Chapter 43: ◎Antarctic Sweet Girl Adélie (9)◎
During the time that Klein greatly delayed getting together, he got his wish and spent it all on the little penguin.
There is little buffer from warm to cold in Antarctica. It seems that in the blink of an eye, the temperature above zero turns to below zero, and the temperature below zero is getting lower and lower.
The male Adélie discovered that a certain little penguin was more afraid of the cold than ordinary chicks. Not only at night but also during the day, she had to stay close to him to absorb warmth.
Not only was Shi Qiao herself looking forward to growing up and entering the ocean to escape the extreme cold, but Klein also hoped that her hair would fade faster.
Shi Qiao would talk about the hair on her body every day, and the gray and black lanugo hair was as strong as ever.
It can't be pecked off without effort.
She has seen the season when penguins shed their feathers. At that time, the little penguins will have unconventional hairstyles, and they can even get a mohawk by themselves. It can be said that they are ugly in all kinds of ways, but Shi Qiao hopes that such a day will come soon.
Now that she can't go to the sea, she has to stay in the settlement by herself. The boss will leave after less than two days at a time. Compared with the grassland, the separation days are longer.
Other Adélie parents also chose to go to sea at the same time and feed their cubs day and night.
Autumn in Antarctica does not last long. Winter will arrive in just a few weeks, leaving little time for Adélie penguins.
More and more little penguins choose to cuddle together after their parents leave, and other neighbors who do not need to go to sea will consciously take up the task of taking care of their chicks at this time.
Some single Adélie have to worry about the commotion and fights in the little penguin colony from time to time. They have to be a qualified caregiver and try to prevent the Adélie from discovering any damage to their cubs when they come back. However, some careless parents come and go in a hurry, feed them food, and leave after a short time, without noticing any difference.
In the past few days when Shi Qiao was away from the little penguin group, the little ones without penguin discipline became unruly and had fun far away from the group leader.
The best these adult caregivers can do is to prevent them from being beaten too much. They don't perform their duties as well as the little penguins, so the chicks have no worries.
After Klein left, Shi Qiao returned to the group of little penguins and found that Adélie had let go of their good nature after not seeing her for a few days.
It can be seen that low-quality penguins are not easy to transform, and this is a long-term task.
After the temperature dropped, the adult Adélie who returned to the land from the ocean felt the familiar cold. The settlement is often hit by strong winds and is far less warm than the sea. These parents come back cursing and leave cursing, and even their cubs have learned curse words.
When Shi Qiao heard these little penguins gather together again and chat with each other, she felt that her ears were in urgent need of purification.
As an Antarctic bully who only likes to use his hands but not his words, Klein's good qualities are reflected in the fact that he can fight whenever he can and not too many beeps. Shi Qiao has never heard these curse words when she is around him, let alone from a group of cubs.
Since the three geese group spoke freely in front of her several times, they were also taught by Klein that they did not dare to say anything, but they could not stop these little penguins who were almost black at all.
Thinking of a certain Thea who could learn to speak, Victor, Koloff, and Hoover wanted to cover her ears with their flippers.
If the little penguin learns this and tells Klein, the big bully will think that they are the ones who taught the bad things. Klein will not beat his little kid casually, but he can beat them casually.
Just when the three bodyguard penguins wanted to shoulder their responsibilities other than being caregivers, Thea in the middle was seen talking to a little penguin who was croaking.
It's okay to just fight. It's not a good habit to curse for no reason. It's too low quality.
Adélie reputation has been destroyed from generation to generation like this!
There was no need to wait for the three adult Adélie cries to hinder the curse attack of these little penguins. Shi Qiao started fighting without saying a word, adhering to the fine tradition of the big boss, not saying much and just going straight to the fight.
Anyone who curses again will be beaten, and trolls will be expelled from the group.
When Klein was away, Little Gummy switched to fighting mode. She had nothing to fear in front of these children of the same age. If she was beaten by a group, she would have the three bodyguards Adélie behind her to support her.
