"This might be a fake Ugly Duckling..." Mai Ge said with a slightly strange expression, looking at the little orange cat meowing at Amy.
How was he supposed to explain this?! An oviparous cat? Charles Darwin would be turning in his grave.
But then he thought, may be in this world, after natural selection, oviparous cats will defeat viviparous cats and become the mainstream, after all, this is another world.
Nine out of ten orange cats are fat, and the tenth one even collapses the bed.
In his previous life, he had a dog and a cat, and that cat was an extremely fat orange cat.
Looking at the adorable, palm-sized orange cat with its eyes just half-open, Mai Ge couldn't resist the urge to pet it. Petting a cat was a truly delightful thing.
"But it hatched from the Ugly Duckling's egg, right? There's no mistake about the egg, so it must be the Ugly Duckling." Amy nodded firmly, then looked at the little orange cat with a hint of disdain. "But you're really ugly, and you have two extra legs. You can't swim, can you? From now on, we'll call you Ugly Duckling."
"May be we can give it a different name, like Orange, Little Orange, Big Orange, or something like that." Mai Ge tried to negotiate. Naming an orange cat Ugly Duckling was really putting the cat in a difficult position.
"No, Daddy, it really is an Ugly Duckling. We can't just change its name." Amy shook her head seriously at Mai Ge.
"Meow~" The little orange kitten, still inside its egg, shook its head, seemingly trying to express its dislike for the name.
"Hmm, I know you like the name too, right?" Amy smiled and nodded, reaching out to remove the eggshell from the kitten's head. Then, with a serious expression, she said, "Ugly duckling, you have to answer me when I call you, okay? From today until you grow up and become a white swan, I'll treat you well."
After saying that, Amy couldn't help but swallow.
"Meow~~" The little orange kitten immediately cowered, nodding its head and meowing.
"Ugly duckling it is then..." Mai Ge glanced at the little orange kitten with a hint of pity. In Amy's eyes, most things that hatch from eggs are ugly ducklings. Besides, this was Amy's pet, so of course she could decide what to name it.
However, this little guy can't be raised like a white swan, so Amy's wish to raise a pet for food reserves is likely to be dashed.
In fact, Mai Ge also seriously doubted that this was a normal orange cat. After all, the herb gatherer found it on a cliff in the wild that required ropes to climb, and he didn't see any wings on its back.
Wondering what it would look like when it grew up, Mai Ge suddenly pictured an adorable Totoro in his mind, only to shake it off with a shake of his head. He hoped it wouldn't become that round, chubby shape.
The little guy looked no different from a kitten of an orange tabby cat. Perhaps because it was oviparous, it looked about one or two weeks old. It stretched out its two tiny white paws, resting on the edge of the eggshell, trying to climb out.
However, it was too small and not strong enough. After struggling for a long time, it still couldn't climb out. It could only look at Amy pitifully with its sapphire-like eyes and meow twice, like a child asking for help. It seemed to have begun to rely on Amy.
"I just can't do anything with you." Amy said with a hint of disgust, but her little hand had already reached out, intending to grab it.
"Wait a minute, we need to clean it first." Mai Ge said quickly, getting up to fetch a clean towel. He helped Amy pull the little guy out of the egg, wiped it clean, rolled it up in the towel, leaving only its tiny head sticking out, looking innocently at Mai Ge and Amy.
"Daddy, it looks so delicious!" Amy's eyes lit up as she looked at the rolled-up orange kitten.
"Like a little cat curl." Mai Ge couldn't help but chuckle; the two little ones were just too adorable.
"Meow! Meow!" The little orange cat, who had been lying quietly, immediately became restless, tilting its head back and meowing twice, struggling to climb out.
"Ugly duckling, be good, I won't eat you now, be good, don't be afraid." Amy reached out and stroked the little orange cat's head, smiling sweetly.
The slightly anxious kitten was immediately calmed down and fell asleep.
"Let it sleep for a while. We need to prepare something to eat for it." Mai Ge said with a smile to Amy. It seemed that rushing out had taken a lot of its energy, and it would be hungry again when it woke up.
"The Ugly Duckling is such a lazybones, it fell asleep the moment I touched it." Amy withdrew her hand with a look of disgust and looked at Mai Ge, saying, "So what does it want to eat? How about rainbow fried rice?"
"No, newborn kitt… Ugly Ducklings can't eat rainbow fried rice. It need goat's milk or cow's milk. Let's go out and buy some milk for it." Mai Ge shook his head. He had personally raised that orange cat from a kitten years ago, so he was very experienced.
"System, do you sell baby bottle?" Mai Ge suddenly remembered and asked in his mind:
"This system does not provide baby care products." the system replied earnestly.
"I don't have much cash left, so you'd better be honest with your price. This little guy will be able to lick the plate by itself in a few more days. so I don't care whether I buy it or not." Mai Ge said calmly.
"One premium baby bottle, plus a pet bib, only 5 gold coins!" A glowing message floated past Mai Ge.
"If you include two bibs, I'll take one." Mai Ge thought for a moment.
"Premium baby bottle and two pet bibs have been delivered to the first shelf of the counter. Please check them, host." The system's voice sounded and then immediately disappeared.
Mai Ge opened the cabinet door and saw a brand new baby bottle and two adorable bibs already there, perfect for feeding it
As for why not buy milk from the system, it's uncertain whether the system sells ingredients outside the recipes. Even if it does, they're probably very expensive, and they might even come from cows raised in some sacred place.
He doesn't have many gold coins left, and he plans to save money to buy physical fitness points, so he can't afford to waste money.
"Okay." Amy nodded at Mai Ge's words, carefully placed the Ugly Duckling in the basket, gently covered it with a blanket, got up, took Mai Ge's hand, and walked a few steps. Then, she looked back at the basket with some worry. "But Daddy, if the Ugly Duckling wakes up when we go out, won't it be scared? It seems to think I'm its mother."
"It shouldn't wake up that quickly." Mai Ge smiled and shook his head. Going out to buy milk wouldn't take much time, but Amy was quite clever; she knew that the Ugly Duckling, who had seen her for the first time since birth, already considered her its most trusted person.
And although she complained, it was clear that Amy, who was raising a pet for the first time, actually really liked the little guy.
"Okay, let's hurry up and head out, then come back early." Amy nodded, took Mai Ge's hand, and walked toward the door.