Chapter 55: Trouble Before Departing for Pantian City

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Trouble Before Departing for Pantian City

Their business was selling meat dishes. With the arrival of the rainy season, the price of meat had skyrocketed. A catty of pork belly that originally cost 55 coins now sold for 185. Feng Si hadn’t raised her prices, yet they were still making a fortune.

’Feng Si wasn’t even planning to close the stall during the cold season, when meat is even more expensive. So why is she suddenly taking a seven-day break??’

But the stall belonged to Feng Si, and she would never question any of her decisions.

Extremely puzzled, Mao Qiu set Mao Ge on the floor, got up, and began typing a message as she walked out.

Lying in bed, Feng Si turned on her light screen to read the newly arrived message. Mao Qiu hadn’t asked about suspending their lucrative stall at all. Instead, she was anxiously insisting on coming to see her.

’See me? Absolutely not. I have a delicate and precious little egg at home! What if something happens?’ Feng Si immediately gave a flat refusal.

She didn’t realize that her current mindset was just like that of a mother animal in the wild with her young. She was treating her home as a nest, unwilling to let it be tainted by anyone else’s scent, and was fiercely protective of her baby.

Having known Feng Si for a long time, Mao Qiu was aware of how strong-willed she was and had grown accustomed to following her lead. After receiving the rejection, she had no choice but to let it go.

With no one to disturb her, Feng Si’s life had been very sweet recently. Even though her little one hadn’t hatched from its shell yet, she already felt the joy of having a family member by her side.

Ever since coming to this world, she had always been alone for her three daily meals. Cooking, eating, washing dishes, preparing food for the stall—she did everything by herself, completely on her own.

Now, no matter what she was doing, she had an egg to keep her company. Thinking about prenatal education and murmuring to herself filled her with a profound sense of happiness.

It had to be said that recovering from laying an egg was much faster than giving live birth. After just two days, Feng Si felt completely back to her usual self.

Looking at the motionless little one at home, she began to plan for her baby’s future.

In this world, raising female cubs was expensive, but male beast and sub-female cubs didn’t cost many coins. You just had to give them a bite to eat. The way all Beastmen raised their male beast and sub-female young was simple and crude.

Feng Si didn’t think like that. She held no such prejudice, valuing female cubs over those of other genders.

She had recently read online about identifying the gender of cubs. Females of all races were born in human form. For live births, Beastmen were born in their beast form, while sub-females were born with some beast-like features.

For egg-laying species, a female would also emerge as a human infant. This meant that if an egg hatched to reveal a non-human form, it could only be a Beastman or a sub-female.

Now certain that her own little egg-cub was a Beastman or a sub-female, Feng Si was determined to provide her baby with an excellent quality of life. The roasted meat stall had to go on!

Even a little money was still money, and every bit counted.

For the time being, Feng Si hadn’t told anyone about the egg. Every day when Mao Qiu came to pick up food, the Incubator would briefly be moved from her side and locked in the bedroom.

This sparked Mao Qiu’s curiosity. It definitely wasn’t her imagination this time; Feng Si seemed incredibly tense, as if facing a great enemy.

"Why?" Mao Qiu asked, unconsciously voicing her inner thoughts as she lifted the wicker basket.

"This relentless rain, day and night, is making me a little anxious. The whole city isn’t going to be submerged, is it?" Feng Si was an expert at deflecting.

Speaking of the rainy season, it had been a real eye-opener for Feng Si. It started as light rain a few days ago, gradually became heavy rain, and was now a torrential downpour. It was just like the coastal storms she used to see on the news, only worse here—it hadn’t stopped for a single second.

She hadn’t gone out, so she had no idea if the streets were flooded.

"Huh?" Mao Qiu glanced out the window, looking a bit blank. "It’s always like this. How could it flood? The entire underground of the city is a massive reservoir. Our water supply for the whole year relies on the water stored during the rainy season. This amount of rain isn’t even enough to fill the lakes beneath the city, let alone overflow onto the surface. Not even a single river has formed on the grasslands outside the city walls. It’s impossible for it to flood."

Feng Si nodded in relief at her words, having successfully led the other’s curiosity astray.

Eagerly anticipating the arrival of a new life, time seemed to pass both quickly and slowly. Every day, Feng Si spent most of her time on the light screen searching for the hatching times of various egg-laying races.

The shortest were two or three days; the longest could take an entire cold season. Firmly believing hers was a peacock egg, Feng Si estimated its hatching date to be between 23 and 30 days.

’That means in just over twenty days, I’ll get to meet my little baby!’

I can’t wait!!

...

As Feng Si was holed up at home—incubating the egg—and the rainy season was drawing to a close, Niu Ding’s scruffy face appeared on her light screen. "You don’t like to go out? Fine, I’ll come to you right now."

He had sent Yang Wen to invite her to the City Lord Mansion yesterday, but with the egg already twenty days along, how could she dare go out? She refused without a second thought, never expecting Niu Ding himself would decide to come to her.

"What’s the matter? You can just say it here." Feng Si blinked, her voice laced with a coldness that kept people at a distance.

Niu Ding opened his mouth, then shook his head. "It’s too complicated to explain here. It’s better if I come see you and we talk face-to-face."

His eyes were bloodshot and seemed to bulge more than usual. Heavy breaths came from his wide, flat nose. Setting aside his identity as the City Lord, his was the face of an honest man who was anxious and losing sleep over a difficult problem.

Feng Si looked at Niu Ding’s careworn face, thought for a moment, and agreed. "Don’t knock or ring the doorbell. Just send me a message when you’re almost here."

Niu Ding asked in confusion, "Why can’t I..."

CLICK.

The latter half of his sentence was cut off the instant the light screen went dark. Feng Si had no intention of explaining to an outsider that she was afraid a loud noise might startle her egg.

She rose from the bed. Through the transparent cover of the Incubator, she gently tapped the egg, which showed no signs of change. Her tone was exceptionally tender. "Mommy’s stepping out for a moment. Don’t be scared, okay? Go to sleep, baby."

With that, Feng Si tiptoed out of the room. She pulled the door shut, took out a long wooden lock, and secured it. Then, she gripped the handle and gave it a gentle push. It was solid, not moving an inch.

She tucked the key into a pocket at her waist, walked over to the area connecting the living room and kitchen, grabbed two tall stools, and headed out the main door.

Niu Ding arrived quickly. He had his subordinates guard the elevator, with four burly Beastmen stationed downstairs, preventing anyone else from using it.

He came up alone with his son and Yang Wen, who was the most familiar with Feng Si. The elevator ascended to the top floor and its doors slid open slowly.

Looking at the sub-female waiting in the hallway, Niu Ding, who had been slightly displeased that Feng Si had dared to cut off their communication, was now impressed by her apparent sincerity. His spirits lifted.

"Why did you come all the way out here to wait for me? I may be the City Lord, but you don’t have to be so formal and deferential."

Feng Si’s gaze swept over the three arrivals. She pointed to a tall stool near the elevator. "Mm-hm, you sit there. Can you tell me what this is about now?"

Niu Ding’s smile froze on his face. "..."

’I said not to be too respectful, but this is a little *too* casual!’