Chapter 35

Chapter 35

"Can't say the relationship is bad, only that it's downright hostile."

Not long after, when the leopard came back, the plastic bucket it held in its mouth was full of water.

Lin Qianyu was in the middle of airing out her treated wound. When she saw this, her eyes suddenly widened in disbelief. “Hua... Huahua…”

【I’m not wrong, right?! Did I see that correctly?! Huahua went to fetch water?!】

【Aaaahhh my baby is the best, Huahua is just too sweet!】

【Help—how does someone raise such an obedient leopard, can I have one too please?】

...

Lin Qianyu hadn’t expected Huahua to go fetch water for her. The full bucket was placed gently on the ground by the leopard, who then stepped forward and licked the back of Lin Qianyu’s hand. “Mrr…”

“Thank you, Huahua. You worked hard.” Lin Qianyu pulled the leopard into her arms and nuzzled it affectionately.

Originally, she’d planned to just make do today and wait until daylight tomorrow to fetch water—after all, the rainforest at night wasn’t exactly safe.

Plus, with her leg now injured, she really didn’t want to trek through the dark. But after her fever broke, she’d sweated a lot, and her clothes were sticking uncomfortably to her body.

Lin Qianyu smiled and said, “It’s all thanks to Huahua. Otherwise, I might’ve had to sleep like this tonight.”

She kissed the furry head twice. When she looked up to set the livestream to a black screen, she noticed the barrage of comments flooding in: “Still showing off?” “Unfollowed.” “Reporting you!” The bullet comments came in different colors depending on the user’s level, so the screen was a chaotic rainbow.

Lin Qianyu raised an eyebrow. “Jealous, huh?”

She hugged Huahua and rubbed against it hard. “Mine.”

Bullet comments: 【……】

Unfollowed!!!

After adjusting the livestream, Lin Qianyu got up to boil some water.

Since she’d just applied medicine to her wound, she didn’t plan to go to the makeshift shower. Instead, she boiled water, mixed in some cool water, and simply washed her hair and wiped herself down. She instantly felt much better.

Her clothes inevitably got wet, so she went back into the inner room to change.

“Cheep cheep!”

The baby birds hadn’t gone to sleep yet, though normally they’d be snuggled up together snoring by now.

Seeing Lin Qianyu return, the three fluffy little ones chirped excitedly in their nest. Diandian tried to flap its wings and come down, but the other two also wanted to come, and none of them could fly. So they ended up pulling on each other.

Diandian got its feathers bitten and immediately turned around and gave its sibling a peck. Even in the middle of their scuffle, it didn’t forget to greet Lin Qianyu.

“Alright, alright, no fighting.” Lin Qianyu reached out to separate the three fluffballs. “Hungry? The young eagle should have fed you already, right?”

“Cheep!”

Lin Qianyu nodded. “Sleep now, it’s already late.”

The little black snake had coiled itself in a corner of the bird’s nest, looking like a bracelet made of black jade—completely opaque.

Surprisingly, it managed to sleep so soundly in a bird’s nest.

Originally, she had planned to let the little black snake stay there temporarily and move it once the snake den was ready.After the snake den was built—it was placed right next to the bird nest—but the little black snake didn’t really sleep there. Every time, Lin Qianyu would still see the little black snake curled up inside the bird nest.

Even though the snake den had soft padding too, the bird nest had the baby birds. All snuggled up together, it was obviously more comfortable. The little black snake clearly preferred sleeping with the baby birds.

After arranging the birds neatly in a row inside the nest, Lin Qianyu rubbed the soft fluff on their heads. When she turned around, she saw the little chevrotain looking up with wide eyes, staring longingly at something.

“Looking at the birds?” Lin Qianyu picked up the fawn. “See? Aren’t they cute?”

“Yoo!”

Lifting the little chevrotain up and down, Lin Qianyu felt a bit of meat on its belly. “You’ve gained weight. Seems like the food at my place isn’t bad, huh?”

After all, there were no predators lurking around. They could eat and drink without fear.

Wake up and eat, play after eating, eat again after playing—several meals a day. Gaining weight was only natural.

Chubby animals were still the cutest. When the leopard first brought the chevrotain back, it was so scrawny it looked like skin and bones.

She set the little chevrotain down to go play on its own, then tossed her worn clothes into the dirty laundry basket. Glancing at the time, she muttered, “Why aren’t the young eagle and little bear back yet?”

Given their usual eating pace, they should’ve finished by now.

Not understanding why, Lin Qianyu placed a hand on the leopard’s back. “Huahua, can you go check if the young eagle and little bear are done eating?”

“Roar…”

Eating.

“Huh? What?” Before she could figure out what the leopard meant, the wooden door outside was pushed open, and the red-tailed mountain eagle burst in first.

