"Hiss...."
Lingren just came out of the bathroom and immediately saw Tang You juggling three at once, with Momo in one hand and Ah Qing in the other, fulfilling both Buddha and lovers, while extending a foot trying to nudge the little fox squatting beside them.
What are you guys doing?
And me?
Include me too!
Lingren looked pitifully distressed, wanting to squeeze in with her sisters, but clearly there was no room.
"The village's cattle and sheep have been hit? Isn't that an opportunity for our stray home?"
"You don't eat them, so sell them to us! My house has thousands of hungry cats and dogs waiting to be fed!"
The little fox kept a proud expression, lifting a paw to slap away Tang You's foot, starting to scheme internally.
The people at Tang You's place have grown tired of beef and mutton, but the dogs and cats haven't.
A dried beef leg bone tossed into the kennel could keep the dogs busy licking for half a month.
If the price is right, it's worth packaging a few truckloads to send to Xia Dong, since Northern mutton tastes different from Southern goat meat.
With the National Day approaching, it seemed like a holiday treat for the little ones at the stray home.
Spend National Day embracing mutton!
"Come on! Really! I'll invite you to drive tanks, and you might even shoot artillery in specific areas..."
Although there was an earthquake at home, Tang You wasn't overly worried.
Because.....
Back home, no one rode horses to school; they usually drove tanks to school. Even the street names began with "Steel" followed by whatever street.
Unless a tsunami hit, Tang You really didn't know what natural disaster could harm the family living in the steel city.
"Drive...drive tanks?"
Ah Qing looked at Tang You, shocked: "What you said might be illegal, right?"
"Isn't it common sense that a tractor factory produces tanks? Tanks are farm tools."
"When the tank arrives, the land can be tilled." Tang You looked at Ah Qing strangely, as if asking her, aren't you an Agricultural Research Institute student? How do you not know such basic farming wisdom?
"Well.....it seems reasonable. It's true that wherever the tank goes, the land can start being farmed...." Following Tang You's quirky logic, Ah Qing thought about it and felt Tang You made a good point.
Momo: "......"
Now I understand why you love spending all day playing shooting games on your computer. It's an interest cultivated from early on!
"Momo, come along! Where I'm from, there's seafood from salt marsh lakes you've definitely never tasted before!"
"Really?"
"Genuine!"
"Then I must taste it."
"Lingren!" Tang You looked at the last person in the dormitory.
"Don't say it, we're sisters!" Lingren felt slightly hesitant; it would disrespect beauty queen Momo and the elder sisters.
......
Tang You employed all her tactics to break down her roommates' mental defenses one by one, inviting them home to help devour the massive piles of mutton and beef.
Tang You called her brother back, saying she'd bring friends in a few days to help out at home.
On the other side, Tang Lian was delighted, repeatedly saying he'd handle the reception, ensuring high quality, as long as the sister's roommates helped eat meat, everything would be fine.
Beef and mutton need to be eaten fresh.
Although there are refrigerators and freezers now, the older generation believes storing prime meat in freezers is utterly sacrilegious!
Kids need to grow, don't waste it; eat as much as possible when it's fresh.
The brother and sister genuinely grew tired of it; they'd rather eat vegetarian at temples than have more meat.
As spring arrives.
Hoping the sandstorms don't ravage the grassland became an annual routine for the siblings.
"Mm-hmm, mom don't worry! It's all with Youyou; I won't go out at night...."
Persuaded by Tang You, Ah Qing called home to talk about traveling to Northern. On the other end, Chen Peipei was worried, reminding repeatedly.
Telling Ah Qing not to wander in unfamiliar cities.
Also not to follow strangers, otherwise, given Ah Qing's slow reflexes, if she found herself in danger and struggled excessively, she might hurt someone.
Ah Qing earnestly swore, patting her chest, vowing not to run around.
"Speaking of, Xiaolan, why have you been coming and going at school early for the past few days?"
"It feels a bit unlike you. Are you hiding something from me?"
After hanging up with her parents, Ah Qing sat in her chair, lifting the recently-returned little fox, giving him a suspicious look: "Haven't done anything bad, right?"
Usually, Xiaolan sleeps in the mornings, wakes up for lunch, and nestles in at 23 degrees air conditioning to watch short videos on her phone.
But recently, Xiaolan surprisingly wakes up before nine, strolls out, returns for lunch, naps, and goes out in the afternoons and evenings, busy with unknown affairs.
Ah Qing consulted other pandas and black bears, but they adamantly claimed not to have seen Fox Lord.
"Uh....just playing with Fat Cat at the back hill!"
"Like before, the oxen and white-legged wild cattle helping with farming were brought back by me after getting familiar with them."
The little fox's eyes were evasive, and he emitted a guilty whimper from his mouth.
Recently, he was busy discussing with Fat Cat about building grounds, water and electricity layout, furniture selections. Just now, he took the electrician to the campus switchboard, pulling a cable into the cafeteria for water and electricity residence.
The Security Bureau remains calm, the Forest Rangers are investigating Tree Lord's matters orderly.
"Hmm...as long as you didn't do anything bad."
Ah Qing nodded contentedly; the school's lab building was full of petri dishes and test tubes.
Fungi and plant petri dishes were fine, but Ah Qing worried this nosy fox might steal pesticide bottles and bury them in the land or toss them into lakes.
Burying them wasn't a big issue; most school pesticides are soil-powder type.
But thrown into the lake would be problematic; once the bottle decays, leaking could poison the School of Animal Science students' projects.
Then the Beast Taming Sect and Medicine King Sect would fight again.
"Tomorrow, don't run around, after the cultural performance we need to pack and buy tickets...."
Ah Qing nodded gently, preparing to tell Xiaolan not to wander tomorrow. After the cultural performance, school would start giving National Day leave.
By then, they'd buy tickets to go to Youyou's house for a meal.
But halfway through speaking, Ah Qing recalled something, with slightly nuanced eyes.
Buy tickets...buy what tickets?
Doesn't the little fox have a private plane?
Besides, Sister Lin mentioned the airline, whenever the little fox needs to travel, they'd dispatch a plane for him....
"Youyou....can I ask you something? How are we going to your place tomorrow?" Ah Qing pondered, staring at Tang You.
"Normally, I'd fly directly. But since you haven't been to Northern before, for your first visit, I'd recommend heading to the Imperial Capital first, resting for a night, then taking the early morning high-speed rail across the grassland into the Northern Region."
Tang You thought it over and said to Ah Qing.
If it were six years ago, Tang You would have said to fly directly without hesitation.
But as the precipitation line moved northward, the once barren grassland became remarkably beautiful, combined with sky clouds, through the high-speed rail's window, gazing at the scenery felt dreamlike.
It's akin to a Miyazaki movie scene.
Although Tang You felt describing it this way was slightly eerie.
Yet breathtaking is the term she could muster for the current grasslands; impromptu photo shots look like the classic grassland wallpaper on Windows systems.
"Oh....then don't worry about tickets tomorrow, the little fox will handle the plane ticket."
"Huh?" Tang You was stunned hearing that, staring at the ancestor fox held by Ah Qing in disbelief.
"Could the ancestor wield magic for plane tickets?"
"No, he owns a private jet."