The adult geese rest against their backs so they can enjoy the shade, allowing these little penguins who have forgotten the rules after not being in the group for a few days to experience the power of the group leader.
The little penguin has learned a new move from the big brother in the past few days. The flippers and beak can be used together. First, run over and get close to the opponent, slap it hard on the head or neck, and then use the flippers to hit it when it is close. If the force is strong, she can hit an opponent of similar size several meters away.
The three geese group watched the little penguin in front of them mingling and quarreling, but the targets they wanted to control were the little trolls, which actually helped Shi Qiao better control her opponents.
After talking to several little penguins in a row, Shi Qiao returned to her original place.
Fortunately, although these little penguins are as bad-tempered and talk trash as the adult Adélie, they will become honest after being beaten.
After all, as soon as they open their mouth, they will receive a scrutinizing look from the other party, so they can only swallow their screams and reorganize their words.
Shi Qiao nodded with satisfaction, this is right.
A goose has its own rules, and a group has its own rules. In the future, they will all be penguins surfing together, so they need to cultivate good qualities in advance.
The little penguin put her flippers on her hips to warn the members of the little penguin group that even if they wanted to talk, they needed to think about it first and consider the actual situation.
It's okay to scold natural enemies, but not their partners. Don't become an Antarctic troll like their parents.
The little penguins who had been suppressed by force nodded in frustration and gathered around again to act like honest and obedient geese. Just by looking at the little eyes rolling around, she knew that they were not holding back anything good. Even if they were obedient, they would only be obedient when the little penguin was around.
When the other person's attention is transferred to other friends, they will curse in a low voice to satisfy their craving.
Shi Qiao: "..."
Don't think that she can't hear what they're saying if they lower it an octave.
The more she lived in a group with the Adélie, the more Shi Qiao felt that these Adélie had the blood of grumpy old geese flowing in their bones. Just verbal education would not work at all. The most straightforward thing was to crush them with strength like a big boss.
This caused those little penguins who couldn't get rid of their mouth habit to subconsciously shrink their heads when they saw her. The big bumps on their heads disappeared, and they had already practiced the iron head skill.
It is no exaggeration to say that all the penguin chicks in their group are now very resistant to beatings.
Geese cannot be judged by their appearance. When they first came to her to hug each other for warmth, who would have thought that the sweetest looking penguin chick who is easy to bully would be the one who could fight the best?
It's a pity that the little penguins staying in the colony have each chosen a group to join. Every time, they habitually find familiar companions. If they leave the group, they have to find another small group to socialize again. It is not as safe as the three adult penguins here to watch over them, so they can only endure it.
Although there are many rules, Shi Qiao's little penguins are the most protected little penguin group.
Other groups of chicks were successively snatched away by the Antarctic skua, taking advantage of the opportunity. Only the little penguin here was still alive, and every time they could find their parents with all their fur and tails intact.
In comparison, the bump on the top of their head is negligible.
Shi Qiao managed her little penguin colony in this way and went back to be alone after Klein came back. Time went as fast as the cold air in Antarctica, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the blizzard to begin.
It happened that Klein was still in the colony when the first blizzard came. The little penguin had never seen such a fierce snowstorm before, and the fluff on her body was blown up. If it weren't for the boss beside her, she might have been blown to the point where she couldn't stand still.
Cold, too cold.
This was Shi Qiao's only thought.
The cold wind like a knife blew against the body, mixed with fine pieces of ice and snow, covering the exposed settlement with silver, and the entire sky became extremely chaotic.
All the little penguins still in the colony are huddled together for warmth. If they are left alone outside, they will have to freeze to death.
The strong wind was raging, and Klein also took Thea to join the penguin group. At this time, the advantages of having more of the same kind were revealed. They squeezed together with their plush bodies next to each other, and their frozen bodies quickly relaxed.
The little penguins are in the middle, with their heads in and tails out, hugging themselves into a group of penguins. The adult Adélies who stay behind surround them outside to block part of the wind and snow.
