Fluffy Animal Hospital" was adorned with lights and decorations, red ribbons gently swaying in the breeze.

The pure white, stream-lined complex of buildings lay scattered like pearls in the sea of sand, the glass facade of the main building, five stories tall, reflected the flowing dunes.

In front of the hospital entrance, a striking wooden signboard was prominently displayed—not only engraved with the hospital’s name but also filled with various paw prints: the ear fox’s prints resembling round dandelions, the sand cat’s like little plum blossoms, the sand rat’s were tiny dots...all these were intentionally preserved as mementos by Xu Ying using molds.

"Welcome everyone to the ribbon-cutting ceremony!"

Xu Ying stood under the floral arch decorated with desert wildflowers, waving at the little animals who had come to watch.

Today she had specially put on a shirt printed with small paw prints, with a golden desert marigold tucked in her hair.

Soon, the open space in front of the hospital was crowded with furry guests.

The ear fox family filed in neatly, each carrying a small gift; even the usually shy desert hedgehogs rolled in with a few pretty empty snail shells.

[This is our token of appreciation!] Fox Boss held his head high with pride, and together with the other ear foxes, pushed a small cart loaded with gleaming quartz stones, [Each piece comes from a different oasis!]

Xu Ying squatted down, gently caressing the stones warm with sunlight, "Wonderful! We can use them to decorate the consultation rooms."

The Tusun, along with equally clumsy companions, carried a bouquet bound with sandthorn branches. Suddenly, a Tusun sneezed, scattering petals everywhere.

The other Tusun hurriedly waved their little paws trying to collect the petals, flustered, Xu Ying almost got dizzy from their adorable clumsiness.

At this moment, a tiny tremor came from the ground, and Xu Ying turned her head to see a horde of sand rats pushing small carts made from poplar seed husks, filled with assorted seeds.

[In the future, flowers will bloom all around the hospital!]

Sand Rat Boss, the leader, puffed up his chest. [Little Xu Station Chief, although we mice have short lives, these flowers will bloom again every spring!]

Xu Ying squatted down, her hand lifting Sand Rat Boss to meet her gaze at its level, her fingertips gently touching the seeds it held, her eyes brimming with a moist shimmer, "I will remember every mouse of your sand rat family, and each warm sentiment of yours will forever take root and sprout here."