Chapter 123

Chapter 123: The Arctic wolf’s pupils trembled slightly, and its tail behind it froze in confusion.

Lin Qianyu sipped warm water. The sound of the fluffballs chewing on their midnight snack mingled with the wind outside, bringing a faint sense of calm to her heart.

After a busy night, time flew by. Midnight was fast approaching, but Lin Qianyu still didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy.

The opened can of strawberries had a strong, dominating scent, and the sweet aroma filled the entire room.

The Arctic bear held a strawberry in its mouth, red juice staining its fur.

Lin Qianyu set down her water, picked up a towel, and wiped the marks off its chest, leaving one corner hanging under its neck. “Xuetuan, lift your head.”

The Arctic bear swallowed the strawberry and obediently did as told.

Lin Qianyu tied the towel into a simple little scarf.

“You all eat first. I’m going to change clothes. No fighting, okay? Eat your own portions like good ones.” The front of Lin Qianyu’s clothes was already soaked.

When she carried the Arctic wolf back, a lot of snow had stuck to her front.

Once she returned to the house, she had been focused solely on rescuing the Arctic wolf and didn’t pay any attention to the snow on her. Over time, it had all melted, and now the wet fabric clung uncomfortably to her body.

Afraid that the fluffballs might bare their teeth at each other the moment she left, Lin Qianyu didn’t linger in the room and quickly changed clothes before coming back out.

She leaned against the table, gently touching the Arctic wolf’s cold paw pad, and typed out a message to the rescue station’s veterinarian with the wolf’s current condition.

Noticing her actions, the lead wolf licked the blood at the corner of its mouth, took half a step back, sat, and looked up at her.

“Get some rest. I’ll keep watch over it,” Lin Qianyu said as she folded the corner of the down jacket to completely cover the Arctic wolf. The first day was crucial; she had to keep a constant eye on it. If anything went wrong, she needed to catch it immediately. Lin Qianyu had already planned to stay up all night.

Looking into its deep blue eyes, Lin Qianyu felt like she could sense its emotions. She sighed lightly and said, “You’ve already done very well.”

As the lead wolf, it clearly blamed itself for its companion’s injury.

Perhaps it felt that if it had paid more attention during the hunt, observed the prey more carefully, or alerted the pack to retreat earlier, the injury could have been avoided.

Leading the pack in a hunt came with responsibility.

Even though the wolf had been calm and composed from the moment Lin Qianyu arrived, upon closer inspection, its mind was clearly still weighed down by worry.

Sure enough, when it heard Lin Qianyu’s words, the Arctic wolf suddenly looked up, the tips of its ears trembling.

Lin Qianyu squatted down. The firelight flickered, casting shadows across half her face. She spoke softly, “No one wanted to see it hurt. What makes an accident an accident is that it’s inherently uncontrollable. After everything settles, all you can do is make sure it doesn’t happen again—not blame yourself for why you didn’t prevent it the first time.”

The Arctic wolf didn’t respond, not even a soft “woo.” It simply stared at her.

Lin Qianyu raised her hand and slowly moved it toward the wolf.

She didn’t hide her movement. The wolf king’s gaze remained on her hand, watching as she gradually closed the distance between them.

Her movements were deliberately slow, giving the Arctic wolf plenty of time to react—whether to back away or bare its teeth in resistance, it had every opportunity to avoid her touch.

But… it didn’t.

The Arctic wolf just watched her hand draw nearer and rest on its head. Its ears instinctively folded back.

Lin Qianyu gently stroked the soft, fine fur. “Sleep. You’re tired too.”

“…Woo.” In this unfamiliar place, approached by a human it didn’t know, the Arctic wolf remained tense and alert—but in that moment, it felt like all its guarded thoughts suddenly collapsed.The Arctic wolf had a habit of stockpiling food, but it wouldn’t drag large prey over long distances.

Especially in blizzard conditions, a severely injured companion was practically a death sentence.

In wolf packs, the wolf king would usually abandon heavily wounded companions and lead the remaining members to a safer place to settle.

But the Arctic wolf before them had stubbornly dragged the injured Arctic wolf a great distance, braving the wind and snow step by step, slowly moving toward home.

The wolf king hadn’t given up on a single Arctic wolf.

