On Gaoligong Mountain, Fan Peng and his team were also busy.
A piece of land where the villagers had planted cardamom, which had been abandoned for several years, had recently seen its tree canopies grow and reconnect.
For this, the research team replanned a path for the Skywalker hoolock gibbons, hoping to bring together a solitary male from an elder's family and a female cousin.
Once everything was ready, Li Xing and Fan Peng set out!
The first day in search of the male gibbon was not very successful, and they had to return to the village.
The second day, they continued the search and found traces of the male gibbon!
By now, the staff were familiar with the process: they first played a love song to attract the attention of the male gibbon.
Then they turned on the microphone to connect him with his female cousin.
Fan Peng lifted his binoculars, closely observing the male gibbon's movents.
"Oo-oo, oo-oo~~"
The male gibbon squatted on a tree trunk, quietly listening for a while, and then tentatively called out.
He then stood up, kicked off a tree branch, and with the springiness of the branch, he lightly jumped to another trunk two ters away.
Once at the top of this tree, he took advantage of the high vantage point to survey his territory, searching for his female cousin's figure!
Tens of kiloters away, the female cousin still appeared solitary and lonely, hugging her knees while squatting on the tree!
When she heard the male gibbon's calls, her spirits imdiately lifted, and her eyes seed to sparkle.
She looked up and softly sang back a couple of notes.
My dear, where on earth are you?
The male gibbon sang back with emotion!
"Oh, oh, oh, oo-oo~~~"
I am here! Wait for to co to you!
The gibbon smoothly stretched its long arms in the air, swinging towards the direction of the microphone.
While singing his love song, he moved quickly among the tree trunks, gracefully navigating with a fluid beauty.
The male gibbon took much more initiative in his movents than the female!
The staff hurriedly moved to guide the male gibbon onto the planned route.
Sotis the male gibbon would veer off the path, and the ti the two gibbons spent chatting over the "phone" wasn't certain, being dependent on mood and signal. Guiding him back in the right direction was quite troubleso.
When he arrived at the section where the tree canopies had reconnected, the male gibbon passed through successfully.
This was a region he had never reached before!
Over several days, he scaled countless ridges.
With each ridge he crossed, he drew closer to his female cousin.
At a critical mont, afraid they might lose track of the male gibbon and waste all their efforts, Fan Peng said, "Let's work hard today and stay in the mountains tonight!"
Li Xing watched the other staff get ready and asked, "Professor Fan, we didn't bring any tents, did we? Are we just going to lie on the ground? Won't it be damp?"
Fan Peng pointed to a ranger nearby who was now holding a large machete, "ka-ka" cutting down a pile of branches with lush leaves.
He laughed and said, "Don't worry, we've brought sleeping bags. We'll roast the leaves over the campfire to chase away the bugs, spread them on the ground, and it'll be soft and warm to lie on."
Li Xing was sowhat intrigued, "I've been with you on quite a few occasions, but this is my first ti staying in the mountains."
"Hm, we usually don't stay in the mountains because we'd have to carry extra things, but today is a special case."
"Speaking of which, won't there be any danger staying here at night? Like getting bitten by a venomous snake?"
Fan Peng chuckled, "The snakes will avoid us. Actually, as long as we don't step on them, they won't attack people. The most terrifying thing about walking in the mountains is not encountering any venomous snakes, but accidentally losing cell phone signal and drifting into Laos or Myanmar, and then the data charges explode."
Li Xing couldn't help but laugh and cry, noting that his iPhone turned into a brick as soon as he entered the mountains, which perhaps was a good thing from this perspective.
They spent a night in the mountains, with the starlight as their pillow, listening to the chirping insects and the occasional bird calls.
The next morning, the pale dawn filtered through the leaves and fell upon everyone.
"Oo-oo, oo-oo~~"
The lodious, lofty song of gibbons echoed in the nearby mountain forests.
The gibbons' calls served as the best alarm clocks, prompting everyone to crawl up from the ground.
There were quite a few mosquitoes around, but it seed that the smoldering leaves had an effect, as there were only a few bites on their bodies.
Li Xing and his team washed their faces by the nearby stream, had so breakfast, and continued to guide the male gibbon on his way!
In the early morning, the mountainside was still shrouded in a hazy mist.
By noon, the brilliant Sunshine had bathed the forest in a resplendent golden light.
Finally, the male gibbon reached the edge of his cousin's family territory!
Across a valley, one could already see the cousin's figure.
"Oh woo~ oh woo~~"
Hearing the distant call of gibbons from across the mountain, the male gibbon was a bit puzzled!
The calls he had heard before always seed a bit odd.
After all, they were transmitted through an online conference, with the signal determining the sound quality.
Standing on the tree trunk, looking out into the distance, he suddenly saw his cousin!
He opened his arms in disbelief, walking forward on the tree trunk toward the sparser leaves, trying to get a clearer view.
Excited, his voice rose several notches, singing loudly, "I've looked so hard for you!"
The cousin also saw the male gibbon's figure from afar!
She stood upright with excitent from the tree trunk.
For so many years, it was the first ti she had seen a male gibbon other than those from her cousin's household!
The two gibbons sang a duet, their song passionate and engaged!
After such a long online romance, they finally t in person!
The staff, witnessing this scene, were also incredibly moved, joyous smiles appearing on their faces!
"My goodness, it's so hard to get them to fall in love!"
"Indeed, it's not easy!"
To understand which gibbons lived where in this forest, to study their behavior patterns, and to try all sorts of plans.
One could say that behind every mountain they crossed, thousands of hours of effort were invested!
Li Xing took two pictures, sighing, "Lovers are parted by mountains and seas, yet mountains and seas can be overco!"
Fan Peng said, "Pack up, pack up!"
As the two gibbons t and began singing love songs to each other, the rest was up to them.
Matchmakers could only help to here; staying any longer wouldn't be proper and might disturb their interaction.
Next, the male gibbon would face another challenge.
This was the territory of the cousin's family, and while the cousin was a relative and lived nearby, she would occasionally be driven away. The male gibbon, a stranger from outside, would surely face conflict if he intended to cross over.
If the two gibbons took a liking to each other, the cousin would leave this place and accompany the male gibbon to establish their new territory.
...
Fang Ye also received this good news!
While feeling happy for the male gibbon and the cousin, he also felt so sympathy for Qingtian.
Hey, this child often connected with the cousin online a few months ago, extrely happy.
Lately, there was no need for it to connect online, and it seed quite downcast! Even its willingness to play with its younger brother had lessened by quite a bit.
For the first ti in its life, the gibbon had tasted the bitterness of a failed romance.
There's a saying that fits well: "I could have endured the darkness had I never seen the light."
Only ti could slowly heal its wounded heart.
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