Chapter 52: Hot Spring Outing Part 2

Through much persuasion, Ming Ruan still managed to get the several fluffies into the pool to at least experience it. Watching them splash water on each other, give each other a swat or two, and play happily, Ming Ruan finally relaxed. His guilt over his drunken antics tonight lessened a bit.

In reality, the fluffies were full of sparks, using the pretense of water play to settle personal scores and have a massive brawl. They fought until the night deepened, only stopping when they genuinely feared Ming Ruan might catch a chill.

For Ming Ruan, the New Year’s hot spring outing was pretty much over at this point. After the sprinkler-crew finished shaking off their fur, Ming Ruan led them toward the Flying Sedan first.

However, before they’d gone more than two steps, Ming Ruan came face to face with a live-stream camera set up not far away.

Ming Ruan: “…?!”

Ming Ruan’s face instantly flushed bright red.

Wait, how was the live stream still on?!

So embarrassed he didn’t know where to put his hands and feet, he frantically replayed events in his head: Had he dressed too inappropriately? Had he not ended the interactive live stream before coming to the hot spring? Had he just brought the live-stream camera here to soak in the spring without saying a word? Had he really been that drunk?

Flustered and angry, Ming Ruan squeezed the back of a fluffy’s neck, attempting to randomly blame some beast for not reminding him.

In the end, Ming Ruan mustered his courage, pretended nothing had happened, and chatted casually with the live stream viewers: “It was pretty nice to soak. Do you all like hot springs?”

Fortunately, the netizens in his live room were all very kind. The comments looked quite peaceful, only one or two drifting by.

[I like it too, I like it too.]

[Already soaking. Is this also one of Ruanruan’s Spring Festival customs?]

Ming Ruan quickly explained to them, breathing a sigh of relief. Probably everyone found it boring and went off to do their own New Year’s celebrating.

What Ming Ruan didn’t know was that he could only see one or two comments because all the others were utterly unspeakable.

[Damn it White Tiger, you really blocked him so completely. You’ve got guts. You’d better be the Adjudicator himself, otherwise I’m calling a minivan full of people to get you, wuwuwu!]

[I didn’t see even a bit of wifey…]

[How did he do it? He didn’t let even a strand of Ming Ruan’s hair show.]

[My dreams are shattered, wuwu]

During Ming Ruan’s comfortable hot spring soak, the comments had gone from initially wild screaming, to breakdown after the white tiger’s absolute defense, to analysis, commentary, and even suggestions regarding each beastman’s behavior.

Fox, Gray Wolf, White Tiger, Lion, and Snow Leopard now each had an analysis thread on StarNet, already reaching tens of thousands of replies.

Aside from some serious ones, like [Analyzing the Timing of the Bigwigs’ Emotional Changes Based on Behavioral Shifts — Shi Huai is Most Obvious], the majority were pure raving: [Why do they all look so prim and proper? Can’t they all stand up, shake out their tails and stop blocking the view? My phantom limb is already up. Are they impotent or something?]

It had to be said, that night, the netizens were indeed as lively as if celebrating a festival.

…

Because of this sudden holiday, Ming Ruan’s mood stayed high for quite a few days.

However, he noticed that ever since that day, the fluffies at home had become rather strange.

First, the little fox, who was usually the most enthusiastic about cuddling, had become much more reserved. Unless Ming Ruan took the initiative to hug him, the fox no longer suddenly burrowed into his arms, nor clung to him insisting on sleeping by his pillow.

Next was the gray wolf. Previously, when Ming Ruan interacted with other fluffies, the wolf mostly just stood by and watched.

Now, if Ming Ruan petted another fluffy first before coming to the wolf, the wolf would gently hold his hand in his mouth and give it two soft bites. Every single time, without fail. Even during regular feeding times, the wolf would curl his tongue around Ming Ruan’s fingers, then release them as if nothing had happened.

The snow leopard and lion had likewise grown more enthusiastic. One enthusiastically invited Ming Ruan to play together; the other set up his stance and waited, like fishing, for Ming Ruan to come to him.

As for the white tiger… with him, it was actually Ming Ruan who had changed somewhat.

After the experimental proof of that night, Ming Ruan thoroughly understood: if he couldn’t balance his favor among the fluffies, choosing the white tiger was always safe. The other fluffies wouldn’t be as displeased, nor would they glare at each other.

Of course, it could also be that they were furious but didn’t dare voice it.

And the white tiger’s silent indulgence made Ming Ruan bolder and bolder. Normally, he’d casually use him as a pillow, or wipe his hands on his clean, snowy, distinct black-and-white fur — all had happened.

For everyone, that night was indeed a clear turning point.

Out with the old, in with the new. Not just regarding their feelings for Ming Ruan, but also in terms of their therianthropy — a change they themselves couldn’t quite explain.

They seemed to be fully accepting themselves, whether good or bad, rational or emotional. Everyone could sense that perhaps, to return to human form, they only needed a catalyst.

It was at this moment that Ming Ruan received a call.

It was an unfamiliar number, but based on Ming Ruan’s experience, as the District 12 Executor, any calls he received were generally screened by the Sanatorium Administration.

He answered without much concern.

Ming Ruan had just returned from outside at this moment. He’d washed his feet and let them air out for a while — they had turned icy cold.

As he answered the call, he sat down on the sofa and called the white tiger over.

