Allergic To Furry Things But Can Pet Them Mentally – CH51

Chapter 51

Tang Rong actually didn’t say all that much while being pulled aside by Bai Tu.

It was just that while Bai Tu was talking, his eyes suddenly turned red, and Tang Rong had to coax him for quite a while.

After spending so much time together recently, Tang Rong had already gotten used to Bai Tu’s crybaby nature. Even though Bai Tu was actually a few months older than him, Tang Rong still treated him as a little friend who needed looking after.

Some people might not really like this kind of personality, but Tang Rong actually liked it quite a lot.

He liked being relied on. He liked taking care of other people. He liked slowly coaxing someone better, the way one would soothe a fluffy little animal. He could draw a certain kind of satisfaction and sense of achievement from it.

It was precisely because the two of them complemented each other that they had become pretty good friends.

The reason Bai Tu had pulled him outside the classroom was because he wanted to invite him to visit his house over the weekend. Tang Rong was naturally willing—he had never visited another child’s house before. Even with Little Han-brother, they had only ever met offline at the mall.

It was just that this weekend he already had plans with Little Han-brother, and one day also had to be reserved for spending time with the little snow leopard, so they would probably have to wait until next weekend.

When he heard the first half of that, a bit of wetness welled up in Bai Tu’s eyes again. But when he heard the second half, Bai Tu became happy.

After being happy for a moment, Bai Tu softly asked, “What if Shen Muhan asks you out next weekend too?”

In his understanding, Shen Muhan was the friend little Rong cared about most, so his priority was higher than Bai Tu’s. If Shen Muhan also invited little Rong… then would little Rong stand him up?

Tang Rong didn’t know why Bai Tu had suddenly asked something like that.

The system quickly analyzed it for him: [This little rabbit is way too prone to internalizing things. He thinks your relationship with Shen Muhan is the best, and that as long as Shen Muhan is around, he’ll be forgotten.]

A personality like that was actually very easy to bully. Luckily, the one he’d run into was its own host.

Still, at least he wasn’t the kind of child who buried everything in his heart forever. He was willing to say it out loud.

After hearing that, Tang Rong raised a hand and lightly patted him on the shoulder. “This weekend I already promised Little Han-brother first, so I can’t go to your house. But next weekend I’ll have promised you first, so even if Little Han-brother asks me out, I’ll still say no. You’re both my friends, and you’re both important.”

Bai Tu’s eyes gradually lit up, and he threw himself into Tang Rong’s arms and hugged him tightly.

Little Rong really was an especially, especially, especially wonderful child.

…

The very first thing Tang Rong did after leaving the learning pod was look toward the little nest in the study.

Usually every day, he would meet those ice-blue eyes there. But this time he found nothing there at all. The familiar soft little figure was missing.

Tang Rong hurried out of the learning pod, calling the little snow leopard’s name while looking all around for him.

In the end, Tang Rong found the little snow leopard on the leopard climbing frame.

The climbing frame was very tall. Uncle and Auntie had sent it over, saying the little snow leopard loved climbing around and playing.

But Tang Rong hadn’t really seen the little snow leopard climb it much before. This was the first time he had ever seen him climb so high up. Even if Tang Rong stood on tiptoe and stretched with all his might, he still couldn’t come close to reaching him.

The little snow leopard’s clothes and bow were both gone. He was facing toward the floor-to-ceiling doors, looking out into the little courtyard dyed red by the sunset, and his body too had been bathed in a layer of warm color.

But what the little snow leopard was giving off right now was not a warm or gentle feeling.

He had heard the little cub calling his name, yet in a huffy little way he only twitched his ears and didn’t turn around.

Because of that fall earlier, all his negative emotions had been jarred loose. Right now he had gone from little snow leopard to a little black panther shrouded in dark clouds—blackened little snow leopard mode.

The butler followed Tang Rong into the living room and casually asked, “What were you talking about with your little friend for so long?”

Up on the climbing frame, the little snow leopard secretly perked up his ears.

Tang Rong looked at the little snow leopard’s fluffy back, then looked at butler Uncle, and chose to answer butler Uncle’s question first. “Xiao Tu invited me to go play at his house.”

The butler knew Xiao Tu—his full name was Bai Tu. His family had produced many S-rank and SS-rank spiritual power users, and almost all of them had rabbit-type spirit forms, so netizens jokingly called them the “Rabbit Family.”

According to research, spiritual power and spirit forms really did have some connection to inheritance, but no one had any clue how to actually control inheritance yet.

Honestly, that was probably for the best. If technology ever really could control the inheritance of spiritual power and spirit forms, it would only make human class divisions even worse, and life even harder for ordinary people.

The butler asked, “Then did little Rong say yes?”

Tang Rong nodded. “This weekend I already have plans with Little Han-brother, so I made plans with him for next weekend instead.”

The butler smiled. “Alright. When the time comes, Uncle will take you over.”

The little snow leopard, whose mood had already been bad, instantly felt even worse.

He had originally wanted to ask little Rong out for next weekend too, but he had planned to wait until this weekend passed before bringing it up. He hadn’t expected someone else to steal a march on him first.

…Little Rong hadn’t even gone to his house as a guest before.

After explaining the matter with Bai Tu, Tang Rong’s attention returned to the little snow leopard on the climbing frame. He called his name several more times.

