Chapter 179: Blessing

The originally tense atmosphere, along with Le Le's laughter, dissipated.

Wei Er watched Fei Er's stiff movements, held back, but still couldn't help stepping forward to correct him.

"Fei Er, I can see you haven't relaxed; how can you hold a baby so stiffly? Look at Le Le, laughing so happily—just relax, don't be tense! Yes, just like that, relax the muscles in your arms. Don't keep them too tight!"

Seeing Fei Er gradually relax his tense muscles, Wei Er nodded at him, then said with a smile:

"That's right! Holding a female is different from holding a male—males don't need to be held at all, but females need more attention."

"Okay, I got it, Am—you don't need to repeat it! I'll study well, and hopefully I'll be able to have a female child myself someday!"

Fei Er indicated that he was already getting tired of Wei Er's nagging words.

Wei Er felt very dissatisfied with Fei Er's words, strode forward, and swung a big slap straight at Fei Er's head.

Fei Er, at that moment, didn't realize the danger approaching, and was slapped squarely by Wei Er.

Fei Er, looking innocent, finally managed to pull out a hand, rubbed his head, pouted, and said: "Am, why did you hit me? I didn't say anything wrong. Wah wah wah..."

Seeing Fei Er's foolish appearance, Zhang Fan and Nuoya had no choice but to turn away, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

Fei Er had originally wanted to seek comfort from Zhang Fan and Nuoya, but seeing their reaction made him feel even more wronged; however, after thinking it over, he held back his tears.

Because he knew that if he cried, he might get another slap.

After Zhang Fan finished feeding Le Le a whole bowl of meat soup, he quickly grabbed the bowl and fled, leaving everyone in the room still playing with Le Le nonstop.

Le Le was also seeing so many people for the first time, now widening his eyes and looking around.

Everyone, seeing Le Le's adorable little self, couldn't help wanting to hug him; Le Le was a well-behaved baby, and even being passed around didn't make him shy—on the contrary, he laughed even happier.

When Zhang Fan came out of the kitchen, he saw everyone scrambling to hold Le Le, in a frenzy.

"Give Le Le to me quickly! Fei Er, you've held him long enough, right? I haven't even held him yet! Hurry up!" Nuoya widened her eyes, glaring at Fei Er, who had been hogging Le Le for a long time.

Fei Er, seeing Nuoya's widened eyes, felt even more smug, made a face at her, and said smugly: "Huh! Don't you already have two little ones at home? You still haven't had enough? Hmph! I'm not giving him to you! He's my great-nephew!"

"Fei Er, this is no fun! You've held my little one plenty too—what's wrong with letting me hold your nephew? And you keep rubbing my son's head, I've seen that too! And..."

Regarding Fei Er's words, Nuoya showed no concern, directly laying out Fei Er's offenses, but before she could finish, Fei Er covered her mouth.

"Nananana! Here, take him, take him! Humph! What's the big deal? It's just about holding Le Le—I'm not refusing you!" Fei Er looked impatiently at Nuoya, but when he handed Le Le into her hands, his movements were unusually gentle.

"Be careful! Le Le isn't like your two little rascals who can fall any which way and be fine—Le Le is delicate and unusually soft!"

Fei Er watched Nuoya's not-so-gentle movements, his heart pounding with anxiety, afraid she'd accidentally hurt Le Le; seeing his nervousness, Zhang Fan couldn't help laughing.

"Hahaha... Fei Er, I feel like you've suddenly grown up! Looks like you're not far from pregnancy either!" Zhang Fan held back his laughter and teased.

"You think so too? That'd be great! If I could have a female child as cute as Le Le, that would be wonderful! Hahaha! Today I've certainly soaked up a lot of good fortune from you, Fan Fan!"

I don't know whether he heard the previous sentence or not; maybe he did, but chose to ignore it.

Only by noon, when it was almost mealtime, did Fei Er and the others reluctantly say goodbye to Zhang Fan's family.

Because it's now the scarce food season of winter, every year at this time, even close relatives, when mealtime comes, are unwilling to stay and eat at the host's home, after all, each household's stored food is limited.

After seeing off the guests, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er exchanged a smile. At that moment, the tired Le Le also closed his eyes and fell asleep.

After Zhang Fan put Le Le back in his room, he went to the kitchen to help Ba Ke Er.

After lunch, they put down their bowls, and the couple began preparing the items needed for the blessing.

Since it's now the lean period of late winter, the fresh fruits and melons they should have prepared were replaced by dried fruit and jerky by Zhang Fan and his wife; of course, there was also the grape wine and cured meat that Zhang Fan had brewed during the harvest season.

Coincidentally, after the couple had finished preparing the items, the sound of the baby crying came from the secondary bedroom.

So Ba Ke Er quickly put down what he was holding, ran into the secondary bedroom, and picked up Le Le, who had been awake for who knows how long.

Seeing Ba Ke Er holding Le Le out, Zhang Fan quickly said: "Ba Ke Er, quickly put Le Le on the stool and check if he's wet himself."

Ba Ke Er nodded, and just as he opened the blanket, he was overwhelmed by the foul smell that hit him, making him dizzy; unable to bear the stench, he even started retching.

Hearing Ba Ke Er's retching, Zhang Fan turned his head and saw Le Le, whose bottom was smeared with yellow poop. Unable to hold back, Zhang Fan let out a "pfft" and laughed.

