Ah Qing had a very legitimate reason for taking leave; she received an official invitation from Xia Dong to attend a competition as a publicity ambassador.
But this leave, the counselor couldn't approve it. What does a one-week leave for a university student mean?
Damn it touches the university's laws: course attendance rate.
The counselor couldn't approve the leave, so she could only take the leave materials handed over by Ah Qing and report to the director, then report step by step until it got approved by the school leadership.
After Ah Qing left, Master Fuli returned, carrying Ah Qing's materials, and took the electric scooter driven by a fat cat to Principal Yang's office.
A moment later.
The stamped materials and leave note returned to the counselor's hands.
"Master Fuli, I also want a holiday..." Ah Qing's counselor looked at Master Fuli full of expectation and said.
"The principal is stingy, most likely it won't be paid!"
"Then I won't ask for it, I love my job." The counselor repeatedly waved his hand, refusing the leave. At the College of Agriculture, during class time, a counselor is a counselor, and during student holidays, they are interns or researchers in the institute, with quite a high salary.
Taking one day off and not getting double pay, might as well not go.
......
Master Fuli is quite adept. Without needing half a day's time, he managed to arrange a week's vacation for Ah Qing in the capacity of a guardian.
After getting the leave note, Ah Qing sneakily dragged her suitcase, pulling the little fox to leave the school.
A week, plus three days of additional leave, even Ah Qing felt it was too absurd.
Any leave of absence at Xinxing Agricultural Science College is publicly announced. Ah Qing feared other students, seeing her amazing leave-requesting skills, might cling to her and beg for her method.
Xinxing Agricultural Science College is strict on entry and exit, and generally, unless there's an explosion at home, more than three days of leave is almost impossible.
But Ah Qing knew.
The reason for her leave was unreplicable, so she ran away as soon as she got the leave note to avoid provoking other students.
Taking the airport express bus, she went straight to the terminal.
Without even speaking, as soon as Ah Qing and Master Fuli appeared, the receptionist's eyes lit up.
"We bought a ticket..." Just as Ah Qing began to speak, the receptionist enthusiastically stepped forward and interrupted:
"I'll pull out the plane for you, it'll be quick! The crew can be ready in ten minutes—"
"Ah Qing, don't even think about it. With Lin Bingyun's meticulous nature, it's impossible for her to let me travel as a pet in the cabin. She must have specifically instructed the airline....."
Seeing Ah Qing's utterly stunned expression, Ansheng chuckled inwardly, shaking his head slightly.
"Sister Lin wouldn't take our kidneys, right?" Ah Qing looked at the little fox, still holding the ticket she bought.
However, both Ah Qing's ticket and the pet ticket were quickly taken from her. The receptionist gently extracted the two tickets from Ah Qing's hand and happily processed the refund for her.
Make a thousand or two.
Or earn over a hundred thousand for a round trip, in this regard the airline is quite sensible. Just after the refund, Ah Qing's phone immediately received the refund notification.
In her worries about Sister Lin taking her kidneys and the whimsical ideas about the little fox, Ah Qing boarded the plane and, after the flight, landed at Xiadong Jiule City Airport.
Yu Zhenghong and Chen Peipei were waiting at the airport, Old Deng standing proudly with his head held high, almost hands on hips.
This time Ah Qing returned, not just for a simple homecoming.
She returned to bring glory to her ancestors. If there isn't a Nobel laureate at the end of the year, or a donation of five million to the village, it's surely Ah Qing who will go to offer the incense at the ancestral altar, showing face before the ancestors.
Old Deng was proud of this, standing straight as a ramrod, almost appearing a few inches taller.
"Dad! Mom!"
Ah Qing dragged her suitcase out, on her head, the little fox swayed with a joyful look, waving its small hands.
Just then.
With a call, as Chen Peipei rose from her seat, both Ansheng's and Ah Qing's faces showed a moment of long-lasting stupefaction.
In Chen Peipei's arms, there was a very odd and absurd-looking Arctic Fox.
What should have been a fluffy Arctic Fox now donned a Mediterranean haircut, with its entire scalp shaved bald, extending all the way from the head to the tip of the tail, leaving no hair.
Even the belly was a bare patch, the Arctic Fox's six nipples exposed, with a silver pattern pasted on it.
On its cheeks, where the white fur was, there was a patch dyed black, looking just like a black mole.
"Mom..."
