Ruan Tao’s “Aba” was so soft and sweet that no one could refuse such an adorable little creature.
Bo Yutong rubbed the tip of her tiny nose with his fingertip and said gently, “Your mouth is so sweet. What do you want?”
Ruan Tao’s first reaction was to secretly think: You’ve never tasted it, so how do you know my mouth is sweet?
Her second reaction was: How did Bo Yutong know that whenever she needed to ask someone for a favor, she would become completely spineless and start saying nice things?
She could never have imagined that her timid yet mischievous, little-rodent-like behavior already gave people exactly that impression.
Bo Yutong was extremely confident—so confident that it even bordered on arrogance.
He believed that no matter how much Ruan Tao stirred up trouble, she could never cause any real waves. So he simply indulged her without limits and let her do whatever she wanted.
After all, no matter what she did, he would spoil her. Who would dare to say a single word against it?
“Aba understands me.” Ruan Tao chuckled. “Tao Tao wants the little snow leopard. The one from Ba Ye’s house.”
Bo Yutong asked, “You’re very close with Ba Ye?”
“Very close?” Ruan Tao tilted her head and thought for a moment. “No. Tao Tao has never spoken to Ba Ye.”
Bo Yutong’s face revealed neither anger nor joy. “Then why did Tao Tao plead for him yesterday?”
Ruan Tao replied, “It felt familiar. Tao Tao didn’t want him to die.”
Bo Yutong gave a light “Mm” and said nothing more, casually scratching under Ruan Tao’s chin with his finger.
Ruan Tao rubbed her face against his finger in a coquettish manner.
Bo Yutong assumed that she must have been caught by Ba Ye before she had gained full intelligence, which was why she felt a sense of familiarity but didn’t recognize him.
He never once imagined that inside this little hamster lived a shameless young woman.
Taking advantage of being treated like a child, she began acting cute with all her might.
“The little snow leopard is very cute.” Ruan Tao hugged Bo Yutong’s finger and tried to brainwash him. “Tao Tao has already thought of its name. It will be called Xue Rong, because it’s fluffy just like Tao Tao.”
Bo Yutong said, “I only raise one pet.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
Why did this conversation sound a little familiar?
Bo Yutong teased her. “You can only choose one—either it or Tao Tao.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
Of course it sounded familiar. Wasn’t this exactly what her mother had told her when she was little and wanted to keep a cat?
“Our family can only keep one beast.”
Except at that time, her mother had said: “You can only choose one—your brother or the cat.”
Young Ruan Tao had tearfully chosen her big brother.
She had regretted that decision for at least ten years.
But now Ruan Tao was no longer such an easily fooled child. Bo Yutong treated her like a little kid, but she could easily turn the tables on him.
“Sir only needs to raise Tao Tao.” Ruan Tao said sweetly. “Xue Rong will be Tao Tao’s pet.”
A pet that wanted to keep a pet—how novel.
Bo Yutong liked things he had never heard of before.
He personally cut a small piece of peach for Ruan Tao. Standing up, he draped his coat over his arm and said, “I’ll go bring your pet back. Behave yourself.”
Holding the peach happily, Ruan Tao nodded. “Sir, come back soon.”
As Bo Yutong walked out the door, he said without turning his head, “I’ll settle the score with you when I get back.”
Ruan Tao jumped in shock, nearly dropping the peach in her hands.
“W-what?”
“Don’t run around. How many times have I told you that?” Bo Yutong’s voice was extremely calm. “Did you take my words seriously?”
Ruan Tao: “………………”
It seemed that at first Bo Yutong had simply thought her intelligence wasn’t fully developed, so she might not completely understand his words. That was why he hadn’t argued with her.
But after communicating with her, he realized that not only was she smart enough—she even knew how to act obedient and cute.
She hadn’t misunderstood.
She simply hadn’t wanted to listen.
Bo Yutong’s side fell silent, and Ruan Tao started to feel like crying.
Now she regretted telling Bo Yutong to “come back soon.” She hoped he wouldn’t come back at all.
The moment that thought appeared, Bo Yutong’s voice suddenly sounded again in her mind.
“I can hear what you’re thinking.”
Ruan Tao: “…Cough cough cough cough.”
Bo Yutong curled the corner of his lips before finally cutting off the communication.
After eating the peach, Ruan Tao felt sticky around her mouth and paws, which made her uncomfortable.
She was in Bo Yutong’s room.
Bo Yutong’s body no longer required much energy. One bottle of water could sustain him for more than half a month, so there wasn’t any water in his bedroom at all.
Fortunately, there was a pack of tissues on the bedside table.
In this era, such luxurious tissue paper was no longer produced. Yet beside Bo Yutong’s bed there was a full pack that looked completely unused.
