Chapter 181: Learning to Walk

Before he knew it, Zhang Fan had already been pregnant for four and a half months, and now it was mid-winter, i. e., the third month of winter.

In the early morning, Zhang Fan just got up, opened his window, and was immediately drawn to the outside scenery; as far as the eye could see, everything was covered in pure white snow.

At that moment, scattered snowflakes floated in the sky, drifting down beautifully with an indescribable charm; Zhang Fan, unable to resist his curiosity, reached out and caught a snowflake.

However, the snowflake melted the instant it touched the warmth of his hand before he could examine it closely; watching the droplet of water from the melted snowflake on his hand, Zhang Fan gave a faint smile.

He then caught another, larger snowflake, but it too melted upon contact with his body heat; seeing this, Zhang Fan grew a bit annoyed, fetched a glove, and used it to catch snowflakes.

Now the snowflakes no longer melted on contact; Zhang Fan looked at the snowflakes on his glove, smiled brightly, and began to observe their shape carefully.

Looking closer, he realized that each tiny snowflake was made of tiny ice crystals, and upon close inspection, they resembled the frost that forms inside a freezer.

Just as Zhang Fan was observing carefully, a voice interrupted him.

"Fan Fan, you just got up and haven't even dressed properly, yet you opened the window?"

Hearing Ba Ke Er's voice approaching from afar, Zhang Fan turned his head somewhat flustered.

But as soon as he turned, Ba Ke Er's body blocked his view; Ba Ke Er had already walked up behind him without him noticing.

"Heh heh! Ba Ke Er, how did you get in? Where's Le Le?" Zhang Fan gave an embarrassed laugh and then tried to change the subject.

"I came in to call you up for breakfast after preparing it; I didn't expect you to be standing by the window without proper clothes, playing with snowflakes. Come on, put your clothes on first!"

Obviously, Zhang Fan's attempt to change the subject was useless to Ba Ke Er; before his words even finished, Ba Ke Er fetched one of Zhang Fan's clothes and started helping him dress.

Seeing that Ba Ke Er wasn't falling for his trick, Zhang Fan was about to speak when Ba Ke Er's impending words cut him off.

"Le Le hasn't gotten up yet! First put your clothes on, then we'll go see Le Le. Don't worry, Le Le is big enough now that he doesn't need constant watching, so you don't have to worry so much."

After putting on his clothes, Zhang Fan had barely taken a step when Ba Ke Er lifted him up, saying, "Fan Fan, I think you're still not fully awake; I'm afraid you might fall, so let me carry you out."

Having said that, Ba Ke Er didn't wait for Zhang Fan to refuse; he hoisted Zhang Fan up and, with a clatter, walked to the main hall. By the time Zhang Fan realized what had happened, he was already sitting steadily on a stool.

Zhang Fan stared blankly at the scene, dazed, before asking, "Ba Ke Er, how did I get out? I was just in my room a moment ago."

Seeing this, Ba Ke Er looked puzzled, rubbed Zhang Fan's forehead, furrowed his brows, and said, "Fan Fan, you don't even have a fever! How can you not remember what just happened? Weren't you the one I carried out? How could you not remember?"

As soon as Ba Ke Er finished speaking, Zhang Fan slapped his forehead and, missing the point, exclaimed, "Oh no! Ba Ke Er, hurry and bring Le Le out! Go check if he's awake!"

Saying that, he began to push at Ba Ke Er's arm; Ba Ke Er, though not fully understanding what was going on, obediently followed Zhang Fan's lead, left the main hall, and went to the side room to pick up the just-awakened Le Le.

Le Le, held in Ba Ke Er's arms, upon seeing Zhang Fan began to babble "ba ba, ba ba" indistinctly, and at the same time opened his arms toward Zhang Fan.

Seeing Le Le's utterly adorable appearance, Zhang Fan laughed until he could hardly contain himself, clapped his hands, walked up to Le Le, and said, "Come on, Le Le, Daddy's going to hold you while you eat!"

Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan wanting to hold Le Le, his expression became troubled, he hesitated a moment, then firmly told Le Le, "Le Le! You can't be held by Daddy, you know? Daddy still has a little brother in his belly; holding you would make him uncomfortable."

Upon hearing that, Le Le immediately protested, bursting into loud wails.

Zhang Fan, hearing Le Le's wails, covered his ears uncomfortably, furrowed his brows, and soothed, "All right, Le Le, don't cry, don't cry! It's fine, Daddy's hug will stop the crying."

Saying that, he reached straight into Ba Ke Er's arms and took Le Le. As soon as Le Le was in Zhang Fan's embrace, he stopped crying and even broke into a toothy grin.

Seeing Le Le's newly emerged little teeth, Zhang Fan's mood improved even more.

"Fan Fan, you need to be more careful!" Ba Ke Er said anxiously, watching Zhang Fan hold Le Le, his brows furrowed.

