The original owner of the body had a notorious reputation in the tribe, and the other females made no effort to hide their mockery and disdain towards her.

Hu Jiao Jiao ignored them all. After all, their contempt was directed at the original owner, not her. She only wanted an excuse to take some supplies out of her space. They could say whatever they wanted; it wouldn’t cost her anything.

Before long, all the females had gathered—thirteen in total, representing most of the females in the tribe. Only Hou Xiang, who had recently given birth, couldn’t leave the tribe.

Hu Jiao Jiao’s mother, Hu Min, was also present. Upon seeing her daughter, Hu Min was pleasantly surprised. Reflecting on how her child had recently matured, she was filled with joy and affectionately held Hu Jiao Jiao’s hand as they walked at the back of the group.

Once they left the tribe, the dense forest path became difficult to navigate. Towering trees blocked out the sun, casting everything in deep shadow. The tribe leader and three males personally guarded the group. After an hour of walking, they emerged from the dense forest into a more open area.

Hu Jiao Jiao scanned the area and saw that the field was filled with wild potatoes. It seemed today’s task was to dig up these potatoes.

While she was lost in thought, the tribe leader came forward with tools and addressed the group, “Everyone, take a bone tool. Let’s dig as many earth fruit as possible to store for the winter. If you find any other edible fruits, collect those as well.”

Hu Jiao Jiao and Hu Min stepped forward to collect their tools. The bone tools were about the length of an arm, sharpened on one side like a gardening trowel, and rough and round on the other—a common tool used by the beastmen.

The females spread out, each choosing a spot to dig for potatoes, while the tribe leader and the three males patrolled the area to protect them from potential wild animal attacks.

Every autumn, the tribe leader would organize the females to spend half a month to a month digging up wild earth fruit and gathering edible fruits. Meanwhile, the males would form hunting parties to catch prey and travel to the sea to trade with other beastmen for salt, ensuring the tribe would have enough for the following year.

Any food gathered by the picking and hunting teams was considered communal property for the tribe.

Hu Jiao Jiao already knew all this from reading the novel. The tribe’s knowledge of edible fruits was limited since many beastmen had died from eating unknown fruits. As a result, the tribe’s food supply was often insufficient during winter.

Hu Jiao Jiao had come out hoping to find more edible fruits and vegetables to plant and prevent the tragic winter attack by beastmen. She deliberately went with Hu Min to a more remote area to dig for potatoes.

However, after searching around, she realized… she had been overthinking things.

There were only potatoes and weeds here—no edible plants she recognized.

As expected, novels were full of lies! Those stories where the heroine finds a bounty of fruits and vegetables in the forest were clearly nonsense. She hadn’t even found a single leaf!

Beastmen weren’t stupid. If there were edible plants, they would have discovered them long ago. There was no way she could stumble upon them now.

Feeling slightly dejected, Hu Jiao Jiao resigned herself to digging up potatoes. Well, potatoes would do. If they could harvest a decent amount before winter, at least the beastmen wouldn’t have to risk foraging for food, which often attracted enemies.

Hu Jiao Jiao, who had grown up doing farm work in the countryside, quickly piled up a small hill of potatoes on the animal skin laid out on the ground.

Hu Min looked on in amazement. “Jiao Jiao, when did you get so good at this?”

Hu Jiao Jiao froze for a moment, realizing she had forgotten about her mother’s presence. She racked her brain for an explanation, but before she could come up with one, Hu Min suddenly grabbed her hand, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Jiao Jiao, you’ve had such a hard time. It must be because Long Mo isn’t here, and you have to do a lot of work. You’ve gotten so skilled… Your mother’s heart aches for you…”

Now there was a huge misunderstanding.

Awkwardly, Hu Jiao Jiao forced a smile and replied without much confidence, “No, Mom, it’s not like that. I really haven’t done that much. I guess I just have a knack for this kind of work.”

Back home, it was the cubs who did most of the work. The original owner had been so lazy she wouldn’t leave the house unless she was seeing Ying Yuan.

But Hu Min was convinced of her own interpretation, her face full of sympathy. “Jiao Jiao, I know. You don’t have to explain. I understand.”

Hu Jiao Jiao thought to herself, No, you really don’t understand…

“Jiao Jiao, why don’t you consider finding another mate? There are plenty of good males in the tribe besides Ying Yuan…” Hu Min began to gently persuade her.

The original owner had been obsessed with Ying Yuan, ignoring all other males. If it hadn’t been for Lu Mian’er throwing her into Long Mo’s bed, she would probably still be single.

Thinking of the five pitiful cubs waiting at home, Hu Jiao Jiao immediately refused. “Mom, I don’t like Ying Yuan anymore, and I don’t want to find a new mate. I just want to raise my five cubs well.”

What a joke. She had to prevent the cubs and the villain from turning evil, not throw herself into chaos! Juggling two relationships was out of the question—especially when one of them involved a tyrannical, violent villain.

Hu Min looked disappointed, her mind blank for a moment before she suddenly realized what Hu Jiao Jiao had just said. Her face lit up with joy. “Jiao Jiao, did you say you really don’t like Ying Yuan anymore?”

“Really,” Hu Jiao Jiao nodded firmly.

“That’s wonderful! You’ve finally come to your senses!”

“Our Jiao Jiao is so great! If Ying Yuan doesn’t like you, it’s his loss!”

Hu Min was overjoyed, tears of happiness streaming down her face.

For years, she had watched her precious daughter suffer from Ying Yuan’s rejection. She had tried to convince her to move on, but Hu Jiao Jiao had stubbornly refused. Now, finally, she had let go.

Hu Jiao Jiao forced a couple of dry laughs, nodding along in agreement, while inwardly thinking: The difference between the original owner and Lu Mian’er wasn’t just personality—it was the lack of a protagonist halo.

Not far away, Lu Cuicui, seeing the two chatting and laughing, gritted her teeth in jealousy. When no one was watching, she walked over to Hu Jiao Jiao.

With a loud “Oops!” she kicked over Hu Jiao Jiao’s pile of potatoes, scattering them everywhere.

Hu Min stood up angrily, hands on her hips, and scolded, “Lu Cuicui! Are you blind? If you can’t walk, I’ll chop off your feet and feed them to the dogs!”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry! I just wanted to help since you two were digging so slowly…” Lu Cuicui feigned shock, stepping back, and in doing so, crushed several more potatoes under her feet.

“You!” Hu Min was furious, her face full of distress as she looked at the crushed potatoes. These were precious winter supplies. Every potato lost meant one less meal during the cold months.

“I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to. I’ll give you the ones I’ve dug to make up for it, so don’t be mad…” Lu Cuicui apologized repeatedly, all the while pulling Hu Min’s arm. As she did so, she noticed a rock hidden in the grass behind her, and a flash of malice crossed her eyes. She suddenly applied more force and shoved Hu Min hard.