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

Chapter 43 Shattered Image
From the glacial lake to the ice floes, and then back to the glacial lake from the ice floes, encountering seals along the way, the hunt is finally completed.

It was already evening of the second day when Caesar dragged the seal meat back to the frozen lake. Fortunately, the Arctic weather was so cold that the meat wouldn't spoil.

While Caesar was away, Guo Mi let the two little bears frolic. The two little furballs hadn't been this close to Guo Mi by the lake in a long time. They ran around Guo Mi in circles and finally snuggled up next to her, happily eating the fish they had caught.

The salmon took this opportunity to teach Fishbone and Guo Mi how to swim together.

Although Guo Mi is only half-baked, at least she won't sink in the lake and can barely teach the two little furballs.

It has to be said that polar bears are truly gifted. Despite the fact that neither of the two cubs had ever learned to swim before, and Fishbone had never been in the water at all, they were already swimming freely in the water in no time, and they seemed to be even more skilled than Guo Mi.

Even Guo Mi had to admit that some things are truly etched into our genes through thousands of years of evolution.

When Caesar returned with the half-seal in his mouth, the two bear cubs were still enjoying a rare moment of family time with Guo Mi. Upon seeing the male bear return, they were immediately frightened and obediently returned to their hiding place.

When Guo Mi turned around and saw him, her eyes immediately showed reluctance. She thought Caesar had no intention of coming back.

Caesar pretended not to see her gaze, dragged the seal meat and placed it in front of Guo Mi, then asked:

Did you wait for me by the lake yesterday?

Guo Mi: "..."

It's obvious that that's impossible.

Caesar had anticipated this, but he was still somewhat disappointed. He didn't dwell on it, and instead bent down to nudge the seal meat towards Guo Mi.
"You eat this."

He was absolutely confident that once Guo Mi tasted the seal, she would definitely not be so interested in fish anymore.

To everyone's surprise, Guo Mi took two steps back and refused!
Caesar was somewhat anxious:
"Listen to me, fish is really not a good food, and there won't be any fish on the island in the summer."

Guo Mi sighed inwardly, realizing that she really didn't stay on the island because she liked eating fish.

Besides, who says fish isn't good? Every year when salmon migrate, the salmon caught are high in fat and have a sweet taste, much better than the fish caught in the Arctic.

Guo Mi decided to be even clearer about what she was saying:
“Caesar, it’s not that I like eating fish, it’s that I can’t stay on an ice floe that’s drifting with the current. It makes me feel very unsafe.”

This reason was far too difficult for a polar bear that had always lived on ice floes to understand, and the doubt in Caesar's eyes was almost becoming a tangible reality!
Guo Mi sighed and explained:

"Caesar, I'm not good at swimming, and ice floes are too dangerous for me."

Sometimes, avoiding cryptic communication can solve many problems, and being willing to communicate can reduce misunderstandings.

This applies at all times and to all objects.

Whatever happens, at least don't remain silent; this can help avoid being misunderstood.

The reason Guo Mi didn't want to tell Caesar that she was a brown bear was because there's a saying among humans: "Those who are not of our kind are sure to have different hearts." This saying isn't without some truth, which is why Guo Mi remained cautious.

As for the fact that she can't swim, Caesar probably already saw it when he taught her in the summer, so there's no point in hiding it.

Caesar was stunned. He had thought of many reasons, but this was the one he had never considered.

So it turns out that she wasn't playing in the water with the other female bear that day, but learning to swim?!
You're already so old and you're still learning to swim?!

Caesar was momentarily confused, but Guo Mi's mystery in his eyes only grew stronger!

However, he still felt that the difficulty could be overcome, and stubbornly patted the seal meat on the ground with his paw:

"You eat this."

Guo Mi fell silent. She didn't know whether the male bear understood or not. In the end, she did as he wished, lowered her head, tore off a piece of meat from the prey she had brought back, and began to chew.

Caesar watched as the round-faced bear, who had been chewing slowly and methodically, paused, then began to chew faster. His eyes gleamed, and he instantly felt certain of victory.

"How is it? Not bad, right?" Guo Mi chewed on the meat in her mouth. It was indeed quite good. It was much chewier than fish, and most importantly, it was very rich in oil.

Especially the taste of fresh flesh and blood; she didn't know how long it had been since she had eaten meat like this. The last time she had it was when she caught a deer in the forest.

After being taken to the zoo, which was already illegal, they couldn't afford to feed her anything good, and the meat they gave her every day started to smell bad.

Caesar pushed the meat forward again:

"eat more."

Guo Mi was delighted with this and felt no embarrassment about eating the things he caught.

Caesar has already eaten so many of her fish, can't she even get some back?
Those two little furballs are still growing, and the fish meat won't be able to sustain them for much longer.

Guo Mi's good mood after eating the delicious food gradually dissipated, and doubts began to arise. Perhaps she really needed to take the two little furballs onto the ice floe?
Caesar sat beside Guo Mi and watched her eat. At first, he was happy to see her eating so heartily, but then he noticed that her chewing was getting slower and slower and that there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. He immediately felt uncomfortable.

What's going on?
Has the meat gone bad?

Caesar lowered his head, brought his nose close to the meat, and sniffed it. Hmm, a very normal seal smell.

So what exactly happened?

Just as I was thinking this, I looked up and saw two little heads behind the snow hill.

It turned out that the little bear couldn't resist smelling the seal and secretly peeked out.

Caesar was instantly stunned, wondering if Guo Mi would feed the prey he had dragged back to the two little cubs.
The male bear instantly felt resentful and, unable to suppress his wicked nature, blurted out:
"Actually, the pups taste the same as seal meat. If you like them, you can have those two pups..."

Guo Mi stopped chewing, closed her eyes and took two deep breaths, but in the end she couldn't resist and swung her paw at it!

Caesar had anticipated this, but for some inexplicable reason, he didn't dodge. Finally, he covered his nose, let out a loud "ow," and immediately began rolling on the ground, feigning weakness.

"I found you food, and you still hit me? You're so heartless!"

Guo Mi was annoyed to see him like that, and was just about to raise her paw to give him a couple more whacks when a hesitant voice suddenly came from the side:

"...Caesar?"

Guo Mi stopped slashing down with her paws, looked up abruptly, and discovered that another male bear had appeared on the hillside at some unknown time.

He was a little smaller than Caesar, but only a tiny bit. He had a flesh-colored scar on his brown nose and was looking down at them with a face full of shock and hesitation.

Regardless, this was another male bear, and male bears are a huge threat to bear cubs. Guo Mi immediately adopted an attack stance, baring her teeth at the unfamiliar male bear!

Since this male bear knew Caesar, it's inevitable that Caesar would reveal his true colors.

He had never liked the two bear cubs, and could have easily taken the opportunity to stop her and let the other bear attack the cubs, which wouldn't have been breaking his promise.

Upon thinking this way, Guo Mi immediately labeled Caesar as a "dangerous element" as well!

Just as I was about to turn around and be alert, I turned my head and saw that the male bear, who had been acting like a rascal on the ground, was now stiff all over, with its limbs still flailing wildly.

This is?

This was something Guo Mi hadn't expected, and she asked in confusion:

"what happened to you?"

Caesar seemed to wake up from a dream, but he quickly sat up as if he had seen something terrifying. He didn't dare to look in the direction of the strange male bear, but instead turned his back and sat up straight!
Guo Mi opened her mouth, just about to speak, when she heard Caesar's dry voice:
"Quickly, tell him he's mistaken; there's no bear named Caesar here!"

(End of this chapter)