Chapter 117

Chapter 117

“Ao!” The little snow leopard reached out its paw, answering seriously.

Lin Qianyu followed outside but saw no sign of the Arctic fox.

“Where did it run off to?” Lin Qianyu looked around. Guests often passed here, so there were many footprints on the ground. Animal paws stepping on guest footprints wouldn’t leave clear animal prints.

Finding no trace of the Arctic fox, Lin Qianyu, when she came out, thought the director’s ice house was nearby. She hadn’t worn goggles or a mask, only put on a down jacket and went out.

Since she couldn’t go far now, she had no choice but to return to the ice house.

Fortunately, the Arctic fox hadn’t been gone long.

When it returned, it was following the polar bear and little snow leopard.

“Aowu!” The little snow leopard put down the fish in its mouth and happily ran toward Lin Qianyu.

The polar bear carried a fully grown sea lion, walking in with a steadier pace, “Wu!”

“You’re back.” Lin Qianyu spun the broken watch in her hand, resting her cheek on one hand, smiling warmly at them.

The furballs returned from hunting, their excited noises abruptly stopping when they noticed the watch.

...

“So, it was you who bit it?”

Lin Qianyu picked at the broken watch with her fingertip, her finger brushing over the cracks on the dial. Her smiling eyes scanned the three furballs squatting before her, trying hard to suppress the upward curve of her lips.

The polar bear shrank its neck, licked its mouth and paws, lowered its head to scratch the ground, looking very busy.

Lin Qianyu held the watch horizontally in front of the little snow leopard, “Or was it you?”

The little snow leopard’s ears flattened back, clutching its tail in its mouth and trying to shrink into a corner, making broken whimpering sounds.

Changing the subject, Lin Qianyu looked at the Arctic fox, “Hmm?”

The Arctic fox squinted, its big tail hanging motionless behind.

All of them looked guilty as can be.

【Hahaha, this is hilarious. I suspect they were working together.】

【Stop interrogating! I bit it, just let them go. I’ll take all the consequences!】

【Exactly! Those furballs are so cute. You’re not worried they might hurt their teeth biting the watch, but you’re even scolding them? Unlike me, I only feel sorry for the furballs.】

【Alright, alright, sowing discord now, huh?】

...

“Forget it, it’s broken, so be it.” Lin Qianyu put on the watch.

The furballs seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at her words. The Arctic fox wagged its tail and stepped forward, the little snow leopard’s ears perked up, and the polar bear shook its fur, “Ao!”

Lin Qianyu’s mouth twitched slightly. Suddenly, she stretched out her hand and placed the broken watch in front of them, “Who did it?”

“...”

In an instant.The three furballs all pretended to be ostriches again.

The little spotted seal shouted, “Aaaaao!”

Speak up!

All of you, speak!

The polar bear furrowed its brow, and the little snow leopard and Arctic fox turned their heads simultaneously.

The little spotted seal paused, “Ao, ao…”

N-no need to speak if you don’t want to.

They aren’t good with words.

“Haha.” Lin Qianyu laughed, lying back on the bed, holding the little snow leopard up in her hand, “Was it the messages yesterday that disturbed you?”

Those few messages, she had scrolled through this morning, trying hard to decipher the information in the small undamaged sections.

Judging by the timing, there would probably be another alert soon — the frequency was high.

The little snow leopard bent its hind legs slightly, its tail passing between its legs, the tip curled at its belly, blinking innocently, “Aowu.”

Lin Qianyu placed the little snow leopard on her chest, gently stroking it as it sat up, “There might be heavy snowfall soon, let’s go out and gather some food.”

Although the situation was quite dangerous, no guests had suggested quitting, and everyone was actively discussing how to get through the next few days.

After all, everyone now had ice houses, so even if the blizzard prevented going out, gathering supplies and stocking food at home would make it manageable.

If they were still living in tents before such weather arrived, some might have chosen to withdraw.

Lin Qianyu rubbed the little snow leopard’s ears and said, “Try to hunt more, stock up on food.”

Small animals walking in the snowstorm were also in danger.

The polar bear could rely on its size to break through the storm, but it was still best not to go out if possible.

Lin Qianyu packed her bag and put on her goggles, “Let’s go.”

The little snow leopard jumped down, “Aowu!”

— Hunting had no fixed target.

Lin Qianyu planned to check the fishing net first. Yesterday, she had baited with fish innards, which should attract more fish. Big fish drawn by the blood would naturally notice the meat in the net and get caught.

Although the net had been set for a relatively short time, Lin Qianyu felt the catch would be bigger than last time.

The furballs went hunting, with only the little snow leopard following Lin Qianyu.

She left early without breakfast, picked a piece of dried seal meat from her bag, and chewed it, “Next time add some sugar, it should taste better.”

Smoked dried meat had a stronger seasoning flavor.

Seal meat itself was very chewy. After cooking, in the polar environment’s natural temperature, it hardened even more, making it tough to chew.

