I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

So... who's taking care of the baby?

Bai Qingyu, who hadn't intended to say much, couldn't help but ask, "Since neither husband nor wife are home, who takes care of the child?"

Upon hearing this, the proprietress shook her head and sighed; the expression on her face said it all.

Putting the matter aside for the time being, Bai Qingyu felt inexplicably uneasy. That guy outside was simply hateful. If he wanted to continue his carefree life, why did he get married? And why did he have children after getting married? Wasn't that the greatest irresponsibility towards the children?

If this continues for a long time, won't the child starve to death?

While cursing inwardly, I picked out five outfits for my son based on the shop owner's recommendation. All of them were made of the best fabric. Three of them were for spring and summer, and the remaining two were a bit thicker and larger in size, so my son could wear them as he grew.

I'm standing upside down, please vote!

Book 1: Chapter 9 The Poor Child

Bai Qingyu put the folded clothes into the small basket. The proprietress took out two pieces of silver from the basket, looking hesitant. It wasn't that Bai Qingyu didn't have enough money, but that she wanted to buy some fabric and asked the proprietress to get it for her. The proprietress hesitated for a moment, then folded up a few pieces of fine fabric and put them into the small basket as well.

Upon exiting the shop, Bai Qingyu discovered that the man outside had already left. She could still see his leisurely figure not long after he left. She really didn't know how this guy, who didn't strive for anything and didn't look for work to support his family, managed to survive. Ancient society was very realistic; having a job didn't necessarily guarantee a family's livelihood, let alone not having one.

Thinking of what the landlady had said, Bai Qingyu became increasingly worried about the poor kid who was born into this world but never met a responsible set of parents.

The father was out enjoying himself, and would strike up conversations with any pretty woman he saw.

With a wave of his small fan, he uttered the girl's name.

If this person were unmarried and still single, Bai Qingyu wouldn't bother saying anything. A romantic and talented man's nature is what it is; you can't force him to stop acting crazy here. But if he has a family and still goes around picking up other girls and visiting brothels, that's wrong of him.

The father was like this, and sadly, the mother wasn't much better. Instead of taking care of the children, she went off to have fun with the rich man. Bai Qingyu suspected that the couple's livelihood depended on the woman deducting money from the rich man. Perhaps the rich man just liked married women and felt comfortable seeing women taking his money to spend on their husbands.

The world is full of wonders, and some men have rather unique tastes. Bai Qingyu does not rule out the possibility that such a man might have these tastes.

On the way home with the basket in hand, Bai Qingyu was somewhat absent-minded. Even after leaving the town, she couldn't help but look back, gazing in the direction the scholar had left, her heart filled with thoughts of this boy she had never met before.

In the past, Bai Qingyu would have thought she was sick, as other people's affairs had nothing to do with her. But now she goes with the flow. Since taking human form, she has become more open-minded. Following her instincts is perhaps the way to walk her own "demon path."

Besides, she wasn't worried about whether the couple lived or died; she only cared about her child.

Even without this child, she wouldn't have batted an eye if the couple had been drowned in a pig cage the next day.

Her steps were light and unsteady, as if she were floating. Several strong young men behind her stared intently, as if Bai Qingyu's glance back had been directed at them. However, no one cared why such a delicate and beautiful girl was carrying a basket and walking away, and that there was no town in the direction she was heading.

Back in the Ten Thousand Mountains, Bai Qingyu could finally rest. After removing the disguise of demonic power, the beautiful girl under the paper fan disappeared, her body still there but her head and face transformed into the appearance of a bird demon, with a slender beak, a small crane head, and black and white feathers.

With a basket in my left hand and an umbrella in my right, it was already afternoon when I returned to the bird's nest in the cave.

Bai Qingyu felt like she had forgotten something, and it was only when she saw the dilapidated and messy bird's nest that she remembered that she was still missing a set of carpentry tools to build a small wooden house.

Oh well, there's still plenty of time.

Bai Qingyu placed the basket on the ground and carefully took out the candied hawthorns and rattles inside. Her gaze fell on the sleeping chicks in the nest.

I went into the bird's nest, squatted down next to the baby, placed the candied hawthorn in front of her nose with my left hand, and gently turned the rattle drum in my other hand. Two small balls tied with thin thread tapped on the drum surface, making a thumping sound.

As she knocked, Bai Qingyu spoke in a melodious voice, "Little Dongqing, wake up! Come on, see what your aunt has brought you."

