Chapter 17 – Only a Hug (1)

At the beginning, Zhao Xi was worried that Ping An would hurt Shen Fei as the bear was a jealous and possessive one.

Other than taking care of patients, she took care of animals that were hurt every now and then. Whenever she released an animal that has healed and recovered well, the moment her head turned away, Ping An would attack, bite and eat the animal. Only after Zhao Xi noticed and reproached Ping An, did the beat then released the animal in his jaws. As if it had been wronged, Ping An would stick up its bottom towards her  to show its displeasure. She would then have to put in effort to coax Ping An, and reassure it that  she would have it as her only companion, did the bear then forgive her with much reluctance.

Ping An behaved just like a child with temper. However, it had a weakness – whoever fed it food will be treated like its mother. So Zhao Xi found an egg and passed it to Shen Fei to feed it to the fussy bear, helping him bribe Ping An and guarantee his own safety from its jealousy.

As Zhao Xi was still worried that Ping An would hurt Shen Fei, she left some medicinal herbs that Ping An hated on Shen Fei. If Ping An ever smelled the scent of the medicinal herbs, it would run away with fear. This would ensure that Ping An would not attempt to hurt Shen Fei.

Although leaving the medicinal herbs on Shen Fei might hurt the bear, Zhao Xi had no other choice. After all, in its eyes, with the exception of Zhao Xi, all other humans and animals were food. It would be better to take precaution.

Of course, whenever she was around, she would keep the medicinal herbs and ensure that Shen Fei was clean and without the scent of it. She would then slowly introduce Ping An to Shen Fei, and help it become accustomed to the man’s natural scent.

This process would definitely take a few months to accomplish. Therefore, when Ping An immediately ran over to look for Shen Fei, Zhao Xi immediately assumed that it was going to hurt him, as she had done something that the bear might get envious and upset about.

Ping An was not a stupid bear; it understood what was happening, and was also vengeful. However, shockingly, she saw Ping An curl up next to Shen Fei’s bench and placed its paw on his arm.

As that happened, Shen Fei raised his long and pale hand and started to pet the bear’s head. Ping An then happily rolled on its back, and revealed its neck.

Zhao Xi was stunned. The neck of a bear was its major weakness. A bear would only reveal its neck if it trusted the person. So far, Ping An had only done this similar act of trust to her. No other person or animal had ever received this same treatment from Ping An before. And yet, this was happening with Shen Fei?

Zhao Xi was still holding the pot as she ran over to look. Shen Fei gave her a glance, and continued to pet Ping An.

The bear looked… very blissful. It used both its paws to hold Shen Fei’s hand to guide him to continue petting it, sometimes a little to the left, sometimes a little to the right, sometimes a little lower. Almost as if it was thinking: “Ahhhhh, this spot just feels too great, just a little longer here…”

When Shen Fei was tired and took back his hand, Ping An would stretch over and hold his hand, wanting him to continue. There Shen Fei was, with his book on his lap, lying down in the shade in the courtyard, scratching and petting the black bear happily sprawled on the earth next to him growling in comfort and happiness.

The man and the bear looked harmonious in her eyes.

This time, it was Zhao Xi who felt the pang of jealousy. Ping An was never like this before. And now after a few days it was behaving like this with another person? What a useless companion.

This development must have happened without her awareness. She knew that even if she asked Shen Fei what had happened between them, she wouldn’t get an answer. So she held back her curiosity.

This development was not a bad thing either; now Zhao Xi can leave the two of them together without worries whenever she headed up the mountain to pick herbs or return to the village to open her quaint clinic. She was always worried that if she didn’t return to the village, any patients that would come looking to her for help but was unable to find her, might worsen their conditions.

She would wait till Shen Fei had recovered a little more before carrying him down the mountain. By then, she would be able to care for him and the clinic as well. As for Ping An, she would head up the mountains every now and then to visit it.

As bears have to hibernate during winter, and now that it was autumn, it would only be around two to three months later before the snow would start. It was important for Ping An to eat more to build up more fat, to ensure that it would have sufficient energy to store to last the unforgiving days of winter.

Shen Fei would also need winter clothes, she surmised. Zhao Xi counted her money and knew it wasn’t enough. It was definitely time for her to pick more herbs to resupply her store.