Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The fluffy tail hanging down from the tree, the tip lightly twitching.

Perhaps because it was already at odds with the leopard, the roar was full of disdain toward the leopard.

Lin Qianyu was rubbed by it until she could hardly stand, tugged the furry ear, and after fluffing up, the half-round ears seemed even fluffier, soft and fluffy to the touch, feeling wonderful.

Only after completely covering up the leopard’s scent did the black bear stop licking her, though it still looked very aggrieved.

“Wuwuwu… The jealous chubby baby fighting for attention is really too cute.”

“You can tell, the little bear really wants to beat up the leopard, haha.”

“But the leopard is so handsome… quietly whispering, I really have no resistance to big cats. When will the streamer bring a big cat home too?”

“If you really bring one back, it’ll get so lively, they’d be fighting every day.”

Night gradually deepened.

At some unknown time, fog arose, tree branches and leaves tangled together, obscuring the horizon.

Fine, gentle rain silently fell.

Without any warning, no thunder or lightning.

Lin Qianyu raised her hand to shield her eyes, “Let’s go back first, it’s raining.”

“Aw.”

The leopard lay on the slender branch, its front paws crossed on the edge, watching Lin Qianyu’s back from afar, lazily licking its nose when its gaze fell on the black bear.

—The next morning, the director personally brought the live-streaming equipment.

At that time, Lin Qianyu had just woken up, still holding a bowl of hot water while half-asleep.

Seeing the director come, she sluggishly raised her eyelids, “Good morning, director.”

“Morning.” The director’s shoes were muddy, having walked uneven mountain paths, yet Lin Qianyu seemed to tread as if on flat ground.

The director handed Lin Qianyu the live-streaming equipment still in its packaging, “Here, the latest version, try it out and see if it’s easy to use.”

Hearing “latest version,” Lin Qianyu thought the director had upgraded the streaming system, thanked him, and upon opening, noticed the equipment looked somewhat different from before.

The easiest difference to spot was the color — the previous one was pure black, while this new device, nestled in shock-absorbing foam, was entirely silver-white, giving an impression of solidity and durability.

Lin Qianyu tapped it with her fingertips; the sharp sensation in her knuckles made her raise her brows — indeed, very sturdy.

Seeing this, the director chuckled confidently, “The last one broke, so I had someone upgrade it.”

Actually, the original equipment was already quite perfect for normal streaming.

But ever since Lin Qianyu burst onto his show and gathered many rarely seen fierce beasts around her, the equipment was like plastic balls that couldn’t withstand a hit from these beasts.

So, as soon as the first device broke, the director began thinking about how to make something more durable.

Coincidentally, by the time the new equipment arrived, Lin Qianyu’s second one also broke.

The director came early also to let Lin Qianyu test how the new equipment worked.

And the most important reason was… Lin Qianyu’s livestream was forced to shut down due to equipment failure, and her fans, having nowhere to go, along with many who came to see the black bear, the red-tailed hawk, and the leopard who had only appeared briefly but left a deep impression, all flocked to other guests’ livestreams.They realized it was completely different from Lin Qianyu’s, like two different worlds streaming the same show, so everyone ran to the official livestream room.

One by one, they @mentioned him there.

The director, feeling he couldn’t sleep well, came out as soon as dawn broke, “Check it yourself.”

The equipment was solar-powered, able to run indefinitely with enough light.

Lin Qianyu turned on the device, logged into her account, the network was stable, and it automatically connected to the livestream room after logging in.

“No problem at all,” Lin Qianyu adjusted the angle, her face clear on the screen, “Thanks for the director’s effort to come. I was even thinking of going back to the base to find you after dawn yesterday.”

Later, because the little bear and the leopard almost fought, she temporarily shelved that idea.

The director sneered and said briefly, “I don’t believe it.”

He fully suspected that Lin Qianyu secretly went somewhere off-camera to play with the leopard.

The black bear exhaled and slowly approached.

Its steady and massive body felt like a huge stone hanging over the chest, loosening its hold little by little as it neared, pressing down on the heart, making one’s breath slightly catch.

The director said, “…Okay, okay, I believe you.”

“Ha ha ha, came in half-asleep but you really cheered me up.”

“Didn’t expect the director to be a comedian, truly hiding his skills.”

“Seeing furry things really lifts one’s spirits (even though the director is kind of useless).”

