It’s So Noisy, A Friend Gave Me a Pearl Bird – CH20

Chapter 20

Yan Yan was already hanging by a thread, and now there were even shameless scammers making jokes about the little bird.

Si Jingce took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his rising anger so he wouldn’t explode in front of Yan Yan.

The little bird tilted his head in the acrylic box when he heard the noise.

Why did it feel like his owner was even angrier after taking that call?

…

Yan Yan, against all odds, continued living peacefully for another three days.

Si Jingce was constantly on edge, waking every morning to check if the bird was still breathing. He occasionally gave him electrolytes to ease his discomfort.

And Yan Yan hadn’t been slacking either—he’d been tirelessly working on trying to transform into a human.

With no other bird around to teach him how to transform, he had to figure everything out on his own.

After a long period of trial and error, Yan Yan finally learned to stabilize the chaotic energy inside his body.

Late at night, Yan Yan suddenly broke through a bottleneck, managing to maintain his human form for two whole minutes.

Only two minutes—and his wings still wouldn’t retract.

They extended from his shoulder blades, flapping slightly. Yan Yan looked at himself in the window reflection, pouting in disappointment.

Totally different from those majestic angel wings he saw online. They didn’t look divine at all!

Before he could figure out how to retract his wings, his time was up. He shrank back down into his tiny pearl bird form.

Yan Yan: QAQ

He thought he was making daily progress, but now he’d hit a wall.

Exhausted from the energy expenditure, the bird turned soft and limp again.

Si Jingce entered the room after a shower and spotted the bird dozing off on the blanket.

Droplets of water trailed from his jaw, and he was shirtless, wearing only a towel loosely wrapped around his waist.

As he sat down, the blanket sank on one side. The half-asleep bird toddled over and rolled around on his abs, acting spoiled and demanding electrolyte water.

His feathers were damp from the air. After drinking a bit, Yan Yan felt much better and resumed thinking about how to train himself tomorrow.

Turning into a human was so tiring. He didn’t want to become human anymore.

He bit down on a plush bird toy, feeling a little down.

The plushie had been handmade by Si Jingce in the middle of a tight work schedule. His crocheting had improved a lot recently, though the eyes and mouth were still a little crooked.

But Yan Yan loved it. He had to sleep with it every night.

Now, lying on top of the plushie, he began to recall the first time he transformed.

It was during a moment of intense discomfort… He had run to his owner to ease the heat in his body.

Could it be that he needed more contact with Si Jingce?

Yan Yan stared at the now fully clothed Si Jingce and fell into thought.

After a moment’s hesitation, the little bird crawled under the hem of the man’s shirt.

Si Jingce: ?

A few bounces on his abs, a couple more on his chest.

Finally, Yan Yan peeked out from the collar and made eye contact with the man.

He immediately retreated.

Halfway back, Si Jingce suddenly blocked his path by placing his arm around his waist and abdomen.

Yan Yan turned around and found that the collar was blocked too.

Trapped inside the shirt, the bird screeched in protest: “Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

Before he could peck someone, Si Jingce pulled him out.

Feathers now a mess, Yan Yan lowered his head to groom himself.

Was that not the right kind of contact?

The little bird fell into deep thought again.

While Yan Yan played quietly on his own, Si Jingce casually answered a phone call.

It was from Cloud, checking in on Yan Yan.

“Hey, I recently found a really well-known pet doctor. Do you want to take Yan Yan in for a look?” Cloud asked. “You’ve been taking time off again—if this keeps up till the end of the month, you won’t be able to make up your broadcast hours.”

“Also, Yan Yan… is he still not better?”

Si Jingce responded with silence.

He opened his tablet while continuing the call. “I’ve already contacted a doctor. We’re still waiting for a response.”

“Okay.” Cloud said, “I’ll make a few more trips to the temple, pray for the little guy.”

But that wasn’t the main reason for the call. He quickly switched topics. “There’s a new horror game that just launched. You got the promo offer too, right? I tried it out—it’s pretty fun.”

“Only problem is during the beta, there weren’t enough players. I kept getting matched with Luo Huoxi and his team… it was so annoying!”

“When are you streaming again, man? Let’s play together—you, me, and my wife.”

Luo Huoxi’s ban lasted a month, and with the annual star contest approaching, everyone was fighting for attention to secure a good ranking.

Si Jingce, unfortunately, had taken time off too often this month, and fans were practically tending weeds in his empty chatroom.

“Don’t know yet,” he said. “Depends on when Yan Yan gets better.”

After ending the call, Si Jingce returned to reading research papers.

Over the past few years, more and more studies had emerged on animals experiencing something akin to “growing pains.” The earliest case dated back five years to a Samoyed’s mutation.

Despite being neutered, the dog entered a mating phase, growing weak and crying out in pain daily.

Its owner tried everything but failed to help, and could only watch helplessly as the dog died from the agony.

An autopsy later revealed that the dog’s skull had started evolving to resemble that of a human.

The paper was filled with technical jargon, difficult to understand.

Si Jingce had to look up terms while reading, slowing his pace.

And the findings weren’t optimistic.

Most studies seemed to hit a wall, unable to reach any clear conclusions.

Until he found the only successful case reported last year.

The subject was a pelican that had also undergone a mutation. The paper detailed the transformation and how it was managed.

They supplemented it with a lot of electrolyte water and extra meals.

Unlike other animals, this pelican experienced significantly less pain and transitioned smoothly.

