Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The Arctic fox’s tail was like a fluffy fur collar—warm and soft.

【Give—it—food!】

【Aaaah it’s just a fish, you could eat me and I wouldn’t mind.】

【Help! It’s too beautiful, I can’t even imagine cuddling it in my arms—I’d become so cheerful and lively.】

【I think I finally understand what people mean by “eyes like silk.”】

The Arctic fox was snow-white in color, with long and thick fur. Especially when its tail curled around its body, it looked like a delicate, pretty little ball of fluff sitting upright.

It wasn’t very big, but its tail was quite long—like a fluffy fur collar, warm and soft.

It was hard not to feel affection just looking at it.

Especially when it acted all cuddly not far from you like this.

On the island, hunting wasn’t easy for Arctic foxes. They had to search for lemmings beneath thick snow, needing at least two or three per day to make it through the long, frigid nights.

If lucky, they could trail behind polar bears and scavenge the leftover seals, since polar bears usually only ate the blubber.

But that was risky—especially when food was scarce. A hungry polar bear could easily turn an Arctic fox into a snack.

This Arctic fox by Lin Qianyu’s side seemed to be starving. Unable to find anything in the falling snow, it had been drawn over by the scent of fish in the snow pit.

Faced with a polite little fox asking for food, it was hard to say no. Lin Qianyu smiled. “Go ahead, eat.”

With her permission, the Arctic fox rolled over and stood up, shook out its fur, gave a soft “ying” in Lin Qianyu’s direction, then carefully picked out a fish and started eating it not far from the pit.

The little spotted seal was still quite afraid of the fox.

Arctic foxes do hunt seals. If they can’t go after a group of adults, they’re very likely to target pups instead.

Seeing that the Arctic fox didn’t charge, the little spotted seal slowly peeked its head out from behind Lin Qianyu, exposing only its eyes, watching nervously as if expecting the fox to pounce at any moment.

Lin Qianyu clapped her gloves together—water in her palms had already frozen into a thin sheet of ice that shattered into pieces with just a touch.

Tossing away the shards, she turned and picked the little seal up.

“Awoo?!” The little spotted seal had been watching the Arctic fox intently, and being suddenly lifted up made it think some predator had snatched it. It shrieked and flailed wildly.

Only after Lin Qianyu placed it on her lap did it stop. It paddled its front flippers a bit, as if trying to swim, but clearly couldn’t on dry land—still, it kept moving them on principle.

“All right, calm down. It’s just here for some fish.” Lin Qianyu brushed the snow off the little seal, then cleaned herself off again.

The trouble with going out in the snow like this was that if you stayed in one place too long, you’d get buried.

Lying on Lin Qianyu’s lap, the little seal looked much more at ease than when it had hidden behind her. Maybe, deep down, it believed Lin Qianyu was a strong, dependable human—being held in the arms of someone reliable was comforting.

The Arctic fox was clearly starving, crunching through the half-frozen fish. The sound wasn’t like fresh fish—it was more like chewing ice: crack crunch, but it didn’t care at all and ate heartily.

Lin Qianyu figured one fish wouldn’t be enough, so she gave it two-thirds of the seal meat she’d brought as bait.

“Little fox, here.” She tossed the meat over.

With a plop, the seal meat landed beside the Arctic fox, which was still burying its face in the fish. The fox flinched, even its tail trembled, and it backed up two steps—still gripping half the fish in its mouth.

Once it realized what had landed, its eyes widened. It stepped closer and sniffed it.Lin Qianyu, seeing its disbelieving expression, reminded, “Eat it while it’s still fresh—soon it’ll freeze again.”

The meat was meant for fishing. When frozen, it became rock-hard and could shatter on the hook, so she had wrapped it in several layers and pressed it against the inside of her backpack the whole way. It was still fresh and tender now.

“Ying…” The Arctic fox wagged its tail and took a big bite of the seal meat.

The Arctic fox’s eating noises were ASMR-worthy—it looked like it was really enjoying the food, taking one bite after another.

【Watching this makes me want to eat fish.】

【Is frozen fish really this tasty? Even I, who doesn’t like fish, want a plate of sashimi now.】

【As expected, even a pretty little fox looks pretty when it eats. And—it spits out fish bones?!】

It didn’t spit out the tiny bones in the fish, but while eating, it would press down on the fish’s body with its paws and nibble at the frozen meat, eventually leaving a whole fish skeleton behind, picked clean.

If some parts were hard to bite off, it would even chomp through the bones to eat them—but still left most of the fishbone intact.

One big fish plus a generous chunk of seal meat was enough to fill the Arctic fox’s stomach, letting it rest well until the next morning without needing to go out and search for food.

The Arctic fox used its paws to push snow over the fish bones and the blood remaining on the ice to cover the scent.

Once it was done, the fox licked its mouth and lowered its head to clean its paws.

After eating its fill, the Arctic fox stood up and stretched—not leaving right away, but walking toward Lin Qianyu.

The little spotted seal dozing on Lin Qianyu’s lap suddenly opened its eyes and lifted its upper body. “Awoo!”

The Arctic fox paused its steps and cautiously approached. Under the seal pup’s wary gaze, it eventually chose to circle halfway around instead.

The little seal’s gaze never left the Arctic fox.