The black bear was hostile only to strangers but didn’t make any harmful moves; instead, it came over to lean by Lin Qianyu’s side, resting its head on her leg, its nose twitching as it rubbed its jaw to adjust position, then sank back into deep sleep.

Lin Qianyu touched the damp nose and petted the little furry head. Since coming down the mountain last night, the little bear had been clingy to her, always alert to the surroundings, seemingly guarding against the leopard.

Where Lin Qianyu didn’t notice, the black bear half-opened one eye; its light brown eye met the director’s gaze, causing him to shrink his neck involuntarily.

“Alright, the stuff is delivered, my mission’s done.” The director packed up and stood, picking up the packaging box, “I’ll go first. Contact me if you need anything.”

Though he said that, except for assigning tasks, he spent most of his time in Lin Qianyu’s livestream room.

If something really happened, Lin Qianyu didn’t even need to contact him; he could see it himself.

Not long after the director left, the little bear rolled over, stood up, and shook its thick fur, “Wooh…”

There was still meat at home, but what was left from the last meal obviously wasn’t enough for the black bear’s appetite.

They hadn’t caught prey yesterday, so today they needed to make up for it.

Lin Qianyu had little appetite for breakfast and ate some slightly wilted wild fruit leftover. Hearing the little bear’s words, she felt bored staying home alone and got up, “Let’s go hunting together.”

The black bear rubbed against her calf, then turned and led the way.

The sun was bright on the platform; though the morning sun wasn’t as fierce as noon, the fur on the black bear’s back was warmed nicely by the sunshine.

The black bear stayed close to Lin Qianyu, about waist height, walking slowly forward but seemed unable to walk in a straight line—every couple of steps it would nudge her.

At these moments, Lin Qianyu would scratch the fur on the back of its neck, ruffling the hair upward and backward, then pet its ears.

She was skilled at stroking the bear’s fur.【Stop stroking the bear, I’m really afraid that if you keep petting, the little bear will just lie down and show you its belly and won’t get up.】

【Hahaha, that’s exactly something the little bear would do.】

【Such a good-tempered chubby baby, wow, if my cat were stroked like that, it would fight me to the death as soon as I reached out.】

Domestic cats don’t have as good a temper as wild black bears—does that make sense? Does it?!

The black bear has no fixed hunting grounds but has favorite habitual spots.

Like by the water source, it never comes back empty-handed.

The middle to lower reaches of the river, extending to the right side including Lin Qianyu’s cave base, all seem to be the black bear’s territory.

—Because Lin Qianyu hasn’t seen any other predators here.

The only predator present, the leopard, stays further upstream and seems more like a neighbor to the black bear’s territory.

Good luck—there’s a herd of reindeer drinking by the river.

An adult male reindeer sports a pair of forward-curving antlers; it drinks while staying alert, lifting its head frequently to look around.

Crocodiles in the river eye the reindeer greedily.

The hot weather makes wild boars dig in the riverbank mud; their tusks are covered with fresh green leaves, and they even bury their snouts in the water.

The upper-middle reaches are much livelier.

Perhaps when the director first chose this spot, it was to keep the guest away from animals that aren’t very dangerous but would definitely lose if attacked.

After a quick glance, Lin Qianyu withdrew her gaze.

All are protected animals, arranged in order from smallest to largest. Lin Qianyu patted the little bear’s shoulder, entrusting it with a heavy responsibility, “This area is yours.”

The black bear blinked in confusion but when it was time to hunt, it lowered its body, continuously adjusting position, and disappeared into the bushes.

Lin Qianyu switched the livestream device to handheld and quietly said, “Next, please watch the live survival hunting of wild animals. I’m a temporary on-duty, doing my best to commentate—non-professional reporter Lin Qianyu. Please bear with me.”

“Okay, now we see the little bear has found a position and laid down. Is it targeting a wild boar or a reindeer?”

The black bear looks silly, but when hunting it’s completely different from when it’s relaxed and having its fur stroked. It just slightly lowers its body, crouches in the bushes, watching the direction of its prey. It seems to be considering but has actually already chosen its target, patiently waiting for the right moment.

Calm and steady.

The long wait causes the chat’s “cheer up” comments to gradually fade.

Everyone is waiting for the precise strike after the buildup.

Lin Qianyu’s commentary has stopped long ago, and she can’t help but get drawn into the tense and exciting hunting atmosphere.

Even breathing quietly, afraid that the nearby reindeer will sense something wrong and flee in panic.

