Then an idea formed.

A rough one.

An ugly one.

But still an idea.

Lin Huahua’s eyes opened suddenly, and she shot up from the furs with so much energy that all three males reacted as if a beast had jumped into the cave.

Mu Qingyi stood first, his broad bare chest shifting with the movement while his antlers almost brushed the cave roof. "Huahua?"

Hu Baiyu moved even faster, one hand already reaching toward her waist so he could steady her if she fell. His lion ears were standing high, his blue eyes full of worry, and his tail had gone stiff behind him because she had just been almost drowned not long ago and now she was springing up as if the river had not personally tried to marry her to death.

Feng Yiren stood too, but because he was Feng Yiren, he turned the worry into irritation first. "What are you doing now? If you say you want to go back to the river, I will tie you to the fur bed."

Lin Huahua turned and glared at him.

Feng Yiren closed his mouth, though his fox tail lashed once behind him to show that he was not actually obedient, only temporarily choosing not to fight because Mu Qingyi and Hu Baiyu were already watching him.

"I am making something," Lin Huahua announced, lifting her chin.

Mu Qingyi’s eyes softened with interest at once. "What are you making?"

"You will see."

Hu Baiyu blinked and tilted his head slightly, his lion ears moving forward in curious confusion.

Feng Yiren looked her up and down. "Should I be afraid?"

Lin Huahua pointed one finger at him. "You should always be afraid of me."

"You followed fish into deep water."

Lin Huahua picked up the nearest small rolled hide and threw it at him.

Feng Yiren caught it without even moving his feet, his red eyes brightening with delight because annoying her always made her cute, and Lin Huahua almost grabbed another hide before Mu Qingyi gently stepped between them with the smoothness of a male who was already used to stopping unnecessary little wars.

"Let her make what she wants," Mu Qingyi said, though his hand still hovered near Lin Huahua’s back as if she might trip over her own determination.

Lin Huahua immediately turned to him and said seriously, "All of you stand back."

The three males looked at her.

Nobody moved.

She narrowed her eyes. "I said stand back."

Mu Qingyi took one small step back, but only one, and it was so small that Lin Huahua almost wanted to laugh. Hu Baiyu looked genuinely troubled, because standing back meant not being close enough to catch her, and that seemed like an unreasonable demand to a lion beastman who had just pulled her out of a river. Feng Yiren crossed his arms and leaned against the cave wall, pretending he had stepped back because he wanted to, not because she had ordered it.

Lin Huahua decided that was good enough for now.

Then she began moving.

At first she went to the hide pile near the side wall, where many different animal skins had been folded and stacked. The cave house felt dim and warm around her, with the low fire still burning near the middle, smoke slipping upward through the opening in the stone ceiling.

The floor was uneven in places, packed with flat stones and soft hides where people usually sat, and the walls held all sorts of primitive tools, bone needles, stone blades, hanging cords, drying leaves, woven baskets, and clay pots. It was nothing like the clean shining rooms of her sci-fi world, but now that she had an idea in her mind, even this rough cave began to look a little less like suffering and a little more like a supply room.

She crouched by the hide pile and began pulling things out.

A soft rabbit hide.

Too thin.

A thicker boar hide.

Too stiff, but maybe useful.

A strip of spotted deer skin.

Mu Qingyi coughed softly behind her.

Lin Huahua looked down at the spotted skin, then looked back at him. "Not yours."

Mu Qingyi smiled despite himself. "I did not say anything."

"You looked emotional."

"I did not."

"You did."

Feng Yiren laughed from the wall. "He looked like you were picking up his dead cousin."

Mu Qingyi turned his head slowly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Feng Yiren immediately looked elsewhere. "I said nothing."

Lin Huahua ignored them and kept searching. She found a flatter, tougher hide piece, then a softer fur scrap, then a narrow strip of dried vine fiber. She gathered them into her arms, and before she could stand fully, Hu Baiyu was already beside her, taking half the things from her with his big hands.

Lin Huahua blinked. "Baiyu, I can carry them."

Hu Baiyu shook his head with deep seriousness.

Then he pointed at the pile in her arms, then at her small body, then took more from her until she was holding only one thin strip of fiber.

Lin Huahua looked down at the single sad strip in her hands. "You left me with one worm."

Hu Baiyu’s face changed. He looked down at the strip, then back at her, clearly wondering if she wanted more.

Lin Huahua quickly said, "No, no, fine. You can hold them."

His lion ears perked up again, pleased to be useful.

From there she went to the tool corner, and as promised, the three males followed her.

Not casually either.

They followed her to every single corner.

When she moved two steps toward the bone needles, Mu Qingyi moved with her. When she turned toward the basket of plant cords, Hu Baiyu shifted immediately to block one uneven stone with his foot. When she stepped near the fire to check the hardened resin by the warm stones, Feng Yiren was suddenly there, snatching the resin piece before she could touch it.

"That is sticky," he said.

Lin Huahua reached for it. "Give it to me."

"It will get on your fingers."

"I need it."

"Then I will hold it."

"I need to look at it."

"You can look at it from my hand."

Lin Huahua stared at him. "Do you think I am a cub?"

Feng Yiren smiled. "Cubs have better river sense."