Chapter 101

Chapter 101: The Snow Fox’s Fluffy Tail Curled From Back to Front

Lin Qianyu raised her hand to catch the paw that the polar bear had patted down.

The polar bear, who had been straining its neck to peek into the bus window, froze for a moment. It looked at Lin Qianyu, then at Feng Jingye in the front, gave a barely audible snort, retracted its paw and lightly patted Lin Qianyu’s hand, then pointed to the seal on the ground, “Mmph!”

Eat!

It might have come over just to deliver the gift. The polar bear slowly backed out its upper body that had been squeezed into the bus, its hind legs shuffling backward with the slow-moving vehicle.

Lin Qianyu quickly picked up the seal. She hadn’t smelled it clearly before, but now that she was holding it, the bloody scent was strong. “Wait, take the seal back with you to eat. I…”

The polar bear slowly pulled the window shut, opened its mouth — it seemed to say “Awoo.”

Maybe it was afraid Lin Qianyu would throw the seal back out, so it took off running.

The snow-white polar bear quickly blended into the environment, its figure disappearing beneath the drifting flakes.

The last sliver of the window was closed shut by the polar bear. Its paw brushed her cheek — cold to the touch.

Lin Qianyu held the seal in her hands and couldn’t figure out where to put it for the moment.

After some thought, she set the seal down, opened up her mountaineering pack, and pulled out a foldable bag. Once unfolded, it was quite large — but the seal was no small creature, and she barely managed to stuff it in.

Lin Qianyu grabbed the strap of the bag and smiled teasingly, “Looks like we won’t be short on food today.”

Seal fat is thick. Seal meat isn’t exactly common, but for the Inuit, it’s a regular dish on the table.

“Nice.” Hang Sisi, bundled in her down coat, was full of envy. She turned her head and sighed dramatically, “Ai, Director! When are you going to get us a few polar bears too? This script of yours isn’t cutting it. Train a few more polar bears to show off the program team’s resources and power.”

Su Yuxing: “???”

“You’re the most capable director I’ve ever seen,” Yu Lingyu chimed in with praise. “Give me a snow wolf. If not, a Samoyed would do.”

Su Yuxing: “……”

【Hahaha Director Su’s face is turning into a whole rainbow.】

【Director Su: You might as well just drag me outside.】

【What?! I heard Director Su hands out fluff live on the show. I want in too!】

【As expected, playing jokes in front of the actual person is the most fun.】

Su Yuxing took a deep breath and turned his head away from everyone. “Get ready to get off. Put on your coats and goggles.”

Avoidance — the best solution.

Hang Sisi laughed so hard she slapped her thigh, “Hahaha!”

Lin Qianyu’s eyes also curved into a smile.

It just happened to be the guest drop-off point. Lin Qianyu picked up the down jacket covering her legs, put it on properly, and made sure her gloves and goggles were in place.

Su Yuxing got off first, then stood at the door to help the guests down. “Everyone be careful, don’t rush, watch your step, it’s slippery.”

The weather today seemed slightly better than the day Lin Qianyu first landed. Though there was still wind, there was no heavy snow, and the breeze was gentle.

Su Yuxing adjusted his goggles. “Alright, everyone’s free to move around now. Just meet back here at the bus tonight.”They called it free activity, but staying warm on a polar island was too important.

No one left — everyone pitched their tents on the spot.

Lin Qianyu was no exception.

Mainly because the clothes she wore were already thick, her backpack was packed, and with the tent weighing her down, it wasn’t convenient to walk around, nor could she go far.

Since they had to return by night anyway, it was better to set up camp first before doing anything else.

Lin Qianyu took out the tent pegs. “I think this is my first time pitching a tent on the show.”

Three episodes into the variety series, and it was her first time properly setting up a tent.

The first two times, there were none — they had to build shelters instead.

Hang Sisi pulled open her tent and called out suspiciously, “Director Su! Why doesn’t my tent have a manual?”

Su Yuxing shouted back, “There isn’t one! No one got one!”

Over here, even to talk near someone’s ear you had to raise your voice — the further away, the louder you had to shout.

Hang Sisi was dumbfounded. “Huh?! How are we supposed to pitch tents without a manual?”

Not to mention each island’s tent distribution was different. Even if they were the same, few guests had actually owned tents before, and after such a long gap in time, they might not remember how to set one up.

Su Yuxing shrugged and gave a helpless look through his goggles.

Without manuals, everyone had to fumble their way through setting up their tents.

