Chapter 28 (1/2)

A little bit left, a little bit right

The little Kuhti cub had deliberately stretched his back and lifted his chest high in order to let his father see the gold medal more clearly. But his strength was still lacking and when the cub raised his chest, his small wings were tightly held behind him.

This was most likely the cub’s last attempt. If he didn’t get a good response this time, then he would probably never again have the courage to reach out the way he did now.

The courage he had gathered from his new confidence was very fragile, and it was only through his father’s verification that it would be able to live on. If his father, on the other hand, remained cold and did not praise him even after his big achievement, his new confidence, together with the courage, would crumble to the ground once again.

Before he had switched clubs and met Xie Tao, another parent who cared for him had tried to explain his father’s behavior. They had said that his way of teaching was excessively strict. It lacked praise and encouragement, and they had said that it was not normal, nor a good way to raise a cub.

Parents who were strict would always blame the cub for not doing well and as such, it was only natural that the cub would become timid when facing his father.

Seeing that the man still had a cold expressionless face even though the cub had tried hard to gather his courage and was reaching out, Xie Tao couldn’t help but feel worried.

But as he could not outright say, “Hurry and praise him,” he could only try his best to hint with his eyes as he continued to quietly observe from the side.

And if Xie Tao was worried, the Kuthi woman standing behind the man was of course very anxious.

Clearly, the other had just a moment ago nodded and promised her in the study. But now when the cub had taken the initiative and was so obviously trying to connect and be praised, how come no words were coming out of the other’s mouth—??

Afraid that the cub would soon pull back and things would go back to the way they were before, Fuya immediately pushed hard on the back in front of her.

The Kuhti cub had already deliberately shown off the small golden medal on his body and when he didn’t get a response for a long time, his wings started moving with unease. The originally bright eyes gradually started to lose their luster and the small head held high started to fall.

But at this time, the little fluffy cub suddenly felt his back feathers being touched.

“Tiuh?”

Just like when he heard that he got first place in the competition, the little cub called out with disbelief and raised his head to look up at his cold faced father.

It had only been after the second time the warm palm stroke his head down to his back feathers that the Kuhti cub reacted. Therefore, when Tanner had first touched him and looked down at the motionless cub in his arms, he could not help but feel that he resembled a fluffball.

Just like how Tanner’s body was stiff because he was not used to holding the cub, his movements when stroking him were also very rigid.

However, as he normally was not especially casual or relaxed, these stiff attempts at stroking the cub did fortunately not seem too odd.

Now that he had finally managed to take the first step, it was time for him to praise the cub for the medal he had previously shown to him. But even though Tanner opened and closed his mouth twice, he was not able to get the words out. It was as something was stuck in his throat, preventing him.

Not being able to think of what to say, Tanner tried to recall how he had done it in the past and found that he had not once praised the cub after he had hatched.

However, even though he had now realized his mistakes, as a parent and adult, it was still difficult for Tanner to change all of a sudden.

Almost all adults try to maintain a perfect facade on the outside and sometimes it was difficult to take the initiative to admit their mistakes. Especially when it came to admitting their mistakes in front of their own cubs…

As Tanner was struggling to tear down the wall he had built, he was suddenly caught off guard by a soft touch. The little red cub in his arms was touching his hand that had paused after stroking the back feathers.

No, the cub was not simply touching him, but was fully snuggling against his palm. He even occasionally glanced up and chirped…

Tanner almost dropped the cub.

He had not been mentally prepared for this and the shock almost made him drop him, but fortunately, he quickly managed to stabilize his hand again and catch the cub who was about to fall.

Actually, even if he really dropped him, the cub could now fly and would not fall to the ground. But at that moment, Tanner’s heartbeat had still missed a beat.

Perhaps it was because it had all happened so recently, that in Tanner’s heart, he still subconsciously believed that the cub would not fly.

Looking down at the little cub in his embrace and feeling the clear soft sensation of him snuggling into his hands, Tanner felt the intimacy and dependency expressed through the action and his ice covered heart melted into a puddle. [1]

“Peipei…” Tanner called out to the cub, but as he did not know how to praise him, he paused to organize his thoughts and then said, “…Peipei is very powerful.”

The cub had once again slightly raised his chest and the golden medal around the cub’s neck was particularly eye-catching, it was shaped like a sunflower, with a “1” engraved in the center.