Chapter 37
Chapter 37
A giant fluffy orange cat completely blocked the cave entrance.
【Holy shit ahhhh?! Lin-jie is badass!】
【That was so cool, damn that was too cool! She really has the aura of commanding the world with a lift of her hand.】
【So awesome—what the hell are you yelling for, you green tea b*tch? Does Lin-jie even need to lift a finger to kill you? One bite from the little snake and you’re done for, not to mention the rest of the fluffballs!】
...
An Lanqing, with that sickening face of “if I go down, you’re coming with me,” only now realized just how terrifying this situation really was.
She had acted on impulse, thinking she could drag Lin Qianyu down with her, but when that failed and she realized she couldn’t even hurt her, she turned to the law for protection. The beasts slowly closing in on her felt like they were sucking the air from her surroundings—it was hard to even breathe.
When Lin Qianyu was present, the beasts never attacked humans unprovoked.
Maybe they still recognized her as human.
An Lanqing couldn’t move forward, couldn’t retreat, her whole body frozen like someone had pressed pause.
“You… you can’t do this.” An Lanqing’s lips trembled. “This counts as inciting a crime, don’t you know that?”
“Then call the cops,” Lin Qianyu shrugged nonchalantly. “Tell them I incited wild animals to bite you.”
“—!”
That one sentence left An Lanqing speechless.
【Is An Lanqing crazy? She really tried to livestream a murder.】
【The director’s definitely going to hold her accountable, and she’ll have to pay up. If Guo Yanpeng flips to protect his place in the industry and throws An Lanqing under the bus, then he and Yin Youlin will pursue charges too. She could be facing prison and a mountain of debt—she’ll go insane.】
When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.
But the moment An Lanqing realized she couldn’t hurt Lin Qianyu—and that Lin Qianyu might actually destroy her—was when the real panic began.
She clenched her jaw, trying to stop her trembling, about to say something else—when the tiger before her suddenly took a step forward.
“Ah!” she screamed in fear, stumbling backward and slipping hard onto the ground.
The leopard lowered its tail, letting out a deep, guttural roar—“Rrrowwwrr!”
An Lanqing’s hands, which had been clenching the ground in fear, lost their grip—and she rolled right off the slope.
Her figure vanished into the tall grass. Insects scattered in all directions, startled by her fall, but An Lanqing couldn’t stop herself. She tumbled faster and faster, her body and face getting slashed by sharp leaves.
It all happened too quickly. Lin Qianyu had kept a safe distance from An Lanqing.
She raised a hand to stop the black bear that was about to chase after her. The red-tailed crested eagle, which had just spread its wings, was also held back. “No need to chase.”
She’d only meant to scare her. Lin Qianyu didn’t actually want her furry companions tainted by such filth.
Besides, falling from such a height—if she didn’t die, she’d at least be crippled. Whether she could breathe after hitting the ground was up to her own luck.
Since this was a livestream, Lin Qianyu didn’t even have to report it herself. Once the director noticed, they’d send a rescue team.
The leopard stared down the slope for a long time.
Lin Qianyu crouched beside it and placed a hand on its neck. “Alright, be good. Let’s not worry about her anymore.”“Rooaaar——!”
Not far off, the tiger joined the commotion.
Upon hearing that, the leopard immediately roared back without hesitation, “Rrrawwrr!”
The black bear and the leopard already knew how to hunt together, so in a standoff, of course it sided with the leopard. The red-tailed crested eagle spread its wings and was the first to charge at the tiger.
“Chirp!”
Lin Qianyu: “???”
Her hands were still in a cradling posture, but the leopard that had been in her arms had already dashed out.
“Wait, no—don’t fight!” Lin Qianyu rushed in to break it up. If she had known it would turn into this once An Lanqing ran off, she would’ve dragged her back and not let her escape.
Now that the target was gone, they’d turned on each other.
Without time to think, Lin Qianyu plunged into the chaos, trying her best to wedge herself between them.
But the fight was too chaotic—her thin clothes were snagged and torn into strips. In the middle of trying to mediate, she even lost a sleeve.
“Stop fighting!”
This brawl was especially intense—fur flew wildly past Lin Qianyu's eyes at such speed she couldn’t tell what color it was or who it belonged to. The red-tailed eagle, using its aerial advantage, fought skillfully and freely.
Lin Qianyu had to guard in every direction—front, back, sides, and even above. Two hands were simply not enough.
She couldn’t just pounce on one to stop them either. In a scuffle like this, if she grabbed one and got caught in a bite meant for another, it’d be far too dangerous.
