"Okay, go to sleep!"
After trying out the new live streaming equipment, Ah Qing put down the little fox on her shoulder, loosened the strap, and patted his butt to signal him to play on the side.
After all that fuss, it was already five in the morning, making it impossible to go back to sleep.
Everyone in the dormitory was washing up, and Lingren came out of the bathroom with a face full of resentment, flopping onto Tang You's single sofa, mumbling, "Other schools' dorm bathrooms support double access, so why did our crappy school build new dorms without it? It's so inhumane."
Lying on the windowsill, waiting for the fat cat to come over, Ansheng turned his head to look at Lingren upon hearing this.
Ah Qing and Tang You went to the bathroom, while Mo Yiqing stood in front of the sink tidying up her appearance.
Because the air conditioning was on, there was a double-layered hollow glass sliding door separating the dorm area from the balcony area.
Lingren's statement, which seemed as stable as aluminum and copper, did not attract the attention of the people on the balcony.
"You basically don't consider An certain a person, do you? Making outrageous claims in front of me. Be careful, or I'll report this to Ah Qing."
The little fox let out a couple of whimpers at Lingren, indicating that there were still people inside, and she should mind her image.
Lingren noticed the little fox, almost blending in with the curtains, and was taken aback.
Then.
Lingren sneakily glanced at the bathroom, crouched towards the little fox, reached out, and pinched the fur on the fox's tail, tugging hard.
"Whimper?"
Ansheng tilted his head, looking at Lingren, a bit puzzled by her current artistic behavior.
After tugging the fluffy tail fur to make sure no actual fox fur came out, Lingren immediately shifted her focus to the fox's butt, starting to tug at the fur with both hands.
"I thought Ah Qing was exaggerating, but it turns out the little fox really is a genetically mutated individual. She even said she wanted to pluck some of the little fox's white fur to weave felt..."
Seeing how the little fox was so stingy that not a single fur was plucked, Lingren showed a disappointed expression.
Her family owned a tea house, from setting up tea stands at the docks in her ancestors' times to today's large commercial tea house.
In storytellers' mouths and ancient scholars' writings, foxes were either auspicious or mysterious creatures or contained a sense of taboo, as if not tolerated by the world.
The seductress who brought disaster to the country in the scholar's pen, and the fox in the Sichuan opera "The Fox Immortal's Grief," adapted from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," were childhood memories for Lingren.
She grew up listening to those stories, holding a vague longing for mysterious creatures like foxes.
But the dumb Arctic foxes at Erbin left Lingren very disappointed, completely lacking the legendary spirituality.
Let alone expecting them to repay kindness, you'd be grateful if they didn't defecate in your pants.
"Pull my fur... to weave felt?"
Ansheng was stunned upon hearing this, tilting his head to the left, unable to comprehend the logic, and then to the right, causing his right brain to freeze.
But after understanding Lingren's implied meaning, Ansheng was suddenly furious.
"Outrageous!"
"Pull my fur to weave felt, come here, and I'll tug your knitted pants!"
The little fox's muzzle quickly lunged forward, attacking Lingren's chest and belly.
But after a few hits, the little fox withdrew his muzzle, rubbing his bumped nose with his paw.
Lingren was stunned, looking at the little fox holding his nose as if it really hurt, and she raised a question mark.
"Hey! Are you being polite?"
"How come when you poke Mo Mo, Ah Qing, or Tang You, none of them rub their noses, but you do when it comes to me? Is that polite? Little fox, are you being polite? Huh?!"
"What's going on?" Mo Yiqing poked her head out, seeing Lingren stepping back dramatically and falling to the ground as if performing a stage act, and couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Wu wu wu——Mo Mo, the fox is bullying me!"
Lingren pouted, snuggling into Mo Yiqing's arm, recounting the entire incident.
Upon hearing this, Mo Yiqing suddenly remembered a joke.
He insulted me?
How did he insult you?
He just repeated everything I did.
Mo Yiqing placed a hand on her chest, then shifted it to Lingren's chest, obviously noticing a huge size difference.
Holding back a grin, Lingren acted wronged:
"Wu wu wu... Even you're mocking me, Mo Mo."
...
The incident sparked by the little fox unknowingly turned into Lingren seeking comfort everywhere.
"Brother! What do you want with me?"
"If you're asking about the car, it was the principal; he drove it up the slope after getting drunk."
Amidst the dormitory's chatter, time flew by, and the brown and white fat cat waddled into the dorm, asking Ansheng what he was wanted for.
"Let's talk elsewhere. It's inconvenient to speak here."
Ansheng jumped off the windowsill, landing on the wide back of the fat cat.
"Alrighty!"
The fat cat wobbled down the stairs, riding the new electric bike to the administrative building in front of all the students.
The sight of a panda riding a bike left the students dumbfounded.
Even Ansheng was a bit surprised.
"Aren't you worried Wang Qiqi will twist your panda head off for flaunting like this?" Ansheng asked.
"Hah, it's the modern age. Previously there was a black bear showing off on a unicycle. As a fellow member of the cat family, what's wrong with riding an electric bike for convenience?"
"And those foreigners' dogs have even gotten driver's licenses."
"You're from the bear family."
"No, no, no, I'm from the cat family."
Although Master Fox has great power, concerning the livelihood issue, the fat cat had to argue.
Cats can live in cat houses.
Bears have to live in tree holes!
Even if it slighted Master Fox's honor, the fat cat had to argue this point.
Riding the electric bike bought with commission from a chemical plant, the fat cat headed straight upstairs, racing down the corridor in the early dawn and crashing into the principal's office.
"Bang—"
The lock on the principal's office door was smashed open. The fat cat, familiar with the setup, turned on the air conditioner and took two bottles of room-temperature mineral water from the mini-fridge, tossing them to Master Fox.
"Make yourself at home. As long as we finish our business before 7:30, we can leave without a hitch."
"You really don't hold back."
Ansheng quipped, sitting on the sofa with legs crossed, "Do you know there's trouble brewing?"
"Huh? What's going on?" the fat cat asked, puzzled.
"A certain takin quietly ordered the animals in the School of Animal Science to ambush students. Don't you know about such a big deal?" Ansheng said:
"It also said if the fat cat isn't humane, don't blame the takin for being unrighteous."
"What? The takin actually came back?"
The fat cat visibly tensed upon hearing the takin's name, and his expression changed drastically, as if he encountered a natural enemy, his face darkened:
"I didn't expect..."
"The takin actually had the nerve to come back. From the incidents a few years ago, hasn't it learned enough lessons? How dare it cause trouble in school while I was at the back mountain."
"You guys... hold a grudge?" Ansheng furrowed his brows, "Why target innocent students over your grudges?"
"The grudge between the takin and me carries a deep vendetta....." the fat cat said solemnly:
"Two years ago, while competing for a protected reserve staff post, the takin and I fought in the forest for two days....."
Ansheng: "??? "
It's the goddamned struggle for a staff position!
Here, Ansheng was somewhat at a loss.
Both panda and takin are Grade I national protected species, and their populations are marked as critically endangered.
They can't just cuddle up to humans for food and attention like foxes.
For those aware of the importance of getting a government job, they will do anything to get one.
The takin is back.
It's determined to bring down the fat cat.
It even wants to ruin the principal of Xinxing Agricultural Science College.