Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 370 - 247: The Beastmen’s Gift and the Origin of Their Names
"Bring them over. They’re still little, and their teeth haven’t fully grown in. They can’t eat solid food, only drink milk." An Jin took the three little cubs and loosened the top of her clothes.
Ling Hong lay beside her, holding the three whimpering cubs, his expression hesitant and conflicted. ’Nursing them is exhausting,’ he thought. ’Jin’er...’
WHINE~
The cubs were ravenous. They pawed impatiently at her clothes with their tiny claws, and smelling the enticing aroma of milk, they instinctively burrowed their fuzzy little heads closer.
Mi Yin and Xi both watched the scene before them in utter shock.
’Nurse... nurse them? Jin’er is going to nurse these three cubs?’ It took a long moment for their minds to process this, and all they could conjure was a giant question mark.
It made sense they were confused. In both Mi Yin’s and Xi’s memories, their people reproduced differently from terrestrial mammals. Whether it was a snakelet or a fry, they could hunt for themselves shortly after hatching and never needed to be fed by their mothers.
An Jin struggled for a while before she finally managed to get the first little wolf cub to latch on. When she sensed two pairs of astonished eyes fixed on her, she blushed and began to feel a little awkward.
"*Cough*. Most land animals are like this when they’re young. I was, too," An Jin tried to explain. "Remember all those Miaomiao Beasts and MooMoo Beasts we were raising? Don’t they produce milk after they get pregnant? You two even used to milk them for me to drink..."
"..." Mi Yin pressed his lips together in silence, his expression shifting continuously. He simply couldn’t connect the two concepts.
His gaze fell upon the happily suckling cubs, and his expression quickly darkened. His long, thick, black-and-red snake tail tensed and slapped the ground twice as he forcefully suppressed the urge to strike them.
’No wonder I thought Jin’er had gotten bigger lately. To think it was all in preparation for these little brats! I’d always believed only I was allowed to touch her there, and now these cubs were actually... Dammit!’
A monstrous, twisted jealousy and rage surged through Mi Yin.
Once she had finally fed all three, the uncomfortable, swollen feeling she’d been experiencing at last subsided. She fixed her clothes and handed the three sleepy cubs to Ling Hong, who was waiting at her side.
"Oh, right, the three cubs don’t have names yet. Shouldn’t we be naming them now?" An Jin’s interest was suddenly piqued, her eyes darting between the three men’s faces.
"Now? Isn’t that a bit early?" Ling Hong, now a natural at his new fatherly duties, looked up at her while cradling the swaddled cubs, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Beastmen are typically named during their awakening ceremony after their first year. A Priest or Witch Doctor gives them a name based on their unique personality and abilities."
An Jin hadn’t realized the Beast World had such a particular custom, so she decided she might as well follow it. Besides, she couldn’t think of three suitable names on the spot anyway.
"In that case—let’s just call them Number One, Number Two, and Number Three for now! Otherwise, we can’t tell them apart."
An Jin took the three sleeping little ones from Ling Hong’s arms. Pointing to them one by one, she cheerfully explained, "Look, this little wolf cub with the mark on its head is the strongest, and his personality seems pretty calm, a lot like Ling Hong. He’s Number One!"
"Number Two is the most lively, and he looks pretty clever and mischievous."
"Number Three is the smallest and scrawniest. The other two will probably steal his food, so we’ll have to give him a little extra to help him bulk up..."
"By the way," An Jin asked with sudden curiosity, "were the three of you also named after you turned one?"
"Yes." Ling Hong nodded. "The tribe’s old Witch Doctor gave me my name. In our totem culture, its syllables symbolize an invincible warrior and the will to protect..."
"Naming, huh? That was such a long time ago. Let’s see, back then, I was just a little baby fry, happily digging for pearls inside seashells~"
Xi cupped his face, feigning a thoughtful expression. His devastatingly beautiful eyes curved in delight, and his crimson lips couldn’t help but curl upward. "But I think the old Priest gave me my name, too. I know what it means: the deep sea, priceless treasures, beauty..."
"It’s a name that only the most beautiful Merfolk of the brood is worthy of receiving, you know!"
Xi looked at An Jin expectantly.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You’re the prettiest, the most beautiful Merfolk there is." An Jin laughed, amused by his blatant fishing for compliments.
"What about you, Mi Yin?" Seeing that the other two had finished speaking while he remained silent, An Jin couldn’t help but turn to look at him.
His gaze rested on her face for a moment before he spoke. "I was abandoned before I even hatched. So, no one ever gave me a name."
