In a dark meeting room illuminated by the presentation screen, Lin Qi leaned back in his chair with his head tilted resting on his hand. The presenter gulped nervously as he accidentally met Lin Qi’s eyes. Seated around the table were Lin Qi’s team members, some seated upright nervously while others lounged zily.
”Currently the number of cases have been rising ever since the new year. If the numbers continue to increase, we would need to request backup from other departments or recruit more people.”
Lin Qi narrowed his eyes in contemption. The department’s budget was already stretched tight. In addition to paying the normal sary, much was allocated to upkeep their tools to catch these malevolent ghosts or troublemaking beasts.
Tap, tap, tap.
After the report was over, silence bnketed the room as Lin Qi thought with his habit of tapping on the table.
“Let’s increase the patrol schedule and make more rounds in the city. And prepare for recruitment. Jian Ling, you can start prepping for the tests. Be more stringent, we don’t need anyone useless.”
Jian Ling nodded sullenly as he made a note. Most of the team members were combative team members that were skilled to take down any troublemakers. Only when the need comes up will they reluctantly do paper work.
Chairs scraped across the room as they left to continue their assignments. When Lin Qi left the room st, an arm casually draped across his shoulders. The man was sporting a wild hairstyle that was dyed in a rainbow color and the rest tied back to a high ponytail.
Not many people would dare to act so familiar with Lin Qi, so evidently either this man knew Lin Qi well or he was just audacious. Or maybe both.
“Heyyy, I heard you adopted a cub?”
”Get your arm off me.”
”Don’t be like this, ge. You are going to pick him up right? I’m also going to the daycare to pick up my nephew too.”
”tsk.”
”Also, was the cub so cute that such an antisocial person like you who only cared about his games would voluntarily take care of him? I can’t wait to meet the little cutie!”
Lin Qi picked up Feng Ke’s arm and flung it aside and sped up, wishing to get away from this fmboyant bird.
Snickering, Feng Ke tugged both of his hands into his pockets and kept up behind Ling Qi.
—
In the daycare, Teacher Zhen was cleaning up the cubs to prepare them for collection by their guardians. After a battle to get Shao Lang and Jing Jing to take a bath and dry them off, the cubs settled down for a nap. Mao Rongrong was nestled within the cub pile as he called the teacher for help.
”Awuu…”
Mao Rongrong initially had picked a cozy corner with a small comfy bed that looked like a dog bed. It was pink and loaded with soft fluffy down feathers. Looking at the still other active cubs frolicking around, Mao Rongrong yawned and his eyelids drooped down.
Just when he was drifting off to sleep, he suddenly felt a warm body plopped on top of him. It wasn’t uncomfortable, and was more like a weighted bnket. Still, Mao Rongrong opened his eyes and found Shao Lang piled on top of him. Before Mao Rongrong could move, Jing Jing moved to lean against Mao Rongrong’s left and Xiao Feng id on his right. Now completely surrounded, Mao Rongrong froze and confusion filled his eyes.
Mao Rongrong wasn’t a demon that would overthrow the cubs and wake them all up. Though he was very tempted. Just a little bit. A teeny tiny bit.
Tiny snores surrounded him and the rhythmic breathing lulled Mao Rongrong back to sleep.
When Lin Qi reached the day care, what greeted him was this pile of fluff with the white Mao Rongrong in the center. Lin Qi felt an arrow pierce through his heart and whipped out his phone to start taking lots of pictures with a straight face, even before the teacher could greet him.
Feng Ke was so amused and tried to hold back his ughter while leaning on the doorway for support. Looking at his cold friend obsessing over a cub was so interesting.
Feng Ke had known Lin Qi since they were young in the mountains. Although they had some petty disputes, they eventually became close buddies, or at least that’s how Feng Ke had viewed it.
Looking at Xiao Feng who was nestling beside the white fluff, Feng Ke also snapped a photo, and sent it to his sister.
After taking lots of photos, Lin Qi asked Teacher Zhen about Mao Rongrong today.
”Mao Rongrong was a good cub. Seems like he’s more mature than his counterparts. He’s kind of like their leader of sorts already after just one day.”
Pleased, a small smile appeared on Lin Qi's face, “So nothing concerning in particur happened?”
”Ah!” Teacher Zhen gnced figuratively at the fluff pile and lowered her voice to whisper, “He, umm, ate one of the tonic pnts in the garden. Well, it's not poisonous or anything, but feels like a deliberate mischievement Mao Rongrong did.”
Lin Qi’s eye twitched as he felt that it sounded familiar. A scene of Mao Rongrong gulping down the malevolent ghost in one bite st time appeared in his mind.
Hearing some discussion, Mao Rongrong gradually woke up among the fluff pile and looked at Teacher Zhen and Lin Qi whispering. Near the door was a man with rainbow hair that visually shocked Mao Rongrong. The man noticed Mao Rongrong and gave a little wave.
