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Chief and tribe leader are the same thing, I sometimes use ‘chief’ and other times ‘tribe leader.’

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“Chief?” Hu Jiao Jiao asked, turning to him.

The chief frowned slightly. Being bitten by a venomous snake or receiving a hundred lashes—either way, the person would lose half their life, even if they survived. Their tribe was already short on able-bodied men, but remembering that Hu Jiao Jiao had the knowledge of planting methods he nodded.

“Let’s do as you suggest,” he said, calling over a beastmen. “You go—”

Before he could finish, Hu Jiao Jiao interrupted him. “Chief, I’d like to handle this personally.”

The chief was taken aback. He looked at Hu Jiao Jiao’s delicate frame, wondering if she’d have enough strength to carry out the punishment. She likely didn’t intend to hit hard, just enough to teach Lu Li a lesson.

Satisfied, the chief nodded approvingly. “Alright, it’s good that you want to do it yourself.”

This female really was kind-hearted. She knew that if one of the males handled it, Lu Li could end up crippled.

The chief gestured for a few males to bring Lu Li over. Nearby, Lu Li’s mother was wailing, crying her heart out.

Hu Jiao Jiao smiled faintly, turned, and pretended to pick up a stick from under a tree. While hiding behind it, she secretly pulled out a thin, long wooden stick from her storage space. It was the kind commonly used by teachers for corporal punishment—thin and flexible, seemingly fragile but capable of inflicting sharp, stinging pain.

When Hu Jiao Jiao emerged from behind the tree, the gathered crowd noticed the slender rod in her hand and began to mutter.

“Hu Jiao Jiao’s going easy on him. That wooden stick is so thin, it’ll break after a few hits.”

“Yeah, that thing won’t hurt at all!”

Ignoring the murmurs, Hu Jiao Jiao walked to the center without expression, raised the thin stick, and delivered firm, precise strikes.

“Ahh!!”

Lu Li’s agonized screams echoed like a pig being slaughtered.

The onlookers looked on in disdain.

“Lu Li’s so weak. Look at how delicate Hu Jiao Jiao is—she doesn’t even have much strength—and yet he’s crying like that. Pathetic.”

It wasn’t surprising that they misunderstood. Despite Hu Jiao Jiao’s fierce strikes, her delicate and graceful appearance made the scene look more like an elegant performance than a brutal punishment.

After delivering a hundred lashes, Hu Jiao Jiao was drenched in sweat, her hands red and swollen from gripping the stick. She had used every ounce of strength she had. By the time she finished, Lu Li’s body was covered in welts, and he wouldn’t be getting out of bed for months.

Hu Jiao Jiao didn’t think she had been too harsh. Had she not had access to antidotes and arrived just in time, Long Ling’er might have died. Lu Li’s punishment of mere flesh wounds was getting off lightly.

With a final agonizing scream, Lu Li fainted.

The nearby beastmen let go of him, and his mother immediately rushed over, crying and hurriedly carrying him home.

Watching them leave, Hu Jiao Jiao coldly called out, “If you dare bully my children again, it won’t end this lightly.”

Lu Li’s mother didn’t dare utter a word. Seeing that even the chief supported Hu Jiao Jiao, she slinked away in disgrace.

Scanning the crowd, Hu Jiao Jiao noticed that Lu Mian’er and Ying Yuan were absent, prompting her to let out a light snort. With all the commotion, she didn’t believe Lu Mian’er could have been unaware.

After avenging Long Ling’er, Hu Jiao Jiao bid farewell to the chief and headed back home.

This incident inadvertently improved the tribe’s perception of Hu Jiao Jiao. However, Hu Jiao Jiao remained oblivious to the shift in opinion. Back home, she continued caring for the children and helping Long Ling’er recover while also overseeing the potato planting.

A week passed, and the potatoes stored in the cave behind the mountain had already sprouted. Hu Jiao Jiao taught several males how to cut the sprouted potatoes into pieces and dig shallow trenches in the field to plant them.

The chief had been busy leading hunting group, and when he finally had time to check on the progress, he saw that the potato sprouts had already broken through the soil.

“Hu Jiao Jiao, we owe the success of these crops to you! If it weren’t for you, we’d be starving again this winter!” the chief exclaimed, beaming as he gazed at the potato plants.

His towering figure crouched down among the plants, carefully touching each one, afraid of damaging them. He would only linger for a second before pulling back, marveling at them all the while.

“Chief, I’m just passing on the knowledge from the Beast God. The real credit goes to the beastmen who helped plant them. It’s all thanks to everyone’s hard work,” Hu Jiao Jiao said with a smile.

“Yes, yes!” The chief grinned broadly, his face lined with wrinkles of joy.

“By the way, when will the earth fruit be ready for harvest? Is there anything else we need to do?”

After his excitement subsided, the chief remembered to ask about the next steps in the farming process.

“They’ll be ready in about three months. Earth fruit don’t like too much water, so make sure not to overwater them. If the field gets too wet, the plants will die,” Hu Jiao Jiao advised carefully.

Since she couldn’t watch over the fields all the time, it was essential that the chief knew how to care for the crops. This way, if something went wrong, she wouldn’t be blamed. She had no intention of becoming the scapegoat.

“Understood, I’ll assign someone to watch over the field starting tomorrow,” the chief nodded earnestly, trusting her completely.

“Chief, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now,” Hu Jiao Jiao said, smiling and bowing slightly.

“Alright,” the chief replied, then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right… Is Long Mo coming back soon?”

Hearing Long Mo’s name, Hu Jiao Jiao paused, looking back with a confused expression.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” the chief explained, his face soft with kindness. “But winter is coming in a few months, and life in the forest will be tough for Long Mo. If possible, let him come back. He can help you take care of the children. What do you think?”

His aged face radiated warmth and goodwill. He had noticed that Hu Jiao Jiao had changed for the better recently, and bringing Long Mo back seemed like a great idea. They could support each other, and perhaps Hu Jiao Jiao could even find another mate to strengthen the tribe.

As the chief, he always had the tribe’s well-being in mind.

Hu Jiao Jiao had been so busy lately that she almost forgot about this. Now reminded by the chief, her smile stiffened.

So Long Mo would be coming back soon…

Noticing her expression, the chief thought she didn’t want Long Mo to return and quickly added, “If you don’t want him staying with you, he can live elsewhere in the tribe. After all, he’s still one of us…”

“No, chief, it’s not that. When Long Mo returns, I won’t let him leave again,” Hu Jiao Jiao quickly interrupted with a nervous smile.

Not letting Long Mo come back? She wouldn’t dare! She needed to rely on him for the rest of her life. She had to hold onto that lifeline tightly—no way would she let go.

The chief was surprised by her response but soon smiled warmly. “That’s good, that’s good. You two are mates, after all. You should support each other and build a good life together.”

His approving smile was like that of a kind elder.

Hu Jiao Jiao’s relaxed a little, though internally, she thought to herself, I just hope Long Mo doesn’t decide to kill me. If he doesn’t, I’ll count my blessings.

After the two left, a thin figure emerged from behind a nearby tree. Watching them disappear into the distance, Lu Cuicui’s narrow, dark eyes gleamed with malice.

“So, no watering, huh? Let’s see if the chief still supports you when you fail to grow anything…”