“Chirp!”

Behind it came the black bear, holding a bunch of wild fruits. “Mrr!”

They must’ve gone out to forage after eating. When they came in, Lin Qianyu didn’t smell any blood on them.

“I was wondering why you took so long.” Lin Qianyu took the cassava from the red-tailed eagle’s talons. It still had dirt on it and was as thick as three arms.

“You two went out to find food, huh.” Lin Qianyu grabbed an empty basket and placed the cassava in it, praising them fondly, “Such clever little eagle and little bear. How did you know I was craving wild fruits and cassava?”

The cassava had run out last time, and wild fruits don’t keep well. Right now, the only fruit left at home was a few watermelons.

The little bear placed the wild fruits on the table, then turned and came over, squeezing next to Lin Qianyu. “Oww…” The black bear rested its head on her shoulder, rubbing against her.

Lin Qianyu rubbed its furry ear with her fingertips. “Maybe they saw I was injured, so they went to find these foods just for me.”

She had only eaten some wild fruit and berries today. Being sick dulled her taste buds, and she had no appetite for meat—whether roasted or boiled, just the thought of meat turned her off.

The young eagle had seen her digging cassava last time—maybe it remembered, and went to dig some today.

Lin Qianyu took a bite of wild fruit. It was refreshing, crisp, and sweet. She couldn’t help but sigh, “So good.”

Even though she herself didn’t think this minor injury was a big deal, being cared for and doted on like this by all the fluffballs made her feel truly cherished.

It was a kind of meticulous, tender, all-encompassing care.

【The black bear and red-tailed mountain eagle know that when you’re sick, you need bland food. When I was sick, my brother bought me spicy hot pot.】

【Sobs… if only they could start a fire, I bet they’d have cooked porridge and brought it right to the streamer.】【Hahahaha damn, such a heartwarming moment and you're still messing around, sis.】

【Why does the whole room smell like lemons—oh, it's just me being sour.】

After eating a wild fruit—tangy and sweet—it really whetted her appetite.

Lin Qianyu was a bit hungry too, so she went out to cook something. The water in the pot was already boiling; she scooped a few bowls out to let them cool for drinking later.

She left nearly half a pot of water, peeled and cleaned some cassava, then cut two small pieces and added them in.

Because it was freshly boiled water, once the cassava was added, it quickly came back to a boil. Lin Qianyu put the lid on to simmer it.

Once the cassava softened, she mashed it up—cooking it thick like porridge. She used little cassava and more water, so it wasn’t too sticky.

At the end, she sprinkled in some sugar before serving.

After mixing it thoroughly, Lin Qianyu took a small taste. The texture was a bit like rice cereal, but not pasty. Since she didn’t fully mash it, there were still small chunks of cassava in the mix.

“Cassava cooked like this is really good too. If you’re interested, give it a try.” She was just experimenting, but the result was surprisingly nice—better tasting than plain rice soup.

Cassava itself aids digestion and improves appetite. It can also help reduce inflammation, which made it a perfect choice for Lin Qianyu, who’d just recovered from a fever.

“If I add some rice to this, would that make it cassava porridge?” Looking at the black bear snuggled next to her, Lin Qianyu scooped up a spoonful. “Little bear, want a taste?”

The cassava mash was sweet, but the black bear, who had just been eating sugar, only sniffed it. The sweetness wasn’t that strong—seemed to be masked by something. It wrinkled its nose and, looking quite put off, buried its head against Lin Qianyu’s shoulder.

Clearly, it wasn’t interested. Rare for it to dislike sweet food.

Lin Qianyu looked toward her left shoulder. “Young eagle, want a bite?”

The presentation might’ve been lacking, but the flavor really wasn’t bad.

The red-tailed mountain eagle looked at the spoon and quietly shuffled to the side… then a bit more.

“If you move any farther, you’re going to fall off.” Lin Qianyu, half amused and half exasperated, tugged the young eagle back toward her and turned to look at the leopard nearby. “Hua—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

The leopard was lying beside the sleeping bag, body curled slightly on its side, its head resting on its paws. Already asleep.

【Not, Asleep! I’m reporting this! When you were asking the eagle, Huahua had just closed its eyes.】

【Right! Exactly like that… this big cat pretending to sleep deserves a huge spoonful!】

【Damn, upstairs—give the bamboo shoots back.】

【Huahua: You better keep one eye open when you sleep tonight.】

Even without checking the chat, Lin Qianyu had noticed the leopard faking sleep. It was still sneakily lifting its eyelid to peek this way. But when it sensed her gaze, it quickly shut its eyes again.