Though reindeer are herbivores, when a herd is charged by a predator, they panic and run wildly, sometimes stepping on the hunter.

If the hunter can’t dodge in time, being stepped on in the wild often means death for the injured predator.

Amid the flowing river sounds, the black bear suddenly bursts out of the bushes without warning, its huge body showing an agility that belies its size, instantly colliding with the reindeer.

“Yo—” a long cry.The sudden disturbance agitated the reindeer herd, like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil. Some ran headlong into the forest without looking back, while others jumped into the water trying to flee to the opposite side, only to be caught by crocodiles in the river.

The reindeer splashed in the water, foam spreading on the turbulent surface.

The black bear pinned down a strong reindeer and bit its back; the sound of bones breaking was especially clear amid the chaotic water noise.

The reindeer struggled desperately, but its hind legs were completely paralyzed on the ground, helplessly washed by the river water, with only its front legs twitching as it tried to stand.

Giving it no chance, the black bear bit its neck and dragged the reindeer away from the chaotic battlefield.

Like a victorious war god, it proudly carried its prey step by step toward Lin Qianyu.

【!!!】

【Ahhh—so handsome!】

【Damn, this is a real beast, a true predator! No messing around, one strike and it’s done.】

The little bear placed the prey in front of her, “Ao!”

The air was still filled with the smell of blood. The hunting battlefield did not quiet down just because the little bear withdrew. The crocodiles bit and rolled with the dying reindeer, churning the river surface.

“Good job.” Lin Qianyu patted its head, wiped the water off its jaw, and rewarded it with some fruit candy.

The little bear tilted its head up and opened its mouth, as if adjusting the candy in its mouth, crunching it loudly.

Having eaten so many candies, it had learned how.

With teeth capable of easily breaking an animal’s spine, crushing a few candies was a breeze.

“You eat this yourself, I’m not hungry yet.” Besides having already eaten breakfast, another reason was... this was a ranked reindeer, and the black bear was also a protected animal. If it ate it, then so be it.

Lin Qianyu could not try it herself; having eaten only meat these days, she had no interest in this big piece of meat now.

The candy had whetted the little bear’s appetite, and it licked its lips. Hearing Lin Qianyu say that, it tilted its head, blinking its round eyes, seemingly thinking something.

Seeing her unmoving, the little bear pulled the reindeer toward her again, “Ao?”

Lin Qianyu stroked its fur smoothly to soothe it, “Mm, good. I appreciate your kindness, you eat it.”

Rejected again, the black bear plopped down next to the reindeer, bit open the outer skin, tore it apart, carefully biting off the tender meat inside, then turned and carried it to feed Lin Qianyu.

“!!!”

“Little bear—wait!”

Lin Qianyu felt less panicked the moment she realized she was in a book than she did being chased and fed meat by the little bear now.

Especially since the meat was just bitten off, dripping blood, and still warm.

She quickly raised her hand to hold the little bear’s head, “Good, I really won’t eat it. You eat it yourself. Or wait, maybe the little eagle will come to eat with you later?”

【Hey, what’s wrong with the streamer? The little bear’s just being kind; why keep refusing?】

【So greedy, so greedy! Eat one bite here, and the internet police are already tracing the location.】

The livestream audience, seeing Lin Qianyu who had never been at a disadvantage on variety shows now being chased around by the black bear begging to feed her meat, couldn’t help but laugh loudly.

And said: you’ve got your day too!Although the little bear had no bad intentions—purely because it saw that the human only ate two not-so-fresh wild fruits, so it chased after her to feed her meat—

Everyone was still delighted beyond control.

In animals’ consciousness, there’s no concept of health or vegetarian balance; the only rule is—if you want to live, you must eat more meat. Eating more meat makes your body strong.

In the past, Lin Qianyu would eat a bit, but today she hadn’t taken a single bite, so naturally the black bear became worried.

In its understanding, not eating meat = being unhealthy.

Because it didn’t want Lin Qianyu to be unhealthy, the little bear insisted persistently, trailing after her. Since its mouth was full of meat, it couldn’t make sounds, only muffled “wu, wu” noises.

“I really won’t eat...” Lin Qianyu was both helpless and amused. After running a few steps, she suddenly thought of a solution and simply stopped. “I’ll eat jerky. You eat this meat first. When you’re done, I’ll take the rest back to eat, okay?”

