A-Dai

Meng Qilin was more generous than Bai Yaoyao had expected, having two huge basins brought straight over.

But Dark Night had too many people and beasts for that to last.

The mouthwatering aroma of meat even lured over Doggie and Big Meow, who had been lying on the ground refusing to get up.

Everyone except Little Crook got a few pieces, and they finished them in no time, licking their fingers and craving more.

Golden brown, crisp outside and tender inside, the meat was delicious and richly seasoned. Even though each of them only had a few bites, they felt filled with strength, as though the entire day's exhaustion had vanished...

"This is so fucking good! Way better than the stuff we roasted ourselves last time!" Xiao Shiliu said.

Stone agreed. "Delicious!"

"This flavor is unreal! Let's hunt a few ourselves tomorrow!" Monkey only spoke after swallowing his final bite.

"Yes, I strongly recommend hunting a few tomorrow!" Lulu raised an eyebrow at Bai Yaoyao.

"Awoo, awoo, woof, woof, awoo, awoo!"

"Meow! Meow!"

"Agreed! We'll go once tomorrow's mission is done! Then we'll bring them back and find someone to cook them. Let's not waste good ingredients by doing it ourselves!" Bai Yaoyao raised her hand in agreement.

"Hoho, now that's the right decision."

"Sister Yao, could I have some fried chicken too? I haven't eaten... uh, never mind..." Halfway through, A-Dai suddenly remembered getting caught wasting food that morning and didn't dare say another word.

Bai Yaoyao gave A-Dai a sidelong glance. She had no intention of indulging him.

In her previous life, there had been times when food was so scarce that she had to eat even an impossibly hard piece of bread carefully, making sure not to drop a single crumb. And now that they had plenty to eat and drink, he actually dared throw away the filling from his buns?!

Bai Yaoyao hadn't acknowledged A-Dai all day.

A-Dai was panicking and regretted it terribly. No matter how he apologized, Sister Yao simply wouldn't respond.

When he was little, his entire family had died overnight, and Master had taken him back to the organization. Frightened, he had been hostile toward everyone.

At first, plenty of people had comforted him. But as time passed, they stopped talking to him too. Only Sister Yao remained. She seemed tough and carefree, but she actually had the softest heart.

Once, Sister Yao had caught him drooling over fried chicken and fries on television. When she returned from a mission, she had specially bought him a Kids' Meal. The toy was a little ocher-colored truck.

Afraid the food would get cold, Sister Yao had sprinted all the way up the mountain until even her lips had gone pale.

He would remember the moment Sister Yao took the food out from inside her clothes and handed it to him for the rest of his life. All these years, he had always kept that little truck on him.

A-Dai also remembered every detail of that Kids' Meal: two fried drumsticks, two fried wings, a box of mashed potatoes, one pineapple pie, forty-three fries, two packets of ketchup...

Suddenly, A-Dai was afraid. The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt, until his eyes reddened. Even when he had stormed a foreign mercenary headquarters alone, he hadn't been this frightened. He was afraid Sister Yao would never speak to him again...

Bai Yaoyao had been keeping an eye on A-Dai's mood all along. The boy was sensitive and perceptive, and the sight of him hanging his head in misery finally softened her heart.

Forget it. Under normal circumstances, A-Dai would only be a middle schooler. Kids all make mistakes sometimes.

With a sigh, she tossed a packet of fries into A-Dai's pocket.

Feeling something in his pocket, A-Dai snapped his head up excitedly. "Sister Yao, I was wrong! I'll never waste food again!"

Maintaining her stern parental air, Bai Yaoyao gave a light cough. "Get back there and reflect on what you did."

"Hehe, got it!" A-Dai ran excitedly back to his tent.

Watching A-Dai go, Bai Yaoyao couldn't help breaking into a fond, auntie-like smile.

"Ah, the kid's hit his rebellious phase. It's nothing that serious. Don't be angry!" Fat Brother brought over a little folding stool and sat beside Bai Yaoyao, trying to comfort her.

"I know. But right is right, and wrong is wrong. When he's wrong, he needs to know it and correct it. Otherwise, his mistakes will only get more and more outrageous," Bai Yaoyao said sternly.

"Yep, Sister Yao's right!" Fat Brother gave her two thumbs up.

"Everyone, head back and get some rest. Xiaomi, stay a moment. I have something to tell you," Bai Yaoyao said.

Bai Yaoyao had already told Fat Brother and the others about the Spring Water. They were all her own people, so the order didn't matter, and naturally, no one minded.

"What's up, boss?" Xiaomi came over and asked. Without the Mutant Tiger meat, he might not even have been able to walk. He was exhausted; his legs had been shaking on the way back.

Still, training this way really did improve his strength quickly. It was well worth it.

Bai Yaoyao poured some Spring Water into a cup and handed it to Xiaomi. "Here, drink this."

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiaomi downed it. "What's this? It's really good. Kind of like lemon-flavored soda water."

"It's Spring Water that appeared after my space upgraded. I drank some yesterday, and it seems to improve your constitution, heal hidden injuries, and flush impurities out of your body," Bai Yaoyao explained.

"Holy crap, isn't this the Spirit Spring Peiqi said every novel protagonist needs? Sister Yao, what number male lead do you think I could be?" Xiaomi asked in surprise.

Bai Yaoyao: (๑＞؂＜๑)

"You still have enough energy to crack jokes? Go get some sleep." After saying that, Bai Yaoyao put a bathing tub in Xiaomi's tent and filled it with hot water, then set several thermoses beside it.

"Hehe, thanks for being so thoughtful, Sister Yao! A bath after a whole day of exhaustion? That's pure bliss!" Xiaomi scampered back.

Bai Yaoyao had meant to warn Xiaomi about the black sludge that would ooze out all over his body. She opened her mouth, then gave up. Remembering what a sorry sight she had been the night before, she figured letting everyone experience it would be just fine.

Good brothers should share both blessings and hardships, after all.

Bai Yaoyao explained the existence of her space to Big Meow, then took both beasts inside with her.

Big Meow felt he had made the most important decision of his feline life today: choosing to follow Bai Yaoyao!

Not only had he eaten dried fish, but he'd also had delicious mutant beast meat, and now he could rest somewhere without enemies at night. This was absolute bliss.

Of course, it would have been even better without that stupid dog around. They were both male beasts, so why did the dog look so... so indescribably idiotic?!

Bai Yaoyao made a circuit of her supply storage area, cleared out a new section, and sorted the supplies she had acquired that day into their proper categories.

Then she found several large boxes and sorted the Crystal Cores by tier. She would have more and more Crystal Cores in the future, so organizing them properly now would make them easier to use.

Bai Yaoyao felt she suffered from intermittent urges to do housework. Sometimes, she could be sitting around with nothing to do and still not want to work. Other times, she would be utterly exhausted yet feel like tidying things up. Like now...

Finally, she took out the cat tree, cat bed, litter box, and little fleece blanket she had bought before, and arranged a resting area for Big Meow.

Big Meow was very satisfied. If nothing else, the location was excellent: diagonally opposite the stupid dog's bed, a long way away.

His owner really understood him!