Beauty and the Beasts

Ever since An’an was in her stomach, she had been unbelievably quiet. After she was born, she didn’t cry or make a fuss. As An’an never asked for anything, Bai Qingqing hadn’t detected any abnormality till now.

This was the first time An’an showed such stubbornness towards something. Yet, even after she lost it, she didn’t kick up a fuss, merely persistently looking for it herself, not occurring to her to ask the adults for it.

“Is she searching for that big luminous ball?” asked Parker.

“Yeah.” Bai Qingqing lifted An’an, who was still persistently staring at her sleeping spot, into her arms. Bai Qingqing felt a mix of heartache and amusement at this sight.

Bai Qingqing thought, if An’an asked her for it, she would go borrow it from Bluepool again.

Alas, An’an didn’t make any sound. After that, she appeared dispirited for the entire day.

When night fell, Bai Qingqing deliberately took out the luminous ball-embedded wooden rod for An’an to see.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of it, and she reached out her arms and circled them around the wooden rod, revealing the same satisfied smile on her face as when she just drank her fill of milk.

This teeth-grinding rod that once belonged to the leopard cubs was now passed on to An’an.

…

Winston had already been gone for a month, and now that the village reached the scale of 2,000 males, it started bustling with life.

Hope and merry laughter emanated throughout the entire village, but Bai Qingqing and her family couldn’t bring themselves to smile.

Because the full moon night was here again.

A depressed vibe filled their home. Bai Qingqing, who didn’t have much of an appetite, simply ate two mouthfuls, before asking Parker to take the food away.

Parker felt heartache for both An’an and Bai Qingqing. He stroked Bai Qingqing’s head and said, “When you get hungry later, just ask me to heat up the food.”

“Mm,” Bai Qingqing answered softly.

After he cleared the dining table and returned to the living room, she was nowhere to be seen.

It was already the hot season now. Basked in sunlight, the interior of the stone castle was very cool and breezy, but the eaves were still scalding hot, especially that of the top story.

With An’an in her arms, Bai Qingqing stood under the eave of the top story and looked around for Winston.

Parker anxiously ran up. When he caught sight of her, he heaved a big sigh of relief. “You’re indeed here.”

“The venom is going to act up again tonight.”

As Bai Qingqing spoke, two strings of tears slipped down from her face and fell upon An’an’s chubby little face.

At six months old, although An’an couldn’t speak, she seemed to understand the words “venom” and “acting up.” She started pouting, and her tender little face started crumpling into a bun.

Bai Qingqing hurriedly cradled her and coaxed her, feigning happiness as she spoke to her, “What’s wrong with you, An’an?”

An’an opened her mouth and revealed two tiny teeth glistening with saliva.

Pretending to just only discover that, Bai Qingqing exclaimed in a shocked tone, “Oh look! An’an has started teething. Your front teeth are so pretty!”

With her chin crumpled, choked sobs escaped from An’an’s throat. This went on for a while, but under her mommy’s pretense that everything was going well, she held back those sobs.

An’an’s obedience made Bai Qingqing’s heart ache terribly for her. She planted a few kisses on her baby’s face, then secretly wiped away her tears.

Bai Qingqing suddenly felt a hot body press against her back. It was Parker, who had circled his arms around her waist and said softly, “You should stop crying too.”

She let out a long exhale. “Winston’s already been gone for a month.”

Lowering her head to see An’an’s face which resembled Winston’s so much, Bai Qingqing felt a mixture of anxiousness and worry.

“By right he should already be back by now. Moreover, today’s such a special day, so if he can make it back, he definitely will. I’m very worried about him.”

Parker cast a glance at the clearly tattooed tiger spousal mark on Bai Qingqing’s arm and said, “The spousal mark is still there. You don’t have to worry.”

Bai Qingqing shook her head. “We should have gone with him.”