I Don't Believe It, Unless You Let Me Taste

Soon, they heard the sound of flowing water.

Xiao Qing spotted the stream and let out a hiss.

Then she slithered forward, making her way to the water's edge.

Without any hesitation, she went straight into the water.

??

"The weather's hot, and Xiao Qing actually went in for a bath."

'Is Xiao Qing planning to take a bath before dinner?'

"What does this mean? It means our Xiao Qing is a Bamboo Viper who loves cleanliness."

"Haha, since when did Xiao Qing become yours?"

Lin Xuan set the hare aside and pulled out the dagger he carried at his waist.

He gripped the knife, slit open the rabbit's mouth, then cut through the skin and flesh around it. He peeled the skin back toward the neck, trimming the ears when he reached them, and finally worked the pelt down like a scarf.

Once the skin was pulled down to the neck, he tied a rope around it to hang the rabbit, making it easy to continue peeling. The trickiest part was around the front legs—here, he had to be careful, or it would easily get stuck. Many people accidentally tore the rabbit skin at this spot.

After handling that, Lin Xiong reached his fingers between the skin and meat, separating the fat layer, then used his fingers to detach the skin from the flesh before pulling it down further.

Now the front legs came off easily. When he reached the leg, he used one hand to pull the leg out and the other to grip the skin, not afraid of tearing—it wouldn't tear.

Halfway through, he used the dagger to cut through the skin and leg bone together.

Once the front legs were out, he could simply grab the skin and pull it down, easily drawing it all the way to the rabbit's rump, then snipped off the tail.

At this point, the rabbit skin was almost fully removed. The back legs were handled the same as the front—cut off when only bone remained.

A complete rabbit pelt was now skinned.

"The streamer's skill is impressive—did you learn from someone?"

"With this skill, if you became a skinner, you'd probably be amazing."

"Yeah, with this craft, even if you stop being a ranger, you'll have no trouble finding work."

"Some restaurants that sell rabbit meat could hire the streamer."

"Haha, isn't being a ranger easy enough? Spending every day with animals—I envy that life. Why would you look for another job?"

The whole process didn't take many minutes—just seven or eight, and it was done.

Lin Xuan used the dagger to cut off a bit of rabbit meat, shaping it into strips.

"Xiao Qing, come on, time to eat."

"Hiss~"

Xiao Qing, who had been playing in the water, lifted her head at Lin Xuan's voice and quickly crawled toward him.

"Haha, Xiao Qing looks just like a little kid—when an adult calls for dinner, they run fast."

"No kidding. I remember when I was little, my parents called me to eat, and I ran even faster than Xiao Qing."

Xiao Qing arrived in front of Lin Xuan, staring at the strip-shaped meat in his hand.

He placed it on a rock so Xiao Qing could eat on her own.

The little one came up to the meat strips, opened her mouth, and swallowed the rabbit meat piece by piece into her belly.

"Mmm, watching Xiao Qing eat makes me feel a bit hungry too."

"Upstairs, no way—Xiao Qing eats raw meat, are you eating raw meat too?"

"Xiao Qing eats like a lady, taking it slow."

"Haha, upstairs, snakes aren't like us humans."

"After all, a snake's mouth and head structure mean it can't tear like other animals—it can only swallow."

"But seriously, the streamer is really thoughtful. He knew that if the rabbit meat was too big, Xiao Qing would have trouble swallowing, so he specially cut it into strips. That way, it's easy for Xiao Qing to eat."

"Yeah, the streamer thinking of that shows real care."

Lin Xuan didn't leave her to eat alone. Instead, he rinsed the blood off the rabbit meat in the stream, along with his own hands.

He also cleaned the rabbit pelt—it was a complete skin, and once dried, it could be used for other things later.

He prepared five strips of rabbit meat for Xiao Qing. After she finished, Lin Xuan smiled slightly.

"Little one, are you full?"

"Can you crawl back? If not, I'll carry you."

Xiao Qing flicked her tongue, then coiled around Lin Xuan's thigh, her dark, shiny eyes fixed on him.

Her behavior was just like a little kid who didn't want to walk and wanted an adult to carry them.

'Haha, come on up, I'll take you back.'

"But you know, after eating, you still need to exercise. I don't want you to grow into a fat snake."

"Boo, streamer, how can you say that? Xiao Qing is a girl—you can't call a girl fat."

"That's right, us girls hate it when people say we're fat."

"And some guys, when they chat, ask about our weight—those are a girl's private matters, how could we just tell them?"

"Upstairs, the streamer wasn't talking about you. Besides, isn't there an old saying: walk after a meal, live to ninety-nine?"

"The streamer's just looking out for Xiao Qing. If Xiao Qing gets fat later, she'll become lazy."

"As the saying goes, people get lazy when they're fat; some people, once they're big, don't want to move."

"Upstairs, I suspect you're hinting at me."

Lin Xuan let Xiao Qing come to his hand, watching the livestream room's bullet comments, and smiled: "Everyone, I'm just concerned about Xiao Qing. After all, if Xiao Qing gets fat later, I might not even be able to lift her with one hand."

"When that time comes, if she wants to come up, it won't be possible either."

"I'm not hinting at anything, oh."

"Look, one comment from you, and the streamer had to explain himself."

"Haha, streamer, it's fine, we're just joking around. We know you're looking out for Xiao Qing."

"After all, I think Xiao Qing looks great the way she is now, and she's very slender."

"This is good enough."

"Yeah, I feel like Xiao Qing is fine just like this."

"But streamer, you should still supervise Xiao Qing sometimes, make her exercise more. We don't want to see a fat snake one day."

"Alright, it's getting late. I'm taking Xiao Qing back to the car."

"I caught a rabbit today. Tonight's dinner is roasted rabbit meat. Even though you all can't taste my cooking, you can watch me eat through the livestream."

Lin Xuan said with a grin.

"Mmm, streamer, you're teasing us. I want to taste roasted rabbit meat too."

"The streamer only says that because he knows we can't eat it. If we went to the streamer's place, wouldn't he treat us?"

"Haha, everyone, if you come to my home, I'll definitely treat you. If there's a chance, you can all taste my cooking."

"To be honest, my cooking skills are pretty good."

"Oh really? I don't believe it, unless the streamer lets me try."

"Right, I don't believe it either. I want to try too."