Still, despite the chaos, Lin Qianyu could tell that when the animals swung paws and snapped jaws, they were holding back.
But the fight was real nonetheless.
Fans in the livestream chat were cheering the brawl on enthusiastically.
【Go, Huahua!】
【Little Bear, you’re the best!】
【Big Tiger, don’t lose!!】
【Little Eagle is a beast! Going wild!!】
…
All sorts of cheers and chants—some fans were even making up slogans.
Just as Lin Qianyu was at her wit’s end trying to mediate—
“What’s going on here? Why so lively?” Feng Jingye poked his head down from a high platform. He paused as he saw the tiger, leopard, bear, and red-tailed eagle in an all-out brawl.
“Get out of there!” Feng Jingye frowned and leapt down from the platform. He reached out to grab Lin Qianyu and pulled her back a step, getting her out of the fray.
Lin Qianyu had been focused on protecting the fluffballs, and was caught off guard as he grabbed her arm. “Step back—be careful not to get caught up in it.”
Feng Jingye said, “How could I get caught from this far away? Why did you go right into the middle of it?”
“If they keep fighting, someone’s going to get hurt. I have to stop them.” As she spoke, Lin Qianyu sidestepped Feng Jingye, ready to head back into the thick of the battle.Feng Jingye, seeing he couldn’t stop her, simply said, “It’s too easy for you to get hurt like this—let me go instead.”
“No need, I…” Lin Qianyu paused, sensing the surrounding noise had suddenly quieted quite a bit.
The low growls and roars from the tussling fluffballs hadn’t ceased earlier—they were part of how they intimidated one another.
But at some point, the sounds seemed to have stopped.
Lin Qianyu looked up and met Feng Jingye’s eyes, and almost simultaneously, the two turned to look to the left.
They saw that the once chaotic, all-out brawl among the fluffballs had come to a complete halt.
The tiger let go of the black bear’s arm. The leopard released the tiger’s foreleg. The black bear retracted the paw it had slapped onto the tiger. The red-tailed crested eagle landed, now level with Lin Qianyu’s line of sight.
For a moment, they all stared at each other in silence.
Lin Qianyu lowered her gaze and followed their line of sight—to her wrist, which was still held by Feng Jingye.
Then, inexplicably, Feng Jingye raised the hand holding her wrist.
“RROOAARR——!”
All of them roared in unison and charged straight toward Feng Jingye.
Feng Jingye had clearly anticipated this and took off running without another word.
Lin Qianyu: “???”
Wait—what?!
The fluffballs, agile and swift, gave chase.
【HAHAHA damn, did you see the look Huahua gave just now?】
【The tiger’s expression was pretty interesting too.】
【Oh Island Master, really? They were brawling to fight over Lin-jie’s loyalty, and you just strolled in and dragged her away? If anyone was going to get beaten up, it had to be you.】
【Whew, lucky the fight stopped. I’d feel so bad if any of them got hurt. Let’s all say together: Thank you, Feng Jingye.】
…
This chase finally ended just before reaching the mountaintop.
Lin Qianyu didn’t even have time to grab her backpack—she used the tree trunks for support to keep chasing after them. With her injured ankle, she could’ve walked less or at least more slowly, but she was too anxious. Worried they might start another vicious fight, she couldn’t care less about the pain—she stumbled after them in uneven steps.
The growls stopped again, but the birds startled in the rainforest still didn’t dare land and kept circling overhead.
The red-tailed crested eagle abandoned Feng Jingye—who had already been knocked flat—and flew back to find Lin Qianyu.
When it landed on her shoulder, she instinctively stroked its tail feathers. Thankfully, none had fallen out.
Her fingers ran through its messy plumage. The red-tailed eagle had been preening itself but stopped when she touched it, nudged the back of her hand with its beak, then perched atop her head. “Chirp.”
It was being very obedient now—unlike how fierce it had been during the fight.
Continuing uphill, Lin Qianyu saw Feng Jingye surrounded by a few fluffballs.
At this moment, Feng Jingye was lying face down on the ground.
“Mr. Feng, are you okay?” Lin Qianyu let out a breath of relief and quickly walked over.Feng Jingye heard the voice and lifted his head from the grass, waving nonchalantly. “I’m fi—” Before he could finish, the tiger suddenly pounced from behind and slapped him square on the back.
“ROAR!”
Feng Jingye immediately faceplanted again: “……”
Lin Qianyu: “!!!”
These few fluffballs—Lin Qianyu gave each of them a swat. For someone injured, she’d climbed up here in record time. Now she was pale from exhaustion, and even her breathing was unsteady as she spoke.