“Fine, don’t eat then, I’ll eat it all myself.” Lin Qianyu gave a little humph and took a big bite.

Bunch of food-ignorant fluffballs.

After a warm late-night snack of cassava mash, she felt cozy all over.

She was tired after a long day and had no energy to wash the pot and dishes, so she just filled it with water to soak. That way it wouldn’t be stuck-on and hard to wash tomorrow.

Patting the sleeping bag, she found it still warm from drying in the sun. Lin Qianyu yawned and had already lain down when she realized she hadn’t turned the livestream black.

Just as she reached to grab the device, the leopard—already lying beside her—suddenly rolled over to face her and snuggled close.Lin Qianyu was stunned. Usually, Huahua would act aloof and turn her back toward her, and she’d have to snuggle up and stroke her fur for a long time. Only after they fell asleep would Huahua possibly turn around.

Though she didn’t know exactly when it happened, Huahua always faced her when she woke up.

But right now—Huahua had turned around on her own, without Lin Qianyu even reaching out!

Lin Qianyu chuckled and directly hugged the proactive leopard. “Is this the treatment a sick person gets?”

Then spraining her ankle was totally worth it.

The leopard flicked her ears. “Roar—”

“Good girl,” Lin Qianyu stroked her fur and looked up. “That’s it for today’s stream. The sick girl needs extra rest. I’m sure everyone understands, right?”

【???】

【Extra rest ✘ Sneaking fluffy cuddles behind our backs ✔】

Lin Qianyu lifted the leopard’s paw to wave. As always, the stream chat was full of wails before the screen went black. She whispered, “Good night.”

Maybe it was the overload from the day before—pushing past her physical limits, then catching a cold and fever—she had just been too exhausted.

Lin Qianyu ended up sleeping straight through till noon.

When she opened the door and saw the sun high in the sky, she felt sleepy and slightly dazzled by the brightness, squinting her eyes.

Still very tired, but if she slept any more, she’d probably wake up in the evening.

After all, sleep was a great way to time travel.

Check the clock when you wake up, think “just ten more minutes,” close your eyes, and when you open them again—bam, two hours have passed, and you didn’t even notice.

Lin Qianyu stretched lazily and this time remembered to turn the livestream back on. “Life is about movement. Good morning, everyone.”

“My ankle’s injured, so I’m not planning to go far today. I’ll just tidy up the house and deal with the leftover meat from yesterday…” she said as she walked over to the prey and sniffed it.

All the fluffy ones in the house were quite smart. They had learned from things Lin Qianyu did in the past and applied them appropriately.

Like this prey, for example—they’d been piled in a shaded corner last night and weren’t exposed to sunlight this morning.

They hadn’t gone bad, but would need to be eaten for the next meal.

【Where did Huahua and the little bear go?】

【Haven’t seen them since the stream started.】

Lin Qianyu, with dried meat in her mouth, replied, “Huahua and the little bear went hunting today, left me and the little eagle to guard the house.”

She shared half of the dried meat with the red-tailed mountain eagle perched on her shoulder and said, “They don’t seem to fully trust me, huh.”

Maybe in the minds of these little animals, leaving home to find food = going hunting.

Coming back without any prey, injured, and carrying the scent of other animals—

That’s basically the same as losing to a rival during a hunt.

Who knows how they discussed it among themselves.

Anyway, when Lin Qianyu woke up, the only one left beside her was the red-tailed mountain eagle.

Without Lin Qianyu leading them, the young birds and the little chevrotain wouldn’t leave the platform at all.Since they weren’t going out anyway, Lin Qianyu let them all out to run around on the platform floor.

Wild red-tailed mountain eagle chicks don’t really have an environment to run in—maybe they don’t need to. When they hunt, they just swoop down.

But chasing after the little chevrotain outside could be counted as physical exercise. There’s no harm in that.

Even when facing freshly cut raw meat, still dripping with blood, Lin Qianyu could eat her dried meat without batting an eye.

She’d seen far gorier scenes than this—this was nothing.

“Little eagle, have another piece.”

“Chirp!” The red-tailed mountain eagle grabbed the piece of dried meat but didn’t eat it. Instead, it flapped its wings and flew to perch on the tallest tree on the platform.

With its head lowered, its sharp eagle eyes scanned the surroundings.

“What is it?” Seeing its alert posture, Lin Qianyu asked, “Is there an animal nearby?”

The red-tailed mountain eagle didn’t make a sound, just kept staring down the slope.

The slope dipped downward, creating a blind spot from where Lin Qianyu stood—she couldn’t see what was below at all.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu wiped her hands and got up to check.

Maybe something had been drawn by the scent of blood. Lin Qianyu moved cautiously, careful not to appear too suddenly.