So cool!!!
Mao Rongrong suddenly had a thought about whether he could also dye his hair. Since now he’s a cub and now he didn’t need to go to work, he had the freedom to dye whatever color he wanted.
Hmm… Rainbow was neat but Mao Rongrong wanted something different. Maybe pink would be good. Or red! Or he could change colors every other week.
Seeing that Lin Qi was approaching him, Mao Rongrong slowly got up. Shao Lang rolled off his body still asleep and managed to crush Xiao Feng under his belly. Jing Jing just gave a snort and continued to sleep.
Trotting up to Lin Qi, he could faintly hear a muffled peep cry behind him.
“Nuwu!”
Mao Rongrong greeted Lin Qi by pcing a paw on his shoe, and lightly swaying his tail. Smiling down at Mao Rongrong, Lin Qi bent down to pick him up. Once he was nestled in Lin Qi’s arms, Mao Rongrong looked towards the rainbow hair man again.
“Awuu!!” Mao Rongrong waved his fleshy paw at the man, “Neuwwuuu ooo awooo?”
Hello! I’m called Mao Rongrong. What’s your name?
”Hi little cutie! I’m Feng Ke. Little cutie, you’re so smart to be able to introduce yourself so politely” Feng Ke greeted Mao Rongrong back and reached out, wanting to pet the white fluff. But before he could even touch the soft fur, a hand spped him away forcefully.
“If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t touch.”
“Cheh, not like he’ll lose any fur just from a touch. Right, Rongrong?”
”Don’t call him that.”
Ignoring Lin Qi, Feng Ke reached out again. Just when he was about to touch him, Mao Rongrong pced a paw against Feng Ke’s hand like a hi-five. Feng Ke looked stunned at Mao Rongrong and Mao Rongrong looked at Lin Qi as if for approval.
Smiling, Lin Qi petted Mao Rongrong.
“Hahahah! Okay, Mao Rongrong I won’t touch you.”
”Nuuwoo!” I wanted to ask Feng Ke something!
”Yes, what is it, little cutie?”
”Awuuu!!!!!!! Ooo neouwuu oo awu?”
What dye did you use to dye your hair! It looks so cool!! Is there a special dye that us beasts need to use for the colour to stay?
Behind Mao Rongrong unbeknownst to him, Lin Qi’s face turned bck. Looking at Lin Qi’s face, Feng Ke could not hold back and burst out in ughter again.
Tilting his head, Mao Rongrong looked puzzled. Was his question very weird?
“Hahaha…ha… Sorry little cutie, I’m not ughing at you, it’s just that you’re so adorable. I just used normal hair dye. I did it myself, would you like to dye your hair too?”
”Awu! Nuewuu ooo wuuu aooooo?”
Yeah! I was thinking maybe pink! But if I’m fully pink will people think I’m a weird monster?
”Hmm… that is true… How about just your tail? A lot of little beasts like you will do some fashion dyes to make themself unique. We can also do some gradient coloring or add in some accesso- Mmpf!”
Just as Feng Ke was getting into discussing hair dyes with Mao Rongrong and leaning in closer, Lin Qi pushed Feng Ke away by his face. With the push, Feng Ke stumbled back a few steps. Mao Rongrong widened his eyes in shock and turned back to look at Lin Qi.
“Don’t teach Rongrong the wrong things.”
”Urgh… You’re just being too strict. What’s wrong with some fashion.”
”Woo?” So I can’t dye my hair?
Looking down at Mao Rongrong’s big eyes, Lin Qi hesitated.
”It’s not… that you can’t…”
”Awuuuuu!!!! Wooo ooo awuuneo?”
Yaaay!! What do you think about pink? I think pink is my favorite color. Is it too girly?
”Sighs… It’s not. If you like pink then we can do pink. I’ll bring you to a salon soon and we can talk about it more then.”
”Awooo!!!”
Mao Rongrong howled excitedly as he nuzzled against Lin Qi’s chest.
“Overprotective much…” Feng Ke mumbled.
“Peeep!!!” Suddenly a peep sounded that distracted their attention. It seemed that the sound came from the remaining fluff pile, but the caller was nowhere to be seen.
After a while, Teacher Zhen finally managed to find Xiao Feng who was buried under Shao Lang, who was now buried under Jing Jing.
Picking up Xiao Feng by one of his legs from Teacher Zhen’s hands, Feng Ke waved it a little while examining it, said: “Heya little birdie, do you remember me?”
”PEEEEEEPPP!!!!!!”
”Haha, it seems like you do remember me~”
”Peep!!! Peeep!!!” I want my mother!! Where is mother!!!
”Pftt- calm down,” Feng Ke stuffed Xiao Feng into his front shirt pocket and patted it a few times, “I’m bringing you to your mum now.”
