The Child Raised by a Golden Retriever Boy-Mom - Chapter 7

After finishing the room decorations before the New Year, the festive atmosphere filled every corner of the house.

Lu Yubai looked at his refreshed home with curious eyes. He squatted by the window for a long time, staring at the large red lanterns swaying back and forth.

“Yubai, the sun is great today. Let’s go downstairs and air out the quilts.”

Feng You folded the quilts into a basket and headed downstairs, carrying the newly bought steel drying rack.

In the open space of the residential complex, many families were airing out their bedding. It was a rare, warm, sunny day in winter, and everyone wanted to take advantage of the weather to freshen up their cotton quilts.

Qin Xiaotang’s family was also downstairs; they had already finished hanging their quilts on the racks.

As the adults exchanged pleasantries and discussed their New Year plans, Xia Chang’an slipped away from his mother to find his younger brother, Lu Yubai.

This brother was still very small; he could not speak and was very quiet.

“Yubai-didi, I’ll tell you a secret.”

Xia Chang’an poked his head out from behind a quilt and prodded Lu Yubai, who was busy playing with the fabric.

“I got double 100s on my exams this semester, and Mommy promised to buy me a puppy!”

“I am going to have a new family member. You must come play with me after the New Year, and I will introduce you to my puppy.”

Lu Yubai looked up at this somewhat unfamiliar older brother. His round, dark eyes rolled once as he thought about a plan.

He pursed his lips, patted the quilt, and nodded.

「Alpha. Not Mommy. Won’t bite.」

Xia Chang’an had no idea what the silent little boy was thinking; he only knew that his younger brother had agreed to play with him, and he clapped his hands happily.

“Great! Yubai-didi, you must come! I will wait for you!”

“The puppy and I both want to be your best friends!”

He skipped away to find Qin Xiaotang, chanting, “Mommy, Didi promised to play with me!”

Feng You finished tidying the quilts and reached down to pat Lu Yubai’s head.

“Our little cub has a best friend now.”

Lu Yubai blinked, hugged Feng You’s leg with one arm, and rested his face against his knee, dazing off.

「Friend. Won’t bite.」

As the sun began to set, Feng You led Lu Yubai to collect the quilts.

Having been out in the sun all day, the cotton quilts were warm, fluffy, and soft. They had an indescribable warmth to them, the scent of the sun.

Lu Yubai grabbed a corner of the quilt and rubbed his face against it.

It felt very warm. Burying his face into the fluffy cotton created a small pit that he could sink into.

Lu Yubai thought of the feeling of sleeping pressed against Mommy late at night; it was just like this: soft, warm, and deep enough to sink into.

He covered himself in the sunken quilt, greedily soaking in the scent of the sunlight, that dry, warm, incredibly reassuring smell that felt exceptionally familiar to him.

It felt very much like Mommy.

Consequently, his little brain captured a key piece of information: Lu Yubai opened his mouth and bit down on the quilt.

His mouth was full of cotton quilt, stuffed to the brim, and he refused to let go.

“Yubai? What are you doing?”

Feng You noticed this and picked the child up.

Even though his body was dangling in the air, Lu Yubai still did not let go. He stubbornly tugged the heavy quilt toward the edge of the rack, only releasing the poor thing when he could no longer hold on.

A patch of saliva spread across the quilt, along with a deep ring of tooth marks.

Fortunately, the quilt was fluffy enough that the marks quickly disappeared.

“Cub, what are you doing? Are you hungry?”

Feng You lifted Lu Yubai high, holding him almost at eye level.

In mid-air, Lu Yubai flailed his limbs a few times, looking like he was performing a complex freestyle swim in the sky.

Usually, when he was truly hungry, he would cry. Now, however, he seemed quite calm, merely wiggling around like a little loach.

“Alright, let’s go home and eat.”

Feng You held him with one arm, using the other to pull down the quilt and stuff it into the basket, pressing it into a small bundle before picking up the basket.

