Chapter 2: Miserable, but somewhat deserved

Qiao Xixi felt embarrassed. In her memories, because the living environment was so harsh, food on the ice plains was extremely scarce.

The four of them were weak and young; they had no way of catching larger prey and could only go into ice caves to catch fish-beasts.

But they often came up empty-handed, living a miserable life where they went hungry for nine out of every three meals.

Yesterday, Qiao Qiao and the others had finally managed to catch two fish-beasts, but before they could even eat them, she, as their female parent, had snatched them away and hidden them.

A biological mother snatching food from her children and watching them starve—it wasn't surprising at all that these cubs would grow up to be great villains.

Qiao Xixi let go of her hand, her features softening as she looked at Qiao Ang with a serious expression.

"If you want to eat, just tell your female parent. I will give it to you."

Just as Qiao Xixi finished speaking, she saw Qiao Ang roll his eyes.

"Stupid female, you only know how to snatch our food. You won't give us anything."

Qiao Xixi fell silent. The original owner indeed wouldn't.

In the original novel, because she had repeatedly snatched the cubs' food, they had held a grudge against her.

After they grew up to be great villains, they personally stuffed food into her mouth until she choked to death, and finally threw her corpse to the wild beasts to be devoured.

Thinking of her own end, Qiao Xixi's brow furrowed. It was tragic, yet somewhat deserved.

Fortunately, the cubs were still small; there was still time to improve her relationship with them.

Qiao Xixi forcefully grabbed Qiao Ang's hand and picked up the remaining fish-beast head from the ground.

"It's not that I won't let you eat, but our food is limited right now. If we eat it all at once, what will we do when we're hungry again?"

Qiao Ang tried to break free from Qiao Xixi's hand, but she was holding on far too tightly.

Hearing her words, Qiao Ang's light brown fox eyes looked at her curiously.

Why was this stupid female telling him this? Since when did she explain herself after snatching their things?

Hmph, she was clearly lying to him; he would never believe this stupid female!

"Stupid female, what exactly do you want to do?"

The female parent stopped walking and turned back to look at him. "Call me female parent."

Qiao Ang gave a huff.

Qiao Xixi didn't argue with him; instead, she led him to an ice cave.

"Go into the ice cave and help your female parent get that beast-hide strip."

Qiao Ang frowned his beautiful little brow and didn't move. "Stupid female, what exactly are you doing?"

Qiao Xixi shook the fish-beast head in her hand and smiled. "You'll know in a moment. Be good, go quickly."

Qiao Ang froze, staring at her smiling face.

This stupid female had never smiled at them before; the looks in her eyes had always been filled with disgust because she felt they were a burden.

"Help your female parent. Once we catch a fish-beast, your female parent will give it to you to eat."

Qiao Ang wanted to refuse, but looking at Qiao Xixi's gentle, smiling face, he inexplicably let out a grunt and ran into the ice cave.

Taking advantage of the gap while he was gone, Qiao Xixi looked toward the ice cave. The faint sunlight spilled across her face, and her shadow was reflected on the ice surface.

She had long silver hair. Looking closely, one could see a strand of snow-white hair and a strand of crimson hair tucked within the silver.

In the beast world, this was a symbol of a female having mated with a male; a strand of the male's hair color would remain in the female's hair.

Some females with many beast husbands would have multicolored hair; hers was already considered quite rare.

However, she did not notice the two different strands of hair hidden behind her head.

She had a very delicate oval face, but because she had been malnourished for a long time, her cheeks had become so thin they were sunken.

This actually made her eyes look larger. A small red mole hung at the corner of her eye, adding a touch of charm to her somewhat innocent face, complemented by a delicate nose and cherry-like lips.

She had no doubt that if she were well-nourished, this face would be incredibly beautiful.

It was just that her face was somewhat dirty, looking as though it hadn't been properly washed for a long time.

But she didn't have the courage to wash her face or bathe with ice water; if she caught a cold from the freezing water, she would be left to die.

Qiao Xixi didn't gaze for long before the ice layer on the cave pulled her back to reality.