Luckily, she had some roasted lamb jerky in her backpack from yesterday. Taking it out now and letting the little bear see her eating something should stop it from chasing her to feed meat.

This lamb jerky was different from ordinary supermarket ones. Lin Qianyu had figured out how to roast lamb strips until dry and fragrant, then repeatedly seasoned and roasted again. Its color looked similar to beef jerky, but it wasn’t as hard and tasted very good.

It was the perfect delicacy for exploring the rainforest.

Sure enough, after seeing Lin Qianyu eat the lamb jerky, the little bear paused, glanced between the raw meat and the lamb jerky that no longer looked like its original form, tilted its head, as if understanding something.

So it stopped chasing.

Lin Qianyu chewed the jerky, smiling with bent eyes, “You go eat quickly, while it’s fresh.”

The little bear gulped down the meat it was holding, “Ao!”

After making a round trip back, the prey was still lying quietly where it had been before. The battle in the river had ended, pale blood floated on the surface, flowing downstream and gradually dispersing.

Lin Qianyu patted the grass and sat down where she had just been, slowly chewing the jerky.

She wasn’t very hungry but was afraid that if she put down the jerky here, the little bear would start feeding her again, so she held the jerky in her hand and took bites from time to time.

‘Crack’—a twig snapped with a faint crisp sound, quickly fading.

Then came a ‘pat’ sound; something had fallen not far from Lin Qianyu.

It was a small snake, entirely black.

When she saw it, Lin Qianyu showed no surprise at all.

She had already noticed it when it pretended to be a twig on the tree—after all, those shiny deep-black scales were really hard not to notice.

This little snake was of an unknown species, and just looked not very smart.

It had even tried to sneak attack her last night.

The little bear, who was eating, noticed the snake, lifted its head from the reindeer, squinted at the snake, then lowered its head to continue eating.

Clearly, it didn’t see it as a threat.

Lin Qianyu looked at the snake, guessing it was less than ten centimeters long. It seemed hungry and frequently looked at the reindeer over there but didn’t dare compete with the black bear for food.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Qianyu took out some unseasoned lamb jerky.

She compared the sizes, broke off a third of the jerky, and said, “Here.”

The little snake lifted its head arrogantly, didn’t even glance at the jerky, but its tail betrayed it. Slowly and leisurely, it approached and coiled around the jerky, carrying it away.It should have swallowed the food in one bite.

But Lin Qianyu saw the little snake opening its mouth, changing angles constantly, yet still failing to swallow the jerky smoothly. In the end, it angrily coiled around it. The little snake wasn’t very big, and as it wrapped around, more than half of the jerky still lay beneath, untouched.

It used all its learned skills—coiling, rolling, strangling!

The jerky didn’t move an inch. When it flipped over, its tail loosened, and the jerky fell straight onto the snake’s body.

The snake’s tail twitched, and it lay on its back, pressed down so it couldn’t move at all.

“Pft—hahaha, what’s going on here?” Normally, such a serious hunting scene shouldn’t be funny, but... almost being killed by the jerky while trying to eat it? What the heck.

Lin Qianyu quickly picked up the jerky—if it got crushed to death by jerky, that would be too humiliating.

【What kind of animal is this? So funny, hahaha.】

【It’s useless.】

【Damn, you guys won’t even call it a snake. It’s a venomous snake, okay! Show some respect.】

Seeing the comments, Lin Qianyu nodded, “It must be venomous.”

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have grown this big, palm-sized and still able to fit in a hand, with poor teeth, unable to bite hard things. Without some poison, how could it survive in the complex rainforest environment?

After a while, a comment silently appeared: 【Feels like the little squirrel we met yesterday is tougher than this one.】

In the end, Lin Qianyu tore the jerky into thin strips before the little snake finally ate it.

As for the reindeer meat, forget it—the dead reindeer’s falling chunks of meat could be crushed by it just like that.

After finally finishing the jerky, the little snake climbed back up the tree pretending to be a twig.

Lin Qianyu watched its movements silently, thought for a moment, and chose to describe the snake’s way of crawling as ‘staggering.’

The little bear, full from the meal, was drinking water by the river.

The reindeer had been mostly eaten; whatever was left, lucky small animals passing by could feast on.

After resting by the river for a while, until the sun’s position changed, Lin Qianyu finally left and headed toward the mountain.

--- Noon was when the sunlight was strongest.

