Chapter 44

"Dance studio?" Xu Cheye pretended not to understand and deliberately said, "You don't look like you're going to dance for me."

"You're dreaming. I'm not going to dance for you. You're not chubby." Bubble rolled her eyes.

With her hands on her hips, she said, "I challenge you to a one-on-one fight. Do you dare?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"..."

Xu Cheye was not swayed by provocation; he remained frighteningly calm.

Bubble punched the cotton ball, her round face filled with astonishment, her big eyes scanning him up and down without any hesitation.

Xu Che was tall and slender, with a delicate and fair face. His black, short hair lay smoothly on his forehead, adding a touch of childishness to his unruly features.

Bubble had never seen such a handsome boy before; she thought he looked like the little figurines that Sister Yunyun had at home.

Every time she went to Yunyun's house, Yunyun would always nervously remind her not to touch the figurines on the cabinet.

Because they are very fragile, they break easily and can't be put back together.

Bubble raised her Doraemon-like little fist. The boxing instructor praised her as a super-strong baby, so if she punched him, he might just kick the bucket?

Bubble wrinkled its little nose in confusion.

“Bubble, Cheche is a guest, and we are the hosts. Hosts shouldn’t argue with guests.” Xu Yirou held Bubble’s arm, her watery eyes filled with worry. “Children should get along peacefully.”

Bubble complained, feeling wronged: "But he called me a little liar."

“That…that was his fault.” Xu Yirou was still quite protective of her own. She turned her head away, her mouth just opening.

She made a face at me.

She called me a coward.

"I helped you before."

"..."

Xu Yirou: "0.0"

Even though Grandma Xiaotuanzi was very protective of her grandchildren, she was rendered speechless by Xu Cheye's preemptive three-pronged attack.

I never imagined that even a baby could have such an embarrassing moment.

Seeing that Grandma was speechless after being rebuked, Bubble jumped out defiantly: "Wasn't it you who first complained about Meimei and Yangyang? Meimei and Yangyang are so cute, how could you complain about them?"

"They get sad, and when they're sad, they won't eat. If they don't eat, they're more likely to get sick!"

Xu Cheye: "...So?"

So you're hurting small animals!

A large hat fell from the sky. Xu Cheye shook his head and admitted that he was a little disgusted by the two silly alpacas.

but--

He silently turned his gaze away. The plump alpaca, with its two little ears twitching and its mouth smacking as if it were eating more deliciously than anyone else, was heartbroken.

If this is considered heartbreak, then how happy must one be normally?

Bubble continued to output, pointing with a serious expression: "Look, they're eating slower now, it wasn't like this before!"

Xu Yirou followed her finger and looked at the beautiful woman's profile. Her chin was sharp and short.

Wow, I think I've really lost weight...

Xu Yirou blinked, hugged Meimei with heartache, and stroked its oval face with her small hand: "Meimei, eat more, you've gotten so thin from hunger."

There's a kind of thinness that only your pet owner thinks you're thin—you must have starved to death if you haven't eaten in seconds TAT

Is this like raising alpacas like pigs?

Xu Cheye: "Okay, I apologize."

Bubble was overjoyed, humming a little tune with a beaming smile, and magnanimously waved her hand: "I'll forgive you if you apologize, because I'm such an easy kid to coax!"

"I'm not apologizing to you." Xu Cheye coldly walked past her. "I hurt small animals."

Bubble choked again. Ugh, so frustrating!

Those darn little figurines!

Xu Cheye took two steps forward and stared at the two almost identical alpacas: "Which one is Meimei, and which one is Yangyang?"

Hsu Yi-jou: "The pink bow is for Mei-mei, and the blue bow is for Yang-yang."

Xu Cheye nodded and bowed to the wise-looking alpaca: "Meimei Yangyang, I shouldn't have looked silly and said you were unclean and liked to spit. I'm sorry."

The unfamiliar scent of cubs was so close, and Meimei, oblivious and slow to react, belatedly lifted her eyelids.

Meimei's gaze was fixed on Xu Cheye, her little head swaying cutely from side to side, her pink lips smacking as if she were thinking about something.

Suddenly, Meimei took a step forward with her slender and graceful little hooves, her wet nose twitching.

Xu Cheye reflexively stepped back.

Xu Yirou comforted her, "Cheche, don't be afraid. Meimei said she likes you a lot and wants to be your friend. She asked if you have any delicious food."

The alpaca started talking? Xu Cheye really wanted to ask, but then thought better of it; saying more would only make things worse.

"I have no food." He casually rummaged through his pockets a couple of times.

Here, take it.

Xu Yirou magically pulled a handful of tender leaves from her pocket and looked at him expectantly: "These are the leaves that Meimei really likes to eat."

Her eyes were like lovely crescent moons, and her lips were adorned with a pure and innocent smile, making it impossible for anyone to refuse her.

Xu Cheye, with droopy eyelids, quickly took the food and began feeding Meimei with a blank expression.

Bubble, snapping out of her daze, saw this and immediately felt a pang of envy: "Succulents, I want some too!"

"Okay." Xu Yirou looked down and rummaged through both pockets of her clothes. After a while, she ran a distance, stuck her little bottom out, and started pulling weeds. Then she slowly ran back.

"Here's a bubble for you~"

Bubble: ovo

Bubble took the freshly picked grass from Xu Yirou, her heart bubbling with joy. Yay, Grandma really does like her the most!

Meimei and Yangyang were fed until their bellies were round and full. Paopao and Xu Cheye each led one of them for a walk to digest their food. The chubby little camels carried their weight on their slender little hooves.

When Xu Yue and Xu Qingyan came out of the house, they saw a heartwarming scene of the three cubs getting along harmoniously and walking the sheep together.