The little snow leopard tucked its paws and curled up in her arms, sniffing the smell of the dried meat. The seasoning made it sneeze.

After sneezing twice in a row, the little snow leopard shook its head, stepped forward with its paws in front of her, and looked a bit dazed, “Wu…”Lin Qianyu gently curled her fingers, rubbing the little snow leopard’s head, then broke off a piece of dried seal meat. “Want to try? The seasoning is a bit much, so you can’t eat too much. Next time, I’ll make more just salted seal meat.”

When making dried meat, she had prepared two types: one with seasoning and one without.

Not knowing how they would turn out, she actually made more of the unseasoned kind. Because it was the original flavor, the furballs who liked seal meat wouldn’t refuse the simply processed dried meat.

But the previously made plain dried meat had all been eaten.

Lin Qianyu was slow at eating and couldn’t chew tough meat well, so the smaller amount of seasoned dried seal meat remained quite a lot.

The little snow leopard licked its nose. It had eaten plenty of the salted-only dried seal meat before and was familiar with the appearance. When the food was brought to its mouth, it instinctively opened wide to bite. With a crisp snap, it was fragrant and crunchy.

The little snow leopard chewed hard, its paws clutching the wobbling piece protectively, trying to stuff it into its mouth.

Lin Qianyu ate the dried meat by scraping bits off little by little, as chewing big bites was difficult.

But for the little snow leopard, eating this tough dried meat seemed no different from eating regular meat.

It smelled bad but might taste good.

The little snow leopard finished chewing and opened its eyes wide, “Wuu!”

Its first time eating the seasoned kind — it seemed to suit its taste perfectly.

“Good?” Lin Qianyu saw it liked the meat and, though reason told her not to give more, faced with those lively beast eyes, she hesitated and said, “Well… one more small piece?”

“Ao!”

It ate a whole piece of dried meat, nibbling on it as it walked. By the time they reached their destination, it was mostly gone.

Lin Qianyu finished her last bite, clapped her hands, lifted the little snow leopard, and when she looked up, she noticed something was off.

Her fishing spot was mostly near a group of spotted seals. Besides that, there were only some lemmings; she hadn’t really seen other animals.

But now, not far from her ice hole, a group of black-and-white animals had surrounded the hole.

Walking closer, Lin Qianyu realized that the animals standing there seemed to be… great auks?

“Ah? So many, so many great auks!”

“What’s going on? Why are so many great auks suddenly here? This isn’t their usual hunting spot.”

“They’ve been camped on the snowy mountain since early morning, waiting to make sharp screeches at the guests who are photographing the great auks basking on shore.”

“Hey… isn’t that Little Black in the middle?”

Compared to other great auks, Little Black was easy to distinguish by both size and appearance.

The great auk surrounded in the middle twisted its body, occasionally raising its short front limbs — its vestigial wings — pointing at the ice hole and then beside it, “Wuu!”

Because its front limbs were short, the great auk exaggerated its gestures, almost hopping as it tried to communicate something to its companions, using body language to supplement its vocalizations. Nearby, Little White nodded in agreement when mentioned.

Lin Qianyu understood: “Looks like Little Black is telling the other great auks about the fish I caught yesterday.”

From a human perspective, it was just a simple net haul.

But from the great auks’ view, Lin Qianyu had pulled a rope and hauled out a huge pile of fish from under that rope.How could it not be amazing?

Such a miraculous thing obviously had to be shared with their companions.

But now the ice surface was frozen, the fish caught in the fishing net didn’t struggle, and the snow covering the ice hole blocked the great auks’ view—they couldn’t see the fish below at all.

The great auks looked at each other, seeming quite doubtful.

“Wuwu!” The little fat one stomped its feet.

The idea of pulling a whole group of fish with one line was still way too advanced for the great auks.

It nearly fried their “CPU.”

“Are there fish below? It’s so lively here.” Lin Qianyu approached; the snow leopard glanced at the great auks but wasn’t interested and buried its head back into her arms.

“Wu!” The little fat one saw Lin Qianyu coming and excitedly flapped its wings.

“Hey, good to see you again.” As Lin Qianyu neared, the great auk group parted on both sides. One walking behind almost slipped as its rear foot brushed the ice and bumped into the auk in front, barely steadying itself before quickly stepping aside.

Unconsciously, a path had formed in the middle.

Lin Qianyu stopped by the ice hole, tightened her gloves, and began tapping the ice.

Maybe because of the little fat one’s earlier words, the great auks were cautiously curious, noticing Lin Qianyu preparing to haul the net—they all gathered to watch.

Even though wary and keeping their distance from humans, they stretched their necks as far as possible, trying to see clearly without getting closer.

The little snow leopard, having gotten wet from fish yesterday, stayed far away when Lin Qianyu started hauling the net.

