Chapter 131

Chapter 131: From the cracked ice hole, little penguins emerged one after another.

The little penguin cooperatively shouted, "Ah!"

The penguin group below: "..."

Silence, hesitation, dead stillness.

Lin Qianyu held her hands high, arms sore from holding them up so long, yet there was no reaction from the penguins below. "Did I find the wrong penguin group?"

She twisted her wrist and turned the little penguin around. "Do you know this group?"

[It’s over. How is this any different from adding the wrong penguin ID?]

[Hahaha damn, isn’t it just joining the wrong group chat?]

Lin Qianyu had no idea how many penguin groups were on the polar island. Since the little penguin had led the way, she’d naturally assumed the first group they encountered was its own. But now the penguins below weren’t reacting—maybe...

"Aaahhhh—!"

A sharp cry tore through the sky.

The penguin that had just climbed ashore looked up in shock, its claws still pinning a flailing fish—it had clearly just dropped it from its beak.

Lin Qianyu’s ears buzzed from the piercing sound. She squinted slightly and said, “Looks like I found the right one.”

The little penguin glanced at Lin Qianyu, then at its father below, who was fuming with rage. It smiled and pointed its flipper at Lin Qianyu: "Ah!"

Look!

It was too excited, introducing the human it had met to its father.

Penguin dad: "..."

"Don’t worry, I mean no harm. I just brought it back," Lin Qianyu took a few steps forward. Seeing that the adult emperor penguin was about to explode with rage, she placed the little penguin down at the bottom of the slope.

The slope wasn’t steep—just a short run down and it could return.

There was no rush to build rapport with the penguins. To avoid misunderstandings, it was better to let the little penguin return first.

However, once it was on the ground, the little penguin didn’t rush back to its group. Instead, it just stood there. "Ah?"

The little penguin tilted its head and looked at Lin Qianyu, as if asking, ‘You’re not coming with me?’

Lin Qianyu said, “Go on, your family’s really worried about you.”

The little penguin still hesitated.

The adult emperor penguin who had already reached the bottom of the slope let out a soft call, "Ah..."

This one was gentle—far softer than the panicked cry from earlier, and even carried a touch of tenderness.

Lin Qianyu quietly translated into the mic, “It said: Good baby, come to daddy.”

Animals and humans used different ways to express themselves. Lin Qianyu simply translated the animal’s words into human terms for easier understanding.

It was clear the little penguin wanted to go back, but also wanted Lin Qianyu to come along.

Maybe it wanted to show off the human it had found to its friends.

Seeing it pacing back and forth, the emperor penguin below called out twice more.Lin Qianyu translated in real time: "You’re hungry, right, good baby? Daddy caught a fish for you."

“Come let Daddy hold you,” Lin Qianyu added, “It’s an affectionate expression.”

“I missed you the moment I didn’t see you.”

…

After a few sentences of affectionate nagging, the little penguin finally shook its feathers. Though regretful it couldn’t go down together with Lin Qianyu, it reluctantly walked back to the adult emperor penguin.

[What a heartwarming picture of a loving father and filial child.]

[Even though humans mean no harm, it's natural for a parent to worry when their child ends up next to a human.]

[Penguin dad’s actually pretty gentle.]

Before the comment had even scrolled past, everyone echoed the sentiment.

However, in the next second, the adult emperor penguin suddenly attacked without warning—lowered its head and pecked the little penguin. Its cry also turned sharp, “Ah!”

“Ah!” The little penguin was completely caught off guard. It spread its front flippers on both sides, seemingly trying to shield its head—but they were too short. It turned and ran.

The adult emperor penguin chased after it, pecking.

Lin Qianyu: “???”

Comments: [......]

[Hahahahaha! Suddenly reminded me of when my cat ran off last time. I sweet-talked it into coming home and gave it a cuddle, then immediately gave it a smack.]

[Before it got back: ‘Daddy loves you the most.’ After it got back: ‘Ungrateful brat, take this!!!’]

[Little penguin: ‘Daddy, I met a human who can talk!’

Adult emperor penguin: ‘You look like a human!’]

The little penguin darted into the group, crashing left and right. With other emperor penguins shielding it, its dad soon lost sight of it.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu pulled back the leg she had stepped forward with and lay back down on the slope. “Looks like this penguin group has a pretty harmonious internal relationship.”

Although penguins are social creatures, their groups don’t function like Arctic wolf packs that hunt together. Normally, they don’t go out of their way to care for chicks that aren’t their own. Though occasionally, an adult emperor penguin might pick up an abandoned chick or even try to steal one—but those are rare cases.

This penguin group, however, felt different from what Lin Qianyu remembered.

She lay there watching as quite a few emperor penguins looked over at her—curious, but cautious.

Penguins aren’t very aggressive; they don’t have the instinct to attack humans.

But since there are few people here, and rescue station staff only show up when necessary, humans are a rare sight to penguins.

Lin Qianyu waved at them in a friendly manner. “Hi!”

A few timid penguins immediately raised their necks and spread their flippers, assuming a defensive posture.

Seeing that Lin Qianyu had no intention of coming down, their fluffed-up feathers gradually settled.

The chicks among the emperor penguin group were all round and fluffy. They didn’t need to dive into the sea to find food—parents would catch food and bring it back to feed them.

As a result, their fur was round, thick, and puffy—each one looked like a little gray fuzzball.

