No bullying my dad

"Chirp..." The little girl was filled with regret. She realized that her father was teasing her on purpose, and she angrily gave him a light peck.

"Chirp chirp..."

--Dad was a bad guy just now...

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The unscrupulous old father laughed until tears streamed down his face.

Did the little ones finish watching all six episodes of the cartoon tonight? After listening to Tao Qiu's bedtime story and watching three more episodes of the cartoon, their eyelids are already glued shut.

Before falling asleep, Erzai didn't forget to say to Tao Qiu, "Chirp, chirp."

--Three episodes left, Dad, you can't cheat.

Tao Qiu gently stroked her feathers and coaxed her softly, "Daddy remembers, I won't go back on my word, sleep peacefully."

Tao Qiu only slowly closed her eyes after all three children had fallen asleep.

It's a good thing that the Eldest Cub has turned into a human, but because it's still in cub form, it's unsteady on its feet and can't fly, making it difficult to move around in this environment.

As a result, the Eldest Cub seemed to have returned to the state it had just hatched from, needing Tao Qiu's help to eat, walk, and travel to and from the bottom of the cave.

Human cubs have delicate feet that are easily injured, but there weren't any suitable shoes at home for the time being, so Tao Qiu cut up a bed sheet to wrap around his feet. As long as he didn't walk on those pebbly paths, he could move around in the cave and on the grass without any problems.

It rained that morning, and with the clouds blocking the sun, it wasn't too hot, so Tao Qiu and her three children went to play at the bottom of the valley.

Tomorrow, the 15th, is Erzai's birthday, and Tao Qiu is asking her what she wants to eat tomorrow.

Perhaps it was the cooler weather that improved his appetite, because Erzai listed a string of foods.

The same as my brother's platter, radish and meat soup, boiled pear water, braised meat, roasted meat, roasted sweet potato, cold sweet potato leaf salad, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

The little boy drooled as he spoke, as if he had already devoured all the delicious food.

Tao Qiu agreed to all of them, and after the second son finished speaking, he asked the Third Cub.

Third Cub squatted on Tao Qiu's shoulder and thought for a while before speaking.

Sweet potato pancakes, stir-fried meat, tomatoes with sugar, and radish soup.

After telling Tao Qiu what he wanted to eat, the Third Cub looked at her with starry eyes and called out, "Chirp, chirp?"

--Can Dad feed me my longevity noodles?

Tao Qiu said, "Of course, all three of you were fed by your father. Once you grow up and become human, you'll be able to eat by yourselves using chopsticks."

The Third Cub chirped happily.

Thank you, Dad.

Because the second child ordered a lot of food, Tao Qiu started preparing dinner at noon the next day. Actually, the most time-consuming part was the food platter tower.

The three kids were helping out too, especially the Eldest Cub, who, now that he has hands, can even chop vegetables.

Tao Qiu was worried that he might cut himself, so Eldest Cub initially refused to let him chop vegetables. However, Da Zai was adamant. Although he couldn't speak yet, Tao Qiu couldn't bring herself to refuse him when he looked at her with those pitiful green eyes that resembled her own.

There's nothing I can do but advise him to cut more slowly.

Because they were going to eat a platter tower, and food spoils easily in the summer, Tao Qiu made smaller portions of the dishes Erzai ordered to ensure they could finish them all that night.

When we sang the birthday song, Erzai sang along too, and he sang it the loudest.

After she finished singing, she leaned close to her phone screen, proudly puffed out her chest, and gave a little kiss.

--Today is my first birthday, I'm so happy, so happy! I hope that when you see this video in the future, I'll be incredibly happy too!

Looking at her smug yet adorable second son, Tao Qiu's eyes were overflowing with affection and happiness.

The Third Cub hatched relatively late, seven days after the second cub.

These next few days will also be enough for the three of them to finish watching the cartoon episodes that the Eldest Cub and second sons obtained through their birthday wishes.

The Eldest Cub has been trying to transform back into bird form these days, but with little success.

Tao Qiu always comforted him, telling him not to worry.

Unable to revert to human form for the time being, the Eldest Cub finds other things to do, such as learning how to speak human language.

Besides daily interactions with Tao Qiu, watching cartoons is also a way to learn.

After waking up from her afternoon nap, Tao Qiu was too lazy to get out of bed, so she leaned against the headboard and started reading.

Before he could even finish reading a few pages, his Eldest Cub, who had woken up sometime earlier, climbed onto his lap, wrapped his arms around his neck, and looked at him with a beaming smile. Then, opening his mouth, which only had a few baby teeth, he softly called out, "Papa..."

The child's voice was tender and soft, and the breath that accompanied his voice fell on Tao Qiu's face like kitten paw prints in the snow, playful yet endearing.

Perhaps because it was the first time he had used that title, Eldest Cub's tone was a little unsteady, but Tao Qiu could still hear and understand that he was calling him "Dad."

The chirping of a baby bird is ultimately different from human speech. The Eldest Cub's cry of "Dad" seemed to be a reaffirmation of Tao Qiu's past human identity, like a clear spring washing away the dust from her memory, making the beauty of her past life even clearer and more vivid.

