Little Alpaca – Chapter 37

Volume 1: Little Alpaca

You should also wait on me for a bit.

Regarding the question of whether an alpaca counted as 「one person」, Yi Qiu lay on her little floor-mat and thought for a long time.

At the end of her thoughts, she fiercely knocked her head against the ground twice, cursing herself for being a big idiot.

“I’m not a person now, but once I’ve earned enough favorability points, won’t I be able to become a person!”

Thinking this, Yi Qiu finally let out a sigh of relief, and the turmoil in her heart lessened a great deal.

She decided that since You Yan lacked love, she would let You Yan experience what it felt like to be loved.

What is 「love」? It is the indulgence, understanding, and companionship that family, friends, and lovers can give to one another.

As a loyal black powder¹ who was well-acquainted with the plot of 《Thin, Withered Branch》, Yi Qiu firmly believed that these three points would not be difficult for her at all.

After a moment of thought, Yi Qiu stood up from her soft bedding, walked over to the side of the door, and stood there in the doorway feeling the cool breeze, just like a Wife-Watching Stone².

Before long, You Yan returned from Huamo Pavilion after having returned the dishes.

The moment she saw You Yan, Yi Qiu unconsciously stretched her neck forward, a trace of joy flashing in her eyes.

From a distance, You Yan saw the little alpaca’s well-behaved appearance, squatting at the door with its neck stretched out as it waited for her. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift slightly, yet she remained impassive. As she entered the room, she brushed past it as if she hadn’t seen a thing and sat down elegantly and calmly at the table.

Is she angry?

Yi Qiu’s heart dropped with a 「thump」. She hurriedly turned her head and followed You Yan into the room. With a convenient kick of her hind leg, she slammed the half-open door shut with a BANG!

The kick was unintentional, but she had used too much force, making it look exactly like a little alpaca throwing a tantrum and slamming the door.

What was worse, with the door shut like that, the room, which had no open windows to begin with, suddenly became much darker.

The light in the room was dim, making You Yan’s gaze toward Yi Qiu seem exceptionally bright. Her expression was a half-smile, and no one could tell what she was thinking.

After a moment of embarrassment, Yi Qiu quickly turned around, stuck out her rear, and used her two front hooves to paw open a crack in the door. Then, as if relieved of a great burden, she pushed the door open again.

The next second, she heard a nearly inaudible chuckle from behind her.

She couldn’t help but pout.

That bird woman is laughing at me again. It seems my appearance just now while pawing at the door must have been very stupid…

Stupid is as stupid does. As long as the bird woman is happy to see it, that’s fine.

Yi Qiu took a deep breath, turned around with her head hanging low, and walked over to You Yan’s side in a few steps. She hummed softly twice and nuzzled her head against You Yan’s elbow.

You Yan playfully lifted her arm. The little alpaca was instantly startled, its neck retracting slightly.

Again, a light chuckle reached her ears.

Yi Qiu tried hard to remain calm. She raised her head, looked at You Yan with fear and trepidation, and said in a small voice, “Master, I was wrong… Don’t, don’t be angry.”

“Speak properly,” You Yan said, pouring herself a cup of plain water.

“I’m not whining!” Yi Qiu felt extremely wronged.

The little alpaca’s voice was soft and cute, making everything she said sound like whining, but Yi Qiu swore to the heavens that she really wasn’t.

Holding the cup, You Yan lowered her gaze to look at Yi Qiu. “Oh…”

Oh…

That’s so cold.

Yi Qiu frowned, lay down at You Yan’s feet, and wrapped her two front legs around You Yan’s ankle, mumbling in a low voice, “If Master doesn’t forgive me, I won’t let go today.”

“What hands do you have?” You Yan asked faintly.

Yi Qiu took a deep breath, hugged You Yan’s ankle even tighter with her front legs, and corrected herself, “If Master doesn’t forgive me, I won’t let go with my legs!”

Hearing this, You Yan drank the water in her cup and asked with great interest, “What did you do wrong?”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but sigh deeply in her heart.

This question again.

As an alpaca who was bullied by her master every day, Yi Qiu encountered this question every time she 「apologized」.

To be honest, she sincerely felt that she hadn’t done anything terribly wrong.

Although she had indeed been fierce with You Yan just now, wasn’t every point of her passionate accusation about all those rotten things You Yan had actually done to her?

Someone bullies her, so she gets emotional, and then on some random day for some random reason, she suddenly explodes. How could anything be more justified³ than that!

So how did it end up that not only did she have to be the first to apologize every time, but she also had to reflect on what exactly she did wrong?

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think that she was probably the most wronged book transmigrator in the world.

But feeling wronged was one thing; the great villain’s question had to be answered.

The little alpaca sniffled, lowered its head, and whimpered softly, “I… I shouldn’t have spoken to Master with that kind of attitude just because I felt wronged for a moment.”

“Oh?” Hearing this, You Yan placed her right hand on the back of Yi Qiu’s head, lightly tapping the little noggin twice with the tips of her index and ring fingers. “What, you’re feeling wronged now?”

“Am I not allowed to feel wronged!” Yi Qiu screamed frantically in her heart.

But she was a coward and didn’t dare to shout this aloud, so the words that came to her lips became a string of insincere denials.

“No, no, no, I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare… I’m not wronged, not the least bit wronged.”

Yi Qiu carefully shook her head. “Master is so good to me, I shouldn’t have been fierce to Master, I shouldn’t have, no matter what! I was out of line, I’m a scoundrel, I won’t do it next time!”

“Next time?” You Yan abruptly seized on the keyword.

