Chapter 5
Having fully mastered the method of using small bottles as well as learned how to mix rations. Xie Tao was now trying to sharpen his skill of feeding the young.
However, there were still a few cubs that he didn't know what kind of race they were. Xie Tao suddenly felt that he needed a "Cub Raising Encyclopedia" to supplement his lack of common sense and to understand the habits of different races.
The Takila cub, who was still lying on Xie Tao's leg, seemed to be falling asleep and the swinging of its tail gradually became smaller and smaller. Xie Tao's legs had actually started to get a bit numb, but he still did not lift the cub away.
Sleeping was technically also an activity. Some young cub of some races could be very noisy which caused cubs with sensitive hearing, that could not block it out, to not be able to sleep. To get them to sleep was not something every caretaker could manage. In the Stars Alliance star rating of caretakers, the sleep of the cubs were therefore taken into account.
Xia Qi had never seen the Takila cub wanting to sleep after drinking milk and was once again stunned. When she returned to herself, she walked to the human youth who were still sitting cross-legged.
Xia Qi wanted to take this seemingly asleep Tachira cub back to its nest, but just as she came close and stretched her hand, the Takila cub suddenly opened its eyes and snorted loudly as it slammed the thick, short, fluffy tail down several times.
It did not want to be held. Xia Qi knew the aloof nature of the Takila race, so she quickly took her hand back and put on a little helpless expression on her face. She thought that the cub was already asleep so she had wanted to come over and take the it back to the bed.
Since it was still awake, she was not sure how to move it...
"Is it necessary to take it to the sleeping room?" Xie Tao picked up and hugged the Takila cub who had suddenly opened its eyes. He then hurriedly stood up at the same time, after sitting so long, he really wanted to stretch his legs.
Xia Qi had already worked harder than him. He therefore also felt that he should be the one to take the cub back to the nest instead.
"..." Xia Qi looked at the Takila cub, who was obediently being held by the young man, not struggling at all. She then nodded with a slow rigid movement.
First saying that it's not happy to be held, then saying that it's good to be held?? Although her inner thoughts and feelings were chaotic right now, Xia Qi still tried to maintain her own stable image.
It didn't take much time to carry the Takila cub to the nest, and when he came back, Xie Tao saw that his two colleagues seemed to be discussing things, and as soon as they spotted him, Zhao Chuan talked more loudly.
"Today is my turn, but I think it should be better to let the newcomer know more about it, so that when it's his turn later, he will be more proficient."
The newcomer was of course Xie Tao and as he did not hear what it was about, he asked Xia Qi.
"Oh, it's nothing, just to change the water for the mermaid cub." Xia Qi shook her head to the youth, she already knew Zhao Chuan was a lazy and careless person. But now that a colleague had come, he actually even wanted to throw away the work he should do!
If they were not short of staff and could recruit new people, Xia Qi would have already told the president that he should fire him.
The cubs were obviously more affectionate to the new colleague who was willing to truly take care of them. Xia Qi suddenly puffed up her chest and was ready to help Xie Tao by speaking for him.
"Oh, okay." Xie Tao nodded with ease.
Xia Qi was suddenly stopped by the his words and had to swallow back what she was about to say. She felt anxious for her new colleague that was too nice. Didn't he see that the other person just wanted to be idle and give him his job??
Xie Tao actually knew his intentions, but he was too lazy to argue about such a little thing and he was also very willing to change the water for the mermaid cub.
Since the youth had already agreed, Xia Qi could not say anything about this matter, however she could in another. She looked at Zhao Chuan with a cold face and said: "The materials in the club need to be supplemented. I have written a list, go out in the afternoon and buy the things according to the list."
Xia Qi showed very clearly that she didn't care about other side's dissatisfaction, this matter was fixed.
Changing the water for the mermaid cub, the wooden barrels was not too big. In theory, changing the water was a very easy thing. You just had to pick up the mermaid cub, pour the water out of the small wooden barrels and fill it up again with fresh water. Then the mermaid cub just had to be placed back and it would be finished.