Leaning against Feng You’s shoulder, Lu Yubai stared at the ground in a daze, his nose pressed against the crook of Feng You’s neck.

He felt as though the sunlight was accompanying them all the way home, even as night fell and the sun had set.

The sun-kissed scent of the quilt seemed to linger on his face; that warm smell haunted him.

Lu Yubai opened his mouth again, seeking that familiar feeling, and bit right into the crook of his Golden Retriever Mommy’s neck.

「Sunlight. Warmth. Mommy.」

He chewed as hard as he did the first time he met Feng You.

Or perhaps, instinctively, even harder.

“Hiss,” Feng You swayed.

He was used to the little cub chewing on his Golden Retriever tail and had always been indulgent to the point of spoiling him.

After all, no matter how hard Lu Yubai chewed, there was a thick layer of dog fur in between, so it did not really hurt.

But this time, he had bitten directly into his Omega gland.

As it happened, because Feng You had no pheromones and no heat cycles, he had long treated himself as a Beta and did not even bother buying scent-blocking patches.

“Yubai,” Feng You placed the basket of quilts at the doorstep and touched the crook of his neck with his free hand.

As expected, his fingers came away with blood.

This kid was like a little wolf cub.

He was grateful that Lu Yubai was just a young child who had not gone through a secondary differentiation; even if he bit him, there would not be any lasting consequences, only his fragile gland being broken and bleeding, which would sting for a while.

If a differentiated Alpha bit an Omega, it would result in a temporary mark for both parties.

That Alpha would likely be treated as a criminal and sent to juvenile detention.

Feng You set Lu Yubai down and squatted so they were at eye level.

Using a rare, serious tone, he said earnestly, “Yubai, biting someone’s neck is a very special act. You cannot just bite it whenever you want.”

“I know you do not understand the meaning behind this action yet, and you did not mean any harm.”

He held Lu Yubai’s hands, squeezing them gently, looking firmly at the child.

“This is wrong, little cub. You cannot do this casually in the future.”

Feng You hoped Lu Yubai would understand that this was forbidden, but he did not want to resort to scolding or hitting.

His serious tone and expression were enough for educational purposes; there was no need for the rod.

He believed Lu Yubai was not a troublesome brat and surely had his own reasons, so he exercised a great deal of patience.

Lu Yubai lowered his head, likely startled by Feng You’s tone.

The child had never heard his Golden Retriever Mommy speak like this; Mommy was always soft-spoken and coaxing.

He nodded, and when he looked up again, his eyes were rimmed with red.

Feng You paused, his tone softening immediately as he reached out to pull the child into his arms.

“Alright, alright, do not cry. A good child corrects their mistakes.”

“I know our Yubai is a very good boy and would not hurt anyone on purpose.”

“I am not blaming you, little cub. Just remember that you cannot go around biting people’s necks, okay? Do not cry anymore.”

Lu Yubai tried hard to hold back his tears and nodded again.

After dinner, Feng You was washing the dishes.

He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see Lu Yubai pulling at him.

He took off his gloves and squatted down to pat the child’s head.

“What is it?”

Lu Yubai dragged a small medicine box out from behind him, carefully opened it, and pulled out a tube of ointment for children’s bruises and injuries.

The child pushed the ointment toward Feng You, looking at him expectantly.

“Is this for me?”

Lu Yubai nodded and even fished out some cotton swabs.

Whenever he had an injury in the past, like a bug bite, Mommy would always apply this carefully for him.

「This is a magical thing.」

“Okay, thank you, cub. Such a good boy.”

Feng You had not been angry from the start, and now he wore a tender smile.

Though this child could not speak, his perception of everything around him was very delicate, and he was more obedient than most children.

At night, Lu Yubai lay in Feng You’s arms, his little face pressed against his mother’s chest as usual.

