Chapter Three: Taking Root

"Waaah!"

Hearing the baby cry, Old Meng skillfully changed his diaper.

What made Lu Chun blush was that he had wet himself again. Because an infant's nervous system is not yet fully developed, Lu Chun could not control his bodily functions, which was quite embarrassing. However, compared to other babies, Lu Chun possessed a mature mind and was relatively quiet; usually, when he cried, it was just to remind Old Meng that it was time for a change.

Many people in the hospital praised Old Meng, saying, "This child is quite sensible. He cries when he's hungry or needs a change; he's really no trouble at all."

This made Lu Chun wish he could crawl into a hole in the ground.

After a few days of caring for the infant, Old Meng had progressed from his initial clumsiness and panic to being quite proficient. He carefully lifted the baby and attempted to feed him. On the small table nearby, a pile of books on infant care sat stacked—it was clear that Old Meng had been reading them diligently.

Old Meng was actually quite young, having graduated from veterinary school just over two years ago. At less than twenty-five, he had even turned down the matchmaking opportunities introduced by the zoo director to focus on taking care of the baby. This was one of the main reasons the zoo director had been scolding him. The other reason was that Old Meng’s prolonged leave had led to a decline in the zoo's overall efficiency.

Old Meng served as a zookeeper, veterinarian, and trainer all in one; he was considered a treasure in the director's eyes. To attract visitors, Old Meng often utilized his abilities as a "Beast Master" to communicate with the zoo animals and guide them to be friendly toward humans. With him gone for so long, the animals had become restless, causing the staff to worry and complain to the director.

However, the lineage of a Beast Master was difficult to learn and practice. It had taken Old Meng over a decade of apprenticeship since he first began his training to achieve even modest results. At this stage, he lacked the confidence to call himself a "Biomancer," as he would in the future. In other words, the current Old Meng had not yet embarked on the path of communicating with and controlling prokaryotic bacteria. And his decision to join the "Na Du Tong" organization was still a matter for the future.

As he drank his milk, Lu Chun surveyed the hospital environment. It wasn't particularly modern; compared to his past life, it felt like it was set more than twenty years in the past. He was still small, and he could determine the exact timeline later. After all, the plot of *Under One Person* began in 2016, and there was plenty of time for him to grow up before then.

***

For a typical newborn, if all vital signs—such as body temperature, respiration, heart rate, diet, and waste elimination—are normal, they are usually discharged from the hospital after one to three, or perhaps five to seven days of observation. If the infant is in good condition and has no obvious illnesses, they can even be discharged within a day or two of birth.

Of course, this did not apply to Lu Chun. Having survived the "trial of death" and the "tiger’s maw" immediately upon birth, Old Meng followed the doctor’s advice to keep him in the hospital for a few extra days for the sake of his health. It wasn't until fifteen days later that Lu Chun was officially discharged.

However, there was still the issue of Lu Chun’s future. Would he be adopted by Old Meng, or sent to an orphanage? Looking at a phone number on his screen, Old Meng finally made the call.

"Hello, Brother Liao? Could I ask you a favor?"

A gruff voice came from the other end: "Oh, little brother Meng, you finally called me! Just tell me what it is. As long as it's something I can do, I'll get it done for you!"

Old Meng looked at the baby before him and steeled his resolve. "Can you help me get a birth certificate?"

"A birth certificate? Little brother Meng, do you have a child? Congratulations... wait, no, you're asking me for a birth certificate—is this child's origin not entirely legitimate?" The voice on the other end caught on, sounding suspicious.

He then lowered his voice to advise, "Little brother Meng, take a word of advice from your brother: you must not do anything illegal or improper!"

Terrified, Old Meng quickly explained, "No, no, it's not like that! The situation is this: over ten days ago, I found a newborn at the zoo. I don't know which parents were so heartless as to abandon the child in the tiger enclosure, and then I..."

Old Meng recounted the whole story to Brother Liao. There was a moment of silence on the other end, as if the man were taking a drag of a cigarette, before he said, "You mean you want to adopt this child?"

Though he felt some hesitation, Old Meng gritted his teeth and replied, "Yes!"

"You'd better think this through, little brother. You're only in your twenties and you're already becoming a father. It’s going to be hard to find a partner later with a child in tow."

Old Meng wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and smiled. "It's fine. I just feel like this child and I are fated, and I've already taken care of him for over ten days. I can't bear to send him to an orphanage."

The man on the other end sighed. "Fine, then. Leave it to me. Your big brother will handle it for you."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, Brother Liao!"

"Don't mention it. If it weren't for you saving my life over a year ago..."

The conversation drifted to casual matters. Lu Chun could faintly guess that the man on the other end was likely the future head of the South China division of Na Du Tong—Liao Zhong. He hadn't expected them to be connected this early on, but with Liao Zhong’s help, the rest would be easy to manage.

After leaving the hospital, Lu Chun was carried by Old Meng back to the zoo staff dormitory, where Old Meng lived. The place was small, only thirty or forty square meters. As a recent college graduate, Old Meng didn't have much money to rent an apartment, let alone buy one, and the zoo provided staff housing.

With the intention of saving every penny, Old Meng simply lived at the zoo, which also meant he earned a bit of overtime pay for night shifts. Fortunately, the zoo had plenty of open space, and the staff dorms were individual units arranged in a small row. Old Meng was steady and hardworking, so he had saved up a decent amount over the past two years. However, with the cost of raising Lu Chun—formula and other expenses—it seemed likely that his little treasury would soon be empty.

Old Meng put the baby down and said with a smile, "From now on, this is where we live!"

"Giggle~"

Lu Chun naturally laughed sensibly. Hearing the baby’s cheerful laughter, the pressure in Old Meng's heart dissipated quite a bit.

Since the latest time to register a newborn is usually within one month of birth, and Lu Chun had already spent half a month in the hospital, coupled with the time it took for Liao Zhong to help with the birth certificate, they finally went to register the birth when Lu Chun was twenty-five days old.

And so, he received his name in this world. Following Old Meng's surname, he was called: Meng Fan.