Chapter 81: The Abandoned Panda Cub..

Xie Hui walked over to the stroller, pulled back the sunshade curtain, and picked up the cub. As soon as he held him, he could feel the fur was a bit damp.

Instinctively, he glanced into the stroller, and sure enough, it was wet too.

Looking down, he saw the little cub in his arms staring up at him with wide, innocent eyes. When Xie Hui looked back, the cub even let out a little coo.

This was the first time Xie Hui realized panda cubs could wet themselves. Usually, this one would fuss and whimper to be taken to the bathroom before falling asleep.

He was probably just too tired from playing outside today and forgot.

The cub was still so little—Xie Hui couldn’t bring himself to scold him. Instead, he tapped the cub lightly on the head and began preparing warm water.

When the cub was younger, he hadn’t had the strength to resist and was very well-behaved during bath time. But once he got a bit older and stronger, every bath became a battle.

The battles usually ended with the panda cub losing, slumped against the edge of the tub, listless, allowing Xie Hui to wash him.

Sometimes, if he really didn’t want to bathe, he’d splash about a bit to restart the “war,” only to flop back into place. Occasionally, he’d stick out his tongue halfway, looking absolutely fed up—like a walking meme.

“If you mess around during bath time again today, I won’t bathe you anymore. I’ll let you stink.”

After setting up the hot water and carrying the cub to the bathroom, Xie Hui sat down on a stool, pinched the cub’s soft little paw pad, and made a gentle threat.

“Wuu~ yaa yaa eeya~”

Xie Hui couldn’t understand what the cub was trying to say while flailing his little paws. He simply took one of the paws, curled it into a fist, and bumped it against his own.

“Alright, deal.”

Panda cubs were cute most of the time—except during baths. Their fluffy, soft fur would clump together when wet, and if you looked closely, you could even see the skin beneath.

The cub sat in the tub, trying to cross his arms like an adult, but his arms were too short, which made the pose rather comical.

Xie Hui patiently wet the fur with a towel, then applied baby-safe body wash. A few rubs created a mound of bubbles.

Once the bubbles appeared, the cub seemed to forget that he hated bathing. He scooped up a handful of foam with his paws and tried to smear it on Xie Hui’s face.

Usually, Xie Hui would play along with such silly little games, but ever since the bedwetting incident today, he wasn’t in the mood. It wasn’t about being a clean freak—he just couldn’t shake the mental block.

Rejected, the cub drooped his head, his foam-covered little head looking especially pitiful.

Xie Hui could tell the cub sometimes faked being pitiful, but more often than not, he still fell for it and started feeling bad.

He walked over to the sink, washed the bubbles off his hands, then fetched a bubble-blowing toy from the day’s new toy stash. He brought it to the bathroom and demonstrated how to use it.

Xie Hui figured this bath would need at least two rounds of washing, so the cub needed something to keep him entertained. Otherwise, he’d get bored and make a fuss during scrubbing.

Back when he had a cat, Xie Hui hadn’t felt this way. He liked cats’ aloof nature, but wasn’t overly obsessed. He’d occasionally cuddle them.

But raising this brand-new, round panda cub—he was very into snuggling pandas. He loved nothing more than burying his face in the cub’s belly and inhaling a deep whiff of panda scent. Which is why he was determined to scrub the cub squeaky clean and restore him to his sweet-smelling self.

This was the cub’s first time playing with a bubble-blowing toy, even if it was just a simple ring.

Since they were mid-bath, Xie Hui didn’t prepare proper bubble solution. He just let the cub use the foam on his paws.

Making bubbles out of this foam wasn’t easy, but the cub sat in the tub blowing with intense focus.

While Xie Hui washed the cub’s hind legs, the little one simply laid back in the tub, still gripping the toy, stubbornly trying to blow a bubble.

“Haven’t washed your tail yet. Flip over.”

“Eeya~”

Clutching the toy, the cub awkwardly flipped onto his belly and continued blowing bubbles.

Panda tails were short. The ones Xie Hui had seen before often looked slightly yellowish from always sitting on the ground and seemed a bit dirty.

His own cub’s tail still looked clean—maybe because he was still young. Xie Hui lathered it with body wash, scrubbed it thoroughly, rinsed off the soap with fresh water, and repeated the process until there were no bubbles left.

Thinking about the earlier bedwetting, he gave the cub an extra scrub. He just couldn’t bring himself to snuggle a panda until it was completely clean and fragrant again.

After two full washes, Xie Hui carried the cub out of the bathroom. It was now late afternoon, close to sunset—perfect time to start air-drying his fur.

Once the sun went down, he definitely wouldn’t use a hairdryer on the cub, so natural wind-drying was the only option.

The staff member he’d spoken with earlier mentioned that in about half a month, the cub could start transitioning from milk to soft foods.

Some of those soft foods required dried ingredients, which needed to be sun-dried ahead of time.

With that task in mind, Xie Hui set the cub down on the carpet, ruffled his head, and said:

“Daddy has things to do, so you stay here and dry your fur, okay? If you dry it all by yourself like a good boy, Daddy will take you to watch cartoons tonight.”

“Yaa yaa~”

Xie Hui held out his fist again. The cub, quite smartly, reached out with his paw and bumped fists with him, sealing the cartoon-watching deal.

Xie Hui took out an alarm clock, judged the sunlight, set a time based on his instinct, and placed the clock nearby.

“Lie down to dry first, okay? When the alarm rings, roll over so your belly side gets some sun.”

“Mmm, yaa yaa~”

Worried the cub might get bored alone, Xie Hui also put on some music from his phone and handed him two toys.

With the cub temporarily settled, Xie Hui went to the kitchen.

He couldn’t go back and flip the cub over because the staff had warned that during food prep, it was best not to touch too many things.

Most cubs were healthy, but food-related issues could still cause illness.

Halfway through preparing food, Xie Hui heard the alarm go off in the living room.

He set down his work, walked to the doorway, and peered through the glass panel at the cub.

The chubby little thing, who had been lying down, was now struggling to flip over as the alarm blared. He planted his paws and awkwardly turned over, ending up belly-down.

Thinking it through, he spread all four limbs out to make sure every part of his body caught the sunlight.

Just as Xie Hui was about to turn back and resume food prep, he noticed the cub was also making a determined effort to get his little tail into the sun.