Chapter 86

Chapter 86

“Hiss… Don’t bite me, how am I supposed to make fish soup with one hand.”

Lin Qianyu leaned over the edge of the box and placed her hand on the white lion’s belly, giving it a good rub.

The white lion rolled over, turned its back to her, but still looked back.

Lin Qianyu didn’t mind—wherever she could reach, she touched. It was all fluffy anyway, and she gave it a thorough tousle, leaving its fur in a complete mess.

“Roar!” The white lion, while grooming its disheveled fur, grabbed Lin Qianyu’s wrist in its mouth and tried to pull her into the box.

To protect the last piece of intact clothing she had, Lin Qianyu shifted her body sideways into the box and ruffled the white lion some more, saying, “How about moving the box into the house? So it doesn’t get soaked in the rain.”

The wooden box hadn’t been treated in any way—if rain seeped into the gaps, it would easily grow mold there.

Once the mold spread, the whole box would rot. It was just a matter of time.

With the wooden house to shelter it, it might last longer.

As she spoke, she noticed the white lion had already smoothed its fur, so without hesitation, she reached out and ran her hand in the opposite direction across its belly fur—right in front of the white lion’s face, before it realized what she was doing.

The freshly groomed fur instantly turned into a tangled mess again.

The white lion paused mid-lick, eyes fixed on Lin Qianyu without blinking, stunned into silence.

【Hahaha, too cruel! How can she bully such an honest little white cat like this?】

【I do this too! My cat grooms with its back to me now. The moment it sees me, it stops.】

【Is the white lion about to get mad? Will we witness a one-on-one showdown between the lion and Lin-jie today?】

“Nope.” Lin Qianyu rejected the idea succinctly upon seeing the comment. She curled her fingers and brushed the fur smooth again. “Come on, out you go. Let’s put the box inside the house.”

The weather had been unpredictable lately, changing without warning.

Lin Qianyu tried to drag the wooden box, but it didn’t budge. The grass was slippery, making it hard to even stand firm, let alone exert force. And with the white lion still inside, the weight had doubled—if it were just the box alone, she could’ve managed.

Seeing this, the white lion jumped out, bit one side of the box, and helped Lin Qianyu drag it.

Thankfully, the house didn’t have a threshold; otherwise, they’d have to lift the box over it to get it inside.

They placed the wooden box in a corner—if the white lion liked it, it could use it as a bed.

The box was spacious enough for the white lion to stretch out completely, with plenty of room to roll around comfortably.

Once the box was in place, the white lion couldn’t wait and climbed back inside.

“Not going hunting?” Lin Qianyu poked its forehead with a smile. “I didn’t bring any meat. What are you going to eat today?”

The white lion didn’t care about food at all. Its chin rested on the edge of the box, relaxing completely and sprawling out comfortably inside.

Judging by its demeanor, it wasn’t hungry yet, so Lin Qianyu said no more. “I’ll go tidy up the house. Oh right… the hides are still a bit damp. I’ll toast them by the fire before laying them in for you.”

Those hides had been with Lin Qianyu for a while now.

But with the on-and-off rain these past few days, even when the sun did come out, it wasn’t strong enough to dry them fully.

Drying had already been slow, and the recent rain made it worse.

As she was saying this, and just as she turned around—

It started raining again.Fortunately, a rain canopy had been set up between the two houses.

The structure of the canopy was the same as the original palm-leaf shelter: build a frame, then lay palm leaves on top. Simple, but effective.

Most of the palm leaves Lin Qianyu had brought were used for this purpose.

The white lion lay inside the box, lost in thought. When it noticed Lin Qianyu leaving, it slowly turned its eyes and nudged its way into the corner of the box.

But given the white lion’s size, only its nose could really fit into the corner. In such a small space, even stretching out a paw might get it stuck.

When Lin Qianyu returned indoors, the little wolf pup and the young cheetah had already run in and were diligently grooming their fur.

Only, they weren’t grooming themselves—in the tight space, they’d been licking and realized after a while they were cleaning each other instead.

Maybe they’d gotten a little wet in the rain when coming inside, but now they were all clean.

Lin Qianyu shut the door, walked to the window, and reached out to check. The rain hadn’t blown in, so she withdrew her hand from the wooden support on the window and sat down at the table. “This rain seems heavier than yesterday.”

