Chapter 33: Building the Hearth

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The wooden bucket could hold about twenty liters of water. It had a handle for carrying water, and both the inside and outside had been polished until they were perfectly smooth. It looked quite nice.

There were two buckets of the same size.

The wooden basins were shallower, one large and one small. The large one could be used for bathing and washing clothes, while the smaller one was for washing vegetables and the face.

They had likewise been polished until smooth, and each side of the outer rim had a protruding piece resembling an ear, making them easy to grip.

“You made these?”

Su Xiyue looked at Bai Qi in surprise. She had not expected him to work so quickly. She had only mentioned wanting wooden buckets and basins last night, yet he had already finished them today.

And they looked quite good, too.

Bai Qi nodded and gave a quiet “Mm,” which served as his answer.

He did not ask whether they were suitable. His fox paws had been worn raw making these, and he had no desire to do the work all over again.

His gaze fell to her waist, and he paused.

Why did she seem to have lost so much weight overnight?

Her waist in particular had changed. The excess flesh that had once been there was gone, replaced by the faint outline of a curve.

She was still extremely fat overall, nearly twice the size of the other females. Yet at a glance, it was obvious that she had lost a great deal of weight.

His eyes flickered as he recalled Ye Ling saying in the tribal square last night that Su Xiyue intended to lose fifty pounds in a month.

At the time, he had taken it as a joke and paid it no mind.

After all, losing weight was never easy. Losing fifty pounds in a month—how could that possibly happen?

He had not expected her to truly slim down, let alone lose so much weight in a single night. He had no idea how she had managed it.

Bai Qi did not ask. He was not interested in such matters.

Instead, he handed her the roasted meat he had brought. “You haven’t eaten breakfast yet, have you? I just roasted this.”

The roasted meat smelled delicious, and the aroma immediately stirred the cravings in Su Xiyue’s stomach.

She had eaten only two wild fruits that morning, then worked for hours. She had digested them long ago.

She swallowed instinctively. She really wanted to eat it.

But when she remembered that she was trying to lose weight, she forcibly restrained herself and did not take it.

Last night in the tribal square, she had deliberately eaten that piece of roasted meat in front of Ye Ling simply to provoke the bastard.

Her mouth had enjoyed it, but she had regretted it terribly afterward. Eating such a large piece of meat had wasted an entire day of fasting and an entire day of hard work.

She might want to eat it badly, but the revolution had not yet succeeded. Her weight-loss efforts still required perseverance.

She stared at the roasted meat and struggled for quite some time before gritting her teeth. “Er, Bai Qi, I ate some wild fruits this morning, so I’m not hungry.”

The moment she finished speaking, her stomach betrayed her with a loud rumble.

Su Xiyue’s face stiffened, and she was so embarrassed that she wanted to burrow into the ground.

Of all times for her stomach to growl, why had it chosen this moment? Was it deliberately trying to undermine her?

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She secretly glanced at Bai Qi and saw the corners of his mouth tilt upward as he looked at her with an amused, teasing expression.

Her face flared red, as red as a monkey’s backside. She lowered her head awkwardly and began counting the ants on the ground.

She racked her brain for a way to defuse the embarrassment.

Bai Qi knew that she was not truly full. She was simply trying to lose weight and forcing herself not to eat. Compared with the past, managing this much self-control was already remarkable.

He smiled faintly. Rather than tempt her with the roasted meat, he merely said, “Since you’re not hungry, leave it there for now. You can eat it when you are.”

Su Xiyue stole another glance at him. Seeing that his expression remained normal, she let out a quiet breath of relief.

The flush on her face faded somewhat, and the awkwardness eased.

If it had been one of her other four beast husbands, they probably would have mocked her mercilessly. Bai Qi truly was a good person. Compared with the other four, he was simply worlds better.

Bai Qi had no idea what she was thinking. Watching her lowered brows and meek expression, he felt something stir within him.

He suddenly realized that Su Xiyue had changed considerably. Her personality had become much more pleasing. Although she was still ugly, she was far better than before.

