Chapter 19
Tears are salty
When the realization hit Fuya, she became overwhelmed with emotions. It was as if the dam she had used, suddenly reached its limit and overflowed. All she had felt these past years came rushing at her and her worries got washed away in the flood, leaving behind only relief and joy.
As the youngest daughter of the Leicester family, Fuya Leicester had received social education from a very young age and been taught to always behave dignified and reserved. To display excessive signs of emotions, as she did now, was not advisable around other people.
But the current was too strong and she was unable to resist her gushing emotions. After letting that one suppressed sob out, she prevailed for but a second before she lovingly embraced her cub and bent her head down, her back lightly trembling as she quietly sobbed.
“Tiuh?”
“Tiuh-tiuh, tiuh!”
The Kuhti cub, who did not understand why his mother suddenly started crying, anxiously moved his small wings and called out to her several times.
Out of consideration for the Kuhti woman, the people in the room remained quiet and let the mother and her cub interact in a peaceful environment. And so, except for the occasional sounds made by the cubs, the room was enwrapped in silence.
No one felt that her reaction was strange. With their circumstances, it was surely a very happy surprise for the mother to suddenly discover that her cub could now fly.
Although they had once been in contact with the mother before, the cub had not made a lot of progress at that time. After that, the cub had rapidly improved and could now fly just as well as any other cub, maybe even better. It certainly must have been very emotional for the mother to suddenly discover this.
Since the cub had proved himself to fly very well yesterday, Xia Qi had thought about contacting his parents today and delivering the good news. However, his mother had unexpectedly arrived before she had the chance to do this.
Hearing his mother’s continued sobs, the Kuhti cub got worried. His mother’s head was bent downwards with her hair falling like a curtain around them, separating them from the outside world. In an attempt to soothe his mother, the little cub fluttered his small wings and stretched his back to reach her chin. He then tenderly rubbed his beak against her tear stained skin.
Tears are salty.
This simple thought went thought he cub’s head as he gently stroked his beak against her wet chin.
He was still a cub and even if he wanted to comfort his mother, he could only do this much. He therefore continued to helplessly stroke his mother’s chin and call out to her.
“Tiuh-tiuh.”
After a while, Fuya partially straightened her back and the cub looked up at his mother who had opened her eyes and was gazing down at him, tears still running down her cheeks. The cub then suddenly pushed his chest forward and opened his wings to make himself bigger.
Mommy, don’t cry, I will protect you.
As the Kuhti cub could not speak, he could only express his thoughts with actions.
To tell the truth…with the cub’s body being so small as well as the fact that his ample feathers made him into a fluffball, this action held no momentum and on the contrary looked a bit ridiculous.
But knowing that the cub was trying to comfort his mother, this action suddenly felt warm and the surrounding people couldn’t help but feel touched.
Cubs’ thought process was often very simple. But it was this simplicity that made their actions seem so pure and sincere, they neither pretended nor deceived one.
“Sweetie…” Looking down and seeing her cub’s adorable actions, Fuya felt warm in her heart and showed a small smile. The overwhelming rush of emotions subsided and her tears gradually stopped.
The Kuhti cub’s name was Peido and his nickname Peipei, however Fuya often only called him “Sweetie” at home which expressed all the love she had for her cub.
Hearing himself being called, the Kuhti cub moved his small wings and responded. “Tiuh!”
His mother had stopped crying and even smiled! The cub relaxed his spine and happily settled down in her hands, giving her thumb a stroke with his beak before once again gazing up at her.
Fuya gave him a loving look and then faced the people surrounding them.
“I sincerely apologize… somehow I lost control of my emotions for a moment there.” Quickly fixing her appearance, Fuya looked up and smiled as she apologized to the people in the room who had to witness such a scene.
After making herself presentable again, there were amazingly no signs of what had just transpired except for the young woman’s heartbreakingly red eyes… Xia Qi almost felt a bit envious but it passed rather quick as she focused on the woman’s words.
No one felt that she was to blame for her behavior, it was normal, even a noble lady was primarily a mother when it came to things concerning her cub, not a wife. She did not need to put up a front for the family’s best but needed to act for the best of the cub. That included showing emotions and love, not putting up a front and shutting everyone out.
They all therefore simultaneously shook they heads at her apology. There was nothing to apologize for.
Fuya flashed a polite smile at their response and then looked down as she moved her cub over to one hand and used the other to touch his small wings. Her smile did not disappear but turned more loving as she gazed at her cub and everyone could see that she was extremely happy.
Aside from her joy, she was also relieved and thankful that she had actually decided to come and visit her cub instead of relying on holographic communication. If she hadn’t, she would probably be home right now crying and with blurry eyes trying to book a ticket to Gaia Star.
