Chapter 18
The little dragon cub probably hadn’t eaten or slept well at school.
After coming back home, he slept on top of Bai Huo from 9 pm to 9 am. When he was awakened by Bai Huo, he crawled up and ate a large plate of salmon, plus a big bowl of vegetable soup.
Bai Huo watched him wolf it down like he’d never eaten enough food, and couldn’t help but feel distressed.
“Cub, eat slowly, you’ll choke.” Bai Huo sat at the table and propped his chin on his hand, watching him eat.
The little dragon cub ate very quickly. He picked up a piece of fillet and swallowed it whole, stretching another piece towards Bai Huo: “You eat.”
Bai Huo smiled and said: “I’m not hungry. It’s all yours, eat up.”
The little dragon cub stubbornly wanted to feed him, so Bai Huo had no choice but to open his mouth, reaching out to rub the little dragon cub’s head: “Such filial piety.”
Recently, the weather had warmed up, and the living things within the forestry station was in a state of recovery. There were green saplings as far as the eye could see. Bai Huo finished tidying up the take-out boxes and glanced at the little dragon cub, who was running back and forth inside the house, and fighting with the fat bird to aid digestion. He felt that this weather would be wasted at the mahjong table.
“Lin Xi, fat chicken, how about we hang out at the children’s park today?” Bai Huo suggested.
Two heads turned at the same time, their eyes full of surprise.
“What’s that?” The little dragon cub asked.
“Did you take the wrong medicine today?” The fat chicken was shocked.
“Want to go? Just tell me and we’ll go, okay?” Bai Huo rubbed the little cub’s hair, enticing, “It’s fun and interesting.”
The little dragon cub instinctively trusted Bai Huo, and nodded innocently.
The fat bird vigilantly flew up to the chandelier, snorting, “I’m not going. I have to prepare lunch for my little Hwamei.”
Bai Huo appeared disappointed, letting out a long sigh: “Oh, that’s too bad, I was planning to eat at the Hai Di Lao tonight.”
“What?!” The fat bird’s eyes widened, after thinking over it for a long time, he said with what seemed to be great determination, “Then … then I’ll go, reluctantly.”
After making plans, the family of three changed their clothes. Bai Huo picked out a very cute yellow jumpsuit for the little dragon cub, shaped like a dinosaur, it even had a small tail behind it. This was very convenient for the little dragon cub, if he felt uncomfortable, he could bring out his tail.
The fat bird was much easier to disguise, just fluff his feathers a bit, and place him on top of the little dragon cub’s head, pretending to be a spherical ornament.
The fat chicken looked as if he had nothing left to live for. The little dragon cub looked up, and he moved with him, catching sight of Bai Huo’s casual, yellow accented outfit and sunglasses. He complained indignantly: “Why do you guys get to wear matching outfits, but I get to be a statue?!”
“Who made you birds unable to take human form.” Bai Huo ruffled the bird’s feathers and grinned, “Why are you blaming me?”
Before going out, Bai Huo sent a message to Ji Bei, forwarding all the insane arts and crafts work the kindergarten had demanded, a moment later, even the always patient and composed police officer couldn’t help but send a string of exclamation marks in reply.
Xi City’s children’s park had gotten new facilities and large investments, it could be said to be one of the city’s central business districts. On weekends, snacks, toys, and balloons were sold in large quantities, the urban management couldn’t disperse them all. It was no exaggeration to say that the park was packed to the brim.
This was the first time the little dragon cub has gone to a place so filled with humans. Dragons had sensitive noses, the strong smells of humans and various foods mixed together and surrounded him, he felt especially dizzy and lightheaded. He got distracted for a second, and was washed away with the crowd, pushed back a few meters. Fortunately, he had sharp eyes. He hurried forward with his small steps, grabbing onto his Dad’s big hand.
Bai Huo was talking to a popcorn salesman when he felt a tug, glancing back, he smiled and ask: “What’s wrong?”
Seeing an unusual nervousness in the little dragon cub’s eyes, Bai Huo suddenly sensed something and picked up the child, placing him on his neck: “Come here, this way you won’t get lost.”
Using the top of Bai Huo’s head as a table, the little dragon cub sat contentedly on his father’s neck and munched on popcorn, occasionally raising his hand to feed the fat bird on his head. Bai Huo seemed to be determined to let Little Lin Xi experience a normal childhood. After strolling around the park, he started enticing the little dragon and the fat chicken to ride the roller coaster.
“It’s extremely exciting!” Bai Huo rubbed his hands and tempted.
The little dragon cub glanced concernedly at the screaming humans overhead.
“Don’t be scared, your Dad is here.” Bai Huo patted his shoulder.
The little dragon cub obviously wasn’t tall enough or old enough to ride. Who knew what Bai Huo said to the beautiful woman at the ticket counter, but she unexpectedly permitted both father and son to get into the cart.
Before launching, Bai Huo consciously inspected his son’s seat belt, and whispered to the little dragon cub, who was sporting a grimace: “Cub, if you feel scared at any time, just call out to me, okay?”