The child has a biological mother who is buried not far away. Bai Qingyu usually doesn't call the baby "mother" but "aunt." She feels that the title "aunt" is better, as it is neither as strange as "auntie" nor as abrupt as "mother," while still being intimate and not unfamiliar.

As expected, the little boy groggily opened his eyes at Bai Qingyu's gentle call. Perhaps it was the aroma of candied hawthorn or the sound of a rattle drum, but as soon as he woke up, he opened his eyes wide and reached out his little hand to grab the candied hawthorn in Bai Qingyu's hand.

The aroma of candied hawthorn is not very strong; it mainly has a maltose-like smell.

Normally, the child should have been drawn to the rattle drum, which makes a louder noise, but she wasn't. Her first reaction was to grab the candied hawthorn.

Bai Qingyu felt a little sad. Her child was so old and had never even tasted candied hawthorn. After following her, the child either drank wild deer milk or meat and fish soup. Because there were no seasonings or salt, the soup was bland. It wasn't until the child was a little older that the child ate some wild fruit.

Even the rattle in her hand couldn't stop. Watching her son grab the candied hawthorn and lick it until his face was covered in sticky, sugary saliva, only Bai Qingyu knew the feeling in her heart.

At this moment, the candied hawthorn that the brat had been licking terribly was suddenly held up in front of Bai Qingyu.

The little one opened its mouth and made a "woo-woo~" sound, as if it were saying "Auntie". Bai Qingyu's worries vanished instantly. She picked up another candied hawthorn and compared it with the little one. Her demonic power transformed into a human head and face and began to lick the candied hawthorn.

It was all worth it.

It wasn't until half an hour later.

Seeing the little one covered in sticky, sugary drool from head to toe, from his face to his chest, and how he had rolled over and was now covered in bird feathers because of it, Bai Qingyu's eyelids twitched. Then she noticed the half-eaten, half-bitten hawthorn skewer lying to the side.

The worst part was that the smiling brat kept making "woof woof, woof woof" noises, making it impossible for Bai Qingyu to even get angry.

After eating the candy, she happily played with the rattle drum in her hand. Bai Qingyu used a feather dipped in water to clean her body, then fed her the cooked meat soup. With her slender beak, she picked up a piece of overcooked meat and fed it to her mouth, much like a mother bird feeding her chicks with worms.

After a busy afternoon, I carried my child to the mountaintop. Under the setting sun, amidst the fiery clouds on the horizon, I took out the clothes I had just bought and dressed my little one in them. Instantly, the little bird transformed into a little princess.

Bai Qingyu looked him up and down and was quite satisfied.

·

The sun has set and the stars are few; it is the dead of night and all is quiet.

The baby is fast asleep, drooling non-stop.

Bai Qingyu was not by her side that night, dressed in a black night-walking outfit made of feathers.

Tonight she's going to steal—no, I mean, check on the baby.

She still vividly remembers what she saw and heard at the market during the day; the face of that damned scholar and the words of the proprietress linger in her mind, and she wants to see it for herself.

Under the cover of night, a giant bird demon with the body of a crane and the tail of a phoenix flew out of the mountains and forests, transforming into human form as it approached Peach Blossom Town.

Bai Qingyu moved with the agility of a swallow, leaping across rooftops instead of entering through the street, making no noise and attracting no attention from others.

She is currently in the west of the city, while the scholar left in the east.

Unfortunately, I don't know the exact location of his house.

However, the search was much simpler than Bai Qingyu had imagined. The town wasn't very big, and at this hour, there were very few houses with their lights on.

Upon arriving in the east of the city, Bai Qingyu not only saw the scholar's house with its lights on, but also heard the cries of a cub.

She was very sensitive to this kind of crying. After leaping a few times to the roof of the opposite house, Bai Qingyu saw a small courtyard with a rather artistic atmosphere. Before she even got close, she heard the scholar's voice.

"Madam, did you go to Qian Laosan's place again today?"

"Of course I went, don't you know I was working there?"

"I told you last time not to have anything to do with that old guy anymore. He's older than your father!"

"What does it matter? Master Qian is rich. If I don't go there to work, you and your Liu family's descendants will starve to death."

"You, you, you bastard!"

The scholar was furious, and then Bai Qingyu heard a crisp sound, clearly the sound of a slap hitting a face.

"You dare to hit me?"

Ignoring the noise of the commotion, Bai Qingyu went to the backyard and stood outside the open window.

Sure enough, there was a baby in the room, waving its little hands in swaddling clothes, its voice hoarse from crying.

"The idea that you don't need to pass an exam to become a parent is terrifying."