Xu Yue exclaimed in surprise, "Oh!" His uncle was actually getting along quite well with the little girl.

It was so unexpected that my uncle's stubborn and grumpy temper didn't make the little kid cry.

Wow, that's really giving him too much face.

Xu Yue strolled closer with his hands in his pockets, smiling and teasing Xu Cheye: "If I had known you could play with little girls so well, I would have brought you here earlier. Look how harmonious and friendly you are. This is how children should be."

Xu Cheye's expression stiffened slightly, and his gaze toward him was icy. You talk too much.

Bubble puffed out her cheeks, thinking to herself that Uncle Xu was such an unintelligent adult, unable to see that she didn't like Cheche.

She must grow up to be a smart adult.

Xu Yue, unaware that he had been thoroughly scorned by the cubs, turned his attention to Meimei and Yangyang, and asked with interest, "Aunt Rou, when did you come to like alpacas?"

Don't let their cute and cuddly appearance fool you; alpacas love to eat, produce a lot of poop, and can launch sneak attacks and spit when they're unhappy—it's impossible to defend against them, definitely the behavior of a sly old fox.

Xu Yirou recounted her encounter with the animals at the zoo in a sweet, childlike voice.

Xu Yue smiled and stroked the sheep's head, not forgetting to shower Xu Yirou with compliments to make her happy.

Meimei, whose head was being stroked, stamped her four hooves on the spot and shook her fluffy head impatiently.

Xu Yue noticed something was wrong, but casually asked, "What's wrong, little Yangyang? Are you hungry?"

Xu Yirou closed her eyes and translated: "You stinky brat, it's not Yangyang, it's Meimei. You've mistaken it for someone else, it's reminding you."

This explanation makes the little guy seem clever and intelligent, adding to his cuteness.

Xu Yue bent down intimately, a slight smile playing on his lips: "So that's how it is, no wonder, then—"

Ha!

"..."

The icy-cold liquid with a slightly foul odor clung firmly to Xu Yue's handsome face.

A glint of blatant terror flashed across Xu Yue's brown eyes—

What heinous thing did he do? Huh?

Little fat camel!

Do you want to see whose face you vomited on?

How could you bear to bite someone with such an outrageously handsome face? Say something!

Say something!

Xu Yue's face contorted in pain as he dashed away from the scene to find a place to wash his face.

Three cubs & Xu Qingyan: Emmm, what just happened?

Many days later, when Xu Yirou was giving Meimei a bath, Meimei kept sneezing. After asking the previous zookeeper, she learned that Meimei did not like strong fragrances.

Meimei hates fragrances, and the stronger the fragrance, the stronger the reaction.

Xu Yirou chuckled as a flash of white light appeared, suddenly understanding why Meimei was spitting at Xu Yue.

Because he was wearing perfume.

*

Jiang Yan has taken on a big-budget production in the fantasy genre.

The director is expected to be away for about half a year. He is known in the industry for his pursuit of perfection and has been preparing for this big movie for three years.

He personally handled everything from casting and crew selection to filming locations. He made it clear before filming started that unless it rained knives or the sky fell, no one would be allowed to take leave midway through the project.

Jiang Yan plays the villainous second female lead who has fallen from grace. With her status, she could easily play the righteous female lead, but the second female lead has a lot of action scenes, and she has played too many positive roles, most of which are the same and not challenging.

After careful consideration, she decided to seize this opportunity and try a different role.

So even though Jiang Yan misses her daughter very much, she can't spare much time to spend with her.

For a day or two, it was alright; with Xu Qingyan and his grandparents by his side, Paopao could temporarily distract herself. But as time went on, Paopao missed Jiang Yan more and more frequently.

Sometimes, while playing, I would space out and curl up for a while, looking lonely in a corner.

Even Xu Yirou could sense her gradually declining mood, so her biological father, Xu Qingyan, naturally noticed it as well.

That evening, after the two little ones had taken a bath, they were comfortably lying in bed when Xu Qingyan quietly knocked on the door.

Xu Yirou opened the door.

"Da Bao, what brings you here?"

She noticed the book in Xu Qingyan's hand and frowned warily: "Are you here for class?"

Xu Qingyan chuckled: "No."

"Mom, I'm here to tell a story." He bent down and asked earnestly, "May I come in?"

Xu Yirou, who had been clinging to the door frame, relaxed her shoulders and made room for him with a big smile.

"Yes, please come in."

Bubble sat up on the bed, scratched her head blankly, and her clear, bright eyes, like black pearls, were filled with curiosity and doubt.

Xu Qingyan realized that his arrival was too sudden, so he quickly walked to the bedside and sat down.

"Daddy, what story are you going to tell us?" Bubble overheard the conversation.

"Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales".

"Is it 'The Little Mermaid,' 'The Ugly Duckling,' 'The Nightingale,' or 'Thumbelina'?"

Xu Qingyan glanced at the table of contents and gave a faint "hmm".

Bubble looked disappointed: "Dad, I've heard this so many times."

"Grandma told it, Mom told it, I can recite it by heart... How about I tell it to you?"

The house is filled with fairy tale books, but Xu Qingyan didn't make a special selection. She just picked up a classic Andersen fairy tale at random.

I didn't expect the cub to have heard it so many times.

"Then I'll choose another one."

"Oh, never mind, never mind." Bubble called out to him, her almond-shaped eyes darting around, and she chuckled, "Daddy, I want to hear your and Mommy's story, will you tell us?"

Oh dear, if you're talking about this, then I'm not sleepy anymore.

Xu Yirou quickly climbed onto the bed, and the two little ones looked up at the same time: "Big Bao, Mommy also wants to hear your story with the goose wife!"

Please, that's Da Bao's love story.

Xu Qingyan: ...It seems like I've come at the wrong time.