Chapter 336: Giant Snack!
It was Rong Xian’s first time feeling like this, and he did not know what to think in the current situation. The woman in front of him was as normal as any other woman in his life. Though she had skills, she was also very weak. So weak that she would faint at the sight of something so simple as a child jumping down the cliff, and yet at the same time, he couldn’t help but think that she was different from the rest. She was not mundane and cold like other women who were determined to prove that they were strong and much more powerful than Rong Xian took them to be.
Looking at the smiling woman who was trying to calm the child, Rong Xian couldn’t help but feel a bit restless. That smile of hers did something to him, and by the looks of it—it did something to the rest of the mers around him as well. Ruan Chanchan was too pretty for her own good. Rong Xian turned and looked at the mers who had gone smitten with Ruan Chanchan’s smile and said to them, "Are you all going to stand right there? Did you not hear what our guest said? Bring Zhou Fan’s hunt to the square and let her assess it."
The mers jumped in the air and rushed to bring the game that Zhou Fan had hunted.
Ruan Chanchan raised her head and looked up at Rong Xian with a sweet smile on her lips. She said, "We should all go and take a look. Since this was something that Zhou Fan hunted for the children, it must be something good." She did not forget to praise the little girl, as Zhou Fan looked like she was about to turn dry because of the lack of water in her body. How could such a little girl cry so much and so hard at that?
Zhou Fan was quite glad that Ruan Chanchan had spoken up for her. However, at the same time, she was quite terrified. She raised her head and looked up at Rong Xian and Master Luo, who had scolded her quite harshly just now.
Rong Xian noticed her actions and sighed. He said to her with a reproving tone, "Just try to be careful next time; if you are going to hunt, tell others. If not, even your parents will start worrying."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Zhou Fan heaved a sigh of relief.
The four of them arrived at the square just in time to see the mers bringing in the large fish. When Ruan Chanchan saw the fish, her eyes turned wide, and she couldn’t help but gape at the size of the thing. The fish was still alive, as Zhou Fan had left it near the shore, and the water from the sea was enough for the thing to stay fresh till now. Thus, every time it flapped its tail, Ruan Chanchan felt like a gust of strong wind was fluttering past her. Strong enough to knock her off her feet.
Wow, what a big fish. I should have expected this to happen. What was I even thinking?
When Zhou Fan told her that she only brought this thing for a light snack, she thought that the girl had hunted something normal, but it seemed like even a light snack could not be considered light in the eyes of these people.
"Do not look at it like that," remarked Rong Xian. "Zhou Fan was quite careful while hunting; this fish is not as fishy when compared to the rest of our hunt, and it is quite difficult to hunt. It seems like she knew that you were tired and chose something that could be dealt with easily."
Only then did Ruan Chanchan realise that the little girl was actually looking out for her. She pursed her lips and looked at the flapping fish and said to the leader of the processing team, "Can you process like this?" Ruan Chanchan told the mer about how she wanted to deal with the fish, and even though the mer was quite surprised by her suggestions, he still nodded and agreed with her.
So by the time the processing team was done dealing with the fish, the children were done digesting the lobster meat and were now clamouring for Ruan Chanchan’s attention. Among them were little mers who resembled little dolls, making it even more difficult for Ruan Chanchan to ignore them.
"Slow down," Ruan Chanchan laughed; her voice sounded like a soothing balm. She said to the kids, "It will take some time for me to make the dish. Till then, you can play among yourselves. " She did not want the kids to get too close to the fire lest they end up getting hurt.
While Ruan Chanchan was busy dealing with the kids, there was someone who was burning with resentment, and this person was none other than Rong Xian. he looked at the kids surrounding Ruan Chanchan and hugging her as if they had the right to and couldn’t help but grit his teeth. He was supposed to be working on the issue of the salt mine, and yet the one thing he could think about was Ruan Chanchan being surrounded by mers who were not him.
"It seems like your mind is somewhere else?" Queen Rong raised her head and looked at her son, who was peering out of the cave. She followed his gaze and found what he was looking at. Her eyes couldn’t help but crinkle when she saw that her little son was actually looking at the woman from the Big Bear Tribe. This was the first time her son was actually interested in a woman long enough to stalk her through his eyes. "Was her name Ruan Chanchan?"
Rong Xian jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and turned to look at his mother helplessly. "Mother."
Queen Rong laughed and said seriously, "I don’t blame you. She is quite a sight even when covered in soot and surrounded by screaming cubs."