Gavin's golden vertical pupils instantly lit up, and he flashed a broad, gleaming grin.
"I brought my own animal skin bag." Terrified that the Little Female opposite him might change her mind, he hurriedly shoved the orange crystal across and looked at her with brimming anticipation.
Ophelia picked up the orange crystal and checked it in the sunlight to confirm it was genuine.
"Taylor, pack it for him."
Taylor nodded, taking out a pre-prepared stone bowl. One bowl held roughly a pound.
The ten full bowls were more than enough, with extra to spare.
Watching the animal skin bag gradually fill up, Gavin's eyes welled with tears as he wanted to express his gratitude, but Ophelia was already surrounded by a crowd. Unable to squeeze in to speak, he had no choice but to leave first with the rice.
"Little Female, I want a bag of rice."
"I want three bags."
"I want five bags."
More and more people gathered in front of the rice stall, a scene that quickly caught the attention of Loki, Michelle, and the others who had just entered the Trading Market.
"Father, it's so lively over there. Let's go take a look too." With that, Amy pulled Loki and Michelle toward the rice stall.
"Oh, it's rice! To still have rice in this season, and for it to be kept in such good condition—it certainly can't be cheap." Michelle looked at the pearly white rice with a trace of covetousness.
Amy swallowed hard, recalling the fragrance of rice she had smelled at her mother's place yesterday.
"Look, Loki, Amy is almost drooling." Michelle chuckled teasingly.
"Ophelia is something else too. She only knows how to drink rice porridge herself and doesn't care about the child at all. Loki, why don't you trade for some rice to build up Amy's health?"
Upon hearing this, Amy beamed from ear to ear. She hugged Michelle's thigh and acted coquettishly, "Auntie Michelle is the only one who truly cares for me! Father, you should hurry and break your bond with Ophelia and become mates with Auntie instead."
Both the older and younger females fixed their gazes on Loki. Facing his beloved Little Female, he naturally couldn't bear to refuse.
He had only brought one red crystal to the Trading Market today, originally planning to trade it for some fruit for Michelle. He had no idea if it would be enough for rice now.
Clenching the red crystal in his hand, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "How much rice can one red crystal buy?"
The second the words left his mouth, he froze.
"Ophelia? Why are you here?" Michelle was equally stunned when she saw who was selling the rice.
Amy's face was painted with shock as well. "Mother?" How could her mother possibly have this much rice, yet refuse to let her have even a single bowl of porridge yesterday?
Could it be that her mother truly didn't want her anymore?
At that thought, an inexplicable panic gripped her.
Loki's brow knitted slightly. "Why are you bringing so much rice out to trade? Wouldn't it be better to save it for Amy and Mother to eat?"
In the past, whenever Ophelia had even a tiny bit of rice, she would eagerly rush to give it to his mother and Amy. Yet now, she was trading away such a massive quantity.
And looking at the crystals that couldn't fit in one hand, alongside the mountain of animal skins piled next to her, a sharp throbbing pain pierced right behind his eyes.
Seeing those crystals, Michelle's eyes flashed with greed. How wonderful it would be if all of those belonged to her!
The jealousy in the depths of her heart surged upwards by leaps and bounds.
Loki pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Leaving aside what's already traded, take all the rest back. Give half to Mother, and leave the other half for Amy to eat."
The surrounding crowd's faces instantly fell upon hearing that the remaining rice would no longer be traded, but sensing that Ophelia was the male's mate, they thought better of saying much.
They turned dejectedly to leave, but at that moment, Ophelia—who had remained silent for a long time—finally spoke up.
"You say no trade, so there's no trade? Who do you think you are? My things are mine to trade however I please, and you have no right to interfere."
Having his face publicly stripped of dignity, Loki wore a grim expression, yet he knew deep down that the rice belonged to Ophelia; strictly speaking, he truly had no right to call the shots.