“Whoever starts another fight, I’ll beat them up.” Lin Qianyu waved her fist, looking quite imposing.
However, the fluffballs didn’t look the least bit intimidated.
The leopard came over and rubbed against her waist.
“Awooo…” The black bear stuck its head into Lin Qianyu’s pocket, but it was too big and only managed to wedge in its nose—still, it caught the sweet scent of candy.
Lin Qianyu grabbed its ears and pulled it out, gave it a couple of scritches, then opened another piece of candy.
The tiger, unusually, didn’t look annoyed. It just sat there like an obedient, giant orange tabby cat.
…Only its tail was still trailing behind, swishing back and forth, trying to sneak-attack Feng Jingye.
Lin Qianyu soothed the animals first so they wouldn’t go after Feng Jingye again once she got close.
Once their fur had been smoothed down, she went over and helped Feng Jingye up.
Lin Qianyu: “Are you okay?”
“No big deal.” Feng Jingye was already used to being hit. This time he was just particularly battered because of the group ambush—if it had been one-on-one, or even a rotating lineup, he’d have held his ground just fine.
Lin Qianyu saw his casual attitude, like being chased and beaten by wild animals was nothing to fuss over.
Rich people all had their tempers—especially top-tier tycoons like Feng Jingye, who owned several islands. But from the looks of it, Feng Jingye had an extraordinarily good temper.
Compared to someone like Guo Yanpeng, who would look down his nose at people just because his family had some influence, Feng Jingye seemed to have no temper at all.
Lin Qianyu asked, “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” The bandage on Feng Jingye’s neck had started to soak through with blood again. He sat up and casually brushed the grass off his clothes. “I’ve got to head back. I lost the livestream gear halfway up—I’ll go look for it. You do your thing.”
Seeing how unsteady he looked getting up, Lin Qianyu suspected he was more injured than he let on. “I’ll go with you.”
“No need. I’m fine. If anything serious comes up, I can contact the director directly. I joined mid-season, so I’m not even in the final rankings. I’m just here for fun. I can leave anytime, no need to worry about me.” Feng Jingye waved her off, signaling with his eyes toward the animals.
The leopard’s ears had folded back. When it noticed Lin Qianyu looking over, it quickly perked them up again and started lazily licking its mouth, pretending to casually admire the trees.
【Huahua: Wow, look at that tree. So… tree.】
【Hahahahaha, right, right, you all just want to beat up the island master.】
【Is it just me, or does it seem like the island master’s already used to being beaten up? Bet this isn’t the first time, lol (not that it’s okay—)】
After Feng Jingye left, the leopard kept staring in the direction he went. Seeing this, the tiger turned and looked ready to leave too.
Lin Qianyu couldn’t help suspecting the tiger wanted to chase after him for another round.
“Big Tiger?” Lin Qianyu called it back. “Don’t go. A fight brings people together, right? Now that you’ve all gotten to know each other… come on.”She patted the spot beside her and called to the tiger, “Come sit here.”
The tiger looked in Feng Jingye’s direction, then at Lin Qianyu, as if hesitating. After a brief pause, it still chose to walk over to Lin Qianyu.
“Roar…”
At the production team’s designated villa, inside the medical room.
An Lanqing lay on the hospital bed with a neck brace, her face covered in gauze faintly stained with blood. Her body was wrapped in bandages, and only the hand hanging by her side could barely move.
Su Yuxing entered holding a medical record book, furrowing his brow and sighing when he saw her state. “Was it worth it?”
“Lin Qianyu’s skill level compared to yours—what were you thinking, trying to ambush her?” Su Yuxing shook his head. He truly couldn’t understand what was going on in An Lanqing’s mind.
An Lanqing, already filled with hatred in her heart, heard this and her heartbeat suddenly sped up. Her voice came out hoarse: “To you, Lin Qianyu is just your cash cow. Of course you think she’s great, and that I’m not worthy to compete with her.”
“You can’t admit Lin Qianyu’s strength, and you envy her results. Are you also the type who thinks, ‘If it were me, I could’ve done it too’?” Su Yuxing slammed the medical file onto the nightstand. “Now look at you. Instead of hating others, maybe focus on how you’re going to pay the penalty for breaching your contract.”
An Lanqing’s eyes flew open. “I…”
Su Yuxing wasn’t the type to go soft. He hated pointless back-and-forth. Before she could finish, he turned and left.
Bang—the door slammed shut.
The sound made An Lanqing flinch, pulling at her wounds and making her frown from the pain.
Lying there pale-faced, she seemed to think of something, then hurriedly reached out, fumbling for her phone. Her trembling fingers tapped on the most recent call.
