| GB | Embrace | 142 | Ex. 18
By the time Jialai was one year old, he could walk, run, recognize people, and speak.
He called Yu Bai "Father" and Huo Duo'er "Big Father." To Man and Ze, he called them "Uncle Man" and "Uncle Ze."
And so on, he recognized a whole bunch of uncles and aunts who worked with Big Father and Father.
In the process of raising the cub, Yu Bai wasn't strict with Jialai. After all, what could one expect from a one-year-old orc cub?
As long as he is healthy and happy, that's all that matters.
Although Jialai is a sub-female orc, he has inherited the power of the mountain god, which destined him to be extraordinary.
Therefore, when Jialai could recognize people, Huo Duo'er, with his tattooed arm wrapped in a large circle of totems, lifted his little arm and pointed to the green totem on his left wrist, telling him that this was a symbol of the awakened power of the mountain god.
Yu Bai sat beside him, holding Jialai's other small hand.
"He's so young, can he understand?"
Huo Duo'er nodded slightly, while little Jialai looked thoughtful.
Yu Jialai has the blood of the beast clan flowing in his veins. As long as he has the consciousness to discern, he can understand what Huo Duo'er just said. This is something innate, etched in their genes.
Yu Jialai examined the green "sprout" on his wrist and then looked at the totems covering his father's arm, his little face filled with seriousness.
The young cub spoke in a childish voice, "Father, I understand."
This happened when Jialai was just over a year old. Huo Duo'er only told Jialai about the power he possessed, but how to control and awaken it was something the young beast had to comprehend on his own.
Yu Bai was somewhat worried, fearing that Huo Duo'er would train such a young cub roughly.
But he was overthinking it. According to Huo Duo'er, after the giant clan awakens the power of the mountain god, they can only rely on their own abilities to comprehend and master it, just like eating when hungry and sleeping when tired—it happens naturally.
For example, more than half of the orcs in the giant tribe have not inherited the power of the mountain god, and among those who have, their abilities and strengths vary.
—
After the busy spring planting ended and summer had just begun, Yu Bai found some free time and took turns with Huo Duo'er to take care of the child. Whoever was free would take care of him.
He resumed his weekly classes, and Jialai would go with him.
Yu Bai sewed a small backpack with shoulder straps for Jialai, and Huo Duo'er made a wooden pencil case for him.
The paper developed by the gray mouse orcs had progressed relatively smoothly, and every household in the territory could now receive some paper and charcoal pencils.
Since the classes started in the tribe, the development of writing began slowly.
Yu Bai first taught the orcs some commonly used Arabic numerals. Numbers were simpler to get familiar with and were frequently used in daily life, so even the roughest orcs could now do simple calculations.
The progress of the writing lessons was slower.
Due to the different races within the tribes, the writing languages they used also varied.
Even in the Yuan tribe's territory, very few orcs were familiar with the tribe’s writing. Writing was precious, and only orcs of high status like priests could access it.
Therefore, almost no orcs knew the tribe’s writing, so teaching had to start from scratch.
The Fantasy tribe integrated various races. After discussing with Huo Duo'er, a dozen elders, and leaders, Yu Bai decided to replace the graphic scripts of each tribe with a unified writing.
Since everyone was basically starting from scratch, teaching wouldn't be too complicated.
But plans couldn't keep up with changes. Living in the wild continent, survival was still a problem before life stabilized.
The orcs in the territory, along with him, were always busy. For various reasons, out of the more than three thousand orcs in the tribe, only a dozen could recognize simple everyday words.
That morning, Yu Bai was still teaching the students who came to his class how to recognize characters.
The young orc children sat in the front row, while the adult orcs sat in the back according to their height and size.
Jialai sat in the first row. While the other young orcs were restless and fidgety, his small body remained upright, with the paper-bound notebook neatly placed beside him. His silver eyes were always fixed on his father.
When Yu Bai saw his exceptionally focused child from the podium, his heart would inexplicably soften—not with sorrow, but with a joyful ache.
During the break, the orcs gathered in the square to play. Jialai’s eyes sparkled as he looked at his father, but he remained quietly seated in his spot.
Yu Bai ruffled the young orc’s short hair. “Why aren’t you going out to play?”
