Seven Cubs, Seven Fathers, Zero Days Off

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Dabao Wants to Be the Best Baby in the Female Mother’s Heart

Shen Yue was in the bamboo house, eating with the children.

She had no idea that all hell had broken loose outside.

To celebrate Little Qi’s arrival, Shen Yue took out a bottle of red wine and a few bottles of soda from the Spiritual Spring.

These were things she had stored away back then. The children were too young, so she never dared to give them any, but an occasion like today called for a little indulgence.

The only regret was that Si Muye wasn’t there.

She poured a little Sprite for each of the children and some red wine for herself.

The little ones held their cups of Sprite with curiosity.

Shen Yue gave the command:

”Come on, my babies, cheers! Let’s celebrate our Little Qi successfully hatching!!”

”Yay! We have a little sister!”

”Cheers!”

Since Si Muye was away, Shen Yue had to feed four little cubs who couldn’t transform yet, and the pressure on her instantly mounted.

By the time it was her turn to eat, the soup and meat were almost cold.

”female mother, where on earth did Ancient Bear Father go? Why isn’t he back yet?”

After eating his fill, Er Bao rested his head on the small bamboo table, thinking about Si Muye.

Si Bao also piped up:

”Did something happen to Ancient Bear Father? Is he... never coming back?”

Shen Yue chewed on the roast duck in her mouth. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t worried about Si Muye.

But she couldn’t let the children see it.

After all, out here in the wilderness without Si Muye, she was their only source of security. She had to show the resilience a mother should have.

She spoke up, ”No, he won’t. female mother thinks Ancient Bear Father must have gotten busy with something!”

As she spoke, she stroked Si Bao’s head.

”Don’t worry. Let’s just wait a little longer. Maybe he’ll be back in a few days.”

’Truthfully, she wasn’t sure either.’

’So much had happened today. After seeing that scene in the vision, she had warned him, telling him she didn’t want him to go, but he had insisted on going anyway.’

’Now he’s gone and hasn’t returned. Did something really happen to him?’

’But if Si Muye really did have an accident, why would those people still come to capture me?’

’It must be that they couldn’t get ahold of Si Muye, which is why they thought of capturing me to threaten him.’

So, she didn’t think Si Muye had been killed. Instead, she suspected he’d run into an emergency, or perhaps was injured and couldn’t return right away.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t just leave without a word.

Shen Yue firmly believed in her heart, knowing Si Muye as she did, that no matter how urgent things were, he would have come back to see her and let her know.

As Shen Yue thought of this, she couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of frustration.

She picked up her red wine and took a large gulp.

Now that the bamboo house was finished,

Shen Yue spread the grass mats from the cave inside the house and coaxed the children to sleep.

It was the little ones’ first time sleeping in the bamboo house. They were all incredibly excited, rolling around happily on the grass mats in the moonlight that filtered through the bamboo window.

Shen Yue had to coax them for quite a while before the little cubs finally fell asleep one by one.

Until only Dabao was left.

Dabao’s eyes were half-open with sleepiness as he snuggled beside her.

A pang of sorrow struck her heart.

She reached out; today, she finally had a moment to hold Dabao in her arms.

Dabao lay obediently in her embrace, his sleepy voice soft and childlike.

”female mother, Dabao can sleep by himself. female mother doesn’t need to coax me. female mother is tired. Dabao wants female mother to rest too. Let’s go sleepy-sleep together.”

Shen Yue’s eyes immediately reddened.

’This is my first child.’

’My beloved Dabao... how could he be so sensible?’

Her voice choked with emotion. They say that at night, a mother’s love for her sleeping child grows the more she looks at them. But for her, the more she looked, the more guilt she felt.

Overwhelmingly guilty, and her heart ached terribly.

She reached out and gently rubbed his little feet.

”Dabao, do your feet hurt?”

Today, after Sanbao was snatched by that man, Dabao had run back and forth along the riverbank.

To find Sanbao, the little one had given it his all, terrified and worried, getting several cuts on his feet.

He had even gotten blisters.

She had seen the bloodstains seeping through the fur on his fluffy paws at a glance.

But because she was in a hurry to find Sanbao, and then busy looking for Qibao, she could only quietly take note, her heart aching as if it were bleeding.

Ever since his younger siblings were born, this little one—who had known to protect her from the moment he hatched, who she had always doted on—had not only had her embrace shared with his brothers but had also shouldered the responsibilities of being an older brother.

Even when he got hurt, he wouldn’t cry or complain about the pain, enduring it all by himself because he was afraid of making her worry.

’To think that she, Shen Yue, had been blessed with such an obedient, sensible child from the very beginning.’

Perhaps it was the wine she drank tonight, but looking at Dabao, she felt an indescribable sense of self-reproach.

All she wanted was to hold him now and make it up to him.

”Dabao, female mother will rub them and blow on them for you. My Dabao was in pain today, and it breaks female mother’s heart!”

From the moment he hatched until now, Dabao had never cried.

Even back when his rib was broken from that kick, he endured the immense pain without crying, always facing her with a cute, warm smile.

But now, because of her words and actions, the little one’s eyes instantly misted over, and tears rolled down his cheeks like a broken string of pearls.

”female mother, Dabao’s not in pain... It’s because Dabao didn’t protect Sanbao, and didn’t protect Qibao. Dabao is not a good big brother.”

The little boy finally leaned into Shen Yue’s arms and confessed the worries he had been holding in all day.

”If Sanbao really disappeared, I wouldn’t have my little brother Sanbao anymore, and female mother would be so, so sad. If I lost Qibao too, if my beautiful little sister disappeared, female mother would be heartbroken, and Dabao would be even more heartbroken!”

”Dabao doesn’t want female mother to be sad. Dabao wants to be the best baby in female mother’s heart.”

He cried with intense emotion, but he kept his voice down, afraid of waking his sleeping younger siblings.

But the tears wouldn’t stop falling; he was utterly heartbroken.

Her heart aching with sorrow, Shen Yue picked him right up and walked out of the bamboo house.

The pristine moonlight outside illuminated the entire land, just like the mother and son’s brilliant hearts at that moment—warm and eternal.

Shen Yue patted his back, again and again.

”Dabao, you *are* female mother’s best baby. From the very first day you hatched, you knew to rush over and protect female mother without a second thought. Because of that, you had a rib brutally kicked in, but you never cried out in pain. For the three days you were unconscious, female mother held you and kissed you no less than a hundred times, terrified you would never wake up. After your younger siblings were born, you have always done the best. You’re the most responsible, the one who always gives in to them, and the most considerate of female mother. So, Dabao, you are already female mother’s best baby.”

Dabao listened, resting in her arms, his eyes shining brightly.

His jade-green eyes glowed, reflecting her image in them.

Feeling acknowledged and cherished, his pair of golden, fluffy ears twitched joyfully, revealing his inner delight.

Shen Yue stroked his head, gazing back at him tenderly.

”female mother wants to tell you that even though you’re a big brother, you are still the baby female mother cherishes in the palm of her hand. If you’re in pain or get hurt, female mother will be just as sad, heartbroken, and pained. So, while you are a big brother, you are even more so female mother’s baby. When you’re hurting, or hungry, or upset, you have to tell female mother right away. Don’t endure it all alone, you understand?”