But when her line of sight passed the blind spot and she looked down, she saw a large-spotted lynx crouched with a small bird in its mouth. Its upper body was low to the ground, round cat eyes wide open, and its tail puffed up behind it—locked in silent tension.

“Oh? It’s you,” Lin Qianyu immediately recognized the lynx from her previous encounter in the rainforest. “How’s your paw doing?”

Peeking down at it, the fur on the paw now covered the wound. There was no visible blood, so it should be fine.

Otherwise, blood from the wound would have clumped up the fur, making the injury obvious.

Seeing Lin Qianyu, the large-spotted lynx shrank back even more.

“Don’t be scared, everyone here is friendly.” Lin Qianyu waved at the red-tailed mountain eagle. “Little eagle, come here.”

The eagle spread its wings, just about to land on her shoulder, when Lin Qianyu scooped it up into her arms. “Did you come to find us for something?”

Held in her arms, the red-tailed mountain eagle lost its aggressive demeanor—but its sharp eyes still stayed fixed on the lynx.

The large-spotted lynx opened its mouth and dropped the dead bird on the ground, then carefully pushed it forward with one paw.

Lin Qianyu raised her eyebrows. “So that bird from last time really was your gift too.”

There weren’t that many small animals capable of catching birds, and even fewer that Lin Qianyu was familiar with.

“You can eat it yourself. We don’t eat sparrows,” Lin Qianyu said as she turned and called, “Come up here to talk. Leaning down like this is making me dizzy.”

She walked back to the platform, not knowing whether the lynx would follow. She even sneaked a glance behind her.

Then she saw the lynx following behind her. When it met her gaze, it took a half step back, then hesitantly stepped forward again.

Just those few steps were enough to reveal all of its inner conflict.

What a timid little cat.

Lin Qianyu brought it to the water bowl and said, “You can come here next time when you're looking for food. This is dried meat—you’ve had it before, so you probably remember it, right?”The large-spotted lynx was holding a sparrow in its mouth when it saw the bird in the bowl.

It tilted its head, “Mrr?”

“Go ahead and eat, we don’t eat that,” Lin Qianyu stepped aside for the lynx and guided it closer so it could eat.

Two sparrows and a bowl full of dried meat were more than enough to stuff the lynx.

The timid lynx would flinch at even the slightest sound while eating.

It couldn’t help but eat faster.

Lin Qianyu gently soothed it, “Don’t rush, eat slowly.”

Seeing how nervous it was, Lin Qianyu didn’t try to pet it. She let it eat by itself while she went back to cutting meat.

She set aside some to feed the fluffballs, and cut the rest into chunks. “Let’s make all of this into braised meat.”

She had plenty of spices at home, and if they couldn’t finish the braised meat, she could dry it into jerky—it’d taste good and keep longer.

She started by boiling the meat without adding anything, just to draw out the blood foam, then changed the water and washed the meat clean.

She soaked the spices in advance to remove bitterness and gave them a simple rinse, then dumped them all in. On top, she placed a steamer basket to steam the leftover cassava from last night.

Braised meat took time, so she didn’t cut the cassava too small. She just snapped it in half and tossed it in to steam slowly.

“Yo!”

“Yo, yo——!”

“Chirp chirp!”

…

Outside, the sounds of the chicks and the little deer rang out one after another, sounding like they were driving off an enemy.

Lin Qianyu added more firewood to the stove and looked out the cave entrance—only to see the little chevrotain fiercely chasing after Feng Jingye, while the chick, about the size of a duckling, waddled after them. During the chase, it tripped over its own feet and rolled head over tail, then shook out its feathers and continued the pursuit with great spirit.

Lin Qianyu: “???”

【Pfft——hahaha, what are these four even doing.】

【No doubt about it, even all four of them plus the little black snake together probably couldn’t hurt Feng Jingye.】

【Yesterday he was locked in a dramatic fight with a tiger, and today he’s being chased with nowhere to run by a bunch of baby animals. I’m dying.】

“Little deer!” Lin Qianyu quickly went out to scoop up the little chevrotain and the chicks—if Feng Jingye so much as slipped, he could crush three of them.

Hands on her hips, Lin Qianyu said, “Dian Dian, stop right there. Tuan Tuan and Qiu Qiu, you two come here too.”

The baby animals, still in hot pursuit just a moment ago, all turned around at her command and ran ‘ta-ta-ta’ straight to her.

Feng Jingye had a good temper. Even after being chased around by a bunch of baby animals, he wasn’t angry—instead, he smiled and said, “You’ve raised them really well.”

Lin Qianyu rubbed her nose, picked them up, and set them aside. Then she turned to him and asked, “Did you come to see me about something?”