Xie Tao picked up the small wooden barrel with the mermaid cub and walked all the way to the bathroom before putting it down, he then began to fold up his sleeves.
The mermaid cub staying in the small wooden barrel was very quiet. Since the beginning, Xie Tao had not heard even the smallest of sounds, it had only looked up and observed him with its blue eyes. The small face was very lovable but it still held no expression.
However, Xie Tao did not mind. He first touched the light golden short hair of this mermaid cub and expressed his kindness to the other side. Then he reached out and carefully lifted the mermaid cub from the small wooden bucket holding the water.
However, after the mermaid cub, who had been completely quite so far, was picked up by Xie Tao, it instantly started to struggle. It was probably an instinct of not wanting to leaving the water. The tail of the mermaid cub began to stir. The fishtail covered with ice-blue scales, repeatedly hit him.
Xie Tao was stunned by the mermaid's action, and before he could react, his whole upper body clothing was wet.
Although this unexpected thing happened, Xie Tao was not angry. He already felt that this mermaid cub seemed to be very scared.
"Don't be afraid, everything is okey." While appeasing it, Xie Tao sped up the movements of his hand and quickly emptied small wooden bucket. He then hurriedly unscrewed the water valve, and let the mermaid cub sit down in the bucket that was still being filled.
As soon as it returned to the water, the mermaid cub was quiet again. Xie Tao felt that the cub was still in a state of fright, so he calmed down and patiently sat next to the bucket. A few drops occasionally splashed up on his face but Xie Tao didn't care.
The mermaid cub was looking at him with its blue eyes and slowly stretched out its hand. It wanted to wipe off the water on the youth's cheek.
Even if it was just a cub, it still remembered how the other two men, that had changed the water before, had been very unhappy and angry at it.
The hand of the mermaid cub was already wet, and the more it rubbed, the more Xie Tao's face got stained with water. Xie Tao did not blame it and only touched the head of the mermaid cub. He then finally raised his own hand and wiped his face before lifting up and walking out with this small wooden bucket.
Seeing that the young man's wet clothes, Xia Qi looked at the quiet mermaid cub in the small wooden barrel and couldn't help but say, "Don't blame it, this mermaid cub is just too scared and therefore will...."
It was not deliberately trying to wet them with water, but when the instinctive horror set in, the cub could not control its own behavior.
"The mermaid race can't leave the water for too long during the cub period... You should also know that when this cub was found in a abandoned farm, it was about to die form dehydration." Xia Qi's expression was unbearable as she spoke. "Fortunately, the person who found the mermaid cub hurriedly put it back in the water, and the cub luckily survived."
Why would you find a cub in a abandoned field on Gaia Star? Of course, because the parents deliberately abandoned it. The planet inhabited by the mermaid race was not close to Gaia, and they had deliberately traveled to a distant planet in order to abandon the cub. Xia Qi thought that the parents of this mermaid cub must have really detested the child and for such a reason-
"This cub can't talk..." It was a congenital flaw, Xia Qi paused and then said, "But if someone is angry, it will feel it and it will be even more afraid."
Can't talk? Xie Tao felt a bit awkward. He had thought that the mermaid cub was a bit too quiet, but he had not expected it to be because of this reason.
"I am not angry." Xie Tao shook his head, then smiled and said: "A childcare worker can't be unhappy just because of such little thing like the child got them wet, in that case one would be too unqualified."
Hearing his words, Xia Qi sighed and felt her heart lighten. "That's good."
The mermaid race had singing abilities. It was the racial trait of their race and a mermaid cub that couldn't speak did not have a possibility of mastering this skill.
But it was a congenital defect, not something that the cub could decide by itself!
Xia Qi would never be able to understand the parents who abandoned their cub just because of this kind of thing, she even felt angry. This mermaid cub was left all alone in the abandoned field, because of dehydration and its painful struggle, this cub was now even more afraid of leaving water. How could anyone ever have thought about discarding it?!
Just thinking about it, Xia Qi felt that she wanted to punch something and although she knew she couldn't, she was very tempted to take it out on the lazy Zhao Chuan.