The little snow leopard still kept staring outside and didn’t move at all.

“What’s wrong with baby?” Worry crept into Tang Rong’s voice.

The butler also sensed that something was off, but he had no clue what it might be. So he guessed tentatively, “Could he be homesick?”

The way he was staring outside in total absorption really did look a bit like he was missing something.

Although the little crown prince was more mature than other children, he was still only four years old. Back when he’d been living in Eden Garden before, he hadn’t stayed in the palace, but he’d still been able to see his parents every day through video calls or virtual space. Ever since coming to the Tang family, he’d only been able to see them on weekends, so it really was possible that he missed home.

The moment Tang Rong heard that, he quickly lowered his head and opened his optical brain. “I’ll call Uncle and Auntie and ask them to take baby back to stay for a few days.”

The little snow leopard, who had been waiting to be coaxed: “……”

The little snow leopard spun around instantly. Seeing that the little cub was already about to call his dad and mom, he sprang down from the climbing frame at lightning speed and threw himself into Tang Rong’s arms.

Spirit forms were lighter than ordinary animals to begin with, and after so much time together, Tang Rong was already used to being pounced on by the little snow leopard. He caught him instinctively and didn’t fall over.

Fortunately, the call hadn’t gone through yet.

The little snow leopard bit lightly into the little cub’s hand in a venting sort of way, also to stop him from continuing to make the call.

Unexpectedly, after biting, when he looked at the faint little tooth mark left on the little cub’s pale hand, the little snow leopard actually felt a lot better inside.

The tooth mark was so shallow that it faded away after only a moment.

The little snow leopard couldn’t help biting once more, and as he pulled away, he also licked the spot.

Because it didn’t hurt at all, Tang Rong didn’t think much of it. He just assumed the little snow leopard was playing with him. He lifted the hand marked with tiny tooth prints and used it to stroke his fur.

While stroking his fur, Tang Rong asked, “Where did baby’s clothes go?”

The moment those words fell, the little snow leopard lightly bit the wrist of the other hand holding him.

The butler looked around, but there was no sign of the familiar pale blue color. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t know either. After dinner, I’ll check the surveillance and look for them.”

He clearly remembered that when the little snow leopard came out of the learning pod, he had still been wearing the clothes. So they could only have been taken off sometime during this period. One look at the surveillance footage from that stretch of time would reveal it.

Tang Rong nodded and carried the little snow leopard to the dining room.

The little snow leopard had gotten a bit addicted to biting. Like a tiny stapler, he kept leaving fleeting little marks all over Tang Rong in a sort of “punishment.”

The system noticed something was off and said in Tang Rong’s mind: [What’s wrong with the little snow leopard? Why does he keep biting you?]

At first, Tang Rong had thought the little snow leopard was just playing with him, since it didn’t hurt at all, so he hadn’t paid much attention. Snow leopards were different from humans—they didn’t have a pair of especially useful hands, so they could only use their mouths in place of some of their hand functions.

But now that the system pointed it out, Tang Rong also began to feel that something was a little strange. The little snow leopard had occasionally held his hand in his mouth before to guide him into playing along, but today was far too frequent. Glancing toward the butler, Tang Rong asked, “Uncle, what’s wrong with baby?”

Naturally, the butler had noticed it too, but seeing how shallow the little tooth marks were, he had simply continued observing. Only when Tang Rong asked him did he answer, “Maybe it’s because of the oral stage?”

Generally speaking, a child’s oral stage would fade around one year after birth. During that time, they could gain comfort and satisfaction from biting, and besides biting, there might also be sucking or putting their hands in their mouths. In beast-like spirit forms, however, the oral stage could last much longer, depending on the individual.

Back when Tang Hu was three or five years old, he’d still loved biting his elder brother Tang Yao. Every time, he’d get picked up by the scruff of the neck and disciplined by Tang Yao in black wolf form.

The butler immediately brought over some teething snacks, but the little snow leopard didn’t even look at them. He only wanted to bite Tang Rong.

Tang Rong indulged him too. Seeing this, he said, “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt. Baby’s just biting for fun.”

The oral stage needed to be satisfied, and it was best not to interfere too much, so the butler said nothing more.

In any case, every day while Tang Rong was bathing, the butler would examine whether he had any new bumps, bruises, or marks on him and then apply a bit more scar-removal ointment. If the little snow leopard bit too hard, he would discover it immediately.

…

Later, thanks to Tang Rong’s indulgence, the little snow leopard’s “oral stage” continued on for many, many years, never disappearing—not even after adulthood. If anything, it only grew worse.

…

After dinner, Tang Rong took the little snow leopard outside for a walk to help digest the food.

Because he’d spent so long nibbling on Tang Rong, discovered a new sort of fun, taken off the bothersome little dress and bow, and then been groomed by Tang Rong for quite a while, the little snow leopard’s mood had improved a great deal.

The butler sat in the rocking chair in the courtyard, diligently reviewing the surveillance footage and searching for the missing little snow leopard clothes.

In the footage, the little snow leopard lay there dazed for a few seconds after the fall. Once he came to, he angrily yanked off the little dress on his body and the bow from his tail.

Then he bit the clothes and carried them upstairs to the second-floor bedroom, leapt onto the bed, dumped them all onto the fox plush, and used both mouth and paws to dress it in them.

Butler: “……”

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