Chapter 5
Behind the tree was a small patch of grass, only about half a square meter in size.
In summer, wild grass grows vigorously. Even if it was all cut down the night before, by the next morning the stubble would have already grown taller.
At this moment, the tiny patch of grass was covered with uneven teeth marks—wild grass blades of varying lengths were snapped off by sharp teeth.
On the grass lay some yellow dry hay, bundled up like a bird’s or chicken’s nest.
But under Chouba’s paws, it was all ruined. With a swipe of its wide paws, the dry hay was scattered everywhere.
Xu Xiaozhi saw only a mess of dry hay, faintly recalling what the bundled nest had looked like.
Chouba’s nose was still rooting through the hay, making muffled noises. There even seemed to be a faint trace of blood on the yellow hay.
“Chouba!” Xu Xiaozhi quickly knelt before him and cupped his face, “What did you do?!”
In an instant, countless images flashed through her mind:
A mother bird just flew away, and the vicious thief Chouba fiercely lunged, biting each baby bird,
A mother pheasant was resting, and the ruthless bully mercilessly snapped her neck right in front of her chicks!
But when Chouba saw his owner, he smiled happily, rubbing his head against Xu Xiaozhi’s chest, wagging his big tail nonstop.
Xu Xiaozhi thought: Something’s wrong—he’s not feeling guilty!
In her imagination, Chouba should have buried his head in the hay, only showing his rear.
Chouba sniffed around excitedly, opened his mouth—“plop!”—a small creature fell to the ground.
He noticed it, lowered his head again and tried to pick it back up in his mouth.
“Chouba!” Xu Xiaozhi pushed his head away, “What is this?!”
She cupped the small animal in her hands and brought it to her eyes, “How is there a kitten here?!”
At this moment, the screen was nearly flooded with chat messages full of sympathy. In an unnoticed corner, the number of viewers had already surpassed one hundred.
The kitten looked to be only about a month old and weakly made soft breathing sounds. Its whole body was soaked with Chouba’s saliva, and its limbs were limp and powerless.
Its eyes were tightly shut, and it could only feel itself wrapped in soft skin, its body seeming to regain some warmth.
Xu Xiaozhi carefully examined the kitten. There were still bloodstains on its body, but she couldn’t tell where the wounds were, so she didn’t dare to move it easily.
Chouba’s head came close again, as if wanting to pick up the kitten in his mouth.
“You!” Xu Xiaozhi gently held the kitten and lightly kicked Chouba with her foot.
Then, after Grandma Gui’s repeated urging—saying the morning dew was heavy and the air cold—she took off her thin jacket.
Her arm was suddenly exposed, and Xu Xiaozhi really felt the dampness of the morning.
She rubbed her arm, then placed the kitten in the center of the jacket and carefully wrapped it up layer by layer.
Since the kitten was hidden, Chouba anxiously rubbed against her legs.
“Chouba, take us back!”
“Woof!”
Xu Xiaozhi tightly held the kitten in her arms as she ran back to the farmhouse. Grandma Gui and Uncle Wang were setting up a small square table in the yard with bowls and chopsticks.
“What happened? Why are you sweating so much?” Grandma Gui asked, and the two quickly came over to help.
She took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from Xu Xiaozhi’s forehead, caused by running.
Xu Xiaozhi uncovered a corner of the bundle in her arms to show Grandma Gui and Uncle Wang. “We went for a walk in the woods this morning, and Chouba brought back a little kitten.”
On the chat, some people maliciously spammed: Don’t listen to the streamer’s nonsense, the dog clearly bit the kitten!
Viewers’ opinions were divided, but that last scene did look like it.
Seeing the kitten barely alive, Grandma Gui and Uncle Wang quickly went into Xu Xiaozhi’s room and placed the kitten on the washbasin in the bathroom.
Chouba and Miaomiao came in together, obediently sitting beside and watching.
Xu Xiaozhi turned on the heater, and the temperature in the bathroom immediately rose.
She filled the entire sink with a mix of hot and cold water, then tested the temperature. Grandma Gui carefully unbuttoned her jacket. The little kitten was trembling, its paws flailing in the air.
“The water temperature is just right,” Grandma Gui said as she gently cradled the kitten, supporting its head with one hand, then slowly placed its body into the water.
Suddenly, Xu Xiaozhi remembered something and ran into the room to rummage through the package delivered yesterday. Miaomiao and Chouba followed her.
“Phew, found it!” She grabbed a medicine kit and a small box and hurried back to the bathroom.
Chouba and Miaomiao obediently sat back in their original spots without changing their posture.
Grandma Gui was gently rocking the kitten in the water, using the ripples to wash away the dirt on its body.
“Oh, it’s a little tabby kitten! Look, just like a little tiger,” Grandma Gui said with a smile as the dirt was rinsed off.
Xu Xiaozhi stood beside Grandma Gui, reached into the water, and softly rubbed the kitten’s body with her fingertips, carefully checking for wounds.
“Hmm?” She made a puzzled sound.
“What is it?” Grandma Gui asked, looking at Xu Xiaozhi.
Xu Xiaozhi didn’t answer immediately but felt the kitten’s body more carefully. Even the base of its tail—she asked Grandma Gui to lift the tail so she could check.
“When Chouba was carrying it, there was clearly bloodstains, but why can’t I find any wounds?” She told Grandma Gui this while pouring warm water over the kitten’s head and gently rubbing its fur.
“Have you checked Chouba?” Grandma Gui said as she finished rinsing the kitten and wrapped it in a prepared towel.
