The folded hide beneath them was soft, but the memory of rough stones and sharp paths returned immediately. She looked down at her feet and frowned. Even after Hu Baiyu had checked them and Mu Qingyi had wrapped them before, the bottoms were still tender, and she knew very well that if she continued walking barefoot in this world, she would either get used to it through suffering or lose her mind first.

No.

Absolutely no.

She was from the sci-fi world.

She might not have advanced machines here, and her father might have thrown her into this primitive simulation like a heartless villain in parental clothing, but that did not mean she had to accept walking on stones like a tragic little wild creature.

She needed footwear.

Even if it was primitive.

Even if it was ugly.

Even if it looked like two dead leaves tied to her feet, she would rather wear that than keep stepping on sharp ground and pretending she was fine.

Lin Huahua glanced at the hides stacked near the wall, then at the plant fibers Mu Qingyi had used to tie baskets, then at the thin bone needles hanging near the work area. Her eyes slowly brightened.

Maybe she could make something.

Maybe sandals.

Maybe soft hide shoes.

Maybe something with layered fur inside and harder hide under the bottom.

Her fluffy white rat tail began to move again, slow at first, then faster as an idea formed. Her ears perked up too, and Feng Yiren, who had been pretending not to watch her every small move, immediately noticed.

"What are you thinking?" he asked suspiciously.

Lin Huahua hugged her feet closer and gave him a sweet smile. "Nothing."

Feng Yiren’s eyes narrowed. "That face is never nothing."

Mu Qingyi looked over. "Do your feet hurt?"

Hu Baiyu immediately leaned closer and reached for her ankle.

Lin Huahua quickly shook her head. "No, no, they do not hurt. I am only thinking."

Feng Yiren sat up straighter. "That is worse."

Lin Huahua ignored him, because for once she had a real idea that could help her survive this world without crying over every stone path. Since her system kept acting useless until it decided to randomly reward her, she might as well force it to be useful properly this time.

So Lin Huahua closed her eyes, and she patiently gathered her thoughts, and called for her system in her mind.

{Princess, if you are calling me because you want me to give you ready-made shoes, I advise you to stop before you embarrass both of us.}

Lin Huahua: "..."

The system’s voice appeared almost immediately, sounding like it had been waiting nearby just to deny her before she could even ask properly.

Lin Huahua’s eyes snapped open in her mind, and if the system had a real body in front of her, she would have already grabbed its tiny fairy wings and shaken it until all the uselessness fell out.

The system was driving her insane because she knew how useful it could be. "I did not even say anything yet."

{You closed your eyes with that face. That is the face you make when you want help without doing work.}

Lin Huahua’s cheeks puffed up at once, and because her real body was sitting on the furs with her eyes closed, the three males outside her mind immediately saw her cheeks puff up for no reason and became alert at the same time.

Feng Yiren narrowed his red eyes. "Why is she making that face?"

Mu Qingyi leaned closer slightly, his deer ears turning toward her. "Maybe she is thinking."

Feng Yiren’s fox ears twitched with suspicion. "That is what worries me."

Hu Baiyu, who was sitting near her feet, immediately reached out and touched her ankle gently, because if she was making a strange face, then maybe something hurt, and if something hurt, then he needed to know before anyone else. Lin Huahua felt the warm touch and almost opened her eyes, but she forced herself to stay focused because this useless system was still looking at her like an annoying tiny supervisor.

"I need footwear," Lin Huahua told the system in her mind. "Something to wear on my feet so I do not keep stepping on sharp stones. My feet are not beastman feet. They are delicate. They are precious. They are suffering."

{Then think of a way to make some.}

Lin Huahua froze. "That is your answer?"

{Yes.}

"You are a system."

{Correct.}

"You are supposed to help me."

{I am helping you by encouraging independent thinking.}

Lin Huahua almost choked from anger. "You are helping me by standing there and doing nothing."

{That is also a type of help.}

"No, that is called being useless."

{Princess, your father specifically said you must learn to solve basic problems with the materials available in this world. If I give you everything, then you will learn nothing, and then you will stay foolish and pampered forever.}

Lin Huahua’s whole face twisted. "My father is not here, so why are you acting like his loyal little dog?"

{Because unlike some people, I do not want to be deleted when the simulation ends.}

Lin Huahua: "..."

The system smiled with the sort of innocence only a truly wicked fairy could have, then added, {Use your head, Princess. You already have enough basic survival knowledge now. Search your memory. What can protect soft feet? What can be tied? What can be layered? What can stop sharp stones?}

Lin Huahua wanted to continue arguing, but the words actually entered her mind and stirred something there. She thought of the hides stacked by the wall, the thicker pieces of beast skin drying near the entrance, the plant fibers Mu Qingyi used for baskets, the bone needles hanging near the work stones, the sticky tree resin Feng Yiren had once complained about because it got on his fingers, and the softer fur scraps Hu Baiyu had used earlier to make her sit more comfortably.