"Quick, Momo, go to the fridge and get Fox Fox a room-temperature Cola from the top of the fridge!"
"Empty-nest little fox is starving to low blood sugar..." Seeing Fox Fox sprawled out on the ground, Ah Qing instantly understood what Xiaolan meant by saying his stomach was uncomfortable; he was probably hungry.
"Oh oh oh! Here it comes!"
Upon hearing this, Momo immediately went over, retrieved the Cola from the top of the fridge, and tossed it to Ah Qing.
"Xiaolan, wake up, food is coming." Ah Qing propped up Fox Fox, inserted the straw into the can, and handed it to the little fox's mouth, saying: "Have some sugar..."
"No... never mind. Sip sip sip..."
Feeling a bit unwell in his stomach, Ansheng watched as Ah Qing came over at almost a sliding speed, shovel-in-hand, serving up Cola to soothe his stomach. Ansheng thought about it and felt there was no need to say anything. Just drink.
Lin Ying ordered Lin Shu, the driver, to do everything possible to get her to the Agricultural Research Institute dormitory before Ah Qing got home.
Mind you, Ah Qing's group left about ten minutes earlier than Ansheng and Lin Ying.
The entire journey, even with peak hour traffic jams, should take roughly an hour and a half.
To save time, Lin Shu truly didn't care about the GL8 breaking down, first racing across fields, then flying over construction sites, and even tackled a nearly three-meter drop without braking, pressing the accelerator all the way until the entire vehicle took off.
The van landed, but the front windshield immediately shook loose, "clang clang clang," as Lin Bingyun in the passenger seat kicked the windshield off, saying: Reducing weight can make the car run faster and overtake in corners.
Ansheng, in his previous life, drove a van through many mountains to find tea tree seeds, even managing full mountain road drifting to descend.
He never had the concept of motion sickness.
And such intense driving really required caring for the passengers' safety and not wrecking the car.
But Lin Shu wasn't.
She aimed to wreck the car in one go.
Ideally, by the time they arrived, the engine could fall out of the bay, the gearbox burned out, and even the wheel hubs twisted and deformed from driving.
If it weren't for the seatbelt pulling him, Ansheng felt he might leave halfway and run home.
Even Ansheng, who didn't have motion sickness, had his stomach contents argue with his stomach due to the bumpy ride.
"Whew..."
"Drink some water to settle it down; instantly feels better." Ansheng took a couple of sips of Cola, felt a bit better in his stomach, and turned to Ah Qing, uttering two small sounds.
"Nearly scared me to death. I hadn't even been out for three hours..."
Seeing the little fox stabilize on all fours, Ah Qing sighed with relief, saying: "If giving you Cola hadn't worked, I was ready for bringing you in for rescue from pesticide or rat poison consumption over at the neighboring School of Animal Science..."
Fox Fox sprawled out saying his stomach was upset had just a few possible reasons, excluding the possibility of starvation, then it must be either accidental ingestion or illness.
"Oh right, right!"
"While buying clothes just now, I didn't forget Xiaolan's share!"
After feeding the little fox some beef jerky and Tang You's family's dried milk, Ah Qing continued sitting cross-legged on the floor, reaching over to a shopping bag.
"Dun dun dun——"
Ah Qing took out a pet-style black down jacket and four plush booties from the bag, with a joyful face, handing them to Xiaolan, saying: "It's getting chilly, people change into new clothes, and Fox Fox needs new battle armor too."
"But, only wear them when going out; don't wear them at home. I fear skin disease."
Foxes have their own fur, dressing them equals covering ventilation, which might easily cause skin conditions for canine animals.
Given Xiaolan's cleverness, Ah Qing felt if he truly felt cold, he would likely turn on the air conditioning or open his down jacket to snuggle for warmth.
Nonetheless.
As it's getting cooler, what people have, little foxes must have too.
Winter is significantly meaningful for Southerners.
"Why do I feel like this thing isn't slip-resistant..." Ansheng raised a paw, poking the plush booties, deeply doubting their anti-slip properties.
"Hehe... There's another gift!" Seeing Xiaolan like his new shoes, Ah Qing gleefully pulled out a round transparent plastic box: "Dun dun! A call-enabled and track-tracing watch!"
"By then, I can call you home for dinner when I finish class, or pick you up for meals!"
"From now on, never worry about Fox Fox slipping away again." Ah Qing cheerfully patted the fox's head.
"..."
Although previously aware that Ah Qing bought him a kiddie phone watch while shopping, seeing it in reality made Ansheng pause.
Unbidden, a scene surfaced in his mind.
Someday, Ah Qing activates the built-in trajectory tracking on the kiddie phone watch, only to see Master Fuli's footprints spread across the country, occasionally even wandering overseas.
With wide eyes, Ah Qing would check the records, seeing the little fox always traveling at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, or even subsonic speeds.
Ah Qing would likely exclaim at the impossibility!
"...Don't like it?"
Ah Qing asked with confusion.
Since she took out the phone watch, Fox Fox maintained a seated stance, staring blankly at her as if pondering something.
"Whine..."
Ansheng returned to his senses, sprang up, nudged the phone watch in Ah Qing's hand, causing it to fly up, while the fox's tail extended, steadily catching the transparent plastic box.
Under Ah Qing's puzzled gaze, Fox Fox pushed the transparent plastic box, entering it into the shopping bag.
"The little fox seems to really like the watch!" Momo exclaimed with joy, seeing the little fox playfully pushing the phone watch box, rolling with cuteness on the ground, and said to Ah Qing.
"No..."
Ah Qing returned to her senses, a broad grin saying:"The little fox strongly dislikes the phone watch..."
"Then... why was he pushing the box?" Momo puzzledly asked Ah Qing: "Isn't it supposedly love at first sight?"
"He's pushing the box looking for the receipt, planning on using the seven-day return policy to send the watch back." Ah Qing explained to everyone in the dorm the fox's ball-pushing body language.
"Impossible!" Momo was first stunned, then burst into laughter: "Ah haha—Ah Qing, quickly apply for our Fox Fox junior's degree, otherwise I'll complain to the department head if Xiaolan doesn't show up in exams."
"Wow—Lingren, quickly stop the little fox, Fox Fox is about to get in a taxi!"
Within a few words, the little fox already found the receipt in a small bag within the shopping bag, pushed the phone watch out the door with the receipt in his mouth, startling Ah Qing to quickly ask Lingren by the wardrobe.
In the jovial atmosphere, the day concluded; the following morning.
Curling in the corner of the bed, resting on half a pillow, Ansheng felt something tickling his nose, causing the fox to irritatedly snort.
But the strange sensation didn't pass, Ansheng reluctantly opened his eyes to find Ah Qing lying beside him, picking up a tuft of her hair, teasing him.
"Whine?" Ansheng uttered a confused sound.
"Going out to play!" Ah Qing confidently said to the small fox: "In the fields, many field mice!"
"You slept early last night, today we'll let you experience the agriculture life of slash-and-burn..."
That's what Ah Qing said.
But secretly, she was thinking to take Xiaolan to the fields for fun during the day to prevent him from taking a cab and running away at night.