He could not smell the familiar scent anymore; it had been replaced by a completely foreign smell, pungent, cool, and bitter.

Lu Yubai realized this was the result of his mistake. Because he had bitten Mommy until he bled, he had lost that familiar sense of warmth.

A strong sense of extreme insecurity and anxiety made it hard for him to sleep. He instinctively began to grind his teeth, making a creaking sound.

“Yubai? What is wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Feng You turned on the light and helped the curled-up Lu Yubai sit up.

Even though it was late at night, Feng You did not dare be careless. He was worried that biting the gland had actually affected Lu Yubai in some way.

Even though, logically, that should not happen.

He got up to grab some clothes from the bedside, but as soon as he stood, he heard the child’s low sobbing.

“Where does it hurt? Can you tell me?”

Feng You felt anxious, wishing the child could speak right now and tell him what was happening.

But he still tried his best to keep his voice soft, gentle and non-threatening as usual, so as not to scare the boy.

Lu Yubai took Feng You’s large hand and rubbed his teeth back and forth against the back of his fingers, almost like brushing them.

He did not dare bite down like before, but the unfamiliar smell of the medicine had placed him in an anxious environment; this was the only way he could find some relief.

Feng You seemed to realize it was still about what happened earlier.

He let out a sigh of relief, sat back down on the bed, and pulled the child to sit between his legs.

“Do not be sad, little cub. I am really okay.”

Seeing the child holding his hand with bloodshot eyes, the Golden Retriever Mommy finally gave in.

“Bite if you want, it is okay. I do not have Omega pheromones, so nothing will happen.”

An Omega without pheromones or heat cycles was no different from a Beta; they could not be marked and would not affect an Alpha.

Besides, Lu Yubai was still small. The trauma of his mutism made his mind different from other children. If he were to forcibly stop this behavior now, Feng You feared the child might never speak for the rest of his life.

Sure enough, Lu Yubai opened his mouth and rubbed his teeth against the webbing of Feng You’s thumb.

He had learned his lesson; he bit very, very lightly. After biting, he looked up to observe Feng You’s expression, continuing only after receiving an indulgent nod of approval.

Having spent so much time at the factory, this was the first time Feng You had encountered such a situation.

He felt he had to compromise once more, saying earnestly, “Yubai, you cannot just go around biting people outside, you know?”

As an Alpha, that would be illegal.

Feng You felt that, at the very least, this boundary had to be clearly communicated to Lu Yubai.

Lu Yubai stopped and nodded with equal seriousness.

「Only Golden Retriever Mommy is allowed!」

The child’s joy became visible to the naked eye. He happily chewed on the webbing of Feng You’s hand and flashed a smile.

Feng You did not know what the child was thinking; he only felt that the boy’s emotions came and went quickly. Just moments ago, he was sobbing as if having a nightmare, and now he was smiling broadly, looking very happy.

Being chewed on a few times was a very, very small price to pay.

Lu Yubai leaned in and slumped against Feng You’s shoulder.

The pungent smell of the medicine was very close, hitting his nose and making his eyes water.

However, he no longer felt anxious. Instead, he leaned in and rubbed the tip of his nose against the thin layer of gauze.

The Golden Retriever ears drooping next to Feng You’s head brushed against his cheek, a soft, furry expanse.

Lu Yubai opened his mouth and gently took the tip of a puppy ear in his teeth, then let go to observe Feng You’s reaction.

Feng You laughed helplessly and nodded.

“You can bite it. It is okay.”

It was not like he would lose a piece of flesh.

Having received this indulgent permission, Lu Yubai let out a rare giggle and refused to let go of the magical puppy ear.

Only Mommy had these Golden Retriever ears. In the whole world, only his one-and-only Mommy had them.

After all the fuss, Feng You still kept the matter in mind and found time to take Lu Yubai to see a doctor.

“The oral stage? What on earth is that?”

Feng You looked at the diagnosis sheet and asked in confusion.