"Speaking of which, isn't the fire drill supposed to test the evacuation speed of classes and their knowledge of fire safety? Why did you bend the school's anti-theft net?"
As Qiu Lingling led A Qing to the second floor, she felt a slight sense of doubt internally and asked aloud.
If someone else said they could bend a solid stainless steel anti-theft net, she probably wouldn't believe it, unless it was some ultimate macho man with pecs larger than her cup size.
But if A Qing said it, Qiu Lingling really believed it. Previously, during a nighttime fishing trip, A Qing managed to wrestle with a yellowfin tuna using her own strength and even hauled it onto the boat while the tuna's strength hadn't completely run out yet.
Due to its physiological structure, tuna swim continuously and can only breathe while moving, so their explosive power is terrifyingly normal, and no fisherman can drag a full-grown tuna ashore by sheer force.
But A Qing succeeded.
A yellowfin tuna weighing over a hundred kilograms was lifted straight out of the sea by her like picking up a chick.
Qiu Lingling wouldn't doubt A Qing's strength, let alone whether she could bend solid stainless steel.
She was just curious...
Why dismantle the anti-theft net during a fire drill?
"Ahahaha... because I was young and a bit silly back then," A Qing said awkwardly. "I had just started seventh grade at the time, and our homeroom teacher was super strict. He angrily slapped the lectern and said that if we didn't come in first, we should be prepared for more homework practice."
"He said if the body wasn't developed, then we had to use our brains. At that time, we were on the first floor, and when I saw smoke coming in, I panicked and just did it..."
"Later on, I found out that the homeroom teacher was actually quite kind, just a bit scary with his beard."
A Qing tried to explain to Qiu Lingling, but as she walked ahead, Qiu Lingling's eye twitched, unsure of how to respond to A Qing's comment.
Ansheng's mouth twitched as he lay on A Qing's shoulder, letting out a sarcastic hum: "I feel like your homeroom teacher might have simply realized that it's best not to let students use their brains outside of academics."
"Otherwise, their slightly dim brains might compel their bodies to exhibit super strength..."
Indeed.
After that fire drill, the homeroom teacher never again mentioned things like students needing to use their brains more if their limbs were inactive or if they couldn't distinguish cereals.
A Qing pondered for a moment and tore off the anti-theft net, heroically securing the top spot in the fire evacuation drill.
The school leaders were flabbergasted, never having seen such a vigorous student.
For the first time, they realized that the opposite of being inactive could be "invincible" or "unstoppable".
A Qing was like the martial arts star descending to earth.
"Awoo?"
Amidst the chatter, Qiu Lingling led A Qing and Ansheng to the balcony on the second floor. A Qing climbed up the balcony, and Abai looked at A Qing with a puzzled expression, making a whimpering sound.
"It's okay, it won't be too loud..."
A Qing removed the little fox from her shoulder and handed it to Qiu Lingling, stepping out with one foot, steadying her stance, and gripping the pull-bar of the anti-theft net with both arms, slowly standing up with a breath held in her chest.
"Sizzle—"
The hollow crossbeam of the stainless steel anti-theft net began to deform as A Qing exerted herself, causing the entire anti-theft net to shake and emit a metallic twisting sound.
"Woof..."
Abai looked on incredulously, eyes wide, almost scared out of his wits.
Qiu Lingling was utterly speechless.
"As expected of A Qing, A Qing is amazing!" Ansheng looked at A Qing with bright eyes, waving his little paws.
A Qing exuded a healthy charm, quite unlike the conventional sense of stoutness.
"Hehe..."
Faced with the little fox's enthusiastic praise, A Qing chuckled and said to Abai, "Don't worry, I'll get you out now!"
Saying that, A Qing raised her foot, pressing against the five-millimeter round bar of the stainless steel anti-theft net, and with both arms gripping the adjacent cylinders, exerted force to bend the stainless steel column clamping Abai's head into a full moon shape.
Abai was dumbfounded.
