Chapter 141: Chapter 141: How can everyone eat like this every day?

Beside him stood the bear beastman, broad and heavy with scarred shoulders, the hawk beastman with sharp eyes and still wings folded behind him, and the black panther beastman who moved so quietly that Lin Huahua only noticed him when his tail shifted in the firelight.

Her mother smiled immediately. "Huahua, you came."

Lin Huahua nodded and was set down carefully on a thick fur, though Mu Qingyi did not step far from her after placing her down. Hu Baiyu sat close at her side. Feng Yiren leaned behind her with his arms crossed, still looking like he had been wronged by the entire world.

Then Lin Huahua looked at the food.

Her smile slowly faded.

There was roasted meat.

Lots of roasted meat.

Thick pieces of meat.

Huge pieces of meat.

Meat on flat stones, meat on wooden skewers, meat being turned over the fire, meat piled in leaf plates.

And nothing else.

Lin Huahua stared at the food with growing disbelief.

Then she looked at her mother.

Then at Lin Weishan.

Then at the bear beastman.

Then back at the meat.

"This is all?" she asked before she could stop herself.

The whole area went quiet.

Her mother blinked. "All?"

Lin Weishan frowned slightly. "Is the meat not enough?"

The bear beastman looked personally offended, as if the roasted meat had been his life’s achievement. "I hunted that before the gathering."

The hawk beastman tilted his head, sharp eyes watching Lin Huahua with curiosity. The black panther beastman said nothing, but his tail gave one slow movement behind him.

Lin Huahua realized at once that everyone was confused.

Because to them, this was a good meal. Maybe even a great one. Fresh roasted meat from a strong beastman’s hunt. In this primitive world, that was already enough to make many females happy.

But after the roasted fish with spices, after learning that even simple herbs could make food taste so much better, Lin Huahua simply could not look at this mountain of plain meat and pretend everything was fine.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "We cannot keep eating like this in our tribe."

Her mother looked even more confused. "Like what?"

"Plain," Lin Huahua said, pointing at the roasted meat. "It is only meat. No sharp leaves, no sweet root, no crushed spicy fruit, no smell that makes you want to cry from happiness. How can everyone eat like this every day?"

Lin Weishan’s face became strange. "Because it is food."

Lin Huahua looked at him as if he had personally offended her stomach.

Feng Yiren’s mouth twitched behind her.

Mu Qingyi lowered his head slightly, already understanding what she meant. Hu Baiyu’s ears perked too because he knew exactly where this was going. Her males were the only ones who were not confused, because they had already seen Lin Huahua turn normal meat and fish into something mouthwatering with those so-called leaves and useless plants.

Lin Huahua turned slowly toward her three males.

She needed herbs and spices from the cave.

The question was who to send.

Her gaze first went to Mu Qingyi.

The deer beastman stood there looking gentle, helpful, and ready to do anything she asked. He would go immediately if she told him. He would not complain. He would probably return with the herbs, three extra useful plants, and a cleaned basket because that was just the kind of male he was.

No.

She could not send him.

He was too helpful. It felt wrong.

Her eyes moved to Hu Baiyu.

The lion beastman looked at her with soft blue eyes, his white lion ears forward, his injured shoulder still faintly marked from the merman fight. He was also cute. Too cute. He rarely stressed her, and he had been bullied enough today.

No.

She could not send him either.

Then Lin Huahua’s eyes landed on Feng Yiren.

The fox immediately narrowed his eyes.

He had clearly realized something bad was coming.

Lin Huahua smiled.

Feng Yiren’s red ears twitched. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lin Huahua pointed toward the cave path.

"Go back home and bring the herbs and spices we used for fish. The sharp leaves, the sweet root, the spicy fruit, and the basket with the dried things."

Feng Yiren stared at her.

Then he slowly looked at Mu Qingyi.

Then at Hu Baiyu.

Then back at Lin Huahua.

"Why me?"

Lin Huahua did not even hesitate. "Because you bullied Baiyu this afternoon."

Hu Baiyu blinked.

Mu Qingyi turned his face away slightly, clearly trying not to smile.

Lin Huahua’s mother covered her lips with one hand, and her eyes curved with laughter.

Lin Weishan’s brows rose, but the corner of his mouth also moved slightly. Even the bear beastman let out a rough cough that sounded suspiciously like he was hiding laughter.

Feng Yiren looked deeply wronged. "I did not bully him."

Lin Huahua looked at him.

Hu Baiyu looked at him.

Mu Qingyi looked at him.

Feng Yiren’s confidence weakened by one small but visible amount.

He clicked his tongue. "Fine. We will all go."

"No," Lin Huahua said immediately. "You go alone."

Feng Yiren’s red fox tail puffed a little. "Why should I leave while they stay with you?"

Lin Huahua lifted her chin. "Because I said so."

The fox looked like he wanted to argue more. In truth, it was not that he did not want to bring the herbs. If Lin Huahua wanted something, he would bring it.

Even if she wanted a flower growing on top of a cliff, he would curse the whole way and still climb.

His real anger was that while he was gone, Mu Qingyi and Hu Baiyu would stay beside her, sit close to her, receive her smiles, and maybe even get praised by her while he had to run back like a servant.

That was unacceptable.

So Feng Yiren turned his eyes toward Lin Weishan, perhaps hoping the Rat King would say something fair.

Lin Weishan looked back at him.

The Rat King’s gaze was calm, but it carried the weight of a father who had heard his daughter ask for something and expected obedience.

Feng Yiren immediately swallowed his words.

He was only two-striped.

Lin Weishan was three-striped.

Also, this was Lin Huahua’s father.

Very bad combination.

Feng Yiren forced a smile that looked nothing like a smile. "Fine. I will go." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Lin Huahua’s tail gave a proud little swish.

Feng Yiren saw it.

Oh.

So she was proud now.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and in his heart, a wicked fox plan began forming at once. He would go, yes. He would bring the herbs, yes.

He would even bring extra good ones so the night food tasted amazing and everyone praised her. But later, when they returned to their cave, he would definitely get back at her for sending him away like this.

He would not forget.

Feng Yiren turned and walked away, his red tail swishing with offended pride, while Lin Huahua sat on the fur with a satisfied expression, completely unaware that she had just made a fox remember revenge for later.

Her mother finally laughed softly and touched Lin Huahua’s cheek. "You really are different now."

Lin Huahua blinked innocently. "Am I?"

Mu Qingyi smiled.

Hu Baiyu nodded silently.

And from the path, Feng Yiren’s voice came back faintly. "Do not eat all the good pieces before I return."

Lin Huahua cupped her hands around her mouth and called back, "Then run faster."

A loud fox-like curse came from the distance, and the whole family side finally burst into laughter while the fire crackled under the plain roasted meat that was about to learn, very soon, that Lin Huahua had arrived to change its fate.