"Ouch... it hurts, it hurts."
After a chaotic scene, Li Qiuxia grabbed the neck of the swan goose, stopping it from furiously biting Yu Zhenghong's butt.
Yu Zhenghong sat down on a chair in the courtyard, after taking a sip of tea, grimaced and held his waist. That swan goose could jump and kick with both legs.
Chen Peipei said grumpily, "Didn't people in our village raise these before? They bit quite a few people. Knowing they're fierce, why bring a swan goose back?"
As Chen Peipei spoke, she sat behind Yu Zhenghong, lifted his shirt, and applied some potion for him.
"I saw the swan goose being lively, and thought it'd be fun to get one for Master Fuli to chase. But I didn't expect it to be so fierce..." Yu Zhenghong took a sharp breath, especially feeling a spasmodic pain when the potion was applied.
"For me to chase?"
The little fox lay on the windowsill, poking its head out to look at the chaotic courtyard, listening to Old Deng saying he spent over two thousand to buy a swan goose for it to chase.
The corners of its mouth twitched as it looked at the ferocious swan goose Li Qiuxia was lifting and mocked:
"If you have the money to buy a swan goose, honestly, it'd be better to get An a video VVVIP! Ah Qing is so stingy, wouldn't even get VVVIP, now I can only watch 1080p low-quality dramas...."
While Ansheng was complaining, the Arctic Fox and the little corgi, who had never seen a big flapping goose, eagerly gathered around Li Qiuxia, sniffing it out of curiosity.
The swan goose's eyes shone with fierceness, executing a Nine Celestial Thunder-like kick, almost knocking the Arctic Fox and corgi's snouts crooked. The enraged Arctic Fox jumped up and bit the goose's butt.
The corgi waddled forward with its short legs, directly mounting to ride.
Seeing this, Li Qiuxia let go of the swan goose's neck, and the situation directly reversed, with the swan goose riding on the corgi chasing the Arctic Fox's white butt.
Li Qiuxia's mouth twitched. She grabbed the swan goose's neck, squeezing it until its eyes rolled, picked up a plastic bag from the ground, tied its feet, and tossed it aside before starting to prepare for the festival banquet.
Roast pig was placed on the table, fruit platters were served one by one with high-footed plates, and sweets, pastries, chicken, duck, fish, and seafood were pre-prepared and set on the table.
"Bang––"
In the sky, a splendid firework lit up, blooming into a cluster of colorful flowers.
In the courtyard, the Arctic Fox and corgi, who were fighting, were shocked and ran home in a hurry, hiding under the table with heads poking out, gazing towards the door direction.
"Bang bang––"
Rounds of fireworks exploded in the sky, their brilliant lights momentarily overshadowing the sunset's glow.
And the fireworks' display signaled that dinner was about to start!
"Ah Qing, get ready to pray and start dinner," Chen Peipei called inside the house.
"Oh, coming, coming!"
Ah Qing picked up the little fox, went out, sat down on a small stool in the courtyard.
She glanced at the roast pig on the table, licked her lips.
However, they couldn't eat just yet; the worship rituals needed to be completed first.
But the next morning, they'd definitely have pork bone porridge.
"Come, light the incense..."
Yu Zhenghong held a bunch of sandalwood incense sticks, lighting them on a candle above the incense burner, distributing them one by one. After everyone had an incense stick, they faced the altar filled with various deity statues, bowed deeply, and said, "Ancestors in the heavens, on this Mid-Autumn Festival, your descendants gather and prepare fine tea and snacks, sincerely offering...."
The pre-dinner worship, sincerely inviting ancestors back home.
Ansheng squatted on the courtyard ground, mimicking the human worship movements, following Yu Zhenghong's words, bowing towards the altar.
After the first round of worship was completed, no one touched the offerings on the table because after dinner, they still needed to worship the Moon Lady, Mazu, and other celestial deities.
Therefore.
Aside from the roast pig, all the dishes were made in duplicate.
One set as offerings, and one set for eating.