Walking under the shade was still stifling and hard to breathe, but it was better than being exposed to the sun above.

Lin Qianyu fanned herself, cutting through shrubbery blocking the path with a machete, stepping on it with a hiking stick, looking for any mature nuts up there. After all, they had already encountered squirrels.

While walking, Lin Qianyu chatted with her fans: “It’s been a long time since I ate nuts.”

Pine nuts, hazelnuts, and the like, roasted in a pan with some salt taste really good.

They’re nutritious too. Mainly, after eating meat all the time, she wanted some other flavors.

The black bear walked while also scanning the surroundings. Normally when hunting, it would catch one prey, finish eating it, then catch another to bring back.

But today it only caught one, and the bear obviously wasn’t satisfied.

So it constantly watched around, ready to catch any prey that appeared immediately.

After the commotion by the river, all the animals had fled. Animals have sensitive noses; maybe they would only come back after the smell of blood faded.“Are there nuts in the rainforest this season?” As she walked, Lin Qianyu couldn’t help but ask.

Being in the rainforest, Lin Qianyu wasn’t very sensitive to the seasons except for the obvious cold of winter. Especially now in autumn, it was still so hot—she didn’t know if nuts would still grow.

“Maybe I should just go find squirrels,” Lin Qianyu thought. “They should store nuts for the winter.”

But… what could she trade with squirrels?

Nuts are food, so she would have to trade food for them.

Lin Qianyu was still looking for the kind of tree where she had met the squirrels last time when she turned and saw the black bear walking off in another direction. “Hey? Little bear?”

“Woo?”

Looking up at a nearby herd of zebras, Lin Qianyu raised an eyebrow. “Still hunting?”

“Awo!”

Zebras have bad tempers but aren’t very strong fighters. When extremely angry, reindeer can fight back with their antlers. Zebras... only get extremely angry when extremely angry.

“Well, okay. But even if you catch one, I can’t eat it,” Lin Qianyu sighed, reminding, “Be careful, don’t get stepped on.”

The black bear made a sound and then ran toward the zebras.

Lin Qianyu didn’t go far, planning to search nearby. She didn’t find the little squirrels but discovered a hazelnut tree.

The hazelnuts clustered under the leaves like flower buds, their outer green layer gone, now mature light brown.

There were quite a few hazelnuts, but Lin Qianyu didn’t pick them all from one tree—just two or three from each.

She only picked some to taste, leaving the rest for the squirrels to survive the winter.

But picking along the way, she unknowingly moved far from the earlier spot.

Lin Qianyu looked back; the little bear should be chasing the zebras, and now going back might not find it, so she decided to keep picking hazelnuts and wait for the little bear to finish hunting and come find her.

The black bear tracks people by scent; she could only rely on her eyes to find the little bear. If she went the wrong way and missed it, that would be even more troublesome.

Lin Qianyu gathered her wandering thoughts and reached to pick a hazelnut when suddenly she touched something.

【!!! A furry hand!】

【Whoa, don’t say it like that—it’s scary!】

【Monkey? Is it a monkey?】

【Ah, I remember it! I saw it in Sisi’s livestream—it stole one of Sisi’s rabbits but didn’t eat it, just tore it apart to play with. Definitely it!】

Lin Qianyu withdrew her hand. The monkey squatting on the tree finally revealed itself and snatched the hazelnut she had just halfway picked.

The monkey was black and white, with a black ring on its head, and its white body slightly yellowed.

It looked a bit like a capuchin monkey, but this place didn’t quite match the usual habitat of capuchins.

While Lin Qianyu was still wondering what species the monkey was, the monkey suddenly attacked, throwing a hazelnut at Lin Qianyu.

At the same time, it shouted, “Zhi zhi!”—a very sharp and piercing sound.

Lin Qianyu waved away the hazelnut and rubbed her ears. “Stop yelling.”Hearing Lin Qianyu’s words, the monkey didn’t stop; instead, it yelled even louder, picking up everything nearby that could be thrown and hurling it at her.

Though the monkey seemed to throw casually, the force was actually quite strong.

Lin Qianyu frowned and clicked her tongue. The monkey seemed to sense this and jumped higher into the trees.

It started dropping stones down.

Using sound attacks combined with throwing rocks, the monkey knew how to provoke and disturb one’s mind.

Lin Qianyu casually caught a stone and threw it back at the monkey.