Jialai replied, “I’ll stay with you, Father.”
When Yu Bai took Jialai’s hand and walked to the square, he noticed his child gazing wistfully at his peers playing in the sandpit. Yu Bai couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.
Upon reflection, Yu Bai realized that he was naturally introverted and reserved. Apart from work, he rarely went out, and when he did, it was usually to the gathering or farming areas. There weren’t many young orcs around to play with Jialai.
As for Huo Duo’er, he was always silent and composed. Except for speaking a bit more when he was with Yu Bai, he was usually cold and reserved, let alone taking Jialai out to play.
On the other hand, Man and Ze were more attentive than the two biological fathers. Whenever they had free time, they would take Jialai around.
In the presence of Yu Bai and Huo Duo’er, Jialai was always more reserved than lively, but he became slightly more active when he was with Man.
Filled with this sense of guilt, Yu Bai decided to make it up to his child.
After the big class ended, he took Jialai and left.
The Father and son, each carrying a burlap bag.
Yu Bai carried a single-shoulder bag, while Jialai had a backpack.
Both bags were adorned with a string of fluffy decorations made from animal fur. These decorations had only recently appeared in the classroom but had already sparked a trend in the tribe.
Among the orcs who were old enough to understand, there was no one who didn’t admire the priest.
Anything made by the Priest was undoubtedly good, and they all imitated it!
The younger orcs, on the other hand, genuinely liked them, as they had never seen anything so cute and fluffy before.
In the general perception of the orcs, animal fur or feathers were only used to make robes or bedding. They never imagined they could be turned into such beautiful ornaments.
—
Yu Bai and Jialai stopped at the gate of the construction area. The orcs who saw them lit up with joy and called out, “Chief Huo, Priest Bai is here!”
Huo Duo’er quickly washed his hands and feet and hurried over, his gaze fixed intently on his mate’s fair and soft face.
“Huo Duo’er.”
“Big Father~”
Yu Bai smiled warmly. “Jialai and I are here to take you home.”
Yu Jialai’s lips curved into a smile, and he tilted his head up, his eyes darting left and right, unwilling to look away from his father.
Huo Duo’er took Yu Bai’s hand and gently patted Jialai’s head.
His short robe was covered in dust, so he didn’t immediately embrace his mate and child.
“Yu Bai, you’ve worked hard.”
At the moment when Huo Duo’er saw his mate and child coming to greet him, he knew that his life was complete. Before him was everything he wanted to protect.
—
Back in the courtyard, Huo Duo'er went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. After Jialai entered the house, Yu Bai quietly followed.
"Huo Duo'er, I... I think we've been neglecting Jialai," Yu Bai confessed his guilt and added, "If we have time, let's take Jialai out to play more, okay?"
The orc, who always agreed with Yu Bai, replied, "That depends on what Jialai thinks."
Yu Bai was puzzled.
Huo Duo'er took his hand and kissed it.
"Maybe Jialai just likes being by your side," he said, and added, "Just like me, I like being with Bai, just the two of us. Even if it's quiet, as long as we're not disturbed, that's my favorite moment."
Yu Bai's face warmed slightly.
"Is Jialai the same as you? He's still young, maybe..."
Huo Duo'er said, "At lunch, I'll ask him with you."
-
During lunch, Huo Duo'er straightforwardly brought up the topic with Yu Jialai.
Yu Bai looked into his young child orc's eyes, feeling a bit anxious.
"Jialai..."
Little Jialai got down from his chair and actively approached his two fathers.
Huo Duo'er simply picked up both his mate and his young cub, settling them on his lap.
He asked, "Jialai, what do you think?"
Little Jialai responded earnestly, "I like being with Father and Big Father."
Yu Bai: "What about Uncle Man? Are you happy when you go out to play with the uncles?"
Little Jialai nodded and then said, "I'm happy when I go out to play with the uncles, but that happiness is different from being with Father."
He added in a small voice, "Being with Father makes me the happiest!"
Yu Bai hugged the small body of the young orc, and when Huo Duo'er kissed his eyes, he couldn't help but laugh.
"I was overthinking it."
Huo Duo'er held them tightly, placed Jialai back on the chair, and kissed Yu Bai's cheek.
Little Jialai giggled, and Yu Bai blushed.
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