The dial tone rang for a long time—so long that An Lanqing was about to give up—when the other side finally answered.
“Hello?!” An Lanqing’s eyes instantly lit up as if she’d grabbed the last straw. “It’s me, An Lanqing. You said if I got Lin Qianyu’s blood, you’d help cover my penalty fee. I went to find Lin Qianyu today…”
“But you didn’t get it, did you?” the person on the other end said indifferently. “You can’t even get close to Lin Qianyu.”
An Lanqing’s face went deathly pale. “Just give me a bit more time. Cover the penalty for now—I promise I’ll get Lin Qianyu’s blood for your research. You have to believe me.”
Beep… beep… beep… Before An Lanqing could say anything else to increase her bargaining power, the other person hung up.
Her last straw was gone. She squeezed her eyes shut, hiding the redness in them, and in a burst of frustration, hurled her phone away with all her strength.
Even at midday, the mountaintop wasn’t very hot.
Thick trees blocked out much of the sunlight. Even on the flat grassland, the canopy above offered dense shade.
Lin Qianyu lay on the ground, with the Red-tailed Hawk curled up in her arms. Around her were the fluffy animals, all within arm’s reach.
She smiled, grasped the tiger’s tail, and said, “If I close my eyes and just touch them, I can guess who’s who by feel.”
【Really? I want to try too.】
【Uh, in rainforest weather like this, isn’t it hot cuddling with all these thick-furred animals? How about I switch with you? I don’t have many strengths, but I can handle heat. If I’d been the one walking through the Flaming Mountain back in the day, I wouldn’t have shed a drop of sweat.】
【Forget heat resistance—can you take a beating? These guys would gang up on you.】
…
After that united front in the previous fight, it seemed the fluffballs had no further intentions of battling each other.
At least for now.They were all lying on the ground, quiet and well-behaved.
Lin Qianyu patted the tiger's tail, which she held in one hand, lightly against the palm of her other hand. “Big tiger, next time don’t go after water buffaloes, okay? It’s too much—we can’t finish it all.”
The tiger was sleeping with its eyes closed.
Lin Qianyu tilted her head up and whispered, “Let me show you—actually, when big cats sleep, if you lift their eyelids, you’ll see a nictitating membrane…”
As she spoke, she gently lifted its eyelid. However, the tiger wasn’t actually asleep—its eyes were open and staring directly at Lin Qianyu.
“…”
She gave a small cough and softly lowered the eyelid again. “That was an accident. Let’s move on to our next contestant—Huahua.”
The leopard rolled over and licked her chin, as if asking what she wanted it to do.
“Sigh, forget it. I’ll show you all next time when I get a chance.” Lin Qianyu hugged the furry head and gave it a thorough rub.
“Chirp…” The Red-tailed Hawk suddenly lifted its head and let out a soft call toward the sky.
“Hm?” Lin Qianyu followed its gaze. “What is it?”
A Puerto Rican Amazon parrot returning from foraging flew past, seeming to recognize Lin Qianyu lying at the center of the group. But seeing the ring of predators around her, it didn’t dare to land.
It hovered nearby.
Lin Qianyu sat up and waved at the parrot. “Come.”
She reassured it gently, “Don’t be afraid. They won’t hurt you.”
The little green parrot tilted its head and cautiously approached. Even when it got close, it didn’t land immediately. Instead, it circled lower once to assess the situation. Seeing the lazy big cats and snoring black bear had no intent to harm it, it finally landed on Lin Qianyu’s hand.
The little black snake that had been amusing itself paused upon noticing a new unfamiliar bird.
“Coo!” The green parrot fluffed up its feathers and hopped a few steps backward to put some distance between itself and the snake. Then, very valiantly, it puffed up the feathers around its neck and locked onto the snake with a sharp, peck-ready stare.
Lin Qianyu raised her hand and gently held back the little black snake to separate them. “The little snake is also my pet. You can’t eat it.”
【Sister Lin has already placed the little black snake in the defeated category.】
【LMAO, our little black snake is such a pretty useless thing—obedient, cute, and completely brainless.】
【Nonsense! If you knew its battle record, you'd be terrified!】
【Xie Yifei: Let me tell you the story of why I quit the show.】
If the Puerto Rican Amazon parrot and the little black snake were to fight, the most likely outcome would be mutual destruction.
The only one who could neutralize the little black snake’s venom was the Red-tailed Hawk.
The little green parrot wasn’t naturally fond of fighting. Hearing Lin Qianyu’s words, it slowly smoothed down its feathers.
“Where’s your mate?” Lin Qianyu bent her finger, trying to stroke the parrot’s feathers.
