Chapter 272
Chapter 272: The Innocent Cub Dad Turned into an Irresponsible Jerk in Front of Two Cubs
Staring at the two golden hatchlings so directly, Chong Ming felt like his blood had frozen.
Two.
Two cubs.
He had two cubs.
He’d never once expected to have cubs—and now he not only had them, he had two.
He stared at them for a long moment, then his gaze slid to Jiang Tea Tea’s belly.
She was wrapped in a towel. Her stomach—after delivering two cubs—was still flat, only the faintest curve left, as if she hadn’t given birth at all. Her cheeks were rosy. And her smile was full of guilty, awkward cover-up, like she’d been caught red-handed.
Chong Ming forced his racing heart to settle, forced his buzzing mind to steady under the impact.
When he spoke, his voice came out hoarse, low, and heavy. “Mm. Jiang Tea Tea… you’re really impressive. You can turn one cub into two.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s skin prickled. What did he mean by that?
Was he being sarcastic? Was he warning her he’d deal with her later?
The two cubs wrapped around her fingers seemed to sense her fear. They stopped fighting over her hand, turned in unison, and launched themselves at Chong Ming.
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes went wide. “What the hell?!”
The big one was being weird, and the little ones were betraying her already?
Fine. Just fine. This whole family—none of them were good.
And she’d called them cute. Cute my ass.
Still… what happened next wasn’t exactly betrayal.
The two cubs clung to Chong Ming’s uniform shirt with their tiny claws and started climbing, scrambling higher and higher until they reached his head.
Then they wrapped around the two golden dragon horns on his forehead and hugged them with their little paws as they gnawed and bit.
Jiang Tea Tea covered her eyes. The cubs weren’t ungrateful, but this was truly hard to watch.
Their bodies weren’t even as long or thick as his horns, and they didn’t have teeth. They could gnaw all they wanted—at most they’d smear his horns with slobber.
The hatchlings’ closeness made Chong Ming feel an odd mix of indulgence and novelty—more even than when he’d raised Sui Xuan Chu. But he also knew this much: cubs that could fight and climb up to his horns might look tiny, but they weren’t weak.
Even so, his focus wasn’t on the two hatchlings making a mess of his horns.
It was on Jiang Tea Tea.
He took a dry towel, stepped forward, and wrapped it around her shoulders. “All right. Take off the wet one and toss it.”
Jiang Tea Tea froze.
He was making her lose her footing completely.
Was it because the cubs had climbed onto him? Did he think he’d “won” them, so he could ignore her now?
As if reading the storm on her face, Chong Ming soothed, “One cub or two, they’re all yours. I’m not going to fight you for them.”
“You gave birth to two cubs within half an hour. You need a full exam and proper rest. Don’t worry about anything else.”
Still stunned, Jiang Tea Tea pulled off the wet towel and wrapped herself in the dry one. She took two steps—and Chong Ming lifted her cleanly at the waist.
A household robot had already cleaned the bed and replaced everything. It was spotless, with no lingering smell of birth.
Jiang Tea Tea changed into loose pajamas—long sleeves, long pants—and sat cross-legged on the sofa, drinking dragon blood.
Behind her, Chong Ming stood with two cubs still gnawing on his horns, drying her long hair. Her hair was thick and black, and his movements were careful, gentle, almost painstaking.
Jiang Tea Tea looked calm on the surface, but inside she was shaken.
Her cubs were being born with no warning at all. Her belly cramped, and within two—maybe three—minutes, the cub was out.
Smooth as silk.
Maybe it was because her true body was sturdy. Maybe it was because the hatchlings were so tiny. Either way, she was sure nobody gave birth as easily as she did.
And that was exactly the problem.
If the third cub popped out just as smoothly, right in front of Chong Ming, it would be a full-scale social death scene.
Just imagining it made her shudder.
She wavered, caught in a miserable dilemma. Should she trust him a little and admit there were still three cubs in her belly?
Before she could decide, Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue arrived—with Sui Xuan Chu in tow.
Sui Xuan Chu walked in and immediately locked onto the two cubs on his uncle’s horns. His emotions surged like a tidal wave. In his mind, he screamed for his late dad, mom, grandfather, and grandmother to bless them.
Their Golden Dragon family wasn’t down to just him and his uncle anymore.
They were four now.
Two new brothers or sisters—oh my god. His uncle truly was the strongest, most terrifying existence in the Golden Dragon family. When he didn’t have cubs, he had none, but once he did, he went big—two at once.
With these cubs, who would still dare whisper that their Golden Dragon family couldn’t reproduce and was about to die out?
Hmph. Next time someone said it, he’d slap these two golden cubs right in their faces and let them know the Golden Dragon family had gone from two to four.
Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue exchanged a quick look when they saw the cubs. Under Chong Ming’s heavy, assessing stare, they bowed hurriedly, then went straight to Jiang Tea Tea.
“How do you feel?” Cheng Yuan asked. “Anything wrong?”
