Chapter 41: Things Got Serious

He woke up very early the next morning, before the sky had even lit up. However, he hadn’t woken up naturally; he was licked awake by the Bear Cubs. When he first opened his eyes, it gave him quite a scare.

It was a good thing the Bear Cubs were still small. If they were any bigger, would his face even survive being licked like that? It seemed he had a long and challenging road ahead as a bear dad. There were so many things he needed to teach these two Bear Cubs.

Regardless of whether they had the habit of going to the bathroom early in the morning or not, Liu Heming picked them up and placed them on the sandy soil. After thinking about it, he decided that wasn’t good enough, so he carried them to the yard. He needed to train them to do their business outside and not let them cause trouble inside the house.

The two Bear Cubs were quite excited once they got outside. They ran around the yard, though they didn’t go too far. While playing, they kept turning their heads to check if Liu Heming was still there.

“Congratulations, the mission to save the Bear Cubs is complete. Reward obtained: Animal Affinity increased by 10. Title ‘Animal’s Good Friend’ acquired. The quality of your raised animals has improved by 5%, and you have met the basic requirements for communication with animals.”

The System’s voice suddenly rang in Liu Heming’s mind, and it sounded quite cheerful.

“It’s already finished?” Liu Heming muttered to himself.

Right after he asked, he noticed the two Bear Cubs were looking at him differently. They dashed over to him, hugged his legs, and kept rubbing their bear heads against him. Liu Heming guessed the spots they were rubbing must have turned red.

“Because you genuinely care for them, the mission was completed so quickly. I hope you will continue to work hard and complete more missions,” the System answered his question.

“Um, what are Agility and Stamina for? And what is this Animal Affinity for?” Liu Heming asked cautiously.

“Agility and Stamina are not activated, so no answer will be provided. Animal Affinity increases your ability to interact and communicate with animals. The original affinity value was 20; after gaining 10 points, it is now 30. When the affinity value reaches 50, animals will rarely attack you. When it reaches 100, you can make animals understand what you mean,” the System explained very patiently this time.

“That’s awesome, really awesome. Now I understand, it must be fate that made you choose me. I’m so happy to have you,” Liu Heming said in a cringey tone.

“It’s alright. Although I feel a bit wronged, you recognizing your own shortcomings means there’s still room for improvement,” the System commented seriously.

“Um, let me ask one more thing. Aren’t these two Bear Cubs a bit too attached to me? And their behavior doesn’t seem like just 30 affinity points, right?” Liu Heming humbly inquired again.

“Because you saved them, your affinity with them is different from other animals. Plus, they ate so many Sweet Potatoes…” The System stopped there.

Liu Heming really wanted to ask what was up with the Sweet Potatoes, but he didn’t dare. He was afraid of annoying the System and getting assigned more troublesome tasks. Now he was sure that the Finger Sweet Potato was truly extraordinary.

“In the future, you two need to be good babies. If your Mom doesn’t come back for you, I’ll raise you,” Liu Heming said as he picked up the two little ones and held them in his arms, looking at them.

He felt that this affinity might be mutual. Not only did the animals have affinity for him, but it seemed his affinity for the two Bear Cubs had also increased a lot in that moment.

The System’s ability was truly magical. Since receiving the reward, the two Bear Cubs had become much better behaved. Although they still followed Liu Heming around wherever he went, they seemed to understand most of what he said. They could comprehend simple commands.

However, it also became a burden for Liu Heming. Whenever the two Bear Cubs looked at him with their pitiful eyes, he couldn’t help but feel reluctant.

There was no other choice. With only two days left, he definitely couldn’t finish the Green Bean trellises and Cucumber trellises on his own. So Liu Heming had to call George. He couldn’t bring himself to ask anyone else; only George didn’t make him feel too much psychological burden.

Actually, if he were back in his home country, this matter would be very easy to solve. He could just go to the market and get a few bundles of bamboo poles, and it would be super easy.

“Dexter, I can actually find other people to come help too. That would make the work much easier for you. I… Oh my God, what am I seeing? Am I really seeing this?” George, who had just arrived, was originally calm, but when he saw the two round heads peeking out from behind Liu Heming’s legs, he couldn’t help but rub his eyes.

“It’s exactly what you see. Yesterday evening when I came back, I found them playing in my yard. I’m really worried their Mother Bear might come looking for trouble,” Liu Heming shrugged.

Half of it was a lie, half was true. He really was worried the Mother Bear would come looking for her cubs. It seemed like he couldn’t make an angry Mother Bear communicate rationally with him yet.

“Dexter, I knew it. You are the messenger sent by God. Look, how adorable these Bear Cubs are,” George said, his face glowing as he crouched by Liu Heming’s feet and looked at the two Bear Cubs.

The Bear Cubs were still a bit scared of George’s big face. They both hid behind Liu Heming’s left side, trying hard to conceal their little bodies, but their little buttocks just wouldn’t stay hidden.

“Dexter, look, they are so adorable,” George said, overjoyed.

“You think they’re adorable now because you haven’t seen their destructive power,” Liu Heming said with a bitter smile.

“Yesterday, they clawed my pants and almost scratched me. They also stole and ate the snacks I prepared for my daughter. Plus, they have huge appetites. I don’t know if I’ll go bankrupt feeding them when they grow bigger.”

“Now they insist on sleeping on the bed, and they licked me awake in the middle of the night. I need to correct these bad habits of theirs.”

“Dexter, are you planning to raise them? Have them live by your side?” George stood up and looked at Liu Heming as he asked.

“Yes, I don’t know where their Mom is. If I let them out, they’ll definitely become a delicious dinner for the wolf pack,” Liu Heming nodded.

“If that’s the case, there might be some difficulties,” George said, frowning.

“Dexter, if you want to adopt them, you must have approval from the Wildlife Management Bureau. Otherwise, you could be sued, and you might even face fines or jail time.”

Liu Heming’s heart sank. Wasn’t it supposed to be easy to raise animals here in the United States? Couldn’t people even raise Lions and Tigers? Why couldn’t he raise two Bear Cubs? Things seemed to have gotten serious.