The parrot didn’t answer, but the Red-tailed Hawk suddenly stood up in front of her, staring at the parrot in her hand. “Chirp!”
Although it sounded the same as usual, Lin Qianyu could detect a faint warning tone in it.
The parrot paused, then shifted slightly to the right on its own.Lin Qianyu exclaimed in surprise, “You two can communicate?”
The comment section immediately flooded with question marks.
【What kind of question is that?! You can talk to animals, and they’re both birds—what’s the issue with them talking to each other!】
Well, that was a fair point.
Lin Qianyu hugged the Red-tailed Hawk and rubbed its feathers, not trying to touch the parrot again.
The little hawk spread its wings, and while lying on Lin Qianyu’s body, also covered her with its wings.
With its wings fully extended, the Red-tailed Hawk looked at least twice as big as before.
Lin Qianyu could now easily touch every single feather.
It felt like being covered by a luxurious feather blanket—soft, beautiful, and warm.
The little green parrot stood on Lin Qianyu’s finger, its bead-like eyes watching the tiger with suspicion.
Seeing this, Lin Qianyu chuckled softly and asked, “You know it?”
“Purr!”
That meant yes.
Lin Qianyu raised an eyebrow. “You really do know it?”
She had just asked casually and hadn’t expected to guess correctly.
After pausing for a moment, she recalled how that day, when she fell off the cliff, both Puerto Rican Amazon parrots had clung tightly to her clothes, their wings flapping much harder than usual.
At the time, she thought they were trying to pull her up.
But thinking back now—falling off a cliff might not be dangerous to flying animals.
So, their desperate attempt to pull her up must have been because they knew… there was a tiger below the cliff.
The parrot didn’t stay long—it was probably going back to deliver food to its mate waiting at home.
When it landed earlier, there was no food in its beak, so it must have dropped it off during the time it was circling nearby.
Lin Qianyu broke the dried meat into even pieces. “When you eat later, peck them off bit by bit.”
The Red-tailed Hawk chick back home was already able to eat the dried meat on its own.
This was hand-dried raw meat—not as tough as store-bought jerky—so an adult parrot could easily peck through it.
Lin Qianyu gave the reminder just to make sure they didn’t choke while eating.
“Screech screech!”
That piece of dried meat was big enough for two parrots.
Even if a baby parrot hatched today, they wouldn’t need to go out and forage again.
Lin Qianyu took a bite of the remaining half and spoke with her mouth half-full, “The air at the top of the mountain is better than down below, but walking everywhere is a pain. Otherwise, I’d really think about moving up here.”
“Roar!” The black bear rolled over, got brushed by the Red-tailed Hawk’s wing, and pushed the feathers aside with its paw, nudging Lin Qianyu for some candy.“Finished eating?” Lin Qianyu rubbed the paw pads on the bear’s paw, not in a hurry to give the little bear candy. “Haven’t you been eating a bit too much candy lately? Let me check if you’ve got any cavities.”
The black bear didn’t know what cavities were, but when Lin Qianyu pulled at its mouth, the little bear looked upward and obediently opened its mouth.
It had just finished eating a fruit candy, with a faint peach flavor.
“These teeth are way too good,” Lin Qianyu said as she showed the bear’s teeth to the camera. “Eating this much candy and still no cavities.”
【Sob… I won’t say who’s jealous.】
【People who don’t like sweets, brush their teeth on time, and still live at the dentist’s are crying.】
【The little bear doesn’t even use its teeth to hunt—it relies on strength—so just send me the little bear’s teeth, please.】
【??? Seen many living Buddhas, but today I’ve seen a living King of Hell.】
…
Even without cavities, the little bear still got a handful of rose candy.
The rose-flavored little bear also got a kiss.
Since she didn’t plan to eat outside, her energy could only be replenished by wild fruit and candy, so Lin Qianyu ate a piece herself too.
“Tigers seem to like sweet things too.” As she spoke, Lin Qianyu unwrapped two more pieces. “Big tiger? Want to try some?”
She’d seen tigers eating whipped cream before, and whipped cream is sweet—so clearly, some tigers enjoy sweet food.
The tiger sniffed at what was offered to its mouth. The candy was tiny to it—picking it up felt like biting a bee. It kept raising its head, adjusting its jaw to locate the candy, but couldn’t find where to bite.
Since it couldn’t find the right spot, it simply held it in its mouth without chewing.
Watching the tiger take the candy, Lin Qianyu smiled and scratched its lower jaw. “Now that you’ve eaten my candy, you’re my tiger.”
