Chapter 7: The Heart Chocolate and the Jealous Panda

She had clearly been very good and hadn’t moved at all.

The romantic tension in Lin Mo’s heart vanished instantly. Even the little leaves on her head wilted as she lowered her head. “Alright then.”

She didn’t even notice her own sense of disappointment. By the time she looked up again, Mo Jin had already turned and walked away.

She quickly picked up the cleaned grass carp from the ground and chased after Mo Jin.

Watching from a distance, little She Qiu saw Mo Jin return to human form and retract her powerful aura. Only then did its fear subside. It hurriedly picked up the pot filled with water and ran to catch up with Lin Mo.

Lin Mo kicked a small pebble by the roadside, wondering if she should just tell Mo Jin that she could pluck the bamboo shoot from her head and give it to her—or at least tell Mo Jin not to nibble on other places and just eat the shoot if she was hungry.

She felt Mo Jin was too concerned with her “face.” It was perfectly normal for a giant panda to want to eat bamboo; there was no need to be so embarrassed or hide it from her.

Lost in thought, Lin Mo didn’t control the force in her foot. The pebble flew out fast and sharp, accidentally hitting Mo Jin’s leg.

Lin Mo immediately covered her mouth, her heart filled with regret.

‘Oh no, what bad luck to hit Mo Jin!’

Mo Jin’s footsteps only paused for a second before she continued walking.

Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief and followed behind. Along the way, she picked several handfuls of plants that could be used as spices. They soon returned to the cabin.

She couldn’t tell if it was her imagination, but those spices—usually hard to find and requiring careful identification—seemed incredibly easy to spot this time. It felt like picking vegetables in her own garden; she could even tell the age of some plants with a single glance.

Lin Mo didn’t dwell on it. She built a simple stove out of stones and gathered some dry wood. She tried several times to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, but no sparks appeared.

Lin Mo dropped the stick and sat on the ground with a long sigh.

‘Why does life treat a cute little “cat” like me this way?’

As she sat there dejectedly, she suddenly noticed the sunlight above her was blocked.

A faint, cold fragrance drifted over. Lin Mo’s nose twitched as a pair of slender, elegant hands picked up the wood she had discarded.

Mo Jin half-knelt in front of her. Her long fingers held a vine, which she tied to a smaller stick to form a bow shape. Then, she looped the vine around another small stick.

Lin Mo looked up, puzzled.

Noticing Lin Mo’s gaze, Mo Jin said calmly, “Come here and watch how I do it.”

“Oh, okay.” Lin Mo huddled closer, squatting beside Mo Jin.

Mo Jin held the vertical stick with one hand, placing its end onto a larger block of wood that already had a hole and some flammable hay inside. With her other hand, she pulled the bow back and forth rapidly. The vertical stick spun fast, and thick smoke soon rose from the hay.

With a gentle blow from Mo Jin, the hay ignited.

Lin Mo was amazed. This method was much faster and easier than using her bare hands. She carefully took the burning hay and placed it inside the stone stove.

Mo Jin snapped a few dry branches and added them. Soon, the fire was roaring merrily.

Sweet dimples appeared on Lin Mo’s face as she turned around. “It’s lit!”

Mo Jin’s face was very close to hers. Because Lin Mo turned too quickly, she accidentally kissed Mo Jin on the cheek.

Lin Mo froze, her hands and feet suddenly feeling like they didn’t belong to her. Realizing what happened, she scrambled back a big step, her face flushing a deep red. “I… I didn’t mean to kiss you!”

Mo Jin’s face, usually as cold as frost, now looked like melting snow in spring, tinged with a faint rose color.

Lin Mo’s heart felt like a trapped deer jumping around. She clutched her chest, not knowing what to say.

After a long silence, Mo Jin looked at Lin Mo, her voice devoid of its usual coldness. “You…”

Suddenly, a ding-dong sound broke the awkward silence.

Lin Mo looked up and saw the robot bee hovering above them. Having doubled in size, the “Xiao Mi” robot emitted a mechanical electronic voice.

The voice played with a hint of excitement: [Official website user ID: “Mao Sanjiu” has gifted your team a ‘Heart Chocolate’!]

‘What on earth is a Heart Chocolate?’

As Lin Mo wondered, the electronic voice continued:

[Congratulations to Team 666! Because you and your teammate successfully performed a ‘Gift Interaction,’ you will receive a Newbie Gift Pack sponsored by the official platform. The prize will be sent to your team’s coordinates within 24 hours. You have successfully opened the interactive dialogue box; congratulations, you can now communicate more closely with your fans.]

Lin Mo was thrilled about the gift pack. She hadn’t realized the Academy had provided this kind of surprise without telling them.

She looked closer. The display on the robot bee showed her current scene. The viewer count in the top right corner had reached 100, and several pale pink bullet comments (danmu) were scrolling across the screen:

Mao Sanjiu: THEY KISSED! Ahhh, I finally shipped the right couple! Peach-Eating Monkey Girl: Scattering flowers, scattering flowers! Long Xiaoze: Sitting in the front row with a chair. Betting one gold coin that the Host is the ‘Shou’ (bottom).

‘Is this… the internet connecting?’

Lin Mo’s heart raced with embarrassment. She hadn’t expected so many live viewers on the official site. The shame was explosive.

She glanced at Mo Jin and saw that she was also reading the comments. Lin Mo’s face burned. She shook her head at the screen, her throat dry as she said, “No, no, it’s not what you think!”

