Chapter 662 - 550: Walnut’s Return to Its Old Home

Chapter 662: Chapter 550: Walnut’s Return to Its Old Home

The new year passed in a flurry of activity.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Shen Xin and Ding Yuwei hurried to Anjing.

His main purpose was to report his ideas to Xu Jinguang in person.

The ministry, of course, didn’t close for the holidays.

An official of Xu Jinguang’s rank would certainly have been busy with official visits during the New Year period.

So after returning to Anjing, it wasn’t until the seventh day of the Lunar New Year that Shen Xin was able to meet with Xu Jinguang.

"We still have to find Yang Guofa."

Xu Jinguang was already aware of the situation. He hadn’t been idle the past few days. First, he had arranged for people on the domestic side to trace the channels Yang Guofa had used to flee the country.

Second, he had contacted the United States through Interpol, asking them to assist in the investigation and locate Yang Guofa.

Finally, he had also contacted the embassy, asking them to coordinate with local hometown associations and other organizations to help with the search.

It was a three-pronged approach, and he hoped it would yield results.

But it was truly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The guy would be an illegal immigrant there, so he might not be found through official channels.

Besides, it wasn’t even certain if he had made it there.

What if he died on the way? What if the journey was too difficult, and he stopped halfway to settle in another country?

This aspect could only be coordinated by Xu Jinguang. Shen Xin then stated his own idea.

It was to take Walnut back to the Baishui River area for a visit.

Shen Xin also explained the difficulties involved.

Setting aside the issue of ownership, a major reason for Zhu Fengmao’s refusal was the fear of an accident happening along the way.

This was despite the fact that before the New Year, Shen Xin had been allowed to walk Walnut around the zoo grounds.

Xu Jinguang crossed his arms, his brow furrowed.

"Shen Xin, how confident are you? Or rather, do you have a plan?" Xu Jinguang asked.

This was, after all, a giant panda. It was a very special case.

During his free time over the New Year, Shen Xin had spent a lot of time mulling over this matter. He nodded and said, "I can’t say how confident I am, but after interacting with him for so long, I can feel that Walnut has a very deep impression of what happened back then."

This was corroborated by its inner voice, and through various indirect questions, Shen Xin was certain of this point.

"As for the plan, I intend to start by searching for the primary crime scene—the place where Walnut’s mother was killed."

"I’ve considered that with the passage of time, the natural environment has changed significantly, so Walnut might not remember the exact location."

"So we can only cast a wide net, spend more time, and try to take him through all the possible areas."

"The good thing is that Motianling is in the core area of the nature reserve. Many parts are primary forests, which are difficult to penetrate even for poachers."

The altitude there is high, the mountains are tall and the forests dense. Some areas are truly uninhabited.

"If Wang Shulin was the first to discover the panda, his area of activity would likely be outside these uninhabited zones. We can focus our search on those areas, and we might find something."

"And finding this primary crime scene will be, in my opinion, a great help in reconstructing what happened back then."

As for the specific details of the plan, he would personally accompany and protect Walnut the entire time, ensuring the panda wouldn’t get lost and could be safely returned to the zoo afterward.

Xu Jinguang nodded slightly. After silently pondering for a while, he told Shen Xin to go back and draft a formal proposal, which he would then use to coordinate with the relevant parties.

The case had reached a point where every step forward was a struggle.

But since they had come this far, they had to press on, even if there was only a sliver of hope.

Shen Xin had only been thinking of giving it a try, but to his surprise, Xu Jinguang actually managed to make it happen.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, after careful discussion and consideration, Jin City and the Anjing Zoo approved Shen Xin’s plan.

"Director Zhu, you’ve given me a huge surprise. I really have to thank you."

Shen Xin had heard the news first from Zhu Fengmao.

Zhu Fengmao glanced at Walnut, who was quietly munching on bamboo, and said, "No need for thanks. This plan was approved, but not entirely because of your Director Xu’s influence."

After all, they weren’t part of the same system. Xu Jinguang didn’t have that much pull to risk a precious giant panda.

"It was mainly because your department proposed an idea, framing it as an excellent research opportunity. They also used your work with him as an example."

"After our discussions, we agreed with your idea and decided to give it a try as an exploratory attempt at rewilding."

Speaking of which, the ultimate goal of giant panda conservation in the country had always been to rewild captive-bred pandas to rejuvenate the wild population.

However, the conventional method for rewilding usually involves selecting pandas between two and five years old and implementing it with a mother-and-cub pair.

For a mature adult panda like Walnut, who was already eleven years old, attempting a return to the wild was, as Zhu Fengmao said, an exploratory rewilding effort.

It would allow them to observe whether a long-term captive panda could still adapt to the wild, which held great research value.

"Of course, the entire process must be under our supervision. You can’t do anything reckless. Any plans or arrangements must be discussed with us first."

Zhu Fengmao then laid down the ground rules.

Shen Xin quickly replied, "Of course. We don’t want any harm to come to Walnut either."

With the plan approved, the next step was execution.

Although it was just a trip back to his homeland, the necessary procedures couldn’t be skipped.

Walnut was given a physical examination, samples were collected, and a subcutaneous GPS tracker was implanted.

Ding Yuwei also went to Yinping ahead of time to discuss the search area with Yang Zeran, Chang Zhigang, and the others.

"I think we should add the old patrol routes to the map," Shen Xin suggested during a video conference.

Everything was speculation; it was still uncertain who had discovered the panda first.

If it was Wang Shulin, they could find people with poaching records and ask about their areas of activity.

But what if Liu Baoli had discovered it first, only to be seen by Wang Shulin, who then conceived of his malicious plan?