Chapter 243: Chapter 243: How Could You Bully An’an

"Maybe he didn’t know we came this way and went straight back to the cabin," Qiao Xixi said, shaking her head.

"That’s possible. Let’s head back too."

"Alright."

The cubs all ran to Qiao Xixi’s side.

"Mama, Mama! Xiya went into the sea and caught a huge Multi-legged Fish Beast for us! Look, it has so many long legs!"

Qiao Ang excitedly held up the octopus. It was huge—almost half his size.

Qiao Xixi looked at Xiya, a little surprised. "Xiya, did you catch this?"

Xiya lifted her small chin and nodded, looking like she was waiting for Qiao Xixi’s praise. "That’s right, Mama! This Multi-legged Fish Beast is really hard to catch. It’s easy to get tangled up in its legs, but I know how to handle it."

Qiao Xixi chuckled, ruffling her hair. "How is our Xiya so incredible? It looks pretty mean, though, so you have to be careful next time."

Xiya snuggled happily against Qiao Xixi’s hand. "I know, Mama."

"In that case, I’ll make you all a big seafood feast when we get back."

"Yay! Seafood feast!"

The cubs cheered with delight. It turned out they hadn’t just been fooling around; they were waiting on the shore to watch Xiya catch the beast. Of course, several adult merfolk had been watching over them. Otherwise, Xijing wouldn’t have felt comfortable letting the cubs play by the sea alone.

The adult merfolk were expert deep-sea hunters. It was safe to say they had hauled up every bit of seafood they could see and catch.

Qiao Xixi’s eyes lit up as she looked at the seafood they were carrying. ’What a magnificent haul!’

’Too bad,’ she thought. ’Although I have some seasonings in my storage space, the variety is still lacking. I’ve decided: once all our troubles are over, I’m definitely going to use my points to redeem some supplies to improve our quality of life and make up for these bland, soup-and-water days.’

There was only one log cabin in the woods, containing just a few tables and chairs and two small beds. If they were going to have a seafood feast, Qiao Xixi would have to take the pots, pans, and bowls out of her storage space.

The cubs were eager to help. Qiao Lie and Sangqi trailed after Sunxiao, wanting to learn how to prepare the seafood from him.

Qiao Qiao helped Jin Ling boil water and start a fire, while Feiyan took Xiya into the woods to gather firewood.

Meanwhile, Qiao Xixi took out some fruits from her storage space. She was washing several thumb-sized green fruits.

The little tiger cub circled Qiao Xixi curiously, her eyes fixed eagerly on the green fruits in her hands. She whined, nudging Qiao Xixi’s hand with her little head.

’Wanna eat, wanna eat~!’

"Mama’s good girl, this is spicy. You can’t eat it."

Huh?

The little tiger cub tilted her head in confusion, as if trying her best to decipher the meaning of Qiao Xixi’s words.

In the end, she still didn’t get it. ’But the shiny green fruit in Mama’s hand looks so, so yummy~!’

Qiao Xixi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the cub’s desperate expression. "You really want a taste?"

The innocent little tiger cub was so tempted she stuck out her tiny tongue.

Qiao Xixi broke open the green fruit and gently dabbed it on the cub’s tongue.

The little tiger cub froze. The moment she pulled her tongue back into her mouth, a fiery, stinging pain exploded on it.

"YOWLP~!"

With a mournful cry, the cub’s plump little body flipped over and started rolling on the ground.

"An’an! What’s wrong?" Seeing the little tiger cub’s distress, Qiao Qiao dropped her firewood and rushed over to scoop her up.

"WAAAH~~"

The little tiger cub, feeling utterly wronged, burrowed into her sister’s embrace.

"YAP! YAP! YAP!" She opened and closed her little mouth as if tattling on someone to her sister.

Qiao Qiao shot an accusatory look at Qiao Xixi. "Mama, how could you bully An’an!"