Even so, a lot of snowflakes still fell on the cubs. The soft snowflakes hanging on the black and gray fur would freeze into dry and hard ice and snow in the blink of an eye, and they needed to shake their bodies vigorously to shake them off.
At this temperature, no one cares about whether there is snow falling on them. Once they quit hugging each other for warmth, all the body temperature accumulated just now will disappear.
The little penguins let the snow freeze on their fur and lowered their extremely high heads when they quarreled.
While Shi Qiao was squeezing, she was pushed to the very back by several other little penguins that were moving around.
She can still feel the howling wind outside, and the middle position is as warm as spring, surrounded by more than a dozen little penguins. The feeling was no less than wearing a Goose down jacket. It was made of real material. After a while, the heat became unbearable for her.
At this time, the innermost little penguin will find a gap to get out from the center of the heat source, and other little penguins will take over to fill the gap.
This ensures that each little penguin has the opportunity to enjoy the natural heating inside for a while. Of course, even if Shi Qiao is squeezed outside, she won't be cold, because Klein will come and stand behind her to block the wind and snow.
After the other party leaves, she won't get such good treatment. Even the leader of the penguin group has to hang out with everyone.
She didn't know which little penguin was severely frozen, but a penguin started to scream: "Fuck, it's so cold!"
At this time, Shi Qiao didn't have the energy to care whether the other party was swearing or not. She nodded in her mind. Damn it, the weather in Antarctica is too extreme.
She thought that snowstorms like this only happened once or twice a season, but she didn't expect that this was just the beginning.
Now that the little penguin has come back to the big boss, she rushes over and rubs against the big one. He automatically waits for his cub to come over and help her keep warm. He has no choice but to move the nest. Shi Qiao, who is more afraid of the cold than other penguins, takes a nap.
Except for the warm areas where she can touch the fur of other little penguins, she feels cold everywhere in her body.
The soles of penguin feet have a thick layer of cuticle, as well as a special heat exchange system in the feet. It will automatically reduce blood flow when it's cold, and change it back when it's warm. If the cold protection system hadn't been in place, walking on this frozen planet would probably freeze their blood to the point of freezing after just a few steps.
Animals always have secret weapons to deal with bad weather, and penguins rely on the subcutaneous fat they have accumulated over time.
Shi Qiao felt that the food she had eaten in the past few months was not in vain. If she was a skinny little baby, she would probably freeze to death even if she had a baby to hold.
From birth to now, the little penguins have been undergoing various elimination competitions. From the strong ones weed out the weak ones, and then weed out a group of second-borns whose parents can't feed them, and then the unlucky ones who are targeted by Antarctic skuas as prey. Finally, it's the turn of the severe cold in autumn.
Even though Klein wanted to stay in the colony to help the little penguins keep warm, he had to leave.
Feeding the chicks has reached an urgent stage. This time point is when the little penguins need calories the most. The energy brought by food can help them thicken their fat to resist the cold, and they have to go through the last stage of physical growth.
Shi Qiao obviously felt that her appetite was different after the arrival of autumn. In the past, Klein could stay in the settlement for a few days at a time when he went to sea. Now, after feeding her, he has to leave like other adult Adélie.
The key is that to survive, she must not eat or eat less.
Watching the boss leave, Shi Qiao became more determined to learn how to swim and hunt for food in the future.
She had learned to swim when she was still a human, dating back to her childhood. Later, she stayed in the grasslands for more than ten years. During this period, she also waded through rivers, but they were all in the dry season and did not reach the depth that required diving.
Thinking that the day to go to the sea is getting closer and closer, the little penguin still feels a little unsure.
No comparison between swimming pools and rivers are not fast in the dry season and the endless sea without edges. What's more, penguins sometimes have to dive into the sea dozens of meters below. She has never dived before.
Shi Qiao hopes that she is so gifted that she can recall all her genetic memories as soon as she jumps into the sea.
