Fifty-One: Our egg is lost!

Chapter Fifty-One: Our egg is lost!

Then Cheng YuTang, who had caught up, caught Ji XiaoYu in an embrace. He looked at the mess in the room and his brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to console him, saying, “Baby, is this from someone breaking in and wrecking things? Don’t worry, I’ll catch the bad guys. Your wounds just healed, you can’t run around, so sit down and have a rest.”

It was as if Ji XiaoYu’s feet were rooted to the floor, he couldn’t move. His eyes watered over and, after a moment, his eyelashes trembled and tears fell.

Since they had met, Cheng YuTang had never seen him look so dismayed and horrified, even when he was shot in the heart and suffering from pain that would be unbearable to the average person. He hadn’t seen him shed tears even at that time and suddenly he felt a little scared. A bad foreboding filled his heart. While kissing his tears away, he asked softly, “Darling, don’t cry. Tell me what’s going on. Did you lose something?”

Ji XiaoYu’s rage from just before now transformed into heartbreak and despair. He sobbed and said, “M-my egg, lost……”

“Egg?” Cheng YuTang stared blankly when he heard this word. Then he said, “Do you mean that Xiao DengPao is lost? It doesn’t matter, I’ll have someone get it back. And even if I can’t find it……”

Ji XiaoYu suddenly snapped out of his grief. The hard work towards keeping the secret all this time, the worry over being cautious and unable to vent, and the regrets and self-blame over failing to protect the little white egg, like a landslide, like a tsunami, began to drown him.

“How can it be okay, what you’re saying are empty words!” He couldn’t bear it anymore. He cried incoherently, “Xiao DengPao is not a rechargeable toy, it’s the egg I laid! No, Cheng Zong, it’s the egg you and I laid, our egg was lost, it was stolen!”

It took a few seconds for Cheng YuTang to understand what he was saying. He was a bit confused at first and he said in disbelief, “Wait, wait, Xiao DengPao is the egg you and I laid? How can you lay eggs? How is that possible……aren’t you a male?”

Ji XiaoYu’s mind was a mess and he almost completely abandoned himself to despair. He angrily beat on Cheng YuTang’s chest, out of breath from crying, “Exactly, I’m a male, I’m a male pheasant spirit! I’m a spiritual beast! I simply lay eggs! What’s wrong, can’t you?!”

No wonder the little thing said that Xiao DengPao was a souvenir left to him by his “former partner”. No wonder he was so anxious over such an object, keeping it with him all day long. No wonder his words and actions were so strange. The original “former partner” turned out to be me and Xiao DengPao is the crystallization of the indulgence of myself and the little thing after Christmas Eve last year…… Cheng YuTang’s heart was filled with a mix with ecstasy and relief. Although Ji XiaoYu was beating his chest painfully, he stood firm and didn’t fall back. Holding his trembling, crying body, he comforted him with gentle tenderness, “Okay, okay, I knew, I know that you are a pheasant spirit. Of course you can lay eggs. That’s great. Darling, don’t cry, okay? When you cry, my heart breaks.”

Ji XiaoYu finally calmed down a little, staring at him with tears in his eyes, “I-I’m not a human, I’m a spiritual beast. And I’m a freak who can lay eggs. Don’t you, don’t you hate me?”

Cheng YuTang kissed him and pressed a kiss to his eyes which were red from crying. He sighed and said, “Why would I hate you? You’re my superhero, my little lucky star. In fact, when you were shot that day, you transformed into your original pheasant form. So from that point, I already knew that you weren’t an ordinary human. If you weren’t a spiritual beast, you couldn’t have blocked the shot for me at a speed that’s impossible for a human to reach and I would be dead already.”

At that time, he hadn’t not been surprised. But how could that feeling of surprise be compared to the eye-catching sight of Ji XiaoYu desperately, bravely blocking the bullet for him? And then the sight of his chest blooming with blood in front of him, making him feel shock and heartache. There are billions of people in this world, but there was only one person who was so good, only one person who loved him so much that he would give his life, there was only one Ji XiaoYu.