Bringing the cubs back to the nest in order to sleep, the caretakers also took the opportunity to take a short break, but Xie Tao did not go to rest. He walked out into the courtyard outside the house and found the place Lin Yi talked about, the old pool.
Although he had said that the pool could not be used, Xie Tao decided to come and see for himself.
The pool was not far from the house. If you left through the side door, you would see it after a few steps. Xie Tao inspected it and sadly it was indeed as Lin Yi had said, broken and not used for long, with the bottom of the pool covered with dried leaves and dirt.
The pool was round, about one meter deep, and the bottom of the pool was equipped with something that looked like a large cube. Xie Tao assumed that it must be the circulation device.
Jumping into the empty pool, Xie Tao approached the device and kneeled down next to it. He then knocked on it with his hand, inspecting it.
As a person living on earth in the 21st century, Xie Tao was still pretty good at understanding the high-tech products of this new world.
"Do you have any way to get this circulation device to work?" Xie Tao poked the golden ball of light still floating by his side.
This golden ball had not disappeared. It should mean that the other party had not yet given him the final guidance. Xie Tao knew that this golden ball couldn't communicate with him, so he had just asked it casually during his thinking process.
Unsurprisingly, the golden light ball did not respond at all, and Xie Tao still had to rely on himself.
It was impossible to hire someone to repair it and it was impossible buy a new circulation device, Xie Tao was very aware of the economic situation of their small cub raising branch.
In order to solve the problem, you could only start with the existing circulation device.
The circulation device did not seem to have any outer damages. If the appearance had been ragged, Xie Tao might have needed to give up, but the device was intact, which made Xie Tao have a little hope.
Thinking it over, this was the interstellar era, and their high-tech products should be very durable. Since the whole device was still intact, it might just have a small internal problem.
At this time, Xie Tao remembered how his own computer had once suddenly turned black. It had stayed like that for a really long time and Xie Tao had thought that he might need to get a new one but when he in irritation had hit it, it had suddenly revived.
Now, he was also a dead horse doctor. [1]
"Hurry up and resume operation--" The device was, as said, made from really durable material and since Xie Tao didn't have anything to lose, he beat it.
After about a minute a high pitched sound suddenly rang out in this empty courtyard.
"Beep."
With this sound, the top of the large cube lit up, flashing a string of unseen data, as it slightly shined with a blue light which represented its startup state.
"......."
Xie Tao felt so much disbelief that he forgot to be happy and then, at almost the same moment as the circulatory device resumed operation, Xie Tao suddenly felt a sense of mental exhaustion. He was not even able to raise his hand to support his forehead so he simply closed his eyes and waited for this strange feeling to pass.
After the feeling passed, Xie Tao looked back to determined that the device had actually lit up.
Technology seemed to be really obedient to him? He hadn't actually expected that hitting the broken device would really give this result....
Xie Tao stood up.
The process was not important, the important thing was that the circulation device worked. Now he only needed to clean the bottom of the pool and fill it, then they could immediately give the mermaid cub a better living environment.
Although this pool was not large, it was definitely a lot more spacious than that small wooden bucket. Perhaps in this relatively free environment, the mermaid cub would feel more secure.
It was not easy to clean up the pool and Xie Tao had been busy for hours before the pool finally was ready.
Filling the pool with water, Xie Tao went back to the house and told Xia Qi about this.
Picking up the bucket he carried it out. "Sorry, I can't give you a sea, but this pool should at least be better than this wooden bucket." Xie Tao spoke as he moved the mermaid cub out of the small wooden bucket and into the pool.
The mermaid cub who changed into a new living environment seemed to have no reaction at all. It was not used to the new spacious environment and stayed in place for a while. It was very different from the small wooden barrel where it was impossible to swim around. But soon it tried to swim a bit and then, after adapting, the cub directly dived under water.
Water was in all directions, covering it entirely, and for mermaid cubs there were nothing more safe than this.
Xie Tao was watching by the pool and seeing that the mermaid cub was well-adapted, he smiled. The cub seemed to like the pool a lot.
