Chapter 39: Xiong Da and Xiong Er

He did not care about those branches anymore. He ran out of the forest and placed the two Bear Cubs on the passenger seat. After starting the car, he ran back again. He had been too excited earlier and even forgot the gun and handsaw over there.

After retrieving the gun, he slowly drove back to his house. He did not dare to drive too fast, afraid of jolting the two Bear Cubs. Even if he did not think about his task, they were still two little lives.

Then he felt a bit troubled. What should he feed these two Bear Cubs? He had raised puppies at home before, but he had never raised bears.

However, these two Bear Cubs were in a state of hunger, so there was not much time to think. He took out a bucket of milk from the fridge, turned on the stove to heat some water, and warmed the milk.

He thought dogs might not digest milk well, but Bear Cubs should be fine. Although they were small now, they would grow up to be very strong.

As if smelling the milk, the two Bear Cubs, who had been lying quietly, started to kick their paws. The slightly bigger one on the left even tried to turn over and crawl toward it. But they were really too weak now, and even a simple action like turning over was too much for it.

Liu Heming scooped a spoonful of milk and, under the pitiful gazes of the two Bear Cubs, put it into his own mouth.

“Don’t look at me so pitifully. I had to check the temperature first. It’s just right now. Here’s a spoonful for you,” Liu Heming said, both annoyed and amused by the little ones’ expressions.

After one spoonful, the little one on the left licked its lips and snout, while the one on the right grew impatient, its small paws reaching upward.

“Here’s another spoonful for you. You two have to take turns,” Liu Heming said, feeding it another spoonful.

A bowl of milk was finished just like that, one spoonful for you, one spoonful for it, shared between the two Bear Cubs. It was clear they were still hungry, but Liu Heming did not dare to feed them more, afraid of making them sick.

There was also another issue to deal with: the two Bear Cubs were really too dirty. Earlier, he had no choice but to save them, but now he could not let them stay so filthy. The house was already starting to smell.

“Ah, I hope you two little ones don’t have any other illnesses. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to save you,” Liu Heming said as he wiped their bodies with warm water.

“We’ll rest at home for a day. If you two are full of Spirit tomorrow morning, then everything will be fine, and it’ll save me some money. Otherwise, if I have to take you to the pet Hospital, it’ll probably cost hundreds of dollars. Think about it, wouldn’t it be better to spend that money on milk and meat for you instead of giving it away to others?”

The medical standards in the United States were high, whether for humans or animals, but the costs were also among the highest in the world. Animals didn’t have insurance, and taking them to the pet Hospital could end up costing who knows how much.

George had once told him that if he felt unwell, he shouldn’t call an ambulance but call him instead, and he would help take him to the Hospital. Otherwise, an ambulance trip to Xiangshui Town would easily cost around a thousand dollars, unless it was a special emergency situation.

This also highlighted a problem: it wasn’t just in his home country that people feared getting sick; it was the same abroad. Even with Medical Insurance, there were different levels. Unless you were wealthy, who could afford the highest coverage?

Surprisingly, after cleaning the two Bear Cubs, they looked much better. Afraid they might get cold, he wrapped each of them in a small Blanket. He lit the Fireplace and placed them nearby.

With food in their bellies, clean and dry bodies, and a comfortable temperature, the two Bear Cubs fidgeted for a while and then fell asleep.

“You two are so easygoing, falling asleep just like that. You’re the bigger one, so from now on, you’ll be called Xiong Da. You’re the smaller one, so you’ll be Xiong Er,” Liu Heming said, holding their little paws.

Whether they were too tired or trusted Liu Heming as their provider, they continued to sleep soundly even as he gently squeezed their paws.

“That Mother Bear is something else, not even taking care of her own children. Thankfully, those few wounds didn’t get infected, or these two little ones wouldn’t have made it,” Liu Heming grumbled after putting down their little paws.

He only noticed after cleaning them that they had several wounds on their bodies. Luckily, the wounds had already scabbed over; otherwise, for these little ones, they could have been fatal.

After watching the two little ones sleep for a while, Liu Heming moved them farther away. He still had work to do. The task deadline was only three days, and there were so many stakes to set up. He also had to collect branches from the Forest and couldn’t just keep watching them.

He was worried that after waking up, the two little ones might go play in the Fireplace. The scenario of “fire roasting Bear Cubs” was not something he wanted.

In his opinion, the two little ones were in pretty good shape. As long as they didn’t show any other abnormal reactions tomorrow, he should be able to complete the task easily.

He ran outside, drove back to the Forest, and loaded all the prepared branches into the car. He didn’t have time to clean them into proper sticks now—he had Bear Cubs at home.

Luckily, the lake where he pumped water was quite far from his place, so people didn’t know what he was up to as he drove back and forth.

This round of work took him quite some time. On the way back, he checked on the Bear Cubs again. They were doing well, both sleeping soundly. Xiong Da’s little paw had even stretched out from under the Blanket, probably sleeping comfortably.

To save time, he grabbed some small ropes and started staking the Tomato plants.

Staking looked simple but required a bit of skill. The stakes had to be sturdy, and the sticks couldn’t damage the roots. What seemed like an easy task still took time to complete.

Later on, Liu Heming began to worry again. There were still so many Cucumber and Green Bean plants. It seemed impossible to finish everything in three days by himself. Unless he worked day and night, it might be possible.

He once again realized his mistake: trying to cheat the System was wrong. This task was clearly one that required a lot of effort but offered little reward, and the punishment was severe. It was his own fault for not noticing earlier; otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such a rush.

It had been a long time since he worked so intensely, and his back and body ached. No wonder the System said his physical condition was poor—there was some truth to that.