novelraw Chapter 131: It Was You Who Complained I Was Dirty
Chapter 131: It Was You Who Complained I Was Dirty
"Xixi’s choking on the dust from you. Stand back."
Feiyan hadn’t even had a chance to savor the warmth of those small hands before she was pulled away by Sunxiao.
His foxy eyes narrowed in an annoyed glare.
’Heh, what a jealous snake!’
’Treating me like a thief. Fine, then I’ll make a point of not leaving.’
Feiyan started taking off his beast-skin clothes.
Qiao Xixi gasped, but before she could react, Sunxiao had covered her eyes.
His scarlet, serpentine pupils radiated a chilling aura. "Feiyan, you’ve got a death wish."
The corner of Feiyan’s eye twitched, his expression utterly shameless. "You’re the one who said I was dirty. Now that I’m trying to get clean, you have a problem with that too? Why are you so damn difficult, you snake?"
Sunxiao pulled Qiao Xixi and turned her around. "Xixi, go to the front courtyard."
Qiao Xixi nodded. Sunxiao and Feiyan were clearly at odds. ’I’m not sticking around to get caught in the crossfire.’
"Okay, I’ll go help Jin Ling with dinner." With that, she scurried off.
Just as she got back to the front courtyard, Qiao Xixi heard a pained howl from the backyard.
When Sunxiao returned to the front courtyard, he was carrying the butchered prey.
Qiao Xixi glanced toward the backyard, puzzled. "Where’s the Young Clan Leader?"
Sunxiao’s expression was impassive. "He went home."
The backyard had a rear gate, so it wasn’t strange for Feiyan to leave that way. She didn’t press the matter.
Outside the backyard, Feiyan gritted his teeth as he pulled his beast-skin clothes back on. ’Sooner or later, I’ll level up and beat that snake until he’s bawling!’
That night, Qiao Xixi washed, peeled, and cubed the Red Heart Fruits she had dug up earlier. Then, she scooped the sugary pulp out of some ’Sugar Fruits’ and boiled it down into a syrup.
"Mama, what’s this? We’ve never seen it before."
Exhausted from the long day, the cubs were starving and kept circling Qiao Xixi as she cooked.
Qiao Xixi placed the chopped Red Heart Fruits into the pot to fry.
"These are the Red Heart Fruits Mama dug up today. I’m making you a delicious new dish tonight."
"It smells so good! I’ve never smelled anything like it before."
After getting the little gluttons to sit properly in their chairs, Qiao Xixi took the fried Red Heart Fruits out of the pot and drizzled the syrup over them.
And just like that, a warm plate of candied Red Heart Fruits was ready.
Jin Ling had used mushrooms to simmer a large pot of Deer Beast bone broth and had also stewed some meat.
"Dinner’s ready! Everyone worked hard today."
Once the food was on the table, everyone from the cubs to Qiao Xixi herself eagerly dug in. After a long day of labor, they were all worn out.
After they had eaten their fill, Sunxiao didn’t take the cubs to the river for a bath. Instead, he helped them get clean at home, after which they all obediently went to lie down in bed.
Qiao Xixi woke up in the middle of the night, suddenly feeling the temperature drop significantly. She opened her eyes and pulled the blanket back over the cubs, who had kicked it off. She wrapped her own beast-skin blanket tightly around herself, but even then, she was too cold to sleep soundly. In the end, she simply gathered the cubs into her arms for warmth.
When she woke again, the sun was already up, and the cubs were no longer in bed.
Qiao Xixi sat up and sneezed twice. She could feel a blast of frigid air on her face.
Jin Ling pushed the door open and walked in. "Feeling the cold?"
Qiao Xixi nodded honestly. It felt at least twenty degrees colder than yesterday.
"A cold snap has arrived. The dew outside is frozen solid."
Jin Ling picked out a thicker beast-skin tunic for her from a nearby wooden rack.
