Lu Hao swallowed hard, maintaining a composed and carefree expression on his face. With one hand, he tore open the seal of the packaging bag, and with a fruit knife, he made a few incisions on the meat slices before dusting them with a powder that made Fang Jing’s nose tingle.
Fang Jing sneezed a few times, his nose dampening from the reaction.
“Stay back a little. It’ll choke you.”
Obediently, Fang Jing took a few steps back and flattened himself against the ground, his round eyes staring unblinkingly at the meat while suspicious liquid began to pool at the corners of his mouth.
After stringing the meat onto skewers and sticking the wooden rods into the ground beside the charcoal fire, Lu Hao wiped his hands clean and tentatively crooked a finger at his contracted beast. “Little one, come here.”
“Chirp?”
What is it?
Fang Jing hopped over to Lu Hao in a few bounds, sitting down like a dog. The tail behind him swished twice before being tucked neatly against his feet, making him look even smaller, just a tiny, compact ball of fluff.
Lu Hao’s eyes seemed to catch the light of the stars, bright and deeply profound, making Fang Jing freeze for a fleeting moment.
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Is this really my poop-scooping officer?
He’s so pretty! Just look at those upturned corners of his mouth and the smiling expression in his eyes. It’s enough to completely charm a little beast to death.
“What are you looking at?” Lu Hao produced a small handkerchief from somewhere, folded it twice, and began wiping the damp fur around Fang Jing’s mouth.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”
I’m looking at how handsome you are.
Lu Hao couldn’t understand the chirps, but getting a response was enough to prove that his guess was correct.
In high spirits, Lu Hao scooped Fang Jing up from the ground, placed him in the palm of his hand, and gently stroked him back and forth with his other hand. “How about I give you a name?”
“Chirp!”
Okay!
“Is that a yes?”
Glancing suddenly at the live-stream drone floating half in the air not far away, Lu Hao thought for a moment. Lifting Fang Jing up, he leaned close to his upright beast ears and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “If you agree, chirp once. If you don’t agree, chirp twice. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a really nice name.”
“Chirp.”
Fang Jing had never thought about playing dumb in front of his poop-scooping officer; effective communication could save a lot of unnecessary trouble.
A lazy salted fish hates trouble the most!
The little pink finches and their friends had all said that poop-scooping officers love smart pets. For the ones who weren’t smart or obedient, once the officer’s novelty wore off, some would even abandon them.
Fang Jing could speak, but he knew that while appropriate cleverness was fine, excessive cleverness would not do.
Therefore, he could appear slightly smarter than other small beasts, but speak human words?
No way!
At least, absolutely not right now!
Even in the cultivation world, anything that could speak human language without being able to transform into a human form was considered a demon, and demons had always been targets for cultivators to hunt down.
Since Fang Jing couldn’t transform into a human yet, if he were really treated as a demonic entity, wouldn’t he end up wanted by authorities and dragged back to be sliced apart for research?
Running away would be such a hassle!
Having received his answer, Lu Hao could not conceal his inner joy. He thought about it for a long time, considering names like Laifu, Shoucai, and Jinbao, but Lu Hao felt they were too tacky and didn’t match his contracted beast at all.
Finally, negotiating playfully, Lu Hao asked with a tentative smile, “Little one, how about I call you Yuanyuan?”
Fang Jing: “Yuanyuan?”
Ah! That’s it?
And he called that really nice?
Fang Jing finally understood what his master meant; he shouldn’t have held expectations for a man. His master had said that was a very foolish thing to do.
Thinking of how the small beasts around here had casually shouted at him over the past half year anyway, Fang Jing reluctantly nodded and chirped once.
Seeing this, Lu Hao happily lifted Fang Jing into the air. “Yuanyuan, I’ll call you Yuanyuan from now on. From now on, you’re my contracted beast. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
With a contracted beast this small, if they ever faced the Zerg, it probably wouldn’t even be enough between their teeth. If he didn’t protect Yuanyuan, who else could he rely on?
Since they were already contracted, he ought to protect Yuanyuan for the rest of his life.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”
When is the meat going to be ready? I’m hungry.
Unaware of what his poop-scooping officer was thinking, Fang Jing only knew that he was ravenous. Catching a whiff of this fragrance he had never smelled before only made him hungrier.
“Hungry?”
Noticing that Fang Jing kept staring fixedly at the roasting meat, Lu Hao couldn’t help laughing. It seemed his little Yuanyuan was quite the foodie.
