Chapter 79: The Abandoned Panda Cub..

Such an adorable little panda cub—Xie Hui couldn’t bring himself to press him down. But the cub was so eager to drink the milk that he buried his head straight into the bowl, his little grunts filled with urgency.

His pale pink paws clawed frantically, and after a bit of flailing, not only did he fail to get himself out, he ended up plopping his whole body into the bowl. Soaked and miserable.

Xie Hui frowned and helplessly lifted him out of the milk bowl. Seeing the cub looking like he’d just taken a milk bath, he picked up a tissue and wiped around his eyes first.

Even with his messy little face, the cub looked a little aggrieved. The soft whimpering sounds carried a hint of unhappiness.

“You’re the one who climbed in—what are you sulking for?”

Saying that, he still had to take action. He pulled out the instruction manual tucked in the stroller’s side pocket and was relieved to read that this cub’s body was sturdier than an average human baby’s.

Most animal-born infants in the Empire were healthier than human ones. In the imperial orphanages, as long as you gave them food and a place to sleep, raising them was usually easy.

Even so, over ninety percent of these infants still ended up abandoned.

The clients were never truly prepared to welcome a child. They had nothing ready at home. After rummaging around, Xie Hui grabbed a vegetable-washing basin from the kitchen, filled it with warm water, and set the cub inside.

The cub, freshly emerged from a milk bath, smelled sweet and creamy. And since the basin was usually used for vegetables, Xie Hui hadn’t even started scrubbing before he got the bizarre illusion that he was about to cook and eat the little guy.

He forced himself to shake off that ridiculous thought and focused on gently cleaning the cub. After changing the water three times, he finally pulled him out. Only then was the remaining water clear.

Unable to find a hairdryer, Xie Hui had to towel-dry the cub as best he could. Then, holding him in his palm, he sat in a non-drafty spot in the living room and let the cub sunbathe.

While the cub dried, Xie Hui logged into the hospital’s platform via his phone, browsing the care guidelines for animal cubs.

Cubs rarely got sick, but they were mischievous and needed constant supervision. No formal school accepted them. The royal-sponsored cub school was shut down because it couldn’t even enroll two students in a year.

So the responsibility of teaching fell entirely on the guardian.

The cub seemed to understand that Daddy was helping him sun his fur and lay there quietly. Occasionally, he’d use his soft pink paw pads to nudge Xie Hui’s fingertips.

That little gesture completely grabbed Xie Hui’s attention. Seeing him wrap his paws around his index finger and nuzzle against it, Xie Hui put down his phone and used the pad of another finger to gently rub the cub’s head.

“Wuyaa…”

A babyish sound came out. Xie Hui couldn’t help but smile.

The little panda cub, still slightly damp after the towel-drying, looked a bit scruffy. But now, lying in his palm, soaking up the warm sun, his fur slowly fluffed up, turning soft and downy. He looked just like a brand-new sticky rice dumpling.

Once he was dry, Xie Hui’s phone alarm went off—it was time again for a feeding.

These cubs rarely got sick, but at this age, they needed to eat small meals frequently. After falling into the milk bowl and getting cleaned up and dried, it was already time for another bottle.

This time, Xie Hui didn’t let him try it on his own. He easily held the cub in one hand and fed him carefully, though it still didn’t stop the little guy from turning his face into a milky mess again.

In the Empire, all milk for cubs was provided for free. The delivery personnel had warned in advance that cubs wasted a lot of milk while drinking, and guardians shouldn’t blame them for it.

After drinking his fill this time, the cub curled up into a ball in Xie Hui’s palm. Round and chubby, he really did look like a sesame glutinous rice ball.

Xie Hui gently placed him back into his little nest, pulled the blackout curtain closed, and sat back on the sofa, beginning to ponder this child’s future.

The reason these kinds of children were abandoned so frequently was that they remained in animal form until they turned eighteen. No matter how cute, that fact didn’t change.

The client had a traditional mindset. Though they’d raised pets and treated them well, they simply couldn’t consider a pet as a child. In their eyes, pets were fundamentally different from people.

Though cubs were usually hardy and didn’t fall ill even if cared for roughly, they still retained many animal instincts and were often very lively and mischievous.

Just as Xie Hui was thinking this, his phone pinged. He picked it up to see a file sent over by staff, along with a reminder: be careful with household furniture—preferably nothing too tall.

They also joked a bit, saying one family raised a husky cub who ended up turning them into VIP customers at a furniture company.

Panda cubs weren’t as troublesome as huskies, but according to the hospital’s observations and orphanage records, until they reached adulthood at eighteen, they loved to hang themselves up.

Literally—hang off poles.

And they couldn’t get down on their own. The Empire had no recorded case of a panda cub managing to climb down after hanging itself up.

