Liu Zixuan had originally wanted to show off in front of the beauties in a flashy way, let them see how clever the blue leopard was.

But he never expected that the blue leopard once again raised its head and gave him a contemptuous look.

Huh, why "once again"?

Liu Zixuan pinched his forehead and thought carefully. Back when he first met this leopard, he’d already been despised by it several times.

The few beauties beside him saw this and immediately covered their mouths, snickering.

Doudou, on the other hand, slipped out of Liu Ruyan’s arms, waved at the blue leopard and said, "Little Blue, come here and say hi to the big sisters."

Something jaw-dropping happened: the blue leopard quickly got up, shook its body twice, and then walked over step by step with a very arrogant gait.

Liu Ruyan, Sister An, and Ying Qingning were definitely scared when they saw such a big guy, as any girls would be, but the blue leopard didn’t rush forward rudely. Instead, it squatted there very gently and slowly raised its front paw, stretching it out as if it were offering a hand for a handshake.

Doudou laughed. "Sister Ruyan, Little Blue is very gentle, it won’t bite. Go up and shake its paw."

Liu Ruyan hesitated for a moment, then carefully stepped forward and grabbed Little Blue’s paw. Little Blue didn’t move, looking extremely obedient. Seeing this, Sister An and Ying Qingning also went up to greet it.

Liu Zixuan stroked his chin and muttered, "This guy is definitely a pervert among leopards, otherwise there’s no way he’d become this tame as soon as he sees pretty girls."

"Shouldn’t that be a horny leopard?" Huang Youcai muttered from the side.

Liu Zixuan glared at him, annoyed. "Ever heard of a metaphor? No?"

"Fine, you’re the boss, whatever you say!" Huang Youcai curled his lips and walked inside first, muttering that he wanted to see what good food Sister Lian had prepared.

The few beauties were having a great time playing with Little Blue, and Liu Zixuan also squeezed over. But when he looked more carefully, he noticed Little Blue seemed a bit different from before.

Of course, Liu Zixuan felt that the change wasn’t that its size had gotten bigger, but that the blue on its body seemed to have faded a little, with faint traces of red mixed in, though not very eye‑catching.

And the two protruding things on Little Blue’s forehead had also grown a bit, vaguely like the antlers a deer has just sprouted.

"Has it done anything strange?" Liu Zixuan asked.

Doudou pouted and thought for a bit. "It really has. About a month and a half ago it suddenly went on a hunger strike. I tried all kinds of ways, even all its favorite foods, but it wouldn’t eat. I was so worried I cried, afraid it would die. But after a week it actually went back to normal."

"On hunger strike for a week? No food, no water?" Liu Zixuan asked in surprise.

"Yeah, not even a sip of water." Doudou nodded. "But ever since that day I’ve always felt something about it changed, but no matter how I studied it, I couldn’t figure out what exactly changed."

"Just that one time?"

"No, there was another time half a month ago, same hunger strike. And it disappeared for a whole day and night." Doudou hugged Little Blue’s neck and said distressedly, "When it came back, it had some wounds on its body too."

Liu Zixuan stepped forward to take a closer look and frowned. "Even if it had wounds, they couldn’t have completely vanished in just half a month."

"That’s what I thought was weird too. I was even thinking about finding a vet for it, but who knew, after less than two days those wounds just disappeared." Doudou looked up and asked, "Brother Xuan, what on earth is going on?"

"Do you know where it went during that missing day and night?"

Doudou shook her head. "It came back from the direction of the neighboring village. I asked Huang Youcai to take me over there to look around, but we didn’t find the slightest trace of anything."

The direction of the neighboring village... Liu Zixuan thought carefully. He had originally brought Little Blue out from the mountains of that neighboring village. Could it be that on that missing day and night, Little Blue went back to where it used to be?

Seeing Liu Zixuan frown, Doudou immediately got anxious. She hurried over and shook his arm, asking, "Brother Xuan, what’s wrong?"

Liu Zixuan glanced at Doudou, then walked over to Little Blue’s side and grinned slyly. "Little Blue, did you go into heat or something, ran off that day to have a date with some other leopard?"

"Roar!" Little Blue let out a low roar, thick with dissatisfaction.

Liu Zixuan scratched his head. "Don’t tell me you’re a weirdo who doesn’t like leopards? Did you set your sights on the sow at Auntie Zhang’s place at the west end of the village?"

"Roar!"

Little Blue suddenly raised a paw and shoved Liu Zixuan, making him stagger backward.

Such a mighty posture was a huge contrast to how gentle it had been in front of the beauties just now, but it also showed that this leopard really could understand human speech!

The play‑fighting between man and leopard made the beauties beside them burst into laughter.

Liu Zixuan got up, extremely displeased. "You gotta be kidding me. A little brat of a leopard dares lay a paw on me? You’ve really grown some nerve!"

"Brother Xuan, you’re not allowed to bully Little Blue!"

Just as Liu Zixuan was about to give the blue leopard a good lesson, Doudou directly stood in front of him.

Liu Zixuan was instantly helpless. What made him feel even more helpless was that Little Blue, hiding behind Doudou’s back, actually shot him another look full of contempt.

"What are you all standing in the yard for? Hurry up and come inside!"

At this extremely awkward moment, Sister Lian walked out from the house, smiling as she spoke.

Liu Ruyan took Sister An and Ying Qingning over and started introducing them to Sister Lian. There were naturally a lot of topics between women, and in no time they were already very familiar with one another.

Liu Zixuan couldn’t be bothered to keep squabbling with Little Blue. He went back into the house, saw the table filled with fruits and seeds, and casually grabbed a handful to munch on.

"Sister Lian, you and Doudou have been living at the clinic this whole time?"

"We’re used to living there, and I don’t want to move back and forth. It’s a hassle." Sister Lian put down what she was doing, sat by the table, and said with a smile, "I just figured you’d all come back for the New Year. The rooms upstairs have already been tidied up for you. Go up and get some rest. At noon the village is having a Hundred‑Family Feast!"

"Where’s the Hundred‑Family Feast being held?" Liu Ruyan asked.

"At the factory canteen. That’s the only place big enough to fit all of us." Sister Lian stood up as she spoke. "You all rest. I’ll go over and give them a hand."

"Then let’s go help too. It’s not that tiring coming over from Ghost Wood City anyway." Liu Ruyan suggested.

The beauties left with Doudou in tow. Huang Youcai, cigarette dangling from his mouth, asked, "Brother Xuan, the women are all off working. Should we go have some fun at Zhu Yi’s manor?"

Liu Zixuan raised an eyebrow. "You go ahead first. I suddenly feel like taking a walk somewhere."

"Where to?" Huang Youcai asked curiously, obviously wanting to tag along.

Liu Zixuan thought for a moment. He’d already been to that place before anyway, so it was no big deal to bring Huang Youcai. "Alright then, go unclip Little Blue’s chain. We’ll take it with us."