Chapter 42

"I think we should give it a name."

One day, Li Zhi came to visit Yu Miaomiao and took the opportunity to pet the little cub.

While playing, he suddenly spoke up.

Why do we need to have a name?

Yu Miaomiao gave Li Zhi a strange look.

"I'm just helping someone take care of it."

"But don't you think it's pitiful that it doesn't have a name?"

Li Zhi rested her chin on her hand, watching the snow leopard cub struggling with a towel on the ground.

“Every time you call it, it’s called ‘little thing,’ ‘little brat,’ ‘starving ghost,’ there’s no fixed name.”

"How awful it sounds. I think he must be sad and want to have his own name." Li Zhi fell into sentimental thoughts.

"Sad? Impossible."

"little things."

The cub's ears twitched slightly, and it immediately stopped playing. It raised its big head, its clear blue eyes staring intently at Yu Miaomiao, full of expectation.

"little things."

Yu Miaomiao called out again.

The cub let out a soft, tender cry, as if in response, and excitedly jumped onto Yu Miaomiao, rubbing its head against her hand, begging to be petted.

Following its lead, Yu Miaomiao casually scratched the cub's head a few times.

The snow leopard cub's entire body went limp, and it made a comfortable purring sound in its throat.

Do you think it's sad?

Li Zhi was dumbfounded.

When it was time for the cub to eat, Yu Miaomiao picked it up and carried it downstairs.

Snow leopard cubs' diets for one to two months include a variety of fresh complementary foods, but Yu Miaomiao's family didn't even have a cutting board, so this task was naturally handed over to Jiang Chengyi.

When they got downstairs, Li Zhi was about to knock on the door, but Yu Miaomiao stopped her and took out her key from her pocket to open the door.

The movements were practiced skillfully, indicating that he had done it many times before.

Li Zhi was once again dumbfounded.

Why do you have a key to Jiang Cheng's family home?

"It needs to eat five meals a day. It would be too much trouble if we had to knock on the door every time and then have him come and open it."

Yu Miaomiao pointed to the culprit, the little snow leopard.

“That makes sense.” Li Zhi was bewildered by the other party’s self-righteous attitude, nodded, and then immediately realized what was going on.

"wrong!"

But Yu Miaomiao had already opened the door and gone inside.

Jiang Chengyi, wearing an apron, was walking out of the kitchen.

Upon seeing Yu Miaomiao, he remained calm and composed, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

"It's here, but its meal will be a while longer."

Li Zhi was deceived once again.

Is it really normal to enter and leave someone else's home with a key without asking permission?

When Jiang Cheng returned to the kitchen, he was using a food processor to grind the steamed beef.

Li Zhi attempted to promote her theory once again.

"President Jiang, don't you think we should give it a name?"

"It's troublesome to call it when there's something wrong since it doesn't have a fixed name."

"For example, eating."

She looked at Jiang Chengyi, a cat lover, with hope, hoping to get some positive feedback from him.

Jiang Chengyi scraped the ground beef from the food processor, poured it into a bowl, and mixed it with the prepared milk powder.

"Let it eat, no need to call it."

He tapped the food bowl with the stirring spoon, and almost the instant the sound was heard, the cub that had been playing under the bed suddenly rushed out and darted toward Jiang Chengyi.

Because of its excessive speed, its head hit Jiang Chengyi's calf, and the recoil made it spin backward several times.

Thanks to its thick fur and plump body, it wobbled to its feet, shook its head, and appeared to be completely unharmed.

No, there are still some.

It stared longingly at the food in Jiang Cheng's hand, its mouth slightly open, with glistening, stringy saliva dripping down.

Without Jiang Cheng giving any command, it followed him step by step to the feeding area.

As soon as the food bowl was placed on the ground, it buried its head and began to eat voraciously.

He didn't spare a single glance for anyone else.

Li Zhi covered her face, unable to bear to look.

"See? It's okay if it doesn't have a name."

Yu Miaomiao glanced at Jiang Chengyi, then raised her chin to look at Li Zhi.

It's as if he's saying: Look, Jiang Chengyi agrees with my opinion.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than Jiang Chengyi's voice rang out.

"However, just because there are no problems when feeding doesn't mean there are no problems elsewhere."

He endured Yu Miaomiao's cold, piercing gaze and uttered the next sentence:

"I think it's necessary to give it a name."

He explained his reasoning: "Pet psychology believes that unique names can help pets develop a better sense of self and make their brains more active."

"In layman's terms, it will make them smarter and more mentally healthy."

"Most importantly, it cannot stay indoors all the time; it needs to come into contact with the outside world."

"In more complex environments, we need a unique and concise name to establish a conditioned reflex and avoid various dangers."

Yu Miaomiao's expression shifted from disapproval to doubt to contemplation.

If it's a regular kitten, it's fine for it to stay indoors its whole life.

However, snow leopard cubs are monsters, possessing the same cognition and intelligence as human cubs.

The law enforcement department has yet to find any clues about its parents, and Yu Miaomiao is unsure how much longer she will have to care for it.

Keeping it indoors for extended periods is actually a form of punishment.

From a security perspective, a name is indeed necessary.

