Chapter 25

Xie Juanhan scooped up a little ice cream and asked curiously, "Do they have ice cream here? I don't think I've seen many people selling it."

"They do, but only in winter," Telingewei said. "There isn't much of it around here. In inland cities farther north, they sell a kind of ice pop called a 'footless bird ice pop.'"

What a strange name! Xie Juanhan asked, "What kind of ice pop?"

A smile appeared on Telingewei's face. "Winters are very cold there. When it's coldest, a bird can freeze its toes off if it isn't careful. That's when they make ice pops to sell."

Xie Juanhan asked, "Are they good?"

"They taste terrible," Telingewei said. "But they're fun."

"Humans freeze those ice pops very hard and wrap them in paper when they sell them. Buyers tuck them under their arms and take them home to eat by the fire."

"It's so cold that by the time they walk home from the street, the ice pops are usually still hard. They have to gnaw on them, and their lips are frozen bright red by the time they finish."

Xie Juanhan looked down at the scoop of ice cream on his gold plate. "Then I prefer this kind of ice cream."

Telingewei gently scooped some up with his gold spoon and raised it in a toast. "Me too."

==========Author's note:==========

See you tonight!

Chapter 25: Chapter 25 [VIP]

Evening.

When Xie Juanhan returned from hunting and gathering in the forest, he saw a little Companion Beast lying on each of the tree-stump chairs lined up outside his door.

The wind blew the little ones' long fur over their faces.

At a glance, Xie Juanhan could barely tell their heads from their tails.

He hung his basket under the eaves, walked over and picked one of them up.

The little one didn't tense up at all. Its body stretched out long in his hands like flowing water, and it merely swished its tail when he picked it up.

He checked it over and, finding nothing wrong, put it down and picked up another to examine.

After checking them one by one, he went inside and brought out some small blankets, covering each fluffy little creature with one.

The little ones didn't move at all. Wrapped in their blankets, they soon fell asleep again.

Only when Xie Juanhan had nearly finished making dinner did the little ones jump down from their chairs and amble over to beg him for food.

Xie Juanhan had already prepared dinner for them.

When they came over, he served it to them.

"Chirp, chirp."

The little ones looked down at their plain dinner, then up at Xie Juanhan, their faces full of confusion.

The food at Xie Juanhan's house always smelled delicious. This was different.

Xie Juanhan said, "A change of flavor."

The little ones had no objections and buried their heads in their food.

After dinner, they still wouldn't leave. They circled Xie Juanhan's feet, occasionally letting out a few high-pitched chirps.

Xie Juanhan understood. They were acting cute because they wanted ice cream.

Unfortunately, Telingewei had said they'd eaten too much ice cream over the past two days and had a bit of diarrhea.

He had no choice but to pretend he hadn't understood and let it pass.

The little ones whined and begged for food for a long time, but got nothing. They could only lick their lips and head home.

The next day, when Xie Juanhan returned, the little ones were waiting outside his house again. They repeated what they'd done the day before, circling his feet to show they wanted ice cream.

Xie Juanhan firmly refused. "No. You all have diarrhea, so you can't eat anything cold for now."

"Chirp, chirp?"

"Not tomorrow either."

"Chirp?"

"Next week at the earliest. That's five days from now."

"And even if you can have some in five days, it'll depend on whether I have the ingredients to make it."

"I can't buy milk lately. Orfrey's cow is about to have a calf and has stopped producing milk. Without milk, I can't make ice cream."

The little ones looked shocked. "Chirp?!"

Xie Juanhan nodded solemnly. "So you probably won't be able to have any for a while."

It was true that Orfrey's dairy cow was about to give birth.

His cow was due in July and had already stopped producing milk.

But he had introduced Xie Juanhan to someone from his hometown.

Xie Juanhan simply hadn't placed an order yet, out of concern for the gluttonous little ones.

Xie Juanhan had never imagined that something cold and sweet like ice cream would be so irresistible to children and small animals alike.

The Companion Beasts loved it so much that a few days ago, while he wasn't paying attention, they had secretly pulled out the ice cream bucket and eaten everything in it.

As a result, they'd eaten too much and upset their stomachs, giving them diarrhea for several days.

Xie Juanhan comforted them. "Bear with it. You can have some again after a while, once your stomachs have had a chance to recover."

The little ones drooped. "Whine."

There was no more ice cream.

The little ones walked home slowly.

Telingewei was already in the cave.

He found it odd to see the Companion Beasts return in a line, then lie down on their mats without a sound, looking listless.

"What's wrong with you?" Telingewei picked the little ones up one by one to examine them. "Do you have diarrhea again?"

