Chapter 19: Lu Xinyao Levels Up to Become “Mom”

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Lu Xinyao quickly unscrewed the water bottle cap for her and said, “Slow down, there’s no rush.”

She looked at the sizzling, fragrant grilled meat in her hands, the fresh, odorless water, and, most importantly, the three living people standing before her.

As she ate, tears began to stream down her face, but she did not stop eating.

The three of them watched her with pity, thinking she must have suffered greatly over the past few days.

“Dad and Mom, I miss you so much!”

“Sob, sob, sob…”

“Delicious! Mom’s pork knuckle is so good!” the woman said, looking at Lu Xinyao with a wronged expression.

The two of them, being about the same age, were at a loss to be called “Mom” by her.

“N-No… I’m not your mother!”

“Mom, you are my mother, I’m Bai Xue… are you going to abandon your precious daughter? Waaaah…”

All three people present looked utterly bewildered.

Ning Jingjing laughed until she trembled and said, “Xinyao, she thinks you’re her mother! Hurry and soothe your precious daughter.”

“Chenfeng, what’s going on?”

“She probably ate datura (poisonous datura flower); although we forced her to vomit, some residual toxin likely remained in her body and caused hallucinations.”

“So that’s why!”

“B-Bai Xue, be good! Mom won’t abandon you.”

Tears hung on Bai Xue’s face, but she smiled and said, “Hehe, Mom is still the best; there’s no one like a mother in the world, and a child with a mom is like a treasure…”

Ning Jingjing hugged her knees and looked at Bai Xue, saying, “This is the first time I’ve seen someone poisoned by mushrooms; do you think her world is filled with tiny people dancing?”

“I wouldn’t know about that; that’s outside my knowledge range, but in her current world there should only be senior!”

Lu Xinyao kept comforting Bai Xue until she finally fell asleep, then took the remaining meat from her hand and wiped the residue from her face.

“Phew, finally got her to sleep!”

“Then let’s eat; the whole family should sit down and eat together.”

Ning Jingjing held a crocodile leg in front of her and asked, “What kind of meat is this?”

“Crocodile.”

“Crocodile? That crocodile from today? Did you kill it?”

“Not us; it was Chenfeng.”

Ning Jingjing looked at Li Chenfeng, who was gobbling the meat, and shivered, saying, “Are you still a normal human being?”

“My dear young lady, if I didn’t have any ability, how could I protect you and keep you alive?”

“Fair enough, but would you ever do something beastly to us? After all, we wouldn’t be able to fight back.”

Li Chenfeng let out a wicked laugh and said, “So you like this kind of vibe; in that case, why don’t we…”

“Ah… Li Chenfeng is going to force himself on us!”

Lu Xinyao laughed and said, “Jingjing, how do I detect a hint of excitement in your tone?”

“Hehe, there’s a little bit of anticipation.”

“You’re the real pervert.”

The three of them ate the grilled meat and munched on barnacles.

“These barnacles taste really good; next time I’ll go harvest some off a whale.”

“No wonder people call them a luxury ingredient; such a delicacy is truly rare.”

“Xinyao, I thought of a way to make money; from now on we’ll go scrape barnacles off whales and then resell them for profit.”

“We can’t even go back now; who would we sell them to?”

“Hmm… you do have a point, so let’s just eat them ourselves.”

Li Chenfeng helplessly shook his head and said, “What you say doesn’t stand up to scrutiny; you’re really only fit to be a silly beauty, a mute bride.”

“Hmph, you’re teasing me again.”

After dinner, Li Chenfeng turned the meat over and over to ensure every piece was properly smoked.

Previously his sense of security had come from a charged phone and money in his pocket, but now his sense of security came from these fragrant pieces of smoked meat.

He glanced back at the group, who were already sprawled out and asleep, and thought Ning Jingjing’s ability to sleep was ridiculously impressive.

Seeing the girls’ adorable sleeping faces, he also felt a warm surge in his heart.

Bai Xue, lying on the outermost side next to Lu Xinyao, inhaled her youthful scent and soon fell asleep.

In the middle of the night Bai Xue cried out in her sleep, “Ma…Mom, please don’t leave me alone, hold me, hold me, please!”

Lu Xinyao, who was sleeping beside her, was awakened by the girl’s cries and could barely open her eyes to a slit, wondering if the child was having another nightmare.

To get back on track, Lu Xinyao could only continue comforting Bai Xue, gently patting her back and saying, “Okay, okay, Mom isn’t leaving; Mom will hold you, be a good baby!”

“Don’t cry or fuss; you’re Mom’s good baby.”

Lu Xinyao’s voice grew quieter and her hand movements stopped, and after paddling the raft all day and nearly preparing a feast for the whole village, she was completely exhausted.

“Waaah~ Mom, pick me up.”

Just as she quieted down, Bai Xue began to fuss again.

Lu Xinyao woke again, and to avoid waking Li Chenfeng and Ning Jingjing, she could only keep patting Bai Xue and softly soothing her.

The next morning, everyone gradually woke up.

Bai Xue looked at the shelter and the three people lying in it and slapped her forehead, feeling so embarrassed as she remembered crying for her mother the night before.

“Bai Xue, you’re awake?”

Ning Jingjing asked with sleepy eyes, “Do you still want your mom now?”

“Uh… sorry, I probably caused you trouble.”

“No, no, no, you didn’t cause us any trouble; you kept calling Xinyao ‘Mom’.”

Looking at the quiet, beautiful girl sleeping beside her, Bai Xue felt a twinge of guilt and a warmth in her heart.

“I don’t know what happened either; it was like being drunk and I couldn’t control myself, and now I really regret it.”

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“I’m Ning Jingjing, your”mom”is Lu Xinyao, that man is Li Chenfeng; the three of us came from other islands, and you ate poisonous mushrooms, so your mind probably wasn’t very clear yesterday… don’t worry about it too much!”

“I see; those past few days I struggled alone waiting for rescue, and I grew more and more hopeless, until I couldn’t find food and ate some mushrooms near the woods and almost died.”

Ning Jingjing thought for a moment that she must have suffered greatly alone these past few days and comforted her, saying, “It’s okay now… we’re here, aren’t we? Things will get better from now on.”

“I’m so happy to have met you; these days I didn’t even dare sleep because the nights were too frightening, too lonely, and too hopeless.”

As she spoke, tears welled up in Bai Xue’s eyes again.

Ning Jingjing looked at her with extra pity and said, “It’s all in the past now; it’s all in the past.”

Immediately Li Chenfeng also woke up, stood, and stretched his muscles.

He checked his watch; it was 8:10 a.m., the fifth day since the disaster!