Chapter 42: 36.2

Bai Yao knits his brows a little looking at Mu Mu’er.

He never knew the sea otter would be so easily terrified.

Then he can’t help but think, that if Mu Mu’er is that scared of his life even in the safety of their warm little home, then… when he lived in the oceans, with the sea otters, when there was no one to protect him, how much it must have hurt, how scared he must have been, when he was attacked, bitten, scratched?

Mu Mu’er is actually a very gentle sea otter. After living together for this long, Bai Yao has long since realised Mu Mu’er’s initial hostility were all a front he has put up. A front he maintained in order to survive in the harsh waters.

The real Mu Mu’er underneath is actually a gentle, kind and well-meaning soul.

Every time he runs into grandpa Xü and auntie Zhang from next door, he would greet them politely, and ask how they’re doing and if they’re taking a walk outside just like Bai Yao does.

Whenever Bai Yao has finished making a meal for him, Mu Mu’er would express his genuine gratitude and give him a big, heartwarming smile in return.

He is such a little gentleman. Whatever Bai Yao asked him to do, he would remember it and do it. Always wash and clean yourself before and after sleeping, Never eat raw seafood or meat in human form… He might ask why, but he will always obey these commands to a fault.

And Mu Mu’er was so thin and almost malnutritious before, because he couldn’t win against the other sea otters.

He would happily eat leftovers of the restaurant because he did not know when his next meal would be; because he did not know whether he would have another meal.

He who has starved knows to treasure food. His eyes glow when he sees delicious food, and he would happily take them all and put them inside his little pocket, to store them for later.

Such a good, innocent boy, but who suffered wounds all over his body, but who would tremble helplessly because of the wind and rain.

Bai Yao looks around, and his eyes settle on a tree in the corner of his back garden. He has an idea. He pokes Mu Mu’er on the arm, and asks, “Mu’er, do you want to see Yaoyao do a magic trick for you?”

Mu Mu’er, however, doesn’t react, or even look at him in response.

This saddens Bai Yao, who then caresses him on the face a little. When Mu Mu’er finally looks up, confused, Bai Yao squeezes his ear lightly.

“Mu’er, do you not want to see a magic trick? Yaoyao has never shown other people. Mu’er will be the first person to see the magic trick.”

Hearing that, Mu Mu’er finally seems to regain some of his energy. He makes a slightly more energetic ‘mmph.’

There is a verdant plant of the species jatropha curcas Bai Yao planted in the back garden. It’s a very interesting flora. Take a leaf, and carefully snap the leaf on the stem, and start blowing, bubbles will emerge.

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Bai Yao planted this when he was building the restaurant for family customers, actually. Children are often destructively playful, and so, when he wasn’t busy cooking, he thought he would take them to the back garden and teach them to blow bubbles with the leaves.

He holds Mu Mu’er’s hand and takes him to the back garden. Then he picks the biggest and greenest leaf he can see from the plant, and lightly snaps the stem, and begins to blow into the gap.

There are still lots of raindrops hanging onto the branches from last night. When Bai Yao pulls the leaf, the entire plant begins to disperse water. Mu Mu’er is looking up curiously, and several drops of water end up on his forehead.

“Mu’er, watch well, and don’t blink. Yaoyao is going to show you the magic trick right now.”

Mu Mu’er widens his eyes obediently and stares fixedly at the leaf in Bai Yao’s hand.

As Bai Yao makes his first blow, a small string of bubbles begin to emerge from the stem of the leaf, and flies through the air.

“Bubbles…” Mu Mu’er looks at the little family of bubbles floating up to the sky, and exclaims once more, “bubbles!”

“Yep,” Bai Yao says, “bubbles.”

Of course, one leaf is unable to produce many bubbles. After blowing on it two more times, Bai Yao has to take another leaf to continue.

One larger bubble ends up landing on the tip of Mu Mu’er’s nose. He seems taken aback a little, but then hesitantly approaches it with his finger. When it bursts, Mu Mu’er finally begins to smile. His eyes curl.

“Mu’er also wants to do magic trick,” Mu Mu’er has become thoroughly excited after a few more leaves, and tugs Bai Yao on the arm, “Yaoyao, teach Mu’er.”

So Bai Yao snaps another big leaf off the plant, and teaches him how to gently snap the stem, and how to blow bubbles.

This afternoon, Mu Mu’er ends up playing with the bubbles for a whole afternoon. He appears to be trying to fill the entire back garden with bubbles, but many bubbles already burst on forming, while even more keeps flying away. Mu Mu’er fails to stop them from escaping by telling them off.

Bai Yao, meanwhile, patiently stands by the side and offers him advice. Telling him not to blow too hard on the leaf, but gently and slowly, that he produces more bubbles.

In the end, the poor plant is almost defoliated, while corpses of leaves past and present lie scattered about the ground.

Mu Mu’er is much happier for it, though. He continues to energetically look for the biggest leaf on the plant, and carefully snaps the stem as Bai Yao does it, and blows, watching the bubbles line the skies.

When finally, all the leaves he can reach with his hands are gone, he stops, even while eyeing longingly at the leaves he cannot reach at higher altitudes. He only gives up after several failed attempts to conscript more leaves for his bubble exercise.

His beaming smile almost convinces Bai Yao to plant ten more, hundreds more jatropha curcas, and give all the thousands, tens, hundreds of thousands of leaves to Mu Mu’er, that he can fill Qiaohai with his happy little bubbles.

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