Chapter 1: Baobao, You’re a Soft and Glutinous Little Rice Ball Baby

Winter mornings are ideal for sleeping in.

Snuggled deep in a soft, warm quilt, his entire body relaxes.

No dreams to disrupt him, just pure sleep.

Sleeping soundly and deeply, he wakes up naturally.

Grumble—

Grumble grumble—

If the hunger in his belly wasn’t so intense, Dongri could have had such a wonderful morning.

Unfortunately, hunger invaded his sleep, transforming his dreams into a cake monster that pressed down heavily on him.

Dongri suffocated in his dream, then suddenly opened his eyes.

Grumble grumble grumble—

So hungry.

He wants to eat cake.

Dongri yawned, rubbed his eyes, and after shrinking back into the warm quilt, he tried to kick it off.

But the quilt was too heavy, and he couldn’t kick it off.

His short legs flailed for a while, but the quilt didn’t budge, as if sealing him in.

There’s no choice.

Dongri could only give up resisting; obediently, he crawled out of the quilt and sat up straight to wake himself up.

He had slept very soundly.

His loose, lightweight pajamas were wrinkled, the collar tilted to one side, revealing most of his shoulder.

His chestnut-colored, slightly curly hair was a mess, and his light amber eyes were still dazed.

His originally fair cheeks were flushed pink, with a few strands of hair imprinted haphazardly on them.

He was adorable.

He looked like a sweet, soft caramel cake, making people want to gobble him up in one bite.

The little cake, Dongri, sat quietly for a while before fully waking up.

The room was quiet, with no one else around.

Papa was already gone; he had slept in again.

Now, he was ready to get up and find some delicious food on his own.

The little guy slowly crawled to the edge of the bed and successfully climbed down using the custom-made small stairs.

He found his little panda slippers by the bed, first flicked the rotating button eyes, and then put them on with satisfaction, shuffling out of the room.

Dongri always knew which room had food and which room had the most food, so after leaving the bedroom, he headed straight for the kitchen.

However, a small cake came between him and his destination.

Thanks to his exquisitely accurate deliciousness radar, Dongri’s gaze instinctively fixed on the candied hawthorns and a four-inch caramel mille-feuille cake on the coffee table as he walked past the living room.

Papa must have forgotten to put them away.

Papa never let him eat these things in the morning, always saying they were snacks, not nutritious, and that kids should eat more fresh, clean rice, eggs, and meat to grow.

These things were mainly served after meals, not to fill up space in his belly that should be filled with nutritious food.

Dongri understood what he said, but he couldn’t do it at all.

Because he liked all milky and sweet foods, and he couldn’t resist them whenever he saw them.

Seeing his favorite things while hungry, how could a little toddler resist?

He immediately disregarded Papa’s usual instructions and ran toward the candied hawthorns and the little cake.

The little toddler, after waking up, had to tackle the candied hawthorns first.

The sugar coating was thin and crisp, and the large strawberry inside was sweet and juicy, and still icy cold. One bite, and Dongri instantly felt refreshed and awake.

It was delicious; he loves it.

He savored every bite with gusto.

Five sweet and juicy candied hawthorns were quickly devoured, leaving the bamboo skewer bare, but Dongri was still not satisfied, feeling like he could eat ten more skewers.

Then his eyes turned to the caramel mille-feuille cake next to him. The little guy licked the sugar crumbs on the corner of his mouth, removed the transparent lid, and couldn’t wait to grab a spoon, biting into it directly.

This was the cake monster that appeared in his dream!

He didn’t expect to get his hands on it after waking up!

He’ll eat the monster in one bite now! Eat it all up!

The crepes of the caramel mille-feuille were very thin, with a hint of egg flavor, and the cream was sweet but not greasy, with a rich milky taste.

Dongri ate one bite after another, and in just a few minutes, the four-inch cake was swallowed whole into his little belly, even scraping the cream on the bottom plate clean, truly wasting nothing.

These two items weren’t much, just a typical serving for an adult, but for a toddler of only four or five years old, it was still a bit much.

After scraping off the last bite of cream, Dongri’s little belly was like a glutinous rice ball filled with stuffing, bulging out in a round and whole curve under his pajamas.

Hoo—

The little guy was quite satisfied, touching his little belly, and after exhaling a satisfied breath, he happily lay down on the floor.

The floor was heated, and the temperature was just right, warm to the touch.

Dongri stretched out his limbs, stretching and gesturing, gradually relaxing his body, and finally, like a little cat, he collapsed into a flat, soft little cat pancake.

He woke up and ate candied hawthorns, and a little cake.

After eating his fill, he could continue to lie down and sleep.

His little life seemed carefree and happily ordinary.

Who would have thought that not long ago, he was a pitiable little thing who nearly starved to death on the streets?

That’s right, starved to death on the streets.

Because Dongri wasn’t a human toddler at all, but a gluttonous little divine beast with a huge appetite, a little Taotie cub.

Logically speaking, a Taotie cub like him shouldn’t appear in the human realm.