“Hmm… feels heavier than last time.” Lin Qianyu pulled up the rope, “Looks like baiting really works.”

With more food, the fish would gather here often.

More than a dozen pairs of great auk eyes were fixed on her.

The great auks arriving were probably good friends with the little fat one, or trusted its word, so quite a few came, though still fewer than the group sunbathing on the beach yesterday.

“Be careful not to get hit by the fish.” Saying that, Lin Qianyu wrapped the rope twice around her hand and slowly stepped back.

[Lol, every great auk’s eyes are wide open staring.]

[Great auks: A miracle!!!]

[No joke, Sister Lin’s net weaving method really works! So many fish caught.]

To prevent some of the more active fish from jumping on the ice and back into the hole, she intentionally pulled the net away from the hole, dragging it a short distance before stopping.

When Lin Qianyu pulled the entire fishing net out, the great auks were dumbfounded.

Those tiny black eyes were full of disbelief.

‘What, what, what… huh???’ The closest great auk’s beak opened and closed. A big fish in the net flicked its tail, and the auk, caught off guard, got hit squarely.

‘Snap’—a crisp sound.

That snap seemed to bring all the great auks back to their senses.

“Wu!”“Wuwuwu!”

Overlapping calls kept sounding nonstop.

They were talking to their companions nearby.

The voices overlapped, and Lin Qianyu pinched her brow, barely making out repeated words like “really” and “so many.”

“Have you all eaten? Want some?” Lin Qianyu spread out the fishing net and threw the fish inside out. These fish would be enough for three or four days at home.

They still only ate fish, not other meats or canned food.

Drinking fish soup every day until full.

The great auks seemed a bit shy to move; even with so many fish spread before them, they kept talking excitedly with their companions, more focused on the discussion than the food.

The little fat one and Little White, both here for the second time, picked their favorite fish and started eating.

Great auks usually eat only a few kinds of fish; it’s not that they dislike others, just that they can’t catch them or they’re hard to catch.

Now with the fish right in front of them and no need to consider the cost of catching, they naturally ate whatever they wanted.

Lin Qianyu began sorting the fish, occasionally tossing a few toward the great auk group.

Seeing some great auks without fish to eat, she would deliberately throw fish their way.

A great auk shaken by a fresh fish flinched, “Wu?!”

“For me?!”

Lin Qianyu raised her wrist to wipe her goggles, smiling, “Yes, for you.”

“Wu!” The great auk grabbed the fish, swallowed it, and made a muffled call.

The meaning was roughly: You’re such a good person.

The great auks hadn’t eaten much; maybe they’d finished their meals and came over bored with nothing to do, wanting to witness this miraculous scene.

After giving out the fish, Lin Qianyu didn’t pay much attention and kept cleaning the fish.

To prepare for the upcoming blizzard, the more fish stored, the better.

Better to have leftover frozen fish in the fridge than run out before the blizzard ends.

Since it was only a warning without a specific time, no one knew when it would stop—better to be prepared.

The little snow leopard kept adjusting its position, trying to get closer, but stopped after a few steps because the lively sea fish wagged its tail, and its front paws froze stiff without stepping down.

It was clear how much the little one disliked fish that splashed water.

Lin Qianyu carried fish soaked in seawater, just lifting them when she felt a weight on her shoulder.

The little snow leopard jumped up from behind, paws stepping on her shoulder, lowering its head to affectionately rub her cheek, “Awooo!”

It seemed to have found a spot close enough but without getting wet from seawater.

[Awo! Such a cute little snow leopard—put it in seawater to soak, it’d probably cry for a long time.]

[The snow leopard called out! It said it wants to come to my house!]【Oh my, a fluffy little cat standing on your shoulder, I’d really wake up laughing from a dream.】

【Looks kind of heavy. Sister Lin’s health isn’t good, and yet she lets me suffer this for her.】

……

“Be careful.” Lin Qianyu moved her arm; her hands smelled of fish and seawater. If she touched the little snow leopard now, it would probably agonize between licking itself and going to bathe.

“Wu!”

The little snow leopard didn’t stretch its claws; its paw pads stepped softly on the thick down jacket, the touch not quite real.

It padded forward two steps, trying to rest on her shoulder.

But given the little snow leopard’s size, standing on her shoulder was still a bit too difficult.

“Awo…” The little snow leopard occasionally rubbed against her, its paws softly stepping on her back.

Lin Qianyu tossed two fish out to freeze, shrugged her shoulders, and seeing the little snow leopard suddenly lower its body and tuck its paws together, she couldn’t help but curve her lips teasingly, “You say you fell into the ice hole, should I rescue you or not?”

The little snow leopard tilted its head, “Wu…”

Lin Qianyu said, “Hmm? Can’t decide? Then I won’t rescue you.”

“Awo!” The little snow leopard stretched its paws, answering seriously:

Rescue!

Author’s note: Good night, sleep early, love you all. (More updates during the day, mwah!)