Su Yu's heart tightened. She nodded. "I understand."
'Since I can't read the original novel, I'll just have to stay far away from the female lead when I meet her.'
'Staying away from the protagonists is the key to survival, after all.'
'However...'
Su Yu asked again, "Can you give me a little hint? Who's in the female lead's harem? Is Shi Wei... one of them?"
After reading the summary, she only knew there was a wolf, a tiger, a snake, a unicorn, and a rabbit. The summary didn't mention their specific names.
'If I could just find out who's in the female lead's harem, I could avoid them later.'
250: [Sure. 100 points for one name.]
Su Yu: "...Never mind."
'Suddenly, she didn't really want to know anymore.'
The human and the system parted on bad terms. Su Yu started to worry about how she would explain the system's rewards to Shi Wei.
They were going to spend their lives together. Even if she could hide the items now, Shi Wei would eventually find out.
250's smarmy voice piped up: [The System Space is available for rent. One point for one day~]
Su Yu's mouth twitched. "Not renting. Scram."
'This damn system is just trying to fleece her for points every chance it gets.'
250 made a regretful exit.
Just then, Shi Wei returned with food. His gaze landed on Su Yu, completely ignoring the large pile of things.
His brow furrowed slightly. "Why didn't you sleep in a little longer? Are you still feeling unwell?"
He stepped forward and felt Su Yu's forehead. Only after confirming she didn't have a fever did he relax.
After giving her the Beast Mark last night, Shi Wei hadn't slept a wink. He had been watching the little female's reaction all night, terrified that she wouldn't make it and would die from illness.
Thankfully, the little female was strong and pulled through.
Shi Wei had learned his lesson. He now knew he had to be more careful and meticulous in caring for the little female, lest he actually kill her with his "care."
Su Yu looked up at Shi Wei and blinked.
'Huh, it seems I can see a little more clearly.'
'It's still just a blob of colors, but this time the blobs aren't all mushed together. There's a bit of an outline.'
Su Yu was very happy about this.
Seeing her dazed expression, Shi Wei worried that the fever had made her slow-witted. He put down the broth and was about to go find Granny Wu Zhi.
Su Yu snapped out of it and grabbed his arm. "I'm fine. My body doesn't hurt anymore."
She clutched her empty stomach. "I'm just a little hungry..."
"Come, eat something. I traded with the leader's partner for a bowl of broth." Hearing this, Shi Wei immediately picked up the still-warm broth to feed her.
Granny Wu Zhi had said that a sick female needed to eat something easy to digest. So, he had gone to find the leader's partner early in the morning and traded a piece of Tun Tun Beast meat for a bowl of her broth.
This was because her broth was the best-tasting in the entire tribe, and all the females loved it.
Su Yu wasn't quite used to being so intimate with Shi Wei yet, but she didn't push him away. She took a sip from the bowl in his hand.
The moment it entered her mouth, Su Yu turned her head and gagged, "...BLECH."
The broth was sour and bitter, with an overpowering fishy, gamey smell.
Shi Wei's brow tightened. He gently patted her back with one hand while bringing the bowl to his own lips for a sip.
'This tastes normal.'
'Why can't she drink it again?'
Su Yu couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Shi Wei's strong arm and got off the bed. "Do you have a stone pot? If you do, let's make our own broth."
'If I have to drink another Beast World-style broth, I'll kick the bucket right now instead of waiting to recover from childbirth.'
Shi Wei helped her up and sat her down on a stone stool. "I'll make one now."
Male Beastmen like them all preferred to eat raw meat. They only ate roasted meat in the winter to stay warm. For a single Beastman, just having a campfire in his stone cave was considered a luxury; a stone pot was out of the question.
Su Yu: "Okay."
Shi Wei found a stone and transformed his hands into wolf claws. He carved into it with a SCRAPE SCRAPE sound, glancing back at Su Yu every so often. He was afraid she would stand up, wander around, and trip over a rock.
When he saw her sitting there so obediently, a warm feeling spread through Shi Wei's heart, along with an inexplicable, swelling sense of satisfaction.