“It’s like a miracle. I don’t know how I can ever possibly thank you for what you have done…” Despite her composed look, one could still hear a tingle of emotion in her voice as she convened her gratitude.
Xie Tao did of course reject her offer and did not demand extra payment. Assisting and caring for the cubs were after all what caretakers should do, it was not like they had done anything worth extra money.
Also, in Xie Tao’s point of view, the fact that the cub became able to fly was mainly because the cub was willing to work hard and did not give up.
They only gave him encouragement and guidance. If it had not been for the Kuhti cub taking initiative to repeatedly practice every day, there would be no results.
All of the staff knew the effort the Kuhti cub had put in and seeing that it was not in vain, they were all happy for the cub.
Hearing that he had worked hard this past month, Fuya embraced her diligent cub and then planted a kiss on his forehead before lightly rubbing her cheek against the top of her fluffy cub’s head.
“My little Peipei truly is amazing.” With a tender smile, Fuya carefully arranged the ruffled feathers on her cub, her movements were very gentle.
“Tiuh-” The Kuhti cub cheerfully called out to her, he was very happy that he was being praised.
When his mother finished tidying up his feathers, the Kuhti cub flapped his wings and left her arms. He first flew towards Xie Tao and stopped a meter from him. He briefly turned toward his mother and called out to her, he then flew to his two friends and once again turned around. “Tiuh!”
The first action was meant to show his trust and dependence on the youth, the second was to show his mother that he had made two new friends.
“Tiuh-tiuh.” The Kuwei and Cotto cub looked at the Kuhti woman with curiosity.
This was the first time that they had seen an adult from the Kuhti race and as they looked up at her, they both came to wonder the same thing.
Since their friend was a Kuhti cub and looked a lot like them, maybe their mothers were similar to the Kuhti woman in front to them?
The idea was quite naive and unrealistic, but as young cubs, this felt logical and highly possible. The two cubs looked at the Kuhti woman with interest and as they imagined that their mothers would have treated them the same way she did, they could not help but feel a bit envious.
At this moment, Xie Tao picked the two cubs up and after lightly stroking them, he arranged their feathers just like the Kuhti woman had.
Being happily surprised, the two cubs called out to him and stroked their beaks against his hand before sitting back and contentedly let him arrange them.
Although they did not have mothers, they had someone who loved them and was willing to arrange their feathers for them.
Fuya went over to look at her cub’s new friends who were sitting in the president’s arms and immediately recognized them to be of the Kuwei and Cotto race.
The only big difference between the three races was basically the color of their feathers, one was red, one yellow and one gray. There was also a bit of a difference in body shape as cubs but nothing noteworthy.
Although she knew of them, she rarely met anyone from their races and being faced with two cute cubs similar to the ones of her race, Fuya inevitably felt some connection and love for them.[1] She therefore reached out a hand and tenderly touched the two cubs’ heads.
Xie Tao had told her that when her cub was learning how to fly, these two cubs had helped him. She was really happy that her cub had gotten such lovely friends.
“Tiuh-tiuh.”
The two cute cubs called out to her and she gave them a gentle smile. She then continued to ponder on what she could do to thank the club.
They had told her that they were only doing their job and had denied extra payment, however this did not mean that she could not give them a gift in order to show her appreciation.
Fuya believed in their sincerity and that their words were true, but if she did not properly thank them for achieving this, she would not be able leave without guilt weighing on her mind.
She must give some kind of reward-
“I will fund a new living quarter for the cubs here at the Yunbao branch.” After considering for a while, Fuya stated this.
The number of cubs in the Yunbao Branch had recently risen and space had become limited. To give the cubs more space they could build a new house or add onto the existing one. If they for example added a second floor to the current building, they could have the hatching room and the like on the second floor and have the first floor dedicated to the cubs.
Hearing her say this sentence, the surrounding people were all stunned and could only stare blankly at the Kuhti woman in front of them.
They had been aware that the Kuhti cub’s mother had previously let her cub stay in famous clubs, which were not cheap but…
Could she really be this rich?
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Translator’s note:
I know that many chapters are made of tear goblins and rainbow dust but somehow this chapter made me “awww~” especially many times as I translated it. (≧∀≦)
(By the way, fun thing, as I hastily read through the chapter before publishing it, my brain turned Yunbao branch into Yaoi branch!!!)
[1] – The author actually used an idiom here ” ài wū jí wū ” (爱屋及乌 ), that translates into “love the house and its crow”, which means roughly that if you are involved with someone, you are also involved with the thing that is connected to them, for example “Love me, love my dog.” or in this case something like, “Love my cub, love the cubs that look similar to him.” or more appropriately, “Love my cub, love his friends.”