Chapter 82 p2
Lin Song came back to her senses.
She touched her cheek, and her fingertips were stained with cold tears.
After wiping them away haphazardly, she spent a moment struggling to steady her breathing, her gaze unintentionally sweeping over the magazine that Ye Zhao had given her on her desk.
The cute and vibrant cover was truly out of place with her cool-toned desktop style.
“Page fifteen. Officer Lin must read it when you have time.”
Lin Song’s brow furrowed slightly, and she flipped to page fifteen.
[Otter Search Notice]
[This sea otter lost a beloved mother otter ten years ago… If mother otter sees this otter search notice, please call the Velvet Bamboo Studio’s number to contact your loving Otter Bao.]
The few short lines of text leaped into her vision, and in an instant, Lin Song forgot how to breathe, her heart pounding like thunder.
Velvet Bamboo Studio.
The table next to Bai Zhiwan’s engagement banquet.
The little girl who had smashed oysters on a rock.
…
Her thoughts surged. With trembling hands, she wanted to immediately dial the studio’s number.
The usually calm and cool Officer Lin couldn’t even hold her phone steady, and the thin layer of sweat that seeped from her fingertips instantly soaked the screen.
“Officer Lin, we’ve received a report. Someone at Yudong Square is forcing a raccoon to perform and speak human language…”
A knock suddenly sounded on the door, and a police officer reported quickly.
Lin Song’s hand paused.
In her rapid breathing, a certain hesitation surged in her reddened eyes, and she bit her lip tightly.
In the end, she reluctantly put down her phone, neatly wiped away the teardrop hanging from her chin, and took a deep breath.
“I’ll lead the team out.”
…
“Little Bao, you weren’t good.”
A cool voice sounded lightly in her ear, and the little sea otter’s heart trembled with it.
The woman stood tall and valiant before her, and the solemn police uniform made the otter shiver with fear.
But, but…
In a certain strong premonition, the little sea otter dazedly lifted her head and met a pair of deep eyes, and then saw that mature face, which was somewhat similar to her own.
“…M-Mom?!”
Her lips trembled.
A surging sourness, like a tide, shot up from her spine, and the tip of her nose suddenly felt sore.
The little sea otter felt her vision instantly blur with a mist of tears.
Ten years ago, Mom had been covered in blood and had gone ashore alone.
She had said she would come back to see her, but she had never returned.
In the day-after-day of lonely waiting, the belief of wanting to go ashore to find her mother had grown stronger and stronger, and she had actually broken through her originally meager talent, had understood the way and had transformed into a human, and had gone ashore alone.
She had stumbled through human society, without enough food to eat, without a place to live, had been captured and put in an aquarium, and had struggled to escape…
The older the little sea otter grew, the more she understood, and so a certain possibility in her heart grew stronger and stronger—
She would happily tell the big sister beasts that she was going to find her mother, and that she would definitely find her, but in her heart, she secretly knew that her mother was very likely to have passed away long ago.
Just like ten years ago, when that human mother had fallen in front of them.
But she was unwilling to accept it.
At night, she would secretly dry her tears, and during the day, she would still stubbornly search for her mother everywhere.
“Ooh…”
After so many years of looking for her mother, the little sea otter was already a mature baby otter.
She did not want to cry in public, so she held it in and held it in, and only a fine, choked sob escaped her throat.
But when her mother bent down and held her tightly in her arms, and patted her head as she had done more than a dozen years ago, she suddenly and uncontrollably burst into tears.
“Mom… ooh-ooh-ooh-wah…”
All the fear, the hunger, the pain, and the bitterness of the past were all dissolved in this embrace. The moment the little boat returned to port, she was exhausted, and she could finally and completely relax.
Pei the Little Able Cat stood on the side, staring blankly.
The little sea otter’s emotional cries reached her ears, and for some reason, she also began to cry, her throat tight.
It was as if a strong empathy, and also a moment of dense, misty melancholy.
Her heart was completely empty, and she was at a loss.
As if she had been suddenly and alone pulled from the world, leaving only a bone-deep loneliness.
She had stumbled through human society, from a red panda who couldn’t even afford an apple, to the big sister beast of Velvet Bamboo Studio, rescuing animals, starting the “Small Animal Survival Guide,” and taking the happy beast lives of the small animals as her own responsibility.
Jin Can, Luo Bian, Wu Shu, Gu Yue, the little sea otter…
Along the way, she had, as she had wished, and with gratification, watched everyone find happiness one by one, and had sincerely rejoiced for them.
In her midnight dreams, when she would vaguely remember these things, she would proudly lift her fluffy head.
But, seeing all, all the boats had returned to port, she, a little red panda, was still a lonely boat, drifting aimlessly in the deep sea.
She could not find her way, let alone her way back.
Her thoughts surged, and the scene of the mother and daughter’s reunion in front of her gradually became a swaying and hazy double image in Pei Rong’s teary eyes.
In the midst of the surging pain in her chest, an image suddenly leaped into her mind—
A quiet bedroom, a peaceful night.
A woman was sitting by her bed, reading a bedtime story in a gentle voice.
“Once upon a time, there was a little tadpole who got lost in a pond. She was wagging her long tail, looking for her mother everywhere.”
“She asked a turtle who was passing by, ‘Excuse me, are you my mommy?'”
“The turtle shook his head.”
“She asked the floating waterweeds, ‘Excuse me, are you my mommy?'”
“The waterweeds didn’t speak.”
…
The human cub next to her was crying, and she couldn’t help but whimper sadly. “The little tadpole can’t find her mommy. She’s so pitiful.”
She also whimpered in heartache.
The woman coaxed in a gentle voice, “Rong Bao, Yu Bao, don’t worry. The story isn’t over yet.”
“…Later, the little tadpole swam to the edge of a lotus leaf and saw a big frog. She asked, ‘Excuse me, are you my mommy?'”
“The big frog hugged her and said, ‘Baby, Mommy has been looking for you for a long time too.'”
“The little tadpole finally found her mommy, and the mother and frog daughter lived happily ever after.”
The happy ending finally made the human cub stop crying, and she, this little red panda cub, also contentedly licked the fur that had been soaked with tears.
The human cub sniffled and asked in a sweet, milky voice, “Then in the future, will we also not be able to find Mommy?”
“No.”
The woman spoke, her tone holding a soft yet firm smile.
“No matter when, as long as you turn around, you will find that Mommy is always behind you.”
The bedside lamp was gently turned off.
The woman bent down, rubbed her fluffy head, and gave her a goodnight kiss.
…
Pei Rong suddenly came back to her senses from the memory fragment.
“No matter when, as long as you turn around, you will find that Mommy is always behind you.”
At this very moment, this sentence echoed in her ear, its aftertaste long, and it was filled with a deep sense of fate.
Her heart immediately began to beat extremely fast, and her eardrums seemed to be pounding along with it.
Her breath tightened. She suddenly turned her head and looked behind her—
The crowd was surging.
Ye Zhao, as if sensing something, lifted her head and looked at her with a gentle expression.