Waving at Mao Rongrong, Feng Ke did a st fshy bow before heading out of the day care with a gradually disappearing peeeeeep!!! Mao Rongrong stared at the now empty doorway and looked back at Lin Qi and Teacher Zhen in a daze.
“Uuuwoooo?” Ummm…. Xiao Feng will be alright right?
Lin Qi, looking amused, rubbed his head roughly, “ Yeah don’t worry. Nothing will happen to Xiao Feng. After all, he is going to be the successor of the phoenix cn in the future.”
Mao Rongrong's eyes turned even rounder hearing this. What? That little chick that only peep was gonna turn into the king of the phoenix cn?
”Alright, we will be heading out, Teacher.” Lin Qi grabbed one of Mao Rongrong’s paws and waved at Teacher Zhen. “Say goodbye.”
“Nuuwooo!!”
—
When they returned home, Lin Qi first helped Mao Rongrong to wash up. In the spirit of taking care of a cub, Lin Qi did the care-for-a-kid-routine and washed Rongrong’s paws, helped brush his teeth and clean his ears too. After a little spitz of some nice smelling body spray, Lin Qi then released Mao Rongrong into the living room.
These days, Mao Rongrong had taken quite a liking to video games, no thanks to Lin Qi. Living with Lin Qi was actually pretty dull- *ahem* peaceful. Unless it's an emergency or an important meeting, Lin Qi could leave it up to his team to do the work.
Only sometimes he would check in with his team members or show up to the office to handle some crucial paperwork. So for the first few days of cohabitation, Lin Qi had actually pyed his video games, while Mao Rongrong sat on the couch watching him.
Since turning into a beast cub, Mao Rongrong still had not decided what he wanted or could do. Due to his body size, the management office proposed Mao Rongrong to stay with Lin Qi, if not they would need to assign another guardian for him.
With such a small body, Mao Rongrong could not get around a normal size apartment or even feed himself. Resigned, Mao Rongrong was now in Lin Qi’s custody and care.
Lin Qi was a nice roommate, feeding him regurly and also sharing his warm bed with him. Still Mao Rongrong was soooo bored!! Although he could train and absorb some of those Spiritual Qi to grow faster, it just felt like doing homework for Mao Rongrong. And Mao Rongrong just wants to py!!!
Still, despite Mao Rongrong’s frustration, he could not voice or whine like a kid. After all, he was eighteen years old as a human and he could not get over the mental barrier.
Though I am a cub now… right?….
So Mao Rongrong could only sit behind Lin Qi on the living sofa while watching Lin Qi gaming on the soft carpet. From action games like mecha fighting to racing cars, adventuring games and farming games, Mao Rongrong watched Lin Qi pying through them like an expert.
And all the while Lin Qi did not move an inch!!
Only when the timer for dinner rang, that Lin Qi would move to the kitchen to cook.
Seeing this, one day Mao Rongrong took the chance to fiddle with the controller while Lin Qi was busy. After looking at Lin Qi for a few days, Mao Rongrong got the general gist of how the controller worked.
Sitting in front of the controller which was just a little bit smaller than himself, Mao Rongrong used one paw to grip the joystick while the other paw to sp the buttons. Navigating through the menu, Mao Rongrong ended up starting a racing game.
With the default race car, Mao Rongrong started a round of crashing into opponents, throwing special tools to sabotage others and racing round special theme tracks.
As the TV was huge in comparison to the small Mao Rongrong, Rongrong felt as if he was immersed within the scene as his eyes glowed with excitement.
“Nuuwuu!!! Aooowooo!!!”
Subconsciously, Mao Rongrong began to call out as the tip of his little tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth. His ears fttened or flicked in response to the game’s development as his tail swished behind him excitedly.
Being so absorbed, Mao Rongrong did not realize that the sounds from the kitchen had stopped and Lin Qi was actually observing Mao Rongrong from behind the sofa amusingly.
“Woooo!!!!!”
When Mao Rongrong finally won his race, he threw both of his paws up into the air as the controller tumbled away from him. The winning soundtrack filled the living room, but it was at this moment Mao Rongrong discovered that there weren't any other sounds.
Turning his head backwards tentatively with his paws up in the air, Mao Rongrong saw Lin Qi standing in an apron, with his arms crossed.
“Dinner is ready.”
”O…woooo….”
Mao Rongrong, afraid that Lin Qi would scold him, slowly looked back to the front, then curled himself up with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.
I didn’t ask Lin Qi for permission before touching his game!! Will he be angry? Will I get kicked out of his house?
A sudden panic filled Mao Rongrong’s heart. It wasn’t the first time that he got kicked out of other people's homes before. But for some reason he really did not want to leave Lin Qi.
Keeping his eyes shut tight. He wished that Lin Qi would take his bluff that nothing happened or that he was just dreaming and when he woke up, he was still the obedient Mao Rongrong.
