We're Willing to Acknowledge Lou Yu as Our Father

--Other male snakes? Didn't they reproduce with your father?

The Little Snake shook its head. "Hiss..."

--My mother is the strongest snake in the neighborhood. She can lay her eggs with any male snake she wants; it doesn't have to be my father.

The Third Cub: "Chirp, chirp?"

--Won't your father be unhappy if your mother lays eggs with another male snake?

The Little Snake, its eyes full of confusion, hissed...

--Why are you unhappy? My dad also goes to other female snakes to lay eggs.

The Second Cub and Third Cub stared wide-eyed, their eyes filled with disbelief.

The Eldest Cub explained, "Chirp, chirp, chirp."

The Little Snake's parents mated to lay eggs, not because they liked each other, and they weren't a couple.

The Second Cub and Third Cub understood.

Just like in TV dramas, some people get together to have children; it's not always based on love that they marry and have children.

After the Green Python mother and her cubs left, Tao Qiu went outside on patrol, and the three cubs sat down together to cricket.

Second Cub: "The Little Snake's mother is going to find another male snake to lay eggs, so what about our father? Will he also go to find another bird or lay eggs with another bird?"

Eldest Cub: "Dad likes Lou Yu, so he probably won't go looking for other birds or people."

Third Cub: "But a person can't only like one person in their lifetime. Like in TV dramas, after the main character breaks up with their ex, they can find another partner."

Second Cub pondered for a moment, Second Cub suddenly realized. "If Daddy finds someone else or a bird, won't that mean there'll be another competitor vying with us for Daddy's attention?"

The Eldest Cub said, "It's not just one more, it's many more, because Daddy can also have children with that person, and with more children, we'll have more rivals."

Second Cub: "No!!!"

The Third Cub was also a little panicked. "What should we do? I don't want Dad to find someone else or a bird."

Second Cub fiddled with his fingers. "So, when you think about it, Lou Yu doesn't seem so bad after all. At least he's our father, and he's quite good to us."

Eldest Cub Third Cub: "I think so too."

The Eldest Cub suggested, "If Daddy shows us more pictures of Lou Yu later, let's just accept him as our father. Then we can be nice to Daddy together with Lou Yu, and we can monopolize him. Then Daddy won't have time to find other people to have babies with."

If Tao Qiu first showed the kids Lou Yu's photos, the kids, in their panic and confusion because they were afraid Tao Qiu would discover that they had secretly looked at the photos in the book, did not realize Tao Qiu's intentions.

On several occasions after that, even the slowest kids could sense Tao Qiu's intentions, because he was subtly guiding them with his words, not to mention that the kids were all exceptionally clever.

The reason I pretended to be clueless before was mainly because I didn't want to admit my relationship with Lou Yu so quickly.

They thought that once they recognized each other, they and Lou Yu would become family, and Lou Yu would be able to openly compete with them for their father's affection.

But it wasn't until today that the kids realized they were on the same team as Lou Yu. Even if there was internal competition within the team, it was nowhere near as scary as Tao Qiu finding them new and more formidable opponents.

The Second Cub nodded in agreement. "We'll act convincingly then, so Dad doesn't find out."

Third Cub said seriously, "If Dad finds out we were lying to him before, he'll definitely be angry, and if he's angry, he'll like us less."

The kids unanimously decided that when the time came, they must give it their all and not let their father have even the slightest suspicion!

But man proposes, God disposes. They were prepared, but for almost half a month afterward, Tao Qiu didn't show them any more photos of Lou Yu.

If they hadn't confirmed that Tao Qiu was unaware of their plan, they would have thought their father was deliberately keeping them in suspense.

Actually, it wasn't that Tao Qiu hadn't thought of showing the kids the photos; rather, his purpose had changed.

He had initially wanted to inspire his children to recognize Lou Yu on their own, hoping that they would be more accepting of him. He didn't want his children to develop a negative view of Lou Yu as their father.

But for some reason, the usually bright kids were inexplicably slow on this matter, unable to answer the question he was asking for.

Later, seeing how much the kids cared for Lou Yu, Tao Qiu felt that the kids still liked Lou Yu. Even if they couldn't accept it at first, they should be able to gradually adapt to Lou Yu's change of status because of the existing emotional foundation between them.

So he didn't want to guide them anymore, but instead wanted to tell the kids directly that Lou Yu was their other father.

Tao Qiu decided to speak at a suitable time.

Seeing that Tao Qiu hadn't taken any action, the kids decided to take the initiative.

It rained that day, so Tao Qiu didn't have to work in the fields or go out on patrol. There was also plenty of meat at home, so he could stay in the cave all day.

Tao Qiu lay in bed reading a book, but her gaze secretly fell on the children playing with toys next to her.

The kids seemed to be playing with a jigsaw puzzle, but their attention was always on Tao Qiu.

Finally, they all mustered their courage.

