Nine-tailed fox?
Lu Mingming suddenly remembered that when she was researching the rankings yesterday, the top streamer in the parenting zone was called Nine-tailed Fox!
Her score was only a hair's breadth away from Nine-tailed Fox. If the competition time were slightly extended, Nine-tailed Fox's first place might have been handed over.
Lu Mingming was surprised for a second before quickly regaining her composure. If she could make some streamer friends during the competition, it might make her future path smoother, expanding her network.
Thinking this, Lu Mingming reached out her hand, intending to send a friendly signal, but was abruptly pushed away by a fluffy paw.
She followed the paw's owner with a puzzled gaze. The white tiger's paw pad was still on her hand. The usually lazy and arrogant face rarely showed such a cold expression.
The little tiger seemed inexplicably arrogant and rude, exuding a distant coldness and an imposing severity.
Tang Yuan, whom she had taken care of, had been well-behaved for so long on their travels. This was the first time it had shown such strong resistance, which was rather strange.
The little Samoyed turned its head curiously to check the situation, then looked thoughtfully at Nine-tailed Fox, formulating a plan.
Distracted by this, Lu Mingming also noticed something amiss: today, streamers from all zones were participating in the competition together. She hadn't introduced which zone she was from, so how could the other party be so sure she was from the parenting zone?
Thinking of this, Lu Mingming, who had originally wanted Tang Yuan to explain her intentions and ease the misunderstanding, now became more suspicious of the other party's motive for approaching her.
Seeing her cub's uncooperative demeanor, Nine-tailed Fox's face flushed and paled before eventually returning to normal.
She pulled her cub's soft hand. The little girl was barely up to Nine-tailed Fox's knees, so this pull directly stretched her arms, making her stand on tiptoe to avoid being dangled.
Despite the discomfort, the little cub bit her lower lip tightly, daring not to utter a single complaint.
Nine-tailed Fox ignored the little girl's situation, seemingly annoyed by being publicly embarrassed, and her tone became somewhat sarcastic.
"My little Jiujiu is very well-educated and wouldn't do something as ill-mannered as this!"
A spark of anger immediately ignited in Lu Mingming's heart. Her gaze intensely fixed on the woman before her. With such a harsh attitude even towards her own cub, how could this person become a parenting zone streamer?!
"Miss Nine-tailed Fox, I think you should pay more attention to your own cub. She looks very uncomfortable."
Lu Mingming took out a bag of biscuits she had prepared for snacking on the road and carefully placed it in the little girl's hand.
"These are biscuits made by big sister. If you like them, you can ask big sister for more."
Nine-tailed Fox snorted disdainfully, not stopping Lu Mingming, and her tone became even harsher: "Stop trying to curry favor! Did I say something wrong? Wild cubs are simply uneducated."
After speaking, her gaze shifted to the white tiger.
The white tiger glanced at her, not even bothering to look directly at her, its eyes showing unconcealed disdain.
Lu Mingming had always been protective of her cubs and never allowed them to be bullied even a little outside.
Before the white tiger could react, Lu Mingming politely stated:
"If Miss Nine-tailed Fox is so well-educated, would she casually make judgments about other people's cubs? I don't think we need to know each other, let alone associate."
After speaking, Lu Mingming directed her automatic suitcase and turned around to leave briskly.
Nine-tailed Fox, left behind, was so angry that her face turned beet red. Her long, sharp fingernails dug into the little girl's tender flesh, slowly revealing a crescent-shaped bruise.
The little girl couldn't bear the pain and immediately let out a whimper, then quickly closed her mouth, clutching the bag of biscuits tightly, as if afraid of other terrible things happening.
Nine-tailed Fox gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at Lu Mingming's departing back, a hint of malice gradually appearing in her eyes.
Little brat! You all just wait and see how you win against me in the first round. I'm all prepared!
...
Lu Mingming held her breath all the way and didn't interact with anyone else until she reached the hotel. Only then did she slightly relax her demeanor, heavily leaning forward and lying on the bed, burying her face in the soft pillow.
