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

Chapter 16 My Nose Isn't Very Good

"I...I..." The little bear's eyes darted left and right, trying to find some reference point around him like his older sister.

Guo Mi wasn't in a hurry and patiently waited for the little one.

Finally, the little bear's gaze also fell on the remains of the fish that had been eaten.

Guo Mi followed his gaze and her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that what she thought was true?

The next second, the little bear said in a clear voice:
"I... I'll call myself Fishbone!"

Before Guo Mi could speak, the salmon next to her cried out:

"No! This is too strange!"

The little male bear was somewhat unconvinced, but only dared to mutter under his breath:
"What's strange about it? Your name is definitely stranger!"

"What did you say?" the salmon's voice suddenly rose!

They are still cubs after all. They lost their mother at the beginning and struggled to survive in the snow. Both little ones have become quite quiet.

Now that Guo Mi is by my side, I feel safe again and can't help but start acting up again.

The salmon, taking advantage of its size, knocked its younger brother over and pinned him down with its paw. The little male bear, not to be outdone, opened its little mouth and began to fight back!
Guo Mi let them fight, sitting calmly to watch the battle. In the end, she changed from sitting to lying down, and casually picked up a relatively intact fish bone from the side and put it in her mouth.

Sucking on the remaining sweet flesh and blood from the fish bones, a bear paw propped up its round face as it lazily said:
"Go for it, whoever wins will be the one we listen to."

Wild animals are ultimately different from humans, who are highly intelligent mammals living in reinforced concrete.

Especially for young carnivores, many hunting skills are acquired during their early years through play and biting with their companions.

Guo Mi spat out the fish bone from her mouth, then scooped up another one and stuffed it into her mouth, not forgetting to give instructions:

"No, no, it's easy for my claws to get bitten like this!"

"Run faster! She's catching up with you!"

……

It was already dark when the two little bears finally ran out of energy from fighting and collapsed next to Guo Mi, panting heavily.

Guo Mi spat out the last fish bone she had sucked out of her mouth, glanced at the exhausted little bear, and made her final conclusion:
"Alright, I declare you both the winners!"

The two little furballs stared at her blankly, not understanding how she had come to such a conclusion.

Guo Mi smiled with narrowed eyes and said slowly and deliberately:

"A name is a label that accompanies you throughout your life, so of course, you should just choose one that you like."

The two bear cubs were clearly not satisfied with this reason; they both thought the other's name was stranger!
Guo Mi raised her paw and plucked a handful from the top of each of the two little furballs' heads:
“You two are siblings. Salmon and fish bones are one. Without fish bones, salmon cannot survive. Similarly, fish bones are also part of salmon. Sister, you must be tolerant of your brother, and brother, you must support your sister. Only in this way can we survive…”

This is a really strange argument, since in the polar bear world, once a cub leaves its mother at the age of two, they basically go their separate ways.

This strange bear is always saying strange things.

For some reason, the two little ones remembered every word she said.

A cold wind suddenly rose at night, whipping up loose snowflakes that tumbled around my feet.

The two bear cubs are still uneasy. They realize that Guo Mi might adopt them, but they are afraid that they are wrong, that she is just asking for their names out of boredom, and that they will be disappointed.

Guo Mi didn't let the two little furballs feel uneasy for long. She invited the two little guys to sit opposite her, and the smile on her round face looked cunning no matter how you looked at it.

The little bear felt a chill run down its spine from her scrutinizing gaze and looked at her cautiously.

After a long pause, Guo Mi felt she had put enough psychological pressure on her before she finally said:

"Do you want to come with me?"

Finally hearing those words, the two little bears felt relieved. They looked at each other, not missing the joy in each other's eyes.

It's incredibly difficult for bear cubs that have lost their mothers to survive in the Arctic, and now that adult bears are actually willing to adopt them is like a dream come true. This means their chances of survival are much greater!

However, Guo Mi had not finished speaking:
"but……"

The two little bears' hearts jumped again!
"I've never given birth to bear cubs, so if you follow me, you definitely won't be able to live the life you had with a mother. If you want to follow me, you have to help me!"

There was a hint of confusion in the salmon's eyes:

"help?"

But what can a cub do? When the adult bear is hunting, it usually just feels that the cub is in the way and is completely useless.

