Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 286 - 187: Mutant Wolf Beast + This Fish Is So Pretty
"Without Chi Li, many sick people in the tribe might have died. Song Yi works tirelessly every day, leading patrols around the area—sometimes for an entire day. And if it weren’t for Xi, the tribe wouldn’t have had so many Water Beastmen join us..."
Gu Yin wanted to tell her that when a female gives food or gifts to other males, it means she likes them and wants to take them as her mates. But—
But when he met her clear, guileless eyes, the words caught in his throat.
He could only swallow his intense jealousy and say slowly, "Alright, go on. It’s a little cold outside, so be sure to bundle up."
He didn’t want her to think he was a petty male. ’Even though I am incredibly petty and get insanely jealous of others.’
So, An Jin went out during a lull in the snowfall. The diligent Beastmen had cleared the snow from the paths, so her way was clear. She delivered the scarves to Chi Li and Song Yi one by one.
Both of them were incredibly surprised and happily accepted the gifts. Chi Li immediately tied his scarf around his neck, while Song Yi folded his neatly and stored it in a wooden box.
On her way home, she ran into Xi, who was just returning from a swim in the river. Seeing his face flushed red from the cold, she took the opportunity to wrap the scarf around his face. "Hasn’t the river frozen over?"
"Of course it has! It’s a thick layer. I smashed a huge hole in it with a rock so I could go for a swim!" Xi said nonchalantly, his voice muffled by the fabric. He pulled the scarf down from his face, settling it around his neck and chin.
"Hey! There’s a little fish on here! This isn’t supposed to be me, is it?"
"It is."
Xi was about to complain that the stitched fish was hideous and didn’t capture even one percent of his beauty, but then he heard the female’s happy voice. "Do you like it? I made this scarf just for you, by hand!"
Hearing this, his azure eyes widened slightly. He quickly and preciously took the scarf off, gently brushing away a few snowflakes that had landed on it. "I love it! It’s beautiful! This little fish on the scarf looks exactly like me! Ah Jin, you’re amazing!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Xi was a natural when it came to laying on the flattery.
An Jin just smiled, not taking his compliments to heart. She took his cold, red hand and tucked it into her pocket, and the two of them walked back to the wooden cabin together.
In the following days, the snow fell even heavier, and the temperature plummeted to dozens of degrees below zero. Most of the Beastmen obediently stayed huddled in their homes, no longer venturing outside.
When their water jug ran dry, An Jin and Gu Yin went to the water pipe to fetch more, only to find it had frozen. Icicles shaped like water droplets hung from the spout.
Many other Beastmen had also come for water, but when they found it wouldn’t even drip, they had no choice but to endure the sub-zero temperatures and haul their stone vats to the river.
"Clan Leader, what’s going on? The water won’t come out. Several of us tried working the pump handle together, but we couldn’t get a single drop."
The Beastmen grew worried. ’Is the pipe broken?’ They were all terrified, each one carefully trying to remember if they had used too much force on the handle earlier.
"Don’t worry," An Jin explained. "It’s just frozen because of the cold."
"The water in the river is constantly flowing, so it doesn’t freeze. Most of the pipe is buried underground, where the temperature is higher than the air, so that part shouldn’t be frozen either. That means the only part of the pipe that could be frozen is—"
She had Gu Yin bring over a few pieces of Energy mine and a flint. He placed them at the mouth of the pipe and lit them. "It must be frozen right here at the spout. We just need to melt the ice inside."
Sure enough, as the high heat gradually melted the ice inside the spout, water began to SPLASH onto the ground.
An Jin called over the few Beastmen who were waiting nearby to fill their containers. She then had them find some dry grass and animal hides. "The temperature has been too low lately, and the pipe could easily freeze and crack. You can use these materials to insulate the spout by wrapping it in several layers."
Her thoughts then turned to the livestock pen. According to the Beastman in charge of the animals, many lambs and calves had recently been born.
In these frigid conditions, with temperatures still dropping, the young newborns were at high risk of freezing to death.
An Jin hurried over to the livestock pen to check on the situation. Before she even got close, she saw that the animal shed was damaged in several places.
A hailstorm the day before had damaged the flimsy roof of the shed, and a good deal of snow had fallen inside.
"BAA~" The sheep and cattle were shivering from the cold, huddled together in a corner. The newborn lambs, whose wool hadn’t fully grown in, looked especially pitiful, their skin red from the cold.
Several had already closed their eyes, their breathing stopped.
"Where is the Beastman in charge of this shed? Why wasn’t a situation this serious reported to me? The roof is letting in snow, didn’t you think to patch it?"
She had another Beastman find the one responsible for the shed. He was immediately met with An Jin’s sharp criticism. He lowered his head, his face flushing red with shame. "The... the weather has been too cold. I haven’t been out in a few days... I didn’t know..."
"You’ll forfeit half of your food rations for this month. See that this doesn’t happen again." Though An Jin was usually gentle with the Beastmen, that didn’t mean she had no limits.
’She had no patience for Beastmen who neglected their duties.’
A clear system of rewards and punishments was a necessary tool for any leader, and a guarantee of maintaining stability. An Jin had always been fair and just.
