Good Baby C27

Chapter 27

Previously, when the little tiger was playing with Gairo, he had also tugged at his fur in anger. Every time, he used all his strength but couldn’t pull any out.

But today, before he even exerted much force, he ended up yanking out a whole tuft.

The little tiger stood frozen for a long time. When he came back to his senses, he stared at the fur floating in the wind and shook his head vigorously to confirm whether he was dreaming.

An An had never imagined that at such a young age, he would already have to face the crisis of shedding fur and becoming a bald little tiger.

Most tigers shed their fur during this season and then grow thicker fur to get through winter. When winter passes and the weather gradually warms up, they shed again. Gairo had long been used to the cycle of the seasons.

But for An An, who was experiencing this for the first time, he had no idea what was happening. He couldn’t even be sure if this was normal. After a while, he lay down next to Gairo, his lowered “awoo” carrying a hint of grievance.

“What’s wrong?”

Gairo gently rubbed his head with his large paw and asked. An An didn’t respond, just silently burrowed into his arms, his whimpering carrying a sobbing tone.

“The weather is getting colder now. You’ll shed fur and then grow warmer fur. Don’t worry, it’s normal.”

After spending so much time together, Gairo could roughly guess what the little tiger wanted to express. After answering, he picked An An up and placed him under his neck, rubbing his chin against the little tiger’s head.

Unknowingly, this little tiger had been by his side for a long time. Compared to the first time they met—when he was just a tiny furball not even as big as his paw—he had grown a lot stronger.

Raising a chubby little one was indeed fun, but if he wanted to survive on his own, he still needed to develop some strength.

“Aw…”

After listening to Gairo’s explanation, the little tiger nodded, half-understanding.

Just then, a cool autumn breeze blew past. Instinctively, the little tiger reached out with his paw and tugged Gairo’s head down, hoping he could shield him from the wind.

Maya hadn’t wanted to mention the current situation to An An, but seeing how fast the weather was changing, she was starting to worry. The little tiger, raised by both beastmen and half-beastmen, was still being picky with his food. If it wasn’t prey he liked, he would only eat a little each time.

Maya was growing anxious. If possible, she wanted An An to eat enough now to last through the whole winter.

After spending so much time together, their bond had deepened. More than anyone else, Maya feared that the little tiger might not survive the harsh winter.

“An An, the weather is going to get colder soon, and food will be hard to find. Can you eat a little more now?”

The little tiger, who had been glaring at a piece of antelope meat with disdain, froze upon hearing that. He tried to psych himself up, but when the gamey smell of the lamb hit his nose, he still couldn’t bring himself to eat it.

He dry-heaved, then quickly scampered outside with lively little steps.

Ever since following Maya to Gairo’s territory, the little tiger had never gone hungry again. He could barely even remember what hunger felt like.

When An An didn’t like a certain food, he wouldn’t take a single bite. However, he kept Maya’s other words in mind.

After a short running start, the little tiger pounced and caught a fallen leaf, happily rolling on the ground. He flipped onto his back and stared at the bright blue sky, then asked the system in his mind:

“If food is going to be hard to find, why don’t we store it while it’s still easy to get?”

That way, even in winter, they would have enough to eat without worrying about finding food. If they couldn’t find any, they just wouldn’t go out.

250 didn’t know how to explain this to the little tiger. The intelligence of beastmen and half-beastmen was very low, and the little bit of cleverness they had was entirely focused on hunting.

Some beastmen had already learned to use tools, but storing food and creating tools would likely take a very long time.

They were born with different levels of intelligence, so they couldn’t possibly think like An An.

“They don’t know how,” the system replied, “but you can try teaching them.”

When the weather turned colder, food wouldn’t spoil as easily, and dried meat could be preserved. During the harvest season, there were also plenty of fruits that could serve as emergency food.

The system was very patient, like a parent teaching a child, and explained all the methods of food preservation used on the grasslands to the little tiger.

For most task-takers, they often overlooked one thing from the very beginning—the system itself was also one of their golden fingers.

