Chapter 37.1

“Oh, Pimi and Moonlight?”

Mu Ling caught sight of the streaming comments flying across the screen. The flood of messages was no longer dominated by Qilin’s name but had shifted to Pimi and Moonlight. She quickly paused to confirm—yes, viewers were indeed spamming their names. She turned the camera back toward Pimi’s cage.

“Pimi is sleeping.”

The sleek black maned lion lay motionless with its back to her. Even hearing its name didn’t provoke any reaction; it maintained the same position.

After a moment’s consideration, Mu Ling simply opened the cage and stepped inside.

「Can she just walk in like that?」

「Is wifey not wearing protective gear again?」

「She wasn’t wearing any with Qilin either. Even though we all think the war beasts are angels, she should still protect herself. There have been fatal incidents with retired war beasts before.」

「Yeah, the director’s getting too comfortable. Good relationships with animals are fine, but protective gear is essential.」

Mu Ling, oblivious to these concerns, sat beside Pimi and reached out to stroke the thick black mane around its neck.

Male lions develop a luxuriant collar of fur, and Pimi’s was particularly soft. Mu Ling loved petting it.

The big lion’s eyelashes trembled slightly. Probably annoyed by the petting, it moved its head aside to avoid Mu Ling’s hand.

But Mu Ling insisted on petting it. She even lay down and brought her face close to the lion’s, giving it a gentle kiss.

The sound of the kiss transmitted to the livestream, causing another explosion of comments.

「Ahhh, I don’t know who to be jealous of!」

「Won’t the lion turn around and bite you?」

「She kissed Qilin like that too… but it still seems risky!」

“Pimi, look at sister for a moment?” Mu Ling poked the lion’s white whiskers, trying to get some response from the big lion.

Finally, the big lion did open its eyes to look at Mu Ling.

Its deep brown pupils were full of indifference, and then it opened its huge mouth, revealing the cold fangs inside.

「Ahhh! I knew it would get angry!」

「This is why I said protective gear was needed!」

「Sh*t, even through the screen I can feel how scary it is – it’s going to bite!」

“Hah-” The big lion yawned. It closed its mouth again, licked its nose, then lowered its head to rub its whiskers with its paw, as they were itchy from being poked.

Mu Ling found it amusing and went to kiss its eyes again. “I’m sorry, sister won’t disturb you then. Let sister check if you’ve peed.”

As she spoke, Mu Ling reached behind the lion to check.

“Oh, seems like you did. Let’s change it then.”

Turning to the camera, she told the viewers, «Hold on, everyone. I need to change Pimi’s diaper. If you want to watch, it’ll be kind of messy.»

Mu Ling was stunned to see the comment section filled with “Want to see! Love to see!” She was a bit shocked: “You guys have some strange interests.”

Saying this, she still adjusted the camera position to let viewers see.

Then Mu Ling went to get the change pack from the corner and sat behind Pimi.

Pimi was now very cooperative with diaper changes. Usually when Mu Ling patted it, it would automatically lift its hind legs.

While changing the diaper, Mu Ling chatted with the comments: «Pimi is somewhat unable to care for itself now, so it needs to wear diapers. For bowel movements, it goes regularly in the morning and evening, and I help it use the litter box. His health took a hit from refusing food for a while, but he’s been eating better recently. Both he and Moonlight can be picky eaters. They’re just like kids; sometimes we have to coax them into eating.»

While talking, Mu Ling had finished changing the diaper. She adjusted Pimi’s diaper edges, then packed up the dirty diaper and threw it in the garbage bin outside, washing her hands afterward.

During this process, the camera followed her movements.

「I’m shocked – it’s better behaved during diaper changes than my daughter who cries!」

「So is this Pimi the S-class Black-headed Lion Pimi? It looks very different from online photos, but also somehow similar.」

「Yes, when the director zoomed in earlier, I saw the scar above the lion’s eyebrow – it’s identical to Pimi’s scar in the news, same location and everything.」

「Damn, wasn’t that news from a month ago? How did Pimi get so thin in just a month? What’s going on?」

「Refusing to eat – could it be a hunger strike?」

「Ah, a hunger strike is such a serious matter, yet it was mentioned so casually. When retired war beasts go on hunger strikes, it often means they’ve reached their mental breaking point and could die at any time.」

「But looking at it now, Pimi’s mental state doesn’t seem too bad.」

After washing her hands, Mu Ling returned to the ward area. At this time, Xiao Zhao signaled the time to her.

Seeing it was already 12:30, Mu Ling smiled and said, «Why don’t we draw the first prize now – the first calligraphy brush?»

Mu Ling took out the brush and showed it to the camera from all angles, then said, «To enter the draw, just send ‘Bi Ke Zoo Grand Opening’ in the comments. After one minute, the algorithm will automatically select our lucky winner.»

As soon as Mu Ling finished speaking, the comments were flooded with “Bi Ke Zoo Grand Opening.”

The minute passed quickly, and at one minute and one second, a winner’s window popped up in the middle of the screen.

Mu Ling immediately said, «Congratulations to the user ‘Qilin Baby Kiss Me.’ You’ve won our Qingjiao merchandise brush. Seems like you prefer Qilin! Hope this small gift containing Qingjiao’s DNA won’t disappoint you. Our assistant will contact you later, remember to check your private messages.»

Mu Ling looked at Xiao Zhao beside her.