The penguin fuzzballs huddled together, surrounding the little penguin Lin Qianyu had returned, chattering “ah ah” in who-knows-what language.Too far to hear clearly, Lin Qianyu couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

“The little penguin is home now. Let’s head back and get back to work,” Lin Qianyu stood up and patted the snow off her body. “Next time, let’s bring more fish.”

But with so many penguins… who knows if one net’s worth of fish would be enough.

Too many fish would also be hard to carry.

There was a spotted seal group nearby. If the penguins went over, it’d be like a buffet delivered straight to the seals—better she bring the fish over to feed them instead.

Lin Qianyu turned her head and saw the Arctic wolf still lying in place. She asked, “Tired from walking? Want me to carry…”

The Arctic wolf, which had been staring at the penguin group, instantly stood up with a whoosh, proving with its actions that it wasn’t tired at all. However, upon hearing the second half of Lin Qianyu’s sentence, its raised paw froze in midair.

The Arctic wolf looked up. Its pale blue eyes seemed to speak, and it curled one paw up to its chest with a low whimper: “Woo…”

Lin Qianyu looked at its paw and couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile. “You lifted the wrong paw.”

The injured paw wrapped in gauze was still planted on the ground—the one lifted was the healthy one without any wounds.

“……”

The beautiful eyes of the Arctic wolf showed a hint of guilt. It blinked a few times, avoiding her gaze, then quietly switched paws. “Awoo…”

“Haha!” Lin Qianyu laughed and reached out to pick up the Arctic wolf. “Looks like your injury’s really serious, huh? I’d better carry you.”

“Woo!” The Arctic wolf nuzzled against her in her arms, resting its chin on Lin Qianyu’s shoulder, then couldn’t help but turn its head.

Its furry head brushed against her chin, affectionately rubbing her face.

Lin Qianyu petted the Arctic wolf’s tail, smoothing its fur down its back from time to time.

After being cared for these past few days, the wound wasn’t fully healed, but at least its paw could touch the ground without reopening at the slightest pressure.

Lin Qianyu checked the bandage on the paw with her hand. Once she was sure it was fine, she carried the wolf and headed back.

While the wound was still fresh, the Arctic wolf relied on Lin Qianyu to move around. It seemed to really enjoy being held—whenever it got the chance, it would jump into her arms.

[Wow, such a big wolf and still acting all cuddly.]

[Everyone stop laughing, this Arctic wolf doesn’t look too well. Looks like it might have Akmoris Syndrome. Let’s be serious.]

[? What’s that?]

[I don’t know, I just made it up to scare Lin-jie.]

[…6.]

—They hadn’t been gone long, and the fish on the ice were just as they’d left them—not even moved an inch.

However, the fish that had been stuck in the ice hole was gone.

Might just be the angle—there seemed to be something in the hole, but no fish sticking out anymore.

Lin Qianyu set the Arctic wolf down in a clean spot, fumbled for her axe and said, “I’m going to check if the fish is still there.”

“Awoo!” The Arctic wolf wagged its tail and was about to follow to help.

“Don’t come over—you’ll get soaked.” Lin Qianyu rubbed the wolf’s ears and pushed it back. “If your fur gets wet, we’ll have to give you a bath when we get back.”As soon as she said that, the eager Arctic wolf instantly settled down.

Because of its injury, the Arctic wolf couldn’t take a proper bath. At home, Lin Qianyu could only wipe it down with a warm, damp towel. But the Arctic wolf had seen the others getting bathed.

Soaked from head to paw—just watching gave the Arctic wolf psychological trauma.

That’s why, the moment “bath” was mentioned, all the furballs at home who didn’t like water would immediately behave.

While it hesitated, Lin Qianyu had already walked over to the ice hole.

The fish was still there, but unlike earlier, its head had completely disappeared.

It seemed some animal had come by just now. The part of the fish sticking out of the water had been eaten nearly clean, not even bones remained.

The lower part of the fish was probably out of reach—or maybe the upper half had already been enough to fill a stomach.

Might’ve been a polar bear passing by, starved for days and thrilled to find a fish lying on the ice.

In any case, it made it easier to retrieve the rest of the fish.

Lin Qianyu secured the remaining part, broke up the ice around it, and widened the hole just enough to pull the fish out. As she dragged it back, she couldn’t help but say, “This fish… is almost half the weight of my whole net haul.”

With a body this size, it definitely had the potential to prey on penguins.

Lin Qianyu measured it with her arms. “If I ate this alone, it’d last me a week.”

The belly meat was thick—fatter than bluefin tuna.

It was far too heavy. Instead of dragging it back, Lin Qianyu just gutted the fish on the spot, tossing the innards aside to avoid dealing with the mess later.

Before she knew it, a small pile of guts had formed next to the fish.

“Phew…” Lin Qianyu shook out her hands. “These fish scales are a pain.”

Unlike the small fish whose scales came off easily, this one had large, tough scales that clung tight.

“Ah!”

A little penguin peeked out of the nearby ice hole, noticed the guts by the edge, and pecked at them.

“Eh?” Lin Qianyu blinked. “Why are you back?”

Hadn’t she just sent the little penguin home?

The little penguin popped out, shook its feathers, and shouted loudly as if bragging: “Ah… ah!”

See! I told you so!

Lin Qianyu: “What?”

As the penguin’s cry ended, more little penguins started surfacing from the broken ice hole.

They huddled together, dripping wet, several pairs of bright eyes staring unblinkingly at her.

Lin Qianyu: “…?”

Author’s Note:

[Good news: the little penguin came back. Bad news: it brought even more chicks with it.]

[All penguin-related information comes from online sources.]Good night, sleep early, love every one of you.