The little dragon cub didn’t understand, but he nodded.
Ten minutes later, the little dragon cub’s mouth twitched as he looked blankly at Bai Huo seated next to him, who was covering his eyes and screaming.
“Uwaggh–” As soon as he got out of the cart, Bai Huo leaned into a trash can and vomited.
The little dragon cub held out a bottle of mineral water and asked, a considerate look on his small face, “Want more water?”
Bai Huo’s eyes were still dizzy. He shook his head absentmindedly, then he stared at the little dragon cub’s unperturbed appearance, and asked, pained, “Baby, why aren’t you scared?”
The little dragon cub tilted his head up at him, seemingly asking, “Was there something to fear?”
“Can’t you dragons fly? How can a roller coaster make you dizzy?” The fat bird was puzzled. He could clearly see everything that transpired while he was perched on the tree, the one who could actually fly was somehow worse off than the one who couldn’t.
“How are they the same?” Bai Huo’s eyes were red, but he refused to admit defeat, grinning, “Besides, I haven’t flown in a while, I’m out of practice.”
The fat bird remembered that he’d lost a scale on his shoulder. When a dragon’s scales were damaged, they’d naturally reduce the number of times they transformed into their true form in order to ease scale growth. After his scales were damaged, Bai Huo hadn’t done much these six months. Before that, it wasn’t unusual for him change shape in the middle of the night and fly a few hundred kilometers away to buy beer, or other such careless things. But even so, he wasn’t completely healed, otherwise he wouldn’t vomit because of a little roller coaster.
The roller coaster wasn’t atmospheric enough, so Bai Huo wasn’t reconciled. He decided to take the little dragon cub to the haunted house, but he soon learned that the child really was fearless. When the staff member dressed as a ghost jumped out to scare him, he actually yawned, making everyone feel embarrassed.
Exiting the haunted house, Bai Huo saw an ice scream stand and walked over to buy a cone.
This was the first time the little dragon cub had eaten ice cream, and the coldness instantly appealed to him. He gripped the ice cream cone and licked, his little tail swaying in his pants.
Bai Huo saw that he was enjoying it, and cheerfully bought two more cones.
They visited the zoo in the afternoon. The little dragon cub was obviously more interested in the zoo than the park, sitting on Bai Huo’s neck, his eyes sparkled.
“Tiger!” The little dragon cub pointed excitedly at the beast in the cage, his cute voice making Bai Huo’s heart melt.
Bai Huo beamed: “Yeah, it’s a tiger.”
The pitiful tiger was in the middle of his meal. When he heard the voice, he suddenly trembled, and twisted his body, laying down submissively in front of the little dragon cub.
The tourists were astonished.
Bai Huo saw someone take out a camera and turned to leave with the little dragon cub: “Let’s go feed the monkeys.”
The little dragon cub was still young, he didn’t know how to suppress his dragon breath. For regular animals, the breath of one of the divine races had a natural oppressive power, making them instinctively submit, even beasts at the top of the food chain weren’t exceptions.
Before they could finish strolling around the zoo, the fat bird started impatiently clamoring to go to Hai Di Lao.
Bai Huo also felt annoyed at all the lines, so he took the child to the restaurant early, so they could grab a table before the dinner rush.
They sat down and ordered all the available choices of fish, pouring them into the mushroom broth. Hai Di Lao was a quality restaurant, although the waiter was too enthusiastic, coming over every two minutes to check on them. The fat bird was repeatedly interrupted every time he wanted to request some food, and was starting to get infuriated.
Bai Huo waited for the little dragon cub to eat his fill, then he contentedly lowered the wine glass in his hand and called over the waiter: “Bring something more intense, the stronger the better.”
The fat chicken was an eighty-year-old ancient Dapeng, but it was too hard to devote himself to vegetarianism in this human world, he preferred eating the various delicacies of human beings. Hot and spicy soup, chili oil pan, braised pork belly; he could never have enough. Bai Huo was the only thing stopping him from eating until he exploded.
“Chicken ah, don’t you know about self-control?” Bai Huo looked at his fat belly, a little worried, “Don’t blame me if you can’t fly anymore.”
“Humph!” The fat chicken swallowed a slice of spicy beef under the table, ignoring him.
The little dragon cub finished eating all the yellow croaker in the mushroom soup, and stared at the Basa catfish in the chili oil pan, drooling.
“You also want to continue eating?” Bai Huo supported his chin on his hand and smiled affectionately.
Bai Huo was afraid that the child couldn’t handle spicy food, so he hadn’t fed him from the spicy pot at first, but seeing the child’s ravenous look, he filled up a small bowl for him, while the fat chicken glared angrily.
The little dragon cub had never eaten spicy food before, so he took his first bite cautiously. But he quickly fell in love, biting out big mouthfuls of meat, obviously enjoying the food, to the point of arguing with the fat chicken over the remaining portions.
When Bai Huo brought the child to the checkout counter, the cashier repeatedly glanced from Bai Huo’s refined face to the four-digit bill, his expression incredulous.
