An older female named Da Ya stepped forward. She was a bold, good-natured woman and held a respected place among the females.
She was almost thirty and had birthed three litters of cubs already. She had ten beast husbands, and several of her three-year-old cubs were rolling around nearby in the dirt.
These young cubs were still in their pure animal forms; they were small, clumsy, and furry.
Other groups of older cubs, around five to seven years old, were also playing. These older children had already learned to transform into human form, but they still had uncontrollable beast ears and tails.
Da Ya chuckled and patted Su Qinglan’s shoulder. "You feel them moving so early! That means they are strong cubs. But now we have to guess. Whose cubs do you carry?"
The females always had this mystery.
Because they had several beast husbands, they never knew which species’ cubs they were carrying until the baby was born. The pregnancy time, or gestation period, was different for every species. This was the only hint they had.
"Look at Bai Ling," Da Ya pointed. Bai Ling was a little thinner than Su Qinglan, and her belly was more prominent, even though her pregnancy was slightly later.
"Bai Ling’s husband is a Fox, but she also has a Bear husband. Fox cubs come quickly. Maybe around a month and a half. But bear cubs take longer, closer to three months. Her belly is big, and it has already been one month. I think she carries a fox cub. A big, early-growing one!" Da Ya declared with certainty.
A month in Beast World has 32 solar days with four weeks, each week with 8 solar days.
Bai Ling nodded anxiously. "Yes! I hope it’s a fox cub. My fox husband is so happy about that idea. If it is a bear cub, I fear my grumpy fox husband will strangle my poor innocent bear husband. But the bear husband wants a bear cub! My belly is huge already, and I am only about a month pregnant."
The females looked at Su Qinglan.
"What about Qinglan-jie?" Xiu Li asked eagerly. "Your belly is big too! And you felt two kicks!"
"I am about a month and maybe a bit more," Su Qinglan admitted.
She herself had four beast husbands: a Tiger (Hu Yan), a Wolf (Han Jue), a Fox (Rong Ye), and a Snake (Xuan Long).
Da Ya began listing the possibilities. "Rong Ye is a fox. Fox cubs are fast, about six weeks. Hu Yan is a Tiger. Tiger cubs take around two months, maybe a little more. Han Jue is a wolf. Wolf cubs also take about two months.
And Xuan Long is a snake. Snake pregnancies are always the quickest, barely a month, and they lay eggs, not cubs."
The females gasped at the last option.
"You didn’t lay eggs, Qinglan! So it is not the Snake cub," Da Ya concluded. "It has to be the Fox, the Wolf, or the Tiger."
"The Fox cubs are too fast," another female, Liu Hua, pointed out. "If it was a fox cub, she would have birthed it already or be about to. But Lan Lan felt two strong kicks. but it may take time."
Su Qinglan thought about it. She knew the answer, but she kept it a secret.
In her past life, she had known everything about animal reproduction. She knew that in this world, the beast pregnancy timeline was based on the animal species.
Tiger cubs took around two months. Wolf cubs took around two months. Fox cubs took about a month and a half.
She let the females guess and didn’t interrupt the heartfelt atmosphere, even though she already knew it was tiger cubs.
"Maybe it’s the Tiger cubs," Su Qinglan offered innocently, pretending to guess. "They are big cubs, so they might make the belly bigger."
"Yes! Tiger cubs are the best! They grow up strong!" Da Ya agreed loudly. "Or maybe it is one wolf cub and one tiger cub! That would be amazing!"
The thought of carrying a wolf cub and a tiger cub made Su Qinglan laugh. What a funny mix that would be!

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