The tiger opened its mouth, and Lin Qianyu quickly covered it. “No spitting it out.”
【Hahaha—how did she even predict that?!】
【Love the tiger, but maybe it shouldn’t become a streamer’s tiger. Otherwise... do we call it ‘Da Lao’ or ‘Da Hu’?】
【Clearly an old fan in the chat—Lin-jie’s naming habits caught in 4K.】
In just a moment, the comment section was back to teasing Lin Qianyu’s naming skills.
“‘Bad at naming’ isn’t even enough to describe her anymore.”
Lin Qianyu cleared her throat. “You guys always suggest such boring names. I think ‘Da Ju’ is perfect.”
A giant orange cat—what could be more fitting than calling it “Big Orange”?
She raised her hand, and the streaming device followed, capturing the tiger in full view. “Isn’t this name just right?”
“Da Ju?” Lin Qianyu turned to chat with the big tiger. “How about calling you Da Ju?”
The tiger lowered its head to lick its paw.
Seeing it ignore her, Lin Qianyu reached out and placed her hand on its paw, stopping its movement. “Da Ju…”
The tiger licked the back of her hand twice, then let out a low “Roar!”Lin Qianyu smiled with her eyes curved, “Alright, then let’s call you Da Ju.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she thought for a moment and suddenly realized, “Da Ju should technically count as Mister Feng’s, right? Did Mister Feng give Da Ju a name?”
Strictly speaking, all the animals on this island were raised by Feng Jingye.
It’s just that Da Ju seemed very familiar with Feng Jingye—maybe they were especially close… or maybe not close, but still received special treatment.
Lin Qianyu quickly pulled out her watch to contact him and told him about the naming.
Feng Jingye:
【It doesn’t seem to like humans giving it names. It’s very smart. I tried naming it before, but once it had a name, it’d pretend not to hear me when I called it. If I said anything else, it’d turn its head immediately.】
Perhaps thinking his explanation wasn’t thorough enough, Feng Jingye added:
【Of course, it might just be targeting me. You can name it whatever you like—as long as the tiger agrees.】
Lin Qianyu replied with a quick “Okay” and set down her watch.
Seeing that the big tiger didn’t show much reaction, Lin Qianyu figured—it probably liked it.
They stayed on the mountaintop all the way until the afternoon.
She had originally thought resting would help ease the pain in her foot, but maybe because she had sprinted too hard earlier and kept climbing without pause, the pain not only failed to subside during the break—it actually got worse.
Lin Qianyu touched her ankle. It seemed to have swollen again.
As dusk approached, she had no choice but to get up despite the pain. The mountaintop at night was not the same as during the day. She didn’t have the energy to cut trees and build another hammock, and if she didn’t want to lie out on the open ground using the fluffy animals as pillows, she had to head down the mountain right away.
Stretching, Lin Qianyu glanced around. The red-tailed lanner falcons had gone out hunting in the afternoon, so only the tiger remained lounging on the grass.
“Da Ju, I need to go home. Wanna come with me?” Lin Qianyu said as she pinched the tiger’s ears with both hands. “But you probably won’t fit in the cave.”
From what Lin Qianyu could tell by eye, not to mention getting all the way into the cave, Da Ju might not even be able to fit its head through the tarp-covered entrance—and even that would be a tight squeeze.
Da Ju was simply too big.
Before Lin Qianyu could figure out how to squeeze the big tiger into the cave, Da Ju had already stood up on its own.
Seeing that she wasn’t moving, the big tiger lowered its head and nudged her in a hurry. “Roar…”
“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” Lin Qianyu took two steps forward and reached up to smooth the tiger’s fur. “No rush.”
Right after she said that, the tiger bit down on the back of her collar.
“…?”
Wait, hold on a second.
“You’re not actually planning to carry me in your mouth, are you?” Lin Qianyu was in disbelief. But seeing the tiger’s serious expression, it clearly was—especially after glancing at the foot she was gingerly keeping off the ground.
Lin Qianyu refused, “No need to carry me—I can walk on my own.”
The big tiger seemed to understand what she said—but still didn’t let go.
【Why reject our tiger bro’s good intentions?】
【Exactly! You’re injured—letting it carry you would save effort and be easier on your ankle.】
【+1 to being carried. With all the climbing up and down, even healthy legs would be worn out, let alone an injured one.】
Fans in the livestream chat unanimously supported the tiger.If fans could show up in person, they’d all help the tiger carry Lin Qianyu themselves.
Lin Qianyu wouldn’t let the tiger carry her in its mouth. Though the tiger didn’t let go, it also didn’t lift her up directly—its lowered eyes made it look a little helpless.