Qiao Xixi rubbed her nose awkwardly. "I didn’t! I just saw An’an was curious, so I wanted to let her get acquainted with the green fruit..." Her voice grew quieter and guiltier as she spoke.

The green fruit was actually more like a sweet pepper and wasn’t normally spicy. The poor cub must have just been unlucky; the one Qiao Xixi broke open just happened to be hot.

Qiao Qiao quickly carried her sister to get some water. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The little tiger cub didn’t stop until her belly was round and full. She finally collapsed into Qiao Qiao’s arms, her tiny tongue lolling out.

Jin Ling took the little tiger cub from Qiao Qiao and gently wiped the water from her mouth.

"Remember this," he said gently. "You can’t just try to eat everything you see next time."

The little tiger cub snorted and flopped onto Jin Ling’s shoulder.

Jin Ling carried her over to Qiao Xixi. Upon seeing Qiao Xixi, the little tiger cub huffed and buried her face in Jin Ling’s chest, refusing to look at her.

Jin Ling gently stroked the sulking cub in his arms. "Xixi, what delicious food did you prepare for An’an today?"

Qiao Xixi caught Jin Ling’s meaningful glance and said deliberately, "Well, I prepared lots of fish beast jerky. If I remember correctly, they’re the super tender jerky strips that An’an loves most."

The little tiger cub’s two furry ears twitched and shot straight up as she secretly listened in.

"Does An’an want some? How about you let Mama feed you?"

The little tiger cub’s paws tightened their grip on her father’s clothes. She cracked open her eyes to sneak a peek at Qiao Xixi. When she saw Qiao Xixi gazing at her with a smile, she quickly turned her head back into her father’s embrace.

Qiao Xixi figured the green fruit had left the little tiger cub with a tiny bit of trauma. So, when it was time to eat the fish jerky, she insisted on staying in Jin Ling’s arms and having her father feed her. Whenever Qiao Xixi approached, the cub would bury her face in Jin Ling’s chest, and no amount of coaxing could change her mind.

’Alright,’ Qiao Xixi admitted to herself, ’I scared the poor cub.’

But cubs are truly forgetful creatures. After she had eaten her fill, she was once again looking for Qiao Xixi to lull her to sleep. No matter how Jin Ling held her, she just couldn’t get comfortable.

"Come here, come to Mama’s arms!"

Left with no choice, Jin Ling handed the cub to Qiao Xixi.

"I’ll handle things out here," Jin Ling said. "You take An’an to bed. She’s getting bigger, and she’s heavy."

"Okay."

Qiao Xixi lay on the bed, patting the little tiger cub rhythmically. The little one snuggled tightly against her and, breathing in her familiar scent, quickly fell asleep.

Once she was sure the cub was fast asleep, she carefully got out of bed. As she stepped outside, she saw Feiyan returning, shouldering a large tree stump. There were too many of them to eat inside the cabin, so he had gone to fashion some simple tables and chairs.

The moment Qiao Xixi stepped outside, she was greeted by the aroma of grilled seafood. Jin Ling was just brushing on the prepared sauce, adding the finishing touch.

"It smells amazing."

Jin Ling picked up a squid skewer, blew on it to cool it down, and held it to her lips. "Have a taste."

Qiao Xixi happily took a bite. The flavor was so exquisite she thought her tongue might fall off.

"It’s delicious!"

"Everything’s ready. Go on and sit down."

"Alright."

Qiao Xixi called the cubs to the table, and Jin Ling and the others brought out large platters of grilled seafood and a seafood hot pot.

Qiao Xixi and Sangqi looked around at the same time, asking in confusion, "Why isn’t Sangze back yet?"

"Where on earth did my father go?"

Feiyan frowned. "I just did a loop through the woods and didn’t see him. He shouldn’t be wandering off during the daytime. I’ll go look again."

Just as Feiyan turned to leave, his fox ears suddenly shot straight up.