The Eldest Cub raised his hand and wiped away the moisture from Tao Qiu's eyes. This time, his pronunciation was more accurate.

He said, "Daddy... don't cry..."

Tao Qiu held Eldest Cub's little hand, nodded and promised not to cry, but tears still streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Sorry, Dad got a little emotional, he might need to vent."

Upon hearing this, the Eldest Cub stopped talking and simply hugged his father tightly, just as his father had comforted him before, gently patting his back with his little hands.

Chapter 52 Don't Bully My Dad

Having been immersed in the language environment created by Tao Qiu in the previous year, coupled with Eldest Cub's strong learning ability and his ability to grasp everything, his vocabulary increased rapidly every day after he learned how to use the human throat to pronounce words.

On Third Cub's birthday, he even sang a birthday song to Third Cub in human language.

After dividing the tiered tower into equal parts, the Third Cub, like the Second Cub, started recording his feelings on his phone screen.

Today is the 22nd, my birthday. Dad made me lots of delicious food and fed me longevity noodles, saying he hopes I grow up healthy and live a very long time. Dad, my older brother, and my older sister also sang me a birthday song, which was really nice.

Dad says this day is my birthday every year. I hope that next year and the year after that, Dad and my older brother and sister can celebrate my birthday with me every year.

--See you next year!

Tao Qiu pressed the stop button on the video recording and said to the Third Cub, "Let's play this video again next year when Yuanyuan celebrates her birthday, and see how everyone is different this year, okay?"

"Chirp chirp!" The Third Cub nodded happily.

--Okay, okay!

Summer days are long, and it's not dark yet after dinner. The temperature drops in the evening, so Tao Qiu and her children cool off on the platform.

Tao Qiu was reading a book, but the kids weren't watching cartoons; instead, they were chatting together.

The Second Cub asked in a small voice, "Chirp, chirp? Chirp?"

--Brother, how did you become human? Why haven't my sister and I changed yet?

The Third Cub chirped, "Chirp, chirp, chirp."

--My brother turned into a little bird on his birthday, but my sister and I have already celebrated our birthdays and we're still little birds.

The Eldest Cub can't speak in long sentences yet, only one or two words at a time, like "hungry, sleepy, hot, for several days."

The Second Cub Third Cub recalled that the Eldest Cub was indeed like this before he transformed into human form: he loved to eat and sleep, and was afraid of the heat.

Second Cub thought about himself lately and felt a little disappointed. "Chirp chirp."

--I'm pretty much the same as before.

The Third Cub: "Chirp chirp."

Me too.

The Eldest Cub stretched out its chubby little hand and, imitating Tao Qiu, gently stroked its two younger sisters' feathers, saying, "It will change, don't worry."

The Second Cub and Third Cub knew they couldn't rush things, but knowing is easier than doing. Every time they saw their father holding their human-shaped older brother, they were very envious.

These past few days, Tao Qiu, worried that they might feel unbalanced, has often transformed back into her bird form to play hide-and-seek with them. Their father is no different from before; he still loves each and every one of them.

But this still couldn't extinguish the chicks' determination to become human.

Tao Qiu's eyes were on the book, but her ears were listening to the children's conversation.

He wasn't unaware of his Second Cub and Third Cub's desires, but as their father, there was nothing he could do to help. All he could do was try to make them happy.

"My darlings," Tao Qiu called out with a smile, "Come here, Daddy will read to you."

"Good."

"Chirp chirp."

The Eldest Cub stood up and walked step by step toward Tao Qiu. The Second Cub and Third Cub could have flown directly into Tao Qiu's arms, but fearing that their brother might fall, they insisted on protecting him until Tao Qiu took the Eldest Cub's hand.

Tao Qiu also waited patiently in place, not running over to pick up the Eldest Cub just because he was walking slowly.

This gives the Eldest Cub a chance to practice and also helps them develop a closer relationship.

Pulling the three children into his arms, Tao Qiu began to read aloud. His pronunciation was clear and his voice was gentle. Even though what he was saying wasn't the content of the book but just casual conversation, it was still pleasant to listen to.

The children were already used to Tao Qiu's voice and quickly became engrossed in listening until night fell, at which point Tao Qiu finally put the book away.

In the following days, Second Cub would pay attention to whether his appetite had increased after each meal. Unfortunately, he would only eat a couple more pieces of meat and fruit at most, far less than Eldest Cub.

The duration of sleep remained the same, and the body temperature was also the same as before.

Just as Second Cub was beginning to have doubts, wondering if it was like the three of them—the different colors of the baby's feathers, and the fact that not every baby could inherit their father's ability to transform into human form—she was caught off guard and transformed into human form.

It was the middle of the night when Second Cub had a dream. She dreamt that her father and she went to some place. There was a door in that place, and only people in human form could enter; birds were not allowed to go in.

The father tried to carry her away, but was inexplicably sucked into the door. The Second Cub desperately lunged at the door, but was bounced back each time.

She heard her father calling her name from inside, saying that some bad guys were bullying him and that she should go in and save her.