Perhaps it was just decoration—to give this cold, rigid room a slight trace of human life.
Ruan Tao huffed and puffed as she climbed over. Lying on top of the tissue pack, she pulled out one sheet and wiped her mouth and paws clean.
Although it didn’t really feel clean—she would still need water to wash properly.
But overwhelming sleepiness had already taken over Ruan Tao’s hamster brain.
She lay on top of the tissue pack, closed her eyes, and fell asleep very contentedly.
When she woke up again, it was because she heard faint whining sounds.
Ruan Tao drowsily opened her eyes and searched through the darkness for the source that had disturbed her beautiful dream.
The sound wasn’t far away.
When she raised her head, she saw it.
She remembered that she had fallen asleep on a pack of tissues, but now she had been moved into a soft and adorable little nest.
The sticky feeling on her face and paws had been wiped clean. Beneath her head was even a brand-new tissue, probably because someone thought she liked these things.
After all, her previous “villa” had been covered with shredded paper everywhere.
A small floral blanket was draped over her as well. She had no idea where it came from. She pushed it aside, crawled out of the nest, and shook out her hamster fur.
The whining immediately grew louder.
“Ao! Tao Tao, you’re awake!”
Ruan Tao poked her head out and looked. Her nest had been placed on top of a low cabinet, and beside the cabinet was a cage.
The little snow leopard was locked inside, jumping up and down.
“Tao Tao! Tao Tao!” the snow leopard sounded very excited. “Play with me! Let’s play!”
Ruan Tao said, “Wait, Xue Rongrong. I just woke up. You’re giving me a bit of a headache…”
“Rongrong?”
The little fellow tilted his head and widened his blue-gray eyes.
“I won’t! I’m a boy! Don’t call me Rongrong! I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!”
Ruan Tao: “……”
She believed him.
Not only was he a boy—he was clearly a real five- or six-year-old boy.
Full of energy and noisy as anything.
“Then I’ll think of another name.” Ruan Tao waved a paw. “Stop shouting.”
The little fellow brightened again.
“Play! Come play!”
Ruan Tao said, “No playing. Be quiet.”
The young snow leopard drooped his head.
“…Wuu ao wuu wuu…”
After thinking for a moment, Ruan Tao gave him a more imposing name.
“How about Xue Xiao? Xiao as in ‘howl.’”
His nickname could be Xiao Xiao. It sounded like “smile-smile,” which was also very cute.
Xue Xiao rolled on the ground with his round little legs, wagging his thick fluffy tail happily.
“Xue Xiao! Xue Xiao! Yay!”
Ruan Tao asked him, “Do you know where Sir went?”
“Sir?” Xue Xiao tilted his head. “Mr. Bo?”
Ruan Tao nodded.
Xue Xiao stomped his thick paw on the ground proudly.
“I don’t know!”
Ruan Tao: “……” Then what are you so proud of?
“But I can ask someone else.”
Xue Xiao stomped the floor again, spun around twice on the spot, his round fluffy tail swaying back and forth. Then he let out two loud howls.
A huge butterfly flew in through the window, startling Ruan Tao so badly that she backed up several steps.
The butterfly was pure black, with lake-blue patterns on its wings. If Ruan Tao had seen such a butterfly before, she would definitely have thought it beautiful—she might even have stopped to take a few photos.
But now this butterfly was even bigger than she was.
Ruan Tao took another step back.
“Have you seen Mr. Bo?” Xue Xiao asked the butterfly politely.
The butterfly flapped her wings. Her voice was thin and soft, and she even sounded as if she were about to cry.
“I… I saw him… sob…”
Xue Xiao asked, “What’s wrong?”
But the butterfly only cried and couldn’t say a word.
Before Ruan Tao could speak, she saw Xue Xiao suddenly slap the ground hard with his thick paw pad and say in a childish voice, “I’m asking you a question!”
The butterfly’s wings began trembling visibly.
“I… I’m injured,” the butterfly said with a trembling voice. “Mr. Bo should be in the forest behind the Administrative District now. My home was destroyed by him… all destroyed… sob sob…”
As the butterfly spoke, she burst into tears again, carefully observing Xue Xiao’s expression while crying.
Ruan Tao asked, “…What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” Xue Xiao answered matter-of-factly. “Small animals like this being frightened by my beastly aura is completely normal.”
“Beastly aura?”
“We high-level magical beasts can exert pressure on lower-level animals,” Xue Xiao said while licking his paw. “You can think of it as my majesty. Very scary.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
This soft, fluffy little fellow with his chubby tiger-like face—how could the words “majestic” and “scary” possibly have anything to do with him?