Lu Mian’er thought Hu Jing was acting a bit strange today.

“I just remembered something I have to do! You go find Hu Jiao Jiao; I’ll catch up soon,” Hu Jing said, giving Lu Mian’er a nudge forward before she dashed away without further explanation.

“Um…” Lu Mian’er held out her hand, confused as she watched her friend leave. “What’s up with her today? She’s acting like her mind is somewhere else.” With a shrug, Lu Mian’er turned and went to look for Hu Jiao Jiao.

Hu Jing slipped out of the crowd and was promptly smacked in the forehead by a little black blur.

“Ouch!”

She stumbled back, rubbing her forehead, only to find that the culprit was none other than Hu Jiao Jiao’s youngest cub, a tiny black dragon.

“That little dragon…” Hu Jing muttered, wincing at the pain. “What’s his head made of? Stone?”

“Aw…” Long Yao had been knocked out of the air, tumbling backward into Long Yu’s arms.

“Xiao Wu, are you okay?” Long Yu asked, holding him close. “See? I told you to go slower—you ran into someone, didn’t you?” He looked over at Hu Jing and apologized in a low voice. “I’m sorry, he didn’t mean to.”

Long Yao whined in pain, trying to hold his head with his short claws, but he couldn’t reach. He ended up patting his head with his tail, as if comforting himself.

Behind him, Long Ling’er and Long Zhong had also come over. Long Xiu, who disliked crowds, stayed behind in the house.

Hu Jing winced in pain but managed a strained smile. “It’s fine.” She wouldn’t make a fuss over it. After all, she was an adult—she wouldn’t give him a hard time.

But to her surprise, the cubs looked at her suspiciously. They remembered how she used to argue with Hu Jiao Jiao every time they met, though she had never tried to pick on them.

Now that she seemed so easygoing, the little ones couldn’t help but feel something was off.

Hu Jing’s pain eased a bit, and she bent down, lowering her voice, as an idea flashed across her mind.

“Hey, Hu Jiao Jiao’s cubs, have you seen Hu Qingyuan anywhere?”

Long Ling’er blinked curiously, tilting her head. “Are you looking for Fourth Uncle? He’s not here today! Do you need something from him?” Her soft voice wasn’t as quiet as Hu Jing had hoped, and the other beastmen nearby might have heard if they weren’t all focused on the house-building.

Hu Jing was so nervous that she almost reached out to cover Long Ling’er’s mouth but froze when she saw Long Yu and Long Zhong stepping protectively in front of her, eyeing her with caution.

They thought she was about to hurt Long Ling’er.

Not wanting to make things worse, Hu Jing awkwardly lowered her hand and smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry; I wasn’t going to hurt her,” she explained.

Seeing that most of the crowd’s attention was still on the stone house construction, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned back to Long Ling’er.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just curious,” she said, trying to keep her tone casual. “But isn’t he Hu Jiao Jiao’s brother? I thought he’d be here helping with the house…”

Hu Jing’s words trailed off, and she avoided their eyes, her tone forced and unconvincing.

Long Yu and Long Zhong exchanged a skeptical glance, easing their guard just a little.

“Oh, so you’re looking for Fourth Uncle?” Long Zhong said with a smirk. “Do you like him?”

“No! No, no, no!” Hu Jing stammered, her face flushing red as she scrambled to deny it.

Long Zhong crossed his arms, giving her an amused look, not saying anything further. The faint smile on his face made her feel as if he could see right through her.

Long Linger pushed aside her two brothers’ shoulders with her hands, poked her little head out, and explained with a smile:

“The chief said our uncles are family, and the opportunity to learn how to build stone houses should be left to other beastmen.”

“Fourth uncle is not here today. If you want to look for him, you should go to Fourth uncle’s house.”

She kindly reminded.

The four sons of the fox family have all grown up. They no longer live with Hu Qiang and Hu Min, and each has their own independent house, and their houses are next to each other.

“I told you, I’m not looking for him! Just asking out of curiosity…” Hu Jing felt a surge of frustration.

What was with these clever little cubs? She’d already said it wasn’t like that, yet they were acting as if she’d made some grand confession.

“Enough of this; I’m out of here.” Hu Jing decided it was better to leave before the cubs could make her any more uncomfortable. She turned to go find Lu Mian’er but stopped abruptly after a few steps, reconsidering.

Bending down again, she whispered, “Oh, and by the way, don’t tell anyone what I said just now. If you keep quiet, I’ll bring you some treats next time.”

The mention of treats made Long Yao’s eyes shine, and he immediately nodded in excitement, nearly giving in.

But then he remembered Hu Jiao Jiao’s words about not accepting food from strangers. His excitement waned, and he tucked his head down, flying back into Long Yu’s arms.

“Aw…” he muttered sadly to himself. No, Xiao Wu promised Mommy not to eat food from others, even if it’s delicious.
Xiaowu, you have to hold on!

The rest of the cubs watched, bewildered, as he went from eagerness to disappointment.
What’s wrong with this little guy?
In just a short while, It felt like he had experienced all the ups and downs in life.

“Fine, just don’t tell anyone,” Hu Jing said, assuming their silence meant they agreed. She turned and quickly walked off to find Lu Mian’er.

The cubs exchanged a glance, then nodded in unison. They would keep quiet—for now.

---

Hu Jiao Jiao was explaining the design of the stone house to Hou Xiaotiao and the other beastmen. She wanted to use a northern-style layout with a heated brick bed, perfect for keeping warm during the winter. She had a feeling the beastmen would love it.

During winter, when beastmen rarely left the house, they did little besides eating, resting, and… contribution to the population of the tribe(xxx).

When Lu Mian’er arrived, she saw Hu Jiao Jiao speaking enthusiastically to a small group of beastmen, her throat dry from explaining. Lu Mian’er’s felt sorry for her; as a female, Hu Jiao Jiao seemed to know more about building than most males. Why hadn’t she noticed before how capable Hu Jiao Jiao was?

Lu Mian’er headed to get her a drink, but before she could reach her, she noticed a hand already holding a bowl of water right to Hu Jiao Jiao’s lips.