“I told you the day you woke up, that you’re unique and the best in the world. Not only have you not harmed me, but you saved me and gave birth to my child instead. I’m happy it’s not too late, but I’m mad at you for not telling me earlier, so that I couldn’t do my duty as a father sooner. How could I hate you?

“Ji XiaoYu, have a little faith in me, okay? I love you.”

The fears he had held for so long disappeared in a flash. Ji XiaoYu was both happy and sad. He buried into his arms, sobbing and saying, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I-I shouldn’t have kept it from you all this time……now Xiao DengPao is lost. The child is gone. I can sense that it’s still alive, somewhere within 10 kilometers of HongLe Garden. But I can’t sense exactly where it is. What should I do, wuwuwuwu……”

Cheng YuTang struggled to suppress his bitterness. There was a wave of heat in his eyes too. But his tone was incredibly firm as he said, “It’s good it’s alive. Xiao DengPao is so amazing. It will absolutely turn this bad luck into good. It’s going to be okay. Baby, the priority now is to tell me what’s been going on. When did Xiao DengPao probably get stolen? And who do you suspect might have stolen it?”

Ji XiaoYu tried his best to cheer himself up and talk about what happened tonight.

As for a suspect, except for the rat spirit who failed to steal the egg in the early days, there were only the cat spirit, Su MiaoEr, who he had met later on and the fox spirit who had stolen the body of Han QingShi. He couldn’t remember anyone else.

Cheng YuTang listened to these secrets and was surprised to hear there was more than one spiritual beast lurking around them. No wonder that Su MiaoEr’s and, later, Han QingShi’s attitude towards Ji XiaoYu had been so strange. Turned out they weren’t human and they had ill-intentions.

He kissed Ji XiaoYu on the forehead, saying, “Baby, whether it’s a human or a spiritual beast who stole Xiao DengPao, no matter where the thief is hiding, even if I have to spend all my fortune, I’ll turn over the whole of Ning City or even all of China and I’ll get our child back.”

Ji XiaoYu sniffled and nodded.

Cheng YuTang said again, “Let’s check these first ones initially. I’ll immediately have Yang YiPeng send people to split up and find out where Su MiaoEr and Han QingShi are now.”

Just after he said this, he called Yang YiPeng. He didn’t give a reason, he just asked him to investigate the current movements of the two.

Ji XiaoYu stared at his phone with an anxious expression, waiting for news.

Cheng YuTang released his grip a little and asked, “Baby, where’s the first aid kit? The wound on your arm needs to be treated.”

“I don’t have a first aid kit,” Ji XiaoYu said absent-mindedly, “This little injury is nothing, it’ll be alright in a little while.”

Except the time he’d been shot, he had always been very healthy and had never cared about something like this.

Cheng YuTang heaved a sigh and went into the living room to find a first aid kit.

How could it be nothing when he was hurt? Ay, the little thing was used to living alone, he was too careless with himself. In the future, he was going to have to tie the guy to his side and take good care of him.

Luckily, there were some commonly-used medicines under the coffee table in the living room. He took the iodine and some gauze and took Ji XiaoYu’s arm to carefully disinfect and bandage him. He couldn’t help but say, “Baby, I’m so sorry, but there are some things I’ve always wanted to ask you and I’ve been worried that saying them might make you feel uncomfortable. But, I really want to know everything about you and everything about Xiao DengPao.”

With his eyes still red, Ji XiaoYu sobbed and said, “You want to know how I can lay eggs and about the origin of Xiao DengPao? Okay, I’ll tell you. I had originally planned to confess to you when you got back. My father was also a male pheasant. After he fell in love with a human being, he didn’t know how but he laid an egg. Then there were rumors that the male egg had a great effect as a tonic for both humans and spiritual beasts. Many bad guys heard this and swarmed over. My two fathers sacrificed themselves to protect me. On their deathbed, my upbringing was entrusted to my Grandpa Hou on Xiao Qing Shan.