"My darlings!"

"Dad!"

Both spoke at the same time, then froze simultaneously.

They exchanged a glance, and the next second. "Baby/Daddy, you go first?"

Both sides. "..."

This was the first time the father and his three sons had ever been so embarrassed.

Finally, the Eldest Cub spoke up, "Dad, you go first. What do you want us to do?"

Tao Qiu's hard-won courage was shattered by this little incident, and she could only make up a flimsy excuse, "I just wanted to ask if you were hungry?"

The children all shook their heads. The Second Cub said, "It's only been two hours since we ate. We're not hungry. Dad, are you hungry?"

Tao Qiu smiled dryly, "Dad isn't hungry either, I was just asking. By the way, what do you want to say to Dad?"

The Third Cub said, "We've finished the puzzle, and we want to take a picture with our phones to commemorate it."

"Sure." Tao Qiu, without a second thought, picked up the phone next to her and handed it over. Eldest Cub Zai ran over and took it.

"Thank you, Dad."

"You're welcome."

The kids took the phone, snapped a few pictures haphazardly, then huddled together, pretending to discuss the photos.

Eldest Cub: "The character in the puzzle has purple eyes, just like Yuanyuan's eyes."

Second Cub: "There are differences too. Yuanyuan's eyes are like amethyst, bright and clear, while this character's eyes are a darker color. If we're talking about resemblance, I think Yuanyuan's eyes are more like Lou Yu's."

As soon as she said that, Tao Qiu paused, then her ears immediately perked up.

The three kids exchanged a furtive glance. The Eldest Cub chimed in, "Hmm? We've all seen Lou Yu's picture. His eyes are black. Xuexue, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

The Second Cub looked confused and exclaimed, "Really? I remember it being purple."

The Third Cub clenched their little hands, feigning composure, and said, "The phone is right here with us. We'll just look at it and see."

Second Cub said, "That's right, brother, find Lou Yu's picture, let's see who's right."

"Okay." The Eldest Cub agreed and went to find Lou Yu's photo.

They specifically chose a photo of Lou Yu that was closest to the phone camera.

The Eldest Cub said, "Xuexue, look, I wasn't wrong, his eyes are black."

"Huh? I remembered wrong? I don't believe it." The Second Cub took the phone from the Eldest Cub's phone, zoomed in on the photo, and pretended to be surprised and proud as if he were discovering it for the first time. He said, "Brother, I didn't remember wrong. Look closely, the edges of his pupils are purple, it's just not obvious, but it's the same color as my sister's eyes."

"Really?" The Eldest Cub Third Cub also moved closer to take a look, and then the Third Cub exclaimed in surprise, "It's true! Sister, you're so observant!"

Xuexue, hands on her hips, said, "Of course, I'm just that amazing."

After saying that, she ran towards Tao Qiu, phone in hand, as if to claim credit.

"Dad, Dad, didn't you know Lou Yu's eyes were purple? Was I the first to notice?"

Tao Qiu caught the Second Cub who pounced on her, her breathing quickening with excitement.

He never expected that the result he had always wanted would actually be achieved today in this way.

Tao Qiu feigned surprise. "Xuexue should be the first in our family to notice. I didn't even notice until you pointed it out. Lou Yu's pupils have purple edges. Xuexue, you're amazing!"

"Hehe." The Second Cub chuckled, his eyes narrowing.

The Eldest Cub Third Cub climbed onto the bed, as if they wanted to do the same after seeing their Second Cub praised by their father. Pointing anxiously at the photo of Lou Yu the phone, they said to Tao Qiu, "Dad, we're amazing too! We can tell you things you probably don't know."

Tao Qiu's smile was almost impossible to suppress, "Then what do you all think?"

Chapter 80 We are willing to acknowledge Lou Yu.

The Third Cub chimed in, "Dad, Lou Yu's eyebrows up to his eyes—they look just like his brother's!"

As she spoke, she gestured with her hand between Eldest Cub's and Lou Yu's eyebrows and eyes.

The Eldest Cub chimed in, "Lou Yu's nose is very similar to Yuanyuan's, a bit pointed, while Daddy's, Xuexue's, and my noses are round."

"And their mouths," the Third Cub said. "Lou Yu's mouth is like Xuexue's, rather thin. Our mouths and Dad's mouths are all quite fleshy."

The Eldest Cub added, "Lou Yu and Xuexue's chins are also similar, a bit long and a bit pointed."

After they finished speaking, they both looked at Tao Qiu expectantly. "Dad, didn't you notice any of this before?"

"Yes, if you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have even considered that possibility." Both father and son were acting very convincingly. "You two are so observant! You're both my clever little darlings."

Tao Qiu, unaware that the kids were acting, sighed inwardly. She thought, "The kids probably didn't notice before because they weren't paying attention. Now that there's competition, they've watched more closely and their analysis is so accurate."