A Qing grasped Abai by the scruff of his neck with one hand, and his rear end with the other, lifting the whole dog, and moved his head to the deformed opening, extracting it completely.
"Woof woof..."
With Abai held by the scruff and rear, his limbs flailed in midair as he barked apathetically at the fox and Qiu Lingling.
Truly the owner of the blessed fox.
This prowess is beyond ordinary, no wonder the blessed fox wielded a sledgehammer with such force in the past; it must have been inherited.
After a moment of admiration, Abai quickly broke free, landing on the ground, and dashed behind Qiu Lingling, facing the balcony's anti-theft net, barking fiercely.
Woo woo woo— Master, look, the anti-theft net hanging on the wall is bullying me!
It's not coaxing me!
It's clearly slapping you in the face!
Get rid of it! We must get rid of it today, lifting the seal that presses on me."
Qiu Lingling looked at Tu Song Abai, cowering behind her, raging impotently towards the stainless steel anti-theft net.
She pondered.
Swiftly, she lifted her arm and slapped Abai's head: "Silly dog! Knowing your head can't fit through yet still trying, have you been watching too many dried fish or dried abalone hanging on the road and now want to hang on the net drying into a black-skinned shepherd?"
Under Qiu Lingling's barrage of slaps, within less than five seconds, Abai lay down with a flattering expression, showing his soft belly to Qiu Lingling in a bid to please her.
Qiu Lingling glared at Abai, hoisting him by the neck and dragging him inside.
"A Qing, come in quickly! I was so occupied with the silly dog's safety that I forgot to pour you tea."
"Awoo—" Abai whimpered, sticking out his black tongue, displaying a goofy expression.
A Qing looked down at the little fox.
"What are you looking at me for? Do you want to show your belly for An to rub?" Ansheng seemed to read the intent in A Qing's eyes, sounding cautious.
"Stingy!"
Hearing this, A Qing muttered, grabbing the tea leaves and gift cake from the balcony wall and heading inside.
"Come have some tea!"
Sitting at the tea table, Qiu Lingling smiled, inviting A Qing and the little fox to sit down, gazing at the little fox in A Qing's arms with interest: "Suck suck suck."
Ansheng rolled his eyes.
"Your trick works on canines, but An belongs to the fox family, don't try it, we're not familiar."
"Ah! A Qing, hurry, did Little An just roll his eyes?" The amused Qiu Lingling looked at the little fox in surprise, asking A Qing.
"Maybe?" A Qing pondered, answering.
"By the way, aren't you in university? There are still two days until Mid-Autumn, why did you come back so early?" Qiu Lingling poured A Qing a cup of tea.
"Our school is quite lax, and something came up at the ancestral hall, so the village chief helped me take a leave." A Qing expressed a slightly melancholy look, recounting the incident at the Chen Family Ancestral Hall.
"Your village seems quite lively! Even protected national animals are having parties." Qiu Lingling teased.
"Not really, nothing much happened." A Qing spoke of the village matter with a smile, then as if remembering something, addressed Lingling:
"Oh, oh! By the way, Lingling, do you know about the stray pet home affair? We bumped into some of the stray home's little ones during our family breakfast."
"Stray pet home?" Qiu Lingling's face twisted in an odd expression, saying: "The stray home could be seen as one of the concurrent news events of this week in Xia Dong, alongside the Xiangjiang people's migration incident."
"Huh? Xiangjiang people's migration?" A Qing asked, confused.
"Yes! Recently, the neighboring Guangdong Province introduced explicit regulations prohibiting parents from hitting children; Xiangjiang folks can't cross the bridge to spank their kids anymore, so now they have to switch battlefields to Guangxi Province and our Fujian Province," Qiu Lingling explained with a laugh to A Qing, "Now you can find gossip everywhere, whether at the train station, airport, customs, or highway entrance, about Cantonese-speaking people picking up bamboo sticks and publicly spanking kids."
"And doesn't that fit nicely, you could start a live stream, go interview Xiangjiang parents, become a war correspondent."