She placed the ostrich egg cup near her hand, picked up the sweater needles she’d whittled from wood, and sighed lightly while looking at the sky outside. “Little Wolf and the others should be finding shelter somewhere, right?”

With rain falling outside, she didn’t want to go out either.

Mainly because she had no clothes left. She needed to hurry up and knit herself a new set. Right now, even at home, she was already wearing animal hides.

Perhaps because Prairie Island was less dangerous than Rainforest Island, the director had increased the difficulty to keep the survival experience authentic.

Being without clothes really was troublesome.

Lin Qianyu had collected all the fur shed by her furry companions at home—not just from sheep.

Mainly because there weren’t enough sheep. Getting enough wool for one outfit from multiple sheep was just too much work.

Any animal hair with a good sheen and soft texture could be used to knit.

By now, Lin Qianyu had accumulated quite a bit of yarn—enough to knit one full outfit. “Once the Prairie Island segment ends, there probably won’t be any more needle-felting prize draws.”

Because she had already used up most of the fur making yarn. She still needed yarn, so naturally there wasn’t any spare fur for felting crafts.

The fur colors from her furry companions were all different, so the twisted yarn didn’t really have a definite color. But as long as she had usable yarn, she wasn’t picky about the color.

As the clothing grew piece by piece, she measured and continued knitting—better too big than too small.

Even though it was raining outside, the lighting wasn’t affected, and she didn’t even need to turn on a flashlight.

Lin Qianyu stitched carefully.

Clunk—a dull thud sounded as something heavy hit the wood.

Whatever small animal had made the sound outside seemed stunned, clinging to the window, then its tail twitched and it fell.

It looked like a squirrel at first glance, but on closer inspection, its markings and tail were completely different… A squirrel?

A ground squirrel.

They were good at digging burrows but not good at climbing—so why had one fallen from above?

Ground squirrels lived in colonies, with up to thirty individuals in a group.

Unlike regular squirrels, ground squirrels didn’t curl their tails slightly inward. Instead, they had big, fluffy tails.This tail can help them attract a snake’s attention, and when danger is detected, they can use tail movements to signal the warning to their companions.

It can also be used to raise body temperature, and when sleeping, the tail serves as a blanket.

The appearance of the ground squirrel made the grassland wolf, who had been lying down resting in the room, immediately stand up and cautiously approach, observing what the ground squirrel was going to do.

The ground squirrel that had fallen from the roof was already quite embarrassed, and now, being stared at by the grassland wolf, it felt like all its fur was about to puff up.

Lin Qianyu raised her hand to calm the alert grassland wolf, then handed over the scallop shell on the table filled with cut fruit. “Want some?”

They were all freshly cut, the surfaces hadn’t even oxidized yet.

Ninety percent of a ground squirrel’s diet is seeds, but right now Lin Qianyu didn’t have anything besides tree seeds.

And tree seeds probably didn’t count as part of the ground squirrel’s food category either.

All she had on hand were salted meat and wild fruits—salty food would burden an animal’s kidneys, so she could only share the fruit.

The ground squirrel blinked its bright little eyes, and with its two small paws carefully nudged a piece of wild fruit near the edge, then picked it up and took a bite.

Lin Qianyu sipped some water and asked, “Are you alone? Did you get separated from your group?”

“Goo!” The ground squirrel nibbled in small bites, but it wasn’t slow—holding the chunk of wild fruit, it rotated it around as it ate, finishing the piece quickly.

As it ate, it suddenly nudged toward the edge of the windowsill.

Just as Lin Qianyu was wondering if the wind had blown some rain inside and was thinking of blocking it with something, she saw another ground squirrel slowly poke its head out from the spot earlier.

It cautiously revealed only a paw, then its head. Seeing that Lin Qianyu didn’t react, it slowly climbed up, even its grip was extremely careful.

Judging by the look of it, Lin Qianyu had no doubt that if she so much as lowered her hand right now, the ground squirrel would shoot off and vanish ten meters away.

They were probably familiar companions.

As Lin Qianyu set down her cup, the ground squirrel that had just climbed up instantly slipped and dropped.

It happened so fast that in her field of view, it looked like it fell straight down.

But it hadn’t leapt off—it was still clinging on by its paws.