“If you carry me like that, it’ll choke my neck.” Lin Qianyu tilted her head back, showing it the collar stretched across her neck. “Look.”
The tiger opened its mouth slightly, let go of the collar, and leaned in to look, sniffing at it.
“Alright, didn’t I walk up here just like this? Going downhill is even easier than climbing up.” Just rougher on the knees, that’s all.
Normally, when people go hiking, they climb up on foot and take a cable car down. Otherwise, going down step by step really wears out the knees.
But in this undeveloped rainforest, the only thing that could count as “technology” was the surveillance camera mounted at the rescue station.
The path—they had to carve it out themselves.
“Perfect timing to go back now—we’ll still be able to pick up the canistel fruit.” The fluffballs at home had spent half the day picking canistel; it couldn’t go to waste.
While Lin Qianyu was still thinking about how to walk the path back, she turned her head—and saw the tiger had lain back down on the ground.
“What’s wrong, Da Ju?” Lin Qianyu crouched down too, facing the big tiger, gently flicking its whiskers with her fingertip.
“Roar…”
Up.
Lin Qianyu froze. “Up where?”
The tiger lifted its paw and placed it on Lin Qianyu’s hand, repeating itself.
This time it was clearer.
Get on?
A wild guess popped into Lin Qianyu’s mind, and her eyes slowly widened. “Are you saying… you want me to get on your back, and you’ll carry me back?”
The tiger slowly blinked once, then bit gently at the fabric on her shoulder, tugging lightly as if urging her to get on.
【?!】
【Seriously? Da Ju really said that?! Lin-jie, I don’t speak tiger—don’t lie to me.】
【RIDING a tiger?! This is the kind of service I wouldn’t dare imagine even if I paid for a zoo VIP ticket!】
Lin Qianyu couldn’t stand firmly on her feet and was pretty much hoisted onto the tiger’s back by its tugging.
When she finally sat on Da Ju’s back, she was still a little dazed. She had known Da Ju was huge—several times the size of an ordinary tiger.
But only after sitting on its back did she realize: her eye level had risen significantly. It gave her a whole new angle on the rainforest.
With her hand resting on the back of Da Ju’s neck, Lin Qianyu couldn’t help but stroke its fur twice, a smile curving uncontrollably at the corners of her mouth. “So soft.”
The fluffy big tiger didn’t run—it walked forward steadily, one step at a time.
With nothing to hold onto, Lin Qianyu started thinking: if Da Ju suddenly broke into a run, she’d just have to lean forward and hug its neck tightly—that’d keep her from falling off.
She had it all planned out. But the big tiger never gave her the chance to test it.
Still—Lin Qianyu ended up lying down anyway.Burying her face into Da Ju’s scruff, Lin Qianyu wrapped her arms around its neck, hugging and stroking its fur as she nuzzled into the big tiger. “Mmm… Da Ju feels so good.”
The tiger, focused on walking, glanced back at her—only to get kissed by Lin Qianyu.
The big tiger froze for a second, then stumbled a couple steps before steadying itself.
“Haha.” Lin Qianyu laughed so hard she leaned back on the tiger’s back.
“I’ll ask Mr. Feng later how old Da Ju is now.” Some say you can tell an animal’s age by its teeth, but Lin Qianyu wasn’t good at that.
She thought about it while lazily brushing her hand along the tiger’s back fur. “If Mr. Feng has seen Da Ju since it was little, then it probably isn’t that old—maybe still a juvenile? Does that mean it can still grow?”
Da Ju was already a dominating force in the rainforest. If it could grow even bigger...
Picturing it in her mind—a massive ball of fluff—Lin Qianyu couldn’t help but sigh. “If Da Ju gets any bigger, I could just roll around on its back.”
Da Ju’s back was already broad, but not quite roll-worthy.
【Damn it, I’ve watched the whole stream today and Lin-jie just flexed on all of us.】
【Da Ju, this isn’t you! Growl at her! Wuwuwu... I'm sitting under the lemon tree chugging jealousy.】
【I don’t care, I refuse to believe this is real—it’s all special effects. The director trained a tiger just to boost Lin Qianyu’s show.】
【LOL if you’re gonna fool others, fine—but why are you fooling yourself too?】
…
With the big tiger’s help, Lin Qianyu’s journey downhill was exceptionally smooth. She didn’t need to use her hiking stick to tap and poke her way down.
The little black snake wrapped around her wrist didn’t need to be watched either—it had already coiled up on her forearm and fallen asleep.
Even the pain in her ankle was forgotten.
All her attention was on the big tiger.