A layer of ice had already formed over the cold storage; to fish, she would have to break through the ice layer.

Qiao Xixi picked up a large chunk of ice from the side and smashed it toward the ice cave.

It wasn't until her hands were almost frozen stiff that she finally smashed through the layer of ice on the cave.

Enduring the biting cold, Qiao Xixi scooped out the broken ice from the cave, nearly crying from the freezing sensation.

A moment later, Qiao Ang returned with the beast-hide strip.

This was a scrap of bear fur they had scavenged on the ice plains earlier, which looked like a rope.

Qiao Xixi tied the fish-beast head to the hide and threw it into the hole in the ice.

Qiao Ang grew anxious at the sight.

"Stupid female, how can you throw away food!"

With a flick of his large, snow-white tail, Qiao Ang reached into the ice hole, wanting to fish out the fish-beast head Qiao Xixi had thrown in.

Qiao Xixi was quick-handed and grabbed his tail, pulling him to her side to prevent him from moving erratically, lest she scare the fish-beasts away.

"Don't move, I'm fishing for fish-beasts."

Qiao Ang's furry ears twitched, his small face filled with confusion.

"What is 'fishing for fish-beasts'?"

In the beast world, the beastmen had no concept of fishing; if they wanted to eat, they had to go into the water and catch them alive. This showed how difficult it had been for the little cubs to catch those fish-beasts a few days ago.

"It means putting bait that fish-beasts like into the water, and once it bites the bait, we catch it."

Qiao Ang seemed to understand but wasn't quite sure, looking at Qiao Xixi skeptically.

As they spoke, a gust of cold wind blew past, making Qiao Xixi hurriedly hug Qiao Ang to protect him from the freezing wind.

Qiao Ang suddenly lunged into Qiao Xixi's embrace. Feeling the warmth of her hold, his entire being froze in shock.

What was wrong with this stupid female today? She actually hugged him?

Qiao Ang's expression changed abruptly, and he pushed Qiao Xixi away with force.

"You stupid female, are you trying to take advantage of me not paying attention to throw me into the ice cave to freeze to death?"

Qiao Xixi pressed her forehead in exasperation.

"I was just trying to shield you from the cold wind."

Qiao Ang didn't believe her at all, snorting, "Stupid female, I won't believe your lies."

Having said that, fearing Qiao Xixi might grab him, he turned and ran.

Qiao Xixi felt helpless; improving her relationship with the cubs was a long road ahead; she had to fill their bellies first.

She stared intently at the ice hole, waiting until her legs went numb and the beast-hide in her hand showed no movement.

But she patiently waited. Just as her face was about to go numb from the freezing wind, the hide in her hand finally moved!

Qiao Xixi gripped the hide tightly, pulling it up bit by bit following the force underwater.

After a long while, she finally saw the head of a fish-beast emerging.

Qiao Xixi immediately picked up a nearby chunk of ice and smashed it violently against the ice hole.

She stopped only after smashing it several times in succession.

When Qiao Xixi walked over to look into the hole, a smile finally appeared on her stiff face.

"Great, we won't have to go hungry today."

The fish-beast head had attracted several fish-beasts, and her recent smashing had knocked them all unconscious.

Qiao Xixi pulled the unconscious fish-beasts up.

To be fair, resources in the beast world were actually quite abundant; a single one of these fish-beasts could weigh over ten pounds; they were not small at all.

With a total of five fish-beasts, she could at least guarantee they wouldn't go hungry for two days.

Qiao Xixi was too cold; fearing she might suffer frostbite, she could only pull the fish into the ice cave to store them first.

Just as she finished putting the fish-beasts away, she heard a sound of arguing coming from outside.

Worried that something had happened to the cubs, Qiao Xixi hurriedly ran out of the ice cave.

Running a distance toward the sound.

In an instant, she saw a small, crimson python coiled around a white bear cub.

The white bear cub's face was turning red from being constricted, looking as though it was about to run out of breath.

The crimson snake head slowly lifted, its blood-colored pupils narrowing into slits, as it opened its fangs to bite the white bear cub.

Qiao Xixi's expression changed drastically.

(End of Chapter)