Axolotl Translations

Huo Yunyan was grinning like a total fool. All he could think was: My Little Feather is just too cute. So, so cute. Ridiculously cute.

But what he didn’t know was that behind this cute and smug little bird, there was a rather pitiful past. Back when he was still human, Shen Jingque barely got to do anything—most of his days were spent lying in a hospital bed. Now that he could be human again, he was completely obsessed with his new body, thrilled to finally be healthy!

“Yes!” He couldn’t wait to get out of bed and start walking.

“Hey, hold up!” Huo Yunyan couldn’t take it anymore. He scooped him up and gently scolded, “At least put on some clothes before you go running around bare-assed.” That’s like… the bare minimum of being human.

Of course Shen Jingque knew that. He was just about to go get dressed! He already knew exactly where Huo Yunyan had put everything for him. There wasn’t a single secret in this house he didn’t know. Heck, he probably had more intel than the security system.

“I know,” he huffed. Back when he was a bird, he didn’t need to worry about any of this—Huo Yunyan took care of everything. But now that he had hands and feet, that era was over.

“I know what people are supposed to do. I know the rules.” The teen tilted his chin up, just as smug as he’d been as a bird. Huo Yunyan suddenly had the urge to kiss that soft, pale cheek.

But… now that the little feather had a human body—and one that looked like a teenager—Huo Yunyan hesitated. He settled for patting his head instead. The boy leaned in, just like he did when he was being petted as a bird, making Huo Yunyan’s heart melt on the spot.

Honestly, there probably wouldn’t be anyone else in his life he’d spoil like this.

Ever since he found out the bird could turn into a person, Huo Yunyan hadn’t been able to stop himself—he bought piles of things the boy might need, whether he’d actually use them or not. He’d rewatched that short video of the transformation more times than he could count, just to get a rough idea of the kid’s height and weight, and figure out his clothing and shoe size. And in classic Huo Yunyan fashion, he barely got anything wrong.

The teen put on a lemon-yellow set of loungewear that Huo Yunyan had picked out—it matched his bird feather color almost perfectly, and it suited him to a T.

“You like this color?”

Huo Yunyan couldn’t hide his smile. He remembered the little feather had picked this color himself—probably felt a sense of familiarity.

Of course, he liked it. Shen Jingque was very proud of his feather color. He’d already declared lemon yellow to be the most beautiful color in the world.

The shop assistant had kindly warned him back then, “Sir, does your child have fair skin? Lemon yellow’s kind of hard to pull off~”

But now, standing in front of the mirror, the teen looked absolutely flawless. Pale skin, tall and lean frame, long limbs, sleek black hair, bright eyes full of pride—he looked like a little emperor who ruled the household.

“Whoa?” Shen Jingque blinked at his reflection. He looked almost exactly like his old self—just healthier now. His face had a bit more fullness, too. Just like his mom used to say: “Chubby cheeks make good boys even cuter.”

The sight of his old face froze him in front of the mirror. Out of nowhere, his nose stung, eyes watered—he missed home.

Huo Yunyan had no clue what had triggered the sudden mood swing. One minute things were perfectly fine, and the next it was like a torrential downpour hit out of nowhere.

“What’s wrong? Does your head still hurt?” Huo Yunyan crouched down in concern, hugging the boy close. He was a whole head taller and gently rubbed the bump on Shen Jingque’s head. Still not gone. Damn bump.

The teen sniffled, embarrassed to admit, “I’m fine… I just… I kinda miss my mom…”

Huo Yunyan: “…”

Oh god. Where was he supposed to find this kid a mom? But he couldn’t just do nothing either. He made a mental note to follow up.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll ask your old bird shelter about it, maybe your mom’s still around.”

Not that mom.

Shen Jingque pressed his lips together. He meant his mom from his past life—the one who gave birth to and raised him. And she didn’t exist in this world. Totally different universes.

After a while, Huo Yunyan managed to cheer him up. But deep down, he couldn’t help feeling a little unfairly treated. He’d been taking care of Little Feather since before he was even born, but the kid still only had “Mom” on the brain. What about him?

