Though Jin Qianyu was a titan of business, he had never once opened his heart to romance. Of course, he still didn’t feel that what he felt for Ming Ruan could be called romantic feelings.
But he always felt that Ming Ruan was different from other people.
When dealing with casual acquaintances, he could use social graces and mutual benefit to maintain relations. When dealing with friends and brothers, he also knew how to measure the right distance. But toward Ming Ruan, he didn’t know exactly how he should…
Ming Ruan didn’t do much else today. After preparing a room for the snow leopard, he went to bed early to catch up on sleep.
These past two days, although it couldn’t be said his life was in danger, he genuinely hadn’t slept or eaten well. To have returned today still lively and bouncing, Ming Ruan himself admired his own physical constitution.
But speak of the devil. When the bright moon hung in the west, Ming Ruan in his dream only felt the moonlight was as glaring as a floodlight, disturbing his sleep. His limbs were heavy, as if chained to the bed, yet his head kept turning restlessly on the pillow. His breathing was fast and hot.
The animals, each in their own rooms, opened their eyes. They cocked their ears and listened carefully for a long while, then, without prior agreement, walked out of their rooms together.
They met in the living room, exchanged a glance, and all headed to Ming Ruan’s bedroom.
White Tiger knocked on the door with his paw, making muffled thump thump sounds.
No one came to open the door.
Su Yuyun apologized silently in his heart and pushed the door open directly.
The air in the room was humid, damp, and warm, almost suffocating. Everyone saw Ming Ruan wrapped in his blanket, tossing and turning slightly. The animals immediately crept softly to the bedside.
White Tiger leaned close to Ming Ruan’s forehead to sniff. His nose brushed against the beads of damp sweat at his temple.
Ming Ruan’s forehead was extremely hot.
Seeing this, Gray Wolf immediately fetched the healing device from nearby. The healing device beeped as it scanned Ming Ruan, displaying his specific physical condition on its interface—high fever state. Preliminary assessment identified possible contributing factors as: fatigue, mental stress, etc.
All those days of wilderness living had still taken their toll on Ming Ruan. Now that he had suddenly returned to a safe environment and relaxed, his body could no longer hold out.
During the healing device’s examination, White Tiger’s tail continuously patted Ming Ruan’s waist gently to soothe him. From time to time, the tail would flick upward to brush away the damp strands of hair stuck to Ming Ruan’s forehead and wipe off the beads of sweat.
The therapeutic device, brought over in Gray Wolf’s mouth, did not proceed with further treatment after its diagnosis. It simply emitted some white noise and advised that the patient needed ample rest. It recommended observation for one night. If the situation did not improve, he should be transferred to a medical pod for further investigation and treatment.
So did that mean Ming Ruan would have to tough it out on his own all night?
Shi Huai was the least reserved. He deftly jumped onto the bed and squeezed in through a gap in Ming Ruan’s blanket. The fox’s body encountered Ming Ruan’s icy cold hand and directly pressed his belly against it to warm it up.
But before he could warm it for even a little bit, a paw unceremoniously scooped him out. Immediately after, a healing device, capable of automatically adjusting its temperature to the patient’s condition, was stuffed inside, taking Shi Huai’s place.
Not even knowing who had plucked him out—fine, he endured it.
Shi Huai didn’t want to quarrel at a time like this. He instead curled up by Ming Ruan’s pillow, occasionally poking Ming Ruan’s face with his nose tip. If only he were in human form. Though he wasn’t very good at taking care of people either, he could at least be sick together with Ming Ruan. He definitely wouldn’t let him suffer alone.
Fuxi had earlier opened a holographic communication on his light brain to consult the Clarence family’s contracted physician about Ming Ruan’s condition. Now, the medicine prescribed by the doctor was already en route via flying vehicle.
After tucking in the therapeutic device, Xie Gewen, following the therapeutic device’s prompts, fetched a damp towel in his mouth and began wiping Ming Ruan’s neck, palms, and other areas. Xie Gewen was also startled by the scorching temperature.
In the haze, he stared at Ming Ruan’s Adam’s apple, bobbing up and down in discomfort. Bewitched, he leaned closer, wanting to soothe that little thing. But he immediately felt the gazes cast upon him from beside him.
The gray wolf paused. He picked up the towel again and continued wiping Ming Ruan’s body as if nothing had happened. Ming Ruan was still best suited to being lively and bouncing around, happy every day. But no matter who looked after him in the future, Xie Gewen wouldn’t be at ease. No one but himself.
The medicine was delivered very soon. After confirming with the doctor, the lion found some milk in the kitchen, warmed it up, mixed it with the medicine, and fed it to Ming Ruan. If Ming Ruan were at the Clarence household, he would never have let him suffer like this.
The movement in the house wasn’t loud, but it still alerted the snow leopard.
The snow leopard hadn’t stayed in the room Ming Ruan had prepared for him tonight. He had run up to the rooftop and lay there. When he detected some subtle movements and jumped down from the roof, rushing to Ming Ruan’s bedroom, there was no spot left for him inside.
The snow leopard wanted to go in and check on Ming Ruan’s condition, but the bedside was already surrounded so tightly there wasn’t the slightest gap.
Jin Qianyu turned his head to look at his own tail.
Ming Ruan really liked his tail. The past two days, he had been itching to touch it every single day, but the snow leopard had never let him fully succeed.
If he could touch the tail, perhaps the torment of illness wouldn’t be so bad.
The snow leopard slowly lay down at Ming Ruan’s doorway. Staring at the tail flopped in front of him as if it had lost all vitality, he slowly took it into his mouth.
Sigh.
