Chapter 232
The little wolf cub’s eyes lit up with desire, clearly wanting the milk fruit. The scent from the heated milk fruit reminded the little wolf cub that this was food it could eat.
The little rabbit, struggling to drink, decisively pushed the milk fruit toward the little wolf cub.
The milk fruit’s shell was thick, and the actual edible part was less than half of the fruit. The little rabbit had drunk from it countless times and knew how to turn it without spilling.
The little wolf cub lifted its paw to catch the fruit, which was still a sizable portion for it.
It seemed to understand that the food in front of it wasn’t originally for it. The little wolf cub was particularly anxious, fearing that someone else would take it away. After grabbing the milk fruit, it quickly started drinking.
Hearing a sound that wasn’t quite right, Lang Qi turned around and saw the little wolf cub snatching the little rabbit’s food.
The little wolf cub, born just over ten days ago, was growing rapidly. When the little rabbit was born and at one month old, it hadn’t changed much, but the little wolf cub was different. According to Bai Luo, when the two wolf cubs were born, the smaller one was about the size of a young beast cub. Now, it was larger than the little rabbit.
Wolf cubs were naturally stronger than rabbit cubs, and now they had even stolen food. Lang Qi immediately picked up the little rabbit.
The little wolf cub, which had been drinking milk greedily, noticed Lang Qi’s reaction and perked up its ears, but it wouldn’t let go of the milk fruit.
Lang Qi disdainfully glanced at the milk fruit held by the little wolf cub and took out another from the fur pouch.
Just in case, he always brought at least two milk fruits for the little rabbit whenever he went outside. Most of the time, the little rabbit couldn’t finish even one, but it was better to be prepared. Now, it was proving useful.
The little rabbit, having just been happy, immediately stretched out its paw to refuse when it saw the new milk fruit in Lang Qi’s hand.
“You don’t want to eat?” Lang Qi had taken care of the little rabbit for a long time and could tell from its refusal. After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t open the fruit, “Then we’ll wait to eat.”
When the little rabbit heard that it didn’t need to eat now, it quickly nodded.
Lang Qi frowned slightly: “You’re eating too little.” The little rabbit’s appetite was much smaller than his, and it even ate less milk fruit than the other cubs.
The little rabbit shook its head, saying it had enough.
“Forget it.” Lang Qi decided to listen to the little rabbit. However, even so, he didn’t put the little rabbit back; instead, he kept it in his arms.
The little wolf cub, still holding the milk fruit, drank while observing. It was reassured once it confirmed that Lang Qi wouldn’t take the food away from it. It drank all the liquid from the fruit and lay down, unable to move, too full.
After resting, Lang Shui woke up and planned to feed the cubs. She saw one of them with a swollen belly and the milk fruit—typical food for young beast cubs—beside it. She instantly understood what had happened.
The young wolf cubs, who had only been born for a short time, didn’t know when to stop eating. As long as there was food, they’d try to eat more. Lang Shui was aware of this habit and paid close attention when feeding her cubs. She hadn’t expected that one of the cubs would seize the opportunity and eat the little rabbit’s milk fruit. When she saw Lang Qi holding the little rabbit, Lang Shui felt reassured. Although the two little wolf cubs were born a year later, the little rabbit’s size was at a disadvantage and was quite easy to bully. However, the little wolf cubs currently only knew how to eat and sleep, so they probably wouldn’t fight yet.
Lang Shui, turning her back to the other cubs, planned to feed the other wolf cub. One had already eaten enough, but the other was still hungry.
Initially, the later-born cub was lighter, but after only half a month, their weights were almost the same. Based on the rate of growth and their appetites, it seemed the later-born cub would soon surpass the other. When the cubs had been born, Lang Shui had been worried about the survival of the smaller one.
Most beastmen only gave birth to two cubs because cubs born after the second tended to be weaker, and the further along, the weaker they became.