The fruit-eating ground squirrel freed one paw and patted downward.

Where it hit wasn’t clear, but with a solid thud, it definitely used some force.

There was enough fruit in the shell dish for them to eat—two more wouldn’t be a problem.

Still, it was just the two of them this time—no sign of more ground squirrels joining.

But… why would ground squirrels come into the white lion’s territory?

Perhaps because white lions don’t care about these small, non-threatening animals. It only sounds an alarm when a real predator approaches.

Lin Qianyu picked up a wild fruit from the other side of the dish with a small pick and casually asked, “Did you come here to forage?”

The ground squirrel shook its head, and amid the crunch crunch sounds came a muffled chirp.

Lin Qianyu didn’t understand it, but before she could ask more—

The other ground squirrel spoke: “Goo!”You're really quite the fine lion.

Lin Qianyu paused with the water cup at her lips. “Pfft… cough cough!”

She nearly choked on the mouthful of water.

Good thing she reacted quickly, or the table would’ve suffered.

This side of the house was larger, but fur pelts were limited.

So Lin Qianyu had prioritized spreading them out where the fluffy ones slept. The floor over here had nothing.

Luckily, there weren’t enough pelts to cover the whole area—if it had been, she would’ve had to take out the damp ones and wash them.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling helpless as she thought, I know why you’re here now.

Must’ve been those big-mouthed lions spreading it around again.

Coming here just to see the good-tempered lion.

【Light rain, agile little spirits on the grasslands, wooden house, windowsill, writing desk. Tsk—Lin-jie, get out and let me in. I love this environment.】

【If the director ever opens a Wilderness theme park, I’ll be first in line to buy tickets!】

【Seriously gives the vibe of a secluded master living in harmony with the little mountain animals—joyful and relaxed.】

【Now this is living. With Lin-jie leading the way, the other guests are also building wooden cabins, but… the results… let’s just say they vary.】

In rainy weather like this, palm-leaf shelters don’t hold up for long.

They might be fine for one night, but after that, they leak like a waterfall cave, no matter who built it.

Sometimes, water from the night before collects on the leaves, and if it isn’t cleared, it might all fall at once. If you’re unlucky enough to be underneath, you’ll be soaked like a drowned rat.

Though the director gave strict instructions that the other guests weren’t allowed to watch Lin Qianyu’s stream mid-broadcast…

…the viewers in the livestream rooms were free to wander.

Seeing that condensation had already started forming on top of Yin Youlin’s shelter, they immediately began giving warnings.

Some even suggested he follow Lin Qianyu’s example and build a proper wooden hut.

Several fans went so far as to post building tutorials directly in the chat.

Unnoticed, the plate of wild fruits had been nearly polished off. Now full and content, the ground squirrel lounged shamelessly on the edge of the extended wooden platform of the cabin.

It must have felt assured that Lin Qianyu wouldn’t hurt them, and thus fully relaxed.

The sun wasn’t too hot, but this spot was dry, and the slanted sunlight filtering in was quite warm.

Lin Qianyu took a small towel and draped it over its belly. Then her nose twitched. “Achoo!”

She furrowed her brows and rubbed the tip of her nose with a curled finger. “Am I catching a cold?”

She felt a bit fatigued. Last time she’d shown early signs of a cold, she had managed to hold it off with hot water.

Without fever reducers or anti-inflammatories, getting sick would be a hassle.

After thinking it over for a moment, Lin Qianyu decided to put aside the half-finished sweater and picked up her cup to go outside and boil water.When building the wooden house, it was inevitable to get caught in the rain.

But every time after being rained on, she'd always bathe with pre-boiled hot water mixed with cool water.

She hadn’t shown any symptoms before.

Now that the house was complete and the move-in done—

Basically, everything busy had settled down—only now was she starting to feel a sore throat and sneezing.

“Having some ginger would be so nice.” Lin Qianyu was crouched by the firepit, trying to start a fire with a fire-drill. The rain was still falling, and in this kind of weather, fire-starting was extra difficult.

Even though she had prepared in advance for days of rain, storing up fire-starting materials, the drizzle still made the task more difficult.

Lin Qianyu directly moved aside the stones under the firepit. This firepit was newly dug, the soil not yet completely dry. With the repeated soaking from rain, who knew what it was like inside—it looked completely wet from the outside.

