As expected, it’s not that easy to win over these little villain cubs.

Hu Jiaojiao sighed, stood up, and placed the remaining three pieces of animal hide in front of them. “Will you change yourselves, or should I help?”

After saying that, she added another line, “You can eat after you change. No changing, no eating.”

She knew that simply being kind to them wouldn’t work; she had to be strict when necessary.

The three cubs remained motionless.

Hu Jiaojiao didn’t bother with them. She set up a rack by the stove, hung up the wet clothes to dry, and then dished out six large bowls of meat and rice, placing them on the ground.

The rich aroma of the meat instantly stirred the cubs’ appetites, making their stomachs rumble, almost causing them to drool.

Long Ling’er, still affected by Long Zhong’s words, didn’t dare to approach right away.

The youngest, Long Yao, instinctively arched his small dragon body, circling around the food.

Seeing this, Hu Jiaojiao picked up a bowl of meat, used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of braised pork, and held it out to Long Yao.

“Yao’er, do you want some?”

Long Yao blinked his red beastly eyes, seemingly trying to determine if the meat was safe to eat. In the end, hunger won over, and he opened his mouth to bite into the braised pork.

His small dragon body was only the length of a forearm, stunted from malnutrition, and he was the cub the original owner disliked the most.

With his mouth full of meat, he barely chewed before swallowing it down whole.

Immediately, Long Yao opened his mouth again, his red beast eyes staring at Hu Jiaojiao, eagerly waiting to be fed.

Hu Jiaojiao was surprised to find that the cub who was the cruelest in the book turned out to be the easiest to win over!

Smiling, she fed him another piece of meat and gently reminded, “Yao’er, eat slowly, there’s plenty more.”

But Long Yao didn’t listen, devouring each piece of meat in one bite.

He came over purely out of hunger, not out of trust for Hu Jiaojiao.

Hu Jiaojiao’s eye twitched.

Well… as long as he’s eating, we’ll work on the manners later.

Seeing how happily Long Yao was eating, and noticing how gentle Hu Jiaojiao was being without any signs of violence, Long Ling’er couldn’t resist anymore and cautiously approached.

She glanced at the chopsticks in Hu Jiaojiao’s hand, feeling a bit confused.

What is that?

At that moment, something cool was placed in her hand.

Long Ling’er looked down and saw a long, indented object.

Looking up, she saw Hu Jiaojiao smiling warmly. “Ling’er, this is a spoon. You use it to eat the meat.”

As she spoke, Hu Jiaojiao demonstrated, using the spoon to scoop up a piece of meat and bringing it to Long Ling’er’s mouth.

Instinctively, Long Ling’er opened her mouth, biting into the tender, juicy pork belly. Her eyes widened with delight.

This meat is delicious!

Long Ling’er immediately grasped the bowl, clumsily using the spoon to eat big bites.

Not far away, the other three cubs were already licking their lips.

Hu Jiaojiao smiled inwardly and ignored them, picking up another bowl of rice and placing it in front of Long Ling’er. “Try this with the meat. If they don’t eat it, all of this will go to you and Yao’er.”

Beastmen mainly ate meat, and she wasn’t sure if the cubs were used to other food. If it were just meat for her, she wouldn’t be able to handle it—she needed some staple food. So, she made a pot of rice just in case.

Long Ling’er, forgetting her fear, scooped up some rice and took a bite.

Her eyes lit up immediately.

It was fragrant and soft, and even though it wasn’t meat, it tasted even better!

“This is so good! Mom, your cooking is amazing!” Long Ling’er praised between mouthfuls, gobbling down the food.

The thought of getting hit didn’t matter anymore. Just getting to eat such a delicious meal made it all worth it.

“She really seems to have changed…” Not far away, Long Xiu murmured.

Though he couldn’t see, he could tell from the sounds that Hu Jiaojiao and Long Ling’er were getting along well.

Nothing like her previous cruel self.

Long Zhong’s face darkened as he snorted coldly, still unconvinced. “It must be a trick. I refuse to believe she’s truly changed.”

Just as he finished speaking, his stomach growled.

Long Yu, with a serious expression, made up his mind quickly. “Let’s change into the clothes first and see what she’s up to.”

The temptation of the food was just too much.

Soon, the three cubs took off their wet clothes and tied the animal hides around their waists like skirts. Each took a bowl of braised pork and squatted next to Long Ling’er to eat.

Seeing this, Hu Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief. She gathered the wet clothes to hang them up to dry, then sat down to finally eat her dinner.

Five pounds of pork belly and a large bowl of rice—Hu Jiaojiao cleaned her plate. The five cubs, even more impressive, licked their bowls until there wasn’t a drop of oil left.

Afterward, Hu Jiaojiao ladled out bowls of rice soup for them.

The five cubs lined up to receive the soup. Long Yao’s bowl was placed on the ground, while the blind Long Xiu stood at the end of the line. When it was his turn, he accidentally dropped his bowl, spilling the soup everywhere.

Clatter!

The soup splashed across the floor, and the bowl shattered into pieces.

Long Xiu’s face turned pale, his empty eyes filled with panic as he apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! You can hit me, just don’t hit the others…”

The original owner had hated the cubs so much that whenever one of them made a mistake, all of them would get beaten.

The other four cubs immediately looked nervously at Hu Jiaojiao, as if ready to fight her if she even showed a hint of wanting to hit them.

But instead of getting angry, Hu Jiaojiao quickly rushed over, grabbing Long Xiu’s hand.

“Did you burn yourself? Your hand is all red. Why didn’t you say anything if you were hurt?”

Long Xiu, rarely going outside due to his blindness, had sickly pale skin. His palm was now a vivid red from the burn, clearly visible.

Just looking at it made Hu Jiaojiao wince in pain.

Without giving him a chance to respond, she dragged him to the water barrel, holding his hand under the cool water to soothe the burn.

Long Xiu, though in pain, found this discomfort trivial compared to the vicious beatings he was used to.

Feeling the cold water ease his burn, the pain lessened considerably.

Long Xiu was stunned.

She… didn’t scold or hit him, and she even seemed worried about his pain. Was this a dream?

He remained in a daze until Hu Jiaojiao pulled his hand out of the water, snapping him back to reality.

He hurriedly apologized again, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spilled the food. It’s all my fault…”

“It’s okay, it’s just a bowl of rice soup. How could that be more important than my cub’s health?” Hu Jiaojiao smiled warmly, gently blowing on his hand and asking softly, “Does it still hurt?”

Long Xiu, still dazed, shook his head instinctively. “N-No, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Good, I’ll get you another bowl.”

Hu Jiaojiao patted his head, got up, and served him another bowl of rice soup, this time letting it cool before handing it over.

The other cubs were speechless.

She must be possessed!

Not only had she cut up her prized animal hide to give to them, but she had also cooked so much delicious food, and even when Long Xiu spilled the soup, she remained gentle.

Was this really the same cruel woman?

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Hu Jiaojiao told them to go inside and rest while she took a torch to the river to wash the dishes.

When she returned, the house was empty.

The cubs were gone!