“Zhi zhi! Zhi zhi—!” The monkey, hit, scrambled wildly on the tree, stepping on branches that crackled nonstop.

Who knew where this stinky monkey came from. Luckily, there was only one. After Lin Qianyu taught it a lesson, she turned to pick hazelnuts elsewhere.

Unexpectedly, just as she turned, the monkey suddenly shouted and charged over to grab her backpack.

The hiking pack was slung over her shoulder, and the monkey spotted it immediately.

【Kind of reminds me of my cousin from Emei Mountain—grabs from whoever it sees.】

【Monkeys really are the most disgusting and unreasonable animals in the world.】

However, primates are smart and know how to use tools.

Their intelligence needs no explanation.

High-IQ primates are both mischievous and provocative—that’s the most annoying.

Lin Qianyu naturally wasn’t going to let it steal her stuff. When the monkey reached out to grab the backpack, she didn’t hesitate and slapped its hand away.

The monkey cried out in pain, loosened its grip, then swiped its claws at her.

Lin Qianyu leisurely stepped back half a pace to avoid the monkey’s extended reach, watching it claw wildly with a grimacing face.

They were all furry animals. When the little bear’s fur stood on end, it looked particularly fluffy, but this monkey looked like a weathered bald old man.

Its monkey face showed teeth that were ugly and ferocious.

The livestream chat all shouted “Good hit!”

Lin Qianyu patted the part of the backpack that had been grabbed and was about to walk away when the monkey suddenly darted up and grabbed the livestream equipment hanging in midair.

【?!!】

The camera suddenly caught an ugly monkey face intruding—shot from a 45-degree upward angle, the hideous expression was suffocating.

【Save me aaaah! I’m being kidnapped by a monkey!】

【What? Seriously, can you not be so dramatic? Baby, save me first, I’m scared.】

【I hate monkeys the most!】

“Zhi zhi!!!” The monkey holding the livestream equipment stood on a branch, dancing provocatively.

With a highly defiant posture, it held Lin Qianyu’s stuff in its hands.

Having just broken two devices, and the latest model barely in her hands a day before this happened, Lin Qianyu absolutely would not allow this situation to continue.She immediately stepped on the tree, her hand just landing on a branch root ready to grip hard. Seeing that she could climb, the monkey turned and swung deeper into the forest.

Lin Qianyu jumped down and chased after it. "Stop!"

The monkey ran and called out, deliberately jumping around in the trees.

Lin Qianyu pressed her brow, patience worn thin, no longer chasing it. She picked up a stone, aiming to knock it out. If she couldn’t stop it and ended up killing it, well, that was just bad luck.

Silently muttering to herself, just as she was about to throw the stone,

a figure suddenly darted out from the trees. The monkey, still showing off, was halfway jumping when it was bitten in the mouth. “Zhi—!”

After an extremely sharp scream, the once lively monkey went limp and died in the leopard’s mouth.

The livestream equipment slipped from the monkey’s hand but didn’t fall to the ground; instead, it was caught by a branch.

The leopard held the monkey, looked down at Lin Qianyu, but didn’t hurry down. Instead, it lay down right there, leisurely enjoying its meal.

Its sharp teeth snapped bones with ‘crack crack’ sounds, as easily as if someone was eating crunchy cartilage.

The leopard’s diet was broad; even hyenas, which taste terrible, it would pick up and eat out of boredom.

Naturally, the monkey wasn’t spared from the menu.

Lin Qianyu said, “Meeting again, Brother Leopard.”

The leopard lifted its eyelids lazily while eating, exhaled through its nose, but didn’t utter a sound.

Lin Qianyu stood under the tree, looked up, negotiating, “Could you help me drop the livestream equipment down?”

There wasn’t much space on the tree. Though the leopard was good at moving in trees, its body wasn’t small. Lin Qianyu might not find a foothold if she climbed up.

Afraid it wouldn’t understand, she carefully described, “It’s the silver, round one right beside you.”

Before the leopard responded, the livestream chat was already flooding with refusals.

【Streamer, you better go back first. Leave me to talk with the leopard.】

【Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about us. We can live well here. Please don’t try to rescue us, thanks.】

【Monkey: When you were in my hands just now, you weren’t saying this.】

【Eh? You’re dead, how can you still talk? Moderator, please block that last message.】

…

Though the livestream equipment was up there, the watch scrolling the chat was still in Lin Qianyu’s hand.

