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

Chapter 94 Black Bear
Berries are a very special kind of plant, both fragile and resilient.

Some very minor reasons can prevent them from bearing fruit, or in extreme cases, cause them to wither and die, such as a drop in temperature, lack of water, or even just being touched by the leaf buds.

But this plant also has another side.

Their fruits ripen very quickly, in a day, two days, or sometimes even overnight.

The fruit vines growing in the Arctic have endured the harshness of cold winds and snow, and are probably naturally less fragile than temperate berry plants, possessing only a tenacious spirit.

Guo Mi instructed the little bear to avoid damaging the roots and stems when eating the fruit, leaving the unripe, green fruit to give them time to grow.

At the same time, she would try to select the larger, more robust fruits to keep.

These fruits are very tempting and would usually be the first to be eaten, but Guo Mi chose to leave them behind, much to the bewilderment of the little bear who was stopped.

Guo Mi explained in a low voice:

"The berries are delicious, but they also need to reproduce. We eat the fruit to leave room for them to live next year."

Bears have such a huge appetite that if they don't consciously leave the fruit and seeds, even if this berry grove is very large, four bears can pick all the fruit.

It may not necessarily not bear fruit next year, but the yield will be greatly reduced, leaving fewer seeds. In the meantime, other bears and small animals will also rely on this berry forest for survival.

The entire berry grove might wither away.

The little bears seemed to understand, but they would do whatever Guo Mi said.

Suddenly, there was another rustling sound of grass nearby. Out of the corner of her eye, Guo Mi noticed Caesar still picking fruit not far away. She didn't pay much attention, guessing that he had probably come over while eating along the vines.

The little bear also heard the sound.

The salmon could still sit in place, while the fishbone stood up and hid behind Guo Mi, peeking out a small head from behind her to look at Caesar, its gaze falling on a clump of grass at the feet of the male bear.

Guo Mi's lips twitched. That day, Caesar had been stuffing his claws into his mouth with all his might. At first, she really thought he was poisoned, until later she accidentally saw a blade of grass stuck between his teeth.

Later, when she occasionally picked some grass to eat, she could clearly feel Caesar's resentful gaze.

Even the dumbest person could guess what he did.

So Guo Mi pretended to accidentally bite into a blade of grass, deliberately wedged it between her teeth, and then pulled it out forcefully along the blade of grass.

This method will only lead to two results: either the grass stuck between the teeth will be pulled out, or the grass used to pick the teeth will break, and then more grass will get stuck between the teeth.

Guo Mi has mastered the skill of controlling her strength, so she rarely breaks the grass.

Her behavior quickly attracted the attention of the male bear.

After demonstrating a few times, you can turn around and see the male bear sneakily finding another clump of grass, eager to try it out.

However, it was clear that an impatient and rude male bear like Caesar would not be able to save it successfully in one go. Guo Mi could roughly predict that he would soon have his mouth full of grass and glare at her with even more resentment.

The same is true.

However, the grass in Caesar's mouth suddenly disappeared, and Guo Mi didn't know whether he had found another way or had mastered her unique technique.

In short, Caesar never ate another blade of grass.

Guo Mi snapped out of her reverie and, seeing Caesar raise his head, seemed to realize she was too close. She turned and walked away.

Only then did the little bear begin to follow Guo Mi's instructions, leaving the better fruits and eating the other ripe berries.

Guo Mi soon noticed that the orange fruits she was eating were somewhat different. Some fruits were round and plump, with thin skin, lots of flesh, and sweet juice; while others were small, with thick skin, but larger seeds inside.

This is not an isolated case.

...Does this berry have male and female varieties?
Guo Mi was a little puzzled. She had very little knowledge about plants and didn't understand them very well, only having some superficial knowledge.

However, just to be on the safe side, she still instructed the little bear to keep some of each kind of fruit.

Just as she and the bear were getting closer to the berries to figure out their "sex", there was a rustling sound in their ears.

Guo Mi immediately became alert, her ears twitched, and she looked in the direction of the sound.

Caesar was still eating fruit not far away, and he didn't smell anything particularly strong, so it must have been some small animal.

Guo Mi thought for a moment, then raised her paw and walked towards the source of the sound.

She reached the edge of the bushes and suddenly plunged her head into the foliage!

The tiny ground squirrel, clutching a large, round berry in its paws, stared blankly at her as if startled by this unexpected visitor, then its little paws loosened their grip.
"pat-"

With a very soft sound, the round nut fell from its paw and rolled to Guo Mi's feet.

The bear and the rat stared at each other in silence for a brief second, and then Guo Mi raised her bear paw!

Not to be outdone, the ground squirrel nimbly leaped forward and rolled to Guo Mi's feet, grabbing a berry with its paw and darting past Guo Mi's swatting paw with incredible speed!

Its tiny body was like a string of brown lightning bolts, and it ran a distance in the blink of an eye!

Even as the little creature ran away, it didn't forget its berries. Guo Mi was almost amused by its antics. Not only was she looked down upon by the reindeer, but even the ground squirrel thought she was slow to react!
She licked her lips; she had been eating fruit for so long, and it had been a long time since she had tasted meat.

Without a second thought, Guo Mi chased after the ground squirrel in the direction it had fled!
The ground squirrel clutched its precious berries and ran for its life, glancing back as it went. When it realized the bear was chasing it, it ran even faster!

The small, brown, furry animal was so frightened that tears streamed down its face, and it couldn't help but mentally accuse the strange bear behind it:
"Didn't we agree that bears wouldn't attack ground squirrels?!"

She actually liked it because of its tiny size?!
And what does she even look like?!

With its round head and round face, it doesn't look like a polar bear at all!

Perhaps because carrying the fruit restricted its movement, the ground squirrel ran along the open ground without even thinking of hiding under any bushes.

Guo Mi chased after her, but she didn't put in all her strength; she just followed at a leisurely pace.

Actually, she doesn't necessarily want to eat it now; whether she can catch it or not doesn't matter. She mainly wants to see when it will give up its precious berry.

The ground squirrel was being chased all the way, and finally remembered that it could hide in the bushes.

Just as it was about to rush headlong into the bushes, a black claw suddenly landed in front of it!

The little guy was startled and let out a shriek, clutching his fruit as if it were the whole world. When he looked up, his mind went blank!

It has a round head, round face, and round body; sharp claws and a yellow snout; and bright eyes that look down at it.

It was another bear that looked very similar to the strange bear from before!

A black bear!

(End of this chapter)