Lu Mingming sprinted back to her hotel room and, with trembling hands, opened the door with the room card from her bag.
On her way back, the little white tiger had replied to Lu Mingming's star network account.
It was two cute dynamic kitten emoticons.
The first showed a small white cat sleeping soundly on a pillow, curled up into a tiny ball on a velvet pillow, the cat smaller than the pillow.
The second emoticon was the white cat waking up, sticking out its pink tongue to scoop food from its bowl.
Lu Mingming finally relaxed after the anxiety of the entire competition.
The little Samoyed in Lu Mingming's arms, during the bumpy journey, calmly stared at the two kitten emoticons on the light blue star network screen, the corners of its mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.
When it came to feigning ignorance, Morian truly admired that Highness.
He had just played the hero to save the damsel in distress in front of Lu Mingming, striking down the first bird to establish his authority. After doing all that, he had gone to great lengths to use his mental power to sprint back to the hotel room. It must have been hard work for him.
"I'm back!"
The moment Lu Mingming opened the door, she shouted happily and loudly into the room.
Hearing the call, the little white tiger lifted its small head from its milk bowl.
It seemed the cub had not yet recovered from waking up, with little specks of milk stains on the pure white fuzz around its mouth.
Its usually large, ice-blue eyes were slightly narrowed, giving the illusion that it could fall into the milk bowl at any moment.
Seeing those eyes, a thought suddenly flashed through Lu Mingming's mind, but she quickly dismissed it.
It was too absurd.
After all, one was a powerful and wealthy magnate, and the other was a cub suffering from the torment of a regressive gene disease. The two beast-humanoids had no connection whatsoever.
Lu Mingming placed the little Samoyed on the soft bed.
Having spent a boring morning at the competition venue, the cub finally had time to rest, essentially falling asleep instantly amidst the layers of soft bedding.
He wasn't sleepy, he just didn't want to witness the "superb" acting of a certain genius.
Lu Mingming pulled out a skin-friendly wet wipe from her bag, reached out to wipe away the milk stains from the little white tiger's face, and said with a light chuckle, "Did you not sleep well last night? You're so sleepy today."
The cub tilted its head, obediently letting Lu Mingming wipe it gently.
Hearing Lu Mingming's question, it didn't give a clear response. Instead, it skillfully used its small paws to hold onto her wrist, nudging into Lu Mingming's embrace as if to act spoiled.
Lu Mingming couldn't help but smile and tease, "You're so clingy to your sister now. What will you do if you find a little tiger you like in the future?"
They say a day apart feels like three autumns, but Lu Mingming felt that the little white tiger's behavior was like three years apart for a single day.
Upon hearing her words, the little white tiger's pupils rippled, and it stared directly at Lu Mingming without speaking or moving.
It was impossible to tell if it was sad or thinking.
Lu Mingming felt inexplicably flustered.
Under such sincere gaze, her thoughts were drifting in an uncontrollable direction.
Lu Mingming quickly cut off her train of thought and changed the subject.
"I haven't shared the good news with you yet."
Lu Mingming held the little tiger in her arms and lay back, pretending to be mysterious, her fingertips gently stroking the faint fetal hair still on its soft, white belly.
"Today, your sister won first place in the first round of the competition. Even if there's only one spot, I'm definitely going to the second round."
Although Orlannar knew this news, his eyes still lit up.
The cub happily rolled over between Lu Mingming's legs, its two cute little paws opening and closing together as if clapping to celebrate.
Lu Mingming, finding it incredibly cute, couldn't resist scratching the cub's wet nose with her finger.
"There's a second round of competition tomorrow, and Tangyuan and I will go together. Xuegao will stay at the hotel to rest."
The little Samoyed heard its name and looked up.
Seeing that the little white tiger had finally finished being clingy, it showed a sweet, angelic smile and slowly walked to Lu Mingming's side, rubbing its round head against Lu Mingming's arm, leaving its scent.
Then, the two cubs sat side by side, and Lu Mingming began to recount the day's competition and unexpected events.
By the end of the story, Lu Mingming let out a sigh of relief, exclaiming, "Fortunately, that magnate presented evidence to clear my name. Otherwise, the aftermath of this incident would have dragged on for a long time."
Xuegao instinctively glanced in the direction of the little white tiger.
Although the other party appeared to be listening intently to Lu Mingming's story, the pinkish hue in its ears couldn't hide its shyness.
Well, its thick skin was underestimated by one level.
Lu Mingming, not noticing the interlude between the cubs, voiced her long-held, unresolved question to the two little ones.