His eyes flickered, but he said nothing about it. He only remarked, “Didn’t you say you wanted to build a stove? Come on. Since I have some free time, I’ll help you put it together.”

Su Xiyue was just about to answer when the system’s voice suddenly rang out in her mind.

“Host, Bai Qi’s favorability has increased by ten points. It is now negative twenty. Keep up the good work.”

She froze at the sound of it.

Bai Qi’s favorability had increased by ten points?

She looked at Bai Qi in surprise.

Could it be because the unsightly fat around her waist had disappeared, and because she had refused to eat his roasted meat, showing her determination to lose weight?

Had that caused his favorability to rise?

But then she remembered that even after increasing, the number was still negative.

What difference was there between negative twenty and negative thirty? He still disliked her either way.

Su Xiyue sighed inwardly and did not dwell on it.

Gathering her thoughts, she smiled at Bai Qi. “All right. Let’s build the stove to the left of the cave entrance. There’s more space over there.”

Bai Qi nodded without objection.

The two of them left the cave and began working.

Su Xiyue cleared the ground to the left of the cave entrance, pulling out the weeds. She had Bai Qi carry away the stones, freeing up an area where they could build the stove.

“Bai Qi, go find some stones of moderate size. Make sure they’re fairly flat, and preferably all about the same size. We’ll use them to build the stove. Also, find a larger stone—one that’s relatively flat. I’m going to use it as the countertop.”

She glanced sideways at Bai Qi as she spoke.

Although Bai Qi did not fully understand her instructions, he still went off to find the stones as she requested.

After a little while, Bai Qi returned carrying a pile of stones. They were of moderate size and appeared fairly smooth and flat.

He had also found a broad, flat slab of stone. She had no idea where he had discovered it.

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She did not ask.

This world was made up of trees and mountains, and stones could be found everywhere. Finding them was not difficult.

She looked over the stones and found them reasonably satisfactory.

“Bai Qi, help me stack these stones according to size. Put the larger ones on the bottom and the smaller ones on top, building them into the shape of a platform.”

Afraid he would not understand, Su Xiyue demonstrated with her hands.

Then she pointed to the large, flat stone and continued, “Put this one on top as the countertop.”

Bai Qi understood only vaguely. He found it strange that she knew so much.

Still, he asked no questions and followed her instructions.

The two of them worked throughout the morning and finally finished building the stove.

At last, they placed the stone pot on top.

The simple stove was complete.

Su Xiyue looked at the stove before her and felt fairly satisfied.

Although it was crude, it was the first thing she had built with her own hands in this world, and she could not help feeling a small sense of accomplishment.

Still, it would be better to seal it with mud and sand. Otherwise, it could easily collapse.

Not just any mud would do. It had to be sticky enough not to crumble away. She had no idea where to find that kind.

There was no need to rush. She could search for it slowly.

“Ding! Host, Bai Qi’s favorability has increased by ten points. It is now negative ten. Keep up the good work.”

The system’s voice rang out in Su Xiyue’s mind.

Her brows lifted slightly.

It was already negative ten?

Excellent. Another ten points and it would reach zero.

She looked at the pig intestines that had been marinating in the stone pot since last night, then glanced sideways at Bai Qi with a bright smile.

“Bai Qi, thank you for helping me build the stove. Don’t roast meat for lunch. I’ll make something delicious for you. I guarantee that once you taste it, you’ll want more.”

She planned to stir-fry the wild boar’s large intestine and win Bai Qi over with good food, to see whether she could raise his favorability by another ten points.

It was a pity that she had no chilies, but fortunately, her cooking skills were excellent.

The taste should not be too bad.

When Bai Qi heard that she was going to make something delicious, his gaze instantly fell upon the marinated pig intestines in the stone pot. The corner of his mouth twitched violently.

He looked at her strangely and asked with disgust, “The delicious food you mentioned is wild boar intestines?”

End of Chapter