I Am the Only Fertile Woman in the Game-Chapter 104: Barrier

Zong Fang took a long time to pull himself out of his memories and find his voice again.

His chest felt unbearably tight. He wanted to ask if she liked that pretty boy, but the words got stuck in his throat. He knew that if he asked, they would fight, and if they fought, she would be upset. If she was upset, he would feel even worse. So, he swallowed the breath he'd been holding back.

"Qiaoqiao, I was wrong. What I did wasn't right. I should never have left you alone, no matter the reason. I shouldn't have neglected you either. What can I do to make you forgive me?"

Qiao Suisui closed her eyes, weary, and gently pulled her hand from his.

"You don't have to do this. We both lack trust in each other. If the press conference incident wasn't your doing, then tell Soter not to interfere with my freedom. I want to stay wherever I choose to. Also, I will not return to the research center to be treated as a specimen for study, never."

Zong Fang looked at his empty hand, the sharp tang of acidity spreading into his mouth. In the end, he said nothing more, gently stroked her head, said 'okay,' and no longer disturbed her rest.

The nine snake eggs had to be incubated in a constant temperature box because they were not full-term yet.

Once Qiao Suisui felt a bit better, she visited them once. They were just ordinary eggs, and she couldn't tell which one was the two-headed one, so she gave up. She told Zong Fang that if he wanted to take all the snake cubs away, that was fine with her. After hearing this, Zong Fang watched her silently, suppressing the dull pain in his chest, and said with downcast eyes, "I'll wait until you're a bit better before I leave. If you don't want to see me, I'll try to stay out of your way as much as possible."

In fact, Qiao Suisui just disliked snakes, even feared them to death, and habitually left the care of the cubs to men. But since the argument, she'd lost the motivation to explain to Zong Fang or even share anything with him.

Ruka and Leberli obviously noticed there was something wrong between them, realising that even when they were together, there was more silence than speaking. Leberli was pleased with this development, so he put even more effort into diverting her attention, mainly by teasing her with his charm. Ruka chose not to interfere but would often talk to Qiao Suisui about the cubs, such as who fought with whom today, who bullied whom, who was picky with their food, and would even show her videos of the cubs in adorable moments.

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Over time, even if Qiao Suisui wasn't very attentive, she began to remember who was the leader, their personalities, who was naughty, and who was obedient. After all, no one could resist a fluffy little animal looking at you with big eyes.

The four little lion cubs were also brought to the Imperial Court. The little guys were bigger and could chase each other around; they loved to cling to Qiao Suisui's feet, showing the natural attachment of cubs to their mother.

Naonao was the most dominating, always using his plump paws to hug her legs, not allowing his brothers and sisters to get close to their mother. As the lion cubs' claws started to grow, Naonao was entangling with Qiao Suisui in a game where she had a servant make a cat teaser specifically for them. The little lions focused on the feathers of the cat teaser moving up and down, undistracted, pouncing back and forth. Naonao stood on his hind legs, trying to reach for the feathers, but lost his balance and ended up pouncing on her foot.

Qiao Suisui liked being barefoot, and Leberli knew about her habit, so the entire palace was covered with soft carpets for her; she also wasn't wearing shoes. As a result, her foot got a small cut from Naonao's claws, and a bead of blood emerged from the wound.

She didn't care much, didn't use her Talent, and just wiped it with a tissue before continuing to play with them.

After taking a bath and preparing to go to bed, she felt a bit groggy, thinking it was just fatigue from the day, so she decided to rest early. However, that night, after Ruka had finished his work, he came to check on her. He was used to touching her head and felt something was off right away when he discovered she had a fever.

"How could this happen all of a sudden?"

Leberli looked dissatisfied at the medical team, putting immense pressure on them.

A sweating doctor said, "We've checked thoroughly, Miss Qiao's surgical wound has healed very well, there's not even a scar. Maybe... maybe because she's just given birth, her constitution is still very weak, maybe she caught a cold?"

The more he spoke, the less confident he became. The whole temperature of the Imperial Court had been reinstalled. Leberli even spent money to hire a central control team to specifically adjust temperatures. The several places where Qiao Suisui often stayed, such as the flower conservatory, the garden, the greenhouse, her palace, and so on, were all controlled by specialists. They could even choose the weather, all to ensure she wouldn't catch a cold and fall ill.

Leberli laughed irritably at the answer but did not embarrass anyone on the spot. He had the medical team dismissed and then told his secretary, "A bunch of useless people, fire them all. Find me the best doctor immediately, no matter the cost."

After dealing with the situation, he returned to the inner chamber to see Ruka holding her ankle, examining something, with Zong Fang doing a check-up on her. The last argument wasn't entirely bad; although Zong Fang, Ruka, and Leberli still hardly spoke, they managed to coexist peacefully, which was better than before. At least Zong Fang no longer sought confrontation on impulse. The three men were maintaining a delicate facade of harmony.

Leberli approached and asked, "Has the fever gone down?"

"She's taken her medicine and she's still sweating," Ruka said as he put her feet back under the blanket and tucked her in. "I'm stepping out for a bit, and even if she wakes up asking for iced water, don't give it to her."

Leberli thought the fever was related to her seeking coolness these past few days and nodded in agreement, not realizing that Ruka was actually going to deal with the cubs.

He walked into the cubs' room, gestured for the servants to leave, then pulled over a chair and sat down.

Although the four little lion cubs had not transformed and couldn't speak, their intelligence had already awakened. Seeing their father with a grave expression, they all lined up obediently and squatted in a row.

"I'll only ask once, who scratched mama's feet? The one responsible, stand up and admit it now," he said.

Three of the cubs looked at each other, blinking their innocent large eyes, all unaware. Only one, usually the most mischievous and attention-seeking, was exceptionally quiet today, hanging its little head down and squatting there obediently.

Ruka quickly figured it out, his face stern as he called out Naonao's name. The little cub shuddered but didn't dare to move.

"Aren't you coming over here?" he demanded.

Naonao shuffled hesitantly towards him, and the other three cubs tensed up with nervousness on its behalf.

Ruka, finding it moving too slowly, reached out and scooped the little lion cub into his hand, its belly against his palm, making it hang with all four paws dangling, unable to exert any strength.

'Smack—'

A very loud sound echoed inside the room.

The other three were stunned.

Naonao let out a 'wow' and its eyes became teary.

Ruka slapped its bottom again and said, "Still have the nerve to cry? Shut up."

"Whimper, whimper..."

Naonao flailed its paws helplessly, resembling a small tortoise.

After scolding it a couple more times, Ruka tossed it to the ground. The cub, already adept at bouncing and balancing, landed gracefully and quickly scurried behind its eldest brother for cover.

Ruka folded his arms and said to the four cubs: "We're practicing claw sharpening tomorrow. When you play with mama, be gentle."

All four cubs nodded together.

"Also, roll around more in front of mama, show your bellies and nuzzle with your tails. Good behavior will be rewarded."

The four cubs nodded together again.