Starting with the Broken-Winged Frost Butterfly: Beast Taming

"Xuexi receives the imperial decree."

I observed the celestial phenomena last night, and the Purple Palace shone brightly, its auspicious light illuminating the sky.

Judging from your extraordinary physique and innate talent, you possess exceptional qualities.

You are hereby appointed as the Minister of the Water Dispenser for Room 1101, Building 6, Huaiju, in charge of the water supply for the two bedrooms, two living rooms, and four bathrooms.

You are in charge of providing water and drink to all the people and animals in the dormitory who are thirsty.

You must fulfill this important task faithfully and live up to my expectations.

So be it!

He's probably sick.

May Zhu Ran's inner chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) burn brightly.

Xuexi, having suffered from her lack of education, was completely taken aback and, with a soft exclamation, actually said, "I have received the imperial decree."

"The Qing Dynasty has been gone for hundreds of years, what are you doing here?"

Grandpa Liang pushed open the door and entered, glancing at the steaming soup pot on the stove. He raised a thick eyebrow:

"Wow, that's quite health-conscious, drinking ginger soup first thing in the morning?"

Zhu Ran glanced at him and calmly replied:

"You're a new dad now, with twenty-five little ones waiting for you to take care of. Shouldn't you get some extra nourishment?"

"Depend on!"

Grandpa Liang's face immediately turned sour:

"Why bring that up? Just twenty-five baby rock crabs... No way! You're coming with me to clean up later, I'm going to conscript you!"

"I'm not going."

Zhu Ran sat down with the ginger soup in her hand. "I'm a patient now, so I advise you to be kinder to patients."

"patient?"

Liang Baizhou looked suspicious, staring at Zhu Ran's undeniably unhealthy face, then glanced at the Broken-Winged Frost Butterfly and exclaimed in surprise:

"You didn't take any precautions, did you?"

"This is an ice-type pet. If it could defeat the Flametail Locust, how could a Beastmaster with a life-or-death cultivation level withstand the ice element stored within its body..."

Zhu Ran blushed, picked up the soup bowl, and buried his head in it, drinking it down in large gulps.

"Could it be that I was right?"

"Hahaha! No wonder you came over so early to make ginger soup. I was wondering if you became a captain. Oh, I see!"

Grandpa Liang clutched his stomach and laughed loudly, exaggeratingly saying:

"Even the most meticulous scholar can make a mistake. I really want to record a video of you to save this!"

Record a video?

Dead memories begin to attack.

Did you reply to Xiao's message yesterday? I don't think so...

"Xuexi, bring me my phone. I think I left it on the bed," Zhu Ran instructed.

"babble!"

Xuexi was determined to make amends for her mistakes.

Fly out of the kitchen immediately.

Suddenly, the living room brightened up, its dark atmosphere replaced by the morning light. Two stone crabs, each the size of a millstone, occupied the balcony, leisurely basking in the sun.

The other little ones, about the size of slippers, crawled around, scratching and making loud "bang, bang, bang" noises, like a construction crew working. I wonder if the people downstairs can hear them...

Xuexi hovered in front of Zhu Ran's door.

That door was so tall and thick that even Master Kai couldn't easily break through it.

But for intelligent pets, simply remembering the password makes opening the door a breeze.

【123789】

With a click, the door opened.

Xuexi pulled back the covers, found the silver-white card phone, and excitedly returned to the kitchen.

"Tap tap tap—"

Just then, Master Kai came out of Grandpa Liang's room.

Its ancestors in the old days were mostly giraffes, with their necks held upright and their overall height exceeding eight meters.

Despite his enormous size, he walked slowly, consciously following behind Xuexi, displaying both maturity and composure.

"Ee!" (꜆꜄꜆˙꒳˙)꜆꜄꜆囗

Xuexi handed over her phone as if to claim credit.

Mission accomplished! Sir, please verify!

Steamed clams.

Zhu Ran caught the phone.

My first instinct was to pet its head.

