I became incredibly cute after dressing up as an animal!

Lan Xiaoxiao stood on the outermost edge, her mouth agape, panting, her heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of her throat.

She actually rushed up there just now.

She was a two-and-a-half-year-old bear cub who rushed up and challenged an adult male giant panda.

She's amazing!

But now is not the time to think about that. Chu Yi and Da Lan blocked the strange panda from the left and right. Both bears were bristling, growling, and pressing forward.

The unfamiliar panda looked at Chu Yi, then at Da Lan, and then at Lan Xiao Xiao standing on the periphery.

It hesitated for two seconds, then turned and ran away.

He didn't run fast, but he didn't look back. His round back passed through the bamboo forest and quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest.

I chased after it for a few steps, and only stopped when I was sure it was really gone.

Da Lan gasped for breath, trying to calm herself down.

Two adult pandas stood in the bamboo forest, panting.

Lan Xiaoxiao stood a few steps away, looking at Chu Yi and Da Lan, and suddenly felt a little nervous.

Mom used to chase her away every time she saw her, but this time she's wandered deep into Mom's territory. What will Mom do...?

Da Lan turned around and glanced at Lan Xiaoxiao.

Lan Xiaoxiao subconsciously took a step back.

But this time, Big Blue didn't chase it away.

Da Lan glanced at her for a few seconds, then turned around, walked to a bamboo stalk, plopped down, broke off a bamboo shoot, and started eating.

They ate with complete concentration, as if nothing had happened.

Lan Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment.

She tentatively took two steps forward.

Big Blue didn't react.

She took two more steps.

Big Blue still didn't react.

Lan Xiaoxiao shuffled over step by step until she reached Da Lan's side. Da Lan was peeling bamboo leaves, her movements unhurried and unhurried, without even lifting her eyelids.

Lan Xiaoxiao sat down next to Da Lan, broke off a bamboo stalk, and started eating.

The two pandas sat side by side, eating bamboo. Neither looked at the other, but neither left.

Chu Yi stood not far away, watching this scene, and tilted his head.

It didn't come over or make a sound; it just stood there quietly, its round eyes watching Lan Xiaoxiao and Da Lan for a while before turning around and walking towards its own territory.

He took a few steps, stopped, and looked back.

Lan Xiaoxiao was still eating bamboo and didn't notice that Chu Yi had left.

When he first saw that the little bear wasn't following, he slowly walked into the bamboo forest on his own.

……

The sun has set.

Lan Xiaoxiao was still by Da Lan's side. She ate a lot of bamboo, drank water by the stream, and then returned to Da Lan's side, lay down, and rested her chin on her paws.

Big Blue was also lying down, its eyes half-closed, as if it were sleeping, but its ears kept turning.

Lan Xiaoxiao didn't know why Da Lan hadn't chased her away today.

Maybe it was because she brought Chu Yi to help chase away the strange panda? Maybe Da Lan was too tired today and didn't bother to chase her away? Maybe Da Lan didn't really want to chase her away?

Lan Xiaoxiao didn't know.

But she cherished this moment.

She lay down next to Da Lan, listening to Da Lan's breathing and smelling Da Lan's familiar scent, and felt as if she had returned to her childhood.

That childhood when I could lie on my mother's belly, drink milk, sleep, and not have to think about anything.

It was completely dark.

The moon rose above the bamboo forest, and its light shone on the two pandas, casting long, long shadows.

Lan Xiaoxiao is almost asleep.

Then she heard a voice.

"Meow~"

It came from deep within the bamboo forest, soft and gentle, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Little Blue's ears perked up.

It's the first year of junior high.

"Meow~" Another sound, a little closer than before.

Lan Xiaoxiao stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.

Under the moonlight, a round, black-and-white figure peeked out from the bamboo forest, its round eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Chu Yi stood at the edge of the bamboo forest, looked at Lan Xiaoxiao, and called out again.

"Meow."

The voice was soft, but the meaning was clear: it was time to go home.

Lan Xiaoxiao glanced at Chu Yi, then at Da Lan beside her.

Big Blue didn't move; it remained lying down, but its ears twitched.

Lan Xiaoxiao stood up, walked gently to Da Lan, lowered her head, and touched Da Lan's nose with her nose.

Big Blue neither dodged nor moved.

Lan Xiaoxiao touched it, then turned around and walked towards the first year of junior high school.

He waited for her to come over, then turned around and walked ahead.

Lan Xiaoxiao followed behind, step by step, into the bamboo forest.

Da Lan lay in the moonlight, his eyes half-closed, watching the two figures, one large and one small, disappear into the depths of the bamboo forest.

It neither cried out nor chased after it.

It simply rested its chin on its paws again and closed its eyes.

The moonlight shone on it, and its ears kept turning, turning and turning, until no more sound came from that direction, then it slowly stopped.

……

In the first-year student's cave, the pine needles were thick and soft.

As soon as Lan Xiaoxiao entered the cave, she lay down, curled up into a ball, and buried her head in her paws.

Chu Yi lay down next to the teddy bear, wrapped his arms around it from behind, and rested his chin on her head.

Lan Xiaoxiao closed her eyes.

What an amazing day!

Lan Xiaoxiao gave a soft "hmm" and snuggled closer to Chu Yi's arms.

Chu Yi lowered his head and licked the bear's ear, then closed his eyes.

……

……

Big Blue is in heat.

Lan Xiaoxiao was the first to discover it.

That day, she was eating bamboo with Chu Yi at the border of their territory when the wind blew by and she smelled a familiar yet unfamiliar scent.

It was familiar because it smelled like Big Blue, yet strange because it contained something she had never smelled before.

Sweet and restless, like the primal scent of a bamboo forest after a rain, where the soil has been turned up.

Lan Xiaoxiao paused for a second, then realized what was happening.

Big Blue is in heat!

She turned to look at Chu Yi, who was also sniffing, its round eyes squinting and its nostrils flaring. But after it finished sniffing, it just yawned and continued eating bamboo, as if nothing had happened.

Lan Xiaoxiao then remembered that Chu Yi was a sub-adult male, not yet at the age to seriously date. He could sense the scent, but he wouldn't feel any urge to mate.

The strange panda that fought last time was in heat, but Big Blue wasn't, and they chased it away.

I heard that giant pandas' mating season only lasts two or three days, and there are only these two or three days a year. If you miss it, you miss it.

I wonder if any male pandas in heat will come over in the next couple of days, and if Da Lan will take a liking to one.

Lan Xiaoxiao has been following Chu Yi around eating bamboo and bamboo leaves these past two days.

Even when they go home at night, they pack a few bamboo stalks and place them at the entrance of the cave so they can get up and have a midnight snack if they get hungry.

Peaceful and beautiful days~

On the third day, a strange panda really did arrive.

The scent tells you it's not the same panda as last time; it's a new, unfamiliar one.

Passing by Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi's territory.

I could see it from afar.

A medium-sized male giant panda with glossy fur.

It quickly crossed their territory and entered the edge of the big blue territory. Without roaring or provoking, it simply stood there quietly, sniffing in the direction of the big blue and bleating.

Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi crouched behind the bushes in the distance, secretly observing.

Big Blue emerged from the bamboo forest.

It walked to the boundary of its territory, stopped, and looked at the unfamiliar panda.

Lan Xiaoxiao held her breath.