“Yeah, I went to the villa just now to get some supplies. The director asked me to bring this to you,” Feng Jingye took a box of insect repellent spray from his backpack. “He said last time when you traded supplies, your spray wasn’t enough—this is to make up for it.”

Now that he mentioned it, Lin Qianyu remembered. She accepted the spray and was just about to thank him when she noticed the wound on his neck. The black shirt was soaked with blood, making the stain hard to see—but she paused, “You’re injured?”“This?” Feng Jingye followed her gaze and reached up—his hand came away bloody. Yet he casually said, “Yeah, just had a fight with the tiger.”

Lin Qianyu asked instinctively, “Over by the director’s villa?”

“No, on the way there. It ambushed me,” Feng Jingye clearly didn’t think much of it. “This time was actually not bad. When I used to come to the island by boat, it would attack me from the sea. Then I switched to flying, and it started waiting at the landing zone. It would pounce the moment I stepped off the plane.”

Lin Qianyu: “...?”

That bad?

【What kind of grudge is this, haha, this is tragic.】

【Is he being camped by the tiger at his spawn point?】

【How can he talk about something so terrifying with such a chill attitude?】

The comment feed was full of laughter.

Lin Qianyu said, “Your relationship with the tiger might be... not great.”

But Feng Jingye shook his head. “Can’t say it’s not great.”

Lin Qianyu raised an eyebrow. “Then it’s...?”

“Absolutely terrible,” Feng Jingye said firmly. “Utterly hostile.”

Lin Qianyu: “...”

Comment feed: 【...6 (applause)】

Clearing her throat, Lin Qianyu said, “Alright, let’s not talk about that. Come in, I’ll help you apply some medicine.”

Seeing the red-tailed mountain hawk looking hostile, Feng Jingye still turned her down. “No need. I have a first-aid kit too. I just came to drop this off on the way. Now that I’ve delivered it, I’ll head back.”

The wound on his neck was just a surface scratch—once cleaned and treated, it would be fine.

Not staying any longer, Feng Jingye picked up his backpack and headed back up the mountain.

The red-tailed mountain hawk didn’t seem reassured and flew in circles overhead for a long time. Only after confirming that Feng Jingye had really left did it nestle back into Lin Qianyu’s arms.

The bowl in the corner was now empty. The full-bellied large-spotted lynx had disappeared—likely left already.

Lin Qianyu added more dried meat to the bowl. “Hopefully it comes back to eat every day. I want to fatten it up a bit.”

【So you can pet it, right?】

【Such a devious human, feeding the cat just to get your hands on it!】

【Haha, you guys need to stop. That lynx really is dangerously thin, just skin and bones—clearly unhealthy.】

…

“Crap! My braised meat.” Lin Qianyu had been so caught up in talking, she forgot about the meat in the pot.

She lifted the waterproof cloth, and the rich aroma of braised meat immediately wafted out.

It smelled like the kind of meat you’d put in a fire-grilled bun.

Just the scent made her mouth water.Lin Qianyu lifted the pot lid and took a look. The cassava still wasn’t fully steamed—there was a hard core in the center when poked with chopsticks. Luckily, she had added plenty of water under the braised meat, so it hadn’t boiled dry.

But the water level along the edges had clearly dropped a lot.

So Lin Qianyu added a bit more water, about three to five centimeters above the ingredients. “Tomorrow I’ll trade with the director for some flour. There’s so much braised meat, we definitely can’t finish it today. Let it soak overnight in the broth to absorb flavor, and tomorrow I’ll make some flatbread and try meat-stuffed ones.”

After a pause, Lin Qianyu sounded a little regretful. “Seems like we don’t have any green peppers.”

Green peppers were the soul of fire-grilled meat buns. Any kind—spicy or not—would lend a unique fragrance when paired with the meat.

“Chirp!”

“Hmm?” Lin Qianyu was mentally planning tomorrow’s meals when she heard the hawk’s cry. She reached out to take it down. “What’s wrong?”

“Chirp!” The red-tailed mountain hawk suddenly flew out.

As she lifted the curtain, Lin Qianyu caught a glimpse of a massive orange-yellow figure outside the cave.

In the next moment, a tiger’s roar shook the mountains and forest.

“Roar—!”

“?!!”

“Don’t fight!” Lin Qianyu instantly flung the curtain aside and rushed out to break up the fight.

“Don’t fight, don’t fight, let’s talk this out—everyone’s a good friend.”

“Be good, little hawk.”

“Brother Tiger, calm down.”

…

Lin Qianyu moved between both sides, pleading left and right. She worried the red-tailed hawk would dive to peck the tiger, and also feared the tiger might leap up to pounce on the hawk.

She kept her arms outstretched, ready to throw herself between them at the first sign of movement from either side.

