You Nian spent the entire morning catching fish.
The midday sun was fierce. Its rays stung her skin like golden needles.
To avoid heatstroke, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. With the sun not yet at its highest point, she decided to hurry and prepare all the fish so she could take them back.
You Nian had just picked up her fish basket to carry it to the river when the weight in her hands felt wrong. She frowned and paused.
“These fish must weigh at least dozens of pounds altogether. Did I really catch this many big ones?”
She bent down and carefully checked the fish in her basket. Something felt strange, but there hadn’t been anyone else around her just now.
“Never mind. I’ll thank nature for the gift.”
Whoever it was, they hadn’t meant her any harm. It wasn’t as if they’d swapped the big fish for little ones.
Of course, it was also possible she’d spent too long in the sun and was a bit dazed, and had simply misremembered.
Squatting on the riverbank, You Nian took out her boning knife and began cleaning the fish. She scraped off their scales one by one, removed their innards, and rinsed them with river water.
By the time she’d finished, the riverbank around her had been stained bright red.
You Nian felt as though she’d been cleaning fish at a seafood market for ten years. Her heart had turned cold.
She hoisted the basket, now packed with cleaned fish, onto her back and headed home with a full load.
After she had gone some distance, an enormous white snake’s head slowly emerged from the grass. Its pupils were long, narrow, and green, full of wildness.
Its mouth kept flicking out a long, bright-red tongue, as if carefully committing the female’s scent to memory.
You Nian returned to the cave where she and her cub lived.
She twisted another length of grass into a cord and hung most of the fish from it. To keep other animals from stealing them, she hung them right outside her cave.
“Mother! Mother’s amazing! So many fish!”
As a member of the cat family, Little White Tiger loved the fishy smell. He sat at the cave entrance, tilting his head as he gazed at the long string of fish and swallowed repeatedly.
It wasn’t just the fish hanging from the cord—even their shadows swaying in the sunlight tempted him.
You Nian saw right through him and tapped his forehead.
“You little glutton! They’re all raw, so you can’t eat them yet. I’ll make you fish soup in a bit.”
“Yay! Soup!”
Little White Tiger was overjoyed. He spun around twice on the spot. Remembering that Mother needed firewood to cook, he dutifully went to gather some dry branches to start the fire.
Her cub was so sweet and sensible.
You Nian found herself thinking more and more: What good were males?
Her own cub was the only one she could really count on—obedient and sensible, and always there to make her feel good.
You Nian put the cleaned fish into an iron pot, added water, covered it with a lid, and let it simmer over a low fire.
“I wonder if there’s salt in this Beast World. Wild animals can drink blood raw and eat organs to replenish salt and trace minerals. But people can’t go without salt for long. It’ll cause problems, and they’ll lose their strength.”
You Nian thought it over carefully. Unfortunately, information was hard to come by, and she lived in such isolation that she had no way to find anything out.
She didn’t even know whether she was living inland or near the coast.
You Nian thought about it. Fish soup without any seasoning was simply awful—fishy and bland.
When she was little, her parents had believed a folk remedy that children should only drink fish soup without salt.
They’d poured unsalted fish soup into her bottle and made her drink it.
The fishy taste had seared itself into her hippocampus. Even being reincarnated hadn’t made her forget it.
Without further hesitation, You Nian opened the System Shop and found the household supplies section.
【Pepper】Price: 5 system points.
【Salt】Price: 1 system point.
【MSG】Price: 3 system points.
To maintain her quality of life, rather than live like a wild beast that ate raw flesh and drank blood just to stay alive, she bought a packet of salt and a packet of MSG. Remaining system points: 331.
“If I use this salt sparingly, it should last at least a month. Before then, I’ll ask around and see where I can get more.”
You Nian lifted the lid and sprinkled in a small pinch of salt. After another ten minutes or so, the fish soup had turned a lovely milky white.
Only then did she add the MSG. If she added it too early, it would lose its savory flavor, so it had to go in after the soup was cooked.
She let the soup cool a little before sharing it with Little White Tiger.
The moment he took a sip, Little White Tiger’s eyes widened.
“Mother, this soup is so yummy!”
You Nian couldn’t help laughing. What did beastfolk know of the rich flavors of modern seasonings?
And this was only the most basic seasoning. She hadn’t even brought out any of the more elaborate stuff yet.
When she had more system points in the future, she might be able to redeem oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and spices.
With so much fish stored up, food wouldn’t be a problem for now. Over the next few days, You Nian soon came up with a new idea.
“I can’t just hunt and eat meat every day. I need to get some dietary fiber now and then, too.”
Pondering, You Nian opened the seeds section and found that she could grow wheat, chili peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and more.
【Potato Seeds】Price: 10 system points. 【Sweet Potato Seeds】Price: 10 system points.
【Chili Pepper Seeds】Price: 10 system points. You Nian didn’t hesitate. She knew these would all be necessities in the future, so she spent thirty system points and bought them all.
That left her with only 301 system points.
“Points should be spent on what matters. Tomatoes and the like are still too much of a luxury. I should start with crops that yield a lot and can withstand frost and drought.”
Sweet potatoes and potatoes fit the bill perfectly. As for the chili peppers, she bought those entirely out of personal preference.
They said people in some mountainous areas had little oil or salt and always needed chili peppers to make their meals appetizing. She was no different now.
You Nian hoisted a hoe over her shoulder and quickly cleared a patch of ground in front of the cave. Then she returned to her old field of expertise—farming.
She swung her hoe, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Far away in the mountains, a white snake coiled around the crown of an ancient tree watched the scene a thousand meters away.
Confusion clouded its green eyes. It seemed unable to understand why a perfectly good female would dig up the soil.
“Could she be a female of the mole tribe?”
“Or is she just a silly little thing who likes playing in the dirt?”
Baixi writhed his body, still unable to make sense of it. From watching her over the past while, he’d learned that she was a female living alone.
For some unknown reason, she hadn’t joined a tribe.
Or perhaps she’d become separated from the people of her original tribe.
But she had a tiger cub, and strange wings had grown on its body.
Baixi was a little disappointed to realize that You Nian already had a beast husband.
Only after watching her for several days did he confirm that no male was there to accompany or protect her.
Baixi understood the situation to mean that You Nian’s original male had died while hunting.
He could barely contain his excitement, as if he’d stumbled upon some rare treasure.
The ancient tree creaked and cracked as he tightened his long, thick body around it.
She had no one to rely on now and had to raise her cub alone. It must be hard for her.
That meant his chance had come.
His rut was almost due, too. If he mated with her now, she could lay snake eggs before winter.