Qiao Xixi went limp, letting him dress her. She leaned on his shoulder, dazedly gazing at his features—refined, yet with a sharp, masculine edge.
Sensing her gaze, Jin Ling looked down at her with a smile in his eyes. "What are you looking at?"
Qiao Xixi’s eyelashes fluttered, and a mischievous impulse took hold. Her hand began to wander over his abs. As Jin Ling’s molten-gold eyes darkened, her fingertips traced a path slowly downward.
She heard his breathing grow heavier. He looked at her, his voice strained. "Xixi, don’t tease me."
Qiao Xixi smiled innocently. "Hm? What are you talking about? Am I doing something?"
Jin Ling caught her hand, his voice husky. "Xixi... tonight, okay?"
Qiao Xixi let out a wicked little laugh. ’Hmph, that’s my line!’
She tilted her head up and pressed a kiss to his Adam’s apple.
Jin Ling’s entire body went rigid. He almost lost control.
Just as Qiao Xixi was about to take her mischief a step further, a noise came from outside the door.
Jin Ling quickly finished pulling the beast-skin tunic over her, then cupped her face and stole a quick kiss.
"Don’t you have to go dig for Red Heart Fruits today?"
"Mhm."
"Everyone’s waiting for you outside."
Qiao Xixi composed herself. ’Gu Man and the others are here already?’ She stopped her teasing and finished getting ready.
When Qiao Xixi and Jin Ling stepped out of the room, they found Feiyan standing right outside.
He was back to being the flamboyant, pristine Young Clan Leader of the snow foxes. ’But, um... why does his handsome face look so... dark?’
Jin Ling, however, spoke graciously. "Sorry to have kept the Young Clan Leader waiting."
Feili, who was playing with the three cubs, glanced at Feiyan. ’I’d better let my disappointing son say it himself,’ he thought.
’His mind was still replaying the scene of Qiao Xixi’s mischief with Jin Ling. The images were seared into his brain, and he couldn’t shake them no matter how hard he tried.’
’He’d always known she was good to her mates. With them, she was always so sweet and gentle. Nothing like the feisty, sharp-tongued woman she was with him.’
"Young Clan Leader?"
Feiyan snapped back to reality, his expression shifting to its usual languid mask. All traces of his gloominess vanished.
"I heard from Jin Ling that you know where to find a lot of Red Heart Fruits in the territory, and that you took a group of females to dig for them yesterday."
Qiao Xixi nodded. "Mhm. Red Heart Fruits are easy to store and they taste great roasted. I know of two other spots in the territory. I’ll take the others and we’ll dig them all up."
Last night, Feiyan had gone around the tribe to assess the Red Heart Fruit situation. While they had a fair amount, there were too many beastmen in the tribe for that supply to be distributed evenly among every family.
"Xixi, thank you so much. You’ve truly been a huge help to the tribe this time. And that medicine you made before... it saved the lives of many of our males. You are a true benefactor to our Silver Tribe."
After speaking, Feili crossed his hands over his chest and performed a deep, formal bow to Qiao Xixi.
Feiyan was stunned by this. His own expression grew solemn as he looked at Qiao Xixi. He, too, crossed his hands over his chest and bowed his head.
"My father is right. Thank you for everything you’ve done for the Silver Tribe."
Qiao Xixi sidestepped, not accepting Clan Leader Feili’s formal bow. "Clan Leader, you allowed us to stay here. It’s only right that I do what I can for the tribe."
Over the next few days, Feiyan continued to help with the tribe’s reconstruction efforts, bringing the cubs along with him.
Jin Ling, meanwhile, went with Qiao Xixi to pick Sugar Fruits and dig up Red Heart Fruits.
And Sunxiao joined the tribe’s Hunting Team. Though there was very little prey to be caught these days, it was better than nothing.
That night, after the cubs came home covered in mud yet again, Qiao Xixi heard the sound of a system notification.