Chapter 8
Madam Gui’s expert-level bird-petting skills left Si Jingce speechless, while Yan Yan completely surrendered to her kneading and squishing.
“He’s really similar to a kitten,” Gui Yaying said as she held Yan Yan tenderly, unable to put him down. “Loves head pats and cheek rubs.”
A rare, gentle smile appeared in her eyes. She let the bird play in her palm until he had his fill, then returned him to the cage.
“I heard that caged birds usually aren’t very affectionate after they grow up and need a lot of patience to bond. He’s already so close to you after just a few days—it looks like you’ve put in quite some effort.”
Si Jingce fell silent.
Actually… he hadn’t.
Yan Yan was obedient, well-behaved, to the point that he didn’t feel like a normal bird. Si Jingce hadn’t needed to do anything special at all.
Gui Yaying turned her gaze to her son, catching a glimpse of his guilt.
She immediately understood: “…Don’t tell me you haven’t even pet your bird like this yet?”
The atmosphere went awkwardly quiet.
“That won’t do!” Gui Yaying frowned disapprovingly. “The best way to bond is through physical contact. Rub his head, smooth his feathers—that way, Yan Yan will like you more.”
The little bird nodded: Mm-hmm!
Exactly!
“Animals are spiritual creatures. You can’t just define your relationship as owner and pet. He’s your little brother, part of your family. Your two older brothers aren’t human either, but they’ve been good to you, haven’t they? If you treat Yan Yan the same way, you’ll get the same love in return.”
The little bird kept nodding: That’s right! That’s right!
Si Jingce gave Yan Yan a glance. “Got it.”
They stayed for lunch, and Yan Yan obediently sat beside Madam Gui throughout the meal. Gui Yaying, pleased beyond words, fed him a corn kernel every time she got to pet him.
Si Jingce sat across from them, silently finishing all his food while watching this harmonious picture of a loving mother and child.
As she prepared to leave, Madam Gui suddenly pulled out a red pouch from her bag. “A gift for Yan Yan.”
The pouch was bigger than Yan Yan himself. The drawstring was just the right length to hang around the bird’s neck.
Yan Yan lifted his head, and Gui Yaying helped tie it on. The moment she let go, the weight of the pouch yanked him forward, and he fell headfirst into it.
Si Jingce quickly picked him up and felt the pouch—it wasn’t light. “Mom, what did you put inside?”
“Let Yan Yan see for himself.”
Hearing that, Si Jingce opened the pouch and saw a gold nugget the size of a fingernail inside.
Si Jingce: …
Yan Yan poked his head inside, and before long, he’d crawled in completely, curiously pecking at the shiny golden object.
Very hard. Not tasty.
Si Jingce poked him. “You can’t eat it. But it can buy you lots and lots of food.”
Yan Yan’s eyes widened: “Chirp chirp?!”
Really? Thank you, Mom!
“Yan Yan says thank you.” Si Jingce passed along the message and pulled the bird out of the pouch, setting it beside him. “I’ll keep this for him then.”
Madam Gui was delighted. She stroked his feathers and said, “Good boy, Yan Yan. Next time, Mama will bring you something yummy.”
After seeing his mother off, Si Jingce returned inside. Yan Yan wriggled around in his hand restlessly.
His soft feathers brushed across Si Jingce’s palm, making his fingers unconsciously curl inward.
“Mom is so nice.”
Yan Yan’s voice suddenly echoed in Si Jingce’s mind.
A moment later, Yan Yan giggled and added, “Master is nice too.”
“I cleared everything out,” Si Jingce said as he listened to the silly bird laugh, lifting his eyelids to glance around the house.
The cat trees and toys that used to clutter the place were now gone, making the space feel open and airy—perfect for a bird to fly freely.
Maybe he’d buy some bird toys in the future.
Yan Yan, meanwhile, had dragged out the gold nugget and examined it for a while before sneakily sitting on it to hide it under his belly.
Si Jingce tapped his little cheek, signaling him to pay attention. “From now on, you’ll be the only bird in this home.”
He had thought about Yan Yan’s words all night and realized the bird was probably still hung up on what he’d said before—about finding him a new, better owner.
