The Child Raised by a Golden Retriever Boy-Mom - Chapter 9

The little golden retriever puppy could not understand what humans were saying, but its fragmented barks allowed Feng You to guess the general idea. This little fellow had happily revoked its own canine status, confidently believing that every human in the world was actually a golden retriever in disguise. Its little master was no exception.

The tails of the large and small golden retrievers wagged rapidly, their frequencies almost syncing up. Lu Yubai curiously tried to grab the puppy’s short tail. Mistaking this for a gesture of play from a new human friend, the puppy barked excitedly. As it ran off, Lu Yubai followed behind, chasing it with unsteady steps.

“Sweet cub, run slowly! Do not fall!”

Seeing that the child’s running posture looked as if his left foot was stepping on his right, Feng You followed closely behind in a hurry. Just as the words left his mouth, Lu Yubai lunged toward the ground. Before his Golden Retriever Mommy’s words of comfort could reach him, Lu Yubai scrambled up from the ground and resumed chasing the wagging tail behind the puppy.

Xia Chang’an chased after them as well. He had promised his mother to take good care of this little brother and to teach him how to say “Mama.” As an only child, Xia Chang’an finally had the chance to act as an older brother and was determined to look after little Yubai.

“Brother Yubai! Wait for me!” Xia Chang’an shouted while running.

Thus, the little golden retriever ran in front while a group of people chased behind. The puppy had never experienced such treatment before and was overjoyed, scurrying all over the neighborhood.

By the time Lu Yubai returned home, his face was covered in dust and his clothes were filthy. He only realized he had been making a scene in the neighborhood when he heard the voice of a nearby parent educating their own child; he had not even heard his mommy calling him. The child lowered his head to stare at the tips of his shoes, his fingers nervously fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

Feng You knelt and picked him up.

“Are you tired of playing?”

Lu Yubai shook his head. He looked at how his dusty clothes had dirtied his mommy’s clean jacket and bit his lip nervously. When the child was troubled, he often had many small fidgets, usually liking to squeeze something. His small hands pinched Feng You’s face, then moved to grab his relaxed arm. Relaxed muscles always felt good to the touch, and a firm squeeze would leave a tiny handprint.

Lu Yubai moved randomly all over Feng You before finally focusing his attention on his golden retriever ears. Using both hands, he lifted the drooping ears and rolled them upward from the bottom until he reached the base. The moment he let go, the ears snapped back into place. The child giggled, immediately forgetting why he had been unhappy.

“Children really are,” Feng You laughed helplessly.

He carried Lu Yubai to a high stool and carefully washed his hands.

“Does it hurt anywhere from falling? You fell many times today.”

Lu Yubai shook his head. He was dressed very thickly, with many layers of cotton clothes and pants, plus a hat. He was bundled up like a giant dumpling. Even when he fell, it was like a ball rolling on the ground; he felt no pain and left no marks.

“That is good. Come, let us wash your face. We will change your clothes in a moment and put them in the washing machine.”

Feng You gently wiped the child’s face and hands, chatting in a soft tone.

“Was Yubai very happy today? You were bouncing around the courtyard. It is rare to see you so lively. Even when you fell, you got right back up without crying or fussing. Yubai is a very brave child.”

Lu Yubai blinked, staring blankly at his clean reflection in the mirror. He thought he would be scolded since he had made himself so dirty and had been too immersed in chasing the puppy to hear his mommy’s words. But he was not.

Lu Yubai did not know why, but his simple child’s logic interpreted this as: running and falling are okay. As long as you get back up and smile happily, it is fine. With Feng You’s help, he bathed and changed his clothes. When he stood before the mirror again, he was a clean child once more.

The dust from a fall can be washed away, but you must get up and keep running. This was what Mommy taught him.

During the days when spring flowers were blooming, Feng You found time to visit the factory, bringing many supplies for the children. Many of the Omega cubs he knew had left, replaced by unfamiliar faces. The fluffy white cat Omega was still there; he had grown quite a bit, but due to his genes, the white kitten fur on his face had not disappeared.

“Security has been tightened here,” a familiar auntie mentioned while chatting with Feng You.

“Did something happen?” Feng You asked.

“Many cubs have run away. That little snake cub you were familiar with, I forget his number, he slipped away,” the auntie said, looking worried. “In this cold weather, I do not know where he went to spend the winter.”

“Slipped away? Xiao Qi is a snake species; they often hide and sleep during winter. Did you look everywhere? Was he on the back mountain? In the caves?” Feng You was familiar with the snake cub’s habits and asked urgently.

“We looked, we looked everywhere. Even the missing person posters we put out received no response. The director was furious because of it.”

“A snake Omega should be quite conspicuous in a crowd,” Feng You murmured to himself.

Xiao Qi was a very well-behaved child who fully inherited the traits of a snake. His golden vertical pupils were intimidating and could scare other children, but compared to his peers, he was often dazed and had trouble speaking clearly.

While Feng You was worried, Lu Yubai acted as if he had entered a grand amusement park, curiously pinching a fluffy tail here or poking a small animal ear there. The cubs here were all non-human Omegas; only Lu Yubai was a human. He was as curious as if a new world had opened to him, chasing after various Omega brothers.

Fortunately, Feng You’s warnings were effective; he did not open his mouth to bite anything fluffy. Lu Yubai was very principled; he believed that the only things in this world meant for biting, aside from the food and toys given by Mommy, was Mommy himself. He only bit those things.

Feng You also posted a missing person inquiry and received a reply quite quickly. The person who emailed back was a minor who used many words to guarantee he would take good care of the cub, and he sent several large attachments regarding snake care.