“Chouba,” Xu Xiaozhi called.
Chouba came between her legs and sat up straight, almost eager to bark.
“Open your mouth.” She crouched down, held Chouba’s mouth, gently turned it to the left, then the right, then ran her hands over Chouba’s body again.
Seeing that Chouba didn’t cry out, Xu Xiaozhi felt relieved.
“It’s not Chouba’s,” she said, standing up and opening the small box. Grandma Gui was already using a hairdryer to dry the kitten’s body.
The kitten, wrapped in the towel by Grandma Gui, visibly regained some strength and its eyes, still blurry, were about to open.
Grandma Gui said, “That’s good. As long as both are okay. There are plenty of small animals in the forest, maybe it got infected by another animal.”
Comments suddenly surged again.
【Got slapped in the face, huh, haters!】
【Chouba doesn’t look like the kind of dog to do something like that!】
A huge meteor shower streaked across the screen—some viewers even sent gifts worth tens of thousands of star coins.
Gifts sent during the live stream help the streamer gain traffic depending on their value. This meteor shower instantly caused a small line of text to appear at the very top of the Adventure tag page.
“‘If I don’t get into the No. 1 Military Academy, I’ll change my name’ sent a meteor shower in the ‘Cute Pets Farmhouse’ live stream!”
Viewers rarely see such generosity in the Adventure tag, so many curious people clicked into the live stream.
They expected to see scary scenes on a newly developed planet, but instead, they found this—such a warm moment!
The little kitten is so [efn_note]”kawaii” is a Japanese word meaning “cute.”.[/efn_note]kawaii!
Xu Xiaozhi took the baby bottle and formula from the box and mixed it with warm water.
Fortunately, Miaomiao was also raised by her from a young age, so she had packed the baby formula and bottles a few days ago.
She lifted the bottle, bringing the nipple to the kitten’s mouth, “Suck suck suck, kitty, come drink your milk.”
“Drink up and you’ll feel better!” As she spoke, she didn’t even realize how soft her tone had become.
Netizens: Waaah, I want milk too! My mom was never this gentle!
The kitten sniffed lightly, the scent of the formula made him drowsily open his eyes.
The one-month-old kitten’s blue membrane hadn’t faded yet, his grayish-blue eyes were bright and moist, staring straight at Xu Xiaozhi. The innocent look in them melted her heart.
“Oh dear~~ little cutie~~” she murmured with a heartfelt but meaningless sigh.
She moved the nipple closer to the kitten’s mouth.
Unexpectedly, the kitten saw the nipple and immediately shut his mouth tight, refusing to open it at all!
“Why won’t you drink your milk? Grandma wants you to drink it, or else you won’t get better. Look, you can’t even walk properly!” Xu Xiaozhi picked up Miaomiao and placed him on the sink. “See, Miaomiao grew this big because she drank her milk!”
【The streamer is so gentle! I want to drink too!】
【Report the person above! Congratulations, you just got a 24-hour mute gift package.】
【Will the kitten die if it doesn’t drink milk? What will the streamer do?!】
Grandma Gui tightly held the towel wrapped around the kitten. “Let me try!”
“No, it’s okay!” Xu Xiaozhi smiled faintly. The kitten’s resistance was clearly because he subjectively didn’t want to drink. Her eyes showed determination as she took the kitten into her arms.
She pressed her index finger against the kitten’s lips and gently slid her hand inside along the corner of its mouth. Even if the little kitten was unwilling, with his weak body, he had no strength to resist an adult.
Her fingertip touched the warm inside of the kitten’s mouth, and Xu Xiaozhi gently pried open his mouth.
The kitten, who had thought the gentle voice meant he wouldn’t be treated like this, suddenly felt alarmed!
His eyes were full of panic.
A few choking meows came out before Xu Xiaozhi stopped, softly patted the kitten’s back, and wiped the milk from his mouth.
Then she said, “Oh no, kitty choked!” But as soon as the kitten was distracted, she quickly fed him several more mouthfuls of milk.
After repeating this back and forth a few times, seeing the kitten’s belly swell, Xu Xiaozhi finally stopped.
Viewers: …
【So scary! Is this what happens when you don’t eat properly?】
【Hahaha, the kitten’s saying, ‘Don’t come near me!’】
【No choice, the kitten won’t survive otherwise.】
With his body warming up and after drinking milk, the kitten’s spirit improved a lot, but he was still tired from the struggle. His head tilted and he fell asleep leaning against Xu Xiaozhi’s chest.
The kitten curled up, his belly rising and falling, whiskers trembling slightly as he breathed in and out.
Netizens: Aww, so cute!
“Breakfast is ready, come down early to eat,” Grandma Gui said as she carried out the trash from the washroom, reminding them.
“Got it.” Back in her room, Xu Xiaozhi finally had time to check the system messages. “I didn’t notice the comments earlier, thank you to ‘If I don’t get into the No. 1 Military Academy, I’ll change my name’ for the meteor shower gift. Wishing you success in getting into the No. 1 Military Academy soon.”
The system had already popped up a message saying the mission was completed while she was bathing the kitten.
【Timed mission completed, the points store is now open】
The live stream now had nearly a thousand viewers watching, with total views long exceeding 5,000.
【Additional rewards have been delivered.】
“Additional rewards?” Xu Xiaozhi looked through her phone and found that aside from an extra 10 points balance, nothing else had changed.
At this moment, the audience suddenly noticed a new “Food Tasting” feature appeared in the live stream room.