The tea tree originally in the living room and the black-chested cockroach that had filled itself with pest control spray quickly flipped themselves to the floor upon Ah Qing's sudden arrival, hiding behind the leather sofa until Ah Qing took a seat.
The tea tree and big cockroach hurriedly crawled to the open kitchen, dodged out of the window ledge to the garden, and quietly poked their heads out, cautiously observing the situation in the living room.
They always remember the teachings of Lord Lucky the raccoon.
Playing dead is a profound skill; by playing dead, they can trick humans into giving them fertilizer or water, and humans will be keen to take care of the tea tree.
And when the big cockroach plays dead, it can sneak a bite of their insecticide while humans are asleep, and afterward, rinse its mouth with toilet cleaner and bleach.
Even when food is running low, just spooking humans by jumping out will cause the shelves to refresh automatically.
But above all, they must not make humans feel like they've seen a ghost.
Otherwise, they'll face a pure copper palm thunder.
The big and small duo hid as soon as Ah Qing came over, not even thinking about it, for fear that Ah Qing might find out they secretly flew back from Chang'an City to Xia Dong.
After flipping out of the house, the tea tree and the big cockroach clung to the window without speaking. The tea tree stood by the window, while the black-chested cockroach hid in the tea tree's canopy, looking extremely shady.
"Sister....Lin."
Seeing Lin Ying coming down the stairs, Ah Qing stood up from the sofa and greeted her proactively.
She originally wanted to call her Aunt Lin but reconsidered and found it a bit inappropriate, so she changed to calling her sister.
"Hello..."
Lin Ying came down from the second floor, smiling as she said to Ah Qing, "Here you are, why bring gifts? Come sit, please."
Lin Ying invited Ah Qing to sit down calmly and peacefully, not showing the usual indifference that seemed to disregard everything, giving off a cold vibe.
Lord Lucky had already informed Lin Ying beforehand about Ah Qing's visit.
"Whimpering~"
Ansheng knew Ah Qing was shy and not very talkative around strangers.
So, after Ah Qing and Lin Ying sat down, Ansheng placed the cola he was holding against the armrest, adopting a serious expression and going on about parkour on the sofa.
The little fox leapt across the top of Ah Qing's thigh, landing on the cushion, and then nestled on Lin Ying's leg, limbs extended, whining adorably.
"Whimpering—whimper—"
"Hmm?"
Seeing Lord Lucky nestled on her leg with limbs and tail twitching, Lin Ying paused and looked at Ah Qing curiously, "Little fox, what's this about..."
It was Lin Ying's first encounter with Lord Lucky.
He had already become quite intelligent, managing heart resuscitation and taking the elevator upstairs later, setting the hot water temperature to keep himself warm when feeling unwell, and afterward, texting questions on social via messages.
Lin Ying clearly remembers Lucky swaying on the stove with a ladle, heating porridge for her.
Later on, Lord Lucky could talk, reprimanding with vigor, always starting with a verb.
Their relationship was always relatively sophisticated.
"Little fox says..."
Ah Qing paused, then said, "He hopes Sister Lin can extend her hands, grasp his waist and flip him over, stroke him against the fur from the belly below the bell to his face, then bury ten fingers into the fur and scratch like easing an itch."
"?"
Once Ah Qing spoke, Lord Lucky, who had been acting cute, froze, glancing skeptically at Ah Qing with a questioning look.
"You...you're framing me, An doesn't say those words! I was just saying to pet me gently."
"Never that detailed, don't make things up!"
The little fox's face turned red, quickly protesting Ah Qing's nonsense with whimpers.
Indeed, Lord Lucky hadn't said such things.
Yet, Ah Qing's mind had a built-in translator, which while sometimes surprisingly accurate in some areas, went astray during translations.
Lord Lucky hadn't said such things.
Nonetheless, it didn't mean he wasn't interested; discussing such things in public was too embarrassing for Lord Lucky.
"Is...is that so?"
Lin Ying hesitated briefly, then followed Ah Qing's directions, gripping the little fox's waist and flipping him over before placing her fingers on his belly.
With every move Lin Ying made, the fox's whimper gradually changed from melodious to languid, eyes narrowing with satisfaction, paws curling up tightly with pleasant whimpers trailing off.
"Qing.....Ah Qing..."
"Dragon, it's a dragon..."
Completing the whole set of actions as directed by Ah Qing, with little talk exchanged, the intermediary fox lost speech, languidly lying on Lin Ying's lap, nearly falling asleep.
"So...the little fox likes it this way?"
Lin Ying lowered her head, smiling softly, she raised a palm, softly stroking Lord Lucky's smooth fur, a smile graced her face as she elegantly lifted and tucked away falling strands, she sat upright and addressed Ah Qing.
"It's not really about liking, the little fox just finds belly heat bothersome; clearing the fur lets cool air blow in, making little fox feel splendid."
Ah Qing thought it over, unveiling the reasoning: the little fox didn't like being stroked arbitrarily, the time and method depend on his mood.
If it's uncomfortable, the little fox would mischievously kick with his hind legs when lying on the bed.
Thankfully, a better trait was the little fox was somewhat of a cleanliness fanatic.
He wouldn't pee anywhere, and definitely won't scoot over to fart facing someone.
Ah Qing shared insights from her fox-raising experience.
"Hmm..."
Lin Ying attentively listened, occasionally nodding in agreement with Ah Qing's points, especially regarding cleanliness.
Whenever Lord Lucky went out, wielding a hammer to crush the heads of evil beasts, he would wash his hands with water afterward, or else grab wet wipes from the car to clean up, including his tail.
After meals, he meticulously wiped his mouth first, then paws, followed by wiping between fingers with a towel, almost polishing his nails.
"There are indeed many things to note when raising a little fox." Lin Ying spoke softly with a graceful laugh.
"It's actually not that bad."
Ah Qing concurred with a semblance of sentiment, saying, "Xiaolan speaks truly and behaves quite straightforwardly; only his living habits are somewhat particular, and he isn't physically robust..."
"Oh?" Lin Ying showed intrigued expression.
"Whimper?" Ansheng blinked in surprise, raised a paw to point at his little fox face, me? Physically weak?
Go find out in Jiule City, who dares to say Lord Lucky's constitution is frail.
"He's extremely finicky, loving cola." Ah Qing ruefully lamented, "Till this day, I don't know who gave cola to the fox and messed up his diet; where do foxes drink cola?"
"Besides, Xiaolan is extremely heat-sensitive..."
"Unless the air conditioning's at 23 degrees, he becomes uneasy, even the bell's likely to get heat rash..."
"Whimper!"
Upon hearing about heat sensitivity, Ansheng got startled, bouncing vertically as if recalling something.
"There's no heat rash, stop it with false claims!"