Chapter 5 Stay-at-home Dad 5

Chapter 5: Daddy 5

"Teacher Xiaozhi."

"Teacher Xiaozhi~"

"I like you so much."

The cubs, now dressed, padded over to Fang Zhixu, each one sweet-talking, scrambling to hold his hands, but ten fingers weren't nearly enough.

"Roar—"

Lu Yanli was furious, unable to stand his mate being swarmed by the cubs, and growled at them.

"Stay away from him!"

The cubs were scared of Lu Yanli and whimpered, turning back into wolf cubs with their tails between their legs.

Fang Zhixu bent down to soothe each of the wolf cubs, then picked up Little Cotton, thinking he was sad about not being able to turn into a human yet. He patted his head and comforted him, "It's okay, baby. You'll definitely turn into a human."

"Awoo~" Lu Yanli whined pitifully, burying his face in Fang Zhixu's palm.

"There, there. I'll hold you, then. Don't be sad."

"Whine~"

The researchers: "..." So fake, young master.

Outside the classroom, there was a large lawn.

The lawn was by the water, and beside the lake was an exquisite, large slide and swing set with a wooden house, along with various small obstacle courses and vaulting boxes, specially made for the wolf cubs to exercise.

"Xiao Su, can we let them play freely here now?"

"Yeah, that's right. They'll follow instructions to come back," Su Yanche said. "Just give them the command, and they'll go play."

Fang Zhixu started learning: "What command?"

"Go, go, go!"

On the lawn, Fang Zhixu, dressed in a white tracksuit, clapped his hands. The cubs, who had naturally turned back into wolves, heard "Go, go, go!" and rushed out in a swarm.

Although Lu Yanli had the shortest legs, he was the fastest. In a flash, he bounced up, his little legs like springs, going "boing, boing, boing," and clearing seven obstacle vaults in no time.

From a distance, he looked like a puff of cotton candy bursting up from the flat ground.

The other little wolf cubs were far behind.

The researchers: "..." Showing off, just showing off.

"Come!" Fang Zhixu waved his hand at the wolf cubs.

Lu Yanli the show-off twitched his ears, turned his head with a "swish," and saw Fang Zhixu waving at him. In the blink of an eye, his short little legs sped up, and he dashed to stand in front of Fang Zhixu, holding his head high, his black ears on his little head twitching.

"Roar~"

His smug little expression seemed to say, 'I'm number one, praise me now!'

The other little wolf cubs quickly followed.

Seeing all the wolf cubs back in front of him, Fang Zhixu pulled up his tracksuit pants, knelt down on one knee, and made a downward pressing motion with his palm: "Sit."

Lu Yanli was agile and sat down on his bottom.

It was really like a little bottom sitting on the lawn, as if he were a human toddler with a round little belly, his forepaws on his stomach, his hind legs relaxed and open, the kind of sit where short legs can cross to soak up the sun.

The other wolf cubs were in normal animal sitting postures.

Fang Zhixu: "?"

Lu Yanli noticed Fang Zhixu's gaze, glanced sideways at his classmates, remembered something, and subtly adjusted his sitting posture to a demure pose, all four paws together and sitting back on his haunches.

He blinked at Fang Zhixu innocently, playing dumb.

Fang Zhixu couldn't help but ruffle Lu Yanli's head again: "So cute, so cute!"

Lu Yanli quickly stuck out his tongue and licked Fang Zhixu's palm, his fluffy white head bobbing back and forth as if proud of being praised.

And so, Fang Zhixu led the wolf cubs through several rounds of command training on the lawn, and after a few command drills, he let them play freely.

He stood to the side and remarked to the researchers, "So it's that simple."

"That's because they like you." Researcher Lin Yi pointed to his own wolf cub. "Mine chewed up the new teacher's shoes once."

"Mine threw the new teacher's phone into the lake."

"Mine almost got the new teacher's family jewels."

"Yeah, mine tore the new teacher's skirt. I almost got on my knees to beg."

"..."

"Lu Yanli nearly bit off the new teacher's finger."

"In short, the caretakers usually suffer some emotional trauma when they leave."

Fang Zhixu: "..................................."

Su Yanche laughed. "We were also surprised. These wolf cubs are truly wild. Snow wolves can never be tamed by humans."

Fang Zhixu: "Really?" He then asked uncertainly, "You said earlier that Little Cotton could bite a finger off?"

He curled the fingers of his hand at his side. Tsk, that guy had licked him just now, and it didn't seem like he had many teeth.

Not far away, a sneaky little head peeked out from the wooden house tunnel, glaring resentfully in this direction.

"He's very stubborn, doesn't let people get close easily. So he strongly rejects people or things he dislikes. You're the first teacher he's ever been willing to approach and obey."

"Yeah, usually he doesn't obey discipline. He's a picky eater and a troublemaker. Last time in class, he organized a fight just so he could watch his classmates brawl."

Fang Zhixu: "..." Really? But he's so good with me.

He looked over at the slide and the wooden house.

He spotted a short white tail barely visible at the wooden house door, and then it slapped the ground hard.

"Slap!" It was quite loud.

Fang Zhixu: "..." Is that guy listening in? Can he understand? That tail looks really angry.

After the two-hour outdoor activity ended, Fang Zhixu raised his hand and said 'come', and the little wolf cubs obediently ran back to him.

