Seventeen Whales
Page 1 of 3
Jing Chengyun felt that there were simply far too many sick people around her.
She had already been vexed by the suspicion that Ruan Mianmian was pregnant. Then, outside the hospital, she had run into a persistent stranger who would not leave her alone. And now Mianmian was pulling this stunt on her.
In the sea, Jing Chengyun was a big, bad whale with plenty of energy to vent. She had scattered schools of fish and overturned sea turtles; there was hardly a misdeed she had not committed. She certainly was not going to indulge or humor Ruan Mianmian!
She raised her large hand and smacked Mianmian twice on the behind.
“You’re just asking to be hit, you little brat. You never listen, and you have absolutely no awareness of what it means to be a pet!”
Ruan Mianmian was not Wen Fan. Being scolded did not make him happy, nor did it give him any kind of pleasurable thrill. But since his master had reprimanded him, he ought to endure it all.
Rabbits had a remarkable tolerance for pain. Some rabbits could suffer displaced internal organs without uttering a single cry. Jing Chengyun’s blows had indeed been forceful, and the pain made Ruan Mianmian’s back tremble.
He did not dare cry out, much less talk back. He only thought that if his master hit him a few more times, not only could he avoid having his blood drawn, he could also help her vent the resentment in her heart.
Ruan Mianmian gave a soft sob and said, “Master, please don’t be angry. Hit Mianmian a few more times and think of it as letting out your temper! If your hand hurts, Mianmian can put a cushion there next time!”
Ruan Mianmian considered the matter with great seriousness. Perhaps he should simply undergo surgery to enlarge his buttocks. Wouldn’t that make them wonderfully soft to the touch? Then his master would never be able to stop touching him!
Jing Chengyun was visibly stunned by his words.
The last time they had practiced dual cultivation, Jing Chengyun had nearly kneaded every inch of Ruan Mianmian’s body. In the end, she had reached a conclusion: a rabbit’s tail was the most pleasant thing to stroke, while a rabbit’s bottom was the most satisfying thing to squeeze.
The warmth of Ruan Mianmian’s body still lingered in her palms, and even the sensation of his flesh had been firmly impressed upon the lines of her hands.
Soft and yielding, with just the right amount of springiness.
If there were a cushion between them, would it still feel the same?
“No cushions. Do you hear me?” Jing Chengyun glanced around guiltily and cleared her throat. Then she steered the situation back onto the proper track. “Listen carefully, you stinking Mianmian. I order you to have your blood drawn. Otherwise, don’t blame me for what happens next!”
“Wah...” Ruan Mianmian was the youngest among his siblings. Because his spiritual power was weak and his mind rather slow, he had always been the darling of the entire family. Before meeting Jing Chengyun, he had never been scolded so harshly.
His brows and eyes drooped together in fear, and he twisted his two index fingers restlessly.
This was the perfect moment to strike. An outstanding hunter never let an opportunity slip away.
Jing Chengyun seized her chance. She bent at the waist, exerted her strength, and, supporting Ruan Mianmian by the waist and bottom, hoisted the little rabbit spirit onto her shoulder.
“Ahh!” The sudden movement scared Ruan Mianmian half to death. He shrieked and flailed. “Master’s shoulder is pressing against my stomach! You’re so mean, Master! I’m going to miscarry!”
Smack! Smack!
The two crisp, muffled sounds were Jing Chengyun viciously striking the rabbit’s behind.
“Stop shouting. Stop moving. Don’t think I have a good temper. If you really make me angry, we’re through.”
Ruan Mianmian was genuinely frightened. All he dared do was lie across his master’s shoulder and sob miserably. He did not want to be a little rabbit without a master. Sob, sob!
On the way to the testing department, Jing Chengyun was still savoring the feel of the rabbit’s bottom. She was a whale who scarcely ever restrained her desires. If she liked touching something, then she liked touching it; there was no need to deny it.
But was there any way she could keep touching a rabbit’s bottom and tail for a long, long time?
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
They arrived at the testing department, where Jing Chengyun forcibly held down the rabbit spirit’s arm and had the nurse draw his blood.
No matter how disobedient Ruan Mianmian usually was, he knew when he had to behave. He did not resist, but his body could not stop trembling as he murmured, “Master... Master...”
The word “Master” was like a painkiller. As long as he said it aloud, there was nothing left to fear.
The sobs in his throat, however, could not be stopped. For however long the blood draw lasted, Ruan Mianmian cried.
Even while they waited for the results, he had to lie against Jing Chengyun’s chest. He not only whimpered and wept uncontrollably, but also cried so pitifully that Jing Chengyun’s heart grew restless.
At last, the blood draw was over. Ruan Mianmian had cried until he looked like a rabbit with tears covering his entire face. Afraid that his master would become angry again, he did not dare cry aloud. Whenever his eyelids could no longer hold back the tears, he wiped them away with his long ears.
Half an hour later, the blood test report arrived. The obstetrician took one look and delivered the verdict.
“Mr. Ruan isn’t pregnant.”
Ruan Mianmian pouted. “I don’t believe it!”
The heavy stone in Jing Chengyun’s heart dropped away, and even her voice became more confident. “The test report is right here. What reason do you have not to believe it?”