【Wuwuwu waa waa waa, the wolf king is so good, I’m straight-up bawling.】

【Baby! It’s not your fault! All of you, stay safe and well.】

【The wolf king has always been so quiet. I didn’t even notice its low mood. Luckily Linlin is here, able to do emotional counseling for animals. If it kept overthinking like this, the wolf king would probably become depressed.】

【Only the best become wolf kings. I’ve heard that some wolf kings, when sick or old and unable to hunt, will refuse food brought back by their companions and silently walk toward death on their own. In extreme cases, a wolf king will even sacrifice itself to protect the pack.】

【I never thought I’d be so moved by an Arctic wolf.】

...

In the warmth and safety of the house, with no fear of waking up buried in snow, the Arctic wolf curled up beside the table, huddled into a small ball against its leg.

It seemed to be trying to shrink itself down, to not cause any trouble for the humans.

It felt… very well-behaved.

Lin Qianyu rested one hand on it, gently patting now and then, trying to help the Arctic wolf relax and not be so cautious.

The little spotted seal sprawled out on the floor smacked its lips in sleep. It had been napping ever since dinner and was now groggily waking. It blinked at the white lump on the floor, pausing.

A fox?

Thinking that, the little spotted seal rolled over, ready to keep sleeping. But then, a sudden jolt ran through its body. Twisting its waist sharply, it stared at the Arctic wolf on the ground, dumbfounded.

A wolf?!!

The little seal’s mouth hung open, clearly wanting to yelp—but the Arctic wolf was a natural predator. Even asleep, a predator had a powerful presence for prey like a seal.

If it dared make a sound and woke the sleeping predator, wouldn’t that be the end of its little life?

So, shocked as it was, the little spotted seal forcibly swallowed its cry at the last second. Glancing between Lin Qianyu and the Arctic wolf, its eyes were full of disbelief.

There’s a wolf in the house!

Noticing the seal’s exaggerated expression, Lin Qianyu put a finger to her lips and smiled, signaling it to relax.

If the Arctic wolf had meant to attack it, it would’ve done so the moment it came in—when the seal was fast asleep.

It hadn’t then, and now that it was dozing off itself, there was no reason it would suddenly wake up just to bite the seal.

Besides, after living together for a while, the seal was covered in her scent.

Given how sensible the Arctic wolf king was, anything in the house carrying her scent—be it animals or objects—it wouldn’t touch.

Not to mention…

Lin Qianyu pointed at the Arctic bear still munching on strawberry preserves.Polar bears are also natural enemies of seals—eating them is like snacking on sunflower seeds. But after spending this time together, haven’t they gotten along just fine?

The little spotted seal looked around, seeming to think that made sense, and with a big hearted “thud,” flopped back down onto the floor. It rolled over, draped its front flippers over its belly, and changed positions to keep sleeping.

Anyway, it had no intention of sleeping tonight.

Lin Qianyu quietly got up.

The hand resting on the Arctic wolf’s body left, and that loss of sensation made the wolf king open his eyes immediately. His deep blue beast-like pupils followed Lin Qianyu’s retreating figure.

The Arctic wolf let out a breath, shifted his paws, then lowered his head again and closed his eyes once more.

When Lin Qianyu came back carrying a full backpack of animal fur, all the fluffballs in the house had found their own spots to sleep.

Wood planks had been placed on the floor for elevation, and with a fire burning, even sleeping in the outer room wasn’t cold.

Lin Qianyu used hot water to scald the fur, cleaning it bit by bit and laying it out to dry. With nothing else to do at night, she passed time by spinning thread.

The fur in the backpack looked like a lot, but it was all very fluffy. Once pressed down, it shrank to nearly half.

【Is everyone asleep? It feels so quiet.】

【Wuu! It’s almost 4 a.m., my god. I stayed up without realizing it. Now that the Arctic wolf’s okay, I’m going to bed too.】

【Linlin didn’t say good night today. I’m sad.】

When people are busy, time flies the fastest.

Lin Qianyu shut down the livestream and softly said, “Good night.”

The blizzard continued without pause all night.

The sky-blotting snow obscured all light, making it nearly impossible to tell the time from the sun.

During the night, Lin Qianyu tracked the time to take the injured Arctic wolf’s temperature, constantly observing his condition, keeping two emergency injections on hand.

In the pre-dawn hours, the wounded Arctic wolf convulsed and seized—both injections were used, and he was put on an IV drip to hang on.