“Grandpa Hou didn’t want me to worry about my origins, so he kept it from me. Later, when I was 18, I went down to Xing Cheng to work. It was good until I ended up in an accident on Christmas Eve……Hmm, you know all that! The next day, I returned to Xiao Qing Shan in anger. After half a year, one night at the end of May, my stomach suddenly hurt really badly and then I laid an egg. I really freaked out at the time, but Grandpa Hou told me about my origins, saying that I must have inherited my father’s gift for laying eggs. He also said that I have to incubate the egg for at least six hours a day and about ten months later, a chick would hatch, just like a human pregnancy. And then, after a month, the chick would transform into a human baby. The baby would need to drink milk, use diapers, and wear little clothes, and each of those would cost money. But I had no money, so I had to go down the mountain again. I came to Ning City to work and earn money.

“I started out working in a little restaurant. I had earned 7000 yuan in three months. But who would have thought a damn rat spirit would try to steal Xiao DengPao? I fought him and accidentally broke the attic of the little restaurant. So I lost the 7000 yuan. During the National Day holiday, I arrived at HongSheng and my pay went up a lot, plus overtime pay and bonuses, so now I’ve saved a total of 28,000 yuan in four months. I can buy almost a hundred cans of ‘Big Baby’ brand milk powder. But now that Xiao DengPao is gone, did I earn all that money for nothing? Up to today, I’ve incubated the egg for eight and a half months. It’s only a month and a half away from ten months. Will the chick be eaten by a bad guy before it hatches?”

Having said that, Ji XiaoYu wanted to cry again.

Cheng YuTang can’t help but kiss his wet eyes. His heart ached inexhaustibly. No wonder the little thing had become such a money-grubber, valuing money so much. His darling had really suffered too much.

He was also just as worried about the safety of Xiao DengPao, just as distraught, but he couldn’t show it in front of Ji XiaoYu, to keep him from being even more sad. He could only press their foreheads together and try his best to comfort him, “No, it won’t, I’m sure of it. You worked so hard to lay it and have worked so hard to incubate for eight and a half months. The heavens won’t take it away. I have a hunch that it’s quietly sitting somewhere right now, waiting for us to pick it up, and then our family of three can reunite.”

Thinking how he had once hated Xiao DengPao and had even wanted it to hide it from Ji XiaoYu, with the idea that he could make him focus only entirely on himself, Cheng YuTang wished he could slap himself in the face.

He owed too much to this little thing and too much to his child. In the future, he must treat this father and son well, to repay them a thousand times over for the rest of his life.

At this time, the phone that Cheng YuTang had placed on the coffee table suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Yang YiPeng, stating that Su MiaoEr was making out with her recently-found boyfriend at home and that Han QingShi had been in the middle of some GAY bar, drinking and flirting with people, but at about midnight he had left through back door of the bar and who knew where he went, it was as if he had disappeared out of thin air.

Cheng YuTang quickly replied, making him call out as many people as possible to continue to keep an eye on Su MiaoEr’s movements and, at the same time, increase the efforts to find Han QingShi’s whereabouts, and also to report any new news in a timely manner.

After seeing the message, Ji XiaoYu instantly jumped up, angrily saying, “Is it really that damn fox spirit? But why didn’t I smell the stench of a fox in the dorm?”

Although his nose was less sensitive than a dog’s, his sense of smell was stronger than that of the average human. However, he hadn’t smelled a fox in the room and there was no smell left by any other spiritual beasts. Did the fox spirit use some method to specifically cover up his own scent?

Cheng YuTang thought it over for a moment and said, “It’s a possibility. Other than that, could it be that an ordinary human being stole Xiao DengPao?”

What the little thing had just told him about his fathers in the past had made him vigilant, so no potential possibility could be brushed aside.

Ji XiaoYu was shocked, was there such a possibility? Who could know that he had laid an egg and, when he happened to go out without the little white egg, could break in and steal the egg?

