"Lord Fuli, sorry..."
The black business car returned to Changxi Town, Lin Ying gently stroked Lord Fuli's silky fur on his back and softly apologized.
Originally, they agreed to celebrate after the matter was settled, but now, even though it was done.
The wrong person handled it, and although Grandmaster Lin's injury might not be too serious, she also needed to be at the hospital to watch over him.
"It's no big deal, no big deal..." Lord Fuli waved his hand and looked at Lin Ying, saying, "Going to the hospital is the right thing to do. It's best that when you arrive there later, have a good talk with your grand-uncle."
"Even if you've used Longevity Club hormones, you can't cause such trouble. This time, it's just that we don't want to make a big deal out of it, but if it were on land, his head would definitely be sharpened by us."
Lord Fuli gulped down the iced cola, waved at Lin Ying, then opened the automatic door and ran outside the car.
"Hmm, I'll have a good talk with Grandmaster Lin." Lin Ying smiled, half-knelt at the door, and bid farewell to Lord Fuli.
Lin Ying closed the car door again, unlocked her phone with her fingerprint, and the system's default desktop background changed to a picture. In the image, she was sitting on a chair by the bedside, holding a boy with white and gray long hair in her arms, and affectionately pressing her face against his cheek.
Lin Ying glanced at the desktop wallpaper and then shifted her gaze to the top left corner of the screen where the time was displayed: [3:26].
"Contact Expert Feng tomorrow," Lin Ying closed the screen, lay back in the airplane seat to rest, and suddenly spoke to Lin Bingyun.
"The direct flight to Africa has been canceled; there might be some traitors in our family. There's no need to send them to Africa; let's wait and see what Grandmaster Lin will say!"
"I lean towards sending them to prison for transformation. If Grandmaster Lin has objections, go find some oil barrels."
The short conversation with Lin Qi, though brief, made Lin Ying keenly capture some key information.
Though she couldn't be entirely sure, Grandmaster Lin's so-called trial likely wasn't meaningless acting.
Adding to this, her deviation from the original course, becoming the chairman of the Xia Country's Lin Group Holding Company, was likely the official step towards taking over her grandfather's position as clan chief.
Grandmaster Lin did not explicitly say.
But yet, he seemed to have said it all.
"Oil barrels, alright..." Lin Bingyun responded, not disturbing Lin Ying's rest, but contemplating in his heart where to borrow some C140-grade concrete.
C30 concrete is brittle.
C120 is suitable, but prolonged exposure to harsh environments underwater may cause damage.
Building permanent defensive structures with C140 is highly suitable for filling oil barrels with.
Through the rearview mirror, Lin Bingyun glanced at Lin Ying, who was frowning, and sighed inwardly.
No groundwork laid, merely holding a titular position, yet all sorts of monsters and ghosts emerged from the clan.
People!
Living too comfortably in their environment, they've forgotten what their ancestors relied on to establish themselves.
Joining a street gang, if one wishes to quit, they must voluntarily endure the punishment of three stabs and six holes. Though Lin Group Holding Company is named a company, it is essentially a feudal clan.
Some harmless trivial matters wouldn't prompt anyone to pick a bone in modern society.
But when it involves issues of principle and chaotic matters affecting clan interests, what one says isn't a matter of law.
Lin Bingyun sighed inwardly, feeling a hint of helplessness towards the choices made by those elders in the clan.
Lin Ying is still young.
But it's Grandmaster Lin who truly steers the Lin family, and Grandmaster Lin doesn't handle matters with giggles and laughs.
The dignity of a clan chief isn't meant to be challenged.
If you don't have the strength to overthrow someone, don't touch it; otherwise, it's a mistake in principle.
...…
Ansheng didn't know that Lin Ying sent him back to Changxi Town instead of going with her to the hospital because it involved a disgraceful side of the clan.
Ansheng climbed back home along the windowsill, all the air conditioning was on, and loud snores filled the room.
"Goodness! Sleeping directly on the sofa!" Ansheng habitually thought of jumping down, but his sharp eyes noticed a man lying on the sofa, sleeping straight as a bamboo pole.
"This guy... seems to be A Qing's uncle." Ansheng stopped his jumping motion and upon closer inspection realized it was A Qing's third uncle on the sofa.
A Qing's father is the eldest, followed by the second, third, and youngest sister.
A Qing's second uncle hasn't returned to Jiule City yet; it'll be another two days.
"Really, there's no need to force it; there's a hotel five or six hundred meters further behind the ancestral home."
Ansheng lightly complained, landed on the ground, and strolled over to the bathroom to take a shower before heading to A Qing's room to sleep.
In the bathroom, Ansheng gradually manifested his human form, filled with joy at taking his shower.
As he showered, he gleefully held his little bell's shake handle, aimed at the drain, and relieved himself right into its center hole.
Then.
A little black rat poked its head out, opened its mouth, and exuberantly stared at Lord Fuli.
"???"
Lord Fuli froze, hurriedly pinching a full-faced question mark as he looked at the rat that had emerged from the sewage pipe.
"Squeak—" The house mouse squeaked at Lord Fuli, looking at him with yearning eyes.
"Shoo shoo shoo!"
Lord Fuli tiptoed, jumped, and took the showerhead to splash the little rat back into the sewage pipe.
"Where did this pervert come from..."
Lord Fuli rolled his eyes, hesitated for a moment before the towel rack, and then picked up the towel A Qing used for drying himself to wipe off the water from his body, leaping forward to transform back into a young fox.
Then.
Ansheng astonishingly realized he was still soaking wet all over, especially the area around his belly, almost dripping.
"What's the issue..."
Ansheng shook his fur, muttering, completely unaware he was so busy drying himself he didn't towel off the long gray-white fur on his head.
After shaking, Ansheng dried in front of the air conditioner, proudly returning to A Qing's room.
"A Qing, Master An has safely returned home again..." Ansheng nestled into the bed, twirled around, settled himself into his sleeping spot, smoothed out the bedsheet wrinkles, and bade A Qing goodnight.
"Hmm..."
A Qing seemed to sense something, hazily speaking, and hugged the little fox, mumbling unclearly:
"Little An is back..."
"Just dreamt... of the little fox falling into a brine vat for salting pickles, the little fox misbehaved, not allowing me to clean off the salt stains on its fur and lost fur."
"Whole body chewed by a dog... Little An, remember to stay away from big vats and urns of brine."
"Huh?"
Ansheng looked at A Qing with surprise, lifted a small paw to poke her cheek:
"Tell me! Did you secretly install surveillance cameras on Master An!"
"You actually know about my mishap in the water?"
"Hmm..." Feeling a mosquito on her cheek, in a shallow sleep, A Qing instinctively opened her mouth and bit down.
"Yelp—"
The room rang with a fox's pitiful wail.
"A Qing! You frightened me!"
"Apologize!"