Looking at the tense standoff, Lin Qianyu couldn’t help but feel a bit thankful that the black bear and leopard had gone out hunting and hadn’t come back yet. Otherwise, things would’ve been even more chaotic.

【Ohoho—the scene I’ve been waiting for is finally here.】

【Stop fighting, I’d feel terrible if either of you got hurt.】

【Hahaha am I the only one feeling bad for the streamer stuck in the middle?】

【By the way, do any of the other streamers have a black bear and a leopard in their feed? Someone go tell them to hurry back—I love some drama.】

In the end, there was no real fight.

The tiger and the red-tailed mountain hawk didn’t actually attack each other.

As Lin Qianyu moved between them—reaching out here, crouching down there—they both held back, afraid of hurting her. Their open jaws and curled claws were retracted as they neared her.

Most importantly…

They both smelled Lin Qianyu’s scent on the other.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu finally breathed a real sigh of relief.As long as they didn’t start fighting, everything was fine.

The younglings on the platform had been scared into huddling together, snuffling as they tried to stealthily crawl toward the cave entrance.

The little chevrotain hesitated nearby, seemingly weighing whether, despite its tiny tail, it had the strength to face off against the tiger.

Just as it was hesitating, wondering whether to try ramming it once and see what happened, Lin Qianyu saw through its thoughts. She grabbed it by the scruff and carried the overconfident little creature back into the cave, along with a few baby birds.

The baby birds were still afraid of the tiger—after all, they were far too young—and obediently allowed themselves to be taken back.

“Yoo!” The little chevrotain flicked its tail, feeling like it could still fight.

【Stop yapping, baby, the tiger wouldn’t even bother chewing you. You’d get stuck in its teeth.】

【Hahahaha poor little deer. But for real, not even worth a bite—just stuck between molars.】

…

Lin Qianyu had been wondering when she’d go find the tiger again. Now that the tiger had come looking for her instead, she was pleasantly surprised.

After all, when she’d told the tiger to come find her yesterday, it hadn’t responded, and she thought that meant rejection. She didn’t expect it to show up today.

“Did you come to play with me?” Lin Qianyu reached out, wanting to pet the tips of its ears, but the tiger, sitting upright, was too tall. She had to settle for patting its head instead.

The tiger turned around, leapt onto the cave, and after a burst of crashing sounds—“thud!”—a water buffalo fell straight down with a heavy slam.

Lin Qianyu squinted, hugging the red-tailed mountain hawk as she stepped back to avoid it.

This water buffalo seemed smaller than the one the tiger had hunted yesterday… did it catch another one?

“Big Tiger?” Lin Qianyu waited a while, but the tiger never came back down. When she looked up, there was no sign of it at all.

Dropped off the food and left?

She didn’t even get a chance to invite it to stay for a meal.

Now staring at the buffalo, Lin Qianyu couldn’t help clicking her tongue—it was impossible to finish all that meat.

But since the tiger had already left, there was no one to help her share it.

Lin Qianyu said, “Let’s start butchering. Whatever we can’t eat, I’ll make into jerky… the tiger didn’t even take the organs.”

Feeling the buffalo’s belly, it seemed to have just recently died.

She guessed, “It must’ve brought it straight here right after the hunt.”

【Fight Feng Jingye, hunt water buffalo, deliver the buffalo—the tiger’s schedule is on point.】

【Hahahaha damn, this timing’s tighter than my morning class schedule.】

Well, now that it had been delivered, it couldn’t go to waste.

Lin Qianyu cut up all the meat. While gutting the buffalo, she couldn’t help thinking: that picky tiger only ate the parts it liked. She wondered whether the water buffalo on this island could reproduce fast enough to meet its appetite.

Adult water buffalo were strong fighters. On this island, only the tiger—or maybe a green anaconda—might be able to hunt them.

The young buffalo were protected by the adults, moving in herds, and most other predators wouldn’t risk it.

Thinking about it this way, it probably was enough to feed the tiger.“So much meat—I'll ask the director for some green peppers tomorrow,” Lin Qianyu wiped her hands and wrapped the meat she’d cut earlier for the little animals in leaves.

She planned to trade the older meat from yesterday with the director for supplies, and keep the freshly cut water buffalo meat for the animals at home.

Perfect.

Lin Qianyu had it all planned. As for the buffalo organs, she’d just keep those to eat herself.

“Little Bear! Huahua!” Lin Qianyu raised her voice and called out, “It’s getting late, come home early!”

She wasn’t sure if they could hear her, but the call echoed a bit. She felt her voice was loud enough, hopefully loud enough for the two fluffballs out hunting to catch it.