Lu Mingming primarily couldn't understand why the Nine-tailed Fox was targeting her so intensely.
The little Samoyed and the little white tiger exchanged glances, remaining unfazed.
In reality, both cubs knew the answer. It wasn't the first time the Nine-tailed Fox had targeted Lu Mingming. It was fundamentally the obsession with winning first place that had deeply rooted itself, leading the Nine-tailed Fox to make such choices.
The previous ban was also an action taken by the Nine-tailed Fox, which is why the little white tiger was extremely resistant to the Nine-tailed Fox actively initiating friendship.
Finally, blaming Lu Mingming and getting slapped in the face, resulting in the punishment of being unable to enter the livestreaming industry, the two cubs didn't feel it was excessive; in fact, they thought it was lenient.
However, these thoughts couldn't be clearly communicated to Lu Mingming, so both cubs chose to quietly swallow them in their hearts.
After a brief rest, the official platform of Tianhe sent information about tomorrow's second round of competition.
The second round of the competition primarily tested: the streamers' various skills in caring for cubs.
Typically, the second round would involve drawing lots from a pre-arranged list of numbers to receive the second round's competition topic on the spot.
This meant that any outcome was possible, as long as it fell within the scope of cub-caring skills.
The second round often indicated which streamer could stand out from the crowd, making it a particularly important round.
The further the competition progressed towards the main planet, the more crucial the second round became.
For contests on smaller planets like Xingfu Star, the second round often involved cooking and bathing for canines and felines.
Lu Mingming wasn't nervous at all; she had some confidence in this area.
Even if she were nervous, it would be useless because Lu Mingming didn't have any free time to practice more, so it was better to rest well.
It wasn't yet time for dinner, so Lu Mingming lay on the bed and opened the star network.
There was a small red dot indicating a friend request in her backend applications.
Lu Mingming clicked it open, and the avatar of a little blue parrot thoroughly revealed the other party's identity.
Her eyes softened unconsciously. She quickly accepted the request and noted the other party as "Huahua."
Fearing the cub might be shy, Lu Mingming proactively sent a cute parrot sticker pack.
The little white tiger beside her saw this and lay on the bed with a闷闷 (mèn mèn - sulky/闷闷不乐) expression, burying its entire face in its arms, only its eyes visible.
There was nothing it could do. They were actual cubs, after all. What else could it say?
Perhaps the cub was still resting after returning to the nursery, so it didn't log in to reply to Lu Mingming quickly.
She wasn't in a hurry and slowly exited the message interface. The pinned chat box, previously dominated by Jasmine and ALnr, now had Huahua added.
Lu Mingming hesitated before clicking on the chat box with ALnr and silently changed the contact's name to Orlannar.
After making the change, Lu Mingming realized that the other party's star network account was an abbreviation of their name.
She cleared her throat slightly to relieve her tension, then pressed the voice key and sent a message:
"Hello, this is Streamer Mingming. Thank you again for your help in the first round competition just now. If you need any assistance, I am always ready."
After sending the message, it wasn't read and replied to instantly like last time. Instead, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response.
In a place Lu Mingming wasn't looking.
The little white tiger cautiously retracted its paws and tightly covered its optical computer.
Fortunately, it had been smart last time and turned off its sound and vibration, otherwise, its identity would have been exposed today.
After waiting for five minutes, there was still no message.
Lu Mingming forcefully suppressed a hint of subtle disappointment.
She persuaded herself that the magnate must be busy with other matters, otherwise, they wouldn't have been so rushed when they left.
Realizing the peculiar shift in her mindset, Lu Mingming turned over, gently embracing the two cubs with her arms, and unconsciously said, "Babies, if sister falls in love, what will you do?"
This sentence was like dropping a torpedo into a calm lake, not only causing turbulent waves to spread across the water but also killing the fish in the lake.
The usually exceptionally calm little Samoyed, for the first time, struggled out of Lu Mingming's embrace with a solemn expression, conveying its silent refusal.
How awkward would it be to watch Lu Mingming being intimate with that man? Unacceptable!
The little white tiger frantically pushed Lu Mingming's arm with its little paws to object, its eyes wet, its heart feeling hollow and uncomfortable.
Absolutely not!
Its mental sea seemed to have returned to the time of its first contact with the regressive gene disease, and its emotions became very agitated.
The little white tiger's current mood was like a white sheet scribbled chaotically with colored pens.
One side was filled with red violence, wanting to confront that man.
The other side felt sour and swollen, like a steamed bun soaked in water, filled with loss and grievance.
Who was it, that had entered Lu Mingming's heart without anyone noticing?