"Chirp." The little one he'd picked up weakly waved a paw, trying to scratch him.

"Xie Juanhan won't give you ice cream? I asked him not to. What about it?" Telingewei shook the little one in his hand. "You're fire-attribute spirits. Why are you so greedy for cold things?"

"Chirp, chirp!"

"What do you mean, chirp, chirp?" Telingewei scolded them expressionlessly. "You stole ice cream and made someone else feel guilty. You're lucky I didn't beat you up for it. Why would I possibly put in a good word for you?"

The little ones were even more dejected. "Chirp."

After confirming that the Companion Beasts were all right, Telingewei left them alone.

The little ones, however, gradually regained their energy. They paced around his feet and kept pestering him, unwilling to give up on getting his help.

Telingewei had just been out to the open sea that day, and he still carried a faint scent of the sea and fish.

He took his clothes and went to bathe, with the Companion Beasts following behind him.

The fishy smell drifted out, and the Companion Beasts, with their keen noses, all caught it.

One little creature sniffed, then suddenly chirped, "Chirp?"

Its eyes lit up after it called out.

"Chirp, chirp!" It called out to its companions.

The other little ones tilted their heads and thought for a moment. Their eyes lit up one after another.

Just like streetlights coming on one by one at night.

Their energy restored, they chased after Telingewei. "Chirp!"

Telingewei was taking off his shirt, revealing full pectoral muscles and well-defined abs.

Hearing the little ones chirp for him to take them out to sea to milk a fish called the Tata Fish, he refused. "No."

"Chirp, chirp!" The little ones ultimately didn't dare jump up and scratch his abs, so they scratched his heels instead. "Chirp!"

"Yes, they're producing milk."

"Milking fish is a lot of trouble."

"Even if I milked them, you still couldn't have ice cream. Give up."

Telingewei refused them coldly.

The little ones were so angry that their tails went rigid, and they jumped up to try to scratch him.

He walked to the bathroom deep inside the cave and shut the door, leaving the hopping little ones outside.

The little ones had no ice cream, and Telingewei had also refused to take them out to sea to milk the Tata Fish.

They were utterly dejected.

They still came to play with Xie Juanhan every day, but they were noticeably listless.

Whenever they arrived, they flopped down on their own chairs, looking just like companion plushies.

Xie Juanhan was a little worried. He thought he might discuss it with Telingewei and find time to make them some ice cream.

He could make a small portion and let them lick the plate for a taste.

The little ones were so down that it would be even more troublesome if they developed psychological problems.

However, when he went to buy milk, he discovered that the cows had entered their breeding season and were producing very little milk. Even fewer farmers were selling it.

Even when a few farmers were willing to bring milk out to sell, its quality was mediocre.

Xie Juanhan was out of options.

Now he really didn't have what he needed to make good ice cream.

When Telingewei found out, the only thing he focused on was, "Don't you usually drink milk? Now that you can't buy any, are you still drinking it every day?"

Xie Juanhan said, "It doesn't taste good, so I'm not drinking it for now. I'll wait a few months."

Telingewei suggested, "You could drink goat milk instead?"

Xie Juanhan frowned slightly. "No. Goat milk tastes even stranger. I don't like the taste."

He was firmly on the cow's milk side.

He had tried goat milk before, but whenever he drank it, he always found it a little thin, with a strange taste.

He'd rather not drink any at all.

Telingewei thought for a moment, then offered, "Would you like to try Tata Fish milk, then?"

"There's a fish called the Tata Fish out in the open sea. This is its milk-producing season, and its milk tastes very rich and full-bodied, different from cow's milk."

Xie Juanhan had already heard about this fish milk from the little ones, but their chirping hadn't conveyed the meaning particularly clearly.

Xie Juanhan was curious. "Is it fishy?"

"Not at all. It only has a faint sweetness."

Seeing Xie Juanhan's somewhat doubtful expression, Telingewei added, "At least, I can't taste any fishiness. Tata Fish are third-level Demonic Beasts, and their milk is much better quality than ordinary cow's milk."

Xie Juanhan asked, "They live in the sea? Wouldn't it be a lot of trouble to milk them?"

"A little, but it's manageable."

Although the little ones weren't there, Telingewei still lowered his voice. "Harper and the others have been a little down lately. I'll get some Tata Fish milk to cheer them up."

Xie Juanhan raised an eyebrow, a teasing look on his face. "Looks like you really dote on them."

Telingewei refused to admit it. "It's just a rare chance to catch the Tata Fish milk-producing season. I'll get some to try."