Lin Huahua, who had been waiting for praise, almost choked. "Feet protector?" she repeated, her white rat ears twitching because she did not know whether to laugh or get offended. "That na sounds so ugly."
Feng Yiren looked at her as if she was the unreasonable one. "Then what is it supposed to be called? It protects feet, does it not? Feet protector is already very direct. Do you want to call it soft ground biting stopper?"
Mu Qingyi, who had been watching from the side with warmth in his brown eyes, could not stop the low laugh that escaped him.
His antlers cast soft shadows against the stone wall as he leaned over to look at the item more closely, and even though the stitches were uneven and the edges were not perfect, his gaze carried real admiration because Lin Huahua had made it herself with her own two hands.
In the past, even if the old Lin Huahua had wanted sothing like this, she would have shouted for soone else to make it, then complained until every male nearby wanted to bury himself alive.
But this Lin Huahua had sat on the fur, pricked her own fingers, pouted, glared, and stubbornly worked until sothing real ca out, and that alone made Mu Qingyi feel proud in a way he did not even know how to explain.
Hu Baiyu was even more fascinated. The huge white lion beastman leaned closer, his lion ears perked forward and his blue eyes bright with curiosity, then he carefully touched the bottom of the footwear with one large finger.
He pressed the thicker hide, then touched the soft inner fur, then looked at Lin Huahua’s foot as if he was comparing the two in his mind.
After a mont, he lifted both hands and signed slowly, his fingers moving with that careful silent language that Lin Huahua sohow understood better and better every ti he used it. What is it for?
Lin Huahua imdiately sat up straighter because this was her grand mont of explanation. She picked up one of the footwear pieces and placed it against her foot, though she did not fully wear it yet because the resin still needed ti to dry properly.
"It is for walking," she explained, trying very hard to make it sound normal and not too advanced, because if she said words like shoes, sole support, foot protection, friction, and design, these beastn might start looking at her like Feng Yiren already did half the ti.
"The ground outside has too many sharp stones and broken branches. Beastn have strong feet, but I am a female and my feet hurt easily. If I wear this, the thick hide at the bottom will touch the ground first, and the soft fur inside will keep my feet comfortable. Then I can walk without feeling like the whole tribe is trying to bite ."
Feng Yiren’s eyes sharpened with interest despite himself. "So the ground bites you now?"
"It does," Lin Huahua said without sha. "The ground here is very rude."
Hu Baiyu nodded imdiately with a very serious face, as if he had just received important information about an enemy called the ground.
His lion tail swept once behind him, and the way he stared toward the cave entrance made Lin Huahua feel that if he could, he would probably go outside and flatten every sharp stone in the tribe path with his bare hands.
Mu Qingyi smiled and reached out to touch the edge of the footwear, though he was careful not to disturb the resin. "It is useful. If the bottom is made thicker next ti, and if the tie goes around the ankle more securely, it will not fall off when you walk."
Lin Huahua’s eyes lit up at once. "Yes, yes, exactly. That is what I was thinking too."
Feng Yiren gave her a look. "You were thinking that? You tried tying it three tis and it escaped every ti."
Lin Huahua glared at him. "The first ti does not count because I was testing it."
"The second ti?"
"I was also testing it."
"The third?"
"I was testing my patience with you."
Feng Yiren laughed through his nose, looking unbearably pleased to have annoyed her again, while Hu Baiyu’s gaze moved between them with that soft confused fondness of his. Then the lion looked back at the footwear, and after a mont, he signed another question. His fingers moved slower this ti, and his eyes stayed on Lin Huahua’s face as if the answer mattered to him more than the footwear itself. Where did you learn this?
Lin Huahua froze.
Only for one tiny mont.
But unfortunately, she lived in a cave with beastn who could hear a leaf drop outside and sll when her mood changed, so of course that one tiny mont was enough for all three males to notice.
Mu Qingyi’s smile did not change, but his eyes softened with quiet attention. Feng Yiren’s ears tilted forward imdiately, his red eyes narrowing because this was exactly the kind of question he had been waiting to hear answered badly.
Hu Baiyu only looked at her with open curiosity and hope, because he truly wanted to know more about her. He did not look suspicious like Feng Yiren. He did not look carefully gentle like Mu Qingyi. He simply looked like a big white lion who wanted to understand sothing his female had done.
Lin Huahua swallowed.
Then she gave the dumbest lie her brain could produce under pressure.
"I dread it."
Silence.
A very painful silence.
Feng Yiren stared at her.
Mu Qingyi lowered his head slightly as if trying not to smile.
Hu Baiyu blinked.
Lin Huahua quickly added, "Yes. I dread it after I hit my head in the forest. Maybe my head got injured and the dream beast god took pity on , so he showed many strange useful things."
Feng Yiren’s face beca so full of annoyance that Lin Huahua almost wanted to hide behind the footwear.
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