So he offered, “Wanna go for a walk outside?”

Yes… but just the thought of actually going out made Shen Jingque go shy again. What if there were other people outside? What if he accidentally transformed back into a bird? What if someone tried talking to him and he had to explain who he was?

“Um… Can you… check if anyone’s home first?” he asked sheepishly.

Huo Yunyan had to laugh. This was the same little troublemaker who used to wreak havoc with the staff as a bird, fearless and bold. And now? He was shy?

He stepped out and cleared the house—gave everyone the day off and told them to go have fun. Meanwhile, Shen Jingque peeked from behind a pillar, eavesdropping on the benefits Huo Yunyan had just handed out: buffet lunch, KTV, hot springs, shopping vouchers…

Wait, a bird wants perks too!

“Alright, dismissed,” Huo Yunyan finally said, then headed upstairs, eager to find his Little Feather.

As he passed by the pillar, a foot suddenly stuck out. Shen Jingque had been dying to do that for ages. Too bad his little bird legs used to be too fragile—if he’d tried back then, people would’ve just laughed.

“You’re such a rascal.”

That bright lemon-yellow pant leg gave him away immediately. Huo Yunyan had seen it from a mile off. “Silly featherbrain—I’m bigger and heavier than you. If you trip me, who’s really gonna end up hurt, huh?”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’d be the one eating dirt.”

It looked like everyone had already left. Shen Jingque stepped out from behind the pillar and strolled into the main hall. “This place used to feel huge.”

“That’s because you were seeing it from a bird’s-eye view,” Huo Yunyan said patiently. “You were the size of a palm. Of course, everything looked big.”

Shen Jingque headed out into the backyard. At first, he carefully stepped along the stone path, then turned to ask, “Can I walk on the grass?”

Huo Yunyan blinked, then chuckled. “Little Feather, this is your home. You can do whatever you want—you don’t need to ask permission.”

The boy’s eyes curved in a grin. He kicked off into a run across the lawn, wind in his face, laughter ringing out as he played. He was the most beautiful thing Huo Yunyan had seen all summer—pure joy, in motion. It was the kind of moment that tugged at your heart.

“I wanna play soccer! And fly a kite!”

“Yes, yes—we’ve got everything. Been ready for ages.”

“Okay! Bring it! But don’t forget—run slowly!” he called out as he darted away.

That whole perfect afternoon, Huo Yunyan fetched soccer balls, chased kites, and basically ran around after him nonstop. And yet, somehow, he was smiling the whole time.

“Oof, my back is killing me,” he groaned as the sun went down.

But that night? Oh, karma hit hard. Little Feather had seriously overdone it and was sprawled on the bed groaning, demanding miracle medicine from Huo Yunyan.

But miracle meds? Yeah, not a thing.

“That’s not how it works,” Huo Yunyan explained patiently. “You overstrained your muscles. No pill’s gonna fix that. Just soak in the bath and rest for a few days—it’ll pass.”

“I want a miracle pill.” Shen Jingque knew perfectly well there wasn’t one. He just wanted to whine a little.

This brat…

As usual, Huo Yunyan couldn’t say no to him. He pulled out the massage gun, gave him a manual massage, and pampered him until he finally passed out.

Divine being? Please. This was an ancestor that needed worshiping.

“So damn cute,” Huo Yunyan murmured, staring at the sleeping boy. He gently brushed his fingers through that soft black hair before quietly getting up and heading to the study to deal with work.

The next morning, just after dawn, Huo Yunyan got poked awake. A hand reached over—a hand he still wasn’t used to seeing—and for a second, he just blinked at it.

“I’m hungry,” came a sleepy voice.

Ah. Right. The household’s little treasure had turned human yesterday. They hadn’t set up a separate room yet, so he was still sleeping in Huo Yunyan’s room.

After a good night’s sleep, Shen Jingque looked radiant. His skin glowed, lips pink, and a shaft of sunlight from the window lit up his face. He blinked rapidly, frowning, and finally gave up—pulling the blanket over his head in one smooth, grumpy motion.

