"Seventeen kittens and five adult cats... that's quite a lot. I'll go prepare what's needed." After teasing Tina a little and getting a clear idea of the situation, Li Mingxue stopped making the cat-eared loli worry. She set her down, thought for a moment, and hurried off to gather her supplies.
If it was nutrition they needed, what could be better than milk and similar things? If Tina didn't like it, then she could give it to the cats. They would definitely love it. Maybe, after seeing them enjoy it, this little kitten might start liking it too.
Besides, constantly eating rich meat dishes wasn't good either. Though she did enjoy watching her grow... But for that race, if they relied purely on natural growth, by the time Lian'er had descendants several dozen generations down the line, she might finally reach her current size.
Unless her strength increased and the energy from that shortened her growth period—only then could she possibly catch up. Judging by Lian'er's abilities, achieving that wouldn't be difficult. As for those matters, I won't interfere. I'll let them handle it themselves.
Li Mingxue seemed to know everything, yet for some reason, she was unwilling to reveal what she knew. Even Chu Lian herself did not understand her mother's thoughts. She only knew that her mother was always striving to provide her with the most perfect environment to grow up in. Hadn't she already done more than enough?
"Anna, have you started studying the elementary school material yet? Only when your knowledge meets the standard, and you've had at least one talent officially recognized by the school, can you enter our school. Otherwise, you won't be able to attend classes with Mommy." Chu Lian gently pinched Anna's little nose, making Tina, who stood nearby, look on enviously.
Yet in the presence of this girl, Tina didn't dare show too much. She didn't want to provoke her into doing anything unpleasant. Although Anna already harbored hostility toward her, she still needed to make her understand that she bore no ill will in return.
"Anna has already started learning. It was a bit difficult at first, but after grasping a few techniques, it became very simple... except for language arts..." Anna began smugly, but by the end her face stiffened in embarrassment. She seemed particularly afraid of that subject.
"English, mathematics, music, painting, physics, politics, history, biology—you've mastered all of those already?" Anna learning quickly was normal, but how long had it even been? Chu Lian refused to believe the girl had truly mastered everything.
"Mommy~" Clearly, Chu Lian had hit the mark. They had only just decided what to study last night, and there simply hadn't been enough time this morning for her to digest it all. After all, she had no foundation and no cheat abilities to rely on. Accomplishing that wouldn't be impossible—but it certainly wouldn't be easy.
"Alright, stop clinging. We're not in a rush. There are still more than three months until September. That's plenty of time for you to learn a lot. If you still can't pass by then, that means you weren't working hard. And Mommy doesn't like children who don't work hard." A little warning now would prevent her from getting too carried away later.
Lifted out of Chu Lian's arms, Anna had no way to dodge the issue. Still, there was something she had to say. "Mommy, I really can't learn language arts. I don't know why. I can understand a bit of everything else, but language arts just doesn't make sense to me at all."
"Mm... in that case, Mommy will teach you personally." After all, she was a genius literary girl. Even if her reputation had come from copying famous works, she had accumulated plenty of depth and knowledge in the process. That was why Sword and Fairy had been half original this time.
With that foundation, teaching this girl would be more than easy. The only prerequisite was that she not turn out to be one of those so-called hopeless language arts idiots. But such creatures couldn't possibly exist, could they?
"That's wonderful! From now on, Mommy will teach Anna language arts..." Having obtained Chu Lian's promise, Anna was overjoyed and immediately expressed her happiness.
Her reaction made Chu Lian suspicious. Was this girl doing it on purpose? Did she know I'm good at language arts, so she pretended to be bad at it just to make me teach her? If that's the case, her scheming isn't simple at all, Anna.
"Mommy, Anna will go study now. If there's anything I don't understand, I'll come ask you." Determined to appear as a good daughter in front of everyone—and someone everyone liked—Anna seemed exceptionally obedient. Having obtained the promise she wanted, she didn't cling like before. Instead, she said goodbye and turned to leave.
"Strange... that change was too thorough. This version of Anna feels a little odd." Watching her retreating figure, Chu Lian murmured softly.
But no matter how much the little girl changed, she was still her daughter. That was beyond doubt. Perhaps this was for the best. The previous version of her truly wasn't suited to modern society.
Even in a world where might ruled supreme, she had been too violent and irritable. If she couldn't be changed, she would inevitably suffer great losses because of it in the future. Chu Lian had promised Tírnas that she would take good care of Anna, and she would keep that promise.
After all, she had accepted three items from her to be auctioned in Origin Land, each worth at least thirty million crystal coins. These were treasures collected by one of the strongest gods—hardly comparable to ordinary objects.
In short, once you've taken someone's reward, you can't refuse to do the work. Chu Lian wasn't that kind of person, nor would she ever be. Besides, she genuinely felt something like motherly affection toward Anna. That alone was enough for her to try her best to guide her.