She’d left a large opening at the bottom. Lin Qianyu reached straight into the pit and began drilling to start the fire.

With the cover, the smoke rose quickly.

Lin Qianyu cleared her throat and couldn’t help but cough. But once it started, she couldn’t stop. “Cough, cough—cough cough!”

At first she thought it was just smoke irritation, but after coughing for a while, her throat actually felt worse.

It was a piercing pain, like being stabbed with needles.

Lin Qianyu rubbed her sore eyes, now completely certain: this was another cold coming on.

【Are there any cold remedies in the wild?】

【@Director Su, our Lin-jie is sick. You know what that means? Trending topic. Got it?】

【If you know what’s good for you, get that medicine into Lin-jie’s hands. Don’t blame us fans if we run to Rainforest Island and tattle to Big Orange.】

【LMAO wow, you’re ruthless.】

But jokes aside, the rules of season two of the show clearly stated: no clothes, no medicine provided.

The only exceptions were emergencies—like eating poisonous mushrooms or being bitten by venomous snakes or insects. But if you got the antidote, it also meant your live broadcast was over.

Requesting medicine for a minor cold just wasn’t realistic.

Lin Qianyu poked the fire, occasionally adding some dry leaves to build it up.

She noticed the chat had already shifted to debating how to “rob the director remotely,” and some even offered to exchange livestream gift money for medicine.

Just as Lin Qianyu was about to speak, her voice came out especially hoarse. She cleared her throat and tried again—still low, but not quite as bad as before. “It’s just a cold. A little hot water and a nap, I’ll be fine. No need to worry.”

She’d been sick before too. Back then it was likely from exhaustion; this time it was probably due to getting rained on and chilled by the wind.

But in any case, it wasn’t serious. Her immune system should be able to handle it.

Once the water boiled, Lin Qianyu pushed the stone back into place and wrapped herself in her coat, not rushing back into the house. She warmed herself by the fire under the eaves.

Seeing that the chat was still focused on her getting sick, Lin Qianyu changed the subject: “The little wolf is back.”

“Looks like it brought back some prey too.” Lin Qianyu cradled the ostrich egg water cup in her hands for warmth, blowing on it and sipping slowly. Steam rose from inside, and she drank very slowly.

“Wooo…” The steppe wolf dropped its prey from a distance, shook the water off its body outside, and then carefully padded under the window eaves, watching Lin Qianyu intently.The small animals keenly sensed that Lin Qianyu wasn't feeling well.

“It's nothing, just a little cold.” Lin Qianyu raised her hand, intending to hug the little wolf like she always did when it returned from a hunt. But just as she reached out, the steppe wolf backed away and didn’t come closer.

The steppe wolf shook its fur from a distance. But having been out in the rain for a long time—even if the rain was light—it had accumulated, and by now its fur was soaked. Shaking it off wouldn’t dry it.

It tried licking itself, but that didn’t help either.

Realizing why the little wolf was keeping its distance, Lin Qianyu turned and went back inside to get a compressed towel. She tossed it over the little wolf’s head and gave it a vigorous rub. “There, that’s better.”

The steppe wolf poked its head out and nuzzled her neck.

“You’ve all eaten dinner, right? The cubs haven’t been fed yet—make sure they eat. And Bai Shi…” Lin Qianyu was about to say that since Bai Shi hadn’t gone hunting, he should come eat—but when she looked through the rain canopy toward that side—

The white lion, who she'd last seen napping and rolling around in the box, was now nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he went hunting.

Lin Qianyu yawned. “Then it’s fine. You guys handle it yourselves, I won’t help with cutting today.”

She’d drunk more than half of the water in her cup, and her body was starting to warm up. Holding a compressed bath towel, she called out, “Come here, I’ll dry all of you off.”

“Woo!” The little wolf bit the towel from her hand, turned, and tossed it to the wolf pack, then nuzzled and nudged her gently with its snout, as if trying to push her back toward the room.

Lin Qianyu was pushed along, “Mmm… fine, I’ll rest. I haven’t finished my water though.”

“Awoo!”

After she went inside, the steppe wolf closed the door behind her.

A while later, it came in again, holding the strap of the ostrich egg cup in its mouth.

