Every Beastman’s room had the same layout, and each contained the same number of potted plants: four.
Each potted plant was about half a person’s height.
Jiang Mian hugged a potted plant, but the green foliage was taller than her, completely blocking her view.
She could only tilt her head slightly to see the ground.
But as she was heading out, she still managed to trip on the threshold.
Just as she thought an accident was about to happen, a strong hand from beside her grabbed her arm, steadying her.
Jiang Mian glanced to the side and saw Rong Fei, who was holding a potted plant half a person’s height with one hand while his other held her arm.
His demeanor was as composed as ever, and he made holding the large potted plant with one hand look effortless.
“Be careful.” Rong Fei glanced down at her, then withdrew his hand.
“Thanks,” Jiang Mian said, giving him a small smile.
Rong Fei’s silver eyes paused for a moment.
A flicker of inscrutable coldness seemed to flash through them, but he revealed no flaws, simply offering a faint, gentle smile.
“It’s nothing.”
Jiang Mian couldn’t tell if Rong Fei was being sincere or just putting on an act, but for now, her impression of him was quite good.
After thanking him, she hugged the large potted plant and took small steps toward the kitchen.
She had asked them to help move all the potted plants to the kitchen, which would make it easier for her to use the kitchen tools for extraction later.
As Jiang Mian passed through the living room, she saw the three men sitting in their separate corners.
‘Once these nutrients are extracted, everyone will have to drink them,’ she thought.
‘How can these three get away with not working?’
“Li Yan, you go move them too.” Jiang Mian started giving orders.
“Lin Yu, Zhao Ci, you two come with me.
I have something for you to do.”
Worried they wouldn’t listen, she added, “No work, no food.
You have to put in the labor to get the reward.”
Li Yan stood up briskly, an eyebrow raised.
The row of red studs above it glinted.
“I’d like to see what kind of tricks you’re trying to pull.”
With that, he obediently went to help Jiang Mian move the potted plants.
Jiang Mian decided to overlook his insolent tone for now.
As long as he did the work, it was fine.
A tall, slender figure also rose from the sofa.
Zhao Ci’s beautiful, amethyst-gold eyes held a cold glamour.
One side of his ethereally handsome face was adorned with a purple-gold shimmer, like that on a butterfly’s wings.
It was stunning.
It was undeniable that he was breathtakingly beautiful, a magnificent and vibrant sight that could capture anyone’s attention with a single glance.
But his gaze fell upon Jiang Mian as if he were looking at trash.
His lips moved, and he let out a soft sneer.
“You guys can play on your own.”
Without another look at Jiang Mian, he turned and strode away on his long legs.
Jiang Mian watched him leave, her initially sullen mood inexplicably dissipating when she saw the two small, amethyst-gold butterfly wings that had unfurled on his back.
Unlike the colossal wings from last night that had blotted out the sky, these had shrunk, now only reaching the length of his arms.
One small amethyst-gold wing was spread normally, while the other was wrapped in layer after layer of bandages.
‘It’s…
strangely cute and miniature.’
Jiang Mian was genuinely charmed for a moment.
Besides, with the little wing wrapped in white bandages, it looked so pitiful.
‘That’s right.’
‘Such a cute little wing was broken.
It’s injured, so he definitely needs to rest properly.’
Jiang Mian retracted her gaze.
Lin Yu had already walked up to her side.
She glanced at him and smiled.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Toward Lin Yu’s familiar face, Jiang Mian always had a little more patience and sentiment.
Lin Yu’s weary, cold eyes were half-closed.
Jiang Mian had already taken the lead and walked off.
He stood in place for a moment before slowly following.
‘Who is she looking at through me?’
Jiang Mian led Lin Yu to the kitchen and said, “It’s very simple, Lin Yu.
Pull all the plants out of these pots, put them aside, and then wash them clean!”
“Mm,” Lin Yu replied noncommittally, his voice barely audible.
He squatted down and began to work on the potted plants.
After the plants were pulled out, Jiang Mian moved the pots, now filled only with soil, back to her own room.
She was like a busy little bee.
Lin Yu cast an imperceptible glance at her briskly moving figure before quickly looking away.
‘So full of life.’
‘She’s like a completely different person from before.’
He lowered his eyes with cold disdain, his entire being exuding a dark, chilling aura.
After Rong Fei and the others finished moving the potted plants from the rooms, Jiang Mian had them move the pots of soil to her room as well.
The flurry of activity finally came to an end.
Standing in the kitchen, Jiang Mian looked at the four Beastmen before her and nodded in satisfaction.
“Alright, thank you for your hard work, everyone.
You can go rest now.”
Lin Yu didn’t say anything and was the first to turn and leave.
Li Yan stared at her unblinkingly with his cold, dark eyes and asked, “What exactly are you planning to do?”
Chi Lin also blinked and said with a smile, “Sister, are we eating these potted plants tonight?
No matter how bad they taste, I can eat them.”
“You’ll find out later,” Jiang Mian said casually.
“Okay, I’ll wait for sister’s surprise,” Chi Lin said with a brilliant smile.
After he left, Li Yan simply sized her up one last time before leaving as well.
Soon, only Jiang Mian and Rong Fei remained in the kitchen.
“Hm?
Aren’t you going back to rest?” Jiang Mian had been about to go rest herself, but seeing that Rong Fei hadn’t left, she thought he might need something and asked.
Rong Fei slowly walked to the sink, holding out a pair of long, slender hands covered in mud.
Without looking at Jiang Mian, his long lashes lowered as he stared at his own hands and replied flatly, “No, just washing my hands.”
“Oh, okay,” Jiang Mian replied.
As she quietly turned to leave, she glanced at Rong Fei washing his hands out of the corner of her eye.
Water flowed from the faucet, running over his muddy, slender fingers.
His fingers were long with well-defined knuckles, and faint blue veins were visible.
The water had already washed away the mud, but he kept scrubbing the same spot over and over until the pale skin turned a sickly red.
Jiang Mian suspected he was trying to scrub off a layer of his own skin.
She quickly averted her gaze and left.
‘That guy Rong Fei seems to have a serious obsession with cleanliness.’
Jiang Mian couldn’t be bothered to think about it too much.
She’d been busy for half the day; it was time to go lie down.
‘After spending half a day with them, maybe, possibly, they don’t actually want to kill me after all?
They just hate me, right?’
Dinnertime arrived.
Usually, Rong Fei would be in the kitchen cooking at this hour, but today, they were out of ingredients.
For reasons unknown, Rong Fei headed toward the kitchen.
The kitchen light was on.
Someone was inside.
Jiang Mian only had five tubes of nutrient solution left, but there were five Beastmen to feed.
She had to be frugal.
‘It’s hard to make something from nothing.’
So, she decided one tube of nutrient solution, diluted with water and heated up, would have to do for tonight.
Rong Fei stood at the kitchen entrance without a word, simply watching Jiang Mian’s back.
He saw that the plants hadn’t been processed yet.
‘Looks like she isn’t planning on extracting nutrients from them after all,’ he thought.