Chapter 16: She Didn’t Want Me First
Hu Bai’s inquisitive expression left Nan Zishi, a doctor, completely stunned.
As a doctor—and a Beast Doctor at that—she never worried about the propriety between sexes when treating a patient.
’When I’m neutering a tomcat, am I supposed to say, "I’m a woman, so I can’t snip your balls"?’
Of course, Beastmen and beasts were different...
So, if it weren’t for Fox Qi’s reminder and Hu Bai’s strange reaction, it would never have occurred to her that there was anything wrong with using a stethoscope or performing a physical examination.
But the Male Beastman before her was a widower.
There’s always gossip around a widower. If she wasn’t careful, she could easily be misunderstood and slapped with some unpleasant label.
In any case, she had gotten a good understanding of his condition on the first day, and the five-day IV drip formula was more or less set.
So, Nan Zishi braced herself and said, "It’s... it’s okay if I don’t listen."
Hu Bai frowned. The handsome, delicate Male Beastman’s beautiful brow furrowed, making it seem as if Nan Zishi had bullied him. "Then why did you listen yesterday?"
"...?" Nan Zishi sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Yesterday was yesterday. Today is today."
Just as Hu Bai started to get up to question her further, Nan Zishi pushed him back down.
"Don’t move. I have to go out after this IV is done," Nan Zishi cut off his questions. "Either way, I’m not using the stethoscope today."
Hu Bai could only lean back against the head of the bed and let Nan Zishi insert the needle.
After skillfully inserting the needle, Nan Zishi gave him the same instructions. "Don’t move the hand with the needle in it."
With that, Nan Zishi packed her things to leave.
Not long after Nan Zishi had walked out of the cave, the frail and sickly Male Beastman emerged, holding the IV bag. "Nan Zishi, are you coming back today?"
Nan Zishi spun around. She saw that Hu Bai was holding the IV bag lower than his hand, and blood was already flowing back into the tube.
He stared at her fixedly. His gaze was icy, yet tinged with a hint of resentment, as if she had used him and then heartlessly abandoned him.
"Oh, for heaven’s sake."
She hurried back and pushed Hu Bai into the cave. She re-hung the IV bag and adjusted the drip rate. Once everything was settled, Nan Zishi sighed. "I guess I’ll wait until you’re finished before I go."
Nan Zishi could certainly understand the Beast World’s lack of comprehension regarding such basic medical knowledge.
"I have some things I need to take care of outside, so I can’t guarantee if I’ll... be a guest in your home again."
’My visiting them could hardly be called "coming back," right?’
’It’s best to be tactful about certain things.’
Hu Bai’s expression immediately soured. Nan Zishi knew at a glance that he was angry again.
When this Male Beastman got angry, he seemed to just stew in silence, neither venting nor speaking.
Nan Zishi had no idea where he found so much to be angry about.
"Getting angry all the time isn’t good for your health," she reminded him in a small voice.
Hu Bai turned his head away, refusing to look at her like a sulky newlywed.
Nan Zishi found this Male Beastman rather interesting. Since she had to wait for his IV to finish anyway, she decided to find something to talk about.
"Where is your female master? Why aren’t you and Aqi with her? In this world, a Beast Family is stronger when they’re together, right?"
"She didn’t want us. We were abandoned."
"Why?" Nan Zishi was astonished.
’A husband this handsome, and a little fairy child this beautiful—how could she just leave them?’
Hu Bai simply didn’t want to talk.
Nan Zishi’s mind, however, was quite active. She had a natural inclination for gossip and was also willing to lend a sympathetic ear to help him sort through his feelings.
"Have you considered taking Aqi to go find her?"
Hu Bai lifted his head, hitting her with a devastatingly handsome sight. His clear, snow-white eyes stared into Nan Zishi’s dark pupils as he spoke slowly:
"She was the one who left me first. Why should I be the one to go to her?"
...
As usual, Nan Zishi took Little Snake Yang to the Wolf King’s cave.
She followed her routine: disinfecting the she-wolf’s wounds, feeding her anti-inflammatory medicine, and giving Little Lao Liu supplemental milk.
Little Lao Liu’s weight gain was better than the day before, but he still couldn’t compare to his brothers.
After all this was done, the Wolf King carried her on his back for a leisurely stroll through the forest.
Nan Zishi lay back on the Wolf King’s back, casually chewing on a piece of straw. She Yang coiled around her arm, hissing and flicking his tongue against her cheek.
"Don’t, that tickles," Nan Zishi said with a laugh, gently pushing him away.
A drop of water landed on Nan Zishi’s face. She looked up at the sky and saw that a light rain had begun to fall, drop by drop.
...
Outside the most remote and lowest-lying cave in Stone Village, two beautiful White Fox Beastmen, one tall and one small, stood waiting.
The taller one had a lanky frame, slender to the point of being gaunt from his long-term illness. But his features were exquisite and utterly beautiful.
His long, snow-white hair cascaded down like satin, and beneath his snow-white lashes were a pair of breathtakingly beautiful eyes.
The smaller one had chubby, rosy cheeks. The tufts of fur on his clever little fox ears were still quite long, bouncing adorably whenever his ears twitched. He was both cute and endearing.
At this moment, however, the two of them were standing ramrod straight, gazing into the distance like a pair of statues waiting for someone’s return.
"Father, the pretty sister said she might not come tonight," Fox Qi said, tilting his head up and blinking his big eyes at Hu Bai.
He didn’t really understand his father. When the pretty sister was around, his father was cold to her, unwilling to even say much. He was colder to her than to any other Beastman in Stone Village.
And yet, he would proactively prepare food for the pretty sister and shelter her from the wind and rain. The moment a light rain started to fall, he would begin to gaze out of the cave entrance, filled with unease.
’Does he dislike the pretty sister or not?’
Hu Bai’s face darkened slightly. "It’s raining."
Fox Qi held out his small hand to catch the raindrops. "It’s drizzling."
"The light rainy season has arrived," Hu Bai said tonelessly.
"Oh, then the pretty sister might not be able to come back!" Fox Qi exclaimed.
Hu Bai looked down, questioning him. Fox Qi answered directly, "The pretty sister went deep into the forest! It’s so far, and it’s raining, so she might not come back."
A clear look of worry appeared in the Male White Fox’s eyes. "Why did she go to the forest? The forest is so dangerous. How can a female go into the forest alone?"
"Father, should we go look for the pretty sister?"
Hu Bai took a step forward, then immediately pulled his foot back.
Just then, Fox Qi spotted Nan Zishi walking slowly toward them in the distance.
The little guy stood on his tiptoes and waved excitedly at her. "Pretty sister!"
With that, the little guy started running toward Nan Zishi. Seeing Fox Qi picking up speed, she crouched down and caught the little cub in a full embrace as he reached her.
Nan Zishi smiled and gently tweaked his little nose. "What’s the rush, little guy? Afraid I’d run away?"
"Father and I were waiting for you for a long time!" Fox Qi turned to look at Hu Bai at the cave entrance, but he was gone. "Huh? Where’s Father? He was right here a second ago."
"It started raining outside, so I came to trouble you guys again."
The forest on a rainy day was dark, damp, and even more dangerous. Nan Zishi figured it would be safer to spend the night with a tribe, so she had come back.
"Yay, yay! You’re very welcome!"
Little Fox Qi took Nan Zishi’s gentle hand. For some reason, he felt a sense of contentment and joy. He pulled Nan Zishi toward their cave, his words as sweet as honey.
"Pretty sister, you can stay as long as you want. Father and I both really like you."