Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Maybe the forest really did fix her head and face at the same time

Xiong Baobao leaned closer, sniffed once with bear seriousness, then nodded. "She smells better too."

Lin Huahua covered her face with both hands. "Why is everyone saying this?"

Bai Ruyue pointed at her at once. "See? I knew I was not blind."

Ying Zhe nodded. "Everyone can see it."

Shui Lang leaned closer and said, "Maybe the forest really did fix her head and face at the same time."

Lin Huahua moved her hands and glared at him. "You are enjoying this too much."

"Very much," he admitted.

Lin Weishan frowned again, and Lin Huahua quickly saw that he was about to start another round of fatherly interrogation, so she immediately hugged Lin Xiaojiu closer like a shield. "I am hungry."

That worked.

For one second.

Then Lin Weishan narrowed his eyes. "Being hungry does not explain your face."

"It explains my mood," Lin Huahua said.

Bai Ruyue laughed and finally saved her. "Let her eat first. You can scare her with questions later."

Lin Huahua gave her mother a grateful look.

Just then, the hide curtain at the edge of the cooking space moved, and Feng Yiren finally returned.

He walked in with a woven basket tucked under one arm, his red hair slightly messy from the run, his lean bare chest shining faintly with sweat, and his fox tail swishing behind him in offended dignity. He had clearly gone fast despite pretending he had not, because his breathing was just a little heavier than usual. The moment he came in, his eyes first went to Lin Huahua.

Then to her brothers clinging to her.

Then to Mu Qingyi and Hu Baiyu standing peacefully nearby.

His expression became worse.

"So while I was sent away like a servant, you were collecting more males around you?" he asked.

Lin Xiaojiu puffed up. "We are her brothers."

Feng Yiren looked down at him. "Still male."

Xiong Baobao hugged Lin Huahua tighter. "She is our sister first."

Feng Yiren’s fox ears twitched. "She is my female first."

Lin Huahua immediately threw a small fruit at him.

He dodged with a grin.

Bai Ruyue’s eyes curved with amusement. "Yiren, did you bring what she asked?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Feng Yiren placed the basket near the fire with a little too much drama. "I brought the strange leaves, roots, and dried little things she wanted. Since apparently our great princess cannot eat normal roasted meat anymore."

Lin Huahua stood with great dignity, though Lin Xiaojiu still held her hand and Xiong Baobao was following right beside her like a young guard. She walked to the basket, looked inside, and nodded with satisfaction.

Her mother’s males all gathered closer.

Xiong Han frowned. "These are just leaves."

Ying Zhe picked up one sharp-smelling leaf and sniffed it carefully. "Some are used on wounds."

Bao Xun touched a dried spice fruit with one claw. "This one tastes bitter if chewed."

Shui Lang made a face. "I once ate that by mistake and regretted life."

Lin Huahua smiled.

A very proud smile.

"Watch this."

Everyone watched.

Lin Huahua rolled up her sleeves, then reached for one of the stone blades near the cooking area. Before her fingers could get too close to the hot stone beside the fire, Hu Baiyu had already moved. His big hand caught her wrist gently, stopping her before she could burn herself. Mu Qingyi stepped in from the other side and moved the blade to a safer flat stone. Feng Yiren clicked his tongue and pulled the hot stone back with a thick hide because apparently even while sulking, he still refused to let her burn her hand.

Lin Huahua stared at the three of them.

"I can do it."

"We know," Mu Qingyi said gently.

Hu Baiyu nodded.

Feng Yiren said, "You can do it without burning yourself if you let people move fire away from your tiny fingers."

Lin Huahua glared at him. "You are still annoying."

"And you are still welcome."

Her brothers looked at the three males with wide eyes.

Lin Xiaojiu whispered loudly, "They really changed. They used to look like they wanted to die whenever sister spoke."

Lin Huahua turned slowly. "I heard that."

Lin Xiaojiu hid behind Xiong Baobao.

Everyone laughed again.

Then Lin Huahua started working.

She crushed the sharp leaves first with a smooth stone, grinding them until their scent became stronger. Then she added the dried spice fruit in small bits, because even she knew that if she added too much, everyone might cough until their souls left their bodies. She asked Mu Qingyi for a little warm water, and before she finished the sentence, he had already placed it in her hand. Hu Baiyu stayed close, eyes fixed on her fingers. Feng Yiren crouched beside the meat with his arms resting on his knees, acting as if he was only watching to judge, but his red fox ears were turned fully toward her instructions.

She rubbed the crushed mixture onto the roasted meat, then cut a few shallow openings into the thicker pieces so the flavor would sink in properly. Xiong Han looked wounded when she said the meat needed to be opened more.

"It was already roasted well," he muttered.

Lin Huahua nodded seriously. "It was roasted. But it was lonely."

Xiong Han blinked. "Lonely?"

"Yes. The flavor is standing outside the meat. We need to invite it inside."

Shui Lang laughed so hard he nearly dropped his cup. "Invite it inside, she says."

Bai Ruyue watched her daughter with shining eyes, and although she was confused, she looked proud simply because Lin Huahua was confidently doing something with her own hands. Lin Weishan was also watching closely now, not with suspicion this time, but with a strange fatherly focus as if he was trying to understand when his daughter had learned to do such things.

The meat went back over the fire.

At first, nothing dramatic happened.

Then the smell began to change.

It started slowly, just a sharp warm scent rising from the leaves.