Deep affection knows no origin; remember the polar bear's love for you.

Chapter 13 The Not-So-Clever Round-Faced Plate Bear
When Guo Mi woke up again, it was morning. She slowly sat up, patted her face with her paws, and looked at the rising sun outside, marveling at how good the bear's sleep quality was.

She had never slept for so long in her entire life.

Sleeping for so long eliminates the need for eating, saving her a lot of trouble. If it weren't for the risk of starving to death from not eating for so long, she would simply sleep every day!
I vaguely remember that polar bears seem to sleep longer than brown bears.

Guo Mi looked down and saw that the two white fur balls were indeed still fast asleep.

After sleeping for so long, it's time to wake up. Guo Mi sat down and patted the two fur balls on the head with her front paws!
Perhaps she didn't control the force well, because just as she was about to pat it a second time, the little bear was already startled awake. The two white fur balls had turned into two puffed-up fur balls, jumping up and looking around in panic.

Seeing that the two furballs didn't seem to realize they were behind them, Guo Mi chuckled mischievously, carefully put her front paws back on the ground, lay down, stretched her neck, and blew a sharp breath behind the two bear cubs!

The little bear let out a strange cry and hugged each other!
"Hahahaha-"

Guo Mi was amused and leaned back in the cave, clutching her stomach with her paws and laughing heartily.

The two little bears then realized what had happened, huddled in the corner, their tiny beady eyes looking at her timidly, their little eyes filled with accusation of her bad behavior.

Guo Mi stopped laughing after she had finished and looked at the sky outside.

The weather looks much better today than the past two days. Hmm, it's a good day to look for food!

Guo Mi climbed out of the cave, looked around, and then chose a direction and walked straight out.

The two bear cubs inside the cave looked at each other for a moment, then their eyes hardened. They struggled to climb out of the cave and followed Guo Mi at a distance.

Guo Mi heard the noise but didn't chase them away, letting them follow behind her.

A beautiful day brought good luck. When she saw the shimmering water in the distance, Guo Mi stopped abruptly. She blinked, afraid that she was seeing things because her eyes had been hurt by the light reflected from the snow after being in the snow for so long.

After finally confirming that it was a water source, Guo Mi cheered inwardly and ran wildly on all fours towards the direction reflecting the light!
The two bear cubs behind, not understanding what was going on, also ran wildly after Guo Mi!
Unfortunately, this was just a small lake that had thawed prematurely due to the arrival of spring, not the sea that Guo Mi most wanted to see.

Even so, Guo Mi was already very satisfied!
The shimmering water was within reach. Guo Mi took small steps to the lakeside and tentatively stepped on the edge.

Only after confirming that she wasn't stepping on unstable ice floes did she feel comfortable stepping onto them completely.

This lake isn't very large, about the size of two football fields. Only the edges are starting to melt, and there are still some ice floes in the center that haven't completely melted.

Guo Mi lowered her head, sniffed the lake water, and a salty, astringent smell wafted up.

She was still a little unwilling to give up, so she stuck out her tongue and licked it again.

In an instant, the extreme saltiness and bitterness swept through the entire mouth from the tip of the tongue!
Guo Mi's entire bear-like face scrunched up. She quickly took a bite of snow from the side, and after swallowing several mouthfuls of snow, the fishy, ​​salty, and bitter taste finally subsided.

She was disheartened and sat by the lake, touching her stomach, which was still cold from swallowing snow, and looked at the saltwater lake in front of her with a troubled expression.

If this lake is a saltwater lake, it means that it is connected to the sea and is bottomless.

This also means that what they are standing on is most likely not the ground, but glaciers formed by the compaction and recrystallization of snow accumulated over many years.

No land means no plants; let alone wild berries, Guo Mi can't even eat grass!

Bears are very resistant to hunger, but in such a icy and snowy place, if she can't find food, she won't be able to maintain the fat on her body, and in the end, even if she doesn't starve to death, she will freeze to death.

Guo Mi lay on the lakeside, her head resting on her two front paws, gazing melancholically at the blue lake water before her.

The deeper you go, the darker the water becomes, clearly leading directly to the seabed.

