Chapter 71: I Gave Birth to This
Chapter 71: I Gave Birth to This
Chapter 71: Chapter 71: I Gave Birth to This
"That’s right. I even came here early this morning to stake out the mall. If my Original Value were high, would I be this rational?"
"I came at the crack of dawn. I was standing right next to him. He can testify that I’m not lying."
One after another, the crowd clearly explained why they had come and why they were in such a hurry to rush forward.
"Are you all fighting for your lives just for a bite to eat?" the discipline squad captain asked, still skeptical.
The crowd: "Of course!"
The Elephant Clan Beastman added, "Yeah! Didn’t you watch Xiao Si’s stream yesterday? That stir-fried minced pork with pickled cabbage poured over the meat... the aroma was so enticing I was thinking about it all night. I absolutely have to buy pickled cabbage today!"
Another Beastman, who understood the Elephant Clan Beastman perfectly, sighed and said, "A male beast will die for only two things in his life: one is for a female, and the other is for food! If you don’t fight with all you’ve got, you won’t get any."
The members of the discipline squad found themselves nodding along unconsciously. Even the sub-female who had run to call them couldn’t refute it.
A potential jail sentence was averted simply because everyone spoke their minds. The discipline squad members then walked into the crowd of Beastmen, leaving everyone bewildered. No one dared to push them away, though.
The discipline squad had no other intention; they were just joining the scramble for pickled cabbage.
...
Dim sunlight filtered in through the window. The room was kept at over twenty degrees thanks to the burning black orbs. The clothes Feng Si had prepared, sized for a baby chick, were all too big for the Little Black Snake.
When she got up, Feng Si took a soft towel and carefully wrapped the Little Black Snake from head to tail, like a swaddled baby with only its face showing, before gently placing him into her breast pocket.
Tucked in his mother’s pocket, the Little Black Snake tilted his head back, staring unblinkingly at Feng Si’s chin. His two golden, slit-pupiled eyes looked incredibly serious as he contentedly flicked his tongue.
As long as the little one could see his mother, he would stay perfectly still and obediently go to sleep.
She had woken up to feed the cub three times last night, so Feng Si already had some experience.
She found a fresh green fruit the size of a chicken egg, cut a small hole in it, and squeezed the milky white juice into a bowl. Then, she took it to the kitchen and warmed it in a water bath before pouring it into a tiny baby bottle.
She then went to the sofa and sat down, taking the tiny bundle out from her chest and holding it up before her eyes.
Two large golden eyes blinked up at her.
Smiling gently at the baby before her, Feng Si took a small bottle and carefully aimed it at his mouth. The milk level in the bottle slowly dropped, and the five-milliliter bottle was quickly finished.
Knowing that newborn cubs needed to be fed small, frequent meals, Feng Si stopped after one bottle. She wiped the ring of milk from around the Little Black Snake’s mouth, then carefully tucked the swaddled baby back into her pocket.
She looked down and said with extreme gentleness, "Baby Yun Duo, go to sleep now. Mama’s right here with you."
Sensing her reassuring presence, the little one didn’t struggle much. Still just an infant, the Little Black Snake gazed at Feng Si with his big golden eyes before they slowly closed.
Seeing that the cub in her pocket had fallen asleep, Feng Si didn’t want to move around too much and wake him. She took a piece of homemade jerky and a red-skinned fruit from her storage space and had that for breakfast.
None of the cub clothes she had bought before fit, but thankfully, she had purchased plenty of good-quality fabric. She took all the cloth out from her storage space and placed it beside her.
Feng Si sat on the sofa and picked out the softest, most expensive roll of off-white cotton. She returned the rest of the fabric to her storage space and took out her complete set of tailoring tools.
She cut a long strip from the fabric. Based on her own cub’s body shape, a half-placket, one-piece infant outfit with cloth-knot buttons would be the most convenient.
She marked the positions for the four little paws, sewed up the tail section, and then attached a few cloth buttons. Just like that, a custom-made outfit exclusively for Yun Chi was finished.
Feng Si held it up, examining it with satisfaction. She then lowered her head and made five more in a row, stopping only when she heard a soft knock on the door.
Glancing down at the motionless cub, Feng Si slowly got up and walked toward the door. The knocking continued. KNOCK.
The Little Black Snake sleeping in Feng Si’s pocket opened his big eyes alertly.
’The scent of another beast.’
The Little Black Snake twisted and squirmed inside his swaddling, wriggling two small black claws out from the towel. He then used his claws to grip the towel and, with a SLITHER, slid right out.
The rise and fall of Feng Si’s chest was nearly imperceptible, and she couldn’t feel any movement through her thick sweater. In her blind spot, the Little Black Snake retracted his four little claws and slithered up her clothes.
By the time Feng Si opened the door and felt something on her neck, her cub had already climbed up to the crook of her shoulder, scaring her so much that she broke out in a cold sweat.
Terrified that the Little Black Snake would lose his grip and fall, she barely dared to breathe, reaching up to support his tail and protect him.
The Little Black Snake was also trying to protect his mother. After slithering upward for a moment, he settled securely on her shoulder, raised the upper half of his body, and looked out with a pair of gleaming eyes.
"Feng Si, I’m so sorry to bother you. The pickled cabbage at the mall is completely sold out, and I couldn’t get any. My kids at home are crying for it, so I shamelessly came to find you." Seeing that Feng Si had her head tilted and wasn’t saying anything, Mao Ping, standing outside with Mao Qiu, had to speak first.
Feng Si had never liked having visitors, so the two of them only dared to stand at the doorway. Mao Ping quickly added, "I’m willing to pay double the price."
Feng Si kept one hand protectively near her cub, afraid that if she tried to grab him, she might not control her strength and accidentally hurt him. After all, ever since he was born, the Little Black Snake had always been the one to slither into her palm on his own. So, she had no choice but to let him stay where he was.
She held her shoulders stiffly to make her cub’s perch more comfortable, then turned back to the two sub-females at the door with a smile. "No need for double, the normal price is fine. We’re celebrating a happy occasion at my house today, so let me get some for you."
Mao Qiu was stunned. "What happy occasion?"
Just then, hearing Feng Si’s voice, Mao Ge, who had been nestled in Mao Qiu’s arms, couldn’t stay still any longer. The little orange kitten leaped nimbly from his sister’s embrace. The moment his paws touched the ground, he tried to run toward Feng Si behind the door.
Yun Chi clenched his claws, a sense of unease starting to build within him. Watching the little orange kitten wiggling its bottom as it ran toward his mother, he opened his mouth wide in a threat, warning it not to come any closer.
Inside the Little Black Snake’s wide-open mouth, his tongue and gums were pink. Forget fangs, not even a single sharp tooth had emerged yet.
The little orange kitten felt almost no fear at all. It only paused for a moment before continuing to run forward. The pretty auntie was right ahead, and he wanted her to feed him delicious food!
Feng Si sensed her cub’s emotions.
’Infancy is precisely the time when a Little Beastman is most possessive of its mother.’
Feng Si immediately held up a hand and waved away Mao Ge as he ran closer, refusing the little cat’s attempt to cuddle. And, to keep the Little Black Snake from feeling neglected, she beamed at the two visitors and announced, "Look! This is the baby I gave birth to!"