Notes: Names and p.r.o.nouns are rough. I know the translator before me cla.s.sified Little Moon as a male, however, I think Little Moon (Xiaoyue) is actually a female, so you will see that p.r.o.noun change here. Just go with it.
"Ok. Ok. You weren"t crying, I was wrong." If she said she wasn’t crying, then Xiaoyue wasn’t going to argue.
"Actually if you want to feed your cub, you don’t have to use magical beast milk. There’re fruit trees with delicious milk fruits in this forest. It"s a favourite among magical beasts because it"s so tasty. Plus it’s slightly magical so it’s very suitable for young cubs to eat. If you want, I can help you get some.”
"Really? Thanks Xiaoyue! You’re really nice.” Feng Wu’s face breaks out in a smile as the dilemma about milk is resolved. I can finally stop worrying about this baby’s next meal!
"The little cubs like to play in the center of the forest where the trees are. Humans that venture beyond this point will be preyed upon by the magical beasts that live here, so stay here while I go pick some fruits for you.” She was willing to help this human out since she had made a good impression on her.
“Great! Then I’ll wait here for you.” Back when she was on Yehua Mountain with teacher, the creatures also had their own territories. The beasts there would take the initiative to invite her to play so she was never in any danger, but this was a different place and the animals here weren’t familiar with her. It would be dangerous for her to enter without permission. Therefore regarding the forest, Feng Wu was going to do exactly as Xiaoyue instructed. That was to sit and wait patiently.
She didn’t wait long before she heard a loud roar nearby. Immediately thereafter she spotted Xiaoyue who came over and proceeded to drop a bundle of milky looking fruits in front of her. The fruits were of a medium size with milky white rind and a fruity fragrance. She could faintly smell a hint of magic coming from them.
Feng Wu looked at the milky fruits with bright eyes. “These are awesome! Xiaoyue you’re amazing!”
“Go on, let your cub try it.”
Feng Wu selected a fruit at the top of the pile and asks, “How do you eat it?”
"It’s easy. Just break the skin with your nails then suck the juice out.”
Feng Wu did so, piercing the skin with her nails before placing it in front little bun’s mouth. Sure enough, little bun greedily sucked the milk out of the fruit. Contrary to its small size, the fruit actually contained a lot of milk. So much so in fact that despite little bun’s large appet.i.te, he couldn’t finish it.
Once little bun was full, she sampled some of the milk herself quickly slurping up the remaining liquid. Unfortunately there wasn’t much left and she was only able to get two mouthfuls. After finishing the milk, she looked over at the remaining pile of fruit and saw a new problem in front of her. “How am I going to transport all this fruit back home?”
“That’s no problem. Just use this.” Xiaoyue then tossed a black oblong metal ring her way.
“Humans call this a storage ring. We magical beasts are born with an innate dimensional s.p.a.ce, so we don’t need it. Take it, you can have it. You’ll need to give it a bit of your blood to register it as yours though.” Xiaoyue generously said.
Xiaoyue’s father had picked the ring up several centuries ago when it was left behind by a grievously injured man. Then later when Xiaoyue was born, her father gave it to her as a toy to play with. Xiaoyue felt she was too mature for such a juvenile plaything, so she didn’t mind giving it away. It was something only humans would care about anyway.
That sounds really interesting! Feng Wu, who had never seen such a novelty before, immediately proceeded to experiment with it. After registering it with her blood she promptly loaded not only the milky fruit, but much of the surrounding stones and flowers as well.
Meanwhile Auntie Lian was anxiously waiting for Feng Wu at the base of the mountain. She nearly went to the village chief to organize a search party after reading the note the young miss left. Just when she couldn’t bear it any longer an unexpected arrival showed up at her doorstep.
"Why are you here steward Roda?” Lian Yi was rather surprised at his sudden appearance.
The prestige of the Feng family was something way beyond Lian Yi’s ability to understand. Roda was a foreign steward of the Feng family. He had many responsibilities, one of which included managing the family’s business overseas. That a Feng family servant of such rank would appear here was really strange.
"It was the Old Master who asked me to come. You have done well taking care of the Young Miss for such a long time. Her physical condition should be much improved by now. The Mrs. needs you so the Old Master wants you back at the house immediately.”
"But the Young Miss is not back yet. I’m worried…” “We can not wait. Let us leave.” Both Lian Yi and Steward Roda spoke at the same time.
"This is an order from the Old Master. As a servant you only need to follow them.” Roda waved his hand as he spoke, not intending to let Lian Yi continue speaking.
"But..." What about Miss Xiao? She just gave birth a month ago and her milk production was too low to satisfy the Little Master, not to mention the Little Master was himself a very picky eater with highly refined tastes in milk preferences! How could her heart be at ease if she left now?
"No! You can not stay. Go and pack your things now. The Old Master is awaiting our return.” Roda was aware of the Young Miss’s situation, however as a servant of the Feng family, he was not qualified to have an opinion regarding the exiled Young Miss.
Roda’s shout scared Lian Yi back to her senses, reminding her that she was just a servant and should not dare to question the Old Master. "Let me go pack and tidy up. I’ll leave a note for Miss Xiao. Afterwards we’ll leave.” Lian Yi couldn’t help but offer a compromise.
Roda stood silently waiting for her.
Lian Yi took Roda’s silence as tacit approval and sighed in relief. At the very least she’d be able to leave a note of explanation for Miss Xiao. She could only hope the Young Miss would be able to take good care of both herself and the Little Master.
The Feng family had been very emotional and upset with the Young Miss. Originally Lian Yi was only supposed to take care of the Young Miss for a month after her delivery, therefore she didn’t pack much to begin with. As a result, she finished everything within minutes and was able to write a note for the Young Miss. Once satisfied, she followed steward Roda and the two left the village together.
Feng Wu returned home with a ringful of gifts only to find the place empty and a note waiting for her on the table. In it Auntie Lian not only explained her abrupt departure, she also took care to let Feng Wu know that the Madam left a crystal card with a monthly allowance of 20 gold coins for her to use in order to cover her monthly living expenses.
Feng Wu blinked several times with a vacant look in her eyes. Auntie Lin was never coming back? It took a few seconds for her to absorb the shock. This was a pity. Even if the portions were a little small, she really liked Auntie Lian’s cooking! Young girls needed to eat well you know. She looked around the kitchen. Ah, it was a good thing the rice is already cooked. After eating and feeding little bun some more of the milk fruit, she went to sleep with little bun on the cot.