Mao Sanjiu: The Host is so cute, she’s actually blushing, hahahaha! Long Xiaoze: Explaining is just covering up. No need to be shy, we all understand!

Lin Mo was frantic, feeling like she couldn’t explain it away. She turned to explain to Mo Jin again, only to find that Mo Jin had already walked away.

Lin Mo sighed, feeling that something had inexplicably changed between them.

She kept the fire high. Since she had no oil or salt, she crushed the spices with her hands and rubbed them evenly over and inside the fish.

After the fish had marinated for a while and the water in the pot was boiling, she added the fish and wood-ear mushrooms, carefully feeding the fire with wood.

As she slowly tended the fire, she glanced at Mo Jin. Mo Jin was using her knife to carve a piece of wood, her expression neutral.

Lin Mo bit her lip. ‘What is Mo Jin thinking?’

Sensing a gaze lingering on her, the carving knife in Mo Jin’s hand paused for a fraction of a second before continuing its work.

Unable to figure anything out, Lin Mo focused back on her soup.

After a while, the fish soup was finally done. The milky-white broth looked exquisite and smelled incredible, with the bright green herbs contrasting beautifully against the white fish meat.

Little She Qiu’s nose twitched. Smelling the fragrance, it immediately tossed aside the grass ball it was playing with and ran to crouch by Lin Mo’s stove.

Looking at the soup, it let out a coaxing, “Meow!”

Lin Mo patted the little lynx’s eager head and laughed. “Not yet, wait a moment.”

Lin Mo didn’t notice that because of her cooking, the livestream numbers had more than doubled and were still rising. The people who were spamming comments stopped and focused intently on her cooking.

Though the environment was crude, Lin Mo’s culinary skills were top-tier. Growing up in the orphanage, the aunt who cared for her came from a family of imperial chefs. Lin Mo had been helping in the kitchen since she was a child. After over a decade of practice, she had fully mastered the craft—perhaps even surpassing her mentor.

Before coming to Maolin Academy, someone had posted a video of her cooking online, and she gained ten thousand followers overnight. People said watching her cook was a visual feast and an ultimate form of enjoyment.

Lin Mo thought that was an exaggeration; she just put her heart into every meal. Her control over heat was perfect, and her knife skills made cooking look effortless.

She wasn’t in a hurry to study the robot bee. She was feeling thirsty and wondering how to taste the soup when a wooden spoon suddenly appeared in front of her.

The spoon was polished smooth and featured intricate carvings.

Lin Mo’s eyes lit up. “What a beautiful spoon!”

Mo Jin stood before her, holding two pairs of chopsticks. “Use this,” she said simply.

“Thank you,” Lin Mo whispered, her ears turning red as she took the spoon and sipped the soup.

Lin Mo squinted her eyes in delight. The flavor was fresh and delicious, exactly as she remembered.

The little lynx poked its head up, paws on the edge of the pot. –Can we eat now?–

Lin Mo nodded to Mo Jin and She Qiu. “It’s ready.”

Mo Jin handed Lin Mo a pair of chopsticks. She picked up a piece of fish and tasted it. The meat was tender and springy; her slightly furrowed brow finally relaxed.

Mo Jin’s movements were elegant, reminiscent of a medieval aristocrat. It gave Lin Mo the illusion of being a contestant in a cooking competition being judged by a professional.

“Do you like it?” Lin Mo asked nervously.

Mo Jin nodded.

“Really?” Lin Mo asked happily.

Mo Jin didn’t answer but reached out with her chopsticks for another bite.

‘Aha, so Mo Jin really likes it. A classic case of being “cold on the outside, warm on the inside.”’

Lin Mo smiled and was about to take a bite herself when a black blur flashed before her eyes.

“Awoo!”

She turned to see She Qiu darting away like a bouncing ball, clutching its paws and running in circles while letting out mournful wails.

Lin Mo blinked. “What happened to him?”

Mo Jin sat with perfect posture and said calmly, “He tried to eat the fish and got burnt by the pot.”

Lin Mo was stunned. “No way…”

‘Was there really a spirit this stupid? Didn’t he see the pot was boiling?’

Lin Mo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She rubbed the head of the tearful She Qiu with one hand and picked up a piece of fish with the other, blowing on it gently. “Still want some?”

She Qiu wiped its eyes with its uninjured paw, its amber eyes full of longing.

Lin Mo admired this “foodie” spirit. “Open up,” she said helplessly.

She Qiu obediently opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs and a long pink tongue. Lin Mo dropped the fish, and with a flick of its tongue, She Qiu swallowed it whole without even chewing.

It immediately turned around, licked its lips, and crouched next to Lin Mo with narrowed eyes, waiting for the next feeding.

‘What a greedy little monster.’

Just as Lin Mo was about to give him a second piece, She Qiu’s fur suddenly stood on end. It arched its back and shrunk into a tight ball.

Mo Jin’s face was like ice as she said coldly, “If you want to eat, catch your own fish.”

Trembling with its tail between its legs, She Qiu scurried far away. It stopped on a small mound, took one last deep look at the fish soup, and then disappeared into the depths of the forest.

‘The overbearing Panda Spirit won’t even let him have a sip!’

Lin Mo: “…”

Mo Jin looked displeased. “He’s a hundred-year-old spirit and he’s still freeloading.”

Lin Mo was gobsmacked. Did she hear that right? Mo Jin was actually complaining about She Qiu?

That little thing was a hundred years old? She couldn’t tell at all.

However, she felt she had discovered a little secret about Mo Jin: every time she petted She Qiu, Mo Jin seemed to get angry.