“There is no next time! Absolutely not!” Yi Qiu shot her head up, her gaze as firm as if she were making a deadly vow.

Suddenly, her gaze met You Yan’s slender, slightly smiling eyes, and her line of sight faltered.

A ray of morning light broke through the clouds and streamed through the half-open doorway, silently bringing a bit of warmth to the small, cold hut on the high mountain peak.

They looked at each other, as if each wanted to find something they were looking for in the other’s eyes. Time seemed to stand still; no one spoke, and no one looked away.

After they stared at each other for several seconds, You Yan reached out and covered Yi Qiu’s eyes.

“Don’t try to guess things you shouldn’t,” You Yan said softly, removing the hand that was blocking Yi Qiu’s vision.

“I… didn’t…” Yi Qiu explained in a small voice.

She was just curious for a moment—curious about what You Yan had experienced, why she had left Kunlun Mountain, and why she had fallen into the Demon Realm.

Other than that, she really hadn’t guessed anything, nor did she have any basis for guessing.

You Yan gave a faint 「hmm」 and said, “It’s best that you didn’t.”

With that said, she waved her sleeve and closed the half-open door.

The moment the room went dark, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.

She still preferred the light, but You Yan did not.

Forget it. You Yan lacks love, after all. On matters like whether the room should be bright or not, it’s better to go along with the one who’s lacking love.

Thinking this, Yi Qiu slowly let go of You Yan’s ankle.

However, the next second, You Yan suddenly lifted her hand again and opened a window that had been tightly shut.

The moment daylight poured in again, You Yan stood up, walked a few steps to the canopy bed behind the screen, sat down quietly, and closed her eyes to meditate.

Yi Qiu raised her eyes to look at the window, and as she watched, she unconsciously tilted her head.

Perhaps because she was too tired yesterday and had been woken by hunger this morning, Yi Qiu hadn’t gotten enough sleep. Now that You Yan seemed to have calmed down, she felt much more at ease, and the sleepiness in her heart immediately hijacked her heavy eyelids.

During the day, as long as it wasn’t too hot, Yi Qiu always liked to lie in a spot where the sun could reach, as if sleeping this way was the most comfortable.

You Yan opened a window, and the morning sunlight shone in.

The little alpaca lay in that ray of light, sleeping soundly with its eyes closed. Its soft, white fleece seemed to glow with a faint golden light under the sun.

After an unknown amount of time, the sun had moved from outside the window to directly overhead, and Yi Qiu woke up as well.

Her belly, flat against the floor, seemed to be making some kind of protest.

Yi Qiu stood up from the floor and tiptoed over to You Yan’s side. Seeing that she was still sitting with her eyes closed, she couldn’t help but step forward and nuzzle her head against her thigh.

You Yan opened her eyes and reached out to hold Yi Qiu’s fidgeting little head still.

Yi Qiu let out a 「mffh」 and raised her eyes to remind her, “It’s the Hour of the Horse…”⁴

“Mmm…” You Yan responded, closing her eyes once more.

Yi Qiu puffed out her cheeks and stood foolishly to the side for a long time. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, she still said in a small voice, “Master, I’m hungry.”

You Yan: “Then go and eat.”

Yi Qiu: “Where am I supposed to go to eat?”

She couldn’t speak in front of mortals. She was afraid that if she just bleated 「mm-hmm」 at people, she would only manage to get a basin of green grass even if she shouted her throat raw.

She did not want to eat grass; grass wasn’t tasty.

You Yan: “So you do know that without me, you can’t even get a meal.”

Yi Qiu: “You’re still angry!”

You Yan opened her eyes and asked faintly, “You have a problem with that?”

Yi Qiu was instantly cowed. “No…”

You Yan lowered her gaze to the obedient little alpaca before her, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift into a smile.

But for some reason, Yi Qiu felt that this smile was not so simple.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, You Yan extended her index finger, gently flicked the little alpaca’s ear, and said with a smiling curve of her brows, “Have you figured out what you did wrong?”

Yi Qiu opened her mouth, but her face was a mask of utter confusion, and she didn’t know how to respond.

You Yan: “It doesn’t matter. What you did wrong isn’t important. What’s important is that if you do wrong, you must be punished.”

Yi Qiu: “Ah…”

She’s not going to punish me by not letting me eat, is she?

“I’m always waiting on you. You should also wait on me for a bit,” You Yan said, standing up and walking to the desk in the inner room under the little alpaca’s astonished gaze.

Yi Qiu followed her all the way and then stood blankly behind You Yan. She watched as You Yan slowly ground ink⁵ for a long time, finally spreading out the paper, lifting the brush, and writing a few lines of small characters. Then, she put down the brush, turned around, and handed the sheet of Xuan paper⁶ to Yi Qiu.

This paper was a menu…

Yi Qiu instantly understood You Yan’s meaning. She looked at You Yan with a mournful gaze for a long time, as if pleading for her to come along, but to no avail. In the end, she had no choice but to open her mouth, bite down on the thin sheet of Xuan paper, and turn to walk out of the house.

The mountain wind blew, chillingly cold, and the alpaca walked, full of reluctance.

As she walked, she suddenly remembered a video she had once seen online. In the video, there was a large mutt that would carry a plastic basket in its mouth, containing a shopping list and a few Grandpa Maos⁷, and run errands for its owner to buy groceries at a small supermarket. It even knew to wait for the shopkeeper to give it change.

Thinking about that dog, and then thinking about herself, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

That dog was so smart, almost as smart as her.

Could it be that it secretly became a spirit after the founding of the nation?⁸

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