"Xiaolan, wake up! The salary has arrived!"
At nine o'clock, Ah Qing and Mo Yiqing tried to wake the little fox but only received a kick. So they returned to the dorm at around ten, grabbing the little fox in their arms.
Ah Qing placed the little fox on the table, while Mo Yiqing held up a camera to record the scene in the dormitory. Tang You and Lingren, full of interest, assisted with the lighting.
"Yawn..."
The little fox sat on the table, eyes closed, head swaying left and right, and appeared in front of the camera expressing deep drowsiness.
Ah Qing, sitting at the table, pulled out a stack of red cash from her pocket and slammed it heavily on the round dormitory table. About thirty thousand in cash was placed right in front of the little fox.
The table's vibration and the scent of ink made the little fox, already unsteady, fall asleep on the spot. Its tiny fox paws instinctively grabbed hold of the thirty thousand as a pillow beneath its head, drifting into a deep sleep.
"Yawn—" The little fox exhaled, twisted its waist, and splayed out, as if not worried about its bell being exposed and taken by someone.
The nighttime battle with the Forest Musk Deer wasn't too intense for Ansheng.
However, his first time in a helicopter, not being used to the motion and weightlessness, left him a bit airsick and mentally tired. Returning to the dorm, he was cuddled by Ah Qing until dawn.
Overall, Ansheng just fell asleep three hours ago and was in his deepest sleep.
"Pfft..."
Seeing the little fox, loosened and twisting like a cat on the table, ready to give Xiaolan her salary, Ah Qing froze, then couldn't help but laugh at the cute movements and posture of the little fox.
"Wake up, it's time for your salary!"
Ah Qing shook the little fox's shoulders until finally rousing the defenselessly sleeping fox.
"Yawn yawn..."
Ansheng opened his eyes, cheeks resting on the thirty thousand in cash, and lazily greeted Ah Qing.
"What's up so early in the morning? Did you find out, Ah Qing, that today I'm planning to swap the principal's office sign with the men's restroom sign and sneakily eat chips on his sofa?"
Ansheng slowly got up, sitting on the table, yawning lazily.
And as he got up, he was surprised to discover he was just sleeping on a brand new pile of cash.
"Ah Qing, you are..."
"Yes! It's time to distribute the earnings!" Ah Qing looked at Xiaolan seriously. "As we agreed, after expenses are deducted from the live streaming income, we split the profits. I need to save for myself, and you need to buy a home for a fox."
Ah Qing initially intended to say dowry but thought better of it. After all, recording this video to upload to the Sound Platform, rashly exposing traditions from Changxi Town could lead to chaos at the village gate.
"Are we really getting the salary again?" Ansheng only remembered after Ah Qing mentioned the salary that it's already September 2, and the live streaming salary had come in.
But seeing three stacks of cash on the table, Ansheng suspiciously looked at Ah Qing.
"No!"
Though Ansheng hadn't spoken, Ah Qing seemed to read the meaning in his expression, crossing her arms and firmly rejecting the little fox's wild ideas.
"A substantial part of our earnings went to Aunt Momo's Mo Yi Loan."
While Ah Qing spoke, Mo Yiqing, playing the role of the cameraman, waved in front of the lens, indicating he skimmed from the little fox's food money and if not repaid, well... only a flesh repayment would do.
"Alright, let's start distributing the salary!"
Ah Qing pushed the little fox to the other side of the table and placed the cash in the middle of the round table.
In Ah Qing's mind, memories of the video plan they discussed at the bank lingered, and a mischievous grin appeared as she said:
"Well, let's split it fifty-fifty."
Ah Qing divided the thirty thousand into two, stuffed half into her clothes pocket, and pushed the other half towards Ansheng, indicating all of it was for him.
But before Ansheng could say anything about spending all the money on a Fox Kingdom membership card,
Ah Qing continued, "First, our little fox can earn a salary now. As usual, I'll take four hundred as food expense; no objections, Xiaolan?"
"Yawn..." Seeing Ah Qing speak, knowing they're filming, Ansheng nodded cooperatively, ready to play along for effect.
"Deduct four hundred for food."
"Then, two hundred for cola, five hundred for snacks, an occasional midnight snack deduction of five hundred, two hundred for insect repellent. Oh, and a sports camera worth three thousand eight hundred. Out of friendship, round it to four thousand."
"And, to make it easy for you to shop around, Momo helped you get a loan for an electric scooter, which costs three thousand five hundred, with two hundred for registration, and a hundred for insurance, plus loan interest of five thousand total."
Ah Qing spoke as the thickness of cash in front of Ansheng dwindled significantly.
Ansheng's mouth twitched slightly, placing his small fox paw on the cash, somewhat unwilling.
While the show is a show, please don't exploit my poor, helpless, and pitiful little fox self!
The money is what I earned, even though I earn by skill and never scan codes.
"Xiaolan, don't be upset, smile! There are also toy and equipment fees not yet calculated!" Ah Qing, with a smirk and a wry expression, casually nudged the fox's paw.
"Look, I found someone to custom-order a Cloud Platform, haggling for three days and nights, from seven thousand to three thousand."
"It's our bread and butter and your main productivity this month, right?"
The little fox shook its head in refusal like a rattle drum, rejecting the ruthless capitalist's CPU.
But Ah Qing, like the conniving Stone Mother, took out three thousand from the fox's pocket anyway.
The once fat stack of bills was now reduced to a small, pitiful number of ten or so bills.
Ansheng cuddled the remaining cash, holding it close against potential wind gusts, shielding it with his fluffy fox tail.
"You've got the Cloud Platform; surely you need a flagship camera phone, right? I've checked, the signal here is bad for Apple, so let's not buy an Apple. A cheaper flagship phone costs five thousand!"
Ah Qing, with a bright smile, took the last bit of cash from the fox's arms. Previously well-prepared with a fake loan contract, Lingren seized the right moment to display the "indenture contract" in front of the camera, stamping it and handing it to Ah Qing, who was embracing the fox.
"Yawn—"
The little fox's body twisted in surprise, turning into a face-hugging fox, crawling on Ah Qing, and Mo Yiqing cooperatively tilted the camera as if the chaos had overturned it.
Behind the lens.
Ah Qing cheerfully lifted the little fox high and gave a big kiss on its cheek:
"Indeed, Xiaolan is the smartest. You played along perfectly without us saying a word."
"Good fox, kiss kiss—"
"Mua～"