She took a sip of water to moisten her throat, then coughed lightly and said, “Too bad the director doesn’t have a megaphone among the trade items. If there were one, no matter how much it cost, I’d definitely get it.”

A megaphone would save a lot of energy.

Back when the show first started, each guest got to pick from three prepared supplies, and a megaphone was one of them—but someone else had picked it.

Next time a new episode begins, she’ll try to get there early and see if she can snatch one.

“Little Hawk, ah—” Lin Qianyu sliced off a piece of meat. It was still twitching—fresh buffalo meat, the nerves around the muscle hadn’t completely died yet.

She fed the first bite of fresh buffalo meat to the red-tailed mountain hawk.

It probably rarely ate buffalo. Aside from a slight shift in its eyes, it didn’t react at all.

She couldn’t tell whether it liked it or not.

Lin Qianyu asked, “Tasty?”

“Chirp!”

Lin Qianyu nodded. “Good, as long as you like it.”

Even if it wasn’t used to it, that was okay—it was just to change things up for the hawk, let it try something new.

Sensing that the tiger outside had left, the younglings in the cave began poking their heads out again—mostly the little chevrotain, while the baby birds were still trembling.

Lin Qianyu said, “Diandian, bring your younger siblings over to eat.”

“Chirp…”

Diandian’s voice was very soft. With the help of the little chevrotain, she poked her head out a bit. The feathers on her head quivered in the breeze as she slowly stepped forward, occasionally turning to tug along Qiuqiu and Tuantuan behind her.

Smelling the meat, they probably weren’t as scared anymore and followed along with little bounces.

The chevrotain was bold, but trying to make a deer eat meat was asking a bit much.

Lin Qianyu cut the meat into even smaller pieces and placed them on leaves. The little birds pecked at it like chicks pecking at rice—one bite at a time.

It was fun to watch, but feeding them by hand was even more satisfying.

“Chirp—” The red-tailed mountain hawk opened its beak toward Lin Qianyu from her shoulder.

“Coming!” Lin Qianyu swiftly rolled up a piece of meat and fed it to it.

—The stewed meat in the pot was ready.

Steam rose thickly, heating up the whole outer room.Lin Qianyu simply lifted the tarp all the way up to let the air circulate. Although the door to the inner room was closed, it wasn’t completely sealed, so the smell of the stewed meat would inevitably drift inside.

So she planned to wait until the smell outside had mostly dissipated before opening the inner room as well.

The stewed meat, a mix of fat and lean with skin on the outer layer, had now been cooked to a translucent state. When poked, the skin had a bouncy, gelatinous texture.

Lin Qianyu ate the meat while taking a big bite of cassava. The savory flavor instantly overpowered the slight sweetness of the cassava, leaving only the pleasant aroma of dry rations behind—absolutely delicious.

She fished out some meat from the bottom and pointed to the layer of floating oil on top: “This broth would be great for soaking tofu or eggs.”

Also things like leafy greens and potatoes—greens absorb flavor well, just like with hotpot, you can toss them in a hot pot for a bit and they’re ready.

Potatoes need to be cooked longer—crisp potatoes and soft, mushy ones offer two different textures.

【Stop eating, streamer, stop eating! Watching you eat like this during a survival show is just too much for me...】

【The takeout in my hand doesn’t taste good anymore.】

【Is it really that good? It looks kinda average… Here, send it to the address on my profile and I’ll get someone to test it for you.】

Meat with lots of seasoning was indeed tasty, but the little animals couldn’t eat anything too strongly flavored.

And for them, fresh plain meat might actually be more delicious.

Speaking of which, Lin Qianyu realized she hadn’t grilled meat in quite a while.

Ever since getting a stove, she’d been cooking indoors—stir-frying, pan-frying, deep-frying, braising, and the like.

Lin Qianyu wiped her hands and got up to look for the barbecue rack.

She had chopped down so many trees before, and practically made use of every part. The grill was one of those creations.

Now she wouldn’t need to skewer meat on freshly gathered branches like before.

The rack was triangular with a crossbar in the middle—very sturdy.

A bunch of wooden skewers of various sizes held up the meat.

These were for roasting meat for the animals at home.

After finishing the cassava in her bowl, Lin Qianyu was already full and couldn’t eat anything else.

And ever since entering the rainforest, her main food over the past few days had been grilled meat. Although she’d occasionally eaten something else, she’d mostly stuck to grilling—and had long grown tired of it.

By the time the leopard and black bear came back, the meat in Lin Qianyu’s bowl was nearly gone, with just a bit of cassava left, mixed in.

When they saw the water buffalo on the ground, their steps froze for a moment.

They dropped the zebra they were carrying, looked at the water buffalo, then at Lin Qianyu.

They didn’t speak, but their eyes clearly conveyed what they wanted to say.

