"Borrow money from me?"
"Why does she think I would lend her money? Besides, how could a fox have money in its pocket? That's impossible!"
Ansheng looked stunned and dumbfounded, then with a face full of black lines, he mocked the jellyfish maiden's whimsical idea.
"No, I, Ansheng, don't have a penny. I eat Ah Qing's food and live in Ah Qing's place, so I have no cash at all."
Money-wise, it's not entirely true that there's none. Ansheng's account is linked to the card Lin Ying gave him, and he receives pocket money monthly to buy snacks or iced cola, and Old Deng gave him four hundred thousand as an advisory fee for the tea garden's quality improvement.
But having money is one thing; who is the jellyfish maiden? Not familiar.
"Yes, the old man said the same thing," the fat cat said with a strange expression: "The old man asked us not to lend her money; the silly girl is 'viciously poor' now. She asked her family, but they said no, and she can't swallow her pride to ask friends for a loan."
The jellyfish maiden, Feina Meredici, isn't without friends in Xia Country. She's surrounded by a bunch of European aristocratic young gentlemen and ladies who are studying or living here.
This year, her budget was unexpectedly spent, but the Meredici Family hasn't provided her living expenses.
The logic is simple: every member of the Meredici Family has a clearly defined yearly spending limit; once it's spent, it's spent. They have to wait until spring next year to receive more.
Now the jellyfish maiden is penniless, yet she doesn't want to lose her aristocratic pride but wants to maintain her noble lifestyle in front of friends, so she thought of asking acquaintances in Xia Country to borrow forty or fifty million.
And this person ideally would not be in her circle, wouldn't gossip about her life, but has money.
Thinking it over, the only one who fits the criteria is the White Fox of the Lin Family.
Given the Lin Family's financial power, thirty or fifty million cash is like play money. They have a lot of black money; she could borrow their black money and return it with traceable European currency next spring.
At worst, the interest would just be higher.
By next spring, everything will be fine!
"......" Ansheng couldn't help but feel a wave of black lines on his face upon hearing this, momentarily at a loss for words.
The young lady is desperately poor, while the old butler secretly adds fuel to the fire, blocking all possible sources of pocket money now in advance.
In a sense.
The old butler's soldier-like persistence is trying to cure the young lady's idiocy.
"..... It's downright ridiculous to try borrowing money from wild animals. Fat cat, when you return to the Qinling Ecological Base, tell those mischievous monkeys not to eat the fleas they scratch out but to put them in jars for me."
"I think this jellyfish is just idle; I'll send her hundreds of fleas to play with," Ansheng said with a look of bemusement.
"Of course, no problem, leave it to me!" Fat cat patted his chest confidently and continued:
"By the way, besides the old man and the silly girl's matters, there's also a strange murder case to report to you."
"A murder case?" Ansheng asked suspiciously.
"Indeed! Wang Gong and Leopard Sister are outside, but the overall director of Chang'an City currently is Master Fuli."
Fat cat spoke naturally and glanced at the timid little rabbit hiding behind Master Fuli, but he didn't ask anything about it for now and continued talking about the murder case.
"There's a... um? How to put it... well, let's tentatively call it a criminal gang, very rampant. They initially caused trouble in Sichuan and Chongqing, and now they've fled into hiding in the Qinling Mountain Range." Fat cat spoke to Master Fuli:
"If it were just an ordinary murder case, it certainly wouldn't need our Security Bureau to step in, but this matter involves Spiritual Particles."
Fat cat explained to Master Fuli why this matter required the Security Bureau to take over.
The perpetrator of three murder cases and over thirty poaching charges should be considered a 'half-spiritualized' old man in a certain sense.
While gathering mountain goods, he accidently consumed Spiritual Particle plants and unexpectedly evolved into a Spirit Person, transforming temporarily from a sixty-something elderly to a forty-something middle-aged person.
He naively believed in the existence of immortals in the world and thought he had embarked on the path of cultivation by consuming heavenly treasures.
