Lu Hao caught the white ball of fur and laughed happily. He even spun around twice while holding Fang Jing’s front paws, making the little creature’s lower body swing through the air.
This is so much fun!
Fang Jing was delighted and felt immensely entertained. It had been a long time since anyone had played with him like this.
When he was just a few years old, his Master doted on him and used to carry him around in circles just like this. Every time he was happy, his Master would kiss him, praise him for being cute, and call her precious treasure. But as he grew older, his Master’s affection had faded by half, and she stopped playing with him altogether.
“Yuanyuan, look!”
Not daring to spin him too much for fear of making him dizzy, Lu Hao placed Fang Jing onto a patch of green grass. He then picked up a tiny flower wreath from the side and placed it gently on the beast’s head.
Fang Jing stayed still until Lu Hao finished adjusting it. Then, he lifted his head, blinked his eyes, and chirped, “Ji?” (Does it look good?)
At that moment, as if they shared a telepathic connection, Lu Hao nodded and said, “It looks great. My Yuanyuan is so cute.”
As Lu Hao stood up, Fang Jing leaped straight back into his arms. Wanting to express his joy and gratitude just like he used to when he was little, he wanted to give a kiss.
Every time he kissed his Master’s face in the past, she would become so happy that she completely forgot about maintaining her usual elegant poise. She would laugh like a duck, going quack, quack, quack.
Fang Jing also wanted to kiss his human servant to let him know how happy he was to receive the flower wreath.
“Ji-ji-ji-ji-ji-ji.”
“What’s wrong?” Not understanding Fang Jing’s intention, Lu Hao could only hold him closely, following his movements. Supporting the little creature’s small bottom with both hands, he brought him right up to eye level and lowered his head. “Like this?”
“Ji!”
The tactile sensation against his cheek caught Lu Hao completely off guard, leaving him frozen in place for a long time, unable to process what had just happened.
So, the little guy had chirped so many times just to give him a kiss?
Lu Hao felt a surge of happiness. Beyond that, he didn’t think much of it. How could he possibly overthink it?
This was simply a white ball of fur that knew how to show gratitude.
[Holy crap, this scene is way too beautiful.]
[The snow-white ball of fur wearing a flower wreath is being held up by the campus hunk of the First Military Academy. Man and beast smiling at each other.]
[Turns out our Third Young Master Lu is actually such a romantic person. Look at that smile! Oh my god, why are the corners of my mouth curving up on their own? I’m totally shipping this.]
[Am I going blind, or is this giving me some kind of feeling?]
[Can the person in front stop overthinking? Human and beast? You sure have a wild imagination. Look at what you typed next, it all turned into asterisks, definitely nothing innocent.]
[What’s wrong with that? Love knows no age and no gender.]
[लेकिन it definitely has to draw the line at species.]
[Oh well.]
The livestream’s bullet chat was once again a dense wall of scrolling text. Since Lu Hao couldn’t see it, he naturally wasn’t affected. Right now, his heart and soul were entirely focused on his contracted beast.
The white ball of fur wearing the flower wreath looked even more gorgeous under the sunlight with its purple eyes. Lu Hao couldn’t help but praise, “My Yuanyuan is so pretty.”
Fang Jing didn’t catch the strong sense of possessiveness behind the word “My.” Instead, he felt quite pleased with himself and chirped a few times.
He wanted to say: Human servant, you’re very pretty too. I’m going to weave a flower wreath for you as well, to make you look even better.
Thinking meant doing.
Fang Jing jumped out of Lu Hao’s palms and darted back into the flower patch.
However, thinking was easy; doing was hard.
Fang Jing forgot that he was no longer human; his beast paws simply lacked the dexterity of human hands.
After a long while, he hadn’t even managed to create the basic shape of a wreath.
What is going on? As a peerless talent, he refused to be defeated by such a trivial matter.
Lu Hao had roasted a few wild rabbits and some fish, surrounding the burning campfire with meat.
Judging solely by this scene, anyone who didn’t know better would think he was here on a relaxing vacation.
At a time like this, other military cadets were still busy tracking their contracted beasts, searching day and night. But look at him, he was completely leisurely, feeding his white ball of fur on time every single day without missing a single meal.
“Yuanyuan?”
Seeing that the meat was almost done roasting and the little foodie still hadn’t returned, Lu Hao had no choice but to call out.
“Ji-ji.” (I’m right here.)
Fang Jing could smell the savory aroma of the meat, but his stubborn pride was hurt. Even though his stomach was rumbling, he refused to go back; he was determined to finish weaving that flower wreath.
“Why aren’t you coming back?” Lu Hao quickly located the white ball of fur wearing the little flower wreath. His Yuanyuan was so small that even from behind, Lu Hao could see the ravaged wild flowers and the messy heap clutched in the little guy’s paws. Was that a wreath?
