The evening sun reflected its fiery glow across the surface of the sea, dancing like flas.
Wisps of cooking smoke from the small town floated leisurely into the sky and disappeared.
Han Qiwu took one glance and felt hungry.
Ti to head ho for a al!
As he reached the doorstep, he didn’t even need to push the door open to hear the playful sounds of Little Prince and Little Shui.
No need to guess—they were definitely playing in the snow!
Opening the door, he was greeted with system notifications.
[Hunter Pet: Little Prince has returned from foraging, fullness increased by 99]
[Foraging Rewards: Wood x89, Osmathus Wood x6, Osmanthus Tree Saplings x2]
[Little Prince is in high spirits after foraging]
[Fishing Pet: Little Shui has returned from fishing, fullness increased by 79]
[Fishing Rewards: Lobster x2, Female Snails x2]
[Little Shui is in high spirits after fishing]
Little Prince hit the jackpot today—not only did he chop up 89 pieces of regular wood, but he also brought back 6 pieces of osmanthus wood.
Of course, Little Shui did exceptionally well too. The lobsters it brought back were perfect to steam later with the butter crab.
Simple and satisfying.
Dismissing the notifications, he turned his gaze to the snowy landscape outdoors.
Sure enough, Little Prince and Little Shui had leveled up their ga. Each held a snowball in their hands, tossing them across a net at each other—trying to make the opponent miss while catching the opposing snowball themselves.
They’d turned it into an art form.
Watching this, Han Qiwu casually built a snowball incubator using so materials and stuffed Little Snow in as well.
Let’s see how the three of them play once Little Snow hatches at midnight.
Three snowballs could make for so juggling shenanigans.
Heading to the kitchen, Han Qiwu took out the butter crab and lobsters. After washing them, he stead them right away. To spice things up, he made dry-fried green beans as a side dish.
About ten minutes later, Han Qiwu was sitting in the moonlit courtyard, sipping on honey water blissfully as he carefully cut open the butter crab.
The crab revealed no visible roe, yet every bite seed packed with it. Its at glistened with an oily sheen, golden-yellow in color and utterly appetizing.
One bite.
Satisfaction soared to the heavens.
The crab’s savory sweetness, combined with the buttery richness, was bold and layered.
After finishing the hearty at in the middle, even the leg at stood out as a rare delight—similarly golden-yellow and wonderfully chewy with texture.
Even the swimming legs at the very bottom held a thin layer of butter-infused crab at.
Pure bliss.
After finishing his al, Han Qiwu leaned back lazily in his lounge chair, unwilling to move.
"Plop plop plop."
"Splash splash splash."
Just then, splashing sounds erupted from the three small fishponds nearby, as if reminding Han Qiwu they were hungry too.
Glancing over at the ponds, Han Qiwu sighed and got up reluctantly.
Alright, alright, on my way.
For a mont, he suddenly understood the struggles of cafeteria ladies.
At the edge of the fishponds, Han Qiwu bent down to inspect the water and then reached for so ancient kelp. He pondered who to feed it to.
Thinking it over, he tore off a large portion from the kelp and tossed it to the dium fishpond containing the interdiate rapid-growth composite algae core.
Upon sensing food, the algae core eagerly wrapped itself around the kelp and quickly digested it.
"Let’s see if it evolves. If not, I’ll give the ancient kelp to the large fishpond and move it to the small fishpond."
Its devouring speed was impressive—before long, the algae core had consud the entire kelp.
Though, co to think of it, Han Qiwu mused he hadn’t quite fed it anything before now.
Feeling slightly guilty, he fetched five portions of aquatic plants from the storage bin and tossed them in.
Having devoured the kelp earlier, the interdiate algae core felt as though today was truly its lucky day.
Honestly, it was touched.
Its owner finally rembered !
Soon enough, the algae core had eaten every aquatic plant thrown in.
Just after finishing the last piece, green light burst forth from it, wrapping around it layer by layer.
"Is it evolving?" Han Qiwu grabbed a lounge chair with so anticipation, intending to watch while checking his phone.
"Beep beep."
As soon as he unlocked the screen, he received a ssage from Mr. Tang.
"So tired, so tired, so tired. What are you up to?"
Han Qiwu pursed his lips and replied, "Just finished a busy day, resting now. You’re done with work too?"
After replying, he thought for a mont and added an emoji.
Pat-head-don’t-cry.jpg.
As soon as he sent it, he regretted it a little. Was that too abrupt?
Should he retract it?
Before he could make up his mind, Tang Qingying responded with a rubbing-head emoji.
Han Qiwu felt a bit conflicted—well, no need to retract now.
A faint warmth crept across his face.
It felt slightly odd.
Tang Qingying followed up, "Finished? The research institute is super busy. Having dinner now—won’t have a day off until the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow?" Han Qiwu calculated the date—it coincided with the strawberries ripening.
Thinking it over, he replied, "That’s tiring. How about coming over to pick strawberries the day after tomorrow? I can whip up so lobster for you too."
On the other side of the screen, Tang Qingying’s heart secretly brimd with joy.
Finally, I don’t have to find excuses to mooch a al!
However, before replying, she rembered sothing from a book. Girls should maintain so dignity—not agree too quickly.
Better ask a few more questions.
Quickly typing away, Tang Qingying responded, "Pick strawberries? At a farm? Are they sweet?"
"Not a farm—these are the fruit-bearing seedlings I bought, and the flavor’s quite good," Han Qiwu replied, already planning to feign ignorance when Tang Qingying eventually asked where he’d purchased them after tasting. Worst case, he could silence her inquiries with more treats!
"Alright, I’ll co find you the day after tomorrow then." Tang Qingying typed joyfully, but as she hit send, she rembered the package she’d been waiting for and quickly asked, "By the way, when will my package arrive?"
Package?
Han Qiwu suddenly felt a bit awkward.
"Uh, well, you see, I calculated your likely vacation and worried you might encounter plants on the way, so I figured it’d be better if you picked it up in person."
Upon seeing his ssage, Tang Qingying concisely summarized, "So you didn’t send it."
"Not exactly—more like I was hesitant about what to include to avoid damage," Han Qiwu explained seriously.
"But did you send it or not?"
"Not yet."
"And that settles it."
"....."
Han Qiwu felt a little helpless—it was clearly his fault.
He always wanted to send Tang Qingying sothing extra.
But procrastinating had sohow turned into three or four days passing.
She wouldn’t stay mad, would she?
Han Qiwu’s heart pounded nervously.
A few seconds later, Tang Qingying replied.
"Hmph! We’ll talk about it when I get there! Go get to work!"
Han Qiwu breathed a sigh of relief.
It seed like she wasn’t overly angry.
Probably the kind of annoyance a plate of lobsters could appease.
A few seconds later, she sent another ssage.
"Take care and rest well. Early to bed, early to rise."
"Got it, you too."
Even Han Qiwu didn’t realize at first—after responding, an unconsciously content smile crept across his face.
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