Yan Yan was terrified of being given away.
“I won’t sell you.”
Si Jingce looked at the bird. “And I won’t throw you away.”
“I’ll take care of you for a lifetime.”
Yan Yan sat dumbfounded in his palm, staring at Si Jingce for a long time.
His eyes gradually lit up.
A little bird could also spend his whole short life by his Master’s side!
…
The custom pet communication buttons arrived quickly.
There were hardly any bird-specific buttons on the market, especially not ones miniature enough for pearl birds. Si Jingce had argued with the seller for a while before finally getting a full custom set made.
It happened to be the end of the month. Si Jingce had livestream hours to make up, and fans were constantly urging for Yan Yan content. So he set up the camera next to Yan Yan’s nest and started a stream.
It was mealtime, so viewership was growing a bit slowly.
Si Jingce adjusted the camera and sat on the floor. “Today we’re doing an unboxing. Gotta pad my streaming time.”
Fans were already used to his erratic streaming schedule, but still couldn’t help complaining—
[You really said it out loud huh.]
[I’m reporting this to the platform—blatant laziness!]
“I never said I had to play games,” Si Jingce said after reading the chat. “Been gaming too much lately. Need a break.”
He cut through the tape on the box with his keys. A few snack packs were placed nearby, and he began munching while setting up the buttons.
Yan Yan, freshly awake, heard the rustle rustle of the snack bags and immediately popped his head out.
Chips?!
[Aaaaah it’s Birdie! Long time no see!]
[Come closer, Auntie wants to see—Yan Yan looks even cuter nowwwww]
Yan Yan looked left and right. Seeing Si Jingce busy, he ran up and pressed his face right into the camera to please his loyal fans.
The pearl bird blocked the entire view. Only his feathers and round, snowy belly could be seen, like the whole screen had been swallowed by fluff.
[Feathers… so much grassy-smelling bird fluff (drooling)]
[Uwaaa I wanna pet him so badly. Can’t afford a cat, can’t afford a bird. Guess I’ll pet my pet rock and pretend.]
[…So close. Yan Yan is so cooperative. Such a good, sweet boy.]
Hehe… Yan Yan chirped happily as he read the flying comments.
The little bird’s voice caught Si Jingce’s attention.
With Yan Yan hogging the camera, Si Jingce reached out to gently move him back.
Yan Yan stepped forward again.
Si Jingce moved him back once more.
The bird stayed still for a bit, making Si Jingce think he’d given up—only for Yan Yan to suddenly bounce forward again when he wasn’t looking.
Realizing he couldn’t win this way, Si Jingce resorted to his tried-and-true method: wrapped the bird in a towel so he couldn’t escape for a while.
With peace finally restored, he could explain what he was holding. “This is a communication device I bought for Yan Yan.”
Each button was custom-made for Yan Yan’s size. Pearl birds were already small, and these were even tinier.
He lined them up in front of the bird. Labels were already attached.
Yan Yan struggled out of the towel and tilted his head at the buttons, then reached out a foot and stepped on the one that said “Hungry.”
Nothing happened.
He looked up at Si Jingce and chirped loudly. Si Jingce flipped through the instructions. “You have to record voice lines before it works.”
He looked up some common beginner phrases for pet training, then pressed record, cleared his throat, and said in a clear tone: “Gege.” (Gege = older brother in Chinese)
The chat exploded—
[Got it, Didi.]
[Mhm, heard you, little brother.]
Si Jingce, thoroughly taken advantage of: …
Yan Yan quickly tested it out, stepping on it with a click.
Si Jingce’s voice played, a little fuzzy: “Gege.”
Yan Yan’s eyes lit up: “Chirp chirp!”
He pressed it again.
Button: “Gege.”
Yan Yan: “Chirp chirp!”
“Gege.”
“Chirp chirp!”
Si Jingce was curious what the bird was trying to say. He reached out and poked his back.
Startled, Yan Yan flinched, but kept pressing the button.
“Gege.”
A soft boy’s voice echoed in Si Jingce’s mind—
{Gege!}
Si Jingce froze, then calmly began recording more phrases, pretending he didn’t hear anything.
