Chapter 126

Chapter 126: When the pretty little fox acts spoiled, it's truly both adorable and well-behaved

It gets boring staying cooped up indoors for too long.

Lin Qianyu sat at the doorway holding the injured arctic wolf in her arms, eating a piece of jerky herself. “If only I had some tea. A table laid out in front, drinking hot tea while snow falls all around…”

Just imagining it felt leisurely.

Unfortunately, Polar Island doesn’t have the conditions to grow tea. If they were on one of the other two islands, even without proper tea leaves, they could still find plenty of leaves suitable for steeping.

Even mint leaf water would do.

Hang Sisi came out wrapped in a thick down jacket, carrying an axe. She froze when she saw Lin Qianyu sitting in the archway, then slowly widened her eyes. “...Qianyu-jie!”

“Hmm?” Lin Qianyu looked up and saw Hang Sisi staring straight at her. “What is it?”

Hang Sisi pointed behind her. “S-So many wolves.”

At some point, a group of arctic wolves had gathered behind Lin Qianyu, huddled close but cautiously keeping a bit of distance.

The archway where she sat was built higher up. With the size of polar bears in mind, the arch was made wide but not too low, so the bears could enter.

Since Lin Qianyu was sitting, there was still quite a gap between her head and the arch, and the surrounding space looked wide open.

From the front, it looked as though she was surrounded by fluff behind her—especially with an arctic wolf already resting on her lap.

The fluffies inside the house didn’t know what was going on. The little snow leopard and the arctic fox squeezed through the gaps, pushing themselves into the space between Lin Qianyu and the arch.

In an instant, the previously spacious area seemed crowded.

Lin Qianyu placed her hand on the little snow leopard’s head, which was looking left and right, and gave it a couple of strong pets.

【Aaaaah! So cute aaaaah!】

【I hereby declare this to be a paradise for fluff lovers.】

【Sobs... if Lin-jie laid down right now, she’d probably be lying on top of four or five fluffballs! So satisfying.】

【This front-facing camera angle is genius—one by one, the little animals peeking out from behind her… was that glance backing Linlin up?!】

Hang Sisi had been stuck in the igloo for a while now—aside from eating, drinking, and sleeping, she couldn’t use her phone or go online. Just sitting there was driving her crazy with boredom.

Now that she saw this pile of seemingly good-tempered little animals, she couldn't move her feet.

But she only dared to admire them from a distance.

After all… from the angle Lin Qianyu couldn’t see, one of the arctic wolves behind her had slightly narrowed eyes fixed on Hang Sisi, with an expression that clearly said: not easy to mess with. So Hang Sisi didn’t step forward.

Lin Qianyu absentmindedly stroked the chin of the arctic wolf in her arms, then noticed the axe in Hang Sisi’s hand and asked, “Going to chop wood?”

“Yeah, the stash we had before isn’t enough. I plan to chop some nearby.” After saying that, Hang Sisi adjusted her cuffs and walked off toward the back.

Standing around was a waste of time. Better to chop all the trees early—just in case a blizzard hits before they’ve got enough firewood.

Thanks to Hang Sisi’s livestream gear, plenty of viewers had already clipped gifs of the fluffballs slowly peeking out from behind Lin Qianyu earlier.

Even the popularity of Hang Sisi’s livestream channel had noticeably gone up.

On Lin Qianyu’s phone, the barrage of comments had already started asking whether “guests could borrow each other’s livestream equipment.”Probably not.

The livestream equipment is linked to the guest's individual stream, and the stream's popularity affects the final ranking—borrowing someone else's stream would be unfair to the participants.

Lin Qianyu chewed on the jerky and looked at the falling snow in the distance. “No rush.”

After all, one should also consider Director Su's mental endurance, right?

The arctic wolves crowded behind her, completely blocking the archway. They were still trying to adjust their positions to make the space a little roomier.

Lin Qianyu glanced back quietly and noticed the lead wolf sitting squarely in the middle, letting the other wolves jostle around it while it remained completely still. She couldn't help but curve her eyes in amusement and leaned back, resting directly against the lead wolf.

She turned her head with a smile. “What are you thinking about so seriously?”

The lead wolf paused for a moment. It only realized belatedly that the human was leaning on it. Its body tensed slightly, seemingly at a loss. Its tail dragged along the ground, swaying back and forth.

Lin Qianyu reached back and patted its furry head, using the big white Samoyed as a backrest.

The arctic wolf silently leaned forward a bit, sitting upright and proper.

Just as she was teasing the wolf, something dropped in front of her.

A piece of electronic equipment suspended in the air immediately caught all the little animals’ attention. They all looked up curiously.

Lin Qianyu was also momentarily stunned. Seeing no other guests around, she asked, “Whose livestream equipment is this?”

No streamer in sight—only the equipment.

“Yours.” Feng Jingye walked over from behind the archway and casually pressed a button on the device. “Check if there's any data loss.”

“Mr. Feng.” Lin Qianyu took the equipment, looking confused. “You…”

Before she could finish asking, Feng Jingye explained first, “I was passing by. Saw it stuck up there, so I brought it back.”

That explanation actually made it seem even more suspicious.

Lin Qianyu blinked at his words, then couldn’t help laughing. “Well, what a coincidence.”

【“Passing by”】

【Judging from the camera angle, the device was stuck somewhere high up. How does someone “pass by” a cliff ledge while walking on flat ground?】

【Why can’t someone just fly while walking, huh? Then turn their head midair and spot the device—is that a problem?!】

【Hahahaha! Island Lord, righteous indeed! Next time you’re being chased by a snowball, I’ll reluctantly say a good word for you.】

...