However, no one knew what had happened in the middle or how it had happened. Even Dongri himself didn’t remember, having no impression at all.

He only knew that from the moment he became conscious, he had been wandering in the human realm, living a miserable life of feast or famine.

He didn’t dare appear in busy areas, instead wandering in sparsely populated areas, often getting lost, and starving until his physical condition turned a deep red.

Having lost all his spiritual power, he could no longer transform into his original form and was forced to become a weak and skinny human toddler.

When he couldn’t bear the hunger any longer, the little guy had no choice but to go out on the streets, but before he could beg for a bite of food, he fainted due to exhaustion.

Until he opened his eyes, there were two unfamiliar adults in front of him, saying they wanted to adopt him and be his Papa and Daddy.

After that, the two adults not only took care of him, providing him with a warm home and beautiful new clothes, but also prepared him with all kinds of delicious food every day, effectively ensuring he was well-fed and never went hungry again.

It was like a dream come true.

Feeling lucky, Dongri was also a little scared and worried.

Although he had been living with them for a while, Dongri didn’t dare to treat them as his Papa and Daddy, still feeling an undeniable sense of unfamiliarity.

Especially his nominal Daddy.

Daddy looked fierce, wasn’t very enthusiastic towards him on weekdays, and sometimes suddenly showed an evil coldness, as if plotting something bad against him.

Dongri didn’t dare call him Daddy at all, and could only call him uncle when pushed. If Daddy wasn’t satisfied with him calling him that, then he wouldn’t dare speak at all, keeping his mouth shut instead.

More importantly, he was afraid that his true identity would be exposed and scare them to death.

In the little divine beast cub’s mind, humans were very fragile creatures; not only were their bodies easily injured, but their lifespans were also short.

Although he was almost the same now, even needing two fragile adult humans to take care of him.

Dongri firmly believed that this was only temporary and that soon he would grow up to become a mighty divine beast, a million times more powerful than Papa.

The little toddler’s brain activity was like a roller coaster, and his imagination was even more boundless.

From feeling happy to feeling worried, to imagining himself becoming a super-powerful divine beast, it only took a few minutes.

Unfortunately, after waking up, he had ingested too much sugar. His eyelids became heavy, soon becoming so heavy that Dongri couldn’t keep them open, and he was about to fall asleep again.

At this moment, the electronic female voice of the front door suddenly sounded.

Beep—

“Door unlocked.”

Click—

“Door not locked.”

Thud—

“Door locked.”

Someone had come in.

The sound broke Dongri’s sleepy bubble, and after he forced his eyes open, his two Papas were already standing in front of him.

Papa Dong Mian’s voice sounded first: “Baobao, you’re awake? Why are you sleeping here?”

Compared to the fierce-looking big Daddy, Dongri was more accepting of the gentle little Papa, and with a little effort, he could stammer out “Papa.”

The little guy rolled over, changing from a lying down position to one on his stomach, and then used his short arms and legs to crawl up from the floor.

But as soon as he stood up straight, ready to call out “Papa,” Dong Mian’s exclamation sounded first: “…You ate the things on the table? Hmm? And you ate them all?”

“…”

Although it wasn’t scolding, it definitely wasn’t a praising tone. Dongri paused, blinked his eyes, and the address stuck in his little chest, unable to say it.

When he saw the food, the little gluttonous baby only thought about putting it all in his belly, and didn’t remember Papa’s instructions at all.

Only when he saw Papa did he remember what Papa had said, but it was too late.

“Didn’t Papa say many times that these are snacks, you can’t eat too much at once, and you can’t eat them before meals, right? Hmm?”

“…”

Dongri didn’t dare to answer, only subconsciously took two steps back, looking timid.

He secretly raised his eyes to look at Dong Mian, but accidentally made eye contact, and quickly looked away and lowered his head.

His short fingers were clutching the hem of his pajamas, making his already wrinkled and messy appearance even more pitiful.

He was a plump and round little glutinous rice ball just now, but now he was a deflated little glutinous rice ball, as if he would leak filling if poked.

Who could bear to scold such a little glutinous rice ball?

Dong Mian stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed helplessly: “…Okay, Papa is also at fault. Knowing you like to eat these things, I should have hidden them, not left them out.”

He thought the little guy wouldn’t wake up so early, so Dong Mian was careless and went out for a while after putting the things down.

He wanted to save them for the little guy as an afternoon snack, but when he came back, there was nothing left, even the cake plate was scraped clean.

He did cherish food, not wasting a single bite.

“But you can’t do this in the future, understand?”

Dong Mian squatted down in front of the little guy and reached out to touch his belly.

“You can’t eat these things before meals, and you can’t eat so much… Look at your little belly, it’s all bulging out, there’s no room for nutritious food.”

Dongri blinked his eyes, then pursed his lips, as if gathering all his courage, and said very softly: “…There, there is.”

Dong Mian didn’t hear clearly: “Hmm?”

The little guy then thoughtfully increased his volume a little: “…I, my belly, can fit it! Can still eat!”