With a firm tug, the wooden stick planted by the fire was pulled out. Thoughtfully, Lu Hao placed the grilled meat onto a cleaned plate, tore it into neat strips, and placed a small apple, chosen by Fang Jing, on the other side of the plate.
After finishing all this, Lu Hao let Fang Jing dig in. “Alright, Yuanyuan, you can eat.”
Looking at the shredded meat strips and the bite-sized fruit pieces, Fang Jing happily bounced left and right before digging in.
Lu Hao, watching from the side, found it quite amusing.
His contracted beast showed happiness in a way completely different from other pet beasts. Yuanyuan bounced back and forth when he was happy, which was so cute!
“Chirp!”
Not enough, I want more.
Fang Jing finished the meat and was only ten percent full. The grilled meat was simply too delicious, leaving a lingering fragrance on his lips and teeth. He hadn’t felt it until he started eating, but once he did, he felt even hungrier.
Unable to understand, Lu Hao shook the skewer of meat in his hand. Sure enough, Fang Jing’s eyes followed the movement, his chirping sounds carrying a hint of urgency.
“Still want more?”
“Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.”
Yes, want lots more.
Fang Jing pressed his front paws against Lu Hao’s knee, lifted his head, and let out a soft cry, his eyes glued to the meat in Lu Hao’s hand as moisture gathered at the corners of his mouth again.
Such a cute little fellow.
Lu Hao tore off another piece. But after piece after piece of meat was devoured and the little fellow was still unsatisfied, running back to his front and chirping incessantly, Lu Hao looked down at his contracted beast and his heart softened. “Yuanyuan, you’ve already had three pieces. Aren’t you full yet?”
“Chirp.”
Fang Jing was still hungry! He hadn’t eaten meat in half a year, and now that he had finally contracted a poop-scooping officer, he had to celebrate somehow. Going hungry on such a good day simply wouldn’t do!
Lu Hao fetched his military pack and took out all the remaining slices of meat.
Earlier, to make time, he had only been drinking nutrient fluid. Now that he had contracted a beast, he finally had the leisure to start a fire and roast meat. “Look, Yuanyuan, I have a few more slices of meat here. Tell me, how much more do you need to eat to be full? Pick out how much you want to eat, and I’ll grill it for you.”
Hearing that he could grill as much as he picked, Fang Jing’s greed instantly flared up, and every single slice of meat was pulled out of the pack.
Lu Hao thought to himself, can you eat this much?
How could Yuanyuan’s tiny body possibly hold so much food?
Lu Hao scooped Fang Jing up and, regardless of whether the little beast was willing, flipped him right over onto his back, a large hand reaching out to touch him.
“Strange. You’ve eaten three pieces of meat, so why doesn’t your belly feel bloated at all?” Lu Hao stroked Fang Jing’s stomach with great curiosity.
This was bizarre. Generally, pet beasts this small, no matter how voracious, should never be able to fit food larger than their own body volume into their stomachs.
Except for combat-contracted beasts, which possessed innate abilities that caused their physical energy consumption to be extraordinarily high, requiring correspondingly massive energy intake.
And for a contracted beast, where did energy come from?
Naturally, from food.
But Yuanyuan was different. Although he was a contracted beast, he was also a pet beast. Since the little fellow wasn’t a combat-contracted beast, how could his appetite be so massive?
Lu Hao pondered; it seemed he would need to give Yuanyuan a thorough checkup once they returned to Capital Star.
Bound by the contract, Fang Jing knew the poop-scooping officer would never hurt him, but they were both men, so why did the officer keep touching his stomach?
Having his belly rubbed made Fang Jing feel shy for the first time. Yet, undeniably, the sensation of the officer stroking his stomach was, how should he put it, very comfortable. But mixed into that comfort seemed to be something else, resembling the sensation of a tiny strand of heavenly thunder entering the body, tingling, yet unexpectedly relaxing.
Kicking out with all four limbs, Fang Jing let out a low, rumbling grunt.
Lu Hao turned his head to look and saw that his Yuanyuan had closed his eyes. Even though the little face was covered in fur, Lu Hao still noticed that the little fellow seemed utterly intoxicated.
So, he petted him for a while longer. Deciding it was about time, he gently pinched Fang Jing’s front paws with both hands, brought him eye-to-eye with the beast, and said dotingly, “Alright, wait until I finish grilling the meat, and I’ll play with you more, okay? Be a good boy.”