In order not to become a landlubber when going into the sea, she began to practice holding her breath every day.
She heard that emperor penguins can hold their breath for twenty minutes at a time in the sea. She didn't know how long Adélie could hold it for. She counted the seconds to herself in her mind and found in despair that she seemed to be able to hold it for only six or seven minutes.
Shi Qiao didn't believe in evil and called her friends next to her to compete with her.
Before holding her breath, she told the other person: "Don't breathe. Imagine that you are diving in the sea now. When you need to breathe, scream."
The little penguin nodded ignorantly, and Shi Qiao took a deep breath and held it in.
Time passed bit by bit, and when she couldn't hold it in anymore, she glanced at the other little penguin beside her. The other little penguin still looked relaxed, and Shi Qiao had to give up.
She had reached the limit of holding her breath just now, and she almost suffocated herself to death and only managed to hold on for ten minutes.
Shi Qiao never thought that holding her breath would be her hidden weakness!
Fortunately, she realized the problem in time and decided to spend the rest of the time practicing on this project.
Soon, the little penguins of Thea's penguin colony discovered that their leader had rarely stepped forward to maintain order recently. Except for the occasional chatter, she stood silently at all other times.
This state is very scary, and the "big brother" who doesn't speak is more intimidating than the one who talks a lot.
Shi Qiao: I'm just practicing holding my breath, thank you.
She was afraid that her power would be broken when she opened her mouth, so she didn't even use too much force when she bit the other little penguins' heads. Unexpectedly, the little penguins all felt even more oppressed than before by a cold-faced sweet girl.
By accident, she discovered a good way to make the little penguins more honest, and it became easier for Shi Qiao to manage the small group.
After Klein came back, she asked the boss how long he could hold his breath in the sea.
The other party's words were concise: "A long time."
Shi Qiao felt that the boss's long life should be longer than she imagined. A certain penguin was not on the same track as her since he was born, which really made the geese jealous!
The little penguin frowned: "I can't hold it in for long. What should I do? I'm worse than them."
Klein couldn't see the other person's eyes sinking, so he found a reason to comfort her: "It's different on the ground and in the sea. You can hold it in longer in the sea."
Shi Qiao's eyes immediately lit up: "So big brother can't hold his breath for too long on the ground."
To make the other party happy, Klein nodded regardless of his conscience.
The little penguin suddenly felt comforted, but she still couldn't let go of her basic skills. She didn't have long left before she became an adult, so she still had to study hard and practice hard!
Klein brought back more food than before, but it was only enough for one meal. The little penguin could no longer be called a baby penguin. It could be considered a sub-adult among penguins. Its appetite was simply a bottomless pit.
Shi Qiao felt like she didn't feel as full as before after finishing a meal.
Adélie penguins are not big, but they have an abyssal maw.
Fortunately, the other little penguins around her were exactly the same. Adélie's parents hurriedly fed them a meal, but the little penguins still opened their mouths and chirped at them to beg for food.
The cold weather made the ice surface on the continental edge much wider than before, and the broken ice surface also condensed together, making the journey back to the settlement from the estuary more distant.
Although the adult Adélie are not very good, they are model parents and have to travel long distances to feed their cubs.
During this period, there was still continental edge ice that could not be connected together. Under the deep ice layer was deep blue water, and the natural enemies of penguins were hidden under the ice.
Leopard seal.
If they don't observe carefully when jumping off the ice, they may jump directly into the seal's hunting range. These natural enemies are also very smart, waiting specifically for Adélie to pass by, waiting for them to fall into the trap.
Shi Qiao looked at Adélie parents who came back every time, and it was obvious to the naked eye that several of them were absent.
Either they encounter accidents in the depths of the ocean, or they are preyed upon by natural enemies under the ice in shallow seas.
Even though it was so difficult, Adélie parents still worked hard to pave the way for their cubs with their own lives so that they could see them grow up and go to the sea as soon as possible.
When this day comes, many Adélie parents will no longer be able to see it.
