Chapter 515: Wolf Pack Lessons and Growing Tensions

But when the wolves headed out, there were six. Drawn back by the scent of roasted meat, only four returned: Alpha, Broken Back, Lame Wolf, and Er Gou.

Lame Wolf didn’t come inside. Even though Xia Qing had helped her before and she didn’t see Xia Qing as a threat, she still viewed humans with deep suspicion—she refused to enter a house that felt like a cage she couldn’t escape from.

Xia Qing didn’t bother asking where Lame Wolf or Black Wolf had gone. She just pulled out the roast chicken, shredded it into strips, and set it in the food bowl. As usual, Alpha ate first.

Alpha gobbled down three chickens on his own, leaving the other three for the rest of the wolves. Er Gou’s stomach still hadn’t fully recovered, so he only ate the meat and left the bones. Of course, the bones didn’t go to waste—she carried them out to the door to share with Lame Wolf outside.

Once Xia Qing finished her own share of chicken, the rest of her bones were also taken by Er Gou and brought out to Lame Wolf.

Xia Qing was pretty sure Lame Wolf’s standing in the pack had gone up. Maybe her fighting ability improved, or maybe she was pregnant. Xia Qing eyed Alpha’s belly thoughtfully.

Alpha and Broken Back were a pair—both in their prime. Next spring, there’d probably be wolf pups. Xia Qing imagined them, tiny and pink, dozing in a pile. The thought nearly melted her on the spot.

Alpha’s pups would be clever as they were cute…

Lounging on the tatami, Alpha was quick to sense Xia Qing’s gaze. Those flashy golden eyes cracked open, spotted Xia Qing grinning like an idiot, then shut again. He pointedly turned his head the other way.

Xia Qing just smiled, cleared the dishes, and brought them to the kitchen to wash. Outside, Er Gou was playing with Lame Wolf. By the time Xia Qing finished cleaning up and listened to the radio, Lame Wolf had vanished and Er Gou was back inside, now watching Old Goat pedal the generator bike alongside Broken Back.

Old Goat spotted Xia Qing finally emerging from the kitchen and immediately kicked up the pace, head held high and eyes narrowed with pride, glancing over at her.

“You’re amazing, Old Goat! No wonder you’re the first evolved sheep in Blue Star’s history. The way you pedal that bike… It’s just too cool!” Xia Qing showered him with a nonstop stream of praise.

Lately, there hadn’t been any more Devastation Snow, but the sunlight was weak and the solar panel wasn’t charging enough. Every day, Xia Qing did her best to keep Old Goat motivated about generating power.

Broken Back, crouching next to Old Goat, turned and gave Xia Qing a thoughtful look.

Xia Qing explained, “The generator bike I’m trading to Handsome Wolf is already ordered. When it gets here in a few days, I’ll send Er over to Hill Sixty and have him call you to come pick it up.”

This time, Xia Qing mentioned something new. Broken Back didn’t get it, tilting her head in confusion, looking both thoughtful and puzzled.

Oh, right! Xia Qing suddenly remembered the video lessons stored on her laptop. She dashed off to the bedroom, grabbed her laptop, and came back out, waving enthusiastically. “Queen, Broken Back, Er, hurry over and watch these human language lessons!”

Er Gou loved these lessons best and trotted right over to Xia Qing. Curious as ever, Broken Back joined in too. Alpha stayed on the tatami, not interested, and Old Goat just went on playing.

“Dear friends, today’s lesson starts now!” A sweet, overly cheerful woman’s voice—if it was possible, even peppier than Xia Qing—rang out from the speakers. Er Gou, sitting at the low table, gave his tail a happy shake and let his tongue loll in a doggy grin.

Broken Back circled behind the laptop to study the screen, before turning back, eyes locked on the video with a serious expression.

After an intro full of bright, soothing clouds—probably just the kind of thing dogs would like—the teaching began.

“Let’s review last time. Sit.”

On screen, three people in dog costumes all dropped into a sitting pose at the same time. Er Gou mimicked them perfectly, sitting at the low table just like those odd creatures in the video.

“Great work! Next, stand up.”

“Good job.” Xia Qing joined in the praise, but her focus stayed on her phone.

She was busy studying the chemistry notes Yang Jin had sent her. Once she finished going through high school chemistry, she’d move on to university-level agronomy—determined to become a real pro at farming, growing crops with stable, reliable seeds.

Er Gou copied the video, standing up just as the three people did.

“Well done. Now raise your left front paw.”

But when Er Gou followed the commands and started mimicking the bizarre moves from the video, Broken Back got angry. She crouched low, claws bared, teeth flashing as she let out a low, menacing growl toward the laptop.

“Kaka.”

From the tatami came the sharp crack of splitting wood—Alpha had dug his powerful claws into the boards and splintered them, his golden eyes now locked on the laptop, radiating menace.

Now both evolved wolf leaders were furious, all because of what they saw on the laptop. Er Gou, confused, still took up a defensive stance alongside them. Normally so docile and sweet with Xia Qing, she looked truly intimidating when her wild side came out.

She must have once been a force to be reckoned with among evolved wolves.

Old Goat stopped pedaling, glancing left and right—clueless about what had happened, but he quickly hurried over to stand behind Alpha and called the rest of his little gang to join him.

With tensions this high, the cheerful kindergarten teacher’s lesson from the video felt absurdly out of place.

Xia Qing had no idea why the video had angered the two Brain-Evolved Wolves, but she still turned it off.

Even after the video stopped, their fangs didn’t go away. Instead, both wolves turned their sharpened gazes on Xia Qing.

But she didn’t feel afraid. After living so long with the pack, she could tell when a wolf was about to attack and when it wasn’t.

The two Brain-Evolved Wolves were really mad—they showed it in their bodies—but there was no intention to hurt her. Even Old Goat figured that out and went back to his toys.

Why did that video make the two smart wolves so angry, while Er Gou didn’t think anything was wrong?

Xia Qing couldn’t figure out what was running through their minds, so she explained as sincerely as possible: “I only wanted to help you all understand human language more clearly—that’s why I showed Queen, Broken Back, and Er the video.”

“Grrr…” Alpha’s growl was low and full of threat—he wasn’t buying Xia Qing’s explanation at all.

Xia Qing still didn’t really get the source of their anger, but she didn’t want a real fight. She promised, “Okay, since you don’t like it, I won’t make Er watch anymore. You have my word.”

That did the trick—their anger faded a little. Still, Alpha called Er Gou over to the tatami, making it clear he wasn’t letting her anywhere near Xia Qing and her laptop.

Obviously, in the eyes of the two Brain-Evolved Wolves, Xia Qing had done something harmful to Er Gou. Even though Er Gou lived in Section Three, she was still a member of the pack, a key companion to the two wolf leaders.