Wei Chang came in carrying a bowl of soup and, just as expected, saw the little female’s proud figure. He pressed his lips together, trying so hard to hold back his laughter that his eyes turned red.
’Goodness me,’ he thought. ’I never knew my dear little wife was like this.’
"I added some small fish. It’s sour and spicy. Have a taste, wifey."
Ming Huang was in no mood for soup. She took two sips, puffed out her chest, and said, "The soup Brother Tuanzi made is delicious! The flavor is just right! The buns from earlier were good too. I put them all in my Pocket Dimension Space so I can eat them whenever I want."
Wei Chang smiled and nodded. "Wifey, just say the word if you want more. I’ll make them for you often from now on, and I’ll rotate through different flavors."
Ming Huang nodded eagerly. "Okay! Then let’s have them once every five days!"
Five days. Wei Chang silently did the math. There had been exactly ten buns in the basket earlier.
Seeing that he hadn’t noticed her, Ming Huang smiled and hugged his arm. "Brother Tuanzi, you can also make steamed bread! I love steamed bread!"
Wei Chang felt the residual warmth of the buns. "Alright. As big as the buns, right?"
"Mhm, I like the big ones best!" Ming Huang hummed. Seeing that Wei Chang wasn’t as enthusiastic as usual, she pursed her lips, leaned in, and gave him a kiss.
Wei Chang’s eyes darkened. He cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss, but of course, he was mindful of the buns’ fragility and didn’t dare use too much force.
But Ming Huang thought her plan had succeeded. Reassured, her eyes crinkled with a smile as she skipped out of the room.
Wei Chang let out a few soft coughs. If the little female hadn’t been so alluring just now, causing him to be captivated for a second, he probably would have burst out laughing!
Xiao Tu had just come back from outside. When he saw the little female looking pretty and full of life on the swing, her smile unusually bright, he went over to sit next to her and share some gossip he’d heard.
The little female didn’t particularly like going out, mainly because she hadn’t grown much before and hated hearing others gossip, so she preferred to stay home and play. Only occasionally would she stick on an Invisibility Talisman to go out with them and see what was happening.
Now, the first thing every male in the household did upon returning home was to be affectionate with her and have a little chat.
Trying to restrain himself, Xiao Tu only put an arm around the little female’s shoulder. But in his excitement, he was so overcome with affection for his smiling female, whose eyes seemed to hold the starry sky, that he couldn’t help but squeeze a little too hard. Something deflated, and the aroma of meat began to spread...
Ming Huang also smelled that something was wrong. Her expression changed, and she pushed Xiao Tu away, scurrying back to her room. She pulled open her clothes to look, and sure enough, the bun had burst open!
She quickly swapped it for a new one, then rushed back out. She was nibbling on a bun herself and handed another one to Xiao Tu, mumbling, "It was a bun Brother Tuanzi steamed for me. I hid one on me, but I didn’t expect you to squash it."
Xiao Tu felt that something wasn’t quite right, but he didn’t overthink it. ’The little female was thinking of me!’ He was so happy that his seven black tails popped out and began to wag.
Wei Chang couldn’t hold it in any longer. He turned his head away, trying so hard to stifle his laughter that he was about to cry. He reached out, grabbed a nearby hot pepper, and took a bite. The spiciness shot straight to his head, forcefully suppressing his laughter.
That night, after the little female had fallen asleep, Wei Chang set up a Protective Shield around her and secretly called his brothers out for a meeting.
Facing his brothers, Wei Chang couldn’t even get a word out before he started laughing, pounding the table and stomping his feet. He laughed for a long while, leaving everyone baffled.
"Bro, stop laughing already. What on earth happened? Tell us so we can have a laugh too," Yin Xiao said, pressing a hand to his forehead.
Wei Chang took a deep breath to control his laughter. "This afternoon, I heard wifey wake up, so I went to see her. And I saw her... HAHA..."
’This is maddening!’ they thought. ’Especially since it’s about our little female. We really just want to pry his head open and see what’s inside!’
Ji Wen immediately took out a Spirit Storage Talisman imbued with the Mind Reading Technique. But for the first time ever, the Spirit Storage Talisman proved unreliable. All he could perceive from Wei Chang’s mind was a chorus of ’WAHAHAHA...’
A full half a Beast Hour passed before Wei Chang finally, haltingly, managed to tell them the story.
As the others took it all in, they couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of the scene—especially Xiao Tu, the one who had actually squashed the bun.
He laughed so hard he fell right to the floor.
But laughter was one thing. They were all charmed by how cute the little female was, but after they finished laughing, they could also feel the bitterness behind her actions.
"Is it because wifey is self-conscious that... she’s too flat here, so she doesn’t want to face us in her true form?"
"That can’t be right. I thought they felt very real before. It was so... ahem. How are they just gone now?"
"Maybe wifey was stuffing her top with something before? I’ve never seen her true appearance, anyway. She always transforms before we get to that point..."
The males looked at each other, feeling more and more certain they had found the real reason why the little female was unwilling to transform.
But they couldn’t just tell her outright that they would love her just as much no matter what she looked like. What if they wounded her pride?
But if they pretended not to know, when would they ever get to truly consummate their relationship with their wife?
One moment they were laughing, the next they were worrying.
Ming Huang had a wonderfully comfortable sleep. When it was time to eat, however, she noticed that the males all looked as if they hadn’t slept a wink. They had faint dark circles under their eyes, and their stubble was showing.
’Did my secret get out while I was sleeping?’ She had checked as soon as she opened her eyes and even swapped in new buns. They were still nice and warm!
Over the next few days, her husbands insisted on taking her out. Since she was able to maintain her adult female form, she put on a veiled hat and let them have their way.
On one hand, they would excitedly introduce her to everyone, saying this beautiful and well-behaved little female was their wife. On the other hand, they would say some very strange things.
"Wifey, look at that mountain in the distance. You know, being tall and imposing isn’t necessarily what makes a mountain great. Those gentler mountain ranges also nurture a lot of life..."
"Wifey, I don’t like big buns. Small buns are great. The flavor is more concentrated, and you can eat them in one bite..."
"You see, the lower a threshold is, the better..."
"Big steamed breads are hard to carry. Pressing them into flat cakes is what everyone usually brings for rations..."
Ming Huang’s way was to chatter along if she understood and liked what she was hearing. If not, it went in one ear and out the other, which didn’t stop her from cracking open her melon seeds.
’It’s true what they say,’ she thought. ’When you’re taller, your perspective on the world is completely different.’
She loved lively places, and her favorite thing to do was sit in a teahouse, sipping tea, cracking melon seeds, and listening to everyone’s gossip during their breaks. She was feeling especially pleased with herself, believing she had solved the cosmic problem of her lack of growth, and that everything was going her way.
Just then, someone muttered, "That female took fifty-eight males! Goodness me, all of them young and full of vigor. They don’t even get a turn to serve the female once a month... Some of the males who don’t have a Beast Mark are cheating on the side... The female found out, and you can just imagine the chaos..."
"You can’t blame the males for not being able to stay faithful. Being abstinent for a whole month... who could resist after they’ve already had a taste? You have to give the males some incentives... Cubs are the key to holding it all together..."
"Back in the day, how did the Si Shuo Divine Servant manage seven Beast Husbands? She shared her favors equally... I’ve never seen such a harmonious little family... Every male had a cub... When the female and males live in harmony, everything else falls into place..."
Ming Huang froze mid-seed. It seemed she had forgotten all about the matter of having cubs! But... she was a he. How on earth was a male like him supposed to give birth to any cubs?