"Le Le, you need to behave! No kicking Daddy's belly!" Ba Ke Er said worriedly, watching Le Le constantly flail his arms and legs while babbling.

"Ba Ke Er, just relax; I'm fine! Apart from some discomfort in my chest, everything else is okay."

Having said that, Zhang Fan sat down while still holding Le Le. Seeing this, Ba Ke Er hurried to the kitchen and brought out the meat soup he had prepared for Le Le.

After the couple fed Le Le until he was full, they then began to eat their breakfast, which had grown somewhat cold.

After breakfast, as usual, Zhang Fan took charge of watching the child while Ba Ke Er handled washing the pots and dishes.

Le Le is now over two months old; by Earth standards, that's nearly a year old. A child this age, whether on Earth or on the Beastmen planet, has reached the time to start learning to walk.

Thus, after finishing breakfast, Zhang Fan took the prepared child-safety leash, fastened it securely around Le Le, then set Le Le down to walk ahead while he followed behind, holding the leash.

When Ba Ke Er finished washing the dishes and came out of the kitchen, he saw this scene: his beloved was walking the child just like one would walk a dog.

Seeing this, Ba Ke Er said his heart was breaking. He had never seen anyone treat a female baby like this before; if it were anyone else, he would unhesitatingly step in to stop them.

However, when the person doing this was his beloved Fan Fan, Ba Ke Er said seeing the situation made him feel immense pressure, although he also felt some pity for his little Le Le.

But in order to care for the soon-to-give-birth Fan Fan, he suppressed his thoughts. After all, Fan Fan at this point was no longer the gentle, easy-to-talk-to female she had been before pregnancy; if he didn't want to die sooner, he'd better not confront her.

Thus, Ba Ke Er merely greeted Zhang Fan and Le Le briefly, then got busy cleaning the house.

Thus passed a calm, uneventful morning, and under Zhang Fan's guidance, Le Le gradually learned to walk.

Seeing Le Le's extraordinary learning ability, Zhang Fan became overjoyed.

At lunchtime, he excitedly told Ba Ke Er how he had taught Le Le to walk, and how smart Le Le was to have learned it in such a short time.

Ba Ke Er, seeing how happy Zhang Fan was, stopped worrying about other things, after all, his partner mattered most; children always come after the partner.

Not long after lunch, Fei Er, Nuoya, and Wu Na came over for a visit. At the same time, Nuoya and Wu Na each brought their own young offspring. By then, Nuoya's little lions had grown to about half a person's height.

Wu Na's young offspring, which were only slightly older than Le Le, were about the size of an adult native dog.

Le Le had seen these two litters of lion cubs before, so as soon as they stepped through the door, he broke free from Zhang Fan's hand and toddled over to them.

Fei Er and the others, upon seeing that Le Le had learned to walk, were all astonished.

"Good heavens! Fan Fan, your Le Le actually learned to walk? That's amazing! So smart! Think about it: even someone as talented as I am only learned to walk in the fourth month after birth; I considered myself an early walker back then! I never expected your Le Le to be even earlier!"

Upon hearing Fei Er's comment, Zhang Fan instantly felt energized, lifted his head proudly, grinning widely, and said, "That's only natural—just look at whose child it is! Hahaha..."

"Hmph! I'm sure my future children will definitely be smarter than your Le Le! They'll inherit all my strengths!"

Fei Er, seeing Zhang Fan's smug, spring-breeze demeanor, shouted in protest.

"Fei Er, what are your strengths again? Let me think..." Zhang Fan said, resting his hand on his chin as if deep in thought.

Fei Er saw Zhang Fan thinking so seriously, his face lit up with hope, expecting him to list many of his merits.

However, when Zhang Fan finally spoke, Fei Er suddenly regretted it.

Seeing Zhang Fan ponder for a moment, then clap his hands and declare solemnly, "Fei Er, I've figured it out! Your strengths are: eat! eat! eat! never stop eating! talk! talk! talk! never stop talking! Hahaha..."

Before Zhang Fan's words even finished, Fei Er's face darkened, he looked at Zhang Fan resentfully, and said in a flat tone, "So in Fan Fan's eyes, I only have those two strengths? I clearly have other merits too—why didn't you notice them?"

Nuoya and Wu Na watched Zhang Fan and Fei Er bicker, found it highly amusing, and, in perfect understanding, stepped aside to chuckle.

And several children were also playing off to the side of the adults. Only to see, Le Le was playing in the pile of young male lions, having a great time. From time to time he would flop onto the young lions' bodies to loaf around, and the young lions were happy to serve as his cushion.

Even though Le Le pulled out their fur, the young lions had not the slightest complaint; on the contrary, they delighted in it, never tiring, and even considered it an honor to have their fur pulled out by Le Le.

Thus, wherever Le Le went, everywhere was littered with lion fur that he had pulled out.