"Hahaha... Ba Ke Er, you look hilarious right now!"

Seeing Zhang Fan laughing heartlessly on the side, Ba Ke Er felt his heart weary, looked at Zhang Fan with a grimace, and said helplessly: "Fan Fan, can you come over and give me a hand?"

After saying that, Ba Ke Er let out another retch.

"Okay, okay! Wait a moment—I'll go prepare hot water right now; quickly take Le Le to the bathroom, let's wash him first, then we can head out!" Zhang Fan struggled to keep from laughing, speaking to Ba Ke Er with a straight face.

After saying that, Zhang Fan turned and walked toward the kitchen; from his slightly trembling shoulders, one could still tell he was suppressing laughter.

Just as Zhang Fan turned around, Ba Ke Er secretly wrapped the baby's blanket back around him. Seeing Zhang Fan already in the kitchen, Ba Ke Er hurriedly carried the baby into the bathroom.

Fortunately, it was noon, the weather wasn't cold, and hot water was readily available. So, not long after, Zhang Fan had already prepared the baby's bathwater.

Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, as new parents, frantically washed the baby, then frantically dressed him in fresh clothes, wrapped him in a diaper and blanket.

But only after they had finished dressing the baby did they suddenly realize they hadn't prepared a change of clothes for when he went out, nor any emergency food.

Thus followed another frantic round of preparations. By the time everything was ready, it was already 2 p. m.; normally, at this time Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er would have finished their meal and be heading home.

After closing and locking the doors and windows and securing the livestock, Ba Ke Er took the prepared items, returned to the center of the courtyard, transformed into his beast form, and then picked up the bundle with his mouth.

Seeing Ba Ke Er ready, Zhang Fan quickly grabbed the baby and climbed onto Ba Ke Er's back.

"All right, Ba Ke Er—I'm seated securely; you can fly now."

Just as Zhang Fan's words fell, Ba Ke Er began flapping his wings and flew toward the priest's house.

In the air, despite being a newborn, Le Le neither cried nor fussed, and all the way he giggled "kekeke" nonstop, as if enjoying the fun of flight; Zhang Fan watched, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Soon, Ba Ke Er carried Zhang Fan and his son to the door of the tribe priest's house.

Just as Ba Ke Er landed, he saw the priest and his partner coming out of the house.

After Zhang Fan brought Le Le down from Ba Ke Er's back, he hurried over to the priest and his partner and explained their purpose.

"Priest Uncle, I'm very sorry for rudely disturbing you like this; we came today hoping you could help give Le Le a blessing. I just don't know if you have the time."

Upon hearing Zhang Fan finish, the priest nodded slightly, smiling: "I had already calculated that you'd return today, so I've been waiting for a while! All right, come in quickly with me!"

Saying that, the priest had already turned and entered the house first; his male partner had also gone over earlier to help Ba Ke Er.

After Zhang Fan followed the priest inside, the priest placed him beneath the deity statue in the hall, then took Le Le into his arms. Seeing the baby in his arms giggling "kekeke" nonstop, the priest's smile deepened.

"Divine Envoy, may I ask if you have decided on a name for the little treasure?"

"Already decided, Priest Uncle, the little treasure's name is very simple—just Zhang Lele, the 'le' of happiness." Zhang Fan, seeing the Priest speak, hurriedly replied.

"Mm, it's a good name, a lifetime of happiness, no worries." The Priest, hearing this, couldn't help but nod.

While Zhang Fan and the Priest were speaking, the two males had already neatly arranged the items needed for the blessing in front of the statue.

Seeing that everything was ready, the Priest no longer continued chatting with Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan took the little Le Le that the Priest had brought over, and knelt straight on the mat before the statue. Seeing this, Ba Ke Er hurried over and also knelt on a mat beside Zhang Fan.

Seeing that the couple were ready, the Priest closed his eyes and began to chant the blessing before the statue.

Although Zhang Fan couldn't understand what the Priest was chanting, he could still see from the Priest's reverent expression that the blessing was indeed a major event for the Beastmen.

At this moment, Zhang Dan also noticed Ba Ke Er beside him, who now also looked reverently at the statue before them.

After chanting for about half an hour, the Priest finally opened his eyes and stopped. He then picked up the grape wine placed before the statue, poured some into a small bowl, and then pinched a little ash from the incense burner.

He began again to chant the unintelligible language to Zhang Fan, and lightly flicked the ash in his hand into the wine. When the ash had fully settled, the Priest's blessing chant also just finished.

Zhang Fan watched the Priest, holding the bowl of wine mixed with ash as he walked over, still somewhat puzzled. Only when the Priest dipped his finger into the bowl did Zhang Fan gradually understand.

As expected, after the Priest walked up to Zhang Fan, he took his finger, wet with the wine mixed with ash, and gently rubbed it three times on the little treasure's forehead.

After doing that, the Priest gulped down the remaining wine in the bowl, then quickly sprayed some toward the little treasure. While spraying, he stomped his foot three times, then again sprayed and stomped three times, repeating this three times in total until all the wine was sprayed.

After putting away the small bowl, the Priest turned around, smiling at the couple, and said, "All right, the blessing ritual is complete; you may go back now."

Having said that, the Priest left the hall together with his partner. Seeing this, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er also carried little Le Le out. After bidding farewell to the Priest and his partner, Zhang Fan's family then returned home.