Lu Hao crouched down and took an uncertain glance. “Does Yuanyuan want another one?”
“Ji.”
Still unable to understand, Lu Hao replied based on his own interpretation, “You didn’t weave this right. Your head is small, so we need to make a small one. If it’s too big, you won’t be able to wear it.”
“Ji.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Fang Jing turned around, blocking Lu Hao from touching his semi-finished product, and went right back to his manual handicraft.
Ten minutes later, a horrifying, battered-looking wreath that appeared to have been stepped on a few times, crooked and ready to fall apart at any second, was finally completed.
Overjoyed, Fang Jing grabbed the wreath with his two front paws, propped himself up with his left foot, tucked in his right foot, and hopped back and forth in excitement.
Lu Hao: “Oh.”
That was certainly a unique way to celebrate!
Lu Hao smiled as well, amused by Fang Jing’s silly antics.
“Ji!”
Fang Jing leaped up. He was already used to it, or rather, driven by total trust in his human servant, he believed that the human would catch him.
Look, once again, he was caught securely and steadily by his human servant.
“Ji-ji-ji.”
“Like this?” Lu Hao was completely baffled, not understanding what his Yuanyuan was trying to do this time. He could only follow the creature’s prompt and cradle him up in both hands.
“Ji-ji-ji-ji-ji.” (Not high enough, a little higher.)
Seeing the white ball of fur stretching its paws upward with all its might, and noticing the wreath clutched tightly in those paws, a flash of insight struck Lu Hao, bringing a sudden wave of realization.
“Is Yuanyuan’s wreath meant for me?”
“Ji-ji-ji-ji.” (That’s right, courtesy demands reciprocity after all!)
Lu Hao had never imagined that his pet contracted beast could be so clever. It actually knew how to give him a flower wreath in return! Was it imitating him because it saw him giving one to it earlier?
If parents are a child’s first teachers, then as a master, was he his contracted beast’s first teacher?
Regardless of who trained other people’s contracted beasts after they were bound, Lu Hao had already made up his mind. His contracted beast, he would teach. His contracted beast, he would manage and raise. In short, he wouldn’t hand it over to anyone else, and no one was allowed to take it.
Lu Hao lowered his head, unable to hide the emotion in his chest, until he felt a weight land on top of his head, confirming his guess.
“Yuanyuan, thank you for the gift. I really like it.”
“Ji.”
Fang Jing was thrilled. He bobbed his head, as if tilting it to the side to present half of his face for Lu Hao to see.
Lu Hao: “Well.”
Ever since he got a contracted beast, Lu Hao’s comprehension skills had been skyrocketing.
“This is…”
Lu Hao thought back. Earlier today, when he put the flower wreath on Yuanyuan, the little guy had happily given him a kiss.
So, did it want a kiss in return now too?
Lu Hao: “Hmm.”
The little guy really knew how to copy what it saw.
Having received his kiss, Fang Jing let out a long chirp, his tail wagging so wildly behind him that it nearly blurred into an afterimage.
Lu Hao set him down. The moment his paws touched the ground, Fang Jing began hopping around excitedly from side to side.
He didn’t quite know why, but whenever he felt happy, he just wanted to jump around like this to vent the overflowing energy brought on by his high spirits.
“Yuanyuan, come over for dinner. Look, I roasted some cloud rabbit for you tonight. This kind of rabbit doesn’t have a gamey smell and is very fragrant. Have a try.”
Lu Hao sliced the meat piece by piece and placed it onto a plate. Figuring the little white fur ball must have worn itself out this afternoon, it was eating voraciously, forcing Lu Hao to speed up his slicing. “Yuanyuan, eat slowly, there’s no rush.”
“Ji.”
It was Fang Jing’s first time discovering that rabbit meat could taste this delicious. In the past, he subsisted mostly on inedible fasting pills. A single pill would keep him from feeling hungry for half a year or more.
Ever since he got his human servant, he had already tasted several kinds of delicacies, and every single one of them was amazing.
Having a human servant was simply wonderful!
“Ji.” (You should eat too.)
Fang Jing didn’t actually need to be waited on. Fearing that he would delay his human servant from eating, he simply lunged right beside the roasted rabbit and began tearing into it with big bites.
Lu Hao’s eyes widened. By the time he wanted to stop him, it was already too late.
His fluffy white ball of fur had officially turned into an oily ball of fur.
Lu Hao endured and endured. He barely managed to wait until Fang Jing had eaten and drunk his fill before scooping him up. Pinching the fur around the little creature’s pink lips, looking seemingly disgusted while his eyes brimmed with gentle light, Lu Hao smiled softly. His slender phoenix eyes curved slightly, and the warmth in his gaze was brighter and more mesmerizing than the thousands of stars in the night sky. “Yuanyuan, look at you, all greasy. Can I even keep you now?”