The Arctic fox approached Lin Qianyu and rubbed against her through her clothing.

The thick layers almost completely blocked any tactile sensation, but Lin Qianyu still reached out and stroked its fur.

The Arctic fox tilted its head up and blinked softly.

With that expression, the eyeliner-like markings around its eyes became even more pronounced.

“An Arctic fox must feel incredibly soft.” Lin Qianyu’s gloved hand ran from the top of its head down its back, fingertips brushing against the fox’s tail.

Alas… the gloves were just too thick.

【Take it home—then you can take your gloves off and pet it in the tent!】

【!!! Makes perfect sense! Bring the little spotted seal too!】

【If you carry off the little spotted seal in front of its group, there will be at least one seal screaming in protest.】

Still, the fox clearly enjoyed being stroked like this—its eyes squinted in contentment.

After sitting for a while, the broken hole in the ice had started to refreeze.

Lin Qianyu poked at it with a wooden stick, breaking the thin layer of ice so she could continue fishing.

She was starting to feel a little cold herself, so she put down the fishing rod and said to the little seal, “You two keep watch here—I’m going to get some firewood to make a fire.”

There were plenty of trees near the shore.Lin Qianyu left her backpack there and got up to the shore with her axe.

The little spotted seal glanced around, while the Arctic fox had already curled up on the ice, its thick tail covering its snout—it looked like it was resting.

In blizzard weather, it couldn’t dig through the frozen ground to make a den to rest in. It could only protect itself with this posture to avoid being blown away while sleeping at night.

Perhaps sensing that the Arctic fox didn’t intend to harm it, the little spotted seal started to act bolder.

It scooted toward the edge of the hole, eyes fixed on the floating bobber on the water’s surface, giving the impression that if a fish bit the hook, it would dive in and retrieve it.

But even by the time Lin Qianyu returned with chopped firewood, the bobber hadn’t moved at all.

The supplies provided by the director’s team included matches. In a snowstorm like this, even building a fire pit made starting a fire by friction nearly impossible—matches were essential.

However, since this was meant to be a challenge, they’d only prepared one box—ten matches. Once used up, that was it.

Lin Qianyu stacked the firewood, leaving the middle hollow. There weren’t any dry leaves or twigs; anything that had once been usable was now frozen into the ground.

She used two matches before getting the fire to emit a little smoke. It looked faint and fragile—barely even showed a flame, like a breath could snuff it out.

Thankfully, it gradually caught on, slowly growing stronger.

Lin Qianyu split the fish open and rinsed it casually in the seawater. Before it could freeze again, she placed it over the fire. “Let’s have this fish for dinner.”

The fire burned bright, but even with gloves on, Lin Qianyu could barely feel the warmth.

The Arctic fox and the little spotted seal, however, clearly reacted to the change in temperature.

The little seal crawled straight over to Lin Qianyu, trying to climb back onto her lap. “Awoo!”

It wasn’t scared of the heat—more likely, it was the fire itself that made them nervous.

Even the Arctic fox was the same. Reflections of the flames danced in its clear beast eyes, and the brightness made the small animal hesitate to come closer.

But feeling the warmth from the fire, the Arctic fox couldn’t help edging forward.

Lin Qianyu raised a hand to block it and gently swept its big tail back behind it. “Careful—don’t roast yourself.”

“Ying!” The Arctic fox’s eyes sparkled, firelight flickering inside them. It rubbed against her hand again, unable to resist getting a bit closer.

【Ah… the little fox looks like it really likes the fire.】

【Probably because it’s just too cold—even thick fur can’t completely keep the chill out.】

【Right now, in the little fox’s heart, Sister Lin must seem like a radiant, mighty figure. She can make fire!】

【Speaking of getting roasted—my cat once squeezed beside a space heater in winter. I didn’t notice until I smelled something burning—a huge patch of fur on his back was singed.】

With fur covering them, situations like this—where the temperature rises gradually without visible flames—are the easiest to accidentally get scorched.

By the time you notice, the fur’s already singed and discolored.

The Arctic fox was obedient. After being told not to come closer, it shifted slightly and lay down, but still stared unblinkingly at the fire, as if afraid it would vanish the moment it blinked.

With the fire going, Lin Qianyu thought for a moment and took off her gloves, holding her hands near the flames to warm them.

The Arctic fox looked up at her hands, stunned. Its gaze followed along her arm to see who it was, then paused again, tilting its head slightly as if thinking about something.

Lin Qianyu saw it turning its head repeatedly and waved a hand in front of the Arctic fox’s face. “What is it?”The Arctic fox didn’t respond but instead walked forward, raised its head, and nudged right into Lin Qianyu’s palm.

It looked as if it was willingly placing itself into her hands.

The Arctic fox rubbed back and forth against her palm, so earnestly that it got dizzy from all the movement. Its paw slipped, and it tumbled headfirst into the snow.

With a soft plop, the snow covered its nose.

It looked a bit dazed from the fall.

“Careful,” Lin Qianyu reached out to catch it.

The Arctic fox looked at the hand so close in front of it, lifted its head, pressed its chin into her palm, and instead of trying to stand up, raised its head and smiled at Lin Qianyu. “Ying!”

Author’s note: I'm here. (There’s one more chapter coming, time uncertain)

【Arctic fox info sourced from the internet】