Chapter 39 part 2

Kong Bi was extremely worried about this and even started giving the second cub extra special meals.

She still had some of the spiritual spring water that was given as a reward for completing tasks. Originally, Kong Bi had only kept a little bit out of her hoarding habit, but now it was undoubtedly a life-saving straw.

Compared to animals like Wang Tianba who had never seen the world, Huajiao had little interest in the spiritual spring water. Otherwise, if Huajiao had wanted it, Kong Bi wouldn’t have been able to keep any. But in fact, Huajiao only tasted a few mouthfuls out of politeness and then didn’t want any more.

After all, in its memory, spiritual spring water was for watering flowers and growing vegetables, not for drinking.

Demons are also picky eaters. In Huajiao’s mind, spiritual spring water was bland and tasteless. Only when used to water specially selected fruit trees and shrubs did it produce delicious fruits.

Huajiao was a demon who had enjoyed prosperous days. However, Kong Bi was helpless in this regard, after all, she was also very poor and didn’t have that much spiritual spring water to water flowers and trees.

…

After preparing the milk powder, Kong Bi entered the tiger enclosure with the bottle. Seeing the familiar bottle, the eldest cub immediately lunged over.

Although only two cubs were born, Miao Miao alone still couldn’t guarantee they were full every day, especially with the big eater Lǎodà(the eldest) around. So, from the third day after Miao Miao gave birth, Kong Bi started feeding them formula.

But in fact, if there was a choice, breastfeeding would naturally be better, especially the colostrum in the first few days after the tiger gives birth. Breast milk transmits the adult’s immune information to the cubs, improving their immunity. This would make them less likely to die young in the wild. Unfortunately, Miao Miao’s milk supply wasn’t enough. Luckily, they weren’t in the wild, otherwise Miao Miao would soon have to make the difficult decision to abandon one of the cubs.

“Wah!”

When tiger cubs are young, their voices are mostly hoarse. Their calls lack the powerful dominance of adulthood and aren’t as soft and mewling as kittens. This is one of the few black history periods in their lives.

The little demon tiger hugged Kong Bi’s leg, its cries growing louder and louder, full of enthusiasm for food. Kong Bi skillfully took out a stainless steel bowl from the corner, unscrewed a liter-sized milk bottle, poured half of it in, and placed it in front of Miao Miao first.

This little guy, ever since it suddenly had the whimsical idea to taste its own milk, had unexpectedly rekindled its interest in drinking milk. So, Kong Bi would prepare some for it every time—

Perhaps this is also one of the reasons why Miao Miao’s milk supply wasn’t enough; she actually competed with her own cubs for food.

Compared to the closed milk bottle, the stainless steel bowl allowed the milk scent to spread out better. The little demon tiger immediately abandoned Kong Bi and ran over. Miao Miao glanced at her cub but remained unmoved, her entire face practically submerged in the stainless steel bowl, causing the little demon tiger to whine anxiously beside her, unable to get a single drop.

However, Miao Miao wasn’t an irresponsible mother after all. Under the little demon tiger’s constant cries, she eventually relinquished the stainless steel bowl, rolled over, and started licking her paws.

Kong Bi, meanwhile, picked up the second cub and held it in her lap, dripping a drop of milk onto the back of her hand to feel the temperature.

This wasn’t freshly squeezed milk from a mother dog or goat; it was infant goat milk powder that Kong Bi had specifically bought. Most pet-owning families in the city would choose goat milk powder when feeding young animals because the nutrients it contains are sufficient to meet the needs of their growth and development. However, Kong Bi hadn’t bought pet-specific goat milk powder but had instead gone directly to an infant and toddler store

At present, regulations regarding pets in China are still not well-established, so when it comes to goat milk formula for pets, it’s easy to accidentally buy substandard or even toxic products. In comparison, the risk is much lower with goat milk formula meant for human infants—after all, manufacturers might dare to sell toxic milk to pets, but they wouldn’t necessarily dare to do the same for humans. The quality standards for the two are also different.  

That’s not to say China has never had cases of toxic milk formula for humans, but Kong Bi bought a branded product, and an expensive one at that, so the risk was even smaller.  

While Miaomiao and the little tiger cub weren’t paying attention, Kong Bi used her demonic energy to wrap a few drops of spirit spring water and slip them into the milk bottle, quickly screwing the cap back on. Tigers have keen senses of smell and hearing, so if she wasn’t careful, they would easily notice something was off. And if that happened, neither Miaomiao nor the little tiger cub would hold back.  

After all, the newborn little demon tiger doesn’t understand the concept of respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, and Miao Miao, having just given birth, is still very weak and might not be able to resist the temptation of the spiritual spring water.

Moreover, the amount of spiritual spring water is not much, so Kong Bi had no choice but to be partial.

The second cub was already familiar with the existence of the milk bottle. After all, every time it drank milk from its mother, even if Miao Miao deliberately placed one of them in front and the other behind, the bossy little demon tiger could suck from one and then kick the second cub away. Even after being warned by Miao Miao, it would only behave for a few minutes. Therefore, the second cub was very familiar with the milk bottle, and even more familiar with Kong Bi’s scent.

It bit down on the milk bottle and sucked fiercely, its eyes tightly closed, the ‘king’ character on its forehead slightly distorted from the effort.