That soft, gentle “be a good boy” made Fang Jing’s ears tingle down to the roots. He wanted to scratch with his paws, but they were too short, so he tilted his head and rubbed it against Lu Hao’s hand instead, squinting his eyes in sheer comfort.
Lu Hao’s heart skipped a beat. He pressed his lips together and tightened his grip on Fang Jing ever so slightly.
However, Fang Jing’s sweet dreams were cut short. Once he finished off Lu Hao’s remaining few meat slices and ate two wild berries that Lu Hao tucked into his military pack, Lu Hao wiped his paws clean. Well-fed, satisfied, and thoroughly tidied up, Fang Jing drifted straight off to sleep.
Just as he slipped into dreamland, Fang Jing thought that the little beasts were right. Once you have a poop-scooping officer, your living standards truly shoot straight up, and it is simply pure bliss.
“He fell asleep just like that? Eating his fill and immediately dozing off, is he really still a baby beast?” Lu Hao picked up the sleeping Fang Jing, gently placing him onto the prepared woolen blanket inside the tent. After cleaning himself up, he lay down on the other side and pulled another woolen blanket over to cover himself.
The netizens in the live-stream feed were completely dumbfounded. No, wait, was this really the Third Young Master Lu they knew?
The young master of the Marshal’s household rarely showed his face in public since childhood, but his fame at the First Military Academy was massive.
Cold and aloof male god, study god, iceberg campus prince, and so on, without exception, no matter what title it was, gentleness was never associated with him.
Yet right now, who was the person speaking in such gentle tones, moving with utmost care, and patiently tending to a contracted beast inside the live stream?
Not only were the vast general public convinced for a moment that their eyes were playing tricks on them, but even Lu Jingzhou and his sons found it utterly unbelievable.
Netizens watching online turned into lovestruck fools screaming their heads off, though a few uncultured voices tried to ruin the mood, whining that it was just a pet beast and asking if all this fuss was really necessary.
[Whether it’s necessary or not isn’t up to you to decide. If Student Lu thinks it’s necessary, then it is. What’s it to you?]
[Wait, the pet beast Third Young Master Lu contracted seems a bit smart. It looks like it understands human speech.]
[Actually, some pet beasts are quite smart. Take my German Shepherd for example, teach it a movement a few times and it understands what it means.]
[True, pet beasts like dogs are quite smart. Of course, other pet beasts are too. Looking at Yuanyuan, it seems, well, it should be just like dogs or similar pet beasts; with a bit of teaching, it ought to understand human speech.]
[What on earth is that thing Third Young Master Lu contracted anyway? I’ve been searching for half the day and couldn’t match it to a single known species.]
The internet began to further discuss and debate Fang Jing’s classification.
Fang Jing, currently on a date with Lord Dream, was sleeping in complete and utter satisfaction until a sudden peal of thunder startled him awake.
The moment Fang Jing stirred, a large hand reached out and gently cupped over him. “Yuanyuan, don’t be afraid. I’m right here.”
Mm, what a nice voice.
Fang Jing’s ears perked straight up. Just waking up, his brain was still groggy, and for a moment he couldn’t remember which senior brother’s voice this belonged to, before it finally clicked after a few seconds.
Oh right, it’s the poop-scooping officer!
Fang Jing shifted, moving freely beneath the blanket. The moment the palm lifted away, Lu Hao woke up.
Soon, a furry head appeared against his chest.
Fang Jing curled his body into a ball, sleeping right on Lu Hao’s chest. Before even drifting off again, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
If he slept like this, the poop-scooping officer wouldn’t be able to pull his blanket up! And if the officer pulled the blanket up, wouldn’t he suffocate?
In the end, considering himself very clever, Fang Jing found a win-win solution: he inched his little body upward until his little head could rest against the officer’s shoulder, and then he sprawled out all four limbs, puffing away in deep sleep right on top of the officer’s warm chest.
The feeling of cuddling with the poop-scooping officer was so wonderful, warm and deeply reassuring.
Listening to the steady, soft breathing by his ear, Lu Hao couldn’t help chuckling. The speed at which this little fellow fell asleep was unmatched; all that food he ate must have gone straight to padding his rump.
The plump backside beneath Lu Hao’s palm felt full of substance, soft and squishy, a bit like jelly, simply irresistible. Lu Hao gave it a few squeezes before finally falling asleep in complete contentment.