Chapter 27: Taking Care of You Is My Responsibility.

Chapter 27: It’s My Duty to Take Care of You.

"Once the Gu poison is dealt with, I’m definitely going to eat all the herbs on this mountain right in front of that Stinky Old Man."

After finishing Wu Shao’s tasks, Bai Yeye collapsed on the ground, turning into a puddle of YeYe.

Shen Yu fed him some water, and Bai Yeye finally had the strength to stand up: "I’m starving."

Shen Yu took two packs of compressed biscuits from his storage space and handed them to him.

Bai Yeye made a face: "I don’t like eating this."

He wanted something hot and tasty.

"There’s not enough snacks left for you, and Wu Shao definitely won’t prepare us any meals. This will fill you up, so just deal with it." It wasn’t worth going down the mountain to eat and coming back—that would waste too much time.

Bai Yeye hung his head: "Fine."

Shen Yu popped a biscuit into his mouth. "You can head back first. I can handle it on my own."

Wu Shao wasn’t as bad as he thought; maybe he could still succeed on his own.

As soon as Shen Yu finished speaking, Wu Shao stepped in with a cold laugh: "If you’re going, then get out together. Don’t stay here and be a nuisance."

He only wanted to mess with Bai Yeye; he had no grudge against Shen Yu.

Bai Yeye gave him a pitiful look: "We’ve been slaving away for you, and you won’t even feed us?!"

Wu Shao snorted: "I couldn’t care less if you live or die, so why would I care about feeding you?"

Bai Yeye sneered right back at him: "I thought you were a beast, but you’re worse than a beast—won’t even feed us."

Seeing Bai Yeye push back, Wu Shao didn’t pull his punches: "After watering, go weed the garden."

Bai Yeye rolled his eyes: "I can’t tell weeds from your herbs. If I accidentally pull out your herbs, don’t come crying to me."

Wu Shao’s eyebrow twitched. If this little brat pulled a stunt and ripped out all the herbs, half a year’s work would be for nothing.

"Stop. Don’t weed. Then go chop wood in the backyard."

Bai Yeye gave Shen Yu a smug look. Chopping wood was way easier, right? How much wood could one guy need?

When they got to the backyard, they found dozens of bundles of firewood.

Bai Yeye slunk back, scowling, to chew him out: "Where did all this wood come from?!"

"There wasn’t any before, you jerk, but when I found out you were coming, I had it brought in specially."

"..." Damn, this old geezer had some nerve.

"I’m just a little dog—I can barely lift an axe! How am I supposed to chop wood?!"

Wu Shao didn’t give a damn: "That’s your problem."

Bai Yeye gnashed his teeth, ready to jump him and bite him, but Wu Shao slammed the door shut: "If you’re not done when I wake up, you can pack up and leave."

Fighting with him was pointless, so Bai Yeye scurried back to the backyard to figure something out with Shen Yu.

"What plan? We chop." Shen Yu stripped off his shirt and tied it around his waist, then picked up the axe nearby.

"I’ll chop. You just stack the split wood."

Bai Yeye checked out his ripped muscles, then glanced at his own pudgy paws. He sucked in his breath, trying to make his fluffy body look buff.

YeYe’s ultimate muscle lines!

"What are you doing?" Shen Yu asked, puzzled.

Bai Yeye tensed his body and walked over: "Don’t you think my muscle lines look good too?"

Shen Yu pinched the bridge of his nose: "If you’re tired, go to sleep. I can chop it all myself."

His whole body was covered in fur—how could he see any muscle lines?

Bai Yeye gritted his teeth. Hmph, he’d deal with that later after they were done.

The two worked until late into the night to finish splitting all the firewood. Bai Yeye was too exhausted to speak, while Shen Yu was only slightly out of breath.

"Go rest in a room. Sleeping here will make you sick."

Bai Yeye didn’t move, his voice slurred: "He didn’t even give us a room. It’s good enough to have the yard to sleep in."

Shen Yu looked around. There were plenty of rooms, but he didn’t know which ones were off-limits. Wu Shao had an unpredictable temper, so it was better to wait until he woke up to ask.

He carried Bai Yeye to a warmer spot and took out his own coat from the storage space to cover him.

Bai Yeye curled up, mumbling in his sleep: "So hungry... wuwu... why did I come to suffer like this?"

For Bai Yeye, physical labor wasn’t a big deal, but not having enough to eat while doing it was truly miserable, wuwu.

"How about I send you back?"

"No, I said we have to solve this. A little hardship is fine. I’ll just empty Shen Yu’s granary when I get back!"

Hearing his aggrieved complaints, Shen Yu couldn’t help but smile. Instead of lying down to rest, he got up and walked outside.

As dawn broke, Bai Yeye, still half-asleep, caught a whiff of a delicious aroma. His body moved toward the source before his mind was fully awake.

Walking along, he bumped into a wall of muscle and opened his eyes.

"Grilled fish!" Bai Yeye snapped awake, circling Shen Yu like a kid waiting for a toy.

Shen Yu handed him the crispy, fragrant grilled fish: "Eat up."

Bai Yeye’s tail wagged so fast it blurred: "Where did you get this?"

"From the lake we passed earlier."

After finishing one fish, Bai Yeye looked up, still craving more, and noticed four buckets full of cleaned small dried fish.

Seeing Shen Yu’s wet clothes, Bai Yeye froze: "Did you catch them yourself?"

"Did you think the fish would swim up, gut themselves, and jump into the buckets?"

"Then you didn’t rest all night?"

They had finished chopping wood in the dead of night, and Shen Yu had gone to catch fish, cleaned them—when would he have had time to rest?

"I’m not tired." Shen Yu handed him another grilled fish.

Bai Yeye's tail stopped wagging and drooped to the ground in guilt. "Is it because I kept nagging about wanting to eat? You don't have to do this. I can just eat biscuits. Sorry, I was being too stubborn."

He had only been complaining casually; he didn't want Shen Yu to sacrifice his rest for him.

While he was feeling guilty, a hand ruffled his head. "It's not you being willful. I promised Bai Ruoshui that taking care of you is my responsibility. It's just one night without rest; it's not as tiring as you think."

He did all this to make Bai Yeye happy, not to make him feel guilty.

"You just take care of yourself; you don't need to take care of me. I can take care of myself. If worst comes to worst, I'll go eat the Stinky Old Man's herbs."

Shen Yu fed the grilled fish into his mouth. "Aren't you afraid of getting poisoned? Alright, since I caught all these, let's finish eating first."

"Mm-hmm! Tonight I'll go hunting for you! I've had my eye on those free-range chickens at the foot of the mountain all day, you know."

Shen Yu teased, "It'll be a miracle if you don't fall asleep the moment you hit the pillow, let alone go hunting."

Bai Yeye wasn't convinced and retorted, "That's because I was too tired last night! I'm very strong too, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're strong. Now eat up."

Bai Yeye leaned against him. "You eat too, or else you'll still be hungry when the Stinky Old Man wakes up."

Wu Shao stood by the window watching them feed each other, his thoughts drifting far away. His mind went back to the year he was an apprentice; he too was subjected to much harassment and could only make the best of a bad situation with those around him.

Thinking of that person, Wu Shao's eyes were once again filled with overwhelming coldness. His gaze towards Bai Yeye and Shen Yu also held hostility. Very close, aren't they? He wanted to see how long they could stay close in the face of humanity's ugliness.

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