Li Zhi nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I think so too. Miao Miao, what about you?"

Yu Miaomiao gave a cold snort and turned her head to the side.

Her voice was soft, “That makes some sense.”

He paused for a moment, then said, "If you want to take it, then you can take it for them."

Even if Yu Miaomiao understood this point, it would still be difficult for her to verbally admit it.

After waiting for a while, they didn't hear the two of them talking.

She turned her head back and saw Jiang Chengyi staring intently at her.

Her phoenix eyes curved slightly, carrying a hint of a smile.

Yu Miaomiao felt a sudden, inexplicable annoyance rise in her heart.

What are you looking at?

He didn't look away. "I think only you are qualified to name this place."

Yu Miaomiao didn't look away, and stared at Jiang Cheng in a huff.

"What's the reason?"

"You are its true caregiver; I am merely helping you."

His voice was slow and clear. Yu Miaomiao only caught a glimpse of it, but most of her attention was drawn to his eyes.

This was the first time she had observed Jiang Chengyi's eyes so closely and carefully.

Although he has phoenix eyes, they are not long and narrow; the lines are elegant, and his pupils are slightly covered by his eyelids, which may be one of the reasons why he always seems nonchalant.

When he stares intently at someone, his dark pupils are fully revealed, unblinking, showing an excessive seriousness and persistence.

This persistence seemed to have captured her gaze as well; she wanted to look away, but forgot how.

"Yes, Miaomiao, it's best if you name it."

When Li Zhi's voice rang out, Yu Miaomiao felt as if she had heard a savior and quickly turned her head.

Seeing Li Zhi's smiling face, I breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, I also felt a little lost.

"Besides, since it likes you so much, it will definitely like the name you chose."

So Yu Miaomiao took on the important task of naming the cubs.

"How's Xiaobai?"

"That's too easy!" Li Zhi refused.

"I think it's pretty good."

It perfectly matches the baby's fluffy white fur.

She looked at Jiang Chengyi, hoping for a positive response.

Jiang Cheng hesitated for a moment, looking at the cub sleeping soundly in the nest, and finally said, "Let's... take another one."

"Little Fatty?"

It also matches the chubby body of the cub.

Li Zhi shook her head, "No!"

"Seven pounds?" I just weighed myself a couple of days ago.

"That's too perfunctory."

"Egg yolk?" The cub's favorite food recently.

"No way!!"

...

Yu Miaomiao suggested more than a dozen names, but both of them rejected them one by one.

This made her a little discouraged.

"Aren't they all nice to listen to?"

Yu Miaomiao's inability to name herself may be due to genetic reasons.

Her mother, Yu Jianqing, was also terrible at naming children. After her birth, she racked her brains for a whole month before coming up with the name "Yu Miaomiao".

The bakery's name is even simpler: "Qingmiao Bread".

Yu Miaomiao, on the other hand, is also good at keeping things simple when it comes to naming things.

The code name for assignments is "assignment"; the code name for projects is "project"; and most others are "code + date".

Even the game they created was initially called "game," but they only came up with a new name before the competition.

"Miaomiao, will you promise me something?"

Li Zhi held Yu Miaomiao's hand tightly, pleading, "Please don't name other people's children."

He will hate you for the rest of his life.

Jiang Cheng suggested, "How about we call him Xiaobai?"

This suggestion was unanimously agreed upon by the other two.

After going around in circles, we've returned to where we started.

And so the cub's name was decided.

"Quick, Miaomiao, call it and see if it responds."

"It's only a little over a month old, how could it be so smart?"

As Yu Miaomiao spoke, she still gently called out to the cub who was engrossed in eating.

"noob."

The cub raised its head from the food bowl and let out a "woof" at Yu Miaomiao.

It wasn't a reaction to the name, it was simply a response to Yu Miaomiao's voice.

So she called out again, "Little White."

The cub tilted its head to look at Yu Miaomiao, its furry face, covered in milk stains, showing a human-like look of confusion.

It's as if they don't know the meaning of these two syllables.

Yu Miaomiao walked over and squatted down in front of the cub.

"noob."

She pointed to the cub and said, slowly and deliberately, "Your name is Xiaobai, you know?"

The cub's bewildered blue eyes gradually brightened, widening in surprise.

Yu Miaomiao felt that the cub should understand what she meant.

He stepped back a little and called out, "Little White."

The cub kicked with its hind legs, hitting the feeding bowl and spilling milk all over itself, but it didn't care. It pounced on Yu Miaomiao like a little cannonball.

It squealed excitedly and snuggled into Yu Miaomiao's arms.

It seems that he really likes his name.

"Don't rub against me, all the milk is on me!"

Yu Miaomiao tried to pull Xiaobai off her back, but the cub clung to her like a sticky piece of gum, even trying to clean her face with its tongue.

She leaned back, pleading with the two onlookers, "Take it away quickly!"

What a chaotic afternoon!

"Little White, Little White, Little White!"

Li Zhi used food as bait and called out several times. The clever snow leopard cub realized that it was its own name.

On subsequent occasions, even without food, Li Zhi could respond with a "woof" from the cubs by calling out "Little White".