Above the Galaxy

"Where's my gift?" Tang Fei stretched out his hand towards Phoenix.

"You're cheating," Phoenix said angrily.

Today, both of them had a good catch, each bagging a pheasant and a red-eyed rabbit, making it an evenly matched contest.

Just when Phoenix thought they were going to end in a tie, Tang Fei swiftly killed a field mouse that had just poked its head out of a hole.

Tang Fei won!

Phoenix got anxious and started searching all over for more prey—pheasants, wild rabbits, field mice, forest frogs...

It seemed as if all the creatures of Hate Mountain held a grudge against her. Perhaps they were disturbed by the commotion the two had caused earlier, as none of them showed up, and she didn't manage to catch a single one.

"How am I cheating?" Tang Fei asked.

"Does a field mouse even count as prey? You can't eat that kind of thing."

"Who says you can't eat field mice?" Tang Fei said with a chuckle, looking at Phoenix. "There are many ways to eat a field mouse. You can stew it, roast it, or even make field mouse sashimi... After skinning it, slice the meat into thin pieces, lay them on a plate, and eat it wrapped with perilla leaves..."

"..."

Phoenix glanced at the field mouse with a head battered open and imagined them being sliced and put into someone's mouth, feeling a strong sense of discomfort in her stomach.

Why does this guy always like to stab things in the head?

"The tastiest thing is roasted field mouse. Wait until I roast one for you to try," Tang Fei spoke out. "If you think it's good, then consider yourself the loser of our competition. How about that?"

Only then did Phoenix agree, saying, "Deal."

She thought to herself, even if it's delicious, I'll never admit it.

Think you can beat me? No chance.

Huh, why am I acting so... girlish?

Only with her closest friends would she talk and interact so casually.

Was Tang Fei already considered her friend?

Impossible, right? It had only been a few days. She wasn't someone who made friends so readily.

Phoenix stared at Tang Fei with a surprised look on her face, and Tang Fei, confused by her gaze, asked, "Am I once again floored by my beauty? Let me tell you, don't think that just because we're in the wilderness, you can do whatever you want with me... Even if my body can't resist, my heart will never submit to you."

"Tang Fei, how can you be so shameless?"

"It's not that I'm shameless," Tang Fei explained earnestly. "I just don't wash my face often. That layer isn't skin; it's grime."

"..."

Seeing Tang Fei's sly smile, she knew she had been fooled again.

That wasn't grime at all, but thick skin.

The two of them carried their catch home. The old man, upon seeing their haul, beamed and hurried over, asking, "How did you manage to bag so much today?"

"I was competing with Phoenix to see who could catch more, so we both ended up bagging quite a bit," Tang Fei said.

It was then that the old man looked at Phoenix approvingly, his expression as if to say, finally you're not a useless freeloader anymore, and complimented, "Good, good, that's the way to do it. Haven't I always said competition leads to progress... Every time I sent you and Little Fatty hunting together, I wanted you two to improve together. Instead, you both came back empty-handed."

"Is that my fault?" Tang Fei said indignantly. "You know what Little Fatty's build is like, charging around like a small mountain... By the time we got there, all the animals had fled."

Little Fatty, who was hammering at stones, laughed naively, knowing that Tang Fei spoke the truth. Whenever he went hunting with his big brother, chances were, they would come back empty-handed.

So, later on, the old man only let Tang Fei hunt alone, while Little Fatty was left at home to smash stones.

Not wanting Little Fatty to feel bad, Phoenix comforted him, "Little Fatty, don't worry. From now on, I'll hunt with Tang Fei, and you just focus on smashing stones at home. Everyone has their specialty, and you're really good at breaking stones..."

Halfway through her words, she realized that something was off.

What did it mean to compliment someone for breaking stones well? Was it any different from praising Little Fatty by saying how fat he was?

"Thank you," said Little Fatty, blushing and smiling shyly at Phoenix.

Phoenix felt healed by his kindness—what a good-hearted child.

After Tang Fei had prepared the catch, he said to Phoenix, "I'll roast the field mouse for you... After one try, you'll want a second, and after the second, you'll crave a third..."

"I don't believe it," Phoenix pouted.

With all the exotic food and strange beasts she had tried in the stars above New Star, why would she fancy a roasted field mouse with such a mundane appearance?

Tang Fei brought over a large stove and threw in some easily ignitable charcoal, lighting it and waiting for it to burn. He skinned the field mouse, removed its innards, and skewered it on two chopstick-thick willow twigs, then set it to rotate over the fire.

Soon enough, the field mouse, the size of a basketball, began sizzling and smoking, with a rich aroma of meat filling the air.

Phoenix watched from the sidelines. Seeing the skin of the mouse starting to turn golden brown, she thought that maybe it was indeed delicious.

As the mouse's skin became yellower and eventually turned to a rich golden color due to the ample fat, Phoenix became even more convinced.

After all, she was already swallowing her saliva secretly.

Hearing Phoenix's stomach growling and smelling the fragrance of the field mouse, Tang Fei knew she hadn't had dinner yet. The scent triggered a natural response in her body.