Only when the sky began to brighten did the Arctic wolf’s condition gradually stabilize.

Exhausted from staying up all night, Lin Qianyu was lightheaded and could barely stay upright. She finally leaned forward, resting her head beside the table for a quick nap.

The creak of the door opening came with a sliver of pale light slipping through the crack.

Lin Qianyu squinted, catching a glimpse of a white figure slipping out. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, the departing Arctic wolf had already closed the door behind him.

At that moment, she stared at the shut door, her mind blank for a few seconds before drowsiness took over. She curled her arms inward and tucked her head in, quickly losing consciousness.

The polar bear leaned against Lin Qianyu’s side and licked her cheek. He didn’t try to stop the Arctic wolf from leaving. Instead, he got up and bit the down jacket that had been covering the injured wolf. After a moment’s pause, he let it go and walked into the inner room.

When he came out again, he was dragging a floor-length sleeping bag. After comparing sides, he draped it over Lin Qianyu.

But sleeping bags are made to be climbed into—not really suited to being used as blankets.

The polar bear tugged one side and couldn’t manage the other. He kept circling around, pulling from both ends until he barely managed to stabilize the sleeping bag so it wouldn’t fall off.

Then he lay down beside Lin Qianyu.

Just as he was about to sleep—before he even closed his eyes—the newly spread sleeping bag was suddenly yanked and fell to the floor.The polar bear licked the corner of his mouth, circled around Lin Qianyu and looked—only to see the little spotted seal struggling to stick its head out from the sleeping bag, with one corner of it pinned underneath, looking quite dazed.

Noticing the polar bear’s gaze, the little spotted seal blinked. “Ah?”

...

When Lin Qianyu woke again, her whole body ached.

Sleeping hunched over a table—especially a high one—left her bones feeling as if they’d been broken, sore and uncomfortable.

She sat up, the blanket on her shoulders slipping off. She instinctively caught it—and then froze.

Where did this blanket come from?

Her fingers rubbed the “thin blanket,” pulling it up to her eyes. Upon seeing what it really was, Lin Qianyu pinched her brow. It was a sleeping bag.

“Wu!” The little spotted seal held one corner of the sleeping bag in its mouth, standing stiffly beside the table like it was being punished. It had been holding the sleeping bag in place for who knew how long. Seeing Lin Qianyu wake up, it looked tearful, helpless, and refused to let go.

Lin Qianyu rubbed its head and took the sleeping bag from its mouth. “Why are you the only one here? Where’s Xue Tuan and the others?”

Not just them—even the snowy owl was gone.

“Ah-ow!”

“The snow hasn’t even stopped yet. Why are they out hunting again?” Lin Qianyu folded the sleeping bag casually. “What if it gets blown away?”

Blown away!

At that thought, Lin Qianyu froze and slapped her forehead. “Oh no, my fridge!”

Last night when she went out to find the Arctic wolf, she didn’t secure the heavy items on top of the fridge. She had yanked off the wooden plank and left in a hurry, not even checking the food inside.

When she returned, all her attention went to the Arctic wolf, and she casually tossed the wooden plank aside. After a whole night of wind and snow, the fridge might have been completely blown empty.

—And even the snow bricks used to build the fridge might not be intact.

The down jacket had been covering the Arctic wolf. Lin Qianyu simply threw on another coat and headed outside.

The wooden plank was still in the same spot as last night, motionless on the ground.

Lin Qianyu picked it up and knocked it hard against the ground. A thick layer of snow had already piled on it. If it hadn’t been tied with rope and frozen to the icehouse, fishing it out would’ve been troublesome.

“I probably have to make a new fridge,” Lin Qianyu muttered, dragging the plank toward the fridge. If the food had been blown away, that would’ve been fine—but if the fridge had filled with snow and frozen together with the remaining food, cleaning it out and separating everything would be a huge task.

In comparison, building a new one would be simpler.

However… when Lin Qianyu saw the fridge covered thoroughly with the plank, with several stones carefully placed on top, she froze.

“Huh?” Her steps slowed. She removed the stones, and inside, the meat was still packed full, showing no signs of having been blown away. There was barely any snow inside either.

Lin Qianyu had no memory of anything related to the fridge from last night, so she asked, “Who helped me tidy up the fridge last night? Did any of you see?”

There was no one else outside within the base’s perimeter, so Lin Qianyu was speaking to her livestream viewers.