“He has a new name, Shen Zhiqian. We saw the factory’s missing person posters earlier. Xiao Qi said they are bad people and we should not reply. But you are different. Xiao Qi trusts you and said you were the one who raised him.”

In the attached photos, the sleeping snake Omega had grown much rounder after the winter, and the scales on his tail were shiny and bright.

“He has some winter hibernation traits of snakes and sleeps all the time. He was not awake when I wrote the email, so I only took photos of him sleeping. I will take good care of him. Although I raise him the way a snake should be raised, he always has to be coaxed with ‘Puppies eat this’ before he will eat, likely due to your influence.”

That little fellow.

Feng You felt a bit more relieved. This Alpha child seemed to be treating the little snake well.

As the weather gradually warmed, Feng You washed the heavy cotton quilts at home, preparing to sun-dry them before vacuum-sealing them for storage. Lu Yubai naturally followed behind Feng You, jumping and skipping; he loved the activity of sunning the quilts most of all.

He held up the damp quilts with both hands while following Feng You, a small plastic bag tucked in his mouth. While Feng You hung the quilts, Lu Yubai arranged his belongings on an empty bench. His toothbrush and mouthwash cup, various small toys, his cleaned knit hat, and his daily eating bowl were lined up in a neat, orderly row.

After arranging everything, Lu Yubai squatted before the bench, staring blankly at the small items. Like a little drill sergeant, he was addressing the neatly lined-up objects. The sunlight made the items reflect light, and they soon became warm; the porcelain bowl and mouthwash cup felt hot to the touch.

Lu Yubai picked up the warm porcelain bowl and sniffed it. It did not have that familiar scent of Mommy. Frowning, he swapped it for the toothbrush and mouthwash cup to sniff. Neither had it.

Lu Yubai did not understand. In his mind, quilts developed a warm, comfortable scent after being sunned. If that were the case, wrapping himself in a quilt would feel like Mommy was hugging him. This scent seemed to become clearer at some point, likely after he took a bite of Feng You.

Therefore, Lu Yubai naturally assumed that as long as things were sunned by the sun, they would have the scent of sunlight, the scent of his Golden Retriever Mommy. If that were true, every second of his life, every object, and every corner would be filled with Mommy’s presence. Perhaps there had not been enough time; maybe if they stayed in the sun a bit longer, the scent would appear.

Lu Yubai squatted quietly in front of the small items. When his legs went numb, he simply sat on the ground. The sun made him a bit hot, and sweat began to form on his back. Suddenly, a sun hat with a wide brim was placed on his head. The oversized hat covered half of his face, almost obscuring his vision.

“Yubai, what are you doing?” Feng You asked curiously as he squatted beside the child, unable to follow his logic. “Getting some sun is good for growing taller, but you cannot let it beat down on your face like that; your cheeks are all flushed.”

Lu Yubai lifted the brim of the hat, turned to look at Feng You, and moved bit by bit until he was pressed tightly against his Golden Retriever Mommy. He stared intently at the items reflecting the sunlight, praying in his heart that they would all catch the scent of the sun.

“Are you giving them a lesson? Like the speakers on television?”

Feng You also sat on the ground, bending his legs and joining the child in “teaching” the small objects. He tilted his head against his knees, looking at the child’s serious gaze, and asked with a smile, “So, what is Teacher Yubai telling them? Would you tell me as well?”

Lu Yubai turned his head. Everywhere he looked was Mommy’s gentle smile. The intense sunlight made Feng You’s pupils reflect light, and his short golden hair appeared translucent. Lu Yubai lowered his eyes to re-examine the small things being sunned.

No matter how long these things were sunned, they would never smell like his Golden Retriever Mommy. Mommy’s hugs, companionship, and everything else were irreplaceable.

Lu Yubai took the hat off his head, and the sunlight immediately made him squint. The child held the hat over his head and placed it on Feng You’s head, pulling the brim down with effort to press the two golden retriever ears firmly against the sides of Feng You’s face.

Before Feng You could ask, the child crawled and moved in front of him, positioning himself under the wide brim. He seemed to feel that warm scent. It was a comforting warmth mixed with sunlight, like the smell you get when you bury your face deep into a freshly sunned, fluffy quilt and take a deep breath.

“Alright, then I will be a teacher together with my sweet cub. What shall we teach this group of students? Let us tell a story about Mr. Sun.”

Feng You did not know what Lu Yubai was thinking; he could not always guess the child’s wondrous logic. But he almost never dampened the child’s spirit and was happy to accompany Lu Yubai in doing things that might seem nonsensical to outsiders. Within the limits of keeping Lu Yubai safe, Feng You had endless patience and indulgence for the child.

Feng You pulled the hat forward a bit. His broad back was not covered by the back of the hat, but the front brim shielded Lu Yubai’s small body. The shadows of the two merged into one, becoming a large black silhouette that grew more slanted as the sun moved.

A passing adult, leading a child who had just finished school, was loudly scolding them about why they had not ranked in the top few for the unit exam. That child, with red-rimmed eyes, saw the various items on the bench and glanced over curiously.

“What are you looking at? This is ridiculous. Why put all those things on a bench? Go home and do your homework. Next time you take an exam,” the voice grew distant.

Lu Yubai poked his head out curiously to look at the family’s retreating backs. His head was gently turned back by Feng You to face the items on the bench again. His ears were also covered, making all sounds muffled, as if separated by a layer of mist.

Feng You held the child’s ears, leaning his face closer until his lips almost touched the back of his own hand. His voice became clear because of this, audible even through his hands.

“Where did we leave off? Let us continue.”

The gentle, pleasant voice recounted a fairy tale, like a soft, warm melody that completely blocked out all unpleasant sounds. Even the adult’s casual complaint about them left no memory in Lu Yubai’s head.