Chapter 7 Stay-at-home Dad 7

Chapter 7: Babysitter Dad

At the meeting, every researcher analyzed Lu Yanli’s physical data, and the nutritionist and veterinarian also shared their views on why the data hadn’t budged.

“Bottom line, it’s genetic.”

Doctor Li looked at Principal Su and said, “Back then, the Winter Burn Wolf King was injected with an excessive amount of growth inhibitor, which stunted his development for over a decade. It was only later, after meeting you, that he began to grow. But that leftover medicine was inherited by the Little Wolf King.”

Principal Su said, lost in thought, “Could finding Yanli a mate help change things?”

Fang Zhixu listened hard, dead serious as he took notes, frowning like he had a tough problem on his hands.

Lu Yanli, the dummy sprawled out facing his wife, was completely oblivious to what was happening outside of Fang Zhixu. He rested his head on his front paws, tilting it slightly upward, staring dopily at his wife, couldn’t give a damn about genes or anything.

His wolf ears and tail wagged like a puppy’s.

Fang Zhixu quickly tapped the tail with his pen, then tapped him, and whispered, “Serious meeting, no tail wagging.”

Lu Yanli tilted his head and nuzzled his hand.

“But the Little Wolf King’s heat cycle is late, making it hard to push through the growth barrier. Even if it comes, his current size isn’t great.” Doctor Li had just finished when his eyes landed on the Little Wolf King, all twisted up. “...”

Fang Zhixu was totally confused. He leaned closer to Su Yanche and whispered, “Hey, Xiao Su, how old is Little Cotton? Why are we talking about his heat period already?”

“Ruff!” Lu Yanli suddenly straightened up, and seeing them so close together, he excitedly barked at Fang Zhixu.

“Why are you so close! Break it up!”

Fang Zhixu jumped, shot Lu Yanli a look, and pointed his pen at him. “What’s with the growling?”

Lu Yanli’s wolf tail drooped guiltily, and his cockiness instantly wilted.

Fang Zhixu tapped his head lightly with the pen and said, patient, “Haven’t I told you? Be polite, be civil, don’t lose your temper. You never listen.”

Lu Yanli nodded obediently, humbly accepting his wife’s criticism.

Not listening to your wife gets you in trouble—she's always right, whatever she says goes, and she's the boss.

“Get on the floor,” Fang Zhixu said.

Lu Yanli gave Fang Zhixu a pitiful look. “Whimper.”

“You asked for it by being rude first. Whining won’t help. Down. Three.”

Lu Yanli shot a fierce glare at his younger brother Su Yanche, then reluctantly jumped off the table, taking the chance to stomp on him twice. Then he crouched by Fang Zhixu’s feet, settling for rubbing against his pant leg for comfort.

Su Yanche pursed his lips. What a petty brother.

Fang Zhixu gave everyone an awkward smile and clasped his hands. “Excuse us, excuse us.”

Principal Su smiled, satisfied. “He sure listens to you.”

Finally, a keeper who could handle Lu Yanli showed up. We’ve got to keep this one no matter what.

Money talks.

“He listens, but he's a little petty,” Fang Zhixu said, then felt his pant leg tugged by a claw. So he just stuck the little brat between his shoes.

Lu Yanli, trapped between the shoes: “(._.)” Oh, big bro's squeezing me tight.

Like he'd discovered a new sensation, his tail wagging furiously.

“Zhixu.”

“Hmm?” Fang Zhixu looked back at Principal Su.

Principal Su tapped the data report on the table. “His wolf form is developing too slowly. We need to strictly control his diet and not let him be picky.”

Fang Zhixu felt the furry head burrow into his pant leg, tickling his calf so much it trembled. He swayed a little but kept taking notes. “Mm-hmm, I will.”

“Also, observe his courtship and heat cycles.”

Fang Zhixu was shocked. “Little Cotton's that young? He already needs to start dating?”

“He's not that young.” Principal Su seemed to forget he'd left something out. “The courtship period is easier to notice because snow wolves carry human genes. So besides instinctive wolf courtship, they also show human emotions. They get super clingy, hyper-sensitive to the other's scent, desperate to be close, and show clear possessiveness.”

“Have you noticed any such behavior recently?”

Fang Zhixu looked down at Little Cotton, who was biting his pant leg and trying to crawl up again. “Well, yeah, but shouldn't Little Cotton like wolves?”

He's not a wolf. Could clinging to him really be because of heat? That kid's a lone wolf in class, won't play with others, and he's never seen Lu Yanli get close to any female wolf.

“Not necessarily.”

Fang Zhixu: “(-_^)?”

“Snow wolves pick humans with high-quality genes as mates.”

Fang Zhixu: “(OvO)!” Amazing.

“And most male wolves reach sexual maturity around 2 years old and will actively court. If Lu Yanli doesn't go through courtship, it might really be a problem. If he can't shift to human or grow, he might lose his ability to reproduce.”

Fang Zhixu: “Oh...”