Ansheng's eyes widened, and an "oh, crap" involuntarily slipped out of his mouth. Ah Qing shivered all over, raised her hand shakily, took a deep breath, and exclaimed:
"How did Little White end up like this? Mom, did Dad join some weird cult or something..."
As she spoke, Ah Qing quickly tucked the little fox on top of her head into her hoodie, afraid that the little fox would suffer the same fate and end up with a buzzcut at her dad's hands.
"Whimper, whimper—"
Seeing Master Fuli return, the Arctic Fox, who had been sulking with a sulky fox face, let out a pitiful whimper and frantically waved its little fox paws:
"Boo hoo hoo—"
"Master Fuli, avenge me! They... they aren't real foxes at all. In the middle of the night, they covered their faces, barged into the house, grabbed my tail, and shaved my head bald with a clipper!"
"Whimper!"
The Arctic Fox let out a sharp wail that echoed through the airport, drawing curious looks from others waiting. They then noticed the fox in Chen Peipei's arms and gawked in astonishment.
Oh crap... what's up with this weird fox?
"Sigh... it's a long story." Chen Peipei saw Ah Qing retreating repeatedly and couldn't help but show a hint of helplessness on her face. Then, she threw a playful punch at Yu Zhenghong's waist:
"We didn't shave Little White like this; our competitor did."
"Speaking of which, it's all your dad's fault. He's always bragging about having a Fox Immortal at home. He goes on about how having a Fox Immortal boosts daily shop income to four or five thousand, gets over ten thousand in tips on live streams, makes the kids' grades soar, and even has professors calling to praise them, saying their grad school prospects are solid, and their starting salary on graduation is twenty thousand!"
Chen Peipei shot a glance at Yu Zhenghong, the biggest braggart in the family, and said:
"During the tea competition, didn't the little fox come with us to the stall to sell tea and act cute to draw in customers?"
"We received an invitation to the provincial competition, and three days after you got invited to be the ambassador, your dad and I visited the old Chen family. When we got home, we found Little White shaved like this..."
Though Master Fuli is usually lazy, he takes any chance to make a little extra for his meal money, using his past sales experience to seduce pretty ladies into some impulsive shopping.
But in others' eyes, it just looks like every time Master Fuli hops around, money comes flying in.
Old Deng has become Master Fuli's hype man, claiming every good thing is due to Master Fuli's luck.
Whenever something goes wrong, he scolds the neighboring shop's feng shui arrangement for obstructing Master Fuli's powers.
Whether Old Deng overdid the bragging, or someone was wary of Master Fuli's customer-drawing miracles, someone sneaked into the old home one night and gave the Arctic Fox that disgraceful cut.
They thought ruining Master Fuli's dignity could break the luck he brought.
But.
Old Deng never says where Master Fuli lives when boasting outside to prevent freeloaders from hogging the luck.
He always says they invited a Fox Immortal and never mentions Master Fuli is following Ah Qing for further education at the school.
Being one of Master Fuli's stand-ins, the Arctic Fox has about seventy percent resemblance to Master Fuli in appearance.
The gang that broke in saw just one fox, the Arctic Fox, and decided to make an example out of it.
"Yah yah yah—"
The Arctic Fox broke free from Chen Peipei's embrace, ran over to squat in front of Ah Qing, and its previous whimper turned into a series of "yah ha ha" mixed with sobs and rushed speech.
"Whimper..."
Ansheng looked at the Arctic Fox with black lines all over his face, letting out a whimper.
"They're so vile! How could anyone be so heartless to a cute fox like Fox Fox!" Ah Qing glanced at the Arctic Fox, her expression angry, and said to Chen Peipei:
"Let's go to the village chief and get the road surveillance footage to find out who's behind this!"
"I'd also like to hop over their walls and shave their pets the same way they did Little White..."
"..." Chen Peipei's expression turned peculiar, and she asked, "Ah Qing, how did you hold it in..."
"I'm really furious too, but every time I see that matchmaker's mole on its face, I can't help it..."
Old Deng looked around the entire time, not daring to glance at the Arctic Fox even once.
Afraid he might laugh out loud, and Master Fuli would kick his bankbook and healthcare card far, far away...
"Supernatural fighting, right in my own home?"
Ansheng's eyes twitched slightly as he looked at the Arctic Fox and asked, "Do you remember the scent of those people?"
"Master Fuli will avenge you; I'll yank out every strand of their fur and make them knit sweaters for you!"