"Meow, Master, may I say something?" After Anna left, Tina carefully observed Chu Lian before speaking.
"Go ahead." Chu Lian roughly knew what she wanted to say, but she didn't stop her. What she saw was one thing; what others saw was another. She needed to know how Anna's behavior appeared in someone else's eyes.
"Meow... I think she's dangerous. Like a dormant volcano that could erupt at any moment and destroy the world. Beneath that calm exterior is energy capable of annihilating everything. I don't know if I'm right, but that's how it feels, meow." When discussing something serious, Tina even restrained her habitual speech pattern and tried to express herself clearly.
"You're not wrong. Anna does hide the power to destroy this world at any time. But that's only if she releases it. If she doesn't, she's just an extinct volcano. There's no need to worry." Chu Lian nodded. She agreed with that description. The little girl was indeed someone very difficult to understand.
Apparently agreeing wholeheartedly with Chu Lian's words, Tina nodded vigorously. "That's why, meow, she absolutely has to be guided back onto the right path, meow. Just look at me. I'm so obedient and well-behaved. Whatever Master tells me to do, I'll do it, meow."
"Very obedient? You listen to me that much?" Chu Lian glanced sideways at her and asked.
"Meow, please don't make me do weird things, meow! As long as it doesn't cross my bottom line or become embarrassing, then Tina definitely won't complain, meow." Tina realized she had boasted too confidently. If her master really ordered her to do something strange, then who could she even complain to?
"Then stretch your legs over here." Seeing her expression, Chu Lian suddenly felt the urge to tease her and tilted her head slightly as she spoke.
"Eek... Master, you're not planning to do to me the things Chu Chu does to you, are you, meow?" Clearly, Tina's imagination had immediately wandered somewhere inappropriate.
"I said, stretch your legs over here." Chu Lian ignored her reaction and simply repeated the command, leaving the girl unable to refuse.
"Uuu..." There was no helping it. She had just made such a bold declaration herself. If she refused now and Chu Lian decided not to let her adopt those cats anymore, then she would truly be doomed.
After hesitating for a while, Tina leaned back against the bed and extended her slender legs clad in blue heels toward Chu Lian. She closed her eyes, waiting for some strange sensation to arrive.
"What adorable, delicate little feet." Chu Lian easily grasped the ankle of one small foot wrapped in white silk stockings. Looking at the exquisite foot before her, her mischievous side awakened. She gently removed the high heel and began lightly scratching the sole of her foot.
"Hahahaha, meow... that feels so weird, meow... hahahaha..." Instead of the damp, pleasant sensation she had imagined, what came was an intense ticklish feeling. Even cats reacted when their soles were tickled. She immediately burst into laughter.
"Looks like even if a cat turns human, human weaknesses still remain. Though judging by how hard you're laughing, my little kitten is pretty sensitive." Chu Lian paid no attention to her protests. She removed the other blue heel as well and, through the white stockings, began tickling the other sole too.
This time, the double assault of ticklishness finally pushed the cat beyond her limit.
"Hahahahaha... meow... hahaha... I... hahaha... hate this the most... hahaha... I hate Master the most! Meow... hahaha..."
Feeling that she would break down if this continued, Tina instantly made a decision and reverted to her cat form.
What was strange was that normally, when she transformed, her clothes would no longer fit and simply fall off. Yet the Vanilla Maid Outfit clearly possessed some special ability. The instant Tina turned back into a cat, the outfit transformed into a golden bell tied with a blue ribbon around her neck. Even the pair of blue heels Chu Lian had removed turned into streams of light and flowed into the bell.
The transformation startled Chu Lian for a moment before realization dawned on her. So that was why the outfit cost so much—it had special abilities.
But now that her little toy had escaped, there was no longer any way to continue teasing her. Chu Lian could only shake her head helplessly.
"Remember to come back early. We're going to class tomorrow. Arrange things properly for them first, then come back later and tell me where they are so I can bring food over for them too."
"Got it~" After returning to cat form, Tina no longer had her habitual verbal tic and even sounded much more proper. Hearing Chu Lian's instructions, she nodded, leapt directly from the second-floor window onto the wall outside, then vanished from Chu Lian's sight after only a few quick bounds.
"Unexpectedly soft and fun to play with." Recalling the sensation of holding those tiny feet earlier, Chu Lian smiled casually. This girl really needed to be thoroughly investigated one day. She wanted to know exactly how different her body felt compared to a human's.
"Right... since I skipped class today, that means classes start again tomorrow, huh? Sigh... busy days again. I just hope these next few days pass peacefully. Otherwise, it'll be exhausting~"
Chu Lian gazed out the window at the scenery beyond, her thoughts drifting. This season really did make people unusually sentimental.