“It wasn’t me,” Lin Qianyu pointed to the wound on the buffalo’s neck, “See? The tiger caught it.”

She wanted them to get used to the tiger’s scent, so that they could grow familiar with each other. Ideally, they wouldn’t fight in the future.

No, not ideally—absolutely must not fight.

Too dangerous.Seeing that they didn’t move, Lin Qianyu waved and said, “Come on, the meat’s all cut up. You can eat directly.”

The black bear put down its prey and rubbed its belly. “Awoo…”

“You want this?” Lin Qianyu grabbed a handful of fruit candy.

“Awoo!”

The little bear already liked candy far more than meat.

Lin Qianyu unwrapped the packaging and poured a small handful into its mouth.

The leopard was cautiously circling the water buffalo. Most of the meat had already been carved off by Lin Qianyu, but there was still a lingering unfamiliar scent on it.

That was the scent Lin Qianyu had carried back with her last night.

The leopard licked the corner of its mouth. Lin Qianyu reached out with a piece of meat and said, “Come on, have a taste. Buffalo is delicious. There are also some organs over there—pick something you like and try it.”

Faced with the meat offered by Lin Qianyu, the leopard gave her some face and opened its mouth. With a flick of its tongue, it pulled the meat in.

“Tastes good, right?”

“Mmrr…”

Alright, first stage of relationship-building complete.

Progressing smoothly.

Lin Qianyu divided the grilled meat for them and got up to tidy the cave.

While laying a waterproof mat at the cave entrance, the leopard padded over and flopped down. “You finished eating that fast?”

She rubbed the leopard’s belly and saw that the pile of meat on the leaves was already gone.

The leopard rolled onto its back, belly facing up.

“You’re growing so fast,” Lin Qianyu said. “Let me help clean the fur between your paw pads again.”

“If the fur between the paw pads is too thick, it’ll affect the leopard’s hunting. It can cover the pads, and when leaping from high places, it might slip and get injured. Better to maintain them regularly.”

“Rrroar…”

【That’s true. I trim my cat’s paw fur too, and clip its nails while I’m at it.】

【But the leopard needs its claws to hunt, so no nail trimming, I guess.】

【Wait… zoo leopards get paw fur trimmed, but what about wild leopards?】

While wiping the paw pads, Lin Qianyu calmly replied to the bullet comments: “Easy—wild leopards find wild humans to help.”

Comments: 【???】

【Makes… sense… I guess.】

For a moment, no one in the livestream could come up with a rebuttal.

The remaining buffalo meat was stored away. Some meat still clung to the bones, but the skeleton didn’t need to be processed separately—it was a giant, natural chew toy.

The furry ones at home could come gnaw on it whenever they had free time.Setting aside the smell of blood, the butchering was actually quite artistic—it could even serve as a decorative piece.

After cleaning the paws, Lin Qianyu pinched the paw pads and said, “Alright, let’s go back inside.”

“Awoo!”

—Late night.

Half-asleep, Lin Qianyu reached out to pull the leopard at her side closer, but her hand grasped at empty space.

She felt around behind her—no sign of the black bear either.

In the middle of the night, both furballs were nowhere to be found. The drowsiness clouding Lin Qianyu’s mind instantly cleared up.

She sat up with a jolt. The red-tailed mountain eagle was still perched in its nest. Seeing her awake, it flew down and landed on her lap, shaking its feathers. “Chirp.”

“Hunting?” Lin Qianyu looked dazed and checked the time—barely 4 a.m. “Why are they out hunting so early today?”

They usually left when dawn just began to break—this time they were out a full two hours earlier.

Did they not eat enough last night?

That couldn't be. The buffalo was huge, and there was still a lot of meat left uneaten.

There’s no way they were still hungry.

Lin Qianyu pinched the bridge of her nose, unable to figure it out.

She held the red-tailed mountain eagle, lost in thought, and couldn’t fall back asleep. So she simply sat by the cave entrance, waiting to see when the leopard and the black bear would return.

The red-tailed mountain eagle dozed off in her arms. Lin Qianyu gently stroked its feathers, her fingers brushing over its delicate and ornate tail feathers—so strikingly beautiful that even in the dim moonlight, they remained dazzling.

Time ticked by, minute after minute.

Until the sky turned pale, sun and moon switching places, and shadowy figures began to appear at the edge of the slope.

“Where did you two go hunting…” Lin Qianyu’s voice stopped mid-sentence.

The leopard and the little bear came walking toward her side by side, dragging a water buffalo even larger than either of them.

Lin Qianyu: “?!!”

Why did they suddenly decide to go hunt another buffalo?

Author’s note: Goodnight, sleep early, love you all.