Then he remembered that the heads of butterflies are covered with nerve tissue, making them fragile and sensitive, so he lowered his hand to the abdomen and gently poked it.

Xue Xi: ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧

It seems the planned staffing quota won't fall through!

Yay! Yay!

……

He drank the rest of the ginger soup in one gulp.

My body felt warm and cozy, as if I were soaking in a hot spring.

Zhu Ran's complexion visibly became rosy.

"Mr. Liang, I have a question for you."

"Spit it out."

Good brothers never mince words.

Zhu Ran didn't take it to heart and said in a relaxed tone:

Do you think I have a chance to become an internet celebrity?

"Wow." Liang Baizhou chuckled, grinning.

"Just because you managed to cultivate an ice butterfly, you're starting to have wild ideas?"

Zhu Ran pinched his chin with two fingers and said to himself:

"What if it becomes a hit?"

"Even a minor internet celebrity, if they take on a few gigolos a month, can easily make tens of thousands of yuan, right?"

Liang Baizhou shook his head and said:

"It's not that easy. In this era where everyone is taming beasts, creating an account is really too difficult."

"I even filmed Kai Ye before, and when I checked backstage, all the likes were from bots."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning."

Zhu Ran had been quite interested in this industry in his previous life, but he struggled to find a starting point due to insufficient modeling skills and mediocre speaking abilities.

But now Xuexi is readily available!

Xiao, the livestreamer, also extended a warm invitation. With over 400,000 followers across the internet, surely he has a good business sense?

While pondering.

Zhu Ran set up his phone and turned on the camera.

Immediately.

I opened the refrigerator and took out two pieces of apple.

Peel and cut into pieces, then juice.

Pour it into a rather elegant glass and push it in front of the Broken-winged Frost Butterfly.

"Xuexi, this is your breakfast."

「咿!」(¯▽¯)ゞ

Xuexi didn't even look at the camera; her eyes were only filled with longing for food.

I took a nap, and now my stomach is growling with hunger!

Sweet apple juice, looks delicious!

A straw-like mouthpart protrudes.

He gulped it down in one go.

"Click!"

Zhu Ran finished filming.

Looking back, I frowned.

"The resolution is terrible," Liang Baizhou said, scratching his head. "The picture is all blurry."

Zhu Ran remained noncommittal.

Many things in the new era are actually different from those in the old era.

For example, mobile phones were originally called "micro-terminals," which originated from the fully-formed supernatural creature "terminal beasts," and were the components on its body.

Today it is today.

Although it also has complex functions.

But in certain fields, such as filming.

The image quality is as bad as an old-fashioned camera from the 80s or 90s.

The colors are dull, details are severely lost, and the experience is greatly diminished.

"Without the camera chicken, we can't even take the first step."

Liang Baizhou sighed:

"This was also one of my major weaknesses at the time."

"But a camera chicken costs 12 yuan, which is unaffordable for ordinary people."

"How about... you buy a 'toy chicken' to make do for now? You can't just throw half of your newly earned 30 into an unreliable side hustle, can you?"

Toy Chicken, a C-level supernatural creature in its larval stage, is the precursor life form of the Camera Chicken.

Because of its wide audience, its market value fluctuates around 3300 yuan, and in some years it can even reach a high price of 3500 yuan.

But Zhu Ran is also considered an authority figure.

Upgrading from 360P on a mobile phone to 480P on a toy camera is simply too cost-effective.

"Let's not buy it yet."

Zhu Ran shook his head.

There's still 30 left in my card.

With all the material costs withheld, his disposable savings amounted to just over 7 yuan.

"Just don't act impulsively."

Grandpa Liang chuckled.

He glanced at the time and was suddenly horrified:

"Oh no, it's already 7:15! I haven't eaten breakfast, and I haven't cleaned the house. I have class soon!"

"Whose class is it today?"

Zhu Ran took leave a few days ago, and last night she didn't check her class schedule and couldn't remember the arrangements at all.

"Professor Tang!"

Liang Baizhou grinned:

"You can't skip his class, or you'll definitely fail the final exam!"