Chapter 109
Huo Ranchuan was driving his small aircraft, just big enough for two people—no room for more. Bai Nuosi sat inside, holding the little Birdy, while The Teng Snake (the black snake) started inching closer, eager to approach Little White Teacher again.
Once Bai Nuosi settled with the little Birdy, The Teng Snake lay on Huo Ranchuan’s lap, tentatively resting its head on Bai Nuosi’s leg, looking up to gauge his reaction. Bai Nuosi glanced down at The Teng Snake and gently petted its head. As long as The Teng Snake didn’t treat him as a partner, he was willing to get along with it; after all, it was the little one he had cared for the longest.
Bai Nuosi stroked The Teng Snake for quite a while. Huo Ranchuan watched, feeling grateful. Little White Teacher was truly kind; he had been worried The Teng Snake would be affected, but Bai Nuosi had already forgiven it on his own.
Back in the cave, Huo Ranchuan’s mental sea had nearly lost control. His consciousness was fuzzy, mostly driven by his beastly instincts, and like The Teng Snake, his mind was filled with thoughts of bonding. The Teng Snake had gone too far, and Little White Teacher had felt uncomfortable.
Sensing The Teng Snake’s excitement, Huo Ranchuan said to Bai Nuosi, “The Teng Snake always thought you were angry. It’s really happy that you’re interacting with it again.”
Bai Nuosi looked up at Huo Ranchuan, meeting his deep golden eyes before shyly lowering his gaze. He stopped petting The Teng Snake and switched to stroking the little Birdy instead. “The Teng Snake is actually very well-behaved and gentle. I really like it, but if it…”
Bai Nuosi blushed, feeling a bit awkward. He didn’t need to finish for Huo Ranchuan to understand completely.
Huo Ranchuan looked at Bai Nuosi and said softly, “The Teng Snake knows it made a mistake, but I hope you can forgive it. After all, it’s a spirit beast; its thoughts are different from humans. A spirit beast is a part of its host and will treat the host’s partner as its own. That’s just how they think…”
As he explained, Huo Ranchuan felt a bit embarrassed because a spirit beast’s mindset mirrored that of its host. The way The Teng Snake had behaved that day—showing off and boasting about having two tails—reflected his own subconscious thoughts.
Huo Ranchuan rubbed his nose, trying to hide his embarrassment. Fortunately, the innocent Little White Teacher hadn’t read too much into it. He looked at the pitiful The Teng Snake and said softly, “Alright, I’m not mad at you anymore.”
The Teng Snake had just lost control; normally, it was very well-behaved. Bai Nuosi trusted Huo Ranchuan’s character, and as his spirit beast, The Teng Snake was usually calm and mature.
Huo Ranchuan took Bai Nuosi to a large shopping mall in the central district, one owned by the Huo family. The Huo family’s business empire spanned various planets across the Beastmen Star System. They had even invested in the Sky City project, though it hadn’t launched yet due to energy issues—a technology only the Huo family possessed. Despite being a target for many, Huo Ranchuan’s backing by the powerful Huo family protected him from direct attacks, allowing his career to progress smoothly compared to Chen Min’s.
This was Bai Nuosi’s first time shopping since arriving here. Huo Ranchuan, too, hadn’t gone out shopping in a long time due to his busy schedule. Meanwhile, the little Birdy in Bai Nuosi’s arms was stunned, its eyes wide as it looked at the towering mall that seemed to reach the sky, thinking it could fit an entire city inside.
At the entrance, there were guide robots available for a small fee, offering full accompaniment throughout the shopping experience. The mall even had small flying cars for getting around, running on mid-air tracks so that people didn’t have to use the elevators.
Bai Nuosi whispered, “This mall is huge.”
The technology here was far more advanced than on his home planet. He had never seen guide robots or transportation devices like these before.
Huo Ranchuan glanced at him and said, “Let’s go rent a robot and a transport car.”