However, most systems weren’t willing to cooperate properly. Unless they had experienced certain things together, they wouldn’t actively share the knowledge in their databases with their hosts.

The bond between An An and 250 was clearly very special. Not only did Gairo want to raise this cute little tiger, but even the system, watching from behind the screen, wanted to “cloud-raise*” him.

250 couldn’t bear to see this little tiger starve in winter, his belly deflating like a balloon.

If it weren’t for the Supreme Lord’s rule that systems weren’t allowed to interfere directly in task worlds, 250 would have gladly helped the cub store food.

After that day, a vague concept took root in the little tiger’s mind—when the weather got colder, there would be less food for him, and winter might mean going hungry.

Every time Gairo brought food back, the little tiger would secretly set some aside to dry in a well-ventilated spot.

Since there was still plenty of prey in this season, Gairo had no intention of stopping him. Even though he knew the little one was wasting food, he didn’t mind.

The little cub thought he was being sneaky, but in Gairo’s eyes, his actions were full of flaws.

Instead of stopping him, Gairo helped the little tiger hide it from Maya.

Every day, An An would carefully pick the best-looking piece of meat, leave it to dry, then check with the system to confirm it could be preserved before bringing it back to the cave for storage.

Besides the cave needing to be cleaned diligently during the shedding season, the biggest issue was grooming.

Whether big tigers or little ones, they all had a habit of licking their fur before resting to keep themselves neat and tidy.

But once shedding season began, the little tiger became a bit patchy. His fur was no longer evenly distributed, and occasionally, when he went to groom himself, he would end up with a mouthful of fur.

After spitting for a long time, he still felt that the fur in his mouth wasn’t completely gone. The delicate little cub couldn’t help but start scheming. Every time he saw Gairo habitually licking his fur, he would snuggle up next to him, lie down, and pretend to sleep.

Gairo never had as many thoughts as An An. He cared about An An a lot, so every time he noticed An An had fallen asleep, he would also help tidy up his fur while he was at it.

After experiencing the benefits, the little tiger became even lazier and never bothered to groom himself anymore. Every time he went out to play wildly and ended up with messy fur, he would go looking for Gairo.

At first, when Gairo wasn’t aware of the trick, he was happy to help. But as he gradually realized that this little tiger was doing it on purpose, he stopped assisting altogether.

Not only did he ignore the little tiger lying beside him, but even if the little tiger lay directly on top of him, he pretended not to see.

Without Gairo grooming him, the little tiger had no choice but to lick himself, getting a mouthful of fur. He was beyond aggrieved.

That day, Gairo returned from hunting, sorted the meat, and tossed two pieces to An An—one big piece for him to eat and another small one to fulfill An An’s wish of drying meat.

After finishing the small piece, An An dragged the much larger piece—bigger than his own body—to the spot he had carefully selected. After placing it down, he went back to retrieve the already sun-dried meat.

After all that effort, the little tiger panted heavily, feeling utterly exhausted.

Unfortunately, his good friend didn’t seem to notice his hard work at all. The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. The little tiger lay there, letting the wind ruffle his fur.

“Cub, what’s wrong?”

The system grew a little nervous upon seeing An An looking so down. In the last world, whenever An An got sick, his adoptive parents would spend their long-saved money to get him treated. But in this world, out on the grasslands, there was nowhere to seek medical help.

“System Gege, I don’t think I have any real friends.”

“Hm? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?”

The rare sadness in the little tiger’s tone left the system puzzled. Other than Gairo refusing to groom him, life on the grasslands had actually been peaceful lately.

It wasn’t as scorching as summer. Although the temperature difference between morning and night was large, it wasn’t extreme. The crisp autumn air was quite comfortable.

Was it because the age gap between Gairo and An An was too big, making An An feel like he had no common language with his friend? Or was it because Maya had recently tried making him eat grass again?

“Gairo won’t catch a giraffe for me to eat…”

“He won’t even fight a lion so I can try the taste.”