“Have you eaten yet?” Lin Qianyu said, “I made some fish soup—it’s in your room. Eat it while it’s hot.”

Feng Jingye nodded with a faint smile. “Okay.”

After a long day out, even a person made of iron would be worn out. Seeing that the livestream equipment was fine, Feng Jingye went back to rest.

Lin Qianyu stayed by the arch with the fluffballs to let them get some air, not in a rush to head in.

She adjusted the equipment a bit, manually wiped off the water streaks that the self-cleaning mode hadn’t cleared from the lens, then lifted the arctic wolf’s paw with a big smile. “Up next in our livestream: the arctic wolf’s medical recovery journey!”

The arctic wolf had just been staring at Feng Jingye, and was caught completely off guard when its paw was grabbed. It looked a little bewildered."Woo?" The arctic wolf moved its paw wrapped in cloth and bandages. It didn’t lift it up, but raised its head and puffed out its chest, "Awoo!"

Lin Qianyu hugged the arctic wolf and said, "Now that the critical period has passed, there's no major danger. The rest is just a matter of slowly nursing you back to health."

Although her setup wasn’t as good as a proper rescue center, there was no shortage of food or drink, and they didn’t have to suffer the cold wind outside. Recovery was only a matter of time.

Inside the igloo, after finishing its canned food, Snowball the polar bear belatedly seemed to smell something. It lumbered out slowly, looked around for a place to put its paw down, and simply squeezed over and rested its head on Lin Qianyu’s shoulder. “Mmm!”

It sniffed closely. Not smelling anything strange, it tilted its head and rubbed against her.

With the polar bear pressing closer, the arctic wolf squeezed into the remaining gap, sticking even tighter to her.

Crowded and warm.

Even the cold wind outside had made Lin Qianyu feel overheated.

The fluffy ones at home were all quite clingy to her. When they were out hunting, they might get distracted by prey.

But at home, when there was nothing to do, they would even sleep leaning against Lin Qianyu.

Lin Qianyu hugged two arctic wolves, one on each side. "Looks like not only does the igloo need expanding, but the protruding part of the archway has to be made bigger too."

Otherwise, if they crowd too hard while getting fresh air, what if the arch breaks?

After sitting outside for a while, seeing the wind and snow grow stronger, Lin Qianyu carried the arctic wolf back inside.

Even though she was surrounded by fluff, her bare hands still felt a bit frozen stiff, with the backs of her hands turning red from the cold.

After settling the injured arctic wolf, Lin Qianyu casually rubbed her hands and moved her fingers to warm them up.

The wind howled through the not-quite-shut door.

Lin Qianyu closed it tightly, then used her phone’s flashlight for light. “Feels like the watch is more convenient for lighting.”

The phone flashlight had a wider range and brighter beam, but it also drained battery faster.

The watch’s light was smaller, but it could recharge with solar energy. The phone, of course, didn’t have that feature—only power banks could help.

She needed the phone for both livestreaming and lighting, so the battery drained quickly.

The arctic wolf walked beside her, rubbing against her constantly. Lin Qianyu had to walk very carefully with each step, afraid of tripping.

【Such a clingy big dog ahhh, I command you to start petting it now!】

【Help… if you told me this was a premium Samoyed instead of a wolf, I’d believe you.】

【I didn’t really understand what people meant when they said “the wolf has a good temper,” but now I do—truly well-tempered, even more affectionate than my dog.】

The arctic wolf sticking close to Lin Qianyu was the same one that had rubbed against her hand earlier.

Among the pack, the other wolves were still a bit reserved and shy, but this one had already started shadowing her.

“So clingy, I’ll call you Little Sticky,” Lin Qianyu said while rubbing Little Sticky’s ears. “Go play on your own for now. Anyway, no one is allowed to go hunting until tomorrow.”

Judging by how it looked just now, the snowstorm tonight was definitely not going to be mild.

As she spoke, Lin Qianyu glanced sideways at the arctic fox by the door stretching out its paw. “Snowball…?”

“Eing!” The arctic fox turned around, its fluffy tail covering half its face, leaving only a pair of beautiful eyes curved with delight as it came over and rubbed against her affectionately.Lin Qianyu picked up the arctic fox, tapped its head, and laughed, “You going out to hunt in a heavy snow like this—your head could ram into the snow and still not break through it.”

The arctic fox lay on its back in her arms, tail curling around Lin Qianyu’s wrist as it acted cute. “Eing…”

Such a pretty little fox, acting spoiled—it was truly both adorable and well-behaved, even its cries were delicate.

Not to mention it hadn’t done anything wrong—even if it had, with it acting like this, who could bear to scold it?

Holding the arctic fox against her chest, Lin Qianyu rubbed its belly, then freed a hand to toss some firewood into the firepit where the flames were not visible.

With her phone flashlight as illumination, she couldn’t see the firelight clearly from outside, but the fire inside hadn’t gone out. Once the wood caught slowly, it would be fine.

She looked up and saw the arctic owl still standing in the same spot—it hadn’t moved at all since earlier.

Lin Qianyu asked suspiciously, “Why aren’t you reflecting in the corner? Hungry?”

The arctic owl didn’t respond.

She reached out and poked it. The puffed-up feathers dented under her touch, and the feathers on its chest weren’t firm like other birds’—they felt more like poking into cotton.

Lin Qianyu raised a brow. “Sleeping this deeply? Not even opening your eyes?”

Just as she was wondering, the snowy owl—whom she thought was facing her—suddenly rotated its head 180 degrees, revealing its round, pale-golden eyes staring at her unblinkingly.

Lin Qianyu: “……”

So it wasn’t that it didn’t react.

It had mistaken front and back.

Author’s note: Goodnight, sleep early, love each and every one of you.