Its experience told it that if it didn’t eat a lot now, it would only get half-full when it woke up at night to ask its mother for milk.

Having been born not long ago, the second cub already had a wealth of experience with hunger.

However, today, the little tiger cub discovered that the taste of this milk-water seemed a little off.

The little tiger cub could distinguish the difference between the milk Kong Bi prepared and Miao Miao’s milk. The taste of infant goat milk powder wasn’t as fishy as Miao Miao’s own milk, so both little tiger cubs actually preferred Miao Miao’s milk. It was because the little demon tiger was more interested in Miao Miao’s milk that it didn’t come over to snatch this bottle. Otherwise, Kong Bi wouldn’t be able to relax like this and would have to hold a milk bottle in each hand to prevent the little demon tiger from fighting with its younger sibling again.

The little demon tiger would only generously give up something it didn’t particularly like.

But the little tiger cub had no choice. After all, for it, having something to eat was already good enough. Its instincts told it that if it weren’t for the existence of milk powder, it probably wouldn’t have survived until now.

Therefore, every time Kong Bi came over with a milk bottle, it was the one that sucked the most attentively and diligently.

At this moment, however, its little mouth gaped open in astonishment, its eyes widening in shock, and the ‘king’ character on its forehead even arched slightly upwards because of this.

“Huh? Its eyes are open?!” Kong Bi was also very surprised.

Although tigers usually open their eyes about a week after birth, that’s only for well-developed tigers. For weaker cubs, it’s possible that they won’t open their eyes until more than ten days after birth. She hadn’t expected it to suddenly open its eyes now.

Although its older sister had opened her eyes as early as the third day after birth, it couldn’t be used as a comparable unit of measurement at all. Fortunately, Miao Miao didn’t use the older sister as a comparison, otherwise, she might have even chosen to abandon the little tiger cub and stop feeding it.

After all, although it’s said that weaker cubs can also open their eyes normally after being well-cared for for more than ten days, generally speaking, wild tigresses don’t give them that much time to develop. After the cubs born earlier have successively opened their eyes, it becomes difficult for them to feel much maternal love for the one that’s lagging behind.

The little tiger cub’s eyes had a layer of grayish-blue membrane, which would protect their underdeveloped eyes and prevent them from experiencing temporary blindness caused by the stimulation of sunlight.

Opening its eyes was clearly also a physically demanding task for the little guy, so after the initial shock, its eyes closed again, and then it continued to eat with even greater effort than before.

In its experience, once its older sister discovered that today’s milk powder was so delicious, she definitely wouldn’t let it have any more.

So, its two front paws hugged the milk bottle as it sucked fiercely, even letting out protective “wa-ah” sounds. The little demon tiger, who was learning to lick its paws like its mother, couldn’t help but look up when it heard this sound. Seeing the little tiger cub sucking hard on the nipple, it disdainfully lowered its head again, letting the milk-water that had splashed onto its face because of Miao Miao drinking stick to its front paws, and then licked them clean one by one.

Hmph, foolish little brother.

Hmph, still no match for Mom—who can’t even be bothered to wash my face.  

They’re all trash!

Seemingly afraid of having its food snatched by the little demon tiger, the little tiger cub used almost all its strength, eating faster than ever before, so much so that its belly became round and full. Its two paws rested on its stomach, and it yawned, letting out a milky burp, then made a cough-like puffing sound towards Kong Bi.

This was something it had learned from its mother.

Tigers don’t usually roar loudly when they’re happy; that usually indicates excitement. When expressing closeness or ordinary friendly greetings, they don’t roar, but rather make a low, puffing sound, like an exhalation. Kong Bi had only discovered this after spending a long time with Miao Miao. It was probably the tigers’ usual greeting, with no special meaning, just something they habitually did when they were happy.

Unfortunately, the little tiger cub’s language skills weren’t great, and it only learned it halfway, sounding more like it was choking on milk.

However, for Kong Bi, who knew what it meant, seeing it like this was quite pleasing. After all, although animals have their own set of language and behaviors, they are different from humans. Sometimes they may not understand human kindness, which is why those obedient and well-behaved animals are widely loved. No one wants their good intentions to be unappreciated.

Kong Bi reached out and touched it, then returned it to Miao Miao. Miao Miao lowered her head and nuzzled the little tiger cub, gently licking its fur.

Although normally she wouldn’t stop the little demon tiger’s behavior unless it went too far, that didn’t mean she had no feelings for the little tiger cub. It was just that her instincts told her she shouldn’t interfere in those situations.

Miao Miao couldn’t understand why, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Animal instincts are truly amazing. No one teaches them, yet they already know what to do. Any creature surviving in the wild inevitably faces the harsh reality of natural selection. Therefore, even though it knew it couldn’t beat the little demon tiger, the little tiger cub still fought back vigorously, even though it didn’t understand why. Its instincts were already urging it, warning it that if it didn’t do so, its life, which had just begun, would end.

In fact, it was precisely because of its resistance that Miao Miao felt that although the second cub was weak, it at least had courage. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as successful as the eldest in the future, but it would definitely become a mighty tiger.

After all, in Miao Miao’s memory, creatures that didn’t fight back couldn’t survive, and those siblings who fought and competed with her when they were young often ended up doing quite well when they grew up.

They were all worthy kings of the forest.