Seeing the messages, she was speechless: “…”

Damn, is the leopard really that popular?

Looking up again, she noticed the leopard was also watching her. Lin Qianyu smiled slightly and waved at it.

The leopard moved its paw a bit, continuing to eat the monkey while stepping on it.

Just a few bites as a snack, the leopard eating slowly like this clearly wasn’t typical of its nature.

The tail hanging between the branches, a fluffy tail with black spots amidst the green leaves, made it hard not to notice.Lin Qianyu reached out her hand to grab it.

But before her fingertips could touch, the leopard pulled its tail back.

The unfinished monkey was thrown aside by it, and the leopard lowered its head to look at Lin Qianyu below the tree.

"Not letting me touch?" Although the leopard didn’t like to talk, Lin Qianyu, relying on years of experience communicating with small animals, could tell the leopard was in a good mood.

After hearing this, the retracted tail was lowered again.

However, when Lin Qianyu reached out her hand again, the leopard swiftly pulled its tail back.

Confirmed.

The leopard was teasing her.

"Alright, if you won’t let me touch, then I won’t." Lin Qianyu crossed her arms and turned her back to it.

The leopard thought she was going to leave.

But at that moment, Lin Qianyu suddenly reached out and grabbed the relaxed fluffy tail.

"!!!"

The leopard instantly froze.

The tail she held was thick and fluffy, even thicker than her wrist.

Leopards are symbols of wealth and good fortune, and humans firmly believe they bring luck.

Lin Qianyu smiled and stroked it more; wasn’t she just “grabbing wealth”?

She could feel the tail trembling in her hand, as if trying hard to break free, but… she wasn’t holding tightly.

Thinking this, Lin Qianyu stroked it even more enthusiastically.

The leopard’s tail struggled at first, then hung down motionless. When Lin Qianyu let go, it flicked lightly; when grabbed again, it didn’t move.

"Alright, I have to go back." Lin Qianyu pointed at the equipment. "Help me drop it down?"

The leopard changed position, lying on its side in the tree and stretched lazily.

"Brother Leopard?"

The stretching leopard pushed the livestream equipment down with one paw.

Lin Qianyu smiled and thanked it, caught the falling equipment, reopened the auto-follow mode, and waved at the leopard, "See you next time."

She had to go back and make preserved fruit now.

Lin Qianyu had only walked a few steps when the leopard silently jumped down from the tree.

She couldn’t see it, but the livestream audience saw everything clearly.

【Turn around quickly, streamer! The big cat is watching you!】

【The leopard looks even better like this—proud, beautiful, and it even helped you fight the monkey. If it weren’t for fear the leopard and the little bear would fight, I really want the streamer to bring them both back.】

【A big cat that’s playfully resisting but welcoming? I love this kind of cute grumpy personality.】...

When Lin Qianyu came back, she didn’t see the little bear. It was hot and stuffy down below, so she first soaked the hazelnuts and went to fetch water for a cold shower.

The water just drawn from the river was still a bit cool.

Her wet long hair was casually tied up into a knot. She rinsed the hazelnuts and threw them into the pot to roast.

While she was bathing, the livestream camera kept focused on the hazelnuts.

These hazelnuts weren’t as large as those sold on the market, but wild hazelnut trees producing nuts this size were already quite good.

After roasting the hazelnuts dry, Lin Qianyu took them out and cracked them open one by one. After cracking, she threw them back in.

Roasting with salt didn’t give much aroma, but the color looked good.

At first, Lin Qianyu didn’t control her cracking force well and crushed several kernels along with the shells, but later on, she managed to crack them intact.

There were some spoiled ones inside, so she threw out quite a few after cracking.

“Where did the little eagle go?” Lin Qianyu popped a hazelnut into her mouth, peeled it with her bare hands, and placed it on a leaf.

She wasn’t sure if the black bear and the red-tailed hawk would eat the processed roasted hazelnuts, so she kept some to wait for them to come back and try.

She divided them into two portions: one coated with honey brittle shell, and one for the little hawk that didn’t like sweet food.

After sitting quietly for a while, just as Lin Qianyu was about to finish peeling all the hazelnuts, the black bear returned carrying a chicken in its mouth.

A live chicken.

The comb on the chicken’s head bobbed as it moved its head.

“Weren’t you chasing zebras?” Lin Qianyu stepped forward and took the chicken from the little bear’s mouth. The bear was biting it, and the native chicken, probably terrified, didn’t move at all.