Huo Yunyan scrambled up and hurried over to shut the gap in the curtains so the boy could rest more comfortably.

But the staff was still off on their holiday, which meant no chef. And the household bird was demanding breakfast. Left with no choice, Huo Yunyan pulled up a cooking tutorial and got to work in the kitchen. He already knew the basics. But he still followed every step carefully—this meal had to be perfect.

Shen Jingque’s sense of smell was no joke. The second Huo Yunyan turned off the stove and lifted the lid, the boy drifted into the dining room in his oversized pajamas like it was all planned.

With cutlery in hand, Shen Jingque looked exactly like a baby bird begging to be fed.

“I’m not sure if it’ll taste good,” Huo Yunyan said, watching him carefully. “If it doesn’t, we can always go out to eat.”

He’d tasted it himself—it was fine—but he wasn’t sure what the boy’s taste preferences were yet.

Going out to eat basically meant going out to play. Shen Jingque’s eyes lit up. He took a bite and, lying through his teeth, said, “A little overcooked, but since you worked so hard on it, I guess I’ll finish it.” Then he casually added, “And after that, we can go out and have fun.”

If he hadn’t scarfed it all down in three quick bites, Huo Yunyan might’ve actually believed that act.

“You still want to go out? Doesn’t your body hurt?”

The truth was, Huo Yunyan hadn’t planned to take him anywhere today—there were more important things that needed to be sorted out first, like his official identity. Luckily, the current laws made it easy—as long as you reported it, you could get household registration.

He arranged for someone to take ID photos of Shen Jingque. Next came the paperwork: ID card, household registry, passport… all that bureaucratic fun. Since no one knew exactly how old Little Feather was, and he looked like an adult, they decided to mark him down as eighteen. That way, they didn’t need to assign him a legal guardian.

He also needed an official name. Huo Yunyan spent ages brainstorming nice ones. But Little Feather shot them all down.

“Ugh, these don’t sound good. I’ll pick my own,” Shen Jingque said firmly. He was still attached to his original name. “I want to be called Shen Jingque. It’s elegant and poetic.”

“These three characters?” Huo Yunyan asked, writing them down on a piece of paper.

“Not that ‘que’—I mean the one in ‘magpie.’” Shen Jingque pointed out.

Huo Yunyan blinked. “Why that one? You’re not a magpie—you’re a canary, aren’t you?”

Was this silly bird confused about his own species?

Shen Jingque shot him a look. “It comes from a poem: ‘a startled magpie takes flight from the moonlit branch.’ Don’t you read classical poetry?”

Huo Yunyan: “………………”

As someone with a fancy academic background, being called uncultured by his own pet was a bit of a blow.

“Okay, okay, fine. ‘Jingque’ it is. But why the surname ‘Shen’?”

Wouldn’t ‘Huo’ be better? That way they’d clearly be family.

“‘Huo’ is hard to write,” Shen Jingque said, trying not to hurt his feelings. Which—honestly—was true. He scrunched his face. “‘Huo Jingque’… seriously? Does that sound good to you?”

“‘Shen’ does have a nice ring to it. ‘Shen Jingque’… even ‘Shen Feather’ sounds good,” Huo Yunyan admitted.

The boy lit up at the praise, his eyes curving into a smile—but a guilty little look flickered in his expression.

No way. There’s no way Huo Yunyan would find out he wasn’t actually some divine being… right?

“But still, I raised you. It feels like a bit of a shame not to give you a name with my last name,” Huo Yunyan said. “How about we come up with one together?”

Right—couldn’t play favorites either way.

“You’re the creative one, you decide,” Huo Yunyan left the choice to Little Feather.

The bird didn’t hesitate for even a second: “Huo Xiaohuang.”

“…Seriously?”

How did such a poetic name like Shen Jingque turn into Huo Xiaohuang the moment it got his surname?

Huo Yunyan looked completely defeated. “You didn’t even try to think about that one.”

The bird puffed up stubbornly. “I did think about it.”

Shen Jingque was his parents’ taste.

Huo Xiaohuang?

That’s 100% pure bird taste~

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