The question beneath the question was obvious.
Only two?
Were three hidden? Or were the other three simply not ready yet?
Jiang Tea Tea shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. It was fast. Two cubs—about half an hour apart.”
Both healers understood immediately.
Only two had been born so far. Three more were still inside, not ready to come out.
“Can I examine you?” Cheng Yuan asked gently. “And have Cheng Lin Yue examine the two Young Highnesses?”
Jiang Tea Tea refused to acknowledge Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming, kept him in the dark, and wouldn’t register a marriage. But her cubs belonged to the Golden Dragon Imperial Clan, and by their rules, they were Young Highnesses.
Holding her cup in one hand, she offered her wrist. “I feel fine. Nothing hurts.”
“Still,” Cheng Yuan said, “it’s better to check.”
Under the Commander-in-Chief’s death stare, Cheng Yuan stiffened and forced himself to take her pulse, using dark medical art.
Cheng Lin Yue pulled out her instruments, nerves plain on her face. Her gloved hands shook as she reached toward Chong Ming.
“Commander-in-Chief, p-please… give me the two Young Highnesses. I’ll examine them.”
The two cubs were shorter than Jiang Tea Tea’s two middle fingers and thinner than one. They had no scales yet, only shining gold from head to tail.
Chong Ming reached up and plucked them off his horns. Toothless and scaleless, they still looked fierce, baring their mouths at him as if they didn’t like him at all.
Sui Xuan Chu watched from the side with a heart so soft it nearly dissolved. Too cute. How could anything be this cute? Truly worthy cubs of the Golden Dragon family.
He wanted to bare his teeth at his uncle too, but he didn’t dare. His baby brother and sister were the brave ones.
Cheng Lin Yue cradled the cubs, thrilled and trembling, and turned toward the machine.
The cubs immediately hopped from her hands onto the floor and scurried toward Jiang Tea Tea, racing on four tiny claws like they were competing.
Cheng Lin Yue went pale. “Young Highness—!”
They reached Jiang Tea Tea’s feet and started climbing her leg—
And fate grabbed them by the throat.
Chong Ming.
Sui Xuan Chu felt his own neck tighten in sympathy. When he was little, his uncle had grabbed him by the throat too. His poor baby brother and sister were getting the same treatment.
Chong Ming held one cub in each hand and warned them, “Behave and get examined. After that, you can go to Mom.”
The cubs seemed to understand him… and ignored him anyway, twisting their tiny bodies in dramatic death rolls, trying to wriggle free.
Jiang Tea Tea coughed lightly. “Behave. Or I’ll smack you.”
Instantly, both cubs went limp, curling into two pitiful little balls.
Cheng Lin Yue’s hands shot out again, trembling with excitement.
Chong Ming set the two cub-balls into her palms. “Careful.”
Cheng Lin Yue nodded so hard she looked like her head might fall off. “Yes, yes, I know.”
The cubs went into the machine, and the exam began.
Sui Xuan Chu saw Jiang Tea Tea set her cup down and immediately lunged over, dropping onto the sofa beside her and grabbing her hand.
“Roommate, you’re incredible. You’re insane. You gave birth to two brother-sister cubs at once!”
“I’m so moved—sob… I’m so happy! Our Golden Dragon Imperial Clan finally isn’t just me and my uncle!”
“Roommate, you’re the greatest contributor to the Golden Dragon family. Don’t worry—leave raising my baby brother and sister to me. I swear I’ll raise them even better than I raised myself!”
Jiang Tea Tea yanked her hand back. “Roommate, don’t get carried away. Those cubs are mine. Mine alone.”
Sui Xuan Chu waved it off. “Yours, mine—it’s all the same. We’re family.”
“I’m not registered married to your uncle,” Jiang Tea Tea snapped. “I’m not family with you.”
Sui Xuan Chu slapped his thigh, whipped his head toward Chong Ming, and accused him with fearless audacity.
“Uncle, you’ve gone too far! My roommate has looks, a figure, and ability. She even gave you two cubs—how can you still refuse to register a marriage with her?”
Jiang Tea Tea’s scalp went numb.
Who said she wanted to register a marriage?
And now more and more people knew she’d given birth. How was she supposed to run? How was she supposed to hide the other three cubs?
Chong Ming’s gaze swept past Jiang Tea Tea and landed on Sui Xuan Chu. “Have you finished all the tasks I assigned you? With that loud mouth, do you want to skip class tomorrow?”
Sui Xuan Chu shot to his feet, defending his roommate’s dignity and status. Even under his uncle’s crushing pressure, he planted himself in front of Jiang Tea Tea.
“Imperial Uncle, don’t change the subject. My roommate already gave you two cubs. How can you still refuse to marry her?”
“Oh, I get it now,” he said, voice rising with righteous fury. “You think my roommate’s status isn’t noble enough and her abilities aren’t impressive enough.”
“You only want the brother-sister cubs—keep the kids, dump the mother—and you don’t want to take responsibility for my roommate!”