Whether due to post-meal lethargy or something else, Fang Jing didn’t move. He stared straight at Lu Hao with his large purple eyes for a long moment before letting out a chirp, struggling as he tried to climb back up onto Lu Hao’s body.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ji.”
Bewitched by desire, Fang Jing suddenly had an overwhelming, lustful urge to kiss Lu Hao.
Because he wanted to, he went ahead and did it.
Lu Hao’s patience seemed to have no limits. Even though half of his face had been dirtied by Fang Jing’s sudden, unexpected action, he didn’t get angry. He raised an eyebrow, his voice remaining as warm and pleasant as ever: “Does Yuanyuan like me that much?”
“Mn.”
Beneath the starry night sky, among the sleeping blossoms, amidst the chorus of chirping insects, Fang Jing foolishly nodded.
“Hmm?”
Lu Hao stopped smiling. Instead, he furrowed his brow, whipped his head from side to side to scan his surroundings, and failing to spot anyone else, turned back and wiped his face. “What was that sound just now?”
Was he starting to hallucinate?
Even though it was just a faint, brief utterance, Lu Hao was certain he had heard it.
Fang Jing: “Oh.”
That was close. I almost blew my cover just because I was bewitched by his good looks.
“Ji-ji-ji-ji-ji-ji!” (You heard wrong, it was just me chirping!)
“Yuanyuan, was that you… never mind.” Although the voice had seemed to come right from in front of him based on its location, the moment he searched for the source and processed his subconscious instincts, Lu Hao knew that hypothesis was impossible to believe.
A contracted beast that could speak human language?
Ever since humans migrated to Capital Star and initiated the interstellar calendar, such a thing had never been heard of.
“Ji?”
Flustered, Fang Jing chirped a few haphazard notes to prove that other than chirping, he was completely incapable of speaking human speech.
Lu Hao, who had initially been skeptical, fell silent when he noticed Fang Jing’s slightly panicked little expression.
Beneath the moonlight, Lu Hao was hammering away at the edge of the forest, doing goodness knows what. Half an hour later, he returned carrying a section of tree trunk nearly a couple of feet wide.
Lu Hao hollowed out the middle of the trunk, turning it into a makeshift bathtub exclusively for his white fur ball.
“Yuanyuan, don’t go to sleep yet. Wait until I wash you clean before you sleep.”
With Fang Jing’s fur all greasy like that, if he burrowed straight into the blanket, the blanket would probably have to be thrown out by tomorrow morning.
Crouched on the grassy lawn nearby and growing drowsy, Fang Jing instantly perked up.
It had apparently been a long time since he last had a proper bath. As a little beast who cared about hygiene, Fang Jing wasn’t actually used to sleeping directly while filthy, either.
Before meeting his human servant, he used to leap back and forth among the trees looking for food. When it rained, he would squeeze into any tree hole he could find to shelter with other small beasts. If he couldn’t find one, he would cover himself with a large leaf.
But things were different now.
He no longer had to forage for food on his own. When a rainy night fell, he didn’t have to huddle together with other little beasts, nor did he have to sleep all alone out on a tree branch like a pitiful creature forgotten by the pouring rain.
He had a human servant now!
Even when he was dirty, his human servant didn’t find him disgusting, nor would he spare a single harsh word of complaint or scold him for doing something wrong. Instead, the human would simply figure out a way to solve the problem.
“Ji!”
Thinking of all this made Fang Jing immensely happy. What the other little beasts said was so right.
Fang Jing hopped over to the pile of firewood and squeezed in right against Lu Hao’s thigh. He wasn’t trying to warm himself by the fire. Rather, he stayed right beside Lu Hao, tilting his head and staring at him unblinkingly.
“Why do you keep looking at me?” On the way back, Lu Hao had gathered a few stones, washed them outside the forest, filled the wooden basin with water, and tossed the heated stones inside to whip up a batch of warm water.
Now, with Fang Jing staring at him so fixedly, Lu Hao found it thoroughly amusing and couldn’t help scratching the little fellow under the chin with his index finger.
Even though he knew that even if Fang Jing responded, he wouldn’t understand the words, he asked anyway.
“Ji.” (Human servant, you’re really wonderful.)
You’re good-looking, have a great temper, are skilled with your hands, and most importantly, you’re so good to me.
Whether Lu Hao understood or not, he smiled and said, “The stones will heat the water soon. Yuanyuan, shall we take off the flower wreath first?”
“Ji.” (Alright, I’ll listen to my human servant.)
Uncomprehending, Lu Hao reached out to remove the wreath he had personally placed on his contracted beast, then stood up and walked off to look for something else.