"Xiaolan! If you sneak open the fridge to drink Coke again, there will never be Coke in the fridge anymore!"
Yu Xueqing shook the fox, listening to the water sloshing in the little fox's belly, while checking the fridge and found two cans of Coke were missing.
Yu Xueqing was surprised at the sight; she knew Xiaolan was very understanding, but she never expected Xiaolan could open the fridge and cans.
Being held by Ah Qing by the big tail with front paws paddling in the air, Ansheng looked helpless and argued:
"How could you say I stole iced Coke? Foxes don't steal. I just drank a bit more out of excitement to celebrate being home."
"Ah Qing... Seriously, listen to me first. The reason you feel like I've had a lot of Coke is because a can contains only 330 ml. If you replaced them all with 2-liter bottles... wuwuwu?"
Ah Qing pinched the little fox's mouth shut, stopping the fox's misleading words.
"I don't want to hear it. The vet advised that all pets need low salt and low sugar, and every 100 ml of Coke contains 7 grams of sugar, so two cans mean 47 grams of sugar!"
"Moreover, there's also caffeine!"
Yu Xueqing squeezed the little fox's mouth, and as the animal communication ability activated.
Ansheng suddenly saw some cartoonish drawings appear in his mind, reminiscent of Crayon Shin-chan.
A white fox sneakily opened the fridge and indulged in the iced Coke inside.
Then in the cartoon, the strange version of Yu Xueqing caught the white little fox midway, spanked it, and then took it to Pet Paradise for a stomach wash....
Not exactly a stomach wash, but there was a vacuum cleaner-like machine that sucked on the fox's bum, then covered its mouth and sucked all the Coke it drank out of its belly.
After the first cartoon panel ended.
The second panel came, with an iced Coke icon popping out of the white little fox's head, then the little fox ran to Yu Xueqing, tugging at her.
Yu Xueqing gave the little fox a Coke, and after sipping, the fox gave the Coke back to Yu Xueqing.
In the cartoon, Yu Xueqing was delighted to see the little fox only had drunk 100 ml of Coke, rewarding it with a drumstick.
"Stop it, stop it, I'll honestly confess to the crime scene, okay?"
Seeing the endoscope in the cartoon going through the bum, then turning to poke its throat made the little fox wince in pain, honestly landing on the ground, demonstrating to Ah Qing and Mo Yiqing how it sneaked Coke and disposed of the cans.
The little fox opened the fridge door, standing on its hind limbs in the fridge's compartments, pulled out a bottle of iced Coke, and ran to the second floor of their makeshift house.
Yu Xueqing and Mo Yiqing followed, curious about how the fox opened the can.
"Ying ying ying..."
Ansheng wedged the can of Coke between the doorstop and the wall gap, then raised his paw to tap, explaining to Ah Qing how he previously opened the can.
"Poof—"
As the little fox pawed, the pull tab on the can opened the bottle, letting Coke spill out, and the little fox shook the Coke bottle, spraying iced Coke everywhere.
"........"
Yu Xueqing and Mo Yiqing stood there, looking stupefied at the little fox, performing a Crow Drinking Water act.
"Ah Qing... perhaps you should enroll Xiaolan in college? Don't waste the kid's time for grad school." Mo Yiqing, snapping back to reality, jokingly told Yu Xueqing.
"Xiaolan… truly loves Coke!" Yu Xueqing sighed, somewhat helplessly.
However.
Just snapped out of their shock, neither of them noticed that the little fox, who had been squatting by the door, had quietly slipped out along the wall.
When Ansheng reached the stairs, the guilty look on his cheeks faded, looking all feasibly righteous as he shouted back to the two inside:
"Ah Qing, I'm going out shopping now, remember to leave a door open for me tonight!"
With that, the little fox stood on two legs, jumped onto the stair railing, and slid down butt-first.
When Yu Xueqing came out of the room, she saw a big white furball leaning on the railing, waving at her.
Yu Xueqing & Mo Yiqing: "........"
Yu Xueqing couldn't help but laugh and fume at this scene.
"Great! Emotional value is maxed out, quickly take me to catch a nest of foxes in Xiaolan's den. I'll tie up a whole dens' worth at the fox park." Mo Yiqing laughed heartily, patting Ah Qing.
......
"Making a sneaky dash is truly satisfying..."
The successfully escaped Ansheng leaped over the courtyard wall, landing on the road, full of smugness.
On the road, Ansheng looked left towards Lai Foo's house, then right towards Su Qiyuan's house.
After pondering for a moment, between earning Wish Power outside for free food, he decided to settle business with Old Chen first.
"Alright! Inform Old Chen of the good news, and then I'll handle the freshly picked tea leaves…"
An Sheng thought about it, seemingly recalling something, a smile appeared on his face, and he quickly walked towards Old Chen's home.
Who knows what expression Old Chen will have upon seeing me grow a third tail?
It's just for fear of scaring Ah Qing, otherwise, An Sheng would've flaunted his tail at every turn.
Ansheng arrived at Old Chen's house.
Old Chen was sitting in the courtyard, where the originally cemented yard was covered with green leaves for drying.
An older man, slightly senior to Old Chen, led three youngsters, barefoot, using rake-like tools to turn over the green leaves in the courtyard.
They were slightly cautious as they walked among the leaves, avoiding stepping on the green leaves.
Tea leaves picked from tea trees can become different types depending on the process.
But the essence of tea-making is ultimately just removing unpleasant flavors and enhancing the taste, as well as controlling moisture content.
The Frosted Oolong initially picked has to go through a green leaf drying process to remove excess moisture before the next step.
Of course, with Xia Dong's summer heat, the green leaf drying process doesn't need long, usually about half an hour; too long and the leaves will turn into yellow withered leaves.
"....Forget the charcoal roasting, even if moisture can be controlled to concentrate the flavor, a week isn't enough to get the fire right, better make the light aroma type!"
The old man squatting in the courtyard, after observing the green leaves for a while, nodded to Old Chen with his conclusion.
"So... that's why I thought of you, right? We're all family, everyone knows your craft."
Old Chen grinned cheekily, spreading cigarettes, wanting the tea master elder to think of a method with his skills.
"What method could save it? These tender leaves need to be composted, better than anything." The elder scolded Old Chen angrily.
He just came back from travel, not taking a break, Old Chen comes wanting him to handle these messes.
The young leaves from seedlings have high moisture content, even if made into tea, the flavor will be bland.
Of course, the first steep is okay for showing off.
The blandness appears inevitably from the second and third steeps.
This is also one aspect of tea contest judging, observing the color and taste of the brew from repeated steeping.
Using charcoal roasting makes some sense, at least slightly, but the light aroma Frosted Oolong, originally, captures the fresh fragrance and crisp taste of tea.
Now the raw material's problematic, even if the old man's hands could spark fire, handling these green leaves remains a headache.
"Ying ying?"
The cry of a fox interrupted, and as Old Chen talked to the tea master, he was stunned, turning to see a little fox nosing around his doorway.
"Huh? A self-hospitable fox? What a good omen!" The tea master elder praised, unable to resist complimenting the fox.