The two bear cubs followed her example and lay down by the lake, looking down into the water.

Caesar sat on a high snow slope across the lake, looking down at the one adult and two children lying on the lakeside. His ears twitched twice, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

When he last saw this mother bear, he was puzzled as to why she was protecting those two cubs. Now it seems that she is planning to adopt them.
Caesar had seen many bears kill their cubs, but this was the first time he had ever seen a bear adopting cubs that weren't its own.

Guo Mi glanced at the lake in front of her again, feeling bored, and out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to see something move.
She paused in her yawning, then suddenly stood up, brought her head close to the lake surface, and carefully examined the water.

The two bear cubs beside her were startled and were about to jump up when Guo Mi pressed them down with a paw! She carefully examined the lake water again and again, and finally confirmed:
There are fish in this lake, quite a few, and they're a decent size, but their scales are so dark that they're not very noticeable in the deep blue water.

Guo Mi was delighted and began to walk slowly around the lake, placing her paws gently on the snow to minimize the sound she made.

The two bear cubs were so frightened by her posture that they dared not move and obediently sat in place.

Guo Mi was very pleased with the two little ones for being so sensible!
Having finally reached the fish, she held her breath, then swiftly extended her claws and slammed them down on the spot where the fish was!

"Snapped--"

With a splash, the calm lake surface rippled instantly, and the splashing water crashed into the water, creating countless ripples that spread out in concentric circles. The three-headed bear reflected in the lake instantly turned into a blurry image.

Although I don't know what Guo Mi is doing, her actions are incredibly swift and decisive!

Not only the two bear cubs, but even Caesar on the opposite snow slope couldn't help but stand up, all three pairs of eyes fixed on her!
Guo Mi's paw was still in the water. After a long silence, she calmly pulled her wet, furry paw out of the water and looked up at the sky with a distant gaze, as if nothing had happened. However, she seemed to hide her wet paw behind her back.

"..."

The two bear cubs looked puzzled, but eventually assumed she had just been playing in the water and lay back down on the snow.

Caesar on the snowy slope understood perfectly well that she just wanted to catch fish.

Looking at the round-faced bear sitting awkwardly by the lake, its round ears twitching uncomfortably, Caesar chuckled and sat back down.

There are indeed fish in the lake. In winter, some polar bears, unable to withstand hunger, will break open the lake's surface and dive in to catch them.

But he had never seen a bear standing on the riverbank, sticking its paws in and trying to scoop up a fish.

It seems he overestimated this round-faced bear. It is quite bold, but with such a method of catching fish and the fact that it hasn't been found yet, it's clear that it has virtually no life experience.

Caesar guessed that her mother might not have put in the effort to teach her how to survive in the Arctic, or that she might have slacked off in her studies.

At least no mother bear would teach her cubs to confront a strong male bear.

Guo Mi's embarrassment lasted less than two minutes before it completely disappeared. She quickly perked up and began observing the fish in the lake, waiting for the next opportunity.

For her, embarrassment was nothing. Everyone faces many embarrassing moments in life. These embarrassing moments bring not only shameful memories, but also experiences that help her grow or survive.

Embarrassment is only temporary, but the experience gained is precious and lasting.

She slowly circled the lake and soon spotted another fish resting on the shore.

As always, I quietly walk over, then strike with lightning speed!
Unsurprisingly, it failed again.

This time, Guo Mi didn't even have to endure those initial two awkward minutes; she quickly found a third chance!

Several times in a row, but not once was it successful.

Now the two little bears could see what Guo Mi was doing, and they looked at her with complicated expressions.

Two hours passed in a flash, and Guo Mi kept trying, failing, and then trying again, persevering relentlessly.

Many fish in the lake have been scared away, and there are far fewer than before, so Guo Mi will have even fewer chances to catch them.

Caesar, who had initially watched with great interest on the snow slope, eventually lay bored on the snow.

Aside from thinking that the round-faced bear's patience was commendable, I just felt that she wasn't very smart.

Illustrations from the documentary:

Polar Bear: Ice Detective

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(End of this chapter)