Chapter 17: Are You Even Human?

Yan Huan first took some space water with the water pouch, then added some milk powder according to the proportion, stirred it evenly, and then walked up to her eldest brother, saying to Yan Xiyao, “Xiyao, be good, come and drink something.”

Although she felt unwell, Yan Xiyao hadn’t even whimpered once from beginning to end. She just obediently closed her eyes and rested on her father’s back. Hearing Yan Huan call her at this moment, she slowly opened her eyes, smiled, and replied, “Thank you, Little Aunt.” Her voice was weak, making Yan Huan’s heart ache.

The little one gently took a small sip, seeming unfamiliar with the taste. She licked her lips again, savoring it carefully, and then suddenly widened her round eyes, looking at Yan Huan in disbelief. Just as she was about to speak, Yan Huan covered her mouth.

Leaning down to her ear, she whispered, “This is a secret between Little Aunt and Xiyao. Xiyao can’t shout loudly, okay? If others find out, these things will be snatched away.”

Although Yan Huan spoke very softly, Yan Jinran and Qian Shi, who were standing beside her, could hear her.

Yan Huan had already prepared her explanation and said to the two of them, “Duo’er ran into a tigress in the forest just now. It happened that the tiger had cubs and was very weak. Duo’er originally wanted to kill the tiger for meat, but seeing the poor little cubs, she couldn’t let them lose their mother right after birth. So, she just knocked the tigress unconscious and squeezed some milk out. Look, seeing that Xiyao didn’t look well, she sent it all over. There’s not much, so you must not let others know.”

Yan Jinran didn’t think much of it. After all, Jiang Duo’er had always been a formidable presence in his mind. As long as it wasn’t flying in the sky or swimming in the sea, he felt that this girl could handle it.

But after hearing this, Qian Shi’s gaze towards Duo’er gradually became reverent. Oh my god, Duo’er was just a little girl, yet she could fight a tiger barehanded! No wonder she was from the Jiang family; she was simply a godlike existence. Having this girl around them every day was their family’s blessing, a full sense of security.

The reason Yan Huan dared to say this was because there wasn’t much milk powder. These two loved their child and naturally wouldn’t bear to try it themselves, so there was no chance of her lie being exposed. Another reason was that even if they were curious and took a sip to taste, firstly, no one had ever drunk tiger milk, so there was no comparison, and secondly, no one had ever drunk milk powder, so others wouldn’t know what it was.

After drinking the milk powder, Yan Xiyao’s complexion visibly improved, which made Yan Huan very gratified. However, while she could explain it as tiger milk this time, it wouldn’t be so easy to explain next time. Jiang Duo’er couldn’t always be so lucky to encounter lactating animals, could she?

Fortunately, the milk powder wouldn’t expire in the space, so she could take it out and use it again when there was a chance.

Seeing that Xiyao was alright, the two of them gathered together again to continue their task.

The next reward for upgrading the fertile land had already appeared: a jar of honey.

Honey was rich in fructose, glucose oxidase, protein, and vitamins. It was also convenient to eat; it could be mixed with water or eaten directly.

The milk powder was hard to explain the origin of, but honey was fine. There was a lot of honey in the mountains and fields, and as long as it was stored properly, it could last indefinitely.

This task was too simple. They just had to keep collecting along the way, which was completely effortless for the two of them.

It was just hard on the brothers of both families.

Seeing the two of them still collecting various plants along the way, everyone collectively fell into deep thought, all deeply reflecting on whether they hadn’t done enough. Could it be that they had been too lenient with Yan Qinglin before? So, their sister was still not satisfied?
However, seeing that Yan Huan seemed to be relieving stress by collecting flowers and plants all the way, Yan Jinzhao decided to join in. Wouldn’t this show that he had a common language with her? Maybe if his sister was happy, she would pour out her grievances to him and wouldn’t be angry anymore?

Because of Yan Jinzhao’s actions, the other brothers from the Yan and Jiang families also began to join in when they weren’t assigned chores. Everyone was collecting. If he didn’t collect, wouldn’t he seem out of place? None of them wanted to be the odd one out, right?

So, in the end, the flowers and plants along the way seemed to have suffered some great calamity. Wherever the two families passed, almost not a single blade of grass was left.

One afternoon a few days later, just as Yan Huan’s task was about to be completed, Yan Jinzhao suddenly approached her with a happy face and said, “Fourth Uncle is sick, very seriously ill.”

Yan Huan stared at him dumbfounded, as if looking at an idiot.

She thought, that’s your own Fourth Uncle! It’s one thing if you don’t show any sadness, but you’re actually smiling so brightly. Are you even human? Although she didn’t like Fourth Uncle either, it shouldn’t be like this, right?

Yan Jinzhao noticed the disapproval in his younger sister’s eyes and quickly composed his cheerful expression.

However, after a while, he leaned over again with a smile and said, “Sixth Sister, guess what illness Fourth Uncle has?” There was no way he could help but laugh when he thought of the reason for Fourth Uncle’s ‘illness’.

Ever since Second Uncle assured her that Fourth Uncle wouldn’t bother her anymore, she hadn’t seen Fourth Uncle again. How would she know what he was sick with?

This kid still wanted to play games with her. Tch, she just wouldn’t indulge him. Moreover, she was now focused on completing the task quickly and had no interest in gossip.

Yan Huan ignored him and continued to single-mindedly look for new flowers and plants.
However, in the past few days, almost all kinds of flowers and plants around here had been collected by her. The feeling of almost completing the task but not being able to be too uncomfortable.

She had been stuck at the last few points of progress for a long time!

Now she had to listen to this foolish older brother babbling about irrelevant things, which was even more infuriating.

Thinking of this, Yan Huan directly rolled her eyes at Yan Jinzhao and turned to walk elsewhere.

Did he know the unbearable itch when someone eagerly wanted to share gossip with you, but you didn’t take the bait?

Yan Jinzhao was now deeply experiencing that feeling.

He was still waiting for Yan Huan to ask him the reason, but he saw Yan Huan glare at him angrily and then turn away.

Heaven and earth bear witness, he had racked his brains these past few days to make his sixth sister happy! But a girl’s heart was really too difficult to guess. She was just fine a moment ago, but hey? In just a short while, her face had darkened again.

He looked at the other brothers who had been closely watching their movements with a wronged expression, only to see them all mouth the same familiar words to him: “Useless.”

It was clearly something they had all discussed together, but in the end, he was the one who bore all the blame. Yan Jinzhao was furious but looking at his clearly still unhappy younger sister not far away, he adjusted his attitude again and approached her with a smile.

“I heard Fourth Uncle caught a cold, and it’s quite serious. Colds are contagious, so he’s hiding far away from everyone right now. But who doesn’t know that he’s just hiding alone because he feels too ashamed to face people?”