“That’s nice,” Bai Qingqing said enviously.
The fruit wine that she drank today reminded Bai Qingqing of the fact that she hadn’t eaten fruits or vegetables for a long time, and she was getting a little heaty judging from her mouth. She gazed outside at the world covered in snow and ice and asked, “Are there still wild… I mean, edible plants now?”
“There aren’t any edible plants in the cold season. Perhaps there might be some plant roots. I’ll go out and look for them later,” Parker said.
Winston said, “It’s just started raining ice, the plants have yet to freeze to death. If you want to eat them, we need to go out and find them as early as possible.”
“Makes sense.” Bai Qingqing nodded, suddenly feeling a sense of crisis.
There weren’t any markets here, and she couldn’t very well go without replenishing her vitamins for the entire cold season. On the severe end, it could result in septicemia. Even if it was on the mild end, she would become heaty and get mouth ulcers and constipation, etc.
“No, let me come along too. Hopefully, we can find more to bring back to stock.” Bai Qingqing moved her legs, which had now regained feeling. She had wanted to retract her legs, but Parker held her feet more tightly and pressed them against his scalding hot chest.
“It’s too cold, I’ll go alone.” Parker raised Bai Qingqing’s feet and pressed them against his face to test the temperature, a slight smile appearing on his face. “They’re finally warmed up.”
Winston looked down the bridge of his nose and focused on adding firewood to the fire.
“Eh! Don’t you find it smelly!” Bai Qingqing hurriedly squirmed back her feet.
“Why would your feet be smelly?” Parker asked in turn. As he spoke, he even held up her feet and sniffed them. “Smells fragrant.”
Bai Qingqing shivered from his mushiness. How could her feet smell fragrant!
“It’s true.” Parker buried his face in Bai Qingqing’s feet and inhaled deeply—a look of enjoyment could be seen on his face as he let out a muffled sound from his throat.
Bai Qingqing’s expression nearly cracked. Does Parker have a foot fetish?
Seeing the look of disbelief on Bai Qingqing’s face, Parker held up her foot and insisted she smelled it herself. She had no choice but to sniff it. Indeed, it didn’t stink. She supposed it was because she hadn’t worn shoes for several months.
“There’s no fragrance.” Bai Qingqing rolled her eyes.
Parker said with certainty, “Yes, there is. It’s the natural scent of a female’s body. Perhaps you females can’t detect it, but we males can. If you don’t believe me, ask Win… ask Curtis.”
“Stop being mushy. Let’s hurry up and go.” Bai Qingqing retracted her legs and stuffed her feet into her shoes. “I’m not a carnivore, I can’t go a few months without eating plants.”
Parker asked with a serious expression, “What’s going to happen if you don’t eat plants?”
“I’ll fall sick.” Bai Qingqing tightened the opening of her shoes. This time she didn’t go easy and tied them very tightly.
Parker’s expression froze. He went into the bedroom and took out a piece of bearskin and layered it over her body. “It’s windy out there. Put on this.”
“Mm.”
The bearskin was very large—the bear feet, bear paws, and bear head hadn’t been cut off. After Bai Qingqing put on the bearskin, it looked as though her entire being was stuffed into a carrier made of bearskin. With the bear head hat over her head, only her face was exposed.
Despite that, Parker was still worried, so he draped another extremely long fox tail around her neck. With so many layers of clothes on her, Bai Qingqing couldn’t even carry the pack basket on her shoulders. Hence, she could only carry it with her hands.
As it was quite far away, Parker transformed into a leopard and ran out of the city with Bai Qingqing riding on his back.
Likewise, the mountains were covered in ice and snow. Apart from the whiteness, all that could be seen was the brownish-yellow of the withering wood. The broken tree branches scattered messily on the ground added a desolate vibe to the mountains.