With extensive experience in caring for babies, Bai Qingyu could immediately tell that no one had changed the diapers of the infant in the swaddling clothes.

"sad."

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I'm speechless.

Book 1: Chapter 10 The Depravity of the Human Heart

The baby inside was crying incessantly, his voice hoarse. The arguing outside the room never stopped, growing more and more intense and even drowning out the baby's cries. Bai Qingyu climbed in through the window and unwrapped the baby. Just as she had thought, the baby's diaper hadn't been changed for at least two days.

With both parents being so unreliable, Bai Qingyu doubted whether the child could grow up smoothly. Apart from no one changing his diapers, the child hadn't eaten or drunk anything for at least a day and had been crying for so long, making him very weak.

Bai Qingyu looked around. She didn't have any food with her, but fortunately there was a stack of pastries and a small bowl of tea by the bedside. This showed that her parents must be well-off; ordinary people couldn't afford such expensive snacks.

Bai Qingyu placed the pastries in a bowl and began to heat them with her demonic power. As the temperature rose, the pastries in the bowl gradually melted. With a little demonic power, a bowl of slightly thin pastry soup was made. She had no choice; finding something to eat was already a blessing.

The bowl was placed in front of the child's mouth, and even with such food, the child stopped crying and drank it down in small sips. When Bai Qingyu saw that the child had finally stopped crying, she cursed the two people who were still arguing outside in her heart. These heartless people were unwilling to even feed the child a drop of milk, and it was only when she, a monster, fed the child that the crying stopped.

After feeding them, Bai Qingyu changed the diaper. If she couldn't find a new diaper, she simply hung the dirty one on the headboard and waited to see if the two of them would change it or not.

The wet diaper was changed, and the baby, who had been crying until he was exhausted, fell into a deep sleep with the help of Bai Qingyu's demonic power. His weak appearance made the bird furious, and it wished it could beat the two irresponsible people to death with its own hands and leave with its cub.

The moment this thought crossed Bai Qingyu's mind, she heard some noise outside. The couple, having finished arguing and fighting, were preparing to go back to their room to sleep.

The scholar surnamed Liu pushed open the door, muttering curses under his breath. It sounded like he was saying things like, "You're not a virtuous woman, I'll put you in a pig cage and throw you into the water sooner or later."

As soon as he entered the room, a gust of wind carrying the sour smell of diapers swept in. Looking up, he realized that the window was not closed, and the sour smell was coming from somewhere. He didn't think much of it, glanced down at the child on the bed, and continued to curse, but he was surprised.

The child didn't cry tonight?

It's better if she doesn't cry, otherwise it will annoy people.

Walking to the bedside and checking to make sure the child was asleep rather than dead, Liu Shusheng sat down on the edge of the bed with an impatient look on his face. As soon as he sat down, he felt something sticky and wet on his hand. Looking down, he realized it was a diaper.

Bai Qingyu squatted on the roof outside and heard Liu Shusheng's pig-like screams below, followed by the hoarse cries of a baby who had just fallen asleep.

Quietly leaving the rooftop, Bai Qingyu didn't notice the increase in demonic power within her body. Covering her head, she walked lightly towards the direction of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

My head was spinning just now. Maintaining my human form with my demonic power for so long today has really drained my demonic power.

Under the moonlight, the black-clad bird demon left the town quietly, arriving and departing without being noticed by anyone else.

The next day, Bai Qingyu did not come. She stayed at home teaching her child to speak and also absorbed the essence of heaven and earth's spiritual energy by breathing in the air. For some reason, she felt that absorbing spiritual energy had become much smoother recently. If she used to use a straw to absorb it, now she was using an extra-large straw as thick as a bottle opening.

It wasn't until the third night that she set off again under the cover of darkness.

Having had the experience before, this time he arrived at Liu Shusheng's house with ease.

Sitting on the roof, Bai Qingyu looked down at the house with its windows closed but the lights on. The couple had been arguing just two days ago, but they had made up today. Although Bai Qingyu couldn't see, she could tell from the sounds that the two were doing something indescribable.

The only constant is the sound of the child crying.

Bai Qingyu didn't wait too long. The commotion ended a few minutes later, and the lights in the room went out amidst the woman's cursing. After waiting for another half an hour to make sure the couple was fast asleep, Bai Qingyu released some of his demonic energy through the window to help them sleep even more soundly.

She carefully opened the window and took the child out. This time she was well prepared; she had deer milk in a small gourd, which she could heat up and feed directly to the child.

Over the next few days, Bai Qingyu would come every one or two days, but not every day, for fear of having her problem discovered.

Even so, something still happened.