“And he won’t do the most basic thing between good friends—licking fur for each other.”

“I don’t think Gairo really considers me his friend, System Gege (Big brother).”

The little tiger spoke in a pitiful tone, but the more 250 listened, the more something felt off.

Giraffes weren’t common in this part of the grasslands. The last time Gairo took An An out on a nighttime patrol of the territory, they had run into one by chance.

Just that one time, yet the long-necked creature had been firmly imprinted in An An’s memory.

As for lions, most of them on this grassland were beastmen. Even though Gairo was a strong adult tiger, he might not be able to win against one. Even if he could, there was a high chance he would get injured, which would be very bad with winter approaching.

So, when it all boiled down to it, this little cub was still sulking over not having his fur groomed!

After figuring it out, the system decided to ignore this whimsical, ridiculous little tiger for the time being.

An An originally planned to lie there and sulk, but after a while, he started feeling a little cold in the autumn breeze. He shook his fur, then walked back into the cave.

At first, Gairo didn’t take An An’s little tantrum seriously. He had thought the cub was drying the meat just for fun, believing it was an amusing game.

But one night, when Gairo woke up hungry, he confirmed that the little tiger was sleeping soundly in Maya’s arms. He then went over and stole a piece of the meat An An had dried.

The taste wasn’t as good as fresh prey, but it did fill his stomach. If these pieces could be preserved until winter, taste wouldn’t matter at all.

To survive, one had to put in more effort.

The once-lazy big tiger, who used to only hunt when he was hungry, had recently become more diligent, carefully portioning any extra meat and tossing it to An An.

At first, the little tiger was delighted to see Gairo bringing back more and more meat every day. Like an exceptionally hardworking little ant, he busily moved the meat around.

To make it easier for him to store dried meat, Gairo even cleaned out another spacious and dry cave.

Overjoyed, the little tiger, bubbling with excitement, wanted to show his gratitude. He even took the initiative to go over and lick Gairo’s fur.

Enjoying the little tiger’s not-so-obvious way of currying favor, Gairo watched as An An huffed and puffed while dragging the meat. He found the whole process amusing and had no intention of helping.

Every day, the little tiger dragged pieces of meat larger than himself to dry, flipping them over regularly. By the third day, he wanted to give up.

His paws were sore, his mouth was sore, and all he wanted to do was snuggle up in his mother’s arms and sleep.

That was when Maya, who had remained oblivious, finally noticed what they had been doing.

She disapproved of such wasteful behavior, thinking that both An An and Gairo were being completely ridiculous.

After spending so much time together, Gairo and Maya had grown more familiar with each other—not in a cross-species romance kind of way, but more like Maya had become the big sister of their strange little family.

The big tiger sprawled against the cave wall, ears drooping, obediently enduring her scolding. Beside him, the little tiger mimicked his exact posture.

Every now and then, the two tigers would sneak glances at Maya, as if trying to gauge whether she had cooled off a little.

Once Maya finished reprimanding them, the little tiger went to the nearby cave and fetched a piece of dried meat.

Maya sniffed it first, then tentatively took a bite. The taste was nowhere near as good as fresh meat, but the fact that it hadn’t spoiled after being left out for so long more than made up for that small drawback.

Maya thought this wasn’t a bad idea at all. The grasslands still had plenty of prey for now. Even if the experiment failed, it would just mean a little extra hardship for a while.

With both Maya and Gairo helping, the little one, who had been running around busily before, now only needed to stretch out his tiny paws to direct them.

Besides the meat, An An was also enthusiastic about fishing in the river when the sun was at its warmest, catching two fish to dry together.

Gairo and Maya approached this task with a sense of cautious experimentation. No one had ever done this before, and they weren’t entirely sure they would succeed.

But to avoid going hungry in winter, they were willing to try.

An An was different. He had an oddly unwavering trust in the system—if System Brother said it was possible, then it had to be possible!

Not only did he believe that their dried meat would last through the winter, but he also started considering whether he should dry some other types of meat as well.

