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

Chapter 30 Summer
Guo Mi mastered the secret to floating, and only then did the mother bear slowly begin to swim in the water.

She then realized that her swimming style was completely different from that of the mother bear!

Guo Mi must use all four limbs to swim.

...abbreviated as dog paddle.

This type of swimming requires the use of the whole body to move in the water, which is very physically demanding.

The mother bear stretches out her entire body, and the buoyancy of her own body allows her to conserve most of her energy. When she swims, she only uses her front paws to exert force, while her hind paws are mostly curled up behind her, and she only uses them occasionally when turning or at other times.

"This swimming method is used for long-distance rafting. When swimming, pay attention to the water flow, which will save more energy."

The mother bear circled around Guo Mi, gesturing for her to watch her movements while patiently explaining.

Guo Mi tried sliding it twice, just like her, and found that it did save a lot of effort. A glint flashed in her eyes.

But soon a series of problems arose.

First of all, compared to polar bears, which live in ice floes, brown bears are clearly typical land bears. After Guo Mi became a bear, she lived on land for a long time and was already used to the lifestyle of land bears.

To survive in the forest, whether it's for obtaining food or competing with other predators and other members of the species, you need to make the most of your physical strength!

This also prevented Guo Mi from relaxing her body as naturally as the mother bear.

...She could never control herself; her muscles would tense up unconsciously.

No matter how patient she is, she's still a bear. The mother bear started by supervising with her mouth, but eventually escalated to slapping her with her paws!

"Relax, relax! If you're tense all over, like a block of ice on a glacier, how can you maintain your strength!"

The mother bear's eyes blazed with fury as she slammed her paws down hard on Guo Mi's back!
Guo Mi jolted, instantly tensing her body even more, and her movements became stiff!
The mother bear's rage intensified, and a furious roar erupted from the empty lake:

"Relax!!!"

……

The swimming lesson lasted for half an hour, but Guo Mi eventually couldn't stand the cold and climbed out of the water to warm up.

Looking around, I noticed that two bear cubs had somehow run over to this side of the lake and were now with their mother's cubs. The three cubs were already making a ruckus!
Guo Mi subconsciously looked at the mother bear, afraid that she would be angry, but found that she was sitting on the shore, just watching quietly, with an unexpectedly gentle gaze.

Noticing Guo Mi's gaze, she turned her head, the gentleness in her eyes vanishing instantly, and asked fiercely:
"Watch what I do?"

"..."

Guo Mi awkwardly looked away, her round ears twitching twice, and said dryly:

"It's nothing, I just didn't expect you to let your bear cubs come into contact with them."

Given the mother bear's previous sensitivity, she would never have allowed the cub to come into contact with other outside bears.

The mother bear paused, a flicker of emotion crossing her eyes. After a long while, she turned her head away and whispered:

“When I was a cub, I didn’t come into contact with any other bear cubs. My mother told me that before I grew up, any bear other than her was dangerous.”

Guo Mi fell silent for a moment. She knew that what he said was true and there was no way to refute it.

The mother bear turned back to look at Guo Mi, a hint of a smile in her eyes:

“My mother also told me that, apart from mother bears, no other bears would ever be kind to their cubs.”

Her gaze fell on Guo Mi:

"Now it seems that it's not entirely as my mother taught me: the world is not always the same, and some things are always quietly changing."

Guo Mi felt a little embarrassed when she first heard what the mother bear said.

The mother bear turned her head, her gaze returning to the three cubs who had begun their biting game:

"Getting in touch with you was a bold attempt for me, and at least for now, I don't regret it."

Guo Mi also laughed.

Once a mother bear has cubs, she will remain in a state of high alert for a long time. Not all mother bears with cubs will let down their guard and hostility towards other bears.

She was indeed very lucky to have met a "rebellious" mother bear.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and Guo Mi collapsed to the ground. Suddenly, she remembered something, turned her head, and looked at the mother bear with bright eyes: "This is the longest I've ever stayed in the water!"

Her joyful words made the mother bear's eyes twitch twice, and she almost swung her paw at her!

Any polar bear can stay in the water for this long, so how did this "round bear" manage to get so excited about it?!

Yes, "Round Bear" is the nickname given to Guo Mi by the mother bear!

Guo Mi expressed strong dissatisfaction with this:

"Why are you calling me that? I have a name, my name is Guo Mi!"

The mother bear hesitated for a moment, then decisively said:

"Round Bear is more suitable!"

Guo Mi was dumbfounded:
"Why?! It can't even be considered a name!"

The mother bear was puzzled by her strong reaction:
"When we name something, we either take into account what's around it..."

Guo Mi's lips twitched. She knew that; wasn't that where the names "salmon" and "fish bone" came from?
The mother bear continued:
"Either you take your own situation into account and choose a suitable one."

She looked Guo Mi up and down, and said matter-of-factly:

"The second method is more suitable for you, and 'Round Bear' is clearly more appropriate than 'Guo Mi'!"

That's utterly absurd!
Guo Mi absolutely refuses to accept:
"No, no, my name is Guo Mi. I've had this name since I was born. I absolutely cannot change it to 'Round Bear'!"

The mother bear also refused to budge an inch:
"The name I gave you is clearly the most suitable; a bear's name can be changed anytime!"

Guo Mi opened her mouth to continue arguing, but suddenly realized that after acting like a bear for so long, she was starting to act childish herself, and she was both amused and exasperated.

"Then what's your name?"

The mother bear instantly sat up straight, raising her head high as if she were very proud.

My name is Xia Tian!

This name is even stranger than hers!
Guo Mi immediately forgot what she had been thinking and expressed her dissatisfaction to the mother bear:

"Your name is definitely stranger!"

The mother bear… oh no, she immediately bristled in the summer:

"What's strange about it?! I thought about this name carefully, and it sounds really good!"

It's strange that a bear that lives in the Arctic would name itself Summer!

Guo Mi expressed her thoughts, and the mother bear immediately felt that she was even less able to understand:
"In winter, it's covered in snow, but in summer, the island is filled with beautiful flowers, so it's better to call it Summer!"

Guo Mi astutely grasped the key point in her words:

"Wait, what did you say? A lot of flowers bloom in the summer?"

"correct."

Summer is puzzling:
"Didn't you know? Flowers bloom everywhere in the summer, and they are very beautiful."

Guo Mi was overjoyed!
It turns out that this place isn't covered in snow and ice all year round; there are times when the snow and ice recede!

That's great! Once the snow melts, the weather won't be so cold anymore, and she can find a way to get more food so she won't have to stay here anymore!

Xia Tian looked at the ecstatic Guo Mi with a puzzled expression, then suddenly realized something:
"Spring has been gone for a long time, and summer is just around the corner. We need to catch up before summer arrives..."

"what?"

Guo Mi came to her senses and asked in confusion:

What are we trying to catch up with?

Summer gave her a strange look, and just as she was about to speak, her originally peaceful gaze suddenly turned sharp, and she quickly gathered all three little bears behind her!

(End of this chapter)