Chapter 178 - 180: The Stoic Luan Ting Loses Control

Chapter 178: Chapter 180: The Stoic Luan Ting Loses Control

"There’s stuff underground?" Cai Xia exclaimed in surprise.

In this primitive world, resources were so abundant you could find treasures everywhere without even bending over.

It was perfectly normal that they had never paid attention to what might be underground.

Su Luoluo had only discovered this herself when digging for potatoes. Xiao Ye hadn’t recognized them at all and had no idea there was food underground. That’s when she realized these Beastmen had barely tapped one-thousandth of the forest’s potential.

Su Luoluo didn’t answer her, instead using a wooden stick to dig deeper. Before long, something fuzzy and purplish was exposed.

Su Luoluo pulled the root out and held it up. "This is called a taro. This is what we’ll be digging for today. Be careful not to touch the green stalk on top, or your hands will get very itchy."

Seeing that Su Luoluo had actually found something, Lan Ya looked a bit resentful, but she still scoffed, "What’s so good about this hairy thing? A single bite would probably make your mouth raw."

The other Beastmen couldn’t stand to hear this. They turned to Lan Ya and said, "Madam, Luoluo’s cooking is even better than yours. You can rest assured!"

"Exactly. Everything Luoluo has made so far has been delicious. I trust her."

"I trust her too."

Su Luoluo had been about to retort, but when she heard others "debating" on her behalf, she held her tongue.

’Looks like all that cooking wasn’t for nothing. Once you win over their stomachs, they’ll fight your battles for you!’

Shunned by the others in the tribe, Lan Ya didn’t dare say another word, her face long and ugly like a water-logged eggplant.

Su Luoluo’s mood brightened considerably at the sight, and she couldn’t resist adding fuel to the fire. "If Mother thinks it won’t taste good, you don’t have to eat any later. You can go pick some Red Frost Fruit for yourself."

Hearing this, Lan Ya’s face grew even longer.

Now that they couldn’t eat birds or beasts, if she didn’t eat this, she would have nothing to eat at all.

So, she could only swallow her pride and remain silent.

With that said, Su Luoluo turned her gaze to the large patch of wild taro. "Everyone, start digging! We can also keep the stalks and take them back to make pickled taro stems!"

Hearing this, everyone nodded and started working with fiery enthusiasm.

Though they didn’t know what pickled taro stems were, they were sure that anything Su Luoluo mentioned would be delicious.

After leading the group to dig up all the taro, Su Luoluo then took them to dig for sweet potatoes and potatoes.

It wasn’t peak season for potatoes, so they didn’t find many. But the sweet potatoes and taro piled up into several small mountains, and the tribe members had to make several trips to haul them all back to the village.

Due to the special circumstances of the plague, Su Yang had reinstated the previous system of communal meals.

Su Luoluo taught them the recipes, but she wasn’t the one doing the cooking.

Cai Xia and Ah Zhu voluntarily led the tribe’s females in cooking. When asked why, they simply said, "Luoluo is pregnant with a cub; it’s not convenient for her."

At that moment, Su Luoluo felt like she had found a kindred spirit.

’Cai Xia and Ah Zhu understood her. She really didn’t want to do all the communal cooking.’

But even so, Su Luoluo was exhausted by the end of the day when she finally collapsed onto her bed.

She had just started to pull the beast skin blanket over herself when someone else beat her to it, covering her up.

Before she could even react, an arm wrapped tightly around her waist from the side, and a head rested on her shoulder. A gentle voice asked, "Are you very tired?"

Su Luoluo was tense at first, but upon hearing the familiar voice, she relaxed quite a bit. She patted the hand around her waist and said, "I’m okay. I’m happy I can help the people of the tribe."

Luan Ting kissed Su Luoluo’s earlobe, then pulled back slightly, his voice a little deep. "You’ve lost weight. Your waist has gotten so thin."

Hearing this, Su Luoluo’s face lit up with joy. "Isn’t being thinner a good thing? I look better now that I’ve slimmed down."

Ever since becoming pregnant, she had stopped trying to lose weight, afraid that being too thin would be bad for the baby in her belly.

She had been worried that after losing weight, she wouldn’t be able to control it and would rebound, gaining it all back.

’I can’t believe I’ve actually lost weight now.’

’And don’t pregnant women usually get bloated and gain weight?’

’Since I’ve lost weight now, does that mean I won’t get too fat when my belly gets bigger?’

Luan Ting shook his head. "It hurts my heart to see you get thinner."

Su Luoluo hadn’t expected Luan Ting to say that. ’He... is really so good to me.’

A rare wave of emotion washed over Su Luoluo. Ever since she began her "conquest" of her few Beastman husbands, she had always faintly suspected that what they valued was her figure.

Although her face wasn’t particularly beautiful, her body was the best among all the females in the tribe.

Now, hearing Luan Ting say it pained him to see her thin, she felt an indescribable, bittersweet feeling inside.

It was a simple, heartfelt expression of concern, and at this moment, she felt like she and Luan Ting were truly husband and wife.

Before Su Luoluo’s heart could calm down, Luan Ting spoke again. "I should catch more fish for you. You need to nourish your body properly."

After speaking, he added with rare embarrassment, "It’s just that my cooking is not as good as yours. Please don’t mind it."

Su Luoluo didn’t know why the people of the tribe were so insistent on feeding fish to pregnant females. They probably considered it a restorative food.

’In fact,’ Su Luoluo thought, ’I’ve eaten a lot of fish these past few days, but I haven’t seen myself gain any weight.’

But in any case, it was Luan Ting’s kind intention, and she didn’t refuse.

"I won’t mind. It’s nice to have a change of pace occasionally," Su Luoluo said with a smile.

Hearing this, a gentle smile spread across Luan Ting’s face, his eyes filled with a soft, all-encompassing love.

The hand holding Su Luoluo’s waist tightened slightly. His crimson lips moved upward, placing a series of light kisses on her eyes and cheeks.

Su Luoluo’s heart couldn’t help but flutter. It was always so comfortable being with Luan Ting. She quietly waited for his next move, but he just took a deep breath, as if restraining something, before moving his lips away from her face.

The lingering, moist warmth remained on Su Luoluo’s face, making her feel both ticklish and tingly. His sudden withdrawal made her feel as if something had been pulled from her heart, leaving a slight emptiness behind.

It was like a balloon being inflated; just when you thought it would get bigger and bigger, it started to shrink instead.

’I think I might be a little disappointed,’ Su Luoluo thought.

After the kisses, Luan Ting closed his eyes, his back ramrod straight as he suppressed the impulse surging within him.

’I thought if I just kissed her face and eyes, I could control myself,’ he thought. ’I didn’t expect that just a touch would make my heart pound wildly and my body react so strongly. I overestimated myself.’

After struggling to suppress the desire stirring within him, he said in a hoarse voice, "Go to sleep. It’s late. Get some proper rest."

’Luoluo is pregnant with a cub, and she worked hard all day. She needs to get enough sleep.’

Su Luoluo was taken aback by his words. ’Luan Ting... he actually didn’t do anything.’

Although he was trying his hardest to hold back, she could clearly hear his ragged breathing.

The sound was one of restraint, yet it was also incredibly sexy.

Her heart, which had just been sent into a flutter, couldn’t take it anymore. She turned her head and planted a kiss right on his red lips.

In an instant, Luan Ting’s eyes flew open in disbelief, a mixture of surprise and delight filling them.

’Luoluo... she came on to me!’

His suppressed breath felt like it was about to burst forth.