There were trees near the base, and the production team only set a boundary — guests could set up their tents anywhere within that range.

Lin Qianyu unfolded her tent near the edge of the area. She hammered the pegs into the ground at an angle, methodically setting everything up, then crawled inside and laid out her sleeping bag.

“This tent’s material…” Lin Qianyu rubbed the top with her fingertips, “pretty good quality. Once you’re inside, it feels like the wind’s completely gone.”

She placed her tools carefully in the corner of the tent, using some heavier items to weigh things down.

After organizing, her backpack was left with only an axe inside.

Staring at the nearly empty pack, she hesitated, then added her fishing gear and cut off a piece of seal meat just in case.

By the time she finished, it was almost 3 p.m.

Lin Qianyu stepped out of the tent, zipped it closed, cleared the snow, and dumped the rest of the seal meat into the hole. Then she covered it back up. “Let’s bury the seal here.”

She’d eaten before coming out, so she wasn’t hungry. The snow was a natural freezer — whenever she wanted to eat it, she could just dig it back up.

Patting the snow mound, Lin Qianyu stood up, brushed off the snow from her gloves, and glanced around. “The snow is so thick.”

【Not that thick, go out already — don’t just stay at the base.】

【You’ve got to walk around to meet cute animals, Sister Lin!】

【Where’s the polar bear? You should tell it where your camp is so it can come find you to play.】

【But there are other guests at the base… I mean… Mr. Feng is here.】

【Oh right, almost forgot. No need to notify — the polar bear will come on its own.】"Haha." Lin Qianyu couldn't help but laugh out loud when she saw the last comment.

The longtime viewers in the livestream had caught on — Feng Jingye's "ability" to attract animals had become deeply rooted in everyone’s mind.

Lin Qianyu looked at a tree, shaved herself a wooden stick — something to test snow depth and also use as support while walking through the snow. "Let’s go find a water source. If there’s a spot to fish, even better."

If she could fish, that would basically mean a stable food supply.

When the surface was frozen, if luck was on her side, opening a hole might attract fish to jump up on their own — but only if the ice wasn’t cracked or fractured into segments.

This time, they weren’t given a map. The terrain had to be explored bit by bit on her own.

With every step on the snow, she could hear the crunching sound beneath her boots. Even her breath felt icy.

In broad daylight, there were no signs of animals hunting nearby.

"The sea surface is frozen." Lin Qianyu squatted down, brushed away the thin snow on the ice, and from the looks of it, the ice was solid and thick.

Standing on it and looking into the distance, she didn’t see any cracks on the surface, but there were a few irregular winding marks in the snow — probably places where the ice had split.

"Look over there." Lin Qianyu lifted her hand to shield her goggles and pointed toward the distant ice. "There are seals sunbathing."

Judging from their current appearance, they had likely just come ashore.

They looked like they had smooth skin, but spotted seals should actually be furry — their wet fur was just plastered flat, making it seem like they weren’t fluffy at all.

Noticing a human approaching, the little spotted seals lying on the ice raised their heads cautiously. Some were already near the edge of the ice and glanced warily in her direction. If Lin Qianyu made any sudden moves, they would dive into the water immediately.

Seeing their alertness, Lin Qianyu didn’t move closer. Besides, walking on that shifting ice was risky, so she put her backpack down on the spot and picked up her axe. “I’ll fish right here.”

"In extreme cold environments, you can move your tent over and fish there too." Lin Qianyu removed her mask, swung the axe, and struck the ice. A mark was left behind, ice shards scattering along the edge. “Cut open a hole in the ice from inside the tent, and you can sit in there to fish.”

But she only had one tent right now — digging a hole would definitely affect insulation.

By the time she finished hacking open a hole in the ice, her arms were sore.

The edges were jagged and uneven — not exactly pretty — but given the lack of proper tools, managing to make a hole with just an axe was already impressive.

Lin Qianyu connected the sections of her fishing rod, screwed them tight, installed the reel and float, then hooked on a chunk of seal meat in a simple, rough fashion — and tossed it straight into the hole.

Bloody meat was a great lure for fish.

While fishing, Lin Qianyu’s attention kept drifting to the seals.

Whether in the Arctic or Antarctic, seals were a favorite prey of predators — their rich fat and meat made them highly desirable.

But despite appearing low on the food chain, seals had decent combat power. They stood no chance against polar bears, of course, but could hunt small animals and even penguins.

The large group of seals had spread out, with some still lying on the cracked, segmented ice.

The little spotted seals weren’t as tense as the older ones — they were still sliding across the ice.

