Chapter 360 - 248: Tuantuan and Yuanyuan
Chapter 360: Chapter 248: Tuantuan and Yuanyuan
The Sichuan Province leadership worked remarkably fast; three female panda cubs were delivered the very next day.
As the village chief, Li Xiang naturally led all the villagers out to welcome them. If not for the fear of scaring the baby pandas, Li Jinyu and the others would have brought out gongs and drums to celebrate.
Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, and Lei Jiaming also came over to help. A large crowd of tourists gathered on the sidelines, taking photos and buzzing with conversation.
"Counting Tuantuan and his mother, Li Family Village will have five giant pandas now. A lot of zoos can’t even match that number."
"I heard that the first one, Tuantuan, is a male, and the three they sent this time are females. They’re here to be his mates."
"This tourist spot is incredible. Getting three new panda cubs is insane."
"You bet. Someone important gave the word."
"What in the world did this Li Xiang do to get this kind of special treatment and favor?" Many of the tourists were baffled.
Hearing the chatter, Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui couldn’t help but glance at one another. ’Wait a minute,’ they thought, ’it sounds a bit like they’re talking about us.’
At the same time, they were a little envious of Tuantuan. The government itself had arranged three potential mates for him.
Of the three female panda cubs, one was Huanhuan, age two; another was Lele, age three; and the oldest and largest was four-year-old Yuanyuan. Yuanyuan already looked much like an adult panda and had reached mating age. The only issue was, she was rather picky. Several potential partners had been introduced to her before, but Yuanyuan hadn’t taken a liking to any of them.
The team leader in charge of the delivery joked, "I wonder if Yuanyuan will take a liking to Tuantuan this time."
As for Huanhuan and Lele, they were still young and blissfully unaware, with no such urges.
In truth, Tuantuan had no such urges either. He was focused on his cultivation and was still young. But because he was a Tier One Exotic Beast, he had grown to be remarkably large and powerful, far more imposing than a typical adult giant panda.
Once they reached the back mountain, the staff released the three panda cubs. The moment Yuanyuan saw Tuantuan, her eyes lit up. She immediately ran over and began rubbing against him.
The team leader who had been joking earlier slapped his thigh. "Well, I’ll be! I always thought Yuanyuan was the slow-to-warm-up type. I never expected her to be so assertive!"
A woman in her forties standing nearby laughed. "That’s how girls are. You think they’re shy, but really they just haven’t met someone they’re into. Once they find the right one, you’d be surprised how forward they can be!"
Someone else joked, "Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, ma’am."
"Haha, you know it!" the woman laughed, adding cheerfully, "I was the one who actively pursued my husband and won him over. Years ago, we were hiking on a mountain. I was on my way down as he was on his way up, and we just brushed past each other. But afterward, the thought of him just wouldn’t leave me alone. Half an hour later, I chased him all the way back to the summit and won him over just like that!"
"That’s amazing! You really go after what you want!"
"Oh, dear, why isn’t Tuantuan responding? Such a pretty potential mate is rubbing all over him, and he’s just ignoring her."
"He has the innocent eyes of a college freshman," people commented, pointing at him.
Someone laughed. "Maybe there are too many people around and Tuantuan is feeling a little shy?"
Meanwhile, Huanhuan and Lele, having just arrived in a new and noisy environment, were a little timid. They immediately hid behind a patch of bamboo.
As the chief of Li Family Village and the local host, Li Xiang felt he ought to give the three "new ladies" a welcoming gift. He pretended to rummage in his pocket, but in reality, he was retrieving items from his system’s inventory. He selected five delicious Spirit Fruits and tossed one each toward Yuanyuan, Lele, Huanhuan, Tuantuan, and his mother.
Pandas have an exceptionally keen sense of smell, and the unique aroma of the Spirit Fruits instantly captured their attention. Yuanyuan forgot all about her courtship rituals, immediately snatching one up, stuffing it into her mouth, and starting to chomp away with a loud CRUNCH.
Tuantuan and his mother, long accustomed to this, each picked up the fruit nearest to them and began eating in a slow, deliberate manner.
Huanhuan and Lele also scampered over to the Spirit Fruits and began to enjoy the tasty treat.
Though it was just a small snack, after the three new panda cubs finished eating, their eyes sparkled and their moods instantly lifted. Huanhuan and Lele were no longer shy; they ran straight to Li Xiang, hugged his legs—one on the left, one on the right—and begged for more.
The surrounding crowd murmured in amazement, "These two little ones have Spiritual Qi! They even know how to ask for more."
"What kind of fruit is that? I thought pandas only ate tender bamboo shoots. Why are they eating fruit?"
"Who told you pandas only eat bamboo? They have another name, you know: Iron-Eating Beast. They can eat meat, too."
"Exactly! It was Chiyou’s mount. You think that’s just some myth?"
Li Xiang was no cheapskate. He took out two more Spirit Fruits and gave one to each of the little cubs. He was especially generous because the system had already notified him that Huanhuan had Extraordinary potential as a future Tier Thirteen Eclipsing Moon Iron Heart Beast. To get one with Extraordinary potential out of the three sent over was an incredible stroke of luck.
Seeing this, Yuanyuan ran over too, letting out a soft SQUEAK. Li Xiang gave her a fruit as well and patted her furry head.
Even though Yuanyuan and Lele lacked Extraordinary potential, they might still give birth to an Exotic Beast with potential in the future, so Li Xiang didn’t play favorites. At least on their first day after "marrying into the family," he treated them all equally.
Li Xiang then shot Tuantuan a meaningful look, signaling for him to welcome his new companions. Tuantuan reluctantly came over to play the part of the host.
Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui snickered. It was a classic case of "like master, like panda." ’Brother Xiang is so clueless about romance,’ they thought, ’and Tuantuan is exactly the same. Three gorgeous potential mates show up on his doorstep, and he’s still acting reluctant.’