Si Jingce looked down at the bird.

Yan Yan had a serious look on his face, as if trying something. He tapped Si Jingce’s arm with his claw and rubbed his little head against it.

The man slowly looked away from the tablet.

Even after reading to the end, there was no clear explanation for what came after the mutation.

The paper vaguely glossed over it, only offering some test results and life observations to validate its credibility.

An unsatisfying ending that left more questions than answers.

What remained unclear was why Si Jingce had been able to hear Yan Yan’s voice in the first place.

…Could it be he was mutating too?

Reading all the papers hadn’t solved anything—it only raised more questions.

Si Jingce glanced at the paper’s author. It seemed to be Dr. Chen’s student.

Also surnamed Li.

Same surname as that scammer from the other day.

He found the author’s email on the research site, thought for a moment, then forwarded the paper to Dr. Chen.

Just then, Dr. Chen sent back a string of digits.

[Dr. Chen]: This is my student’s number, but I’ve heard he’s quite busy these days, so he might not reply quickly.

Si Jingce copied the number, planning to call later.

Dr. Chen also replied after reading the paper: [Yep, my student wrote that. The conclusions are so-so, but the data is real.]

What exactly was the mutation?

Dr. Chen didn’t know either.

He joked: [Maybe it’s just one hell of a sickness.]

Si Jingce didn’t respond, instead pulling up the oldest paper.

Dogs usually have long snouts, but this Samoyed’s snout had shortened, approaching a human’s.

Thinking of that scam call from a few days ago, Si Jingce suddenly looked at Yan Yan, who was playing “slide” on the bed.

The little pearl bird flew up high and zipped down with a “swoosh,” disappearing into the bedding.

Because he was so small, he quickly got buried under the soft quilt and only popped out after a while.

Si Jingce measured the size difference between human and bird with his hands.

Didn’t seem… very likely.

[Dr. Chen]: How’s Yan Yan doing lately? Any better?

Si Jingce sent him a short video.

Noticing the camera, the little bird hopped over and pecked the lens with his bright red beak.

[Dr. Chen]: Looks pretty good. I asked my student about it too—when he ran into a similar case, he panicked, gave the bird electrolytes and food, and somehow stumbled his way through it.

Si Jingce paused.

He had been feeding Yan Yan extra.

Now, this pearl bird could eat more rice than his whole body weight.

Si Jingce picked up Yan Yan, who was about to dive back into the blankets for a game of hide-and-seek, and examined him.

He poked his belly—very soft.

Didn’t feel heavier though.

Where was all that food going?

Before he could figure it out, his phone rang again.

Yan Yan wriggled free and dove into the covers.

“Hello?”

Instinctively answering, Si Jingce was startled to hear that scammer again.

“Mr. lcberg, it’s me—Xiao Li from before.”

Si Jingce looked at the number. It was different from last time.

He didn’t feel like talking to scammers and was about to hang up.

“Just give me five minutes—five minutes!” Xiao Li quickly shouted. “I can explain everything about the animal mutation!”

Si Jingce had never mentioned the mutation in any livestream or to anyone other than Dr. Chen.

In the end, he didn’t hang up. “Last time, you said… you work at Waterfowl World in W City?”

Under the blanket, Yan Yan fidgeted. His feathers brushed against bare skin—ticklish.

Si Jingce gently pressed him down, signaling him to stop moving.

“Yes, that’s right.” Xiao Li exhaled in relief, hearing a more neutral tone. “It’s normal to be skeptical—most people think I’m a scammer.”

“If you’d like, I can add you on WeChat later and send you a picture of my work ID.”

Si Jingce didn’t care about an ID. He cut to the chase: “Why do animals mutate?”

Xiao Li froze. “Uh… I don’t know.”

His already low credibility dropped further.

“What exactly is a mutation? And why do mutated animals become human?”

Xiao Li’s voice dropped to a mumble. “That… I don’t really know either.”

Credibility plummeting.

“But I can promise you—your pearl bird will become human. If you don’t believe me, come to Waterfowl World. We have a pelican here that went through the same thing.”

“I can even get him to transform in front of you.”

With all that vagueness and evasion, Si Jingce once again felt like he was being messed with. “Not interested in driving all the way to watch a magic show.”

He still didn’t believe Xiao Li’s words.

“Please! I swear I’m telling the truth! Your bird will become human—or at least he’s already started the process. We have better ways to help him through this—”

While Xiao Li was frantically trying to explain, Yan Yan suddenly froze in place under the covers and let out a loud, urgent “Chirp chirp!”

Si Jingce’s attention immediately shifted. “What is it, Yan Yan—”

Before he could finish, he suddenly felt a weight on his body.

Si Jingce: ?

Something was definitely off…

The bird was gone. In its place—

Si Jingce slowly lifted the edge of the blanket. Just as he did, a teenage boy poked his head out from beneath the covers.

Si Jingce: …

Si Jingce: ???

The two stared at each other in silence.

Xiao Li’s voice echoed faintly from the phone: “So? Have you made your decision?”

“I have,” Si Jingce replied immediately, voice calm and polite. “Mr. Li, I’ll add you on WeChat in a bit. Let’s talk later.”

He hung up and looked down at the unexpected boy in his bed.

The unfamiliar teen blinked in confusion, glancing left and right, then finally locked eyes with the mildly stunned Si Jingce.

He smiled brightly. “Whoa, I really turned into a human!”