Their fur swayed in the wind, short legs waddling, running around like round, rolling dumplings.

【Awooo! So cute — like grey sootballs with legs.】

【So fun, I want to take a bite — bet it’d cry forever if I did.】

【Ruaaah I beg you! Sister Lin, rua it!! Why are you just standing there? How are you holding back so well?!】【Calm down, sis... While you're watching the little spotted seal, the big one beside it is also watching you.】

After sitting for a while, Lin Qianyu had to get up and move around a bit. The moment she stood up, all the seals over there simultaneously raised their heads.

As soon as she sat back down, the seals all laid back down too.

"Hm? Pretty synchronized." Noticing the movement, Lin Qianyu raised her eyebrows and stood up again. When the seals raised their heads, she sat down. When they lowered their heads, she stood back up.

Repeating this a few times wore out quite a few seals.

Later on, they didn’t even bother reacting, not to mention moving — they didn’t even blink anymore.

Lin Qianyu waved her hand. "Hey! Why aren’t you moving anymore?!"

A spotted seal in front gave her a sideways glance, struggled to roll its round body around and turned its back to her. Then it suddenly seemed to realize something and forcefully turned back around, eyes wide as it stared at her.

It might have realized it understood her words, which made the spotted seal seem a bit surprised.

Lin Qianyu wanted to chat a bit more with the seal, but just then, the fishing float in the hole suddenly sank beneath the surface.

She quickly grabbed the rod, hand ready on the reel to start reeling in.

The fishing line swayed back and forth around the hole — tracking the fish’s movement under the water.

With some pulling and releasing, Lin Qianyu finally gave a strong tug, and a fish the size of her forearm flew out of the hole along the fishing line.

It must’ve run out of strength from swimming — after leaving the water, it only thrashed its tail a couple of times.

"There are quite a lot of fish here." Lin Qianyu hadn’t expected a bite this quickly, and hadn’t even prepared a place to put the fish.

She took it off the hook, turned around, and gathered some snow not far away. She pushed the snow out from the middle to both sides to make a shallow snow basin, pressed it firm, then tossed the fish in.

With that height and distance, the fish couldn’t jump out — and even if it did, there was no way it could get back to the water.

The fishing hole was too far from it.

After placing the fish, Lin Qianyu baited the hook with another piece of meat and resumed fishing. She murmured thoughtfully, "It seems like every island has pretty rich natural resources."

Now and then, fish would surface on the broken ice, mouths poking above water to breathe, then quickly flicking their tails and diving back down.

Sometimes, even in that brief instant, birds with sharp eyes and fast beaks could snatch them — or seals might pounce. Even taking one breath of air became a risky act.

Lin Qianyu looked up at the birds circling above, waiting for a chance. Most of them were white. They were a bit far off, and with her tinted goggles, it was hard to tell what species they were.

"Awoo..."

"Awoo!"

Hey!

The wind carried some unknown animal’s call, making Lin Qianyu freeze for a moment.

It sounded a bit like the high-pitched voice of a cub, but the end of the call was slightly muffled — she couldn’t tell what animal it was.

Especially since… she looked around and saw no sign of any animals besides the seals.

"Awoo!"

Heeyah!It seemed the little spotted seal noticed Lin Qianyu hadn’t seen it, so it slapped the ground and called out even louder.

Following the sound down, Lin Qianyu finally caught sight of it at the edge of her goggles.

Lin Qianyu tried to make sense of the meaning in its call, a rare moment of confusion on her face. “Are you saying hi to me?”

【???】

【Is the little spotted seal actually greeting her first?】

【Ahhh who cares, if it came over, it’s ready to be cuddled — Lin-jie, rua it!】

【This little guy seems really outgoing.】

“Awoo, awoo!” The little spotted seal’s round eyes curved up — in human eyes, that looked like a happy smile.

“Meeting again?” Lin Qianyu lowered her head, half-leaning on her knees, getting closer to examine the seal more carefully.

Had she met this little spotted seal before?

…No, she hadn’t.

Lin Qianyu thought, ever since coming to the polar island, she hadn’t even left the cabin before today.

The only animals she’d seen were a polar bear and a snow fox — and even with the snow fox, it was just her watching it hunt, with no further interaction.

“Did you mistake me for someone else?” Lin Qianyu guessed maybe this little seal had once been helped by a rescue worker and mistook her for that person.

However, the little spotted seal happily slapped its front flippers against the ice, spreading its webbed paws wide as it gleefully paddled at the ice.

