Beauty and the Beasts

A cold wind blew and Bai Qingqing shivered a little. Winston instantly hugged her even tighter, using his strong hand to gently stroke her head.

“We found a beautiful cave when we were mining. Should I bring you there to take a look?”

Bai Qingqing shook her head listlessly. Winston then said, “We haven’t spent some alone time together for very long.”

Bai Qingqing paused slightly, knowing that he only wanted to bring her out to cheer her up. However, it was true that they rarely spent time alone together, and she made herself agree.

“Mm.”

A hint of a smile flashed past in Winston’s eyes as he let go of her, heading into the room. “It’s still very cold outside. Put on another piece of clothing.”

Winston took out a thick bear fur coat and put it on Bai Qingqing. He then carried her on his chest and then said, “I’ll carry you on my back.”

Seeing how skillful Winston was in handling children and how his actions were so filled with love even though he was tall and muscular always gave her a contradictory feeling. Bai Qingqing suddenly let out a stifled laugh.

She then immediately thought of Curtis’s children and her feelings sank again. They were all children, but why was the difference between them so big?

This was a lot harsher than China’s culture of valuing males over females. At the very least, there were still some movements pushing for gender equality. However, in this world, even if one wanted equality, there was no way to do that. There was no hope to be seen.

“Don’t think too much about it. I won’t do work relating to the tribe today, so you shouldn’t think about other things too.” Winston walked over to her side and said with a gentle expression.

“En.” Bai Qingqing looked at him with a faint smile. Her smile was quiet and graceful, but emitting hints of grief.

Winston’s heart ached for her, and he didn’t even dare to see his beloved putting on a strong front. He went in front of her, turned his back to her, then squatted down.

Bai Qingqing climbed up onto his broad back and rested her head on his muscular shoulders, feeling a strong sense of security from him.

The place Winston mentioned was near the stone mountain. They had found this natural cave while searching for new types of ores. The cave looked unimpressive on the outside, looking like it had been artificially dug. Winston kept her in suspense and took An’an down, handing her to Bai Qingqing.

“Wait for me here. I’ll go make preparations,” Winston said.

“Eh?” Bai Qingqing saw that this cave looked very ordinary and had no idea what was there to look at. However, seeing how mysterious Winston was acting, her curiosity was piqued.

“What’s inside? Can’t we just go in directly?” Bai Qingqing carried the child and took a peep inside. It was pitch-black, she couldn’t see anything at all.

Winston said, “The light rays inside are too dark for you. I’ll set up a few fires inside. Hold on for a while.”

“En, en.” Bai Qingqing stroked An’an head and said to console her, “An’an, don’t be scared. We’ll enter after there’s light.”

An’an didn’t pay any heed to this and opened her lifeless eyes.

After Winston said that, he came outside and left obvious scent markings at the roots of the plants nearby. He then picked wilted and dry wood, bringing them into the cave on several trips.

Bai Qingqing got bored from waiting and found a piece of flat rock to sit on. She had An’an seated facing her and said, “An’an, look at me.”

An’an was one year and three months old and even had ten baby teeth. She was gradually moving away from looking like a baby and was now a toddler.

Bai Qingqing didn’t know what other families’ children did at An’an’s age, but she vaguely felt that An’an was a little introverted. When she was six months old, she knew to cry to attract adults’ attention, but she stopped doing that now.