Deep affection knows no origin; remember the polar bear's love for you.

Chapter 206 Bear Cub

After a brief silence, Caesar suddenly pulled his head out of the snow, sat up, stretched his neck, and brought his face close to Guo Mi's. He stared at her intently, and after finding no flaws, he pursed his lips and blew a breath at Guo Mi.

Guo Mi closed her eyes and shrank back. When she opened them again, she saw Caesar raise his front paws in a defensive stance. She let out a soft "Heh," and repeated her thanks.
"I am very grateful to you for taking care of my cub while I was hibernating. As a way of repaying you, I can do something for you in the future."

Having said that, he turned and walked towards the little bear, muttering to himself as he went:

"Am I that fierce...?"

Her words were brief, and her attitude towards him was calm and ordinary, as if they had just met by chance and were complete strangers. He had done her a favor, so she offered to repay him, and then they went their separate ways.

The sound gradually faded into the howling wind and snow as she walked away. Two bear cubs ran over and rubbed against her feet. They glanced back at Caesar before following Guo Mi's footsteps. The three bears slowly disappeared into the wind and snow.

Caesar blinked, shook his head to make sure he hadn't been hit, and seemed to wake up from a dream. He quickly stood up and followed the scent.

Guo Mi wasn't surprised to hear the commotion behind her. She had anticipated that Caesar wouldn't leave so easily, so she kept walking and even seemed to be getting faster.

Unfortunately, Caesar quickly caught up using his longer legs and walked alongside Guo Mi.

He didn't like the atmosphere just now; it made him feel like an ordinary, unfamiliar bear to Guo Mi.

Feeling terrible, Caesar was eager to ruin the atmosphere, so he started talking incessantly:

"Why do you need to hibernate? Only pregnant mother bears need to hibernate."

"Your two little ones aren't even grown up yet. If you have two more little ones, won't it be even harder to raise them?"

He started talking non-stop, like a floodgate had been opened.

Guo Mi ignored his words and started walking faster and faster!
Caesar had barely reached Guo Mi when he realized he couldn't catch up. He quickly jogged a few more steps forward, but soon fell behind again. His surprised gaze fell down and finally landed on Guo Mi's four paws that were swinging so high they were almost flying. He was stunned for a moment, then decided to start jogging again!
The heavy paws pounded the soft snow with a dull "plop." The male bear took a few steps, then began to pant heavily, adding a comment to the earlier statement:

"Actually, the cubs are very difficult to raise. You have to find food for them and watch them so they don't get eaten..."

Guo Mi remained silent, only lowering her head and accelerating, accelerating!
Caesar, who had been talking to himself, finally realized his embarrassment and muttered something under his breath:
"That's true, it's almost time for these two little brats to leave."

Upon hearing this, Guo Mi's flailing limbs finally stopped!

The little bear, panting and running after her, heard this and immediately looked down. He glanced longingly at Guo Mi, then lowered his head and silently walked to her feet, burying his face in her warm fur and rubbing against her.

The salmon could still hold back, but the fish bones were not so strong. After a while, they stretched out their claws and firmly hugged Guo Mi's hind paws, sticking tightly to her.

Guo Mi looked down at the little guy at her feet and was momentarily dazed:
It turns out that in the time she subconsciously overlooked, the little bear had also been growing up in a hurry.

The little ball of fur that used to huddle at her feet, now, though still clinging to her hind paws like when she was a kitten, feels heavy to her.

I didn't realize I'd grown so big.

For once, Caesar, the usually carefree bear, realized he had said something inappropriate and, wanting to make amends, said in a low voice:

“Some bear cubs were separated from their mothers when they were a year and a half old, and they are now over a year old.”

Polar bears do not have a rule that they leave their mothers only when they reach adulthood. If the mother bear feels stressed, she will drive the cubs away from her at a young age. Although the number is very small, it is not uncommon for cubs to be driven away at the age of one and a half.

However, no matter how loving a mother bear is, she cannot wait until her cubs are fully grown before letting them leave. There are countless bears on the icy and snowy land that leave their mothers to make a living before they are fully grown.

As Caesar spoke, Guo Mi could clearly feel the fishbone clinging tighter and tighter, and the salmon's small body stiffened, its tension and panic evident.

Caesar was telling the truth; the cub would eventually have to leave its mother. Gomi knew a bit about polar bears, and she knew the cub would leave sooner or later, but not now.

She bent down to comfort the little bear and answered Caesar:
“They’re not even a year and a half old yet; it’s not time for them to leave.” Caesar knew that Guo Mi had always been different from others, and perhaps her attitude towards the bear cubs was different from that of a normal mother bear. He said in surprise:
"Don't you plan to let the bears leave? Do you want to take care of them for the rest of your life?"

Guo Mi's voice was very soft, and the warm breath she exhaled was the gentlest warmth in the biting wind:
“I won’t stop them from leaving. They should see the world and have the right to live independently. However, when they want to come back, I’m willing to let them stay with me.”

In human families, parents who love their children always hope to make their home a haven for them.

Guo Mi cannot interfere too much with the life trajectory of polar bears, but she has become a bear herself and has entered the lives of the cubs. So while preserving the original bear life that the cubs should have, she also hopes to take care of the cubs in her own way so that they can have a place to "go back" even after they leave.

Caesar opened his mouth, more or less sensing the weight of "come back to my side" in Guo Mi's words.

Snowflakes drifted into my eyes, the biting cold blurring my vision. Through the haze, I saw a small figure running past my feet!

In just a few steps, the little bear had transformed into a large bear, yet it still acted like a cub, rolling around on the ground.

His response was a helpless sigh from the mother bear and a resigned licking.

The bear was very familiar, but it had been a long time, so long that Caesar had almost forgotten about her. She was also very young, very outstanding, and as unique as Guo Mi.

But he hadn't called her name in a long time. Whether in the past or now, he would just sit far away and watch Slok run toward her, never taking a single step forward.

The sound of Guo Mi's departing footsteps dispelled the illusion before him. Caesar snapped back to reality and hurriedly chased after her, asking hastily:

"are you angry with me?"

Having already spoken, there was no point in remaining silent any longer, so Guo Mi gave a brief reply:
"No."

I think you're angry.

"……I don't."

Caesar paused, then asked:
"Why didn't you hit me anymore?"

He looked somewhat aggrieved.
"You would have hit me in this situation before!"

Guo Mi finally had to stop again. The look in his eyes was incredibly complex and fascinating. She had noticed long ago that Caesar's beatings to her had changed from "being offended" to another indescribable emotion.

If she had to describe it simply, only one sentence came to mind:

Oh no, it's a masochistic bear!
Guo Mi took two steps back, watching Caesar warily.

Unaware of this, Caesar took two more steps forward. To him, Gomi's claws were a kind of unusual intimacy, at least making him feel that they "had a good relationship."

He tried to talk to Guo Mi more, but the earlier topic about bear cubs had made her stop and respond, so the male bear simply and bluntly decided to continue:

"If you don't want these two little ones to leave so soon, it's best not to have any more. Raising them will be very difficult..."

Guo Mi interrupted him, feeling utterly bewildered:
"Who told you I was going to have new cubs?"

Caesar said matter-of-factly:
"You're hibernating. Mother bears choose to hibernate because they're about to give birth to cubs."

Although he didn't see any cubs born in the den, that wasn't important. What mattered was getting the answer he most wanted—a definite answer that would put his mind at ease even without seeing the cubs.

The male bear hesitated and asked:

Did you choose another male polar bear?