After watching for a while, Xie Tao found that the mermaid cub swam towards him. Breaking the surface, the cub first looked at him with its beautiful blue eyes for a few seconds, then suddenly started rapidly blinking and tilted its head down, covering its eyes with its hands.
"What's wrong?" Seeing the cub's actions, Xie Tao stated to worry.
He couldn't stand doing nothing so he prepared to pick up the cub from the pool and see what was going on. But the cub then suddenly uncovered its eyes and looked up again.
Its eyes were slightly red and it seemed to be holding something. The cub looked at him and then looked down at its hand, finally it carefully moved closer and brought its hands in front of Xie Tao.
"Ah..." Not able to speak, this mermaid cub could only make some voicing sounds from the throat. No expression could be read on its small face but from those eyes, the emotion could vaguely be understood.
Cupping the hands of the mermaid cub, Xie Tao brought them closer and when he looked down, he could see that there were a few splendid things, very small particles, reflecting a slight radiance in the sun.
Due to the special constitution of mermaids, their tears could form a special spar, and some ladies liked to wear jewelry made out of this spar.
This kind of spar was both valuable, and not valuable. The spar made by normal mermaids was not worth much, but the ones from powerful mermaids were different.
The spar made from this mermaid cub was of course worthless, but this cub did not understand this, it just felt that these spar could be used as a gift to the youth.
When Xie Tao didn't directly take it, the mermaid cub lifted it closer to his face and made another tone: "Gh..."
This is a gift, thank you for caring about me.
Xia Tao could see its meaning and he therefore, under the watchful eyes of the cub, carefully picked up the spar that were only the size of grain, and then gathered them in his hand.
"Well... It's very beautiful." Xie Tao smiled as he looked up and met the blue eyes. He then looked down as he though it through and decided that it would be best to find a small box in order to safely keep the gift.
However not right now, he was too exhausted from working hard for hours, as well as from that mental exhaustion earlier. He therefore carefully placed the gleaming spar in his t-shirt's pocket, near his heart, and after talking with Xia Qi, he went back to the staff quarters to lie down for a bit.
Originally, he had only planned to sleep for about half an hour. But Xie Tao felt that he had slept for a much long time. In the quiet darkness, an extraordinarily eager voice suddenly woke him up.
"Ah Tao![2] Wake up! If you don't wake up, I will really the call the police-"
Lu Yuan's voice. Because this voice was very familiar, Xie Tao almost immediately recognized it, but how could he hear his voice?
Hurriedly opening his eyes, Xie Tao saw a face full of anxiousness, and suddenly his mind came to a shocking realization:
This was his yard... he was back again?!
Xie Tao was stunned for several seconds. He then thought of that weird god-something-consciousness-thing and suddenly remembered something.. That golden light ball, before forcing him to pass through, it had said two sentences to him that stood out.
1. Just create a link
2. It will not have much impact on your real life
These two sentences probably represented some especially important rules.
Rules that could be exploited by him.
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[1] - To keep giving medicine to a dead horse, is a Chinese idiom and it means to keep trying everything in a desperate situation.
[2] - "Ah" or more correctly "Ā" is a prefix that shows affection or intimacy. Examples: 阿伯 (uncle); 阿妹 (sister); 阿哥 (brother); 阿爸 (father) etc. It may also be attached to the last character of a person's given name to address him/her intimately. It's more common in southern parts of China.
[x] - Many of you probably already know what a gold finger is, but for you who don't, it's kinda like a cheat, a power that gives the MC an advantage.
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The author has something to say:
Gold finger online! This was a long chapter, let's take a long wait for the little angels.
As for the specific use of the golden finger, it will soon be greatly excavated by Xie Tao =3=
To go back to school for a long time tomorrow, it should be a day off, as a compensation to send you a red envelope~
I want a lot of comments, right?
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Translator's note:
I posted the name result yesterday, Tao won by two votes!
Really, it was such a relief that it didn't end with a tie... I realized halfway through that it might happen and got a cold sweat, but luckily it didn't. (⌒-⌒; )
On another note, Xie Tao actually managed to fix the pool for the mermaid!
Which means no more tiny bucket and hopefully no more panic attacks! ＼(^o^)／