Chapter 80: Father and Son’s Shared Interest

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Father and Son’s Shared Interest

Chi Jie slowly withdrew his hand.

His fair hand with its well-defined knuckles lay open before him. His cold, golden eyes were slightly downcast as he rapidly analyzed this new development in his mind.

’His Spirit Domain hadn’t been soothed for nearly five months.’

’Especially today, his red-haired female’s moods had been too erratic, which was why hearing a sub-female with a similar voice had stirred his restlessness.’ 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

’Yes, that had to be it.’

And yet, in the final moment before the stream ended, some strange impulse made Chi Jie lift his hand. On the communicator that concealed his identity, he pressed to add ’Xiao Si’.

The pad of his finger that had pressed the ’friend request’ felt a little hot.

Through the thin mist rising from the hot water, Chi Jie’s face slowly sank beneath the surface. An obscure, profound look flickered in his eyes.

He quirked his lips in a hint of self-reproach.

’He was just trying to figure out why this black-haired sub-female could make him feel like he’d lost control for an instant. After all, besides his red-haired female...’

’...she was the second.’

...

「Meanwhile, in Nantong City.」

As usual, today’s three thousand jars of pickled cabbage sold out in a flash, and Feng Si ended her stream early.

The moment she ended the camera sphere’s broadcast, she looked down and unfastened the button on the pouch at her stomach.

Inside, Yun Chi was obediently hugging a little blue ball with his two paws. He looked up toward the light, his eyes like a pair of translucent, round gems shimmering with a golden glow.

Feng Si pulled the opening of the pouch wider and reached her hand inside. Yun Chi’s tiny head nudged against her fingertips. Since his two little paws were busy hugging his blue ball, he couldn’t use them, so he expertly slithered his tail around to coil around his mother’s palm.

Just like a little Black Snake.

Cradling the little cub that was coiled around her hand, Feng Si headed out, turning off the studio lights as she went.

There were no guests visiting, and the living room was filled with a warm, yellow light. After heading to the kitchen to add a few more black heating spheres to the stove, Feng Si checked the time and carried the cub to the washroom.

The washroom had separate wet and dry areas. In the far back was a large, wooden bathtub. Beastmen are taller and larger than humans, so the tub was big enough to look like it could fit six sub-females.

Feng Si walked right up to the tub. Cradling the cub in one hand, she bent down and turned on the hot water. Steaming water gushed from the faucet, pooling at the bottom of the tub with a RUSH.

With his tail still hooked around Feng Si’s hand, Yun Chi turned his head to peek at the pool of warm water below.

Yun Chi was overjoyed.

The little one tapped his mother’s wrist with the tip of his tail. His eyes sparkling, he raised the blue ball high with both paws and let out an excited "Sss~" at Feng Si.

A smile in her eyes, Feng Si looked down and said gently, "Yun Duo, this blue ball will get small and heavy if it gets wet. Do you still want to take it in the bath with you?"

Even though Yun Chi was too young to speak, she made a point of talking to him every day. She supplemented her words with gestures now, pointing at the blue ball he was holding and then at the tub.

Yun Chi tilted his head up at Feng Si, not understanding why the blue ball would get smaller and heavier. He loved bath time more than anything.

The blue ball was made by his mother’s hands, and he loved his mother most, most, most of all! A mother-made blue ball plus bath time—it was a combination of his absolute favorite things!

So, of course, he wanted to bring the toy his mother had made and share his favorite activity with it!

"Sss—" The happy, babyish cry came as he hugged the blue ball closer, the tip of his tail flicking against his mother’s wrist.

Feng Si’s lips curved into a smile. Once the cub had made his choice, she wouldn’t forbid him.

’It was just a little blue ball. If it got ruined, she could make countless more. It didn’t matter.’

So, when the tub was half-full, Feng Si unwrapped Yun Chi, who had been staring eagerly at the warm water, held him with both hands, and gently placed him in. She then sat down on the edge of the tub to watch her little cub.

The little black creature was delighted to finally be soaking in the warm water, his chubby body swimming nimbly through the currents.

The next second, the blue ball absorbed the water. It instantly grew heavy between his paws and began to sink.

Yun Chi quickly lifted the blue ball high. As the water-logged sphere left the surface, water streamed from it in a frantic SPLASH. The fluffy, soft ball had turned into the shape of a wet mop.

The black Little Chilong’s mouth trembled, and he let out a crying "Sss—!"

Feng Si’s heart clenched. She leaned over the water, fumbling to take the blue ball from the cub’s paws. "It’s okay, it’s okay," she soothed. "The blue ball isn’t ruined. Mommy will dry it for you later, and it will be all better."

With big teardrops welling in his eyes, a miserable Yun Chi burrowed into his mother’s embrace, his little paws clinging tightly to Feng Si’s arm.

Feng Si picked up a handkerchief from the wooden bath caddy and wiped a little bubble from the tip of Yun Chi’s nose. Her heart ached for him as she cooed, "Mommy will make baby lots and lots of little balls, so don’t be sad anymore. Okay?"

Yun Chi twisted his little face to stare at the ruined blue ball in his mother’s hand. His little heart was breaking with sorrow; it wasn’t the soft blue ball his mother had given him anymore.

His small, smooth, black body curled into a ball. He didn’t even want to soak in his beloved warm water anymore. Tasting sadness for the very first time, Yun Chi burrowed deeper into his mother’s arms.

Feng Si gently stroked Yun Chi’s head.

’Yun Duo hadn’t cried once since birth. To think he’d be this heartbroken over the blue ball she’d made, thinking he’d ruined it...’

She wrapped Yun Chi in the handkerchief. ’I can’t let him have a bad association with bath time,’ she thought. ’It’s too late to make a new ball to comfort him now, I’ll just have to find a substitute—a toy to keep the baby company in the bath.’

Feng Si went to her studio and brought back the only other small, round object in the house: the black camera sphere. She returned to the bathroom and approached the tub, the little cub still resting in her arms.

"Ooh, Yun Duo! The little black ball wants to come play with you in the water!" Feng Si chirped, her voice light and cheerful.

With Feng Si by his side, Yun Chi clutched the edge of the handkerchief in front of him. A tiny head peeked out from the cloth. When he saw the little black ball floating in the water, his big eyes lit up in an instant.

Noticing his interested expression, Feng Si slowly placed Yun Chi back into the water.

The moment he was in the water, Yun Chi swam over to the little black ball. He pressed a small paw on it, and was overjoyed to find that it didn’t change. His golden eyes, still wet with tears, shone brightly, like the first golden light of dawn piercing the darkness.

Watching him made Feng Si’s heart feel warm. She let the little one play while he soaked. ’I need to get some bath toys for Yun Duo,’ she thought, ’like a custom-made rubber ducky or something...’

As she mused, her eyes remained fixed on the cub. And that’s how she saw Yun Chi somehow activate a light screen, bringing up the backend interface for the streamer, Si Shi.

The accumulated total for gifts in the backend had reached over 20 million. The platform was run by the Empire, and if she wanted to withdraw the cash to her bank card, she’d have to split it fifty-fifty with them. She would only get half, and on top of that, she’d have to provide a specific home address.

Therefore, since Feng Si wasn’t short on cash at the moment, she wasn’t in any hurry to withdraw it.

However, there was a brightly lit notification for a new ’add friend’ request—