His mother had told him that when winter came, they wouldn’t be able to go out as freely as they did now. If the cave only had a few kinds of dried meat, An An, who knew his own gluttonous nature well, was sure he would grow tired of them in just a few days.

The little tiger, whose head was filled with mischievous ideas, decided he had to prepare in advance so that when he got sick of one flavor, he could switch things up.

The system, based on its data, could see how low the survival rate was for forest-dwelling animals on the plains during winter.

It wanted to remind the little one to hurry up and store more food. But seeing him happily trotting towards the cave with a wagging tail, looking like he had no cares in the world, it just couldn’t bring itself to say it.

Forget it. He’s still so small—there’s not much he can do to help anyway. Might as well let him enjoy himself while he still can.

Gairo and Maya were working hard to store food, eating very little themselves. The once-empty cave was soon more than half-filled.

Meanwhile, An An was completely absorbed in catching all sorts of strange prey. Many of the creatures he caught were so small that even if they ran right up to Gairo, he wouldn’t bother lifting a paw to swat at them. There was simply too little meat—even for a single bite.

But the little tiger seemed to enjoy it, so they set aside a small corner just for his collection of dried meats.

Every time Maya went to check the large chunks of dried meat, the little tiger would follow right behind her, rummaging through his own stash, while Gairo would head out to hunt for the day’s meal.

All three of them were enthusiastically preparing for the harsh winter ahead, and nature itself seemed to favor the little tiger, who had never experienced a winter before. This autumn was especially long.

When they finally stuffed the cave full, the little tiger—who was still less than a year old—welcomed his first snowfall on the plains.

As soon as the snowflakes started falling, An An dashed outside with a piece of meat in his mouth to see, only to be scolded by Maya and dragged back into the cave. By the time he finished his meat, a thick layer of snow had already blanketed the grass outside.

The little tiger wasn’t afraid of the cold at all. Seizing the moment when Maya wasn’t watching, he sneaked out to roll around in the snow.

By now, he had grown a thick coat of fur, enough to withstand a decent amount of cold. Gairo, lying nearby, watched the scene unfold but chose not to interfere.

This was the little tiger’s first year of life and the first time he had ever seen snow. Everything about the winter plains was new and exciting to him. If he didn’t have fun now, he wouldn’t be in the mood to later, when it got even colder.

After playing to his heart’s content, the little tiger inevitably got scolded when he returned to the cave.

He lay there with his ears drooping, looking pitiful and obedient—but in reality, every word Maya said went in one ear and out the other.

His mind had already wandered elsewhere. He was wondering what the white snow would taste like.

This time, when he went to try it, he had to bring Gairo along! That way, if they got scolded, at least he’d have someone to share the blame with.

Maya had raised An An from a tiny furball to his current size. Seeing that he wasn’t really listening, she raised a paw and gave his backside a smack.

The sting on his rear snapped the little tiger’s attention back to reality. His tail curled into a circle, and he let out a soft whimper.

An An knew exactly how to get Maya to go easy on him—playing the pity card. He always used this trick to avoid punishment, and this time was no exception.

Seeing him put on his pitiful act only made Maya more annoyed. She lifted her paw again, planning to give him another smack as a lesson, but before she could, the little tiger grabbed her wrist with his paws and rubbed his head against it.

“Awuu~”

His big, clear eyes looked at her as if saying, Mom, you’re my favorite!

Maya suddenly couldn’t bring herself to hit him again.

She couldn’t bear to punish him too harshly, but she also knew there had to be consequences for misbehaving. So instead of another smack, she pinched his fluffy ears and asked:

“Are you going to sneak out again next time?”

The little tiger shook his head lightly, his attitude towards admitting mistakes very sincere.

This entire territory belonged to Gairo, and before, they had lived here without any concerns. They could sleep soundly at night without standing guard.

But that was before.

Now, with the snow falling, everything was changing.

As more animals struggled to find food, creatures like An An, who had no real means of self-defense, would be the first to be eliminated by the harsh environment.

