Chapter 116: Sharing Drinks and Conversation

After thinking for a long time, nobody could figure out how Ba Ke Er's injury had healed overnight. Zhang Fan saw everyone sitting there with furrowed brows all morning, still unable to understand, and he grew a bit annoyed. But it's just that the wound healed quickly—what's there to think about? Next time we'll just find someone to test it on and we'll know.

Ba Ke Er glanced at Zhang Fan's subtle expression and already knew what he was thinking. So, to make his beloved partner feel better and also because his own stomach was growling, he spoke up to everyone in the room.

Actually, I don't think this is strange at all—you know Fan Fan is a Divine Envoy! And I am the Divine Envoy's male consort, so naturally I am favored by the Beast God! Perhaps it was the Beast God's magic that healed me! Well, it's already noon; we should each go home and start cooking.

At that moment, Zhang Fan didn't realize that Ba Ke Er had already guessed more than half of the truth! Upon hearing Ba Ke Er finish speaking, he couldn't help but chuckle inwardly! Hahaha… this Ba Ke Er really can spin a tale! But since you broke the deadlock, I'll first praise you in my heart!

The crowd's reaction to Ba Ke Er's words was completely different from Zhang Fan's—it was a look of reverence! They devoutly faced the sky and performed a grand salute, silently chanting a few lines of beast language that Zhang Fan couldn't understand. Then they returned to Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er's side, looking at the couple affectionately.

Di Er even reached out to touch Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er's faces, saying gently, 'You two are good children! May the Beast God forever bless and protect you! Well, Ba Ke Er is right—it's time to go home and cook. Let's go!'

After saying that, Di Er took Zhang Fan's hand and bade farewell to Wei Er and his wife, leaving first. Seeing this, Ba Ke Er and Lei Ya and his son quickly said goodbye and followed.

After Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan saw Lei Ya and Di Er home, they returned to their own house and began cooking.

After eating lunch, the two didn't nap but finished their chores, left the house, and headed for Lei Ya and Di Er's home. After picking them up, the four went on to Fei Er's home, called Fei Er and his spouse, and along the way Di Er and Fei Er kept asking questions. Zhang Fan, wanting to keep things secret, only gave a simple 'It's not time yet' to put them off. Then they all went together to the clan leader's home.

Upon arriving at the clan leader's home, Zhang Fan began telling everyone about his plan to invite them to dinner tonight. Fei Er heard this and was nearly jumping with joy! Wei Er and Di Er, seeing Fei Er's lively demeanor, also laughed out loud.

As for the males… they all looked like they'd be happy as long as their loved ones were happy.

Fei Er finally calmed down after his excitement, walked over to Zhang Fan, pulled him to sit together in the courtyard. Seeing this, everyone hurriedly moved over. Once everyone was gathered, they began chatting all at once.

Since Zhang Fan said that everyone would decide what to eat tonight, and of course it wasn't just about eating without work—because there were so many people, the amount of ingredients to prepare was large, and Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er as a couple couldn't handle it all.

After all, Ba Ke Er was responsible for hunting game outside the tribe, so the duty of handling and preparing the ingredients fell entirely on Zhang Fan. Ba Ke Er strongly disagreed with this! He insisted that everyone who eats must contribute—no free meals!

Everyone had no objection to that, given that Ba Ke Er and his spouse had just recovered from a serious illness—they shouldn't be overworked, especially Zhang Fan! If he wore himself out, he'd suffer greatly when having children in the future!

After discussing for about half an hour, everyone finally settled on the evening's menu.

'Is that all?' Zhang Fan asked everyone.

'Yes, that should be enough. Red-braised pork, steamed spare ribs with flour, fried chicken, sour cabbage fish, sweet and sour pork tenderloin…' Fei Er said while slurping, 'Look! So many delicious things! Hahaha… today we've struck it rich! All my favorite foods! Fan Fan, you're great!'

Having said that, the overly excited Fei Er lunged at Zhang Fan.

His lunge wasn't a problem in itself, but it startled Zhang Fan! Seeing Fei Er about to pounce on him, Zhang Fan sprang up and dodged just before Fei Er could touch his hem.

Zhang Fan saw Fei Er miss, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He patted his chest and said happily to Fei Er, 'Phew… glad I dodged! If you'd really knocked me over, could I even get up? Look at your build! Oh… by the way, Fei Er, are you saying you don't want to eat delicious food anymore? If that's the case…'

Before Zhang Fan could finish, Fei Er rushed over, covered his mouth, gave everyone a smile, then said testily to Zhang Fan:

'Hmph! Fine! You, Fan Fan, dare call me fat again! Humph! I'm of normal build! If I were thin, how would I manage when I have a baby someday? Humph! No way! I need to eat more! I still think I've gotten a bit thin! It must be because I've been so busy lately that I've lost a lot of weight! Looks like I definitely need to eat more tonight!'

