"What do you mean that I cannot take any more extra meat with me?" The first thing that Ruan Zeqiu heard after he returned from the hunt was the elders telling him that he could no longer bring any meat with him for his sister. At first, he was sure that he had misheard, but when no one corrected him, he knew that the elders were not joking with him.
Elder Ou glanced at Ruan Zeqiu with dissatisfaction; she looked at the mer with some annoyance and stated, "You cannot say that you did not see that coming; your sister doesn't collect herbs nor does she contribute anything to the tribe; why should we give her meat to eat?"
"Because I work twice as hard for her!" Ruan Zeqiu snapped. He felt his head buzzing and sneered, "I go to hunts twice a day and bring back as much meat as possible. Even if my sister doesn't do her work, I do it for her, don't I?"
When Elder Ou saw that Ruan Zeqiu was quarrelling with her, she was even more annoyed. She snorted and said, "What can you, a little mer, do? You just participate in the hunts and nothing more. Do you think you are some big shot because of that?"
"Then I won't go on two hunts from now on." Ruan Zeqiu threw down these words and spat on the ground. "Since I can't do much anyway, then I might as well join in just one hunt!"
"You—Ruan Zeqiu—don't go too far!"
"What do you mean by going too far? I don't make any difference, right? Then you can send whoever you want to send, but if my sister is not going to get any meat, then you can forget about forcing me on two hunts! Anyway, I hunt enough for myself in one hunt!"
After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Ruan Chanchan, who was sitting dumbly on the trunk of the dead tree, and felt even more upset. He knew it.
No wonder his sister refused to go on collection hunts; it was Nian Zhi who was bullying her. He turned and glared at the mer who had bullied her sister and muttered fiercely, "This is not over! You all bully my sister, who is a fool; do you think I, Ruan Zeqiu, am dead!?"
After he finished speaking, he ignored the expressions of the tribe members and elders and pulled Ruan Chanchan away with him. "Let's go back, Sister."
Ruan Chanchan looked at the tiny mer who had defended her and pursed her lips in a thin line. She turned and looked at Elder Ou, who was trembling with anger, before following Ruan Zeqiu.
The elders watched the two siblings leave and didn't know what to say. Elder Pei turned and glanced at Elder Ou before saying, "You should have left a way out for yourself."
"Bah! Who cares? It's not like that mer could make a big difference?" Though Elder Ou said that, she felt guilty in her heart. Ruan Zeqiu was indeed quite skilled in hunting; he knew that he had a foolish sister waiting for him and worked twice as hard as others. Because of this, the beasts killed by Ruan Zeqiu were of high quality.
Though he wasn't the most powerful warrior of the tribe, who would mind a strong warrior joining the hunt? As long as the warriors did a good job, the meals of the tribe would also get better.
However, Elder Ou was now riding a beast, and she could not get off even if she wanted to.
Leader Xie looked at the elders and shook her head. They wanted to snatch the extra meat that Ruan Zeqiu took home for Ruan Chanchan, but ended up causing trouble for the tribe. She turned to look at her son and said, "Go and look for a warrior beastman, mer or woman; you would need them."
Now that Ruan Zeqiu had refused to join the evening hunts, she could only look for someone else. But Leader Xie knew that no one would be more skilled than Ruan Zeqiu.
Xie Daiyu nodded. However, as he turned around and looked at the faint figures of the two siblings. Ruan Chanchan, that woman was blessed by the Beast Goddess; she should be fine even without extra meat, right?
Maybe just in case, he would take some fish to her tonight.
Xie Daiyu, who was worried about Ruan Chanchan, didn't even know that his actions were similar to a woman or a man courting a mer. He turned on his feet and walked away, leaving the matter to be dealt with by his mother.
Leader Xie didn't disappoint him either. She turned to look at the elders and stated coldly, "Instead of listening to the hearsay of others, why don't you think of a way to make the tribe better? Everyone is from the same tribe; even if the tribe members look out for the weak, young, and old, there is no need to quibble over the small things. No one will suffer any losses."
"Ruan Chanchan doesn't even eat that much; that girl is polite even if she is a fool. Most of the time, when her brother is gone, she would eat anything that the tribe members give her. I am yet to deal with those who gave her rotten meat."
As soon as Leader Xie said those words, the eyes of some elders, especially Elder Ou's, turned shifty. She said, "She is just a fool; is there a need to be so careful?"
"She might be a fool, but you are forgetting who her brother is!" Leader Xie snorted. "I am not asking you to treat her better or as an equal, but hold back on your evil thoughts. If you think that you can deal with Ruan Chanchan and keep Ruan Zeqiu working for the tribe, then you are no better than Ruan Chanchan!"
"Think things through and try to avoid causing chaos every day."
**
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