Chapter 72: You Stole This

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: You Stole This

Feng Si lowered the hand she had on her shoulder, a blissful smile on her face.

A small, swaddled snake lay on Feng Si’s shoulder. Its body was small, round, and plump, its belly bulging slightly. A pair of large, golden eyes shone from its black head. Two short little claws extended from the sides of its white-clad body, grasping a small lock of Feng Si’s hair. Its eight little fingertips were round and chubby.

Mao Qiu was shocked. "You stole him!"

As an experienced sub-female, Mao Ping could tell just by looking at Feng Si, who had only recently come of age. "You’re so young, there’s no way you could have given birth already!"

After all, even the legendary Special-level Females had to go through several heat cycles!

Feng Si looked a bit helpless and said, "It’s true. My cub just hatched."

Amidst their disbelief, the little Black Snake slithered into the palm of Feng Si’s hand, its two golden eyes sparkling as it looked at them.

"Besides, it doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. I’m just sharing my happy news with you. My cub has been born!"

She slowly moved the hand cradling the little Black Snake away from her shoulder. The eyes of Mao Qiu and Mao Ping followed the movement, but the little Black Snake was looking at the little orange kitten, its bright, round eyes holding a hint of a warning.

’This is my mommy!’ An instinct he was born with kicked in: no other Little Beastman was allowed near, and no one was allowed to steal his mommy!

Yun Chi’s mouth opened slightly. On his tender pink gums, only two tiny white specks marked where his fangs would be, and he was drooling.

Feng Si carefully placed the cub back into the pocket on her chest. ’I need to sew a couple of buttons on this pocket,’ she thought, ’so the little guy won’t slip out when I’m not looking.’

Mao Ping wasn’t convinced.

’Feng Si probably found the cub downstairs somewhere.’

’It was very common. In the Beastman World, many sub-females had issues with phantom pregnancies, imagining they’d given birth to a cub. So, it wasn’t a big deal if Feng Si had found a snake egg and insisted it was her own biological child.’

"Did he just hatch? Male beast cubs are the easiest to raise. As long as you remember to feed them plenty of food every day and keep them warm, they’ll survive," Mao Ping advised, watching Feng Si gaze down at her cub.

Feng Si replied, "Mhm!"

She looked up and smiled gently. "I’ll be careful."

"Is he from the Four-legged Snake Clan? He looks so cute." Holding the little orange kitten by the scruff of his neck, Mao Qiu leaned in for a closer look and furtively reached out toward Feng Si.

No matter how scary a male beast was, if they were chubby and had big eyes as a child, they became inexplicably, devastatingly cute.

The little kitten below let out a protesting meow. "Auntie, I want a hug too, meow~"

Clawing at his mommy’s pocket, a little black snake head poked out, its expression fierce.

It came face-to-face with a pink fingertip—his mommy’s—which was extremely close. The fierce little Black Snake froze for a second, then suddenly squirmed and very gently pressed his face against the pad of his mommy’s finger.

Newborn cubs are rather forgetful. Yun Chi instantly forgot that he had poked his head out to intimidate the other kitten.

"I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. His body is longer," Feng Si said. Her hand hovered protectively over the cub on her chest, fingers subconsciously spread to shield the pocket. Feeling the soft down on her cub’s head, her heart filled with sweetness.

Mao Ping had a complicated expression on her face.

’See? How could you not know the species of the Beastman you had a cub with?’

’That’s completely impossible!’

’So, Feng Si’s phantom pregnancy is pretty serious. She just came of age... and she hasn’t even found a male beast.’

’How pitiful.’

Mao Qiu, holding Mao Ge, was still in a state of shock.

’Just yesterday, Feng Si was a single sub-female, and now she has a male beast cub?’

Feng Si remembered why the two had come, so she turned and led them into the house. She had them wait on the sofa while she went to the kitchen to get the pickled cabbage.

’She had never liked having people in her home before because the egg-cub hadn’t hatched, and she was afraid something might happen with too many people around.’

’Now that the cub had hatched, she couldn’t keep him hidden forever. Of course, she had to let everyone know about her cub’s existence sooner rather than later.’

’My own cub should live in a happy, carefree environment and grow up healthy.’

Feng Si quickly returned with two jars of pickled cabbage and handed them to Mao Ping.

Mao Ping accepted them with delighted thanks. Although Feng Si had said she wouldn’t take any coins, Mao Ping still placed six thousand coins on the table before taking her leave.

After Mao Ping left, Mao Qiu remained seated, still holding Mao Ge. She looked at Feng Si sitting beside her, feeling that it was all a bit unreal, but she was also quite curious. "What’s his name?"

Feng Si replied, "Yun Chi. His Identity Card will be registered solely under my name."

Mao Ge propped up his head and looked at Feng Si with wide, hopeful eyes. "I want to sit in your lap too, meow~"

Just as Feng Si was about to speak, the cub on her chest immediately flicked his tail in displeasure and let out a hiss that was both fierce and babyish.

"Mommy loves Yun Duo the most, and Mommy only loves her one little cub," Feng Si immediately cooed, her gaze softening as she looked at her own baby. She met Yun Chi’s big, blinking eyes, and those beautiful, golden, glass-like eyes held only her.

’Having spent a day with Yun Duo, she was already getting a good grasp of her cub’s personality.’

She tore her gaze away from Yun Duo’s adorable face and looked up at the little kitten in Mao Qiu’s arms, giving him an apologetic smile. "I can’t hold you anymore, but I’ll grill you some delicious meat later."

Mao Ge’s eyes went wide.

’He’d been begging for so long, only to be rejected!’

The angry little kitten twisted away, burying his head in his sub-female sister’s embrace. His cheeks puffed out, making his round back look even stockier. It was clear from his huffy posture that he was throwing a pouty tantrum.

"HISS," came a sound from the Yun Duo cub in the pocket, his voice soft and squeaky.

Sensing the two little male beasts vying for her affection, Feng Si soothingly patted her own cub’s head, the corners of her eyes drooping slightly.

Her heart was definitely biased. She said decisively, "About my previous offer to have Mao Ge be my little livestreaming assistant—the daily work will need to change. From now on, you’ll be responsible for cleaning up before the stream each day. The pay in coins will be the same."

’To give her cub a secure environment, she couldn’t let him be in a state of constant alertness and tension, especially when she knew the little guy was sensitive to other scents.’

So, facing the little kitten’s accusing gaze, Feng Si hardened her heart and didn’t change her mind.

Mao Qiu, having experience raising her younger brother, nodded in complete understanding.

’When her Mao Ge was born, he wasn’t like the little Black Snake, full of hostility toward other cubs and wanting to monopolize his ’mother’. Mao Ge had no reaction at all to the neighbor’s male beast cub when he visited.’

’But Feng Si’s egg was found, after all. The process of imprinting on a parent probably makes them more possessive.’

’It was very understandable.’

"Male beast cubs are rather clingy with their mothers," Mao Qiu said, thoughtfully omitting the term ’foster care’.

Having resolved the issue that would have made her cub Yun Duo uncomfortable, Feng Si didn’t keep Mao Qiu any longer.