“If others starve and have nothing to eat, the first thing they’ll go after is you.”

Maya left him with those words and turned to organize their winter supplies.

It was only thanks to An An’s reminder that they had started preparing. Now, looking at the cave filled with dried meat, she was reminded of the little squirrels she had seen before—they did the same thing.

After watching his mother leave, An An ran over to Gairo and flopped down beside him, chattering away in his tiger cub voice.

Even though he knew his companion couldn’t understand him, he still needed to vent his emotions.

Gairo lay there lazily, listening to the little tiger’s childish babble.

At first, it was all about his grievances, but later, his tone was filled with anticipation for the future.

Gairo didn’t understand his words, but he could more or less guess what he meant.

On the first day of snow, the plains weren’t too cold yet.

After dinner, the three of them sat at the entrance of the cave, watching the snow fall.

The once-familiar landscape was slowly becoming unrecognizable under the blanket of white.

Maya stared at the falling snow, lost in thought.

Even though they had plenty of food and none of it had spoiled yet, she still couldn’t help but worry. She silently hoped this winter would be short.

Only when the weather warmed and life began to return would she finally be able to relax.

Gairo sat there, thinking about last winter. At that time, he didn’t know much, and a heavy snowfall made him instinctively unwilling to move.

If it weren’t for the unbearable hunger later, he would never have left his territory.

Back then, he was alone. After going out to find food, he couldn’t find his way back and almost died in the wind and snow.

But this year… things were different. The Gairo who once believed that life was best spent as a solitary tiger now found himself staring at the chubby little furball beside him. Even he didn’t know exactly when his thoughts had started to change.

Only the little tiger sitting in the middle had an empty mind, without any memories. He simply tilted his head upward, watching the snowflakes fall one by one.

Maya hadn’t even had the chance to remind them to go back and rest when the little tiger suddenly flopped over to the side. He was probably so exhausted that he fell asleep just sitting there.

His head hit the ground, jolting An An awake from the pain. He reached up to rub his sore head, let out a pitiful whimper, and threw himself into his mother’s arms.

Neither Maya nor Gairo could count time, nor did they know exactly how long winter would last. Perhaps because it was too harsh, it always felt unbearably long to them.

The cave was stocked full of food, but Maya rarely ate. Only after the sun had risen twice would she take a piece. Gairo and An An, however, were different.

Gairo ate to prevent others from coming to challenge him for his territory. An An ate because he was still growing. They both had a piece of food every day.

Maya was surprisingly firm on this matter—no matter how much Gairo or An An tried to persuade her, she wouldn’t compromise.

In her heart, Gairo and An An had long become an inseparable part of her family. Every decision she made was ultimately to help them live longer.

For the first few days of snowfall, it wasn’t cold at all. An An even started to suspect that his mother had been exaggerating to scare him before.

It wasn’t cold at all, and it wasn’t scary! In fact, it was even more beautiful than before.

About half a month later, the snow began to lessen, but the temperature suddenly dropped drastically.

At that point, forget about playing outside like before—even when he had to go out for a quick bathroom break, An An would dash out at full speed, afraid that if he ran too slowly, his butt would freeze.

The little tiger, who was terrified of the cold, wouldn’t leave the cave unless it was absolutely necessary.

When it was time to eat, he would command Gairo to help him, making the poor big tiger—who was naturally lazy—run around at his beck and call.

Every time, the little tiger would only cautiously stick his head out, afraid that the cold wind would sneak into his mouth. The only part of him that moved was a tiny paw waving around.

If Gairo happened to pick the kind of meat An An liked, the little tiger would excitedly nuzzle up to him.

But if An An had to risk freezing his little paws and still didn’t get the meat he wanted most, he would be so furious that he’d start smacking Gairo with his paw—hitting him over and over until his own paw warmed up.

Maya had already sealed up the places in the cave where the wind could seep through, but sometimes, when the wind was especially strong, it would still blow them open.