Xiao Zhao nodded and began contacting the winner.

Mu Ling then returned to the ward area to continue showing viewers the war beasts. «We’ll draw for the second brush in ten minutes. Now let’s look at Lightning.»

Mu Ling pointed the camera at the black panther in ward B4. The black panther was standing at the door, looking up at Mu Ling outside, its tail swishing back and forth.

「Ahhhh, my Lightning!」

「Lightning baby is so cute, from now on black is my favorite color!」

Mu Ling opened Lightning’s cage door. As soon as she crouched down, the black leopard made purring sounds and rubbed its forehead against Mu Ling’s chin, making soft sounds: “Ao.”

The soft “ao” sound was like spoiled whining.

Mu Ling smiled and rubbed its head, telling the comments, “Lightning has always been our clingiest sister. When I first met Lightning in the mountains, it was so fierce, but that turned out to be fake fierceness. That same day it secretly followed us down the mountain, So in a way, it’s kind of like a stray panther we adopted.”

「Hahaha, “stray panther” that’s funny!」

「What stray panther, it’s clearly a zoo employee!」

「Employee? More like ancestor – be clear about it!」

「Haha, true! Which zoo that takes in retired war beasts doesn’t treat them like ancestors? Can’t be exhibited, have to worry about their mental state, physical condition – it’s endless worry.」

「But even in this situation, Lightning would actively follow the director! That’s amazing! The more I hear, the more I want to visit the zoo myself!」

After playing with Lightning for ten minutes, Xiao Zhao reminded Mu Ling of the time. Checking the time, Mu Ling said, «Let’s draw for the second brush now. Same as before, just comment ‘Bi Ke Zoo Grand Opening.’ 3, 2, 1, start!»

With the start signal, the comments began flooding again.

After one minute, the second winner appeared.

«Congratulations to our friend ‘Wife Pick Me Pick Me’ for winning our Qingjiao brand brush. Same as before, our assistant will contact you, remember to check your private messages.»

At this point, Mu Ling stood up and left Lightning’s cage.

Since Lightning lived opposite to Moonlight, when Mu Ling left, the camera inevitably caught Moonlight again.

「The Silver Snow bear is peeking!」

「I saw it, even though that bear is hiding in the corner, its black bean eyes are looking outside.」

「It turned away! It turned away! You should’ve been quieter. See, it noticed us!」

「Okay okay, my fault, my fault. It was my text through the internet that scared the bear, nothing to do with my wife. It didn’t hide because it saw my wife leave, absolutely nothing to do with my wife, all my fault.」

Mu Ling randomly paused on a comment talking about how Moonlight was just peeking at her.

Oh, really?

Mu Ling couldn’t help looking at Moonlight’s cage, seeing Moonlight still facing away from her. The entire bear was very withdrawn, its paws poking at the sterile cloth on the ground, quickly making hole after hole in it.

Mu Ling: “…”

Mu Ling felt somewhat helpless. She shook her head and entered Qingjiao’s cage.

As soon as she entered, the little wolf grabbed its rubber duck’s head and bumped into Mu Ling’s leg.

Mu Ling sat down, took the little wolf into her arms, rubbed its head fur, and reached for the rubber duck in its mouth.

But the little wolf wouldn’t let go, trotting away with the duck in its mouth, as if afraid Mu Ling would take its duck away.

Mu Ling told the comments, «Earlier, Qilin took its duck and wouldn’t give it back. Since then, no matter where it goes, the little wolf carries its duck. I see it’s almost bitten the duck’s head off.»

As she spoke, Mu Ling also petted Qingjiao lying beside her, saying, «It learned this bad habit from Qingjiao. Qingjiao always bites the little wolf’s head, so the little wolf thinks all wolves bite heads.»

「Haha, quickly teach Qingjiao how to properly raise a child!」

「The little wolf likes the duck so much, does it like eating duck meat?」

「Are you a devil? Can’t it just want a duck friend?」

「Wifey, wifey, can we buy a real duck as a friend for the little wolf? Want to see the little wolf play with a little duck!」

Mu Ling happened to see this comment and smiled, «But the little wolf doesn’t know its own strength yet. If we bought a real duck, it might accidentally kill it. Let’s stick with toys for now. Once it learns how to properly interact with the rubber duck, we’ll get it a real duck.»

As she spoke, she also educated Qingjiao: “It’s mainly your fault, teaching all the wrong things.”

Qingjiao didn’t understand what Mu Ling was saying and thought she wanted to play. It stood up, walked two steps to Mu Ling’s side, and licked her hair.

Mu Ling: “…”

「Can’t see what Qingjiao is doing anymore, can’t see!」

「Wifey, move the camera up a bit.」

Mu Ling sighed, «Qingjiao is licking me, it’s fine.»

As she spoke, she wiped her face with her sleeve and stopped Qingjiao: “Don’t always lick me. When the others lick me it’s fine, but when you do it I always feel uneasy, like you have some ulterior motive.”

After being stopped, Qingjiao didn’t force another lick. It turned its head, saw the little wolf licking the rubber duck’s head, and went over to lick its son’s head too.

Mu Ling checked the time and said, «Alright, let’s draw for the third brush. Rules are the same as the previous two times. 3, 2, 1, start!»

The third drawing quickly ended, and Mu Ling then said, “Now we just have the plushie toy left. Let’s compare, Qingjiao, come here.”