Qiao Xixi led Qiao Qiao to a stone house.
Just as they approached, a tall figure erged from inside.
Lin Mu was very surprised to see Qiao Xixi.
"Female, do you need any help?"
Qiao Xixi smiled. "No, thank you. You can call Qiao Xixi. This is my cub, Qiao Qiao. We just ca to see if your female is feeling any better."
Lin Mu hadn’t expected Qiao Xixi to make a special trip just to ask about Mi Lan.
"She’s much better now."
Just as Lin Mu finished speaking, Mi Lan’s voice ca from inside the stone house.
A mont later, Lin En and Mi Lan walked out of the house.
When Mi Lan saw Qiao Xixi, she broke into a warm smile.
"You must be the female who saved yesterday. Thank you so much."
Qiao Xixi said, "Qiao Qiao was the one who saved you."
Mi Lan looked at Qiao Qiao gratefully.
"Your little female cub is amazing. And so are you, to be able to give birth to a cub with such high innate talent."
It was the first ti Qiao Qiao had been praised like that, and she shyly hid behind Qiao Xixi.
"Please, co in and sit down."
Besides wanting to check on Mi Lan, Qiao Xixi also wanted to get closer to her, so she didn’t refuse.
Mi Lan’s stone house seed a bit larger than theirs, also consisting of three rooms.
After entering the house, Qiao Xixi and Qiao Qiao sat down on a beast-hide rug.
Lin Mu brought in a bag of thumb-sized red fruits from sowhere.
"These are Red-Red Fruits. Please, try so."
Qiao Xixi was curious. She hadn’t eaten any fruit since coming to the beastman world.
She took one and popped it into her mouth. It burst with juice the mont she bit into it.
’It has the texture of a cherry tomato!’
Before she even swallowed, she handed one to Qiao Qiao.
"Try it. It’s sweet and sour, really delicious."
Qiao Qiao studied the Red-Red Fruit curiously. It was the first ti she had ever seen such a thing.
"Are you feeling better?"
Qiao Xixi had barely asked the question when Mi Lan pulled aside her beast-hide clothes to show them her stomach.
"Completely healed! Look, there’s not a single scar on my stomach."
Qiao Xixi was also surprised as she looked at her smooth belly.
"I’m glad you’re all right."
"I’m so grateful to you both. The females of the tribe are going into the mountains to gather supplies tomorrow. Do you want to go?"
Females in the beastman world were precious, but not delicate. The cold days were approaching, so even with the males providing for them, they would still help stockpile more resources.
"Sure."
"Then I’ll co get you tomorrow."
"Okay."
After making plans with Mi Lan, Qiao Xixi didn’t stay much longer.
As they were leaving, Mi Lan had Lin Mu give them a bag of Red-Red Fruits.
"Mother, this Red-Red Fruit is so delicious."
"Tomorrow, I’ll take you all gathering. If we see any, we’ll pick a lot to bring back."
"Mhm!"
Qiao Xixi could tell her little cub was in a good mood, so she took her on a tour around the tribe.
Along the way, quite a few beastn gave them strange looks, but thankfully, no one did anything out of line.
When they had seen enough, they returned to their stone house.
Jin Ling and Qiao Ang had already finished repairing all three rooms.
"We’re back."
Jin Ling walked out of the washroom.
"Welco back. Are you hungry? I’ll go roast so at."
Qiao Xixi stopped him.
"You’ve been busy all morning. Let make lunch. I’ll make sothing different for you all today."
Jin Ling glanced at her small hand holding his. Her fair, pale skin was a stark contrast to his own bronze complexion.
Jin Ling didn’t pull away. He obediently went to sit on a nearby wooden stump.
"Okay."
Qiao Ang stared at the Red-Red Fruits curiously.
"What are these?"
Qiao Xixi smiled and popped a Red-Red Fruit into his mouth.
"Try it."
Qiao Ang took a bite, and his fine, boyish eyebrows knitted together.
"It tastes weird. It makes my mouth feel all tingly."
Huh?
Qiao Ang opened his mouth and spat out the Red-Red Fruit.
"Brother, but the Red-Red Fruit is delicious!"
"BLECH, BLECH, BLECH! It’s gross! I don’t like it at all."
’Looks like Qiao Ang can’t handle even a hint of sourness.’
"I’ll cook them in a little while, and they’ll taste much better."
Qiao Xixi took out so of the Red-Red Fruits and crushed them with a clean stone.
Jin Ling couldn’t stay seated.
"I’ll help you with the fire."
Qiao Xixi didn’t refuse.
She turned and went into the washroom, where half the space was used for storing hunted ga.
After grabbing so dried at, she took out so preserved animal fat from her storage space, planning to render it into oil.
She placed the fat on a stone slab, cut it into small pieces, and waited for the stone pot to heat up before putting it all in.
Soon, the fragrant aroma of the rendering fat filled the air.
Jin Ling occasionally added branches to the fire, but his gaze never left Qiao Xixi, committing her every step to mory.
"We’re going to have more and more things from now on. We’ll need to make so more containers."
"Just tell what you want to make."
’Right now, what I need most is an oil jar, and so bowls and plates.’
’All of those can be made from large stones.’
"Mhm. On the way back, I saw a lot of large stones in the tribe. We could bring so back and make stone bowls."
"Okay."
Because they had no containers, Qiao Xixi didn’t render all the fat into oil, just enough for one al.
Once the oil was hot, she added the crushed Red-Red Fruits and stir-fried them.
It was the first ti the cubs had ever slled such a sweet and sour aroma, and they all stared at the stone pot with curiosity.
After the Red-Red Fruits had cooked down into a sauce, Qiao Xixi added the slices of at.
When the at was cooked through, Jin Ling handed her the large leaves he had picked earlier.
"Alright, we can eat soon."
Although there was only one dish, the portion was huge—more than enough for all of them.
Jin Ling placed a large wooden stump in front of the stone house to use as a dining table.
Qiao Qiao eagerly fetched the chopsticks made of twigs and sat obediently at the stump.
Qiao Xixi served each of them a piece of at.
"Everyone, try it and see if you like it."
After speaking, she gave a piece to Jin Ling as well.
The cubs curiously picked up the at and took a bite.
Qiao Qiao liked Red-Red Fruits. The at, stewed with the fruit, had a hint of sweetness that she found delicious.
"It’s so yummy!"
Qiao Ang was a bit reluctant and only took a small bite.
But stir-frying the Red-Red Fruits had removed almost all the sourness, leaving only the sweetness of the juice. He devoured the large piece of at in an instant.
Qiao Lie stared at the at on his leaf without moving.
Qiao Xixi was confused.
"Qiao Lie, what’s wrong? Don’t you like it?"
Qiao Lie’s fine, thin lips were pressed into a tight line. He spoke stiffly.
"I don’t like it."
With that, he got up and went back into the stone house.
Qiao Xixi was stunned, unsure why Qiao Lie had suddenly gotten angry when everything had been fine.
She stood up worriedly. "You all eat first. I’m going to go check if Qiao Lie is feeling unwell."
Jin Ling saw her concern. He took a few Red-Red Fruits and pressed them into her hand.
"Don’t worry, the cub will be fine."
Qiao Xixi was puzzled as to why Jin Ling was giving her Red-Red Fruits, but she took them and entered the stone house anyway.
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