The same was true for the beastmen giving birth, such as Lang Shui. When she gave birth to Lang Yu and Lang Qi, she recovered in just a few days. Now, after half a month, she was still in her beast form. The situation should have been better than it was now, but because she had two cubs this time, both were particularly fragile, especially the smaller one.
Having two cubs at once was truly unexpected for Lang Shui. When the smallest cub was born, she had prepared herself for the worst, only able to care for the cubs as much as possible.
But the development was even more surprising. The smaller of the two wolf cubs ate more than all the other cubs. Even the healthy Lang Yu and Lang Qi had smaller appetites when they were young. A large appetite was actually good news, meaning the chances of the cub surviving were higher.
Indeed, Lang Shui was now sure that if nothing went wrong, both cubs would grow up safely. Behind her, a little wolf cub, smelling the scent, started to move closer to Lang Shui. Just as she was pondering the cubs, she turned to see the little wolf cub trying to eat again.
“…” Lang Shui raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t your stomach full yet?”
In the end, the little wolf cub didn’t get to eat. It wasn’t because Lang Shui was heartless, but because the little wolf cub’s stomach was still swollen, making it unsuitable to eat more. Eating too much would make it uncomfortable. There had been cubs in the tribe who nearly died from overeating, but the shaman had managed to save them. Lang Shui couldn’t help but envy Bai Luo. The little rabbit was so easy to care for. She wondered if the little wolf cubs would be as obedient as the little rabbit when they grew up.
No matter what Lang Shui and Lang Qi thought, the little rabbit was just happy about the little wolf cub’s large appetite.
He no longer had to force himself to drink when he couldn’t stomach it because the little wolf cub could take care of the leftovers!
The little rabbit, who desperately needed someone to help share the food, constantly asked Lang Qi to take him to find the little wolf cubs, where they would divide the food equally between the two cubs.
Every time Lang Qi saw food being eaten by the other cubs, he would give the little rabbit more. After a few times, he noticed that the little rabbit didn’t want to eat. That’s when he realized the little rabbit wasn’t hungry.
When the two little wolf cubs were first seen, the little rabbit was about the same size as them. However, the wolf cubs kept growing, while the little rabbit’s size remained unchanged. Within a few days, the two little wolf cubs were noticeably larger than the little rabbit.
Lang Qi was worried the wolf cubs would bully the little rabbit. Every time he brought the little rabbit over, he kept a careful eye on him.
When the cubs were about a month old, Lang Shui returned to her human form. Seeing Lang Qi’s cautious behavior, she fell into deep thought. For a moment, she began to wonder which of the cubs was actually Lang Qi’s sibling.
Aside from their different species, Lang Qi seemed more like the little rabbit’s older brother.
…
Three months after the two little wolf cubs were born, the weather gradually warmed, and the cubs were able to play outside. The little rabbit hadn’t seen the plants outside for a long time and was so excited that he wished he could go to the mountain base every day to observe.
However, Lang Qi usually wouldn’t take the little rabbit to such a crowded place and preferred to bring him to the open space in front of the cave. The little rabbit had such a good temper that he wasn’t the least bit upset about not achieving his wish. He obediently played in the open space.
The area around the cave had been cleaned by the beastmen guarding Bai Luo, not even a small stone was left behind. And with someone keeping watch, the adult beastmen wouldn’t come by, so the little rabbit could run around freely, just like inside the cave.
Last year, Bai Luo had noticed that the cubs liked plants. After the winter, he had planted a large area of edible plants around the cave, allowing the little rabbit to play with them. If he got tired, he could also eat.
There were so many plants, and the little rabbit was incredibly happy, but amidst his joy, he felt as if he had forgotten something.
However, his little mind couldn’t remember, and after thinking for a while, he gave up and focused on grabbing the plants in front of him. While he was busy, he suddenly heard a familiar sound.
After a long while, the little rabbit and the milk fruit-eating wolf cub finally ran out on their own.
