Chapter 227: Chapter 227: Successfully Staying by the Female Mother’s Side
After seasoning the broth and adding some dried shrimp and seaweed from her dimensional space, Yu An brought the three bowls of wontons to the table.
"Eat up."
Da Hu blinked. "Female Mother, do you remember us?"
Yu An corrected him, "Don’t call me Female Mother, little one. I’m not even married; how could I possibly have children?"
"Hurry and eat. It won’t taste good if it gets cold."
Xiao Hu wanted to say something else, but Da Hu shook his head at him. The two sat down in their chairs and ate their wontons in silence.
The portions were generous, and they were soon full.
Seeing the two of them rubbing their bellies with satisfied expressions, Yu An couldn’t help but smile.
’So cute. Just as I’d expect from my Zaizai...’
Realizing what she was thinking, she quickly composed herself.
’No, why would I think that? If these two children were mine, why wouldn’t I know?’
’Perhaps I just look like their mother. They’re still young, so they must have mistaken me for her.’
After they finished eating, Yu An said to them, "I’ll have someone show you to a place to rest. If we find your parents tomorrow morning, you can go home."
"If we can’t find them, you can stay here at the Beast God Hall for a while."
The Beast God Hall’s mission was to help the common people, and these two children were among those they were meant to help.
But—
"You two little ones, stop calling me Female Mother... Oh, and that term ’Beast Father’—who taught you that?"
In the past, Beastman cubs used to call their parents that, but later the Beast God declared the two terms unpleasant, so they were changed to ’dad’ and ’mom’.
They stammered, unable to give an answer, but Yu An wasn’t about to press them for details anyway.
She called someone over to take the two little ones to rest.
"Fe... Pretty Sister," Da Hu hurriedly grabbed the hem of Yu An’s clothes and looked up at her. "Can we stay with you? Xiao Hu and I are really scared..."
He gave Xiao Hu a look, and they both changed back into their beast forms. The two little tiger cubs exposed their bellies, rolling around and acting cute.
Yu An closed her eyes, feeling her self-control slipping.
Seeing this, the two put even more effort into their cute act, yelping "AWOO, AWOO" in high-pitched voices. Yu An finally couldn’t resist. She crouched down and gave them a few vigorous rubs.
’They feel amazing!’
"Oh, all right. You can sleep with me tonight."
Their plan had worked. The two quickly held out their paws to be held, and Yu An picked up the two little Zaizai, heading for her quarters.
On the way, she was completely absorbed in the feeling of the two little ones’ smooth fur, not noticing a pair of eyes watching the three of them from the darkness.
When Feng Xuan saw that Da Hu and Xiao Hu were safe, his constantly-tense heart finally relaxed. But when he saw Yu An, he nearly rushed straight toward her.
But he realized that Yu An didn’t seem to remember them. The Zaizai could get close because they were harmless, but if an adult like him suddenly appeared in the Beast God Hall, the guards would surely treat him as an assassin.
So, for the moment, Feng Xuan did not reveal himself.
Yu An vaguely sensed that someone was watching her, but when she looked over, she didn’t see anything.
"Am I imagining things?"
She muttered to herself. Da Hu followed her gaze, then tilted his head and asked, "Sister, what’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing, it’s nothing."
Yu An carried Da Hu and Xiao Hu into the room. While she went to take a bath, Da Hu and Xiao Hu proactively jumped onto the bed to warm it for her. By the time Yu An came out, the blankets were already toasty.
The two little ones were wonderfully soft. After Yu An lay down, one snuggled up on each side of her. No matter which way she turned, she had a fluffy body to hug.
They didn’t cry or make a fuss and were exceptionally well-behaved. They even patted her arm and started telling her a story.
"Once upon a time, there was a woodcutter. While he was chopping wood, he accidentally dropped his axe into the river..."
Xiao Hu continued, "Just then, a River God appeared in the river. The River God took out a golden axe... Then the River God took out a silver axe... and finally, he took out an iron axe..."
"The woodcutter’s honesty moved the River God, so the River God gave him all three axes..."
Yu An listened, finding it quite interesting. "Where did you hear this story? It’s very interesting."
Xiao Hu answered, "Female Mother... I mean, Mommy told it to us. Mommy is amazing. She knows lots and lots of fun stories."
Da Hu nodded. "Sister, do you want to hear more? We can tell you another one."
Female Mother had told them all these stories. When they were little and couldn’t read, Female Mother would hold a storybook and tell them the stories one by one.
Over time, they had memorized all of them.
Yu An patted their little heads. "No more stories. Let’s get some sleep. I have to wake up early tomorrow."
Da Hu nodded and snuggled deeper into Yu An’s embrace, his two little paws hugging her arm.
’Female Mother likes our beast forms, so we’ll just stay like this. It would be even better if she could remember us...’
’I wonder if Beast Father is worried about us. But I smelled his scent just now. He must be nearby and knows we’re here with Female Mother.’
「The next morning」
When Yu An got up, the two little ones were still asleep. Looking at the two little balls of fluff still lost in dreamland, she quietly slipped out of bed.
Just as she finished putting on her shoes, a sleepy Da Hu sat up. "Female Mother... Sister, it’s so early. Let’s sleep a little longer."
"You two go back to sleep," Yu An said, pulling the blanket over him. "I have to get up."
Da Hu yawned, glanced at the soundly sleeping Xiao Hu, and decisively got out of bed. He followed Yu An wherever she went.
Yu An couldn’t bring herself to refuse him, nor did she really want to. So, she took the adorable little guy with her to the front courtyard.
She also asked a Maid to watch over Xiao Hu and bring him to the front courtyard when he woke up.
The work of the Hall Master wasn’t difficult, just tedious. She had to handle all the matters that her subordinates were unable to decide on.
Da Hu lay across Yu An’s lap, keeping her company as she handled her official duties. He would even occasionally point out minor issues, earning him praise from Yu An for being so brilliant.
He would shyly burrow into her embrace, and after she gave him a kiss, he couldn’t hold back his smile.
By Noon, Xiao Hu still hadn’t been brought over. Da Hu figured he must still be asleep.
Yu An was surprised. "Xiao Hu can sleep that much?"
"Yep," Da Hu sighed. "Xiao Hu is super lazy. He can sleep for twenty hours a day, leaving just four hours for eating."
Yu An’s lips twitched. Without saying anything, she took Da Hu to the kitchen to cook.
Seeing Yu An come to cook for herself again, the Steward felt a wave of relief. ’Good thing this kitchen doesn’t just cook for the Hall Master, or we’d all be out of a job!’
Yu An wasn’t sure what to make, so Da Hu suggested a few dishes. The moment he named them, the recipes popped into her head automatically.
Dry Pot Shrimp, Scrambled Eggs with Tomato, Braised Pork Ribs, and a Winter Melon and Meatball Soup.
Yu An cooked quickly. Just as she had someone carry the dishes to the courtyard, the fragrant aroma finally roused a groggy Xiao Hu from his slumber.
"Smells so good... I’m so hungry..."
"Go wash up," Yu An said, plonking Xiao Hu down in front of the washbasin. "Wash your hands before you eat."
Xiao Hu obediently did as he was told. But when he found out that his older brother had already spent the entire morning with Female Mother, he was not happy.
He huffed, "Brother, why didn’t you wake me up?"
’I’m so mad! Why was I sleeping!’
