Chapter – 39
Flirting with Other Males
When the two of them arrived outside the tree hollow, a fierce argument was already underway inside.
It wasn’t hard to recognize the voices of Li Qingqing’s father and mother.
An Xuan didn’t know much about the love-hate relationship between Li Yue and Chi Chenyan; all she knew was that although Chi Chenyan was Li Yue’s only mate, their relationship wasn’t good.
She looked at Li Qingqing and noticed that the girl was listening with a “spectator” expression, showing none of the sadness one might expect from her parents’ argument.
“What’s going on with this plague? Even now, you’re still hiding things from me?” Li Yue’s tone was sharp.
“Ah Yue, please hear me out. I really don’t know. Chi Xiaoxi came to see me once, and after that day, I started feeling unwell. I didn’t know it had anything to do with her.”
Outside the hollow, Li Qingqing’s heart tightened at Chi Chenyan’s words. Chi Xiaoxi was Chi Lin’s half-sister and the current leader of the Chi Fox Tribe. This plague apparently involved conflicts between tribes.
“You don’t know? The leader of the Chi Fox Tribe came to see you, yet not a single beastman from the tribe noticed, and you never mentioned it to me. You may be cousins, but now you belong to the Silver Tiger Tribe. You’re Li Yue’s mate!”
“Ah Yue…” Chi Chenyan tried to say more, but Li Yue interrupted him.
“Chi Chenyan, why have you made no progress over all these years? You never get it. In your heart, what’s more important—your Chi Fox Tribe, or me and Qingqing?”
“Do you know, if Qingqing hadn’t dealt with the troubles caused by this plague, how could the wolves, tigers, and leopards of the tribe have agreed to let her become the next leader?”
Li Qingqing’s heart sank hearing this. An Xuan gently patted her on the back and asked, “Are we going in?”
Li Qingqing nodded and stepped inside. The arguing stopped the moment she entered the hollow.
“Qingqing…” Li Yue looked at her, a little unsure.
Li Qingqing, however, acted as if she hadn’t heard anything, smiling as she said, “Mother, we thought letting everyone line up at the altar to get medicine might cause those who are recovering to get reinfected, so we plan to have the uninfected beastmen help deliver the medicine.”
“Ah… that? Sure, I’ll arrange it.” Perhaps because of her earlier quarrel with Chi Chenyan, Li Yue’s smile was rather forced.
An Xuan hadn’t yet realized something was off and asked, “Leader, why did you just—” but Li Qingqing elbowed her mid-sentence.
Forcing a small smile, Li Qingqing spoke through clenched teeth, almost from between her teeth, “Hahaha, don’t ask.”
An Xuan finally understood; it wasn’t proper to pry into others’ matters. She gave a few awkward laughs, “Hahaha, alright, then we’ll leave first.”
She linked arms with Li Qingqing and started to walk out.
“Qingqing!” Chi Chenyan called after her.
Li Qingqing turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue.
“Chi Lin, you should spend more time building a relationship with him; he… isn’t easy.”
Li Qingqing simply nodded, still feeling a little hurt. These past few days she had been busy dealing with the plague, and now, the first time she met Chi Chenyan, he was talking about Chi Lin.
She couldn’t help but wonder, who really was her biological parent?
Some resentment lingered, and she didn’t look back as she left.
Not far away, the argument resumed inside the hollow.
“I agreed to let Qingqing marry Chi Lin, but how well does Chi Lin treat her? You’re asking our daughter to understand your nephew, why don’t you ask your nephew to treat her well?”
“He’s never been favored by Nuoyu, and he’s suffered a lot… Besides, Nuoyu passed away some time ago. Chi Xiaoxi came to tell me about it.”
Li Yue’s voice softened, seeming less angry.
An Xuan covered her mouth in surprise. “Chi Nuoyu… died?”
Chi Nuoyu was the original owner’s aunt, Chi Lin’s mother. Their relationship hadn’t been good.
“It seems Chi Lin doesn’t know yet. You should go back and comfort him properly.” An Xuan sighed.
Li Qingqing felt her heart stir. So much information in a single day. First the plague was tied to the Chi Fox Tribe, and now Chi Lin’s mother had died.
Besides a few of Li Qingqing’s beastmen mates, only Mo Li and A Qi were uninfected.
She felt a little embarrassed seeing Mo Li. “Um… sorry! My mother probably didn’t blame you too much, right?”
Mo Li recalled being punished for two months, unable to hunt in the Xuanming Forest because Li Qingqing had run away.
But he still smiled. “It’s fine.”
Her beastmen mates were already preparing the medicinal soup. Seeing her talking to another male, they all looked displeased.
Especially Xiao Ziye, thinking about last night, he became even angrier. “Li Qingqing, all day you make me work for you, and you do nothing but flirt with other males?”
Li Qingqing snapped. “Flirt? Are you out of your mind?”
“What’s with the insults again?” Feng Hao could barely tolerate the word “dog.”
Ling Mo frowned, pausing her work. “Can you finish the tasks first?”
Chi Lin set aside a prepared bowl of medicine. “Delivering bowl by bowl… Do you know the tribe has at least twenty thousand hollows?”
Li Qingqing hadn’t thought that far. She sat down in a clean spot. “That’ll be troublesome for you guys, then!”
After all, she wasn’t the one delivering them.
Chi Lin grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her up. “Wait, you’re coming with me to deliver it.”
Hearing this, Bai Yuan immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at them with anticipation.
Chi Lin was about to agree, but Li Qingqing nudged his hand, signaling him to refuse.
Chi Lin glanced at Bai Yuan’s hopeful eyes, then at Li Qingqing. “No need, just the two of us is enough.”
Bai Yuan looked disappointed, his eyes full of grievance, staring at Li Qingqing.
Li Qingqing avoided his gaze, pretending not to see.
Sorry, little brother. She still had questions for Chi Lin.
They placed the bowls into the baskets Li Qingqing had woven a few days earlier.
Walking carefully was necessary, otherwise the medicine would spill.
Chi Lin politely took on the responsibility of carrying the basket. The two of them walked in a line, one in front, one behind.
“You know, how did my parents’ relationship come to this?”
Chi Lin in front suddenly stopped.
Li Qingqing was focused on looking down while walking and accidentally bumped into his back.
Rubbing her sore forehead, she realized that although his frame wasn’t large, bumping into him still hurt.
