Cub Raising Association - Chapter 34 part2
When he returned, he saw that the mermaid cub had maintained his previous position and he quickly bent down to pick him up. He then wrapped the cub in the soft towel and held him in his arms.
The little mermaid cub had clothes on. They were made of a special fabric produced by the mermaid race. It easily let water through, reducing resistance while swimming, and once out of the water, it quickly dried.
It was not just the mermaid race that used it, the fabric was also very popular among many other races as it was very suitable for making swimsuits.
Using the towel to dry the mermaid cub’s wet hair, Xie Tao then held him in his arms as he squatted down to pick up the Moye cub who had climbed ashore by himself. He then carried them over to the living room.
If Xie Tao had only brought over the Moye cub, the others in the room would not have been surprised. But now that he also brought the mermaid cub, they could not help but look over.
After leaving the water, the mermaid cub being held in the youth’s arms did not carelessly wave his tail in panic. This time, the tail covered in ice blue scales quietly let the youth hold it in his arms, the cub only occasionally moved his fin. In short, the cub seemed especially cute and obedient.
“Pa~”
The mermaid cub who had previously been unable to fully reach the youth while in the pool, was now carried in the youth’s embrace. The cub instantly used the same method as the other cubs to attract the youth’s attention— by hugging and calling out to him.
It was in a very low voice, but the others were close enough to catch it.
Pa.
Hearing this syllable and connecting it with how the mermaid cub gave the youth his scales, everyone, one after another, came to a realization.
The mermaid cub was actually calling out “Papa” to the youth. Although it was impossible for him to completely say the word, the cub put a lot of effort into making the sound.
As carrying the mermaid cub over to the other cubs was not something they did often, Xie Tao had to try his best to find something that the mermaid cub could lean his back against. After moving the object, he then gently lowered the two cubs down onto the carpet.
Since the mermaid cub could not transform his legs, he was not able to balance his upper body while in a sitting position. Therefore, if the cub did not have anything to support his back, the cub would fall down flat on the ground and wave his tail like the Moye cub when he accidentally turned onto his shell while walking.
Seeing the mermaid cub that was brought over by the youth, many of the fluffy cubs who were playing with the cub toys stopped and curiously came a bit closer. Two of the light red fluffballs squatting in the tree also flapped their wings and flew over to Xie Tao and the mermaid cub.
“Tiuh-tiuh?” One of them landed on Xie Tao’s shoulder and looked down at the mermaid cub sitting on the ground below, then doubtfully called out to Xie Tao.
“Little Gale can come over and play with you now, he didn’t come over before because he was afraid to leave the water.” Xie Tao smiled and used a finger to lightly stroke the little fluffballs head as explained it to the cub.
“Tiuh!”
The Kuhti cub rubbed his beak against the youth’s finger and chirped in response.
The cub had actually always thought that the mermaid cub’s ice blue tail was very beautiful. But even when the Kuhti cub grew up, he would be a master of the sky, not the water.
So, when it came to water, this little fluffball did not dare to touch, and at most could only watch from the edge.
The Kuhti cub therefore now took the opportunity and flapped his wings, leaving Xie Tao’s shoulders and landing in front of the mermaid cub. Several other fluffy cubs who were curious about the mermaid cub, saw this scene and also walked over.
Before, when most of the cubs at Yunbao branch had been in contact with the mermaid cub, he had been in a small bucket. So this was the first that they could clearly see his shiny ice blue tail.
Shiny and bright beautiful things were always very interesting to cubs and soon, several fluffy cubs were nestled close by, watching the ice blue tail.
Perhaps because the mermaid cub was not used to being watched by so many cubs, the cub moved his ice blue tail and lightly slapped the ground.
But it was not that the mermaid cub was unhappy, you could see from the slight movement of the tail’s fin that the cub was in fact very excited.
Looking at the mermaid cub playing with the other cubs, out of the present adults Xia Qi was probably the one who was most deeply touched.
In the beginning, even though the mermaid cub had to leave the water for a short while as they changed it, the cub was too terrified. He was struggling so hard that it had been impossible for the cub to interact with the other cubs while in that state.
However, after recognizing the youth as his parent, the mermaid cub now seemed to have overcome his fear of leaving the water and could play with the other cubs. This made all the caretakers at Yunbao branch very happy.
If there was anything left worth pitying, it was probably the cub’s voice…..
Xia Qi knew that the mermaid cub had been abandoned on Gaia Star by his family because he couldn’t speak and hearing how the cub now tried to call out to the youth, this feeling squeezing her heart deepened.
Although this assumption was somewhat unrealistic, Xia Qi believed that if one day, their club’s cub could regain his voice, then he would be able to sing with the best and most beautiful voice.
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Translator’s note:
Many thanks to Cristya for the coffees! ❤️❤️❤️
On another note, I’m a bit curious about the “ma” and “pa” thing, in Swedish mother is “mamma” and father is “pappa”, what is it in your language?
Also, I forgot to say this in the note in chapter 33, but thanks to everyone who wished me good luck on the exams and for all the encouragements. It actually went unexpectedly well, I hope it will go just as well next week too. (Although one of the exams is on physics so I doubt it) Also, thanks for all the encouragement I have already received today, it really warms my heart to read