But last night, everyone had been glued to her stream, anxiously counting down seconds as she tried to save the Arctic wolf. Hardly anyone was watching the official camera feed. It was late, and most people had left it running just to gain experience points.

【Let me check the official livestream replay.】

【Wow, Lin-jie was slaying up front while someone was handling logistics behind the scenes. This kind of teamwork is amazing.】【Not bad, this batch of guests shows promise. Giving you all a chance to submit resumes to the rescue station.】

【By the way, does Linlin need an assistant? You just focus on charging forward and saving the animals with all you've got—let me handle everything else and clear your path.】

...

The fridge was fine.

Lin Qianyu brought back some meat and fish. Seeing the livestream chat discussing, she placed the frozen meat on the table and asked, “Has the official livestream been on the whole time?”

She hadn’t noticed where the official livestream equipment was mounted.

Very quickly, the chat filled with gifs and screenshots from last night.

The blizzard was intense, and the official camera was set up closer to Director Su’s side, so the footage was blurry—only a vague silhouette could be seen.

Fans couldn’t tell who it was, so they guessed based on body shape: 【Looks like a man.】

【Pretty tall—was it Yin Youlin?】

【Probably Nie Lingyang… Yin Youlin twisted his ankle yesterday, right? No way he was out in the middle of the night.】

Lin Qianyu opened one of the screenshots, and despite the heavy snow in the image, she instantly recognized who it was—as she had expected.

Her lips curved slightly. She placed the still-frozen fish slices into the pot. “Mr. Feng is watching my stream too?”

Chat: 【Huh?】

Then, a message from Feng Jingye popped up in the stream: 【Last night’s footage of you rushing out to save the Arctic wolf is trending.】

Even though she didn’t appear on camera due to the external livestream setup, the stream’s popularity kept climbing.

The scene of the Arctic wolf king dragging its injured companion home left a powerful impact. As soon as Lin Qianyu rushed out, the topic soared to #1 in trending discussions on Weibo.

Feng Jingye: 【You worked hard.】

Lin Qianyu’s eyes curved into a smile. Her voice even carried a note of joy. “Just doing my job.”

Aside from being a variety show guest, she was still a staff member at the rescue station.

Feng Jingye responded teasingly: 【You’re getting a raise this month.】

Lin Qianyu laughed aloud. “President Feng, how about considering my promotion from intern to full-time?”

Feng Jingye: 【If you want it, it's yours anytime.】

The rescue station had a full, structured promotion system from bottom to top.

Everything was meant to follow proper procedures. But if it was Lin Qianyu, Feng Jingye wouldn’t mind—and would actually be glad—for her to be an exception to the rules.

In a place where strength came first, not to mention going full-time—if she wanted to manage an entire island alone, that wouldn’t be a problem either.

The only issue… was that managing an island came with the requirement of staying there long-term.

But Lin Qianyu was always rotating between islands, so focusing on just one might not work for her.

With no visual feed on the stream, Lin Qianyu and Feng Jingye chatted away, one message after another, clearly enjoying themselves.

Chat: 【???】【You two… what are you doing?】

【Not sneaking around anymore, huh? @Xuetuan, come back aaaah baby! Someone’s stealing your home!】

A soft thump echoed—like someone knocking on the door.

Lin Qianyu paused her hand stirring the fish in the pot. The barrage in the chat tagging the polar bear made her first reaction upon hearing the noise to think that Xuetuan had returned from hunting.

But then she remembered—Xuetuan knew how to open the door.

That sound was more like… knocking.

Just as Lin Qianyu grew suspicious, a scratching noise came from outside—swish swish swish—like a small animal pawing at the door?

She set down her chopsticks and opened the door. The Arctic wolf sat upright at the entrance, holding a freshly dead snow hare in its mouth.

“You’re back.” Lin Qianyu’s confused expression turned into a smile. “I thought you went to look for your other packmates.”

After all, when the wolf came back with her last night, it hadn’t really interacted with the rest of the pack.

Looks like the Arctic wolf had gone hunting too.

“Wuu…”

The wolf didn’t seem to intend to come inside. It placed the rabbit at the door, then turned to leave.

“Eh? Don’t go… Stay and eat something first?” Lin Qianyu pointed to the meat on the stove. “I brought out a lot of meat again.”