Wait, isn't Lu Yanli only three months old? He didn't dare ask, scared he'd get criticized for not knowing his job. T^T

Lu Yanli, who was biting the pant leg: “...”

The words “lose his fertility” made the Little Wolf King furious. He kept barking in protest under the table until Teacher Xiaozhi stuffed him into his sun jacket and pressed his head against his stomach, basically force-muzzling him in a “forced love” style.

Only then did he quiet down.

“Keep barking, and you'll never get a wife.” Fang Zhixu unzipped the jacket and warned the little cotton ball inside.

Lu Yanli snuggled against his chest, eyes half-lidded, his furry wolf face looking dazed and lovestruck.

How could he lose his fertility? He'd already found his wife ages ago...

...

“Sigh.”

During lunch, Fang Zhixu propped his chin on his hand and sighed.

Su Yanche looked up. “What's up? Still wondering why Little Cotton can't turn into a human?”

"Yeah." Fang Zhixu stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth and mumbled, "We're teaching him just like the other cubs, so why can't Little Cotton turn into a human?"

The morning seminar was starting to make him a bit anxious.

In fact, over the past half month, he had nearly worn out the Snow Wolf instruction manual. He read all the training tips carefully and applied them one by one, and they worked on the other wolf cubs.

But nothing worked on Little Cotton.

He chewed on his chopsticks, totally stumped: "Not only can he not turn into a human, but his body stats haven't changed either. The other pups are a whole size bigger than him. Why won't Little Cotton just grow up?"

"It's genetic—not all on your teaching. Eat first, then we'll talk." Su Yanche noticed that Fang Zhixu's face had grown thinner: "You look thinner than when you got here. Is the mess hall food not to your liking?"

"No, I eat plenty." Fang Zhixu bowed his head and dug in.

Watching him wolf down his food like that, Su Yanche teased, "So how come you're still losing weight?"

"Chief Su, he really can pack it away." Lin Yi, who was nearby, testified, "I've been eating with him lately—he eats twice as much as I do."

Su Yanche nodded: "Oh, is that right?"

Uncle Zhang, the senior researcher, smiled: "Xiao Zhi is still young. At his age, you can eat a ton and not put on weight."

"Xiao Su, you got a minute later?" Fang Zhixu swallowed his food and asked.

Su Yanche nodded: "I'm free, what's up?"

"Last night I ran into a part in the book I didn't get. I wanted to ask you about it."

"Sure."

After lunch, Lin Yi headed to the dorm for his shift, his face worried as he braced himself to get Little Wolf King down for his nap. Little Wolf King had always hated him, so nap duty was his worst nightmare.

The other researchers went back to their dormitories to rest.

Fang Zhixu told Lin Yi, "Good luck", then he and Su Yanche walked side by side to the office.

"Why is Little Cotton so mean to Lin Yi?"

"Lin Yi's always been blunt, and Little Wolf King holds a grudge. After a few times, it turned into this."

Fang Zhixu nodded in understanding.

"Have you gone through that book I gave you?"

"Not really. It's still a bit tough, after all, I've never studied animal science, especially wildlife conservation. But I'm really curious about why snow wolves can turn into humans and enter human society. For now, I'm just treating it like a story, haha."

Su Yanche saw how briskly he was walking and smiled: "Looks like you've already adapted to the work here."

Fang Zhixu swung his arms at his sides: "I really like the reserve."

He hadn't expected such a great work environment—the work was straightforward, the colleague relationships were simple and uncomplicated, and thinking about the salary made him even happier.

Although he now faced new challenges, he was still happy.

Seeing him so happy, Su Yanche said, "Then how about trying to take the cross-disciplinary graduate entrance exam? Join the reserve's research team."

Arriving at the office, the two entered one after the other.

Fang Zhixu walked to his desk and sat down, pulled open the drawer, took out the book with the label on it, and placed it on the desk: "But this career change is too big. It'll be hard to pass the exam, right?"

Su Yanche leaned his hands on the edge of the desk and looked down at him: "You majored in computer science. You could go into the conservation informatics cross-disciplinary field, using data analysis and AI for species monitoring. Plus, you have work experience here, so your admission probability would be very high. Conservation science advisors love students with a computer science background."

"I can supervise you."

"You're a PhD, supervising me would be overqualified. I'll work hard on my own first!" Fang Zhixu flipped open the marked page and pointed to a spot: "I don't understand this part."

"There's no such thing as overqualified. Teaching anyone is the same." Su Yanche saw where he was pointing and patiently explained it in a gentle voice.

The atmosphere between them was really harmonious.

They were completely unaware of the small figure at the door, poking its head in.

It was Little Wolf King, who had snuck out during naptime. His eyes, filled with jealousy, stared intently at their elbows touching, their distance too close.

"Awoo——"

The sudden roar startled both of them.

They both looked up at the same time.

Fang Zhixu jolted from the scare and turned his head toward the door. There he saw the puffed-up Cotton squatting at the entrance: "How did you sneak out?"