He Ye slipped while climbing a mountain. He closed his eyes and opened them again to find he'd transmigrated to the beast world, in the body of a soft, adorable but weak member of the cat tribe.
This world was beset by one natural disaster after another: blizzards, droughts, torrential rain, and more.
He Ye was unlucky enough to arrive in winter, with a blizzard on the way. He couldn't find food and was so hungry he felt dizzy.
Several scrawny kittens offered him the wild fruit they'd found. "Chief, look how much we found!" A cold wind swept by, and they instinctively huddled together, mewing.
Once the blizzard came, this tribe would be doomed.
He Ye bit into a sour, unripe fruit, then looked at the huddle of skinny little kittens leaning against his legs. As a cat lover, he couldn't take it anymore.
Survival? That was his specialty. He was an outdoors survival enthusiast, and Bear Grylls and Les Stroud were his idols. He knew all kinds of survival techniques by heart!
He led his cat squad in clearing land and planting crops, gathering berries, and, since hunting was too difficult, trading with powerful tribes for meat to roast and preserve as jerky.
They built a base, fired pottery, made leather clothes and stoves for warmth...
They found a lone gray dog in a snowdrift. He Ye figured he could raise it as emergency food, so he fed it, gave it water, and bandaged its wounds.
Just as He Ye was about to boil water and stew him, the gray wolf silently took human form and helped boil the water. "Is it hot enough?"
He Ye stared, dumbfounded. Wait, who are you, big guy? Where's my emergency food? When he learned this was the wolf, he quietly abandoned his plans for a feast.
"Why are you boiling water?"
He Ye looked at the muscles covering the man's body and swallowed the words "to cook wolf meat." "...To make you some porridge."
The gray wolf thought, This cat is such a good person, but he's too kind and easy to take advantage of. I have to protect him.
*
The blizzard arrived, and the first snowflake fell.
At first, the tiger, lion, and wolf tribes weren't concerned. They had weathered snowstorms before.
But then the blizzard lasted for dozens of days. Snow blocked the roads, prey vanished, and faint howls carried on the wind. Many beastfolk died of cold and hunger.
Inside the cat tribe's cave, however, it was a different scene:
The clay stove burned brightly, and mushroom and meat stew bubbled in a pottery pot, steaming hot.
Thick, dry grass mats covered the floor. More than a dozen kittens huddled together, their fur clean and fluffy, their bellies round.
At the center of the pile of kittens, He Ye leaned against the big gray wolf, with two cubs asleep in his arms, sprawled on their backs, their paws unconsciously clutching his clothes.
A spotted cat rubbed against his chest and rolled over to show its soft belly, purring away. So overwhelmed by cuteness that his heart melted, He Ye buried his face in it and took two deep breaths.
So happy!
[Reading Guide]
*Mostly leisurely farming life, with romance taking up about half the story.
*No breaking up the pair, switching, substitutions, or dream pairings.
*Thanks to my dear friend @Yiyao Cha for the cover art!
Upcoming story: The Good Husband of Physician Xie
Ji Yunmai was handsome and well-behaved, but unlucky. He had neither enough to eat nor enough to drink at home, and his cruel stepfather was trying to force him to marry a local scoundrel from the neighboring village.
His attempt to run away from the marriage failed, and he was beaten until he was covered in bruises. Heartbroken, Yunmai threw himself into the river. When he woke up, he was soaked and in a pitiful state.
The person who saved him was Xie Xiu, the village's only physician. He was young and handsome, and everyone said his medical skills were excellent but his manner cold. Ordinary people hardly dared speak to him.
Meeting his indifferent gaze, Yunmai shrank back in fear, waiting for him to reject or drive him away.
Instead, he heard that cool voice say, "Don't marry that scoundrel. How about I marry you?"
Yunmai froze, tears pattering down. He didn't understand how such good fortune had fallen into his lap. He only knew that Xie Xiu was a good person, and he vowed to repay him properly.
*
After they married, Yunmai was cautious. Xie Xiu rarely spoke, so Yunmai assumed his husband didn't want him to get too close. He focused on figuring out how to treat him well.
Xie Xiu was a physician and often went up the mountain to gather herbs. Yunmai rose early and stayed up late, keeping their home in perfect order and making all kinds of stomach-warming meals.
On Xie Xiu's birthday, in the freezing cold, Yunmai warmed a bowl of longevity noodles against his chest and brought it to the clinic.
His fingertips and the tip of his nose were red from the cold. In a small voice, he said, "I made you longevity noodles..."
They were plain noodles, topped with a poached egg, and the steam quickly vanished in the cold wind. His colleagues laughed and tried to take a share. "Erlang doesn't like noodles, so we can have them!"
But Xie Xiu reached out and firmly shielded the bowl, his expression still cool. "No. My husband made these. Don't you have husbands of your own?"
His colleagues were dumbfounded. ...He was the only one among them who was married, and Xie Xiu knew it!
*
Yunmai didn't know that Xie Xiu had a secret in his heart.
Many years ago, when Xie Xiu was still a young boy, he once saw a beautiful young man by the river, a flower tucked by his temple, smiling as he offered him a flower.
That image stayed in his heart, impossible to forget.
Then one day, while gathering herbs in the mountains, Xie Xiu saw that familiar figure by the river. He was thinner than before, and his eyes were red from crying.
Xie Xiu could hardly keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. He pulled the soaked young man out of the water, and with all the self-control he could muster, managed to keep his voice even. "I'll marry you. It's better than marrying that scoundrel."
Later, Yunmai learned the secret.
By then, they had spent many spring and autumn seasons together, and Yunmai had become an excellent cook.
In spring, he gathered wild greens and mixed them with tofu. In summer, he picked tender cucumbers for soup. In autumn, he dried vegetables for winter. In winter, when it was cold, Yunmai often made tofu casserole with tender tofu, cabbage, and a few slices of cured meat, all bubbling away in a steaming pot...
The years drifted by, and life flowed peacefully on~
Purpose: As long as you live, there's hope.
Did he forget about the fox, or did he say that the fox didn't survive 😭