Zhang Fan finally managed to break free from Fei Er's hand, caught his breath, and was about to speak when Ba Ke Er walked over and whispered a few words in his ear. Instantly, Zhang Fan's face turned the color of a cooked shrimp.

Yet the crowd, as if they hadn't had enough of the spectacle, all turned curious glances toward Zhang Fan.

This left Zhang Fan utterly vexed—how could there be a male who embarrasses his own partner like this! Moreover, among the onlookers watching the drama, aside from Fei Er and Mo De who were peers, the rest were elders he couldn't afford to offend.

Having understood the situation, Zhang Fan now wished he could immediately find a hole to crawl into and never come out.

But reality is harsh! This is the front yard of the clan leader's home, where one cannot wander about at will. Moreover, besides that well, the clan leader's yard has no other opening suitable for hiding a person. Even the cellar, the clan leader dug it behind the house in the back yard.

Di Er looked at his son's usually shy companion, now also embarrassed by his son's small gesture, and couldn't help but chuckle. He only restrained himself when he saw Zhang Fan's face begin to show embarrassment and discomfort.

He walked over, took Zhang Fan's hand, led him back to his seat, and then said to him:

'All right, Fan Fan, what's there to be shy about? It's just a couple whispering sweet nothings—quite normal! All right, all right! Since we've already settled on the menu, we should start preparing now, shouldn't we? Look, it's not getting any earlier.'

Zhang Fan had been a bit embarrassed hearing Di Er's first few sentences, but when he heard Di Er say they needed to hurry up and prepare dinner, that last trace of embarrassment vanished in an instant. Now Zhang Fan wondered, 'What is embarrassment? What is shyness? Can you eat it?' (He licked his lips, took a sip) 'Is it tasty?'

After that was settled, Zhang Fan and all the females headed to his family's vegetable plot to pick fresh greens for tonight's meal. Meanwhile, the males—even Fei Ji, who usually doesn't leave the tribe—joined everyone in shifting to beast form, flying out to hunt tender game for the evening.

When the vegetables were nearly picked, a few people stopped and headed to Zhang Fan's home. There, Zhang Fan and Fei Er took charge of washing the dinner utensils, while Di Er and Wei Er handled washing and chopping the vegetables.

After Zhang Fan and Fei Er had cleaned the utensils, Di Er and Wei Er's vegetables were also nearly ready. Everything was set—just missing the meat. They didn't keep Zhang Fan and company waiting long before they saw males flying back carrying game.

As soon as the males landed, everyone gathered around, took the meat off them. Once the males shifted back to human form, the females were ordered by their mates to rest. As for the remaining game—of course it was up to the males to handle!

After being busy for so long, Zhang Fan also felt a bit tired, thinking he still had to cook later, so he didn't push himself to compete with the energetic, strong‑limbed males for chores.

Zhang Fan simply brought Di Er and company into the main hall, brewed some flower tea, took out snacks, and they all sat together drinking tea and chatting while resting.

After the males processed the game according to Zhang Fan's pre‑departure instructions, they didn't rest either—instead they vied to help their mates light the fire.

Naturally, the moment they made that request, their mates flatly refused. Then the females ordered them to rest, just as they had done themselves.

However, the males didn't sit with Zhang Fan's group to drink tea and chat; instead they took the freshly stripped hides, went to the river to wash them, then brought them back to cure with medicinal herbs.

Zhang Fan and company, meanwhile, went back to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. Since it was still early, they didn't cook rice first; they blanched the meat and bones that needed it, then moved on to coating the steamed spare ribs with flour, mixing the sweet‑and‑sour sauce, chopping the pickled greens…

By the time Zhang Fan and company had the dinner ready, night had fallen.

Seeing this, the males hurriedly lit a bonfire in the yard and moved the hall's chairs outside. Once Zhang Fan and company had placed all the prepared dishes on the table, the eight of them—four females and four males—sat down around the table and began to eat.

Then Zhang Fan suddenly remembered the grape wine, so he had Ba Ke Er fetch a few jars from the cellar, poured a cup for each person, and they clinked glasses. After that, they all ate and drank heartily, enjoying the wine and conversation.

After the meal, everyone had drunk quite a bit of wine, but aside from Zhang Fan, nobody showed any signs of intoxication.