Xie Daiyu tossed and turned for the entire night. In the end, he had no choice but to head over to the river, where he spent more than an hour before returning home.
"Where were you?" Xie Suicheng, his second brother, who had just woken up, stepped out of his cave dwelling and looked at Xie Daiyu with a frown on his face. "Were you out hunting in the middle of the night? Brother, how many times have I told you? Even if you work hard, the position of the tribe leader would go to your wife."
"You should take it easy sometimes."
Xie Daiyue gritted his teeth when he heard his brother's reproachful words. At the same time, he was glad that he and his brothers didn't share a cave-dwelling; instead, their family had a large cave with multiple small caves inside the main cave that were connected through tunnels.
Because if he slept together with his brothers, he would have a hard time explaining that his first heat happened due to a fool! Even though that woman was blessed by the Beast Goddess, she was still half a fool!
"Achoo!" Ruan Chanchan rubbed her nose. She had a feeling that someone was cursing her, but she had no idea who it was. And even if she knew who it was, she didn't have the time to care about it. She looked at the mer who was standing in front of her with a dissatisfied expression and had no idea what to say to him.
"Ruan Chanchan, I have had enough of you," the mer pointed at her nose and scolded her the second he opened his mouth. "Do you really think you can do anything just because your brother is a good hunter? I am telling you that if you return with an empty basket this time around, I will make sure that your rations are cut off."
"What is he talking about?" Ruan Chanchan asked Xiao Xi; even though she had recalled the memories of the past owner of this body, they were not at all useful. Firstly, the real Ruan Chanchan was not only a fool, but she was also indifferent and out of tune with the other members of the tribe. She didn't take their words seriously and even ignored and tuned them out when they were speaking.
Thus, even though Ruan Chanchan knew and recognized this mer, she had no idea who this mer was or what he was talking about.
"He is Nian Zhi. He is the leader of the collecting group," Xiao Xi promptly replied. "The tribe is divided into three sections: Number one) The warriors; they are responsible for hunting and protecting the tribe. Number 2) The scouts: They are responsible for going out of the tribe territory and collecting resources like salt and animal skin. There are some who stay on the outskirts of the tribe and keep guard. Number 3) The collectors: These groups are comprised of old, young, and sick. Those who cannot do anything are thrown into this group."
"You are responsible for collecting herbs and edible grass."
"The predecessor of this body didn't do her collecting job well, and because of that, this mer has been holding grudges against you. His family doesn't have any warrior beastmen; because of this, they receive a very small amount of meat and can hardly ever eat their fill. But you, on the other hand, who do not work hard, can eat her fill because your brother is a strong warrior. Even though he is a young beast man, he knows how to fight."
"Because of this, this mer doesn't like you. He thinks of you as a freeloader and plans to complain about you to the leader. As long as your share is taken away by the tribe, your family will have little meat to eat and will suffer like his family."
Ruan Chanchan: "..."
She was speechless by the vicious scheme of the mer and couldn't help but say, "Shouldn't he be worrying about how to increase his family's meat supply rather than decreasing mine?"
"It's easier said than done," replied Xiao Xi helplessly. "No one in Nian Zhi's family awakened as a warrior kind; how can he think of increasing his family's ration? He can only come up with this evil scheme to make the host suffer; he is simply a petty and narrow-minded person."
For the first time, the system and Ruan Chanchan were in tune.
The two of them looked at Nian Zhi with some disdain in their eyes, which made the mer bristle with anger. How dare this fool look at him with that gaze? Did she think she was some big shot?
"What are you looking at, huh, you fool? I am telling you that if you don't bring the necessary herbs, then I will make sure that you starve to death!" Nian Zhi cursed at Ruan Chanchan, which attracted the attention of the rest of the team members.
One of the old mer couldn't see Ruan Chanchan being bullied by Nian Zhi and remarked, "Now, why are you yelling at her? Everyone knows that Ruan Chanchan is a fool; even if you scream until you faint, she will not understand what you are trying to tell her."
"Humph, if she is a fool, then she should act like one," Nian Zhi sneered as he looked down at Ruan Chanchan. "She does the least amount of work and eats the most. I simply dislike freeloaders like her!"
Ruan Chanchan rolled her eyes. She didn't say anything to Nian Zhi and walked away; of course, she had no plans to work hard and search for herbs and edible grass. She knew that Nian Zhi was targeting her, so even if she filled the grass basket to the brim, he would still insist that she didn't bring anything back with her.
Since that was the case, why should she even try to work hard? Wasn't it better to relax and roam around the forest? Anyway, she had no intention of fighting for the dinosaur meat with the rest of the tribe; if the amount allocated to her was taken away, then she wouldn't have to act with Ruan Zeqiu every night.
She was getting tired of being chased by that mer as he tried to coax her into taking a bite anyway.
So, this worked just fine.