It lay on the tips of Lin Qianyu’s shoes, calling out nonstop: “Awoo, awoo!”

Seeing its familiar behavior, Lin Qianyu thought carefully. Forgetting about the location — just talking about the little seal — she had met one before.

But… that one was given to her by an orca.

A trace of astonishment crossed Lin Qianyu’s face. “You’re the one that was caught by Dabai… by the orca?”

The seal might not know who Dabai was, but it should understand “orca.”

The moment it heard that word, the seal’s smile disappeared. It slapped the ice hard. “Awoo!”

So hateful!

“It really is you.” Lin Qianyu blinked, a bit incredulous. But then she thought again — after the seal was taken away by the rescue team, it was cared for, and once it recovered, it would naturally be released.

The Arctic would be the ideal environment, but if there were an island with a similar climate, releasing it there made perfect sense.

Spotted seals are social animals. Judging by the ones nearby, this little one seemed to be getting along well with them.

Maybe when Lin Qianyu said that earlier sentence, the little seal recognized her and came over to find a “familiar face.”

【Good grief, seriously, how many animal friends does Lin-jie have in the animal kingdom?】

【Come on, is there even any animal you don’t know at this point?】

【It’s a soft little seal pup lying on her shoes, looking up with those begging eyes — I’m gonna melt.】

【First time thinking seals are this cute… maybe all baby animals are cuter times ten? I wanna keep one.】The little spotted seal had probably been on land for a while—its fur was fluffy and dry from the sun. Not just this one, but all the other young seals in the group looked furry and well-groomed. The adult spotted seals would occasionally go for a swim in the sea.

Maybe they were eyeing passing schools of fish—sometimes they’d come back with a freshly caught one in their mouths.

Lin Qianyu patted the little spotted seal through her gloves. Of course, she couldn’t really feel much through them, but as her hand pressed down, the fur on top of the seal’s head puffed out to the sides—it looked pretty cute.

She smiled with her eyes and picked up some fish meat from the snow pit. “Want some fish?”

In just that short moment, a thin layer of frost had already settled on the outside, though the fish hadn’t frozen stiff yet—its tail still twitched from time to time.

“Awoo!” The little seal clearly wasn’t hungry—showed no interest at all in the fish offered right up to its mouth. Instead, it circled around Lin Qianyu, using its body to glide across the snow-covered ice with ease.

Lin Qianyu tossed the fish back and stopped the seal from crashing into her when it turned too sharply. Just then, something bit the hook again.

She quickly picked up the fishing rod, but the moment she moved, the fish below stopped struggling.

Most likely it had gotten away.

Lin Qianyu lifted the hook, staring at the empty end—yep, just as I thought.

The fish was already eaten.

She re-baited the hook with another piece of fish and was just about to drop it in when the little spotted seal suddenly charged into the hole ahead of her.

“Eh!?” Lin Qianyu didn’t have time to stop it. Her gloved hand caught the seal stuck at the entrance, but the gloves were so thick she couldn’t even curl her fingers properly, let alone use much force. The little seal wriggled and forced itself all the way in, disappearing into the water.

Thankfully, Lin Qianyu had anticipated her average fishing skills and had made the ice hole a bit wider, planning to use a net if needed.

Otherwise, the little seal would’ve definitely gotten stuck—neither able to go in nor come out.

Once it was in the water, the surface went still—no splash at all.

It had slipped in silently and effortlessly.

Lin Qianyu leaned toward the hole. She couldn’t see anything inside. “It’s probably gone to help me catch fish.”

She looked at the hook in her hand. For the seal’s safety, she set the fishing rod aside for now—just in case it got scratched by the hook while resurfacing.

No way to know when the little seal would come back.

Adult seals are natural fishers, but little ones like this still rely on the grown-ups to feed them.

Whether it could catch up was one thing—even if it did, whether it could win the fight was another.

【Judging by how hard the float got pulled earlier, that fish wasn’t small. Can the little seal really handle it?】

【C’mon, imagine it dragging a fish bigger than itself back onto the ice. That would be badass.】

【What if it catches up and gets slapped twice by the fish’s tail? That soft, squeaky little thing looks way too easy to bully, hahaha.】

...

Not long after, faint ripples began to appear on the calm surface inside the ice hole.

In the next moment, the little spotted seal poked its head straight out of the hole. With agile movements, it placed its head and front flippers on the edge and, with a bit of force, dragged its whole body up and flopped onto the ice.

