Chapter 173: Hardworking Alex

Liu Heming had been happy too early. Everything was fine during the day, but when night came, the house became lively.

At night, the Bear Kids also ran around everywhere. Sometimes they went to sleep near Alex, and other times they came into Liu Heming’s room. It hadn’t been a problem before—they could do whatever they wanted—but now they had Mother Bear following behind them.

Mother Bear’s weight was nothing like the Bear Kids’. Whenever she walked across the floorboards, they made creaking sounds. Luckily, the house was well-built, or else the floorboards might have broken under her.

When morning came, Liu Heming had dark circles under his eyes. He had tossed and turned all night and hadn’t slept well. Even when the Bear Kids fell asleep, their Mother Bear would occasionally get up to check on them.

Watching the deep bond between the mother and her cubs, Liu Heming felt a little touched. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was how Mother Bear still remembered her cubs after being separated for so long.

It wasn’t that the Wildlife Management Bureau hadn’t taken good care of Mother Bear, but compared to the standard at Liu Heming’s place, it was several levels lower.

Mother Bear was used to living in the wild, so she had a bit of a smell. She wasn’t like the Bear Kids, who took a bath at least once every half month. Even the Square Kittens had gotten used to bathing and weren’t as resistant as before. Occasionally, Alex even made them brush their teeth.

After finishing the chores around the Ranch—though there wasn’t much to do besides his old job of cleaning up poop—he took Mother Bear and the Bear Kids to the Big Lake. He needed to give Mother Bear a bath. He didn’t dare bathe her inside the house. If she wasn’t used to it and struggled, she might wreck the place.

The hardworking Alex put on her little Raincoat, grabbed a small brush, and stood ready by the side. The Square Kittens and Selin stayed quietly nearby, waiting to watch the fun.

The lake water was a bit cold, but Liu Heming thought Mother Bear’s thick skin and tough body would be fine. When he poured a basin of lake water over her, Mother Bear clearly became restless again.

“Be good. Alex takes baths often, or else she’ll smell bad.” Before Liu Heming could scold Mother Bear, Alex ran over, patted Mother Bear’s leg, and spoke.

After being patted, Mother Bear calmed down, though her eyes still showed tension.

Liu Heming glanced at her. She wasn’t as well-behaved as the ones raised from a young age. Nowadays, if you told the Bear Kids it was bath time, they would stay still and let you wash them however you wanted. If you told them it was time to brush their teeth, they would obediently open their mouths.

After pouring a few more basins of water, Liu Heming squeezed an entire large bottle of pet shampoo onto Mother Bear’s body.

At this point, Alex got excited. Her favorite part was scrubbing to make bubbles. She went up to Mother Bear, and with a small brush in each hand, she swept them back and forth across Mother Bear’s body.

Mother Bear’s body was too big—one bottle of shampoo clearly wasn’t enough. Liu Heming opened another bottle and squeezed more onto her. Then the pair got busy, scrubbing all around Mother Bear.

Perhaps the back-and-forth scrubbing had a massaging effect. After her initial nervousness, Mother Bear actually started to enjoy it. You two scrub away; I’ll just watch my kids with my eyes.

Bathing a bear was indeed a big task. Although its fur wasn’t very long, it still took effort to comb. After working for over half an hour, the pair finally managed to comb Mother Bear’s entire body.

They poured basin after basin of water over Mother Bear again to rinse off the shampoo. Apparently, Mother Bear was happy from the bath, because she started to shake, splashing water all over the onlookers.

“Alright, alright. You enjoyed your bath, but we’re exhausted and sweating.” Liu Heming said as he dried Mother Bear with a towel.

Mother Bear truly enjoyed her bath. She even moved her head over and rubbed against Liu Heming’s body. She didn’t know her own strength, as if she were scratching an itch on a tree, and she knocked Liu Heming flat on his behind.

Alex looked at her dad and blinked. This scene was familiar to her—she often ended up the same way when playing with small animals.

Liu Heming stood up from the ground and couldn’t help but laugh in frustration. All the other small animals were easy to handle, but this big one was hard to take care of. Still, he couldn’t get mad at Mother Bear—she was just showing affection.

He had prepared four towels. One was for drying Mother Bear, and the other three were wrapped around her. He was afraid she might catch a cold after her bath.

Surprisingly, Mother Bear looked quite well-behaved wrapped in towels. But the day’s task wasn’t over yet—they still had to brush Mother Bear’s teeth.

The Bear Kids brushed their teeth every day, so their breath wasn’t as strong. Mother Bear had lived for so long and had never cleaned her teeth. Even if someone had wanted to try, they wouldn’t have dared.

The tartar on her teeth was very thick, and Liu Heming had a hard time cleaning it. Moreover, Mother Bear’s breath was very strong, so he had to wear a Face Mask.

This was also Alex’s favorite task. Standing on a small stool, she carefully brushed Mother Bear’s teeth with her little brush. The tartar was so thick that Liu Heming had to use tweezers to remove it.

When Sasha came to call them for dinner, she was startled. Mother Bear had her mouth open, drooling, and her daughter had her little head right next to Mother Bear’s mouth.

“It’s fine. Mother Bear is very well-behaved.” Liu Heming waved to Sasha.

“You… you’re all so brave.” Sasha said, speechless.

“Her teeth are too dirty, but we’re almost done. There are just two left. Want to give it a try?” Liu Heming said with a smile.

Sasha quickly shook her head. She dared to handle the Bear Kids since she watched them grow up, but she really didn’t dare to touch Mother Bear.

This time, they used beef-flavored toothpaste, which Mother Bear seemed to like. After brushing, she licked the remaining toothpaste from her mouth and swallowed it, looking as if she wanted more.

On the way back, Alex was extremely happy. Riding the Bear Kids was nothing compared to the thrill of riding Mother Bear.

After this bath and teeth-brushing session, Mother Bear became much closer to everyone. She no longer watched the Bear Kids so nervously, as long as they didn’t run out of her sight.

The Bear Kids could eat a lot, but Mother Bear could eat even more. For this reason, Liu Heming found the largest Food Bowl in the house for Mother Bear.

However, Mother Bear hadn’t learned the rules yet, so she couldn’t eat at the table with everyone. Otherwise, if she got too excited while eating, she might splash everyone again.