Chapter 176: The Bug and The Coati
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Crispy Noodles stayed in Li Du’s arms. Seeing the female doctor’s outreached hand, it retreated deeper into his embrace, as if trying to dig a hole.
Li Du pulled it out and said with a smile, "Hey, little guy, don’t be nervous. This is Sophie, Flagstaff’s most gentle and kind lady."
Hearing his words, the female doctor smiled as well. She pulled a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. "Thank you for your compliment. Seems like this baby doesn’t want me to come near it."
Li Du, perplexed, said, "I don’t know what’s going on with it. It’s like Ah Meow; besides me, it doesn’t want to have contact with anyone else.
Actually, they were not exactly the same. Ah Meow disliked contact with other people because it was just a proud little ocelot. Crispy Noodle, on the other hand, was afraid of other people.
Sophie asked, "I guess that when you met it, it was in danger? Or being tortured by some jerks?"
Li Du recounted the story of how he saved Crispy Noodles. After hearing the story, Sophie nodded and said, "The white-nosed coati has had an instinctual response similar to imprinting."
"Imprinting?"
"When a baby animal first opens its eyes, the first living thing that’s bigger than it that it sees it will imprint on as its mother."
Li Du was surprised. "What you mean? This child had made me its mother?"
Sophie couldn’t hold back her laughter. "No, these two responses are similar, but not the same. We could say that it has made you its guardian. The white-nosed coati is very sensitive, so whenever their life is threatened, whoever saves it, it’ll feel affectionate toward that person, and this will at the same time, remove any dangerous elements for it.
"In other words, in the future, this baby will be reliant on you, and remain fearful to all other humans."
Li Du massaged its head and said, "That’s quite pitiful of it."
"It’s okay. As time goes on, that fear will slowly dissipate," Sophie said.
Crispy Noodles reached out its tiny claws and held onto Li Du, and used its pink tongue to lightly lick his palm.
Sophie asked, "How much do you know about raccoons?"
Li Du shrugged. "Um, I know that its one of the most common animals in America. I also know that they like to roam around in cities, and that they like to eat fried fish, chips…"
"Then do you know that their waste is dangerous?"
Li Du shook his head. "I don’t."
"Then let me tell you now: the first thing that you have to do, is to buy a cage or a litter box, and teach it to go to the bathroom in there.
"Raccoon waste contains large amounts of roundworm eggs. If accidentally ingested, they will grow in the human body. They grow in the brain and eyes. There is currently no effective cure for it."
Li Du sucked in a breath of cool air. "That dangerous?"
Sophie assured him, "As long as it's not ingested. If just touched, it won’t be a problem."
He originally wanted to have dinner with the female doctor, but clearly, the more important task at hand was to potty-train Crispy Noodles. So he returned home.
There was a litter box at home, so he put Crispy Noodles on it to train it to poop there. Once Crispy Noodles stood on it, Ah Meow became mad, and jumped three feet high: "Meoww, Meoww!"
Crispy Noodles was so scared it couldn’t hold its bladder. It peed directly into the litter box.
Seeing this, Ah Meow became furious, and flashed its sharp claws to try to scratch Crispy Noodles.
Crispy Noodles tried to escape and tunneled into the bottom of the sofa, but that couldn’t stop Ah Meow, as it tunneled in as well closely behind.
The coati ran out again. With its tail behind its legs, it rushed to the decorative fireplace, and used its four paws to agilely grab onto the walls and climbed up.
However, the room belonged to Ah Meow. It was also good at climbing. Seeing that it was about to catch up to Crispy Noodles, Li Du grabbed Ah Meow quickly, once again saving Crispy Noodles’s life.
Ah Meow was even more enraged. Dad, what are you doing? Are you abandoning the old for a new love? I’ve already accepted that you want to raise another young one, but now it came to my territory and dirtied it, and it was trying to climb on top of my head!
As it kept screeching, Ah Meow began struggling and clawing all over the place. Soon, the carpet had turned into tattered rags.
Li Du had a headache; he shouted, "Stop! I’ll buy a new litter box for you!"
Due to the bug, Ah Meow was much smarter than an average animal. It could almost understand the words of Li Du, or, at least, the intentions of Li Du.
Besides getting a new litter box, Li Du also had to buy a new carpet, which Ah Meow had destroyed. If the female cop were to see this, there would probably be another cat-chasing war.
Footsteps were heard from outside the door; Li Du was worried that the female cop had come back, so he hastily tried to patch up the carpet and let the bug out to check who was outside.
After the bug came out, it didn’t fly toward the door, but instead burrowed into the head of Crispy Noodles!
Soon, the bug flew out again, and Li Du recalled it to see if anything about it had changed.
"Still two wings and four legs... no change?" Li Du said disappointedly.
But then, upon closer inspection, he realized that there was some change to the flying bug, which was that its wings had grown larger. The speed at which it could fly was faster.
If the previous maximum speed of the flying bug was considered a "walk," then the speed could be considered a "sprint" now.
Also, when the bug returned to his hand, Li Du felt more energetic.
These findings greatly excited him. Originally, he had accepted to take care of this little coati out of pity, but it had brought immense reward to him.
"‘As long as one strives to be a virtuous person, God will lend a helping hand!’" Li Du mumbled to himself happily.
Rose pushed open the door and entered. Ah Meow trembled slightly, and ran under the sofa.
As she took off her boots, the female cop casually said, "What did you just say? I heard you outside the door, I thought—D*mmit! What happened to my carpet!"
Seeing the tattered carpet, her eyes widened, and she shouted, "Ah Meow, come out! I’m going to cut you into pieces!"
Li Du said calmly, "What would you like to eat tonight? Just name it!"
The female cop seemed to change her face into someone else’s; the anger on her oval face swiftly changed into a delicate smile. "I see that you know what to do. I want meat, I want to eat meat!"
"Hand-rolled beef with cumin and chili powder—it’s superb!"
"Alright, I’ll go take a shower, you go prepare the food. La la la—D*mmit, what’s this thing in the fireplace?"
Crispy Noodles’s eyes opened even wider, its expression full of fear: If such a fearsome enemy like the ocelot was afraid of this bipedal monster, how scary could she be?
Thinking that, it ran to Li Du with its tail between its legs. It climbed up his leg and went into his embrace.
Li Du laughed and said, "This is my new pet, called Crispy Noodles."
The female cop said angrily, "What are you trying to do? It’s already enough that you have an ocelot, now a raccoon? And such an ugly one to boot? Why is its face so long?"
Li Du didn’t answer her. "It’s unappetizing if it's just meat. A pot of fresh, green tea and a plate of cold celery salad—that would make things more appetizing."
"Do you think this is something that can be resolved with just a meal?" The female cop asked harshly.
"Then what do you want?" Li Du asked.
"At least two meals!"
"Deal!"