Then one by one, they trotted behind Fang Zhixu back to the classroom.

Lu Yanli ran first, not allowing anyone to cut in line, sticking close to Fang Zhixu's shoes, occasionally rubbing against him hoping for a hug.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a hug from Teacher Xiaozhi.

The afternoon sunlight lazily fell into the log-style corridor. The slim figure in white sportswear stepped on the patches of light, his silhouette pulling a long shadow across the floor, enveloping the obedient little wolf cubs following behind.

The little wolf cubs followed the scent of the man ahead, walking neatly in a row, none of them falling behind.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, it was lunchtime for the little wolf cubs. The researchers needed to prepare special milk for their own wolf cubs, and Fang Zhixu followed to learn.

Su Yanche taught him personally.

Fang Zhixu peered curiously, watching very seriously.

During the learning process, there was unavoidable contact, and the two were somewhat close.

The little wolf king at the door turned his head sharply, his eyes fixed on them.

Fang Zhixu remembered the ratio of milk powder to water, took the bottle from Su Yanche, and said with certainty, "I will definitely make a very delicious bottle of milk for Little Cotton, so he'll drink more and quickly turn into a human!"

The little wolf king: "..." He lowered his head and sighed.

He hated drinking milk the most in his life—and he'd been drinking it for damn fifteen years!

"Drink, baby."

On the bench in the hallway outside the classroom, the young man crouched in front of the bench and handed the bottle to the little snow wolf on it.

Lu Yanli met Fang Zhixu's expectant gaze and, unable to bear disappointing him, masked his extreme disgust and bit the nipple.

While staring at the person, he drank the milk.

His gaze was so intense it seemed to pierce through skin to see bones, capturing every subtle expression, every muscle movement, every flutter of eyelashes from the person feeding him.

Gulp, gulp, and it was gone.

The researchers lingering by the door looked curiously outside, saw that the little wolf king really obediently drank without making a single sound, and marveled again.

"Snow wolves can smell odors that ordinary people can't detect. Teacher Xiaozhi must have a scent that the snow wolves like."

"Otherwise, why would all the wolf cubs be so obedient?"

Su Yanche observed the scene from the doorway, "Yeah."

At noon, it was nap time for the little wolf cubs.

To help the wolf cubs adapt to human habits and prevent them from sleeping anywhere outside, they had a dedicated sleeping room with small log beds, small pillows, and small quilts, each embroidered with the cub's name.

Lu Yanli's was a pink polka-dot quilt and pillow.

"He doesn't like to sleep, so it might be a bit troublesome."

Fang Zhixu imitated the other researchers, placing Little Cotton on his lap and wiping his little paws with wet wipes. He glanced at Su Yanche, "What if he doesn't sleep?"

"Let him be, as long as he doesn't make noise." Su Yanche watched the eldest cub lying comfortably on his back in his arms and didn't say anything more. He took two books and placed them on the cabinet, "These two books are for you. I thought you might be interested—they're about snow wolves."

"Okay, thank you." Fang Zhixu tossed the wet wipes into the trash can, picked up Little Cotton, and stood up. He smiled at Su Yanche, "If there's something I don't understand, I'll ask you."

Su Yanche said, "Sure, you're welcome to ask me anytime."

"Woof!"

Fang Zhixu felt his clothes being hooked by claws. He looked down and saw Little Cotton looking at him with a resentful, aggrieved expression. "What's wrong? Tired?"

"Hmph."

Smile, smile, that's all you do—smile at him.

Fang Zhixu: '?'

What's gotten into him?

Today it was his turn to supervise the little wolf cubs' nap. He and the researchers took turns, roughly once every two weeks, so it wasn't too hard.

The little wolf cubs were at an age where they loved to sleep. After the curtains were drawn, the room became quiet and cozy, and they quickly fell asleep.

Except for Lu Yanli, who clung to Fang Zhixu's pant leg and refused to let go, not making a sound, just adopting a 'what are you gonna do about it?' attitude.

Fang Zhixu had no choice but to pick him up and keep him nearby, letting him stay by his side, stroking his fur while reading.

Fortunately, the little guy didn't fuss. He just obediently curled up by Fang Zhixu's leg, his chin resting on Fang Zhixu's thigh, stretching his neck to look at the book along with him, looking as if he understood.

"Then you'll keep me company while I watch over the nap."

Lu Yanli woofed in response.

Fang Zhixu stroked the furry head while reading, afraid of getting sleepy, so he softly read the text aloud to stay awake.

Since the content was all professional knowledge, his clear, soothing voice sounded like a lullaby, making anyone drowsy.

Lu Yanli struggled to keep his eyes open, closing them, then forcing them wide again. After a few rounds, his head started bobbing: "Zzzz..."

Soon, a weight fell onto his leg.

Fang Zhixu's voice cut off abruptly. He looked down.

The little guy had curled into a ball by his leg and was fast asleep.

"..."

So much for keeping me company during the nap!

Fang Zhixu saw that even asleep, the little one was so cute. He petted, stroked, and squished him.

Suddenly jolted awake by the pettings, the little wolf king: "..."

Lu Yanli glanced sideways and saw Fang Zhixu muttering to himself happily while playing with him, his eyes curved into happy crescents.

He lay back down and rested his head, a small smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

Whatever, doesn't matter, as long as his wife is happy.