Future Pet Shop

Chapter 326: Chapter 326: Covered in Children

"Hmm?" Hah’Er sniffed at the baby bottle, seeming to understand its purpose. He then slowly walked into the panda nursery. The nursery now presented two completely different scenes. One group of black-and-white, energetic panda cubs was crawling all over the floor, while another group of pink newborn cubs was curled up in their mothers’ arms, sucking on pacifiers.

"Mmm!" It was hard to say whether it was because of their blood relation or Hah’Er’s natural, overwhelming charisma, but the moment the crawling cubs saw him, they all started scrambling over.

Hah’Er leaned down, tilting his head as he curiously sized up the little ones. He occasionally poked them with a finger, then grinned happily. He flopped to the ground and aimed the bottle’s nipple at the nearest cub. The cub immediately latched on and began to suck, while the other cubs strained to squeeze closer, as if they wanted to share.

But there was only one bottle, and Hah’Er wanted to treat them all equally. He turned his head and called out to the staff twice. The staff immediately understood and hurried to hand him several more bottles. So, Hah’Er held one bottle in his left front paw, one in his right, one clamped between his feet, and another tucked under his elbow, desperately trying to feed all the cubs at once.

The cubs clambered all over Hah’Er’s body, stretching their mouths toward the nipples. Those who managed to grab one sucked away contentedly, while the ones who didn’t whined anxiously behind them. One little guy even bit the leg of a cub in front of it and tried to drag it backward. They were a chaotic mess all over Hah’Er.

It’s a known fact that pandas have a fifty percent chance of giving birth to twins. Hah’Er now had quite a few offspring. With so many mothers combined, more than ten cubs had been born, which was more than enough to keep Hah’Er busy.

If any other panda had tried to touch their cubs, the mothers would probably have gotten angry. But Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and Mars seemed to have a deep memory of Hah’Er, so they didn’t stop him. Instead, they lay there comfortably, watching these literal little rascals torment Hah’Er.

’Huh, how are we going to name so many cubs?’ Shen Yibin wondered from outside as he took photos. ’Maybe we can name them after their mothers? If the mother is Jupiter, her cubs could be called Io and Jupiter’s Moon Europa? If the mother is Saturn, her cubs could be Tethys and... Tethys II? If a mother was named Earth, would her cub be called the Moon? But I don’t think Venus and Mercury have any moons. What would we name their cubs, then?’

Of course, Shen Yibin was just entertaining the thought. The Giant Panda Base naturally had its own naming conventions, and many people were already lining up to "adopt" and name these cubs. Although Professor Wu Gui would surely do him the favor if he asked, it would mean a loss of income for the Giant Panda Base, and Shen Yibin wasn’t willing to do that.

"It’s all thanks to Hah’Er. The number of pandas at our base has increased again," Professor Wu Gui said delightedly, watching the cubs. "And from the looks of it, they’re all very healthy. They’ll definitely grow up strong." This was exactly why he had gone to such great lengths to invite Hah’Er to the base in the first place.

"In a few years, once they’re grown up, they can go abroad and win over some fans," Shen Yibin said with a chuckle. Many countries had already built super-luxurious panda pavilions and were just waiting for the great Pandas to grace their nations with their presence. With so many cute and healthy cubs, the wishes of panda fans in many countries would surely be fulfilled.

"Yes, and I heard Hah’Er recently shot a movie?" Director Kong’s promotional campaign had been so massive that even Professor Wu Gui had heard about it. "As it happens, we might be sending a pair of pandas to the Netherlands soon. You could use the opportunity to promote your panda’s film!" This was his way of returning Shen Yibin’s favor.

"That would be great! I’ll talk to Director Kong first and see what he can arrange." A great Panda gracing the Netherlands with its presence would surely cause a sensation throughout the entire country. By using this opportunity to promote *Panda Hero*, the news would certainly spread across the Netherlands and even all of Western Europe. When *Panda Hero* was officially released, they wouldn’t have to worry about the box office.

’Wait, isn’t Sylvie distantly related to the Dutch royal family somehow? So if I take Hah’Er to the Netherlands for the promotional events, doesn’t that mean I can see her again? Yes, once the trip is confirmed, I have to tell Sylvie the good news so she doesn’t make other plans and miss this chance.’

"Alright. Before the official trip to the Netherlands, let’s schedule a meeting with the Dutch ambassador to China and discuss the details," Professor Wu Gui replied with a nod. After the small talk, their attention returned to Hah’Er.

The big guy was currently in a flustered mess, juggling several bottles to feed the cubs. Some had already drunk their fill and were resting comfortably on Hah’Er’s belly. One even occupied Maphario’s pouch, much to the displeasure of Maphario, who was perched on Shen Yibin’s shoulder. The cubs were still too young for the base staff to dare let Maphario in with them, but once they were old enough to play outside, the adopted son would probably get to meet Hah’Er’s biological children.

"Here, have a snack. Tomorrow, you can all play together," Shen Yibin said, pulling a piece of peanut brittle from his pocket and offering it to Maphario. According to the plan Professor Wu Gui had mentioned earlier, tomorrow was the day they would take the cubs outside for a group photo. They would get to play outside for a while after the photo shoot.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Only then did Maphario’s displeasure fade. He took the peanut brittle and began to munch on it. CRUNCH, CRUNCH.

’I should take a picture and post it on Weibo, too. I can also tease tomorrow’s group photo.’ Thinking this, Shen Yibin raised his phone, aimed it at Hah’Er, and snapped several pictures. He selected the best one and uploaded it to Weibo with the caption: "Poor Hah’Er, getting tormented by a mountain of his own kids."

As usual, the moment the photo of Hah’Er and his cubs was posted to Weibo, it immediately attracted widespread attention from netizens. The number of retweets and comments skyrocketed, and "Hah’Er and His Children" quickly became the day’s trending topic on Weibo.

But with so many comments, it was inevitable that some... questionable ones would slip in. Sure enough, one dirty-minded netizen commented: "A mountain of his own kids? Why does that phrase sound so weird? It’s like Hah’Er got... you-know-what-ed?"

"’You-know-what’? What does that mean? This newbie doesn’t get it," someone posted, feigning innocence.

Shen Yibin scratched his head. ’There’s nothing wrong with that sentence, is there?’