The grinding stone had become Bai Qingqing’s dining table. There were both meat and vegetable steaming dishes in the bowl. Bai Qingqing’s appetite was piqued. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
“Qingqing.” Parker sat down next to Bai Qingqing, using his leg to block the gap under the grinding stone. His voice sounded a little unsettled. “Let’s mate.”
“Cough!” Bai Qingqing choked on rice and kept on coughing while having a mouthful of food in her mouth.
“Eat slowly.” Parker patted her lightly on the back and said, “You said that you couldn’t mate when you had just given birth. Half of the cold season is already over now. You should be better now, right?”
Bai Qingqing swallowed down the food she hadn’t chewed thoroughly with difficulty, let out a hiccup, then said in a soft voice, “Winston is outside.”
“What’s there to be afraid of? What I’m afraid of is…” Parker’s voice turned weaker, and he looked at the ground. “If we still don’t mate, Curtis will wake up.”
Bai Qingqing’s face turned warm, and she buried her face, stuffing food into her mouth until her cheeks were puffed up like a frog. After finishing the entire bowl of food, she finally managed to calm down. However, her face had turned red as an apple.
It was true that she mustn’t drag it out any longer. Parker had taken care of her for so long that if she still didn’t ascertain their relationship, she would feel that she was a trashy woman.
Parker was still seated next to Bai Qingqing, and he took her bowl from her. “There’s still another bowl of rice.”
Bai Qingqing quickly held onto Parker’s hand, and when her icy fingertips came into contact with his hot skin, she drew back her hand as if she had been scorched. “It’s alright, I’m already full.”
“Let’s mate.” Parker looked at Bai Qingqing solemnly, his deep eyes seemed as if they had been plated with a layer of gold that had a high level of purity. His face lost its youthfulness and had the sharpness of a mature beastman, becoming more perfect and gleaming.
Bai Qingqing’s heart beat vigorously, and she nodded as if she had been bewitched. In that instant, that pair of golden eyes were like they had been illuminated by sunlight, releasing scorching light.
Parker grinned and slid one arm behind Bai Qingqing’s knees, using the other to support Bai Qingqing’s back. He carried her up horizontally and took big strides toward the grass nest.
“Hey, wait a minute.” Bai Qingqing’s heart beat even faster than before and she looked at Parker nervously.
“En?” Parker lowered his head and looked at her, stopping by the nest.
Under Parker’s gaze, Bai Qingqing was so nervous that she felt that she was having some breathing difficulties.
“I… want to wash up,” Bai Qingqing lowered her head and said in a voice as soft as that of a mosquito’s buzz.
“Alright.” Parker laid her gently down onto the nest, and at the next instant, it seemed as if the fast forward button had been pressed. With a “swoosh”, he turned and left. When Bai Qingqing looked up, there was no one in the room.
“Quickly add more firewood, Qingqing wants to wash up.” Parker took the stone basin and dashed out of the house. Not long later, he returned with the basin filled with sharp ice pieces.
Winston remained silent as he added firewood. He was so quiet that, if it wasn’t because the fire had gotten stronger, it’d be as if he was non-existential.
After the water was heated up, Bai Qingqing chased Parker out of the room and shuddered as she wiped her body. Parker anxiously squatted by the door, clawing into the ground. When Bai Qingqing heard the sounds, she could imagine how anxious he was. At the thought of how Winston was still watching in the main room, she felt so embarrassed that she flushed up.
“Hey, you should wash up as well.” Bai Qingqing covered her chest and had her back to the door.
“Okay.”
After hearing Parker’s reply, Bai Qingqing couldn’t hear anything else from outside the room. Her heart thumped.
As if to ascertain her guess, a loud sound suddenly rang out from outside not long later. Bai Qingqing quickly walked to the window, parted the curtains, and saw a leopard leaping gracefully into the icy river.