An An had been woken up by the cold wind more than once in the middle of the night. In his drowsy, shivering state, his only thought was: I can’t let myself get blown away by the wind. I’d better eat an extra piece of dried meat tomorrow.

Luckily, Gairo had a good eye for choosing caves. The one he had picked to store the dried meat was well-sealed, and not a single piece had been lost.

The little tiger, spoiled by Maya and Gairo, was full of mischief. Every night before bed, he was well-behaved, staying in the small nest Maya had prepared for him. But as he slept, he would somehow end up crawling into Maya’s arms or onto Gairo’s back in the middle of the night.

Curled up in a ball to conserve heat, he would hug either Maya’s paw or Gairo’s thick limb, treating them like a blanket or a pillow.

Outside, the wind and snow raged, but inside the cave, this little tiger who knew how to enjoy life made the scene feel strangely peaceful.

The dried meat hadn’t been processed perfectly, and not every piece tasted great. After a few tries, Maya figured out a pattern and made sure to leave the less tasty ones for herself.

When Gairo noticed, he also made a habit of eating the less flavorful pieces first.

As a result, the little tiger always got the most delicious parts of the stash, occasionally even enjoying some small treats to keep things interesting.

Based on past experience, the weather would only get colder until the river completely froze over. Only then would it slowly start to warm up again.

When Gairo told the little tiger that it wasn’t even the coldest time yet, An An, who was currently nestled under Gairo’s neck and feeling quite warm, couldn’t help but shudder.

“Roar!”

His round eyes were full of rage—if he was already on the verge of freezing to death, and this still wasn’t the coldest part yet, was this not a death sentence?!

Sensing the little tiger’s distress and frustration, Gairo lowered his head and gently soothed him, licking the fur on his forehead.

“It will be okay. After a while, it will get warm again. Outside, there’s a tree that blooms beautifully, and many pretty birds rest on its branches.”

Before now, Gairo had never paid attention to such scenery. He couldn’t describe exactly how beautiful it was.

But just those few words made the little tiger’s eyes light up. He had never seen a big tree in bloom, let alone beautiful birds.

Now that he had something to look forward to, the wind and snow outside didn’t seem as unbearable.

“Roar?”

“The grass will also be covered in colorful flowers. You can pick a whole bunch if you want.”

Gairo racked his brain, trying to think of things that would appeal to a little tiger. Seeing An An’s eyes filled with anticipation, he continued:

“And butterflies—when the flowers bloom, there will be lots of butterflies. You can chase them around.”

“Roar-woo!”

Chasing things was one of the little tiger’s favorite activities. Just hearing Gairo describe it made his paws itch with excitement.

“When the weather warms up, you’ll shed your fur again. Your body will feel much lighter, and you’ll feel like you can run even faster.”

For Gairo, that was the best part of it—not being cold anymore.

But to the little tiger, all he could think about was accidentally biting a mouthful of fur while grooming, or looking awkwardly patchy during the shedding phase.

The previous excitement had faded quite a bit by now. After burrowing into Gairo’s arms and letting out a soft hum, An An planned to get another good sleep.

The season when he would end up with a mouthful of fur no longer excited him. The things that used to attract the little tiger couldn’t compare to Gairo’s warm embrace, which An An preferred now.

Without any warning, the weather suddenly turned even colder. This time, the little tiger refused to go outside no matter what. Even when Gairo brought his least favorite meat, he didn’t make a sound.

As long as his belly was full, taste didn’t matter. Compared to the freezing cold, whether the food was delicious was completely insignificant.

An An even deliberately ate a little less. When Maya noticed, she thought either An An wasn’t feeling well or their food storage method was incorrect.

Every time she asked, the little tiger, who was shivering from the cold, would immediately refute her. But his expression and demeanor weren’t convincing at all.

Eventually, it was Gairo who figured out the truth—this greedy little tiger was restraining himself from eating simply because he didn’t want to go outside.

When the little tiger realized his thoughts had been exposed, he lay there feeling extremely wronged, leaving only his rear end visible in their field of vision.