Xie Hui glanced at the cuddly sesame dumpling lying in the dimmed nest, unable to imagine him doing something like that.

The guideline specifically warned: while cubs didn’t need to be kept perfectly clean, if you bathed them, never use a hairdryer to dry their fur. Sunlight was best—it helped kill bacteria hidden in the fur and gave them the sunlight they needed to grow.

In the Empire’s orphanages, the enormous playgrounds were always full of sunbathing animal cubs. From a distance, the sight was quite impressive.

Two days later, the cub successfully opened his eyes. They looked like glistening black grapes—clear and pure, like a work of art. His soft grunts sounded stronger now.

He no longer just clung to Xie Hui’s finger. When placed on a cushion, he could crawl around quickly.

After finishing the milk from last time, more was delivered by staff, along with a whole box of baby bottles.

Xie Hui personally walked them out, then opened the box of bottles. Seeing only two actual bottles and the rest being replacement nipples left him a little confused.

It was time to feed again. Xie Hui warmed some milk, filled a bottle, and handed it to the cub, who now had the strength to hold it himself.

Sitting on the cushion, the cub dazedly took the bottle. The familiar scent of milk made him so happy, he hugged the bottle with all four paws and promptly flopped onto his back.

Belly up, but he didn’t let go of the bottle—he just kept drinking in that position. The whole bottle was gone in under three minutes.

Afterward, Xie Hui gently picked him up. Though only a few days old, these cubs weren’t as fragile as human babies and didn’t need to be burped.

Xie Hui placed him back in his palm. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt the little guy had already grown heavier.

He pinched the cub’s soft paw pads, and as he kept playing with them, found himself getting a bit addicted.

After playing a while to wear him out, Xie Hui held the now-snoring cub and tucked him back into the nest, drawing the blackout curtain.

While the cub slept, Xie Hui picked up the bottle he’d just used and headed to the kitchen to clean it—only to see tiny bite marks on the bottle nipple.

He stared closely at the little tooth mark and finally realized that the bottle nipple had only been used once before it was actually bitten through by the little one.

Only then did Xie Hui understand why, in the box of supplies that had been sent over, there were only two bottles but a large number of bottle nipples.

This little guy wasn’t even a month old yet, and hadn’t grown any teeth—but somehow he could bite so fiercely.

Perplexed, Xie Hui even consulted one of the staff members he had met last time.

【This is because, at present, the Empire has only found one material suitable for baby bottle nipples that can be safely put into a young one’s mouth. It’s the only material that won’t cause strain on their mouths. The only downside is that it’s somewhat fragile, so all the bottle nipples sent over are disposable.】

Even after getting the explanation, Xie Hui still didn’t quite get it. After cleaning the bottle, he walked over to the little nest, pulled open the blackout curtain, and gently pried open the little one’s mouth to see if any teeth had come in.

Just as he softly opened the little guy’s mouth, before he could even take a look, two tiny paws wrapped tightly around Xie Hui’s wrist. He didn’t even need to pry—this little one had already opened his mouth wide on his own.

Xie Hui quickly pulled his hand back. Seeing that he had disturbed the little one’s sleep, causing him to open his eyes with a disgruntled little grunt, Xie Hui grumpily gave his head a tousle.

The little one, freshly woken and freshly tousled, dazedly used his paws to cover his head, trying to touch where he’d just been patted, but couldn’t quite reach. After a moment, he gave a soft whine and tried crawling out of the nest.

Knowing full well how playful and mischievous the little guy was, Xie Hui simply picked him up and placed him on the tatami, now fenced in with safety railings.

Maybe because he was still small, even a tiny toy could keep him entertained for ages.

After Xie Hui finished reviewing a document sent over by the company, he looked up to see the little one trying to climb on top of a stuffed toy. The toy was soft, so as soon as he got on it, he tumbled headfirst and fell.

He rolled twice on the tatami before sitting up, completely baffled, his face the picture of confusion.

Xie Hui saw this and held back a smile at the corners of his lips. That was when he realized—he hadn’t given the little guy a name yet.

From the client’s memories, he had seen the name of the one who helped him. In the orphanage, they were all given numbers as names. This little one’s name was Six-Three.

Of course, Xie Hui wasn’t going to use that old name. A new name meant a new beginning. Walking over, he gave the soft little paw pad a squeeze and, after thinking it over, asked gently:

“How about… Xie Jia?”

When the paw pad was grabbed, the little one let out a soft whine, trying to pull it back. He lifted his tiny head to look at Xie Hui, then just launched his whole little body into Xie Hui’s arms.

Even though he wasn’t that big yet, the impact of that leap was still noticeable. Xie Hui caught the little one—now “Jiajia”—and gave his ears a gentle pinch as a form of playful punishment.