Guo Mi, however, did not think so:

"There's so much you can do, like piling up the fish for me when I'm catching them, finding dry branches and grass for me if I'm digging a hole, and keeping me warm at night when I sleep..."

The two little bears' eyes lit up as they listened: "Really? We can help too?!"

My mother used to always tell them to sit still and not make a sound when they went hunting. I never thought they could do something like that.
Guo Mi answered very confidently:

"That's right! If you live with me, you'll have to do a lot of things for me. Are you still willing to do that?!"

The result was unexpected for the bear. She thought the two little furballs would hesitate for a while, but to her surprise, the two little bears immediately agreed:
"Yes, yes!"

Guo Mi was satisfied. Sure enough, she was still the same "cold woman" as before. No one could get a free lunch from her, not even a cute little bear!
She chuckled inwardly as she raised her paw:
"Then we have an agreement!"

The salmon didn't understand what her action meant. She raised her little paw to look at it, and tentatively lifted it up. The small bear paw imprinted itself on Guo Mi's big bear paw, and the warm body temperature flowed between them through the touching paw pads.

The two bears, one big and one small, made a solemn pact by the lake in the snowy plains!

On this ordinary yet extraordinary night, the little bear, who had lost its mother, found a new source of comfort.

The sky was already studded with stars, and the silvery moonlight was scattered across the snow-covered plain, casting long shadows of a large bear and two smaller bears in the snow.

Guo Mi walked slowly ahead, while the salmon trotted up behind her.
"Where are we going now?"

"Find a sheltered spot and then dig a hole."

"Can we dig together?"

"Of course! You have to help me!"

The salmon tilted its little head, its four tiny claws flailing frantically as it hurried to catch up with Guo Mi. With great effort, it raised its head and asked again:
Should we call you Mom?

Guo Mi stopped walking, looked into the distance, and turned to ask:

Do you want to call me Mom?

The fishbone followed, and both little bears had the same conflicted and complicated feelings in their eyes, their small eyes filled with sorrow and grief.

Thinking of the mother bear who sacrificed herself for her cubs, Guo Mi's gaze softened, and she whispered to the two bear cubs:
"You don't need to call me Mom."

The little bear's eyes lit up, then he looked troubled:
"So what should we call you?"

Guo Mi lowered her head and touched the foreheads of the two bear cubs with her wet nose:
"My name is Guo Mi."

“Guo Mi…”

The little bear repeated it, muttering:
"Your name is strange too."

Guo Mi was stunned:
"is it?"

"but……"

The salmon sat there, lowered its head, and raised its little paws to fiddle with its ears a couple of times, looking embarrassed. It whispered:
"But it sounds really good."

Guo Mi's eyes crinkled with laughter, showing no modesty whatsoever:
"Of course, I think it sounds great too!"

As they were chatting and laughing, a gentle breeze blew by, and a faint scent drifted into their noses.

Guo Mi paused, turned around abruptly, and scanned her surroundings.

The two bear cubs were startled by her movement and cowered behind her.

"what happened?"

Guo Mi tucked the two little fur balls under her belly, warily surveying her surroundings. Her round ears bent back, her nose twitched slightly, and she inhaled deeply, trying to catch any more clues.

Her tense state frightened the two bear cubs, who clung tightly to her paws, closed their eyes, and buried their heads in Guo Mi's thick fur.

After a moment, Guo Mi lowered her head and comforted the two little ones:
"It's alright, let's go."

Then they headed off in another direction.

Although he kept saying he was fine, his pace quickened considerably. Little Bear noticed something was wrong and quickly followed.

The three bears left quickly, and two minutes later, Caesar slowly emerged from the snow slope, looking at the three sets of footprints—one large and two small—in the snow. In just a few minutes, they had already been half-buried by the wind and snow.

His paws stepped on the claw marks left by Guo Mi, and he lowered his head to smell the lingering scent.

It had been almost all night before she noticed his scent; if it weren't for that gust of wind, Caesar guessed she wouldn't have even noticed it.

"I guess his nose isn't very sensitive," he concluded decisively.

Caesar glanced at the claw marks, almost buried by the wind and snow, raised his head, trying to catch the traces left in the wind, then raised his claw—

He stepped on the paw prints left by Guo Mi and slowly followed.

(End of this chapter)