These services were inexpensive, designed to make shopping more convenient for customers in such a large mall. The towering building and numerous floors made it easy for first-timers to get lost.
Bai Nuosi followed closely behind Huo Ranchuan, feeling that many people were staring at him. Huo Ranchuan rented a guide robot and a transport car with his ID card and drove it over. “Hop on, Little White.”
Bai Nuosi, holding the little Birdy and The Teng Snake, climbed aboard, whispering, “Director, it feels like a lot of people are watching us.”
Huo Ranchuan had the guide robot beside him, while Bai Nuosi sat behind with the little ones. When he heard this, he glanced outside and noticed that many people were indeed pointing and covering their mouths in excitement. Suddenly, a boy shouted, “It’s Little White Teacher!”
At first, only a few people recognized Bai Nuosi, but once one person called out, others joined in, and soon those who hadn’t noticed him before began to as well. Many people nearby started running toward him.
Bai Nuosi had never encountered anything like this. Nervously holding the two little ones tighter, he asked, “Director, what do we do?”
He wasn’t good at handling such situations!
Huo Ranchuan immediately shut the transport car’s door and contacted the mall’s security team. “Don’t worry; I’ll have someone handle it.”
The crowd outside was massive, and a stampede could be dangerous. The mall quickly dispatched staff to manage the crowd and escorted Huo Ranchuan and Bai Nuosi to a safer area. Despite this, photos and videos of them shopping together with the little ones quickly made their way onto the star network’s trending list.
On the way, Bai Nuosi sighed. “I’ll just shop online next time.”
He couldn’t believe how many fans he had from just streaming with the little ones—his fame was beyond anything he’d imagined.
Huo Ranchuan, seeing Bai Nuosi’s disappointed expression, thought to himself that this mall belonged to his family. Couldn’t they at least let Little White shop without being disturbed?
“Don’t be upset. We’ll enter through the VIP passage. The mall will arrange a security team to accompany us so you can shop without worry.”
High-tier VIP users could even request the mall to clear out areas for private shopping sessions, but since it was peak hour and Bai Nuosi might not like that, Huo Ranchuan didn’t push for it. With the security team’s assistance, the fans were held back, but Bai Nuosi still felt a lot of pressure seeing so many people following him. This wasn’t what he had imagined shopping would be like.
“Is this what celebrities go through in their daily lives?” Bai Nuosi thought to himself.
He first went to a clothing store to buy clothes for Adian. Due to long-term malnutrition, Adian was smaller than his peers on Beastmen Star, similar in size to Bai Nuosi. He picked clothes based on his own size and asked the little Birdy, “Do you like this one? And how about this?”
The little Birdy, not sharing Adian’s perspective, nodded at everything. It thought everything Little White picked was wonderful!
Bai Nuosi chose a variety of clothes and pants. Since training could wear out clothes and shoes, he also bought several pairs of shoes and two large packs of socks—ten pairs each.
Bai Nuosi hesitated and asked Huo Ranchuan, “Is twenty pairs of socks enough?”
Huo Ranchuan, feeling a bit jealous seeing Bai Nuosi put so much effort into buying essentials for another boy, nodded. “It’s enough.”
With only a month left for special recruitment, if Adian made it, he would receive a scholarship covering all his needs. If not, he would be sent back home, and Bai Nuosi wouldn’t need to worry. This one-time shopping trip was sufficient; any more, and Huo Ranchuan would feel even more jealous.
He thought Bai Nuosi would stop at clothes and shoes, but then Bai Nuosi grabbed two boxes of men’s underwear.
Huo Ranchuan: “…”
Barely holding back a smile. He felt like he was struggling to keep his composure.
Bai Nuosi didn’t think much of it, but being with Huo Ranchuan made him feel shy. He explained quietly, “The kid has nothing, no family to take care of him, and he probably doesn’t have money. So, since we’re already buying things, I thought I’d get everything he might need…”
Huo Ranchuan regretted not letting Chen Min handle the shopping—Chen Min was the one taking Adian as a disciple, after all. He should be responsible for this. But when the idea of shopping alone with Little White Teacher came up, he was too excited to think it through.