“It’s my own stomach. I know it best! There’s no way the baby could simply disappear!”
“But it never existed in the first place!”
Ruan Mianmian pouted again. “Mianmian still doesn’t believe it!”
The blood-test results could not be changed by whether Ruan Mianmian believed them. Jing Chengyun hated arguing with idiots and could not be bothered to say more. In a cold voice, she ordered, “Change back into rabbit form. Hurry.”
Ruan Mianmian was obedient enough in that regard. He meekly transformed back into a little lop-eared rabbit, leaped onto Jing Chengyun’s shoulder, and quietly left the hospital with his master.
*
That night, Ruan Mianmian stayed over at the Jing residence and shared a room with Jing Chengyun.
After climbing into Jing Chengyun’s bed once again, Ruan Mianmian rolled back and forth like a madman.
“I get to sleep with Master! I’m so happy!”
Four people blocked the bedroom doorway, all staring at Ruan Mianmian with the same expression one reserved for an idiot.
Everyone had been delighted to hear that Yunyun had not gotten herself into any serious trouble. But the moment they turned around and saw Ruan Mianmian grinning foolishly, they were all bewildered again.
This was Yunyun’s new boyfriend? Really? This guy?
Jing Yan was the first to ask, “Great Niece, what do you see in him?”
“Who says I see anything in him?” Jing Chengyun’s thick brows rose angrily. She jabbed her elbow into her aunt’s chest. “I’m just keeping him as a little pet for fun. It’s quite entertaining. Pets are supposed to be clingy.”
“...Yunyun, Grandmother thinks that while a pet’s capacity for interaction is important, intelligence cannot be overlooked. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to discipline him.”
“Grandmother, don’t worry about it. I’ll just have him stay in rabbit form and keep him in a cage most of the time. Besides, he has a family of his own. It’s not as though he can live here forever.”
Jing Chengyun drove her family away, shut the doors and windows, then pounced directly onto the bed and pinned Ruan Mianmian beneath her. She lowered her head and sniffed at his neck.
“You smell like fresh grass.”
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
She wanted to touch the rabbit. Right now.
Ruan Mianmian twisted shyly, trying to wriggle out from between his master’s restraining arms. “Does Master want to practice dual cultivation? We shouldn’t during pregnancy, should we? It might hurt the baby!”
It seemed that the foolish rabbit was determined to believe he was pregnant. Jing Chengyun, meanwhile, knew only that a forcibly twisted melon was astonishingly sweet.
She caught Ruan Mianmian by his slender rabbit waist, lifted his sweatshirt, and reached beneath it.
“I don’t care. I’m practicing dual cultivation tonight.”
Ah, Master was so domineering. So cool!
Mianmian liked powerful women best of all!
Ruan Mianmian’s round eyes widened, and his cheeks grew even redder. “Th-then Master has to be gentle, all right? You can’t hurt the ba—Mmph!”
Jing Chengyun clamped a hand over his mouth. She never wanted to hear the word “baby” again. But she could not keep her hand there forever, so she simply grabbed a towel and stuffed it into the rabbit spirit’s mouth instead. That solved two problems at once, and the family would not hear any strange noises.
*
The next morning was still part of the weekend, when she did not have to work.
Whether Jing Chengyun slept in depended entirely on the circumstances of the day. If she woke naturally early enough, she would go swimming and frolic in the sea.
The days grew light early in the beginning of summer. When she opened her eyes, it was not yet seven in the morning, but the sun was already blazing like a furnace.
Jing Chengyun felt energetic. She turned over, only to see Ruan Mianmian kneeling on the other half of the bed, where he had piled pillows and clothes into a little mountain.
“Master’s awake! Are you going back to sleep? If not, give me the blanket!” Ruan Mianmian pointed solemnly at the mound on the bed and explained, “I’m making a nest for the baby.”
Following his gesture, Jing Chengyun discovered that the so-called nest contained quite a lot of rabbit fur. Apparently, Ruan Mianmian had plucked it from himself one strand at a time.
Whether he made a nest or not was none of Jing Chengyun’s concern. But she did have one thing to say.
“You’re using my clothes to make a nest on my bed, and it’s affecting me. From today onward, you may take human form only when we practice dual cultivation. The rest of the time, you will stay a rabbit and live in a cage.”
It took Ruan Mianmian a long while to digest her words before he understood them. First, his master had scolded him. Second, he had to remain in rabbit form for a long time.
And last of all, the most important thing: he was going to have another luxurious rabbit cage!
“Master, you’re far too good to me!”
Ruan Mianmian was moved to tears, entirely unconcerned by the punishment he had received. He threw himself into Jing Chengyun’s arms and burrowed against her again and again, as though a cage were not a restraint but the place he had been born to live.
Perhaps he had annoyed Jing Chengyun. Before they had even cuddled for long, she shoved him away, and he accidentally landed flat on his back with all four legs in the air.
He gave a small yelp, then climbed up with a series of grunts. He did not cry. Instead, he caught Jing Chengyun’s warm, broad hand and placed it over his bottom.
“Master spanked me so hard last night that it’s swollen here. Rub it for Mianmian, won’t you?”
Jing Chengyun was more than happy to indulge herself. But before she could raise her hand, the telephone rang.
It was her fox-spirit colleague.
Page 3 of 3