Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off

Ciao Ciao, who was sitting on the grass nearby, immediately covered his ears with both paws.

He did not understand everything they were saying, but he understood one core truth: his mother was scolding his father. Therefore, he fully supported his mother!

"Lanlan!" Rong Ye wailed dramatically. "How can you think about me like that?!"

Su Qinglan crossed her arms over her chest. "Isn’t it because of what you said before?"

Rong Ye stiffened. "What did I say?"

"You said you wanted a dozen cubs."

Rong Ye froze completely solid.

Su Qinglan continued in a cool, logical tone, "It is physically impossible for me to give you a dozen cubs all by myself."

Rong Ye’s expression became increasingly frantic and nervous.

"So I was wondering..." Su Qinglan gave him a sharp look. "...are you secretly planning to find another female to give you those dozen cubs?"

It felt as if an entire bucket of freezing river water had been dumped straight over Rong Ye’s head!

"NO!" His voice was so absurdly loud that even the elders resting inside the house probably jumped. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Su Qinglan narrowed her eyes dangerously.

Rong Ye immediately grabbed her shoulders, pleading desperately, "Lanlan, why on earth would I ever look for another female?! My own female is already so extraordinarily beautiful and perfect! Why would I ever want anyone else?!" He looked genuinely, profoundly wronged. "I don’t want anyone else at all!"

Su Qinglan continued to stare at him in total silence.

Rong Ye hurriedly added, "And I’m not even the city lord! Why would I ever do something so stupid and shameless?!"

Su Qinglan’s eyes suddenly narrowed into razor-sharp slits. "So..."

Rong Ye’s heart skipped a violent beat.

"...if you became the city lord, you would do it?"

Rong Ye’s face went completely, deathly pale. "NO!" He almost jumped three feet into the air. "That’s not what I meant at all!"

Su Qinglan calmly turned around and began walking away.

Rong Ye panicked, scrambling after her like a lost puppy. "Lanlan, wait! You completely misunderstood me!"

She kept walking at a steady, elegant pace.

"Lanlan!"

"I’m completely innocent!"

"Lanlan, look at me!"

She ignored him entirely. Rong Ye was so anxious and distressed he looked like he was about to burst into actual tears right then and there.

Meanwhile, little Ciao Ciao sat on the ground, watching the entire dramatic chase with sparkling, joyful eyes. This was infinitely more entertaining than playing with his own tails!

His father was losing terribly. His mother was winning easily. Excellent!

Su Qinglan finally stopped beside Ciao Ciao and gently picked the little cub up. She tapped his tiny nose. "You are definitely not allowed to use that flower when you grow up, do you understand?"

Ciao Ciao blinked his big, expressive eyes. He had absolutely no idea what the flower actually was, nor did he understand what his parents had been squabbling about.

But he knew one undeniable fact: his mother hated it. Therefore, that flower was pure evil!

He immediately shook his fluffy little head furiously. "No! Never!"

Su Qinglan broke into a warm, radiant smile. "Such a good boy." She leaned down and planted a sweet kiss on his soft forehead. "You definitely take after me."

Ciao Ciao instantly melted under her affection. His entire little body went completely limp in her arms, turning into a soft, boneless blob of fur.

Su Qinglan hugged him tighter, chuckling softly. "My sweet, good boy."

Ciao Ciao’s nine tails curled happily around her forearm in sheer bliss.

Rong Ye stood right behind them, holding a completely devastated, heartbroken expression. "...What did I even do wrong?"

No one answered him.

Rong Ye looked pleadingly at his son. Ciao Ciao looked back at him, then haughtily turned his little face away and snuggled deeper into his mother’s chest.

Rong Ye’s heart broke for the second time in five minutes. Even my own son is taking her side!

He dramatically looked up toward the bright sky, raising a fist. "Beast God above, what did I do in my previous life to deserve this treatment?!"

Su Qinglan heard him crystal clear. She turned around and smiled sweetly at him over her shoulder. "You probably used too many flowers."

Rong Ye’s face instantly collapsed into complete despair. "LANLAN!"

Ciao Ciao quickly covered his ears with his paws once again. He still didn’t know what that flower was, but judging from his father’s miserable reaction, it was definitely something his mother utterly despised.

Therefore, little Ciao Ciao made a sacred vow in his heart: when he grew up, he would never, ever touch that flower. Never!

His mother had spoken. And in this family, her word was the absolute, final law!

Rong Ye was still standing outside the courtyard with a thoroughly miserable expression plastered on his handsome face when Xuan Long finally returned after being away for the entire day.

The moment Xuan Long stepped through the gate, his emerald eyes instantly landed on Rong Ye. He stopped in his tracks.

One single glance at Rong Ye’s drooping fox ears and pitiful, sulking face was more than enough for him to understand the exact situation.

"Lanlan scolded you?" Xuan Long asked, his voice smooth and completely devoid of warmth.

Rong Ye’s face immediately darkened into a thundercloud.

Xuan Long’s lips barely moved, but the quiet satisfaction in his tone was impossible to mistake.

"Good. Serves you right."

He calmly began walking past him toward the house.

Rong Ye’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "Who asked for your opinion, you slippery noodle?!"

Xuan Long stopped and slowly looked back over his shoulder.

"At least I am a useful slippery noodle. You are nothing but a nine-tailed fox with nine tails and not a single useful thought in your head."

Rong Ye’s forehead twitched violently.

"You have the nerve to say that to me?! You spent the entire day crawling around looking for Lanlan like a lost snake that forgot where its nest was!"

"At least she lets me crawl around her," Xuan Long replied smoothly.

Rong Ye nearly exploded on the spot! "You shameless snake!"

"You are jealous."

"Jealous of you?!" Rong Ye laughed so hard his tails shook in the air.

"What exactly do you have that I should ever be jealous of? A long, boring face? A cold expression? Or that ridiculous body that looks like someone stretched a noodle and completely forgot to put it back?!"

Xuan Long’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "At least Lanlan likes this body."

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Rong Ye’s mocking smile instantly vanished into thin air. "Don’t bring Lanlan into this!"

"You brought her into it first."

"YOU...!"

Rong Ye pointed a furious, shaking finger right at his face. "You think just because Lanlan likes you, you can act so proud?! If someone ever cracked your head open, there would be nothing inside except mating!"

Xuan Long calmly replied, "At least I know what I want."

"What do you want?! You want Lanlan twenty-four hours a day!"

"Yes."

Rong Ye froze completely solid.

Xuan Long looked back at him with an expression of absolute, unbothered shamelessness. "And?"

Rong Ye’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "You... you shameless creature!"

Then, a tiny, hesitant voice sounded from behind them.

"...Fathers?"