Beloved Little Beast, No Cuddling Allowed

[New novel now underway: My Nonhuman Husband Was Raised on Love and Care] A Classic of Mountains and Seas food story. If you're interested, moms, please help this little author out with a bookmark (//▽//) Zhu Deng Deng was the only baby Zhulong in the world, born at the dawn of creation and destined to live as long as Heaven itself. He was precious beyond measure. On his first day in the human world, he followed the example of a little kitten and brought his own cardboard box. Resting his soft, chubby cheeks in his hands, he blinked his big eyes and crouched inside, begging someone to take him in. Once his grubby little face was wiped clean, it revealed a snowy, adorable face. When his eyes curved into a smile, he looked like a little glutinous rice cake, with two sweet dimples that made him utterly lovable. Lucky Deng Deng curled up in his cardboard box and was taken home by a family of four. The four members of the family looked respectable enough, but they were struggling in human society. They lived in a shabby little house and ate nothing but vegetable leaves every day. Yet even this down-on-their-luck family had a big brother who would overcome his social anxiety to take the little one to a packed amusement park. He looked horrified the whole time, but still wanted the baby to have a happy childhood. The stingy second brother pulled a handful of crumpled bills from his pocket, trembling as he counted them out one by one, just to send the little one to school. The third brother, obsessed with collecting junk, painfully sold off his precious collection to buy the little one some candy. The youngest brother, who was always crawling around in the shadows, heard people laugh at the little one's lack of a schoolbag. Ever the capable homemaker, he picked up a needle and thread and used the same lightning-fast hands he'd spent twenty years using to stab little paper dolls to sew the baby a cloth bag. Zhu Deng Deng: My brothers are so good to me. I have to make lots of money and take care of them when I grow up. QAQ · At the night market, the little one helped his second brother sell things. Holding a megaphone, he called out in a soft voice, "Come buy odds and ends! Everything is two yuan! You won't lose out or get cheated..." He turned away, stubbornly wiped his tears, and continued calling out sweetly to customers. Clenched fist.jpg The brothers felt heartbroken when they saw him. They gathered around to comfort him gently. "There's no need, no need, little one. Our family has money." The baby shook his head bravely. "I know all about it! Sob, sob. I promise I'll be good to you when I grow up, brothers. QAQ" Brothers: ...? · Then one day, a group of monsters kidnapped the little one. The big brother, a shut-in obsessed with video games, transformed into the divine beast Bai Ze. With a wave of his hand, all the beasts answered his call. The stingy second brother, who was chased off the overpass by city inspectors every day, roared and transformed into a money-gobbling Pixiu. "Awoo!" He swallowed the monsters whole. The third brother, obsessed with collecting junk, brought out his battered old banner. He waved it, and the gates of the underworld swung open as ghosts howled out. The youngest brother, who crawled around in the shadows every day, transformed into a colossal serpent that reached to the sky. All nine heads opened their enormous, blood-red jaws. Little one: ...? ★ Reader notice ◆ This story contains many original interpretations of the source material. The writing is amateurish, and there may be plot holes and lapses in logic. Please forgive them. ◆ The guardians have romance plotlines, and the baby will too, but there will be no dating before adulthood. The focus is on raising the baby. ◆ More to be added as I think of it. ◆ Here's a preview of my next novel, My Nonhuman Husband Was Raised on Love and Care. If you're interested, please add it to your collection! OV< Kong Xuan, the only true peacock god in the world. He lived a carefree, unrestrained life, picking fights with Heaven, Earth, gods, and demons alike. Then came the Age of Declining Dharma. The gods and Buddhas vanished, and when he awoke, gods and demons were a thing of the past. Now they lay low while humans ruled the world. A green peacock with tail feathers as gorgeous as his would be sent to a zoo for humans to gawk at! Kong Xuan: !!! After less than two seconds of agonizing over it, Kong Xuan decided to take the initiative. He would find a private restaurant where he could freeload (crossed out) and get a job! He'd heard it had an incredibly handsome and kind owner, as well as amazingly fragrant staff meals. It had won the hearts of countless humans and monsters. But... This restaurant was so poor! The owner's cooking was incredible. Kong Xuan could smell it from five miles away and would rush back, drooling, to stuff himself. But the place was as if the world had blocked it out. Not only was it deserted, there was no trace of it online either. And it got even worse! In human society, people had to pay mortgages. The monthly payments on the restaurant were crushing, and the owner could barely keep it afloat by doing online side jobs. Seeing how hard things were, Kong Xuan, a beautiful and kind green peacock, stepped forward! If food for humans wouldn't sell, why not sell food for monsters? What about Feiyi, a two-meter-tall creature that brings drought? Make it into sweet-and-sour Feiyi strips. What about Qin Yuan, a fist-sized wasp that kills anyone it stings? Put it on a skewer and deep-fry it! And what about the Heluo Fish, with nine fish tails, that comes ashore at night to abduct children? Boil it into Heluo Fish with pickled vegetables! Chop them up and heat the oil! · Lu Ya was the Monster Administration's human-shaped weapon, aloof and chaste, ruthless in battle, and a defender of world peace for many years. After retiring, he fulfilled his wish of opening a little shop for a quiet life. Then, like an old house catching fire, he fell in love at first sight with a bright, flamboyant, handsome young man. Before he could make a move, his future partner showed up at his door. His clothes were shabby and he was a complete mess, like a little stray who'd just been in a fight. Only his eyes were bright and dazzling. The first thing he asked was, "Do you want a husband?" Lu Ya managed to stay composed for less than three seconds. "Yes, yes, yes!" · To support his handsome partner, he took off his uniform, put on an apron, and embarked on a second career. The shop got busier and busier, and the ingredients Lu Ya cooked with grew stranger and stranger. Huge fish with ten tails, chickens with three heads, birds that could speak human language... Every day, he cooked and fought monsters. Every day, he ate five, six, seven, or even eight meals, until his handsome young man was glowing with health. Until one day, the gods and Buddhas descended, and the world fell into chaos. Lu Ya rushed to the front lines to save the world. His long blade was stained with demon blood as monsters tore through the scene. Forced to leave his partner behind, he went to face death alone. But beneath the apocalypse, the sky was filled with blue-green feathers. The handsome, flamboyant young man looked at him with a teasing glint in his eyes, his gorgeous tail feathers wrapped around Lu Ya's wrists and ankles... He tangled with the gods and demons. Their eyes reddened, their voices feigning hurt as they concealed a boundless malice. "Where are you running off to?" "Darling, come give me a kiss before the sky falls." ★ Reader notice ◆ A Classic of Mountains and Seas food story. This novel contains many original interpretations, and the entire setting is fictional. ◆ One-on-one romance, both leads have no prior romantic or sexual experience, happy ending. ◆ More to be added as I think of it. Theme: People are good by nature at birth