Feng Yiren paused and looked at her. Mu Qingyi also turned. Even Hu Baiyu leaned in a little, because the second she spoke in that thoughtful tone, all three of them immediately paid attention. Since yesterday, every time Lin Huahua looked at food and then started talking like that, something delicious usually followed.

"What do you mean?" Mu Qingyi asked gently.

Lin Huahua hesitated for only a second before the new cooking knowledge the system had stuffed into her head earlier began stirring into place. "Open it more along the side," she said, gesturing with her hand. "Not too much. Just enough. And then put some of the spice inside too. If the fire only cooks the outside while the inside stays plain, what is the point?"

Feng Yiren’s red eyes sharpened with interest at once. Whatever else he was, the fox was clever, and he knew a useful idea when he heard one. So without arguing, he adjusted the cut and started rubbing the spice deeper in. Mu Qingyi watched carefully, then nodded as if he had learned something important.

Lin Huahua saw that and unconsciously lifted her chin a little. Her tail gave one tiny proud flick under the furs.

Of course she knew things.

Maybe not everything. Maybe not fishing. Maybe not how to walk on terrible stone roads without looking attacked by the ground. But food? She was improving. Her father should see this. In fact, if he could see her now, sitting with three beautiful beastmen around a fire and directing fish seasoning like some primitive-age princess chef, maybe he would finally admit that she was working very hard.

Then again, knowing her father, he would probably only say something evil like Good, continue.

Just imagining that made Lin Huahua huff softly.

Mu Qingyi noticed the huff immediately and looked at her face first, then at the water cup in case she wanted more, then at the small leaf plate of cut sweet fruit nearby in case she needed something light while waiting. That was simply how his attention worked. The moment her expression changed, his mind began checking possibilities.

"Do you want fruit first?" he asked softly.

Lin Huahua blinked, then looked at the cut fruit and realized she actually did feel a little hungry in that soft tired way that came after a long, overwhelming day. She nodded once.

Before she could reach for it herself, Hu Baiyu had already taken the plate and held it closer. Then, because he had seen her jaw move with a faint discomfort earlier when she spoke too much, he actually selected one of the softer pieces first and offered it to her with his fingers.

Lin Huahua paused.

Then blushed.

Then leaned in and bit it because refusing would only make this more awkward.

Hu Baiyu’s eyes softened so much after that that even Feng Yiren looked offended on principle.

"Why does he always get those moments?" Feng Yiren muttered under his breath.

Mu Qingyi heard him and said calmly, "Because you keep talking."

That made Lin Huahua laugh.

Feng Yiren immediately looked at her as if he had been unfairly wounded. "You are laughing at me after I helped make your fish good?"

"You bullied me at the river," Lin Huahua said, still smiling a little. "This is your punishment."

"That was not bullying. That was teaching."

"That was bullying."

"It was skilled demonstration."

"It was bullying with extra showing off."

Mu Qingyi shook his head lightly while Hu Baiyu looked between them with quiet confusion, though the lion’s expression clearly said that whatever name they gave it, Feng Yiren had deserved to get chased by bees and would deserve it again if he repeated the same behavior tomorrow.

By the time the fish was finally ready for the fire, the cave had grown warmer and more comfortable. The smoke drifted upward in familiar thin streams, the stone walls glowed softly in the firelight, and Lin Huahua had relaxed enough that her tail was no longer curled defensively around her body. It now rested loosely beside her, occasionally moving when one of the males said something especially stupid.

Mu Qingyi laid the fish over the flat heated stone near the center of the fire, while Feng Yiren adjusted the angle so the heat would reach it evenly without burning the spice too quickly. Hu Baiyu sat close to Lin Huahua, not touching her constantly, but close enough that if she even leaned a little, she would end up against his side.

None of them said it, but after what had happened earlier, all three males were more alert than usual to her smallest signs. If she shifted and looked uncomfortable, one of them noticed. If she rubbed her feet together, Hu Baiyu’s gaze dropped there immediately. If her shoulders rose as if she felt cold after the bath, Mu Qingyi quietly adjusted the fur at her back. If her lips parted just a little when the smell of roasting fish and spice deepened, Feng Yiren’s fox tail gave a smug sweep that clearly said he knew his seasoning was working.

When the first fish was done, Mu Qingyi brought it over carefully, but before handing it to her, he sat down close and began removing the small bones one by one. His fingers were patient. Very patient. He checked each strip twice before setting it on the leaf plate for her.

Lin Huahua watched him do that and felt something warm tug at her chest again.

These males really were too much.

Feng Yiren saw the expression in her eyes and immediately pointed at the plate. "Do not look at him like that only. I seasoned it."

Hu Baiyu leaned closer too and gently touched the plate once, then his own chest, clearly claiming that he had helped by catching the fish and bringing her here safely.

Lin Huahua looked at the three of them and almost wanted to laugh again.

"So this fish belongs to all of you?" she asked.

Feng Yiren grinned. "Obviously."

Mu Qingyi smiled softly. Hu Baiyu nodded.

Lin Huahua picked up the first piece and tasted it.

This time the flavor really had reached deeper. The fish was soft, smoky, and rich in a way that surprised her, and even though it still did not compare to the endless advanced foods in the sci-fi world, it felt real and warm and made by hands that cared whether she liked it.

She swallowed, then looked at them and said honestly, "It is good." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

That one sentence was enough to make all three of them visibly pleased.

Mu Qingyi’s whole face softened. Feng Yiren looked unbearably satisfied. Hu Baiyu’s lion ears twitched with joy, and if he had been in his beast form, he probably would have purred again.

Then, because the whole atmosphere had become much lighter, Lin Huahua asked again, now with full judgment in her voice, "But truly, you used to just eat fish raw?"

Feng Yiren lifted his chin. "We survived, did we not?"

Lin Huahua looked him over, then said very seriously, "That explains a lot."

Mu Qingyi laughed softly into his hand.

Feng Yiren narrowed his eyes in fake offense.

Hu Baiyu looked at Lin Huahua, then at Feng Yiren, and the lion’s expression somehow managed to say yes, that really does explain a lot without a single word.

And for the first time since evening had settled over the cave, the room filled not with tension or fear or shame, but with warmth, the sound of soft laughter, and the strange comfortable feeling of a little family gathered around a fire, sharing fish, teasing one another, and pretending that perhaps nothing in the world outside the cave could touch them for one more night.