But the sharp-eyed chat wasn’t fooled.
[? Hey hey hey Gege, why are your ears so red all of a sudden?]
After recording a few basic phrases, Si Jingce pulled out a bag of bird food.
“Go press,” he said, pointing to the buttons. “Press ‘eat’ and I’ll feed you.”
Yan Yan: …
What kind of trainer are you??!!
Viewers watched as the pearl bird sighed heavily—just like a person—and reluctantly stepped forward to press a few buttons.
“Gege, I, want, eat.”
Si Jingce handed over the food. “Good job. You learn fast. Go play on your own.”
[???]
[Excuse me??? That fast??? Took me half a month to teach my cat to say ‘Mom’.]
[Was Yan Yan trained by his previous owner? Or are pearl birds just that smart?]
[…I swear, my pearl bird just screams all day. Not like this.]
Si Jingce felt inexplicably proud. “His old owner didn’t teach him. Yan Yan’s just clever.”
The little pearl bird pressed a button again: “That’s right.”
[OMG!!]
[Uwaaa he really understands human speech!]
[Why’d you wait so long to give the kid a communicator? You’ve been holding back his potential to learn language!]
Yan Yan saw the comment: “Chirp!”
Button: “Exactly!”
[Huh?]
[He just hit “Exactly”—does that mean he can read chat messages?!]
He stepped on the “Can” button.
Now the chat totally lost it!
There had always been stories of high-IQ pets—like border collies doing math. But even then, those dogs only learned a few Chinese characters through extensive training.
But Yan Yan… could read livestream comments?
And he was just a tiny pearl bird!
[What if he’s being puppeted by strings?]
Yan Yan frowned: “Chirp chirp!”
Button: “No.”
[Damn!! I was still half-skeptical, now I’m convinced!! Chills!!]
[Fun fact: birds aren’t dumb. If strung up, they’d be uncomfortable and would struggle.]
[Okay but seriously, someone explain how Yan Yan can read.]
[Was he genetically modified by aliens? Or is he some kind of spirit beast… at this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Yan Yan became human someday…]
Si Jingce realized if he didn’t stop this, Yan Yan might actually get abducted for research…
“We were just kidding earlier.” He tried to cover it up. “I trained Yan Yan over the past few days. That’s how he can read.”
[Please, oh mighty Bird King, share your training guide…]
Si Jingce: …
He couldn’t even pretend to come up with a guide.
A flurry of urgent button presses saved him—“Snack snack snack snack snack!”
He turned to see Yan Yan bouncing on the “Snack” button, his feathers flying as he pressed faster and faster.
Si Jingce had bird treats ready and fed one to Yan Yan.
To his surprise, Yan Yan pecked his hand lightly and darted straight for the open bag of potato chips.
He’d only had a tiny bite last time, and the flavor had haunted him since. But he never got another taste—until now.
He wanted more.
Potato chips were delicious!!
Seizing the chance, Yan Yan lunged and bit into one.
“Yan Yan!”
Si Jingce quickly pulled him out—and along with him came a chip bigger than the bird himself.
He tried to snatch it away, but Yan Yan had already taken a bite and swallowed it.
Si Jingce: ………
He pushed the snacks far away and scolded him with a frown, “You can’t eat human snacks. They’ll make you sick.”
Yan Yan pressed the buttons: “Want, eat.”
Si Jingce: “No.”
“Gege, I, want, eat.”
Cold and heartless: “Calling me Gege won’t work.”
Yan Yan chirped angrily and kept stepping—
“Please, Gege.”
Si Jingce’s anger vanished.
All his frustration melted at that soft “Please.” But potato chips were heavy in salt and oil—not suitable for birds. Eating them could make Yan Yan lose feathers.
He couldn’t cave on this.
Sighing, he picked up Yan Yan to explain properly.
But the moment he touched the bird, he heard the real thought in Yan Yan’s head:
{Stingy Gege! Fine, don’t give me any. Whatever. I already got a bite today, nyah nyah.}
Si Jingce froze.
…Damn. Now he’s being two-faced.
Naughty little bird.