Inside, everyone still thought it was too crowded. No one was going to make way for the snow leopard.
In the latter half of the night, Ming Ruan suddenly struggled. His hand reached out of the blanket, groping around.
Everyone quickly leaned in.
Ming Ruan touched the fox—too small. Touched the lion—the fur wasn’t very even. Touched the gray wolf—a bit prickly. Finally, on White Tiger, he found a familiar texture. Ming Ruan squeezed his entire body toward White Tiger, hugged his head, and buried his face against the tiger’s neck. Finding a comfortable spot, he stopped moving.
The envy of everyone else.
Watching Ming Ruan’s instinct draw him close to White Tiger, each of them felt a different flavor in their hearts. They either pillowed their heads on their paws or simply watched Ming Ruan.
No one slept until dawn.
Ming Ruan’s constitution turned out to be quite decent. By early morning, his fever had already subsided. He was sleeping very peacefully too—perhaps also thanks to the Fluffballs’ help. Ming Ruan slept all the way until noon. By the time he woke up, he was already full of energy.
The remaining trace of fatigue was swept away completely after a shower, leaving him fresh and invigorated.
Seeing the worried looks of the Fluffballs around him and the healing device and cup scattered by the bedside, Ming Ruan guessed he had probably been briefly sick during the night. Waking up to find the Fluffballs all around him, it looked like they must have been the ones taking care of him last night.
Ming Ruan didn’t overthink it. He thanked the Fluffballs one by one and gave each of them a dedicated chunk of bonding time.
Jin Qianyu watched Ming Ruan move among the numerous Beastmen, kissing this one, hugging that one, busy and perfectly happy.
Then Ming Ruan shooed them one by one back to their respective rooms to rest. All of them were interstellar big shots, yet they were all incredibly compliant toward Ming Ruan.
After Ming Ruan closed the door to the last room, he walked toward the snow leopard sitting in the corner of the living room.
Jin Qianyu hadn’t expected Ming Ruan would single him out for a special visit at the end. The snow leopard pushed himself up and sat up straight.
“Did Baby rest well yesterday?” Ming Ruan crouched down, asking as he stroked the snow leopard’s head.
“Rawr,” the snow leopard responded in a low voice, a slight hoarseness still audible.
“Then do you want to go rest?” Ming Ruan petted his neck.
Jin Qianyu didn’t know whether he should evade. He just looked at Ming Ruan without answering.
Ming Ruan proposed again: “Then how about we go out for a spin?”
Go out for a spin with him? Alone?
The snow leopard was a little tempted, and he stood up.
Ming Ruan received his affirmative cue, patted his back, and walked out first.
The terrain around the base was indeed not as interesting as the High Mountain Zone. But could this stump Ming Ruan?
Ming Ruan piloted the flying vehicle himself, while the snow leopard ran alongside. The two of them charged into the Forest Zone, weaving back and forth between countless giant trees.
Ming Ruan controlled the flying vehicle’s speed, racing ahead, the snow leopard chasing from behind. From time to time, it would dart up a tree and leap among the treetops. Occasionally, it also took the initiative to run ahead, letting Ming Ruan give chase.
The two of them played this game of tag for a whole round. It wasn’t anything particularly interesting, yet Ming Ruan laughed with delight, and the snow leopard thoroughly enjoyed himself too.
Hearing Ming Ruan’s laughter, Jin Qianyu felt all the vexation he had felt the previous night scatter into the wind.
Ming Ruan: “How was it, is the Forest Zone fun? Next time you can take me tree climbing, okay!” Though there were plenty of big cats at home, each one of them was reserved in their own way. The one who wasn’t reserved, Little Fox, didn’t have that kind of skill.
“Rawr!” The snow leopard readily agreed.
Panting slightly, he gazed at Ming Ruan.
He could feel it. Ming Ruan was telling him through his actions: Nothing is going to change. His attitude toward him, the care he put in—won’t change just because there are other animals around.
Jin Qianyu suddenly found his own sulky behavior yesterday rather laughable.
Ming Ruan had already done more than enough. If he wished to be the person Ming Ruan was closest to, if he wanted Ming Ruan to look at him first, then he should at least take the initiative and fight for it, instead of just waiting and then brooding.
This engagement—the current Ming Ruan had the absolute right to refuse it. But regardless of whether they ultimately chose to honor it, that was a matter between him and Ming Ruan. It wasn’t for outsiders to meddle.
A pleased, rumbling purr came from the snow leopard’s throat.
Seeing the snow leopard so happy, Ming Ruan said, “Shall we do another round?”
The snow leopard didn’t respond. He just nudged the back of Ming Ruan’s waist with his head and climbed onto the flying vehicle himself.
Let’s go, home. They had plenty of time, no need to rush it all now.
Since that’s how it was, then today’s playtime was over!
After Ming Ruan brought the snow leopard back to the base, he suddenly remembered something and opened the Executor’s Inspector Livestream.
Actually, only probationary Executors had to undergo uninterrupted inspection. Once an Executor was promoted to full status, they only needed to stream for a specific number of hours each month. As for when to start the stream and when to end it, they could decide all that themselves.
Inside the house, the crowd that Ming Ruan had forcibly shooed off to rest heard the sound of his return. One by one, they rushed out impatiently.
Just as the live-stream camera activated, before Ming Ruan could even say anything, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the snow leopard suddenly walked over to Ming Ruan’s side and sat down, facing the live stream camera together with him.
The snow leopard’s tail naturally curled into a circle, enclosing Ming Ruan. Without the slightest hint of yielding, he met the dangerous gazes of the others.
You want it? Then fight for it.