“Lie down.” Ming Ruan smoothed the white tiger’s back. Once the tiger lay down, he naturally slipped his feet underneath the tiger’s belly.

Ah, warm, comfortable. Heh heh.

Su Yuyun: “…”

The person on the other end of the call seemed to hear the commotion and didn’t dare speak for a long while. Only after Ming Ruan greeted first did the other party reply: “Hello, Lord Executor. I’m Ye Fu, an agent from StarNet Entertainment — I’m Shi Huai’s… uh, owner’s agent. I can also be considered Shi Huai’s agent.”

Ming Ruan: ?

It took Ming Ruan a moment to process the relationships involved.

Inside the house, the little fox, hearing the commotion, came pattering over, looking up at him.

On Earth, animal celebrities weren’t uncommon, and Ming Ruan accepted it well. The Sanatorium wouldn’t proactively inform the Executor of these fluffies’ owners’ identities. He hadn’t expected his family’s little fox was actually a minor celebrity out in the world.

But, recalling the scene of meeting Mr. Shi, the other’s temperament and appearance were indeed far from ordinary.

So he was a celebrity.

“Yes, yes, please go on,” Ming Ruan nodded.

“The reason I’m calling you this time is because Shi Huai — that is, the little fox — needs to participate in a rather important public service promotional video shoot. So we’re contacting you.”

A public service promo shoot!

Ming Ruan rubbed the fox’s head, mussing his big ears this way and that.

Little fox is amazing!

“So do you need to take the little fox away for a while? That would require official approval from the Sanatorium Administration.”

“No, we wouldn’t be taking him away. We were hoping you could… bring him to participate in this shoot.”

Ming Ruan: “Huh?”

The truth was, this public service promo was an official campaign to boost societal perception change regarding the recent shifts in beastmen’s circumstances across the galaxy. After much discussion, it was unanimously agreed that no one was more suitable than Shi Huai to be the lead of this public service promo.

But having a beastman who had entered the sanatorium zone return to society for work — there was truly no precedent.

The Royal Family had originally hoped the Sanatorium Administration would order Ming Ruan to bring Shi Huai and participate in the shoot. But the Adjudicator had rejected this, insisting that Ming Ruan’s wishes come first.

That was why today, Ye Fu was tasked with asking Ming Ruan.

Ye Fu added a few more explanations.

Ming Ruan understood now. This was different from the Clarence family incident; this was genuine fieldwork.

But it was just bringing the little fox to a public service promo shoot. It didn’t sound burdensome and even seemed interesting!

Ming Ruan, always proactive about work: “No problem!”

After agreeing, Ming Ruan thought it over and suddenly realized he could perhaps move his vacation plans earlier. He could simply stay in the interstellar city for a couple more days after the field assignment to explore. It would also reduce commuting back and forth from the sanatorium zone.

If that was the case,

then the fluffies’ evaluations would need to happen sooner.

Ming Ruan looked at the fluffies who, having heard voices, had all come into the living room and gathered around him.

He just wondered how many would pass?

…

Things are always so changeable. When the Research Institute introduced this new policy, they were also very curious how many beastmen around Ming Ruan could reach A-rank stability. They never expected the answer would come so soon.

Seeing Ming Ruan walk into the Research Institute with a fox in his arms, the gray wolf and snow leopard on his left, the white tiger and lion on his right — a grand, imposing procession.

The researchers coming and going were all stunned. Hearing that Ming Ruan had brought these beastmen for evaluation, they were even more astonished.

The researcher in charge of evaluations: “So soon?”

Evaluation wasn’t difficult. A trip through the machine would yield results quickly. But since the evaluation rules opened, not many beastmen had come for testing. It was roughly the same psychology as people going for physical checkups.

Though they knew Ming Ruan’s ability, the researcher still feared he’d return disappointed.

After all, in beastman evaluations, A-rank was already considered an extremely high score.

Previously, Xie Gewen, Shi Huai, and Su Yuyun had each reached A-rank. And their cases confirmed that reaching A-rating gave the possibility of briefly transforming back into human form.

Ming Ruan: “Yes, please help test them.” Two days ago, he’d confirmed the fieldwork and leave matters with both the Sanatorium Administration and Su Yuyun. Now he was just waiting for the fluffies’ test results to come out before he could start preparing.

“Please don’t tell them the results in front of them. Just tell me directly,” Ming Ruan instructed the researcher, while simultaneously comforting the beasts like a teacher taking kindergarteners for their checkups.

The researcher watched, stunned, as he planted a kiss on each of the bigwig beastmen’s heads one by one, even saying: “Babies, don’t be nervous! You’re all the best!”

Researcher: …So… that. Let me look again.

Under the beastmen’s cold stares, the researcher finally straightened his demeanor and led them into the evaluation room.

The door closed, and the red light indicating the room was in operation lit up.

Ming Ruan sat down on a soft sofa in the waiting area, both excited and anxious. He wasn’t worried the babies would score poorly; he was only worried they’d be sad if they found out.

Interstellar animals are very smart!

It felt like half the day had passed, yet also like only five minutes.

The evaluation room’s red light went out. The researcher in charge of the evaluation hurriedly pushed the door open and strode toward Ming Ruan.

And behind him, a dark mass of people had appeared from nowhere, following along.

“Lord Executor!” The researcher couldn’t control his volume; his voice practically echoed throughout the entire Research Institute.