The little bear rubbed against her, “Ao.”

Eat.

Zebra isn’t edible.

But chicken is.

This was caught for her, and brought back alive.

“Thanks for your hard work, little bear.” Lin Qianyu’s smile deepened as she cupped the little furry head and shook it gently from side to side.

The black bear licked its nose and sniffed, as if smelling something, then tilted its head and rubbed her palm, “Ao?”

“Hm?” Lin Qianyu rubbed it back, “The scent of the leopard? I met a monkey up there just now, and the leopard helped me get the equipment back.”

Lin Qianyu could have taken it back herself, but that monkey, annoying as it was, had a rank. It was hard to gauge how tough it was and whether it could resist a beating, so it wasn’t easy to deal with.

Therefore, she still had to thank the leopard.

Watching the little bear continuously rubbing its hand on her, Lin Qianyu smiled and stroked the fur on its belly, “I even got to touch its tail.”

The little bear tilted its head, “Ao?”

Lin Qianyu slowed down her speech and repeated it again. She wasn’t sure if the little bear understood the meaning of the word.The black bear didn’t react much, then turned around and growled, “Wu!”

“Ah?” Lin Qianyu was stunned, unusually not understanding what the little bear meant.

But…

She seemed to have guessed something. “You have a tail too?”

“Ao!” The little bear proudly lifted its head.

Unlike the leopard’s tail, the black bear’s tail was very short and curled up, the same color as the fur on its back, so if you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t even notice it had a tail.

It looked like a soft, fluffy ball of fur clenched in a fist.

【Wuah! Get the camera closer, let me see!】

【Damn, it’s curled up. I also want to pet the chubby baby’s tail.】

【Such a good little bear baby! Kiss kiss kiss from sister every day till the little bear is bald.】

“Here, try this and see if you like it.” Lin Qianyu picked up a hazelnut. Usually, wild black bears would pick and eat hazelnuts on their own, but this kind of salt-roasted hazelnut was probably the first time they’d eat.

No need to crack the shell themselves, it was all peeled clean with white nutmeat, and even the thin layer between the shell and nutmeat was carefully picked clean by Lin Qianyu.

The little bear crunched and chewed, not hitting any hard shells, tasting salty, sweet, and crispy, its eyes curving up in delight.

Obviously, it really liked it.

“Next time I’ll pick some other nuts.” Honey and nuts went well together, combining two things the little bear liked and enhancing their advantages.

Except—shelling was a bit troublesome.

But since the little bear liked it, and it was free time anyway, sitting there could shell quite a lot in a day.

Lin Qianyu worked for a while, but the little bear finished it in two bites, then happily drank the honey water.

After eating and drinking its fill, the black bear had another sweet afternoon tea and rubbed against Lin Qianyu’s side.

Slowly petting the little bear’s ears, Lin Qianyu looked up at the sky, feeling the clear sky was the calm before the storm.

Normally, the red-tailed hawk would protect itself and its nest well during extreme heavy rain.

But…

Lin Qianyu still felt a bit uneasy. “There might be a storm today. Let’s go find the little hawk.”

“Ao!”

So late and still not back, the red-tailed hawk probably anticipated the weather change and was gathering things to reinforce its nest.

The red-tailed hawk had moved from the previous nest; only Lin Qianyu knew the location of the second nest.

She went searching together with the little bear.

As expected, the red-tailed hawk wasn’t in the nest.

Lin Qianyu climbed the tree while the little bear sneaked below, filming the livestream equipment.

The young bird looked a bit stronger than before; the other eggs still showed no signs of hatching.The red-tailed hawk had a good memory. When it saw Lin Qianyu, it was not afraid but happily ruffled its feathers and let out a crisp, tender chirp: “Jiu!”

Lin Qianyu gently patted its little head and asked, “Where did the little hawk go?”

“Jiu?” The young bird had no ability to understand language, so it tilted its head, not understanding.

“Then I’ll wait here for a while. When the little hawk comes back, I’ll take you all with me.” Lin Qianyu tidied the edge of the nest, wanting to see if she could bring the whole nest back with her.

When she moved her hand, she noticed something hanging nearby that looked out of place among the nest materials — it was a circle…

Although there were no flowers on it now, Lin Qianyu recognized at a glance that it was the wreath she had woven for the little hawk before.

Author’s note: Good night, sleep early, love to everyone.