It wasn’t like he wanted this, but the wind outside carried snow, and it was freezing. Especially since he had gone bald before, and his fur hadn’t fully grown back—his bare little butt was unbearably cold.

There was nothing he could do about it. Since he didn’t want to go outside, the only solution was to eat less.

Winter made everything incredibly inconvenient. Apart from hoping for warmer weather, nothing else really solved the problem.

Inside the space, 250 watched this unfold and laughed until it rolled all over the ground. Its little cub was just too unbearably cute! It still didn’t understand why, during the molting season, only the fur on the cub’s butt hadn’t grown back properly.

A bald little butt was indeed adorable, but in the heavy snow, it was genuinely cold. No wonder the cub always liked sitting on Gairo before.

Two days later, not just the cub, but even Maya and Gairo started acting the same way.

Even though they knew food wasn’t far away, they didn’t want to go get it. A little hunger wasn’t a big deal, but stepping out of the cave meant the wind and snow would burrow straight into their ears.

As their stored food gradually dwindled and only a small portion remained, Gairo started to feel a sense of crisis.

When winter had just begun, he had relied on the fact that they had plenty of stored food, so he didn’t bother going out to hunt. His naturally lazy personality, coupled with his dislike for the cold, made him reluctant to leave the cave.

But suddenly realizing that their food might not last, he understood that if they kept living like this, they might end up starving, just like in previous winters.

Gairo himself didn’t mind, but he couldn’t bear to see the little tiger suffer the same fate.

Recently, An An had been so afraid of the cold wind against his bare butt that even when his stomach rumbled with hunger, he refused to step outside. He would just press his paws against his belly, looking pitiful yet adorable.

But all of this was under the condition that they still had food. If there was none left, and the little tiger was left starving and crying, that wouldn’t be cute at all.

After lazing around for so long, Gairo finally made up his mind to go out hunting in the coldest part of winter.

If not for the little tiger, he would rather stay in the cave and starve to death.

Gairo discussed it with Maya. Since Maya was a half-beast and not as physically strong as Gairo, and since the little tiger was so afraid of the cold, one of them had to stay behind.

So, they decided to take turns going out to hunt. Regardless of whether they found anything, they had to return before nightfall.

On the first day, Gairo returned empty-handed.

Seeing him covered in snow, the little tiger didn’t care that he had just been curled up in his mother’s arms. He rushed over and used his paws to pat the snow off him.

The little tiger whimpered and whined, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Gairo, full of heartache. His tears soaked the fur around his eyes in an instant.

Gairo picked up the little tiger and placed him in a dry spot before standing outside to shake off the remaining snow. Only after that did he enter the cave.

It had been too long since he last hunted. Half of his old skills were forgotten, and on top of that, winter made prey scarce. He had finally come across one but failed to catch it. On his way back, Gairo felt frustrated, even briefly considering giving up on hunting altogether.

But when he saw the little tiger’s distressed gaze, all those thoughts were immediately suppressed.

According to their arrangement, it was Maya’s turn to hunt the next day. But when she woke up, Gairo was already gone, leaving only footprints in the snow leading into the distance.

The little tiger remained as carefree as before, but he did miss his companion. He picked a spot where he could see outside and lay there, staring eagerly.

Today, Gairo still hadn’t returned by the time it got dark.

Maya thought about their previous agreement, and an inexplicable sense of unease crept into her heart.

She wanted to go search for Gairo, but she also couldn’t bring herself to leave the little tiger alone in the cave.

Just then, the sound of branches snapping under pressure suddenly echoed from not far away, pushing the little tiger’s anxiety to the limit.

Before Maya could react, she caught a glimpse of the little tiger darting out in a flash.

His speed was astonishing, and the moment he left the cave, his white fur nearly blended into the snowy landscape.

—”Cloud-raising a child” (云养娃) means experiencing parenthood virtually by following baby content online, watching parenting vlogs, or engaging with others’ kids digitally—without actually having a child.