Shi Qiao noticed something was wrong when she was picking at the heads of other little penguins. In the past, she had to use a lot of force to peck out the fur, but a large amount fell off with just a slight pick, which was comparable to the most severe hair loss.
She was shocked.
The little penguin that lost its feathers, Ben, didn't have much trouble. He shook his plump body, and then his hair fell out again.
Only then did Shi Qiao realize that it was already the end of autumn and the Adélie penguins were about to shed their feathers.
She carefully looked at the other penguins in the little penguin colony and then noticed that some of them had exposed shiny black waterproof fur under their lanugo hair.
Shi Qiao also couldn't wait to peck the fur on her body. It was not as easy as other little penguins to shed their fur.
She exerted her strength and cried rational tears.
The boss, who was about to return to the settlement, saw the little penguin plucking her feathers.
The experienced Klein stopped the other party's behavior. The time points for molting among the same batch of little penguins are different. Some take two days, and some even have to wait longer.
The little penguin has no sign of losing its feathers yet, so hard pecking can easily damage the skin inside.
Shi Qiao said to the other party: "Big brother, please help me, so it won't hurt."
The male Adélie did not agree with this behavior of plundering the seedlings and forcing it to stop so that the little penguin could open its mouth and eat well, and stop thinking about shedding its feathers.
The fact that other little penguins began to shed their feathers one after another made Shi Qiao extremely envious.
People who are troubled by hair loss would never have thought that being a penguin not only doesn't feel bothered by it but also makes them think about how to lose all their hair all day long.
After she began to shed her feathers, the little penguin's childish voice also changed, becoming a high-pitched demonic cry that was no different from the adult Adélie.
The original fetal feathers on the baby penguins were falling out in patches from left to right as if they had alopecia areata, and the hair that couldn't fall off was still attached to the body, making it look as messy as a killer in the penguin world.
But this is enough for Shi Qiao to be greedy.
After Shi Qiao had been looking forward to it for several days, some of the little penguins had finished molting first. The original black sesame and glutinous rice dumplings were completely transformed, throwing away their immature plush coats, and they finally looked like adult Adélie.
These little penguins will also begin to move to the continental edge ice one after another.
What made Shi Qiao feel less anxious was that some little penguins were just like her. It would be tragic if she was the only one left in the colony.
Facts have proved that there is no rush to lose hair. Just when her anxious mood was gradually smoothed out and she was about to start to lose her hair, she finally lost her hair!
Even the three bodyguards Adélie thought it was a great thing to be happy about.
Seeing that winter was coming and the little penguin anxious, they also became anxious and almost used their mouths to help her pick her baby fur up while Klein was not at home.
Fortunately, they waited.
Shi Qiao became the long-awaited non-mainstream penguin, helping each other and plucking feathers together with the little penguins who had not lost their hair.
After discovering that the little penguin was about to join the queue of adult geese, Klein did not return to the sea. Instead, he accompanied the little penguin as she moved from the settlement toward the estuary.
Along with them were other little penguins who were late to molt, and many who were not members of Thea's colony.
Led by adult males, the Adélie formed a single column and marched toward the sea in an orderly manner.
Shi Qiao was very ambitious and walked behind the boss with her head held high. She felt that the wind blowing in front of her was not as cold as before.
The male penguin in front of her looked back from time to time to see if the baby was following. This was the first time that the penguin had left the colony, and it was also the first step into ocean life.
Only when Shi Qiao left the settlement did she realize how difficult it was to walk on the icy snow.
The little penguins are full of fat that has been carefully fed by their parents. They stagger and twist when walking, fall from time to time, and slide on the ice with their bellies.
Shi Qiao slapped both flippers on the smooth fur. Compared with before, the difference in feel was obvious. Now it was no longer a soft compress, it was much smoother.
The feathers of adult Adélie are waterproof, so any water droplets falling on them will not penetrate the skin inside the fur but will roll directly down along the surface of the fur.
When the sun shines over the glacier, the reflection makes the feathers sparkle.