Seeing this, the white tiger jumped lightly to Lu Mingming's arm, obediently curled up like a caterpillar, its tail tip gently stroking Lu Mingming's slightly long fringe by her ear.
An unfathomable depth of affection quietly enveloped Lu Mingming. When Lu Mingming looked up, it quickly dissipated. The round top of its head affectionately nuzzled her arm. The little Samoyed was nestled in the duvet on the other side, the two cubs guarding her on either side.
Lu Mingming revealed half an eye from her scattered hair, her palm stroking the little ones' heads. After a long while, a hint of determination appeared in her clear, dark eyes: "I must win this competition. I want everyone to know that my cubs are my pride."
Before she could ponder further, her optical computer suddenly vibrated repeatedly, and Lu Mingming abruptly sat up to check.
It turned out that the competition organizers had released the details for tomorrow's competition.
The first round, as usual, tested the childcare affinity of the parenting zone streamers.
In the interstellar world, as an animal attendant or, even higher, a conservationist, if one carried too much negative energy, the spiritual cubs could easily detect it. Furthermore, there was also the possibility of innate incompatibility in mental attributes.
Therefore, each year, the organizers would prepare two cubs with higher mental strength and a stronger connection to spiritual energy for each streamer.
The content of the first round of the competition was to spend half an hour with each of the two cubs, during which they would have to complete various tasks assigned by the organizers.
The information poster also added a unique line of small text at the bottom: "This year's slots will be determined by alliance quotas and will no longer be for individual slots."
This was a last-minute rule change, meaning that this year there might be an extra slot, or no slots at all, greatly increasing uncertainty and stimulating everyone's competitive spirit.
During the first two rounds of the competition, the cubs could choose to stay in the audience to watch or remain in the hotel to rest.
Lu Mingming planned to bring the little Samoyed to watch the competition tomorrow, while the white tiger would stay in the hotel to rest. They would swap roles for the second round of the competition – this was something they had discussed earlier. Besides, tomorrow there would be two cubs, and she was still worried that Tang Yuan would get jealous again.
After packing her luggage, Lu Mingming took the two cubs to the buffet restaurant downstairs for dinner. Although it wasn't particularly delicious, it was enough to fill their stomachs.
In the restaurant, Lu Mingming observed many of the participating streamers without making a sound. Undoubtedly, Nine-tailed Fox was the most popular.
Strangely, her cub was not by her side but was looking around at the end of another corridor, seemingly searching for something.
Lu Mingming subconsciously assumed the other party couldn't find her parent or was lost and looking for a restaurant attendant, so she walked over directly.
She bent her knees and crouched in front of the little girl, offering a new bag of biscuits: "Did you finish the ones from earlier? These are new. Is there anything I can help you with?"
The little girl stared blankly at the bag of biscuits in her hand. Facing Lu Mingming's smiling face, she softly said, "No, thank you."
Her voice was crisp and clear. After speaking, she quickly ran away, leaving Lu Mingming somewhat bewildered.
Many streamers also came to chat with Lu Mingming. After a brief conversation, Lu Mingming found an excuse and quietly led the cubs to a corner to eat.
There was also a dad whom Lu Mingming paid close attention to. He was a tall, strong, dark-skinned man with a two-month-old bear cub. The dad himself was very straightforward and had a good tolerance for alcohol; he didn't get drunk even when the organizers tried to ply him with drinks.
His fluent Northeastern dialect made Lu Mingming involuntarily turn her head every time, wondering if he was a fellow countryman from Earth.
According to other streamers, that dark-skinned dad had participated in the newcomer rankings for several rounds and was almost a full-time babysitter. He had always narrowly secured the second place, just enough to win prize money, demonstrating extremely strong control over his score within the rules. Since the rules were changed this time, he was likely a strong contender.
Lu Mingming didn't have time to learn about the rest of the people. She patted her full belly, preparing to take the two cubs for a walk to aid digestion before returning to her room.
Strangely enough, on the way back, the lights on the second floor of the hotel inexplicably went out.
Lu Mingming, holding a cub in each arm, struggled to identify her room number in the dim light. Suddenly, a small white figure drifted past the corridor bend in front of her...