He had no clue. His thoughts were a mess and he was sweating from anxiety.

Cheng YuTang held his hand, “Baby, we now have a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we’ll continue to keep an eye on the spiritual beasts. On the other hand, we’ll investigate whether a human carried out the deed. I know a private detective named Jiang WuYa, who is highly skilled. He’s solved a lot of bizarre cases, so just wait while I ask him to help. But for the safety of Xiao DengPao, its true identity must not be leaked to the outside world. I will say that it’s a valuable gift I gave you that was stolen. We’ll have him immediately come investigate the scene to analyze the case. Even if Jiang WuYa has no way to catch the thief, it will be good if he provides some useful clues and information.”

“Good!” Ji XiaoYu was infected by his composed calmness and his heart finally settled a bit.

……

The private detective, Jiang WuYa, received a call from the city’s richest man, Cheng YuTang, and quickly followed up. Ten minutes later, he appeared in front of the two men, making them wonder if he had been hiding in HongLe Garden beforehand, since he was there as soon as he answered the phone.

In this regard, this sloppy guy was dressed all in black, wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night, and explained in a way that made him seem not very reliable, “I had a hunch that something big was going to happen in this area tonight, so I specially wandered around the surrounding areas. After receiving the call, I came directly over. Ay, how are my instincts so good.”

Cheng YuTang had no patience to listen to his nonsense and directly said, “Detective Jiang, instincts can’t feed your hunger. If my lover’s stolen item cannot be restored, I think that your detective agency will end up closing sometime soon.”

(t/n: word for lover also means spouse, but also can mean partner outside marriage, and is often used by older generations)

He unceremoniously mocked him a bit, but Jiang WuYa wasn’t angry, but instead surprised. He said, “Yo, Cheng Zong, since when have you had a lover? How come I haven’t heard of that? What has your lover lost? It’s something worth you, the richest man, making a fuss.”

“This is my lover, Ji XiaoYu.” Cheng YuTang stepped aside and pulled Ji XiaoYu in front of him, “The stolen item is a gift I gave Ji XiaoYu, stolen from his room between midnight at 2am. This gift is not only priceless but also of great sentimental value. It’s very important to us and must be found.”

When Jiang WuYa saw Ji XiaoYu, he lifted his sunglasses and his eyes opened totally round. His expression was one of great surprise.

Ji XiaoYu also stared gobsmacked at the private detective, too surprised to say anything for a moment.

That was because he was keenly aware that Detective Jiang was, like himself, not a human being and that he was a bird spiritual beast like himself – a crow. No wonder his name was a homophone for “crow”.

(t/n: WuYa uses characters that mean ‘boundless’ but are also a homophone for wuya = crow)

So, one pheasant and one crow stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, confirming the other was of the same family from their gazes. The original atmosphere of mutual hostility eased after a few moments.

Cheng YuTang couldn’t sense the spiritual energy, but he was extremely dissatisfied with Jiang WuYa’s “unsubtle” look at Ji XiaoYu. So, in a possessive gesture, he held Ji XiaoYu’s shoulder and said expressionlessly, “Detective Jiang, I’ll emphasize it again, he is my man, so you better not make a move on whatever idea is in your mind.”

Jiang WuYa: “……”

Ji XiaoYu: “……”

Jiang WuYa wiped his expression away and restored his squinting, ruffian-esque look. With an expression of antipathy, he said, “Yes, yes, yes, your man, your man! I like beautiful women with bulging curves. How could I steal away your flat-chested little chick who doesn’t have any meat on his body?”

“This damn crow surnamed Jiang, looks like you’ll be unluckily frustrated for a while, like hell will there be a beautiful woman who likes you!” Ji XiaoYu blushed, so angry his feathers almost puffed out. If it weren’t for the bad timing and recent events, he would have fought this bad bird with a foul mouth!

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Footnotes:

1. lucky star (福星): literally lucky star, figuratively a person who brings good luck, well-being, and hope

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bird squad ??

theories on who took the egg?