"Ah Qing, I need to go out for a bit, should be back around ten tonight."
Ansheng quickly ate a couple of bites of food, looked at the time, and spoke to Ah Qing.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was about family joy, but the real popular events weren't at home. They were after dinner, after the dice game, attending the village's ancestral worship.
At midnight, the fireworks festival, tomorrow's lively float parade, and the second fireworks festival.
Ansheng planned for a swift resolution, intending to head inside and immediately take down the Xia Country Lin Clan, then return to worship the Moon Lady.
"Um...."
Ah Qing, unlike her usual direct agreement, hesitated before reluctantly saying, "Fine, but you better remember to come back early! Otherwise, I won't save dinner for you."
"You have to trust An's speed!" Ansheng said confidently.
After speaking, he quickly ran towards Lin Ying's villa.
Lin Ying's house was brightly lit, but there were no festive offerings or decorations, everything was as neatly organized as usual.
"Hmm?"
Not finding anyone on the first floor, Ansheng ran straight up to Lin Ying's bedroom on the second floor, where makeup artists surrounded a busy Lin Ying, their footwork dizzying.
Beside Lin Ying stood a standing clothes rack with various elaborate garments hanging on it.
Lin Ying wore a black off-the-shoulder gown, its skirt trailing on the ground like a mermaid's tail. The black dress was adorned with irregular golden patterns, spiraling upward with a peculiar rhythm, resembling some kind of motif.
As makeup artists styled her, they straightened Lin Ying's hair and embellished the tips with gold ornaments, encasing them in prismatic accessories with several pearls.
From behind Lin Ying, her waist-length black hair flowed like a dark waterfall, its surface shimmering occasionally revealing her fair back, like a masterfully painted gorgeous and graceful picture.
Although the gown was black, the extensive golden irregular patterns seemed to gradient, matching the half-revealed fair leg while sitting on the chair, next to which sat an extended-magazine Glock....
Glock?
Ansheng's eyes widened.
"Master Fuli?"
Sitting expressionlessly on the chair, allowing the makeup artists to dress her, Lin Ying saw Master Fuli in the mirror's reflection, smiling, "You might have to wait a bit longer, my hairstyle needs some time to finish."
"The gun on your leg, is it legal?" Ansheng ran to Lin Ying's side, lifting his paw to tap the gun.
"I think it's legal. Miss Jin sent it along with the potion on my chest, saying it's for self-defense."
While speaking, Lin Ying took out a vial of Spirit Particle Potion from the chest compartment.
A compartment like that had two more, each hiding Spirit Particle Potions sent by the Security Bureau.
"Miss Lin.... Master Fuli's styling?" The makeup artist glanced at Master Fuli, then looked at the children's clothing on the hanger, revealing a trace of difficulty.
Boss.... it can't fit!
Master Fuli really can't fit in those!
"Do you have any underpants?"
"Yes!" The makeup artist froze, instinctively pulling out a seamless C-string from the hanger.
Ansheng rolled his eyes but then curiously glanced at Lin Ying.
"I don't have them, my dress isn't too tight, so I don't need those."
Lin Ying seemed to know what Master Fuli was thinking, lifting her hand to pull aside her dress, revealing the safety shorts underneath:
"There might be a gunfight tonight, so I specifically chose a dress convenient for tearing, paired with safety shorts...."
"Oh....."
With his curiosity satisfied, Ansheng grabbed a towel, heading towards the bathroom. Moments later, a small white-haired child stepped out of the bathroom, very politely wrapped around the waist, avoiding indecent gesturing.
"Alright, dress me up too!"
"???"
With Master Fuli coming out, it was as if the mute button had been pressed in the bedroom, rendering it silent. The makeup artists paused in bewilderment, eyes dazedly focusing on the white-haired figure walking out of the bathroom.
They looked at Lin Ying, then at the bathroom.
"Bang––"
A makeup artist holding a wooden box rolled her eyes and fainted on the floor, spilling golden ornaments and pearls across the floor, startling the other makeup artists.
"Mas...Master! The Master is revealed!"