Lin Qianyu lay in bed. When she was sitting by the fire earlier, she’d felt okay. But now that she was lying down, a deep soreness seemed to seep from her bones.

The water cup the little wolf placed on the wooden nightstand—she didn’t even feel like reaching for it.

She simply pulled the furs tightly over herself. “Little wolf, I’ll sleep for a while. Call me when Bai Shi comes back tonight.”

The steppe wolf jumped onto the bed and lay beside her. “Woo.”

—The next morning.

When Lin Qianyu opened her eyes, it was still dark.

Her clouded mind made it hard to tell what time it was.

She had that strange feeling of being out of place in time, as if waking up in another world.

Instead of checking her watch for the time, her first instinct was to reach toward her side—but she didn’t touch the little wolf.

It had returned so late from hunting last night. By all logic, it shouldn’t have gone out this early again.

Lin Qianyu squinted her eyes and let out a soft breath.

The livestream equipment hung in the corner. Its blinking red light was particularly visible in the dim room.

With a hoarse voice, she said, “Morning.”

Just one word, and it felt like she was barely breathing it out.Lin Qianyu touched her forehead with the back of her hand—still a slight fever. Her mouth felt dry and hot. She picked up the cup on the table, wanting to take a sip to cool down the heat inside her.

After all, with the temperature of the grassland at night, water left out all night should’ve turned cold by now.

But the moment she held the cup, feeling the warm steam in her palm, she froze.

“Don’t tell me… I didn’t sleep all night?” Why was the water still hot?

She quickly glanced at the time—4 a.m.

The windows in the room weren’t open, and all the cracks were sealed with mud. Light from outside only barely filtered through the window seams and didn’t illuminate the room at all.

“Did the little wolf heat the water?” Lin Qianyu recalled that the fire pit hadn’t been put out when she came back last night.

The rack that held the water cup’s string was right next to the fire pit.

The little wolf often saw her using that setup to warm water, so it must’ve been familiar with it.

Helping her heat water wasn’t exactly unthinkable.

“My little wolf is so considerate,” Lin Qianyu blew on the water and took a sip. “Knows I’m sick and even made sure to prepare hot water.”

Still, feeling overheated, she really wanted something cold to bring down her temperature.

After a few sips, she put the cup down. Her hand brushed against a palm leaf nearby. She paused. “Did I put this here?”

The fuzzy creatures in the house almost never placed anything on the table. Even back in the old shelter, they didn’t.

Maybe they considered the table Lin Qianyu’s personal territory and never touched it.

Thinking about it, she couldn’t recall placing the leaf there. So she asked, “What is this?”

【No idea, it was already there when the stream started.】

【I’m reporting this! The little wolf beat up the livestream equipment while you were asleep!】

Lin Qianyu lifted the palm leaf—underneath was a bowl of porridge, served in one of the household’s coconut bowls. Warm, golden millet porridge.

“…The little wolf cooked porridge for me?” Just saying it made the word absurd flash through her mind.

【Huh?】

【Seriously?! Damn, a three-dish-one-soup meal from the little wolf is just around the corner.】

【If it’s a fake script, I’ll criticize it. But if it’s this outrageously fake, I honestly can’t stop watching.】

Lin Qianyu didn’t explain much to the livestream viewers. She went out and opened the door—only to hear voices faintly outside.

“You have to simmer this over low heat.”

“Roar!” Even Bai Shi’s roar was deliberately subdued, less aggressive than usual.

“Hss… don’t bite me! How am I supposed to make fish soup with one hand?”

The cheetah lowered its body and hissed, “Haa!”

“Seriously, it’s just fish soup, it’s not—okay, okay, stop biting, I’ll add more fire and cook it faster, alright?”

“Awoo!”Feng Jingye’s helpless voice came again: “Stop biting, aren’t I already making it? Can you all be reasonable—roaring back and forth like this, I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“Awoo!” Bai Shi leaned in with its mouth wide open—just a bit closer and it could practically swallow Feng Jingye whole.

Feng Jingye: “……”

He stayed silent, while his hands quickly added more firewood to the pit.

Author’s note: Some information about ground squirrels was sourced from the internet.

No midnight update today—haven’t slept all day, my brain’s buzzing. I’ll go to bed early and write when I wake up. Good night, sleep well, love you all.