“Thank you, come again.” The waiter smiled and saw the guests out.
The little dragon cub burped in Bai Huo’s arms, and stretched his limbs.
Bai Huo laughed, rubbing his belly: “Oh, are you about to pop?”
The little dragon cub blushed and turned over, laying his head on Bai Huo’s shoulders.
It was obvious that the child was in a very good mood, his excitement hadn’t died down all day. At this time, it was already dark, the breeze was slightly warm, brushing Bai Huo’s face. Bai Huo hugged the little dragon cub as he strolled down the side walk, looking at the bright city lights, there was no similar sense of satisfaction.
He was remembering his childhood, when he was still in the Dragon Valley. He’d once gotten into a fight with someone, and was sent to the top of the mountain to reflect. It was the end of the school day, and he looked on as parents of every scale type and color came to pick up their children. He sat alone, rocking his legs, watching the stars gradually emerge, watching the foot of the mountain go from lively to silent, the warm breeze brushing across his face. He looked up, his amber eyes reflecting the star filled sky, lonely and deep.
“Fat chicken, let’s fly back today.” Bai Huo smiled and raised the little dragon cub to the top of his head.
The fat bird was too round to stand upright, snorting, “Did something possess you again? Have you forgotten about your shoulder … hey, hey! Aaaahhhhhh–“
The scream disappeared into the horizon, along with a white shadow.
*
Standing beside a window, Xiao Shu lowered his binoculars and wrote down a note in disappointment.
“What was it?” Sitting nearby, a scholarly looking middle-aged man put down his book and looked up at him, his eyes were very sharp.
“It’s just a helicopter.” Xiao Shu bit his lower lip.
“I’ve told you already, this way of searching is ineffective.” The middle-aged man leaned back in the reclining chair and spoke calmly.
Xiao Shu wasn’t reconciled: “But I really saw a dragon scale, it was definitely a dragon’s scale!”
“Where is this dragon scale?” The middle-aged man glanced at him.
“Someone… someone stole it,” Xiao Shu looked down and clenched his fists. “I’ll bring it to you as proof.”
“Don’t be too shortsighted.” The middle-aged man closed his eyes, and said slowly. “Your internship is over, obediently follow me back to school. You’re still young, you need to learn to wait for opportunity, don’t rush things.”
“But, even if the scale has been stolen, the owner of the scale must still be in Xi City,” Xiao Shu walked over to the older-man, pleading, “Father, give me a little more time, I’ll definitely make him reveal his true body.”
“Didn’t your grandpa hand over his manual to you?” Professor Xiao looked thoughtfully at his stubborn little son, “What are you planning?”
“I’ve checked my grandfather’s notes, that dragon fell in Yingkou City after accidentally ingesting some fish mint growing by the riverside.” Xiao Shu lowered his voice, and looked into his father’s eyes. “Let me try, just one last time. If it doesn’t work, I’ll go back with you. “
Professor Xiao narrowed his eyes, after a long moment passed, he slowly smiled, “You’re indeed a part of the Xiao family.”
*
“Achoo!” Bai Huo sneezed as soon as he entered the house, the dragon cub squirming uncomfortably on top of his shoulder.
“Who’s gossiping about me …” Bai Huo shook his head and turned on the living room lights. After laying the sleeping little dragon cub and the fat chicken onto the sofa, he cheerfully went to draw a bath.
After playing for a whole day, he smelled a bit like a human, it was a little unbearable. Bai Huo bathed, then he wringed out a hot towel, planning to wipe down the little dragon cub.
The little guy was curled up asleep on the sofa.
“Come here, baby.” Bai Huo pulled off the little dragon cub’s hoodie, only to feel a layer of cold sweat on his small back.
“Huh?” He looked down and observed. The little boy’s complexion was off, his face was wrinkled in a frown, and he was whining unconsciously.
Bai Huo’s heart thudded. Oh no, was he sick?
Although the little dragon cub was very mature, he was still a child after all. His constitution was weaker than an adult’s. They were jostled by crowds most of the day, who knew how many harmful germs they came into contact with. All dragon medicines grew in deep water, and they were scarce in quantity. It was difficult to get medicine for adults, let alone for children.
Bai Huo spoke softly to the little dragon cub, trying to wake him up. The latter opened his eyes in a daze, then frowned, rolling into Bai Huo’s arms, “It hurts.”
“Where does it hurt?” Bai Huo asked quickly.
The little dragon cub sniffed, but stayed silent.
“It’ll be okay, Dad is holding you. It won’t hurt anymore.” Bai Huo hugged him tightly, his head drenched with sweat.
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T/N:
Hai Di Lao- A popular hot pot restaurant. Not cheap, not expensive.
Who’s gossiping about me- Wikipedia “In certain parts of Eastern Asia, particularly in Chinese culture, Korean culture, Japanese culture and Vietnamese culture, a sneeze without an obvious cause was generally perceived as a sign that someone was talking about the sneezer at that very moment.”