Huo Ranchuan took the items from Bai Nuosi’s hands, trying to sound as gentle as possible. “Alright, I’ll carry these. You just keep picking what you need.”
Bai Nuosi handed the items over, his cheeks flushing as he continued picking other necessities like towels and toothbrushes. He had experience caring for children and had been working independently for two years, so he knew exactly what to get. He even bought a set of bedding and, generously, a wrist storage terminal for Adian—a costly item, but he didn’t hesitate.
The money came from his livestream earnings, which he had made with the little ones. Of course, it was for them!
He loaded everything into the storage terminal. Horan Ch
uan, thinking they were finally done, suggested getting something to eat, but then Bai Nuosi moved on to the food section.
Looking at all the food options, Bai Nuosi said, “Training is intense, so he’ll probably get hungry easily. Should I buy him some jerky and energy supplements? Oh, and we can’t forget fruits. The storage terminal keeps things fresh for a long time; I need to pick some…”
He paused, remembering the four kids who had visited him and continued, “The black panther and the others probably need these too. The panda is picky, so I’ll bring some pickled bamboo shoots to go with the jerky. Oh, and the other two as well.”
Bai Nuosi clapped his hands. “I’ll need five portions!”
The five little ones were treated equally, none left out!
The Teng Snake, perched on Huo Ranchuan’s shoulder, watched with a mix of helplessness and sadness. Only five portions—for the five little ones. The Teng Snake wasn’t one of the little ones, so it wasn’t included. It felt so sad and resented Huo Ranchuan, thinking his host wasn’t doing enough to be noticed by Little White Teacher. All the little ones got something, but it didn’t.
Huo Ranchuan pressed The Teng Snake’s head gently. “I’ll get you some.”
The Teng Snake rolled its eyes as if to say, *It’s not the same!*
Little White Teacher’s things were different from the ones Huo Ranchuan bought.
Bai Nuosi bought a variety of snacks—jerky, instant ham, cookies, bread, energy drinks, milk, juice—everything. These could be stored in the terminal for a long time. Young people got hungry easily, and with intense training, many relied on nutrient drinks. Bai Nuosi bought some of the most expensive ones, but he mainly focused on food, believing that too much nutrient fluid wasn’t good.
He had also prepared baked goods and pickles at home, which he planned to give to the children along with the food he was buying.
Throughout this, Huo Ranchuan played the role of a silent helper, carrying everything without a word. Though he felt jealous, he didn’t dare voice it.
Bai Nuosi also bought a colorful gemstone necklace for the fluffy little Birdy. The pure white bird looked adorable with the necklace, and Bai Nuosi even bought a frog hat and little shoes for it!
The little Birdy loved them all and even pointed at a lion hat, chirping excitedly for a long time. Bai Nuosi finally understood; it wanted to buy the hat for the eagle.
It thought the eagle would look cool in a lion hat.
Bai Nuosi picked up the lion hat, ten times larger than the frog hat, and said with a smile, “Okay, let’s get this for Mr. Eagle.”
The Teng Snake watched pitifully. Even the eagle got something, but it still hadn’t received anything from Little White Teacher.
Feeling sad, The Teng Snake thought that maybe it was because it didn’t have fur and couldn’t wear hats or scarves. Maybe that’s why Little White Teacher didn’t like it.
Bai Nuosi even bought different gemstone collars for the other four furry little ones, with colorful ribbons for the lion’s mane to make it look even more majestic.
The Teng Snake felt miserable. With no fur and a slippery body, it couldn’t wear a collar or hat like the others. It understood why it wasn’t chosen—it just didn’t fit the bill.
Tears welled up in The Teng Snake’s eyes as it felt neglected.