As soon as their fur fades, they transform from mature cubs into brand new adults.
The happiest one among them was Shi Qiao. She was like a little penguin who had never seen the world. She looked left and right wherever she went, and every glacier she looked at seemed magical.
These glaciers have strange shapes, some are rugged and some are strong. Compared with them, penguins are just small stones dotting the ground.
After looking at the light reflected by the ice crystals for a long time, it would be dazzling. When he noticed that the little penguin behind him had stopped and was swaying a little, Klein went over to cover her eyes with his flippers.
Humans will be temporarily blinded if they look in the snow for a long time. The pure white world without the blessing of other colors is still harmful to the eyes. Shi Qiao quickly blinked her eyes and soothed her eyes by watching the boss.
She compared her own height with that of the other person. She didn't know if her height would increase again after losing her hair. She still had to raise her head to look at the boss now.
Adélie's shadow is easily reflected on the ice, and the little penguin takes this time to look at her own appearance after not looking at the glacier.
The Adélie all share the same face, and Shi Qiao is used to it.
If she looks carefully, she can still find some differences. If she looks at the face without looking at the fur, she can still see some differences. Her eyes are rounder, and the color of the beak is not that dark. Even if she loses her hair, it will not be a deterrent.
There was no way to change her face, so Shi Qiao could only hope that she would be stronger by eating in the sea.
She was thinking enthusiastically as she walked. The male Adélie in front simply walked side by side with her, leading her with his flippers to ensure that this little baby, who was out for the first time to let loose, would not fall into the ice ditch.
The three goose groups following them didn't even look at it.
He has brought his child up, but as a result, he is still worried even when she is an adult. If Adélie has an award for best male mother, it must be awarded to a certain Antarctic bully.
To take care of the little penguins, they walked slower than usual and let them remember their own way. After walking on the ice at the edge of the continent for most of the day, the large group finally arrived at the mouth of the sea.
The little penguin looked at the blue sea level, and her mood was aroused. The ocean she had been longing for had finally arrived!
Before going into the sea, make sure there are no natural enemies in the sea waiting for a big meal, such as leopard seals and killer whales. The fledgling penguins will be alert. You look at me and I look at you. No one dares to jump into the water first.
Shi Qiao also saw the little penguins who came to the edge of the continental ice ahead of them. The place where those Adélie stood was on a small ice cliff a few hundred meters away, some height from the sea. The diving pressure at this location was even greater.
Apparently, they had been stuck there for a long time.
Seeing other penguins coming over on the ice at the edge of the continent, the new adult penguins on the ice cliff realized that there seemed to be no result in procrastinating any longer.
The hunger in the belly caused a commotion among the penguins. The penguins in the back who couldn't see the situation in front stretched their necks and screamed.
"Why don't you go down?"
"What are you talking about? Jump quickly!"
"If you dance, you will starve to death."
Shi Qiao was very curious about which of the Adélie would become the courageous leading goose, who could be the first to challenge the natural enemy for the hungry penguins behind them and jump down to help them gain courage.
On her side, she was still observing the movement, but some of the new adult penguins on the other side couldn't hold back anymore and took the lead in kicking the penguin in front of them into the sea from behind.
Everything happened so suddenly. Shi Qiao looked at the splashing water in the sea and finally saw the true face of low-quality penguins with her own eyes.
She couldn't help but sigh, a creature like Adélie was so bad that they were completely evil!
As expected, it can be called "affectionate and righteous".
The sea surface was quiet and there was no movement of natural enemies. The penguin that was kicked jumped out of the water after a while, symbolizing the safety of this area.
The other Adélie breathed a sigh of relief and jumped into the water one after another.
Just because there was nothing over there, it didn't mean that they were absolutely safe under the ice. Shi Qiao glanced at the boss and thought that she should also run to the ice cliff and jump.
The other party didn't hesitate much and kicked the three geese group down one by one while they were still looking down at the sea.
Shi Qiao: "..."