The Arctic wolf lowered its head and nudged the rabbit with its snout, pushing it toward Lin Qianyu’s feet.

Looked like it wanted her to take this meat.

Lin Qianyu responded quickly, “Okay, okay, I’ll clean it up later and feed it to your injured companion.”

She thought that was the intent, but to her surprise, the wolf’s expression turned serious: “Wuu!”

Eat!

Lin Qianyu froze mid-step. “It’s for me?”

“Wuu…” The Arctic wolf pushed the rabbit forward again.

The fatal wound on the rabbit’s neck was still bleeding. It was soft and hadn’t frozen—a fresh rabbit, still radiating warmth.

From the time it had been bitten to the time it was placed in front of her, barely any time could’ve passed.

Rabbits on the polar island were known for their excellent taste and tender meat.

Lin Qianyu squatted and picked up the rabbit, astonished. “You didn’t go out just to catch this rabbit for me… did you?”

The Arctic wolf gave a shake of its fur. Hearing what she said, it didn’t deny it. After dropping off the food, it turned and left.

This time, it didn’t give Lin Qianyu a chance to stop it. It ran off and even awkwardly closed the door behind it, pushing it firmly shut with its paw before leaving.

Lin Qianyu looked at the rabbit in her hands, amused and a bit helpless. “Got fed by the fluffball again. Are rabbits the universal currency of Polar Island or something?”

Just like those devil rays in the ocean—

Gifts from small animals to express their gratitude to humans.【Rabbit: Oh, you're noble and virtuous? Repaying kindness by taking my life?】

【Sob sob sob I'm sorry, it looks so pitiful. I'll send a gift to save it. I don't have much money though… can I save half of it?】

【Hiss… then I want the other half with pepper and salt. Spicy rabbit head, thanks.】

【Wow seriously, what a bunch of cold-blooded creatures! Watching this is making my mouth water from the corners of my eyes.】

“This rabbit is just right to stew with the one Xuēxiāo brought yesterday.” If the rabbit were still alive, raising it wouldn’t be a big deal, but it had already died, so Lin Qianyu figured she’d make some food for the injured.

She separated the rabbit meat from the bones, and the organs and meat were divided into two piles. The combined meat from both rabbits was a decent amount.

She left it warming on the stove so the injured Arctic wolf could eat once it woke up.

The remaining bones and untrimmed meat were chopped into small pieces to make a big pot of soup.

The rabbit broth could serve as drinking water for the fluffballs.

Water with meat flavor would likely be more acceptable than plain water and encourage them to drink more.

The same logic applied to cats that didn’t like drinking water—just dilute their canned food with soup.

While the rabbit stew simmered, fish soup cooked over a low flame next to it.

Lin Qianyu tossed more firewood into the pit, then walked over to the table, lifted the down jacket, and gently took the Arctic wolf’s paw to check the wound on its front leg.

It had convulsed unconsciously at dawn, and during its struggle, lost control of its bladder. The paw had trembled uncontrollably, and the unhealed wound bled quite a bit again. She had reapplied medication earlier that morning, but now the bandage was once again bloodstained.

The towel had been changed last night, and the dirty one thrown into the trash bin to be dealt with after the variety show ended.

The other wounds weren’t too bad—the most serious remained the gaping injury on the front leg.

Lin Qianyu rummaged through the rescue center’s medical kit, planning to remove the gauze and apply new medicine.

But this time, when she held the paw again, she felt a slight resistance.

A faint struggle.

When Lin Qianyu looked up, she met a pair of watery sky-blue beast eyes. Just awakened, the wolf still seemed dazed, staring innocently at the human holding its paw. It wanted to resist but had no strength, blinking slowly.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu let out a breath of relief, her face full of gentle warmth. “You’re awake.”

The Arctic wolf twitched its paw helplessly.

Lin Qianyu quickly curled her fingers around it. “Don’t move, I’m applying medicine… does it hurt a lot?”

Thinking maybe the hemostatic powder had stung the wound, she gently blew on the injured paw. “Does this feel better?”

The soft breeze brushing over the wound made the Arctic wolf’s pupils tremble. Its stiff tail hovered in uncertainty. Under Lin Qianyu’s gaze full of tenderness, the very tip of its tail gave a subtle little wag.

“Wuu… Aowuu…”

Author’s Note: Good night, sleep early, love you all.