Because of her intimacy with the tiger, the streaming room—which had already hit max popularity—completely overloaded, and the connection collapsed. Those already inside the room could keep watching, but no new viewers could join.
It was a built-in protective mechanism. Previously, whenever the stream crashed, all viewers would get black screens.
Now, they’d implemented a safeguard. Before the stream fully broke down, they’d preserve access for those already inside, ensuring at least part of the audience could still watch.
If someone in the stream left, a viewer from the queue would be allowed in. Premium VIPs could skip the line, but basically everyone watching already had Premium.
So taking turns to enter didn’t really impact the viewing experience.
Meanwhile, video clips and screenshots had already gone viral across major platforms. Some even pulled out comparison shots, using Lin Qianyu’s official height to estimate the tiger’s size.
Against the glow of the setting sun, on a dusky forest path, the tiger walked into frame, paws brushing over tall grass. Lin Qianyu sat on its back, her spine slightly curved, hand gently stroking its fur, her face full of warmth and unrestrained joy.
That single shot alone was enough to dominate the trending charts.
Sometimes, when someone constantly appears on trending searches, the public can grow tired of them.
But every time Lin Qianyu made the hot list, it was for something different—and the animals at her side changed too. This time, apart from the cubs she’d left at home, there were four beasts and a small black snake appearing on stream.
Far from getting annoyed, people only wanted more.
Because… the streaming room was so packed, they couldn’t even get in!“Is it lagging again?” Lin Qianyu sat up and turned to sit sideways. She caught a glimpse of many bullet comments saying, “Don’t leave! If you exit, you won’t get back in!”
She laughed and lay back down sideways, patted the furry head, and when the big tiger turned around, she adjusted the livestream camera to zoom in. “Are you all here to see our Da Ju?”
“Da Ju, look at the camera.”
“Roar!”
【Awooo! Life is hard, Da Ju performs to survive.】
【So well-behaved, so well-behaved. This chonky baby looked rebellious at first glance but turns out to be such a good boy.】
【All the fluffballs that get close to the host become soft and cute. Don’t wait for me—I’m raiding the zoo tonight.】
【??? Sis, calm down! Zoo predators are not allowed to eat takeout!】
They reached the platform.
The tiger lay down on the flat ground, and at this height, Lin Qianyu could get off easily.
“Thanks for your hard work.” Lin Qianyu turned and gave the tiger a big bear hug.
The tiger being hugged remained calm, licked Lin Qianyu’s cheek, then took the chance to lower its head and groom itself.
Lin Qianyu petted the tiger for a while. Standing like this, her injured ankle was burning again, starting to swell. She quickly limped into the cave and sprayed some medicine in the outer room.
Seeing her inside, the tiger stood at the entrance, curiously looking around the cave.
The cave entrance was narrow and small. It tilted its head, trying to squeeze in to check on Lin Qianyu.
Lin Qianyu was still holding the anti-swelling spray when she suddenly felt all the light vanish. It was pitch black, like the clock had jumped to midnight.
A massive furry orange cat was now completely blocking the cave entrance.
Not a speck of light could get through.
Lin Qianyu couldn’t hold in her laughter. “Haha, silly, you can’t come in.”
She patted the tiger’s head in comfort. “Oh right, I want to show you something—it’s made from the fur I brought back last time.”
Lin Qianyu stood up, went further inside the cave, and brought out a needle-felted wool sculpture. She placed it in front of the tiger, illuminating it with the weak light from her smartwatch. “Look, doesn’t it look just like you?”
She had made the little wool tiger in her spare time after coming back. It was much smaller than the real tiger—its whole body wasn’t even as big as one of Da Ju’s paw pads.
The tiger could see just fine in the dark, so the light was really for Lin Qianyu’s benefit.
Da Ju first sniffed at the wool tiger, and its pupils—which expanded and contracted with the light—shifted repeatedly. Its vertical pupils suddenly dilated, head tilted side to side, and it brought its front paws together like it was about to pounce.
But the cave wasn’t big enough for that.
After more pupil changes, Da Ju carefully raised a paw and gently touched the felt toy. When it wobbled a bit from the poke, Da Ju quickly pulled back its paw and curled it beneath itself, staring unblinkingly at the little thing.
“Roar!”
Me!
Author's Note: Good night, sleep early, love every one of you.
Opened a new story for pre-orders: 《Metaphysics Expert Becomes the Real Heiress and Goes Viral Livestreaming Q&A》—please add it to your collection, pretty please~ ORZ (kneeling and begging) (updates will be daily post-VIP with minimum 10,000 words, mwah mwah mwah)