Lin Qianyu said, “Clip that sequence and send it to the crocodiles on Grassland Island.”【？？？】

【@Grassland Island Crocodile, don’t look, it’s a bad review.】

The little spotted seal looked chubby, but its movements were very agile and fluid.

Which made sense—they practiced fishing, and every time they came ashore, they’d swim up just like that.

The little seal’s eyes sparkled. “Awoo!”

Fish!

“Did the fish get away?” Lin Qianyu smoothed the fur on its body with her fingertips and gently guided it farther from the ice hole, comforting it, “If it got away, then it got away. As long as you're okay. I’ll catch a big one for you later.”

Splash—a spotted seal holding a fish in its mouth poked its head out of the ice hole.

The fish was so big it nearly spanned the entire hole. The clever seal tilted its head to bring the fish up head-first, then dragged the rest up, and finally showed itself.

The adult spotted seal didn’t look as soft as the little one. It had a more serious air about it, looking rather steady, with neatly groomed whiskers on both sides.

The little seal excitedly called out to it with a series of “awoo”s.

They seemed to know each other—or at least were familiar.

Lin Qianyu tried greeting it. “Hello?”

The adult seal was two or three times the size of the little one, and it couldn’t get through the ice hole. It got stuck at the shoulders.

But it didn’t seem to be trying to come up. Instead, it tossed the fish up onto the ice and raised its head to bark once: “Awoo!”

Hello!

Then it slipped back into the water.

The adult seal’s voice was deeper than the little one’s. If you weren’t paying attention, you might mistake it for a wild animal’s low growl.

The little spotted seal carried the fish over and dropped it into the snow pit where Lin Qianyu stored her catch.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu chuckled, “I was worried you wouldn’t be able to handle that fish. Didn’t expect you to call in reinforcements.”

【What I imagined: brave little seal charging in. Reality: Mom——!】

【Hahaha damn, why is this so accurate.】

【I rewound the stream and checked—in that sunbathing group of seals, there really was one that dove into the sea right after the little one called out. No doubt it was the little seal’s backup.】

【So cute! If you pick it up and shake it, will more backup seals fall out?】

This little spotted seal probably wasn’t part of the same family as the others.

Lin Qianyu rubbed its belly as it rolled over and lay belly-up, patting its stomach with its flippers. She gave it a gentle pat there too.

The only downside to wearing gloves—too little sensation.

After touching the wet, still-damp seal, her gloves got a bit wet too.

Lin Qianyu stopped petting it and picked up the rod to bait it again, planning to keep fishing.

As soon as she hooked the meat, the little seal came over to sniff it.Lin Qianyu belatedly clenched her hand, but couldn’t get a firm grip—she could only loosely cup the meat in her palm. This was seal meat, ahhh!

Her expression remained calm, but inside she was panicking a little. What should she do, what should she do…

Thankfully, the little spotted seal didn’t react much.

Though both were seals, the one given to Lin Qianyu by the polar bear and this little one were different species. One had a grayish-white body with spots, while the other had a yellowish-brown to dark brown coloration.

Maybe the bloody scent made it sniff a bit more.

But it didn’t seem to mind too much.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu quietly let out a breath and resumed fishing.

【Who gets it, family—just now I was literally holding my breath.】

【Little spotted seal: What’s that in your hand? I said WHAT’S THAT IN YOUR HAND?!】

【It’s your aunt.】

【???】

Water from the little seal pooled on the ground, melting the thin snow, then quickly refreezing.

Before it could get stuck to the ice, the little seal had already changed its position.

To be precise, aside from when it rolled around and acted cute near Lin Qianyu, the little seal never stayed in one spot for too long.

“Awoo!”

Suddenly, as if it saw something, the little seal yelped in surprise and scrambled behind Lin Qianyu, flailing all four limbs.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Seeing its reaction, Lin Qianyu turned her head.

A completely snow-white fox was standing beside her snow pit. It didn’t open its mouth, but a soft “ying-ying” sound could be heard.

This snow fox had black-tipped ears, and its beautiful eyes looked as if they had eyeliner. Its fluffy tail curled from behind to the front, and it sniffed at the fish in the snow pit, gazing longingly at Lin Qianyu.

It looked like it wanted to eat.

But it was very polite—it didn’t snatch the fish, only hovered nearby, trying to ask if it could have some.

The arctic fox lay down, its tail wagging endearingly, the tips of its ears twitching. Then it rolled over beside the snow pit. “Ying…”

Author’s note: Had something to deal with so I’m late today. I won’t finish the midnight chapter in time—everyone rest early, good night, love you all.