Unwilling to watch the gleaming white rice go to someone else, Michelle hesitated for a moment before saying in a gentle tone, "Ophelia, it's summer right now—where on earth did you get so much rice? Surely this isn't the reserved grain of the Snow Wolf Tribe, is it?"
Any tribe with even a modicum of strength would stockpile some rice each year, but never very much—usually around ten pounds or so.
And the remaining rice in the rattan back-basket was right around ten pounds.
At these words, Loki strode forward, grabbed Ophelia by the wrist, and interrogated her harshly. "Is what Michelle said true? How could you steal the tribe's reserved grain? If people find out, what will they think of me? Amy will be implicated by a mother like you too!"
"You are not allowed to touch this rice another bit! You're coming back to the tribe with me right now to kneel and beg the chieftain for mercy!"
Without bothering to verify the facts, Loki convicted Ophelia of theft in just a few short sentences.
Ophelia let out a cold laugh. "You say it's the tribe's reserved grain just like that? Which tribe in the world can stash fifty pounds of rice in one go and be that powerful?"
"Can your Snow Wolf Tribe do that? Do you have that kind of capital? If you want to misappropriate my food, just say so. Anyone who knows would realize I'm your mate, but anyone who doesn't would think we're mortal enemies, the way you fling filthy water at me the moment you open your mouth!"
"Besides, we're about to dissolve our mating bond anyway, aren't we? Where do you even get the nerve to boss me around?"
Every word she uttered was loaded with meaning, piercing into Loki's heart like a sharp blade.
The onlookers nearby finally snapped out of their daze and chimed in one after another.
"That's right! This Little Female has been trading rice here for quite a while now, and the amount she's already traded away exceeds ten pounds alone. How could it possibly be stolen?"
"And what is wrong with you as a male? Condemning your own mate the moment you show up—could it really be just like the Little Female said, that you're trying to misappropriate her rice?"
Panicking, Michelle and the others hurriedly jumped in to explain, "No, it's not like that! Ophelia, they're just having a misunderstanding. She only brought the family's rice out to trade because she was angry, and Loki was just out of his mind with fury!"
Amy scratched her head in frantic anxiety. "Mother, hurry up and explain to everyone! Father was misunderstood, he didn't mean it like that. Can't you just stop being so unreasonable right now?"
Ophelia cast a glacial glare at the daughter standing on the ground. When she herself had been accused by Loki just now, this girl hadn't said a single word; but now that the tables were turned on him, her good daughter knew how to panic.
She stated indifferently, "Explain what? Explain how he came to the Trading Market as a mate while bringing along another Little Female and the cub I bore him?"
"No, Ophelia, we went looking for you, but we couldn't find you! Who would've thought you'd come here so early? It's all our fault for searching too late." Michelle tried to shift the blame onto Ophelia once more in just a few breaths.
Only this time, she didn't get her way.
A male suddenly spoke up. "I ran into the three of them at this Trading Market several times. So they aren't a family of three after all?"
"Is that so?" Ophelia arched an eyebrow. "You couldn't find me once, but surely you couldn't fail to find me every single time, my dear mate Loki!"
Loki felt as though every single word Ophelia spoke right then was landing on his face like a physical slap. He utterly despised her when she was this aggressive and unforgiving.
"Fine! Do whatever you want, have it your way. Amy, let's go." With that, he grabbed Amy and fled as if running for his lives. Michelle lowered her head as well, using her long black hair to shield her face as she scurried away in disgrace.
Watching their panicked retreat, Ophelia felt a surge of elation. She raised her voice and announced, "Sorry for the spectacle, everyone! Look, three days from now, I'll bring another hundred pounds of rice, and I'll toss in an extra half-pound of rice for free with every transaction!"
With such a massive incentive, she was certain these people would spread the word about everything that had just happened the moment they returned.
It would also firmly cement Loki's reputation as a scumbag and Michelle as a shameless home-wrecker.