Subsequently, to acquire so-called 'heavenly treasures,' he murdered numerous protective animals in the mountains with human-like traits and raided two pharmaceutical companies, resulting in three deaths.
The supernatural abilities he exhibited attracted three followers, who, while fleeing wildly, rob everywhere, leaving places like temples and medicinal gardens ravaged by the criminal gang.
Whether they can truly become immortals is unknown.
But they genuinely drink dewdrops daily, and since the incident began over two months ago, they haven't entered a city once.
The last time they were seen was in Hanzhong; three days ago, they went on foot into the southern slope and have completely vanished since then.
Based on the content from the monitoring records and their lip movements during conversations, a conclusion can be drawn.
They plan to unveil the truth, asserting that the ability to cultivate immortality is concealed by the Cult of Science, which has deceived everyone!
The Cult of Science has tricked humanity in the name of science, monopolizing the power for leisurely immortality...
"........
After listening to Fat cat's report, Ansheng showed a troubled expression on his cheeks, sighed deeply:
"When it happened, did anyone tell him about the matter of Spiritual Particles? How come they're still dragging it into the realm of supernatural nonsense, using me as a breaker here?"
Fat cat said this case has a curious similarity to stories previously heard from Sister Zhiyu in Xia Dong.
It's just.
The minstrel who encountered a Spirit Beast mistook it for supernatural nonsense and the next day ran into the mountains to deceive all the wild female red foxes home, waiting for the females to attain immortality and repay him without harming anyone.
But this group of guys from Sichuan and Chongqing running out directly regarded themselves as the destined protagonists and saviors.
"The Forest Ranger advised them! Even nearby rangers tried to advise them, but that old guy spat at them, saying: 'Heretical demons, don't try to seduce my intellect.'
"Before the armed security and woodcutters could arrive, he flew over the eaves and walls and ran away," Fat cat said.
".....Get! Bring out the armed helicopter, I'll call the brothers in the woods to lend a hand tonight; just give me a couple RPGs, see if I can't smash their heads."
"What era are we in now, yet they're still talking about cultivation; later I'll simply shoot them with a rocket launcher, see if they can cultivate or not..."
Ansheng spoke with a bemused look; although being a pureblood auspicious creature from Xia Country spinning notes, studying agriculture, reading manuals for new equipment, while they're advocating cultivation.
If cultivating immortality was truly possible, just forget it.
The issue is, there's no cultivation at all, darn it!
They truly seem possessed; when faced with incomprehensible unknown matters that overturn common sense, they self-hypnotize into thinking the world has the way to become immortal.
Ansheng can understand such a mindset; when he turned into a fox, he too huddled in a den, considering the outside world as a realm of demon chaos, preparing to rely on a wish list to acquire heavenly powers before venturing forth again.
Until the Red Cross rescue helicopter passed by, only upon witnessing the mechanical creation did he dare venture out to catch the green train south, to enjoy life in a familiar area.
Understanding their mindset is understanding.
But this wouldn't sway Master Fuli's resolve to pull out rockets and blast them.
He personally experienced it but didn't hurt anyone.
The Northern minstrel from Sister Zhiyu also experienced Spirit Beast events, yet he harmed no one, simply cuddling the female red fox at home.
Can only say.
They were inherently wicked, seizing what they saw as an opportunity to alter fate, yet applying their thoughts to sinister means.
"If I don't use pure Yang items to blast them, then it's disrespectful to the things they're promoting."
Master Fuli whispered in his heart and, turning around, pulled out the timid black-skinned rabbit, pushing it towards the fat cat:
"This rabbit and the tiger from the School of Animal Science were students I took in during my travels to the Northern. They've just entered society and aren't familiar with some societal matters."
"When you have time, guide them..."
The fat cat's eyes lit up, about to pat his chest to ensure his mission fulfillment.
But Master Fuli, seemingly preempting the fat cat's next possible words, spoke:
"Also, don't lead them to defecate in the principal's office or use paper to clog office toilets; be careful, Old Li comes back to strip that layer of panda fur from you."
The fat cat responded with a face of disappointment, saying: "Oh...."