It was only now that Shi Wei felt a glimmer of reality.
He had a female.
'If Father and Amu knew, they'd definitely be happy for me, right?'
At that thought, Shi Wei's carving movements became faster and more forceful.
In no time, a stone pot took shape under his claws.
Su Yu then did her best to describe a simple stone stove, having Shi Wei find rocks to build one. He stuffed firewood inside, lit it, and set the stone pot on top.
Su Yu had wanted to make the broth herself to show Shi Wei how.
But the moment she started to get up, Shi Wei acted as if facing a great enemy. "Don't move! You tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
Su Yu could only give up with a sigh. She explained the simple broth recipe once, trying her best to use words a Beastman could understand.
First, prepare the ingredients. Mince the lean meat and set it aside. If they had ginger, scallions, garlic, and soy sauce, they could have used them to get rid of the gamey taste. Unfortunately, she had none of those, so she could only ask Shi Wei to find a sour fruit, like a lemon, and squeeze out its juice to cut the gaminess.
Next, render the fat from a piece of fatty meat to create oil. Add a small amount of water, and once it boiled, add the minced meat and then salt.
If she had eggs and tomatoes, she could have added them, but she had nothing right now, so she could only make a pure meat broth.
At the same time, Su Yu mentally put 'gathering' on her to-do list. 'If I can go out and gather, I could find more edible things. Besides improving our meals, I also want to stock up on food.'
'But if Shi Wei knew I wanted to go gathering, he definitely wouldn't let me. He wouldn't feel at ease.'
Brimming with a rebellious spirit that far outweighed her ninety-pound frame, Su Yu planned to sneak out with the gathering team when Shi Wei went out hunting.
If she was cooped up in the cave all the time, she'd start growing mushrooms.
She also deeply felt the difficulties faced by visually impaired people.
Her own low vision was already so inconvenient. People who were truly blind couldn't see at all, yet they could still live on their own. They were truly strong.
While she was lost in her thoughts, the broth was ready.
Shi Wei ladled out a bowl. He carefully used his superpower to cool the searingly hot liquid, and only when he was sure it was a suitable temperature did he bring it to Su Yu's lips. "Try it. Do you like the taste?"
Su Yu's small, soft hand clutched the back of his. She took a cautious, wary sip.
The warm liquid that entered her mouth had no strange taste. There was only the faint, tart fragrance of the fruit, none of the nauseating gamey smell. It was so normal that her eyes couldn't help but turn red.
'It hasn't been easy.'
'I can finally eat a decent meal.'
The moment Shi Wei saw her eyes redden, his expression changed instantly. He immediately pulled the bowl back. "Don't drink it."
'It's so bad it made her cry.'
"Hey, hey, don't take it away! Let me have a few more sips, it's delicious." Su Yu clung to his hand.
Shi Wei froze.
'Oh, so she wasn't crying because it was bad, but because it was good.'
A hint of pride appeared on his face, and a wolf tail, which had appeared from who-knows-where, wagged slightly behind him.
'Of course. How could food he made be bad enough to make a female cry?'
Shi Wei boldly shoved the stone bowl toward her mouth. "If it's good, then drink more."
Su Yu, whose teeth had just been knocked by the bowl: "..."
Her eyes welled up with tears.
'Oww, my teeth hurt.'
After the chaotic meal, Shi Wei took Su Yu to Granny Wu Zhi's place. He also prepared a wooden stick for her to use as a cane.
Then he ruffled her hair and kissed her eyes. "I'm going out to hunt. Stay here with Granny Wu Zhi for now. I'll come back to get you tonight."
The little female couldn't see, so he didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone.
Su Yu nodded obediently. "Okay."
Shi Wei lingered, giving her another affectionate kiss on the cheek, before he finally let go and left.
He wanted to stay with the little female, but their food reserves were low, and for now, she only had him as her Beast Husband.
He also needed to stock up on food for the winter. He had to hunt harder to make sure the little female wouldn't go hungry.
The moment Shi Wei left, Su Yu couldn't sit still. She asked Granny Wu Zhi, "Granny, is there a gathering team in the tribe? Can I go with them?"