"How excessive, saying I hide money in the piggy bank or whatever, clearly we all went Dutch for Crazy Thursday..."
Ah Qing glanced sideways with a hint of guilt, quietly explaining her reasoning for putting money in Huhu's piggy bank as her dowry.
It's not really about taking, just about splitting the bill, you pay fifty, I pay fifty, ordering from different platforms to eat to our heart's content.
"That's just because you talk nonsense..." Ansheng rolled her eyes with exasperation, saying, "Who would start by making a fox call them mother? Who could stand that..."
"There are people..."
Ah Qing weakly raised her hand, opened the music notes on her phone to enter the video interface, swiped the screen a few times, and soon a pet blogger's video appeared.
On the screen, a girl with a mischievous laugh pressured a tired-looking tabby cat and took a deep sniff, mumbling words like "stinky treasure," "cute," and "born to be eaten by mom."
The tabby cat sighed, sprawled out its legs, and turned its head away, too lazy to watch its owner go crazy.
Both Ansheng and Ah Qing could hear what the tabby cat was saying, as it said itself:
"Sigh... the glorious life of this cat is just about over, let's just get by! Small illnesses treated, big ones succumbed to."
"Come on! Mommy, go ahead and give the stinky treasure a big kiss! Remember to add a whale to my bowl tonight."
When the short video finished playing, Ansheng was silent. Ah Qing, seeing this, swiped her phone again to find another pet blogger keeping dogs, showing a fight between human and dog, with the pet blogger opening their mouth to bite the dog's head:
"You rascal! Stop biting my basket, your dad is still counting on those two ounces of meat for night shift to earn food money."
And that dog head-butted the blogger to the ground and jumped into his arms for a frenzied wriggle.
"Woo woo... the treadmill bullied me, Daddy, you better go deal with it! It's bitten my tail several times!"
After the video finished, Ah Qing saw that Ansheng was still showing no reaction, so she swiped her phone again and found another pet blogger to prove her point.
It's normal for a little fox to call for mom.
"Go, go....."
Ansheng rolled her eyes and remarked with a shrug, "Why didn't you find the one we saw last time, where the blogger was crying for their dad while being chased by a wild boar in the woods."
Though Ansheng understood Ah Qing's meaning, it was more to mean "furry kids" rather than literal offspring.
But still.....
Maybe you should go fight with Lin Ying and talk to them afterward!
"Heartless little fox..." Ah Qing muttered discontentedly with a small pout.
"But calling Ah Qing works too, I do love your sweet crisp voice, uh uh uh..... Call it out a few more times!"
Ah Qing, all smiles as usual, hugged the fox's head and rubbed against it.
A fox that can speak English!
This kind of thing, where else could you find it——
"Wow...."
Ansheng looked at Ah Qing with horror, barely saying a word before being pinned to the bed.
"Wait.... Aren't you curious about what the Spirit Beast was doing with Huhu when they stayed out all night?"
"Shouldn't you be asking seriously if I, Ansheng, used your bra as an eye mask or had other bizarre questions at night? Why pin me to the bed to absorb my Yang Qi after saying just a few words!"
"Hahaha..... So itchy, don't rub my belly, your hair makes me Ansheng so itchy!"
Startled by the remark, Ah Qing stopped her cuddling motion, surprised as she said: "You have... a habit of using girls' bras as eye masks?"
"Then... just take your family's ones, going around stealing strangers' bras will get you caught back home as a Furnace."
"No! I was just giving an example!" Ansheng kicked Ah Qing's cheek with her hind legs, jokingly retorted.
"Oh..."
Ah Qing responded, obediently sitting back in her original spot, shook her head as if it were natural, and turned to speak to the little fox:
"Since..... our little fox isn't stealing or robbing, what needs to be explained."
"It's just a fox that can speak human language!"
"And I can understand animals, too...."
With a sincere expression, Ah Qing cupped the little fox's cheeks with both hands and spoke as if comforting her own childhood self who returned from school in tears:
"Our family's little fox is the best, other foxes would envy but can't match it, come, give me a hug!"
Ah Qing, despite being a bit slow on the uptake, seemingly possessed a special instinct to sense a hint of unease and insecurity lingering within Xiaolan.
Ah Qing herself, as a child, was mocked by classmates for her own extraordinary talents.
It's just that.
Ah Qing didn't care too much, better to add another bowl of rice when free, and have her cousin come to her class to chat with those troublemakers about their military fitness for three generations.
The cousin came for a visit.
In class, everyone made way for Ah Qing as 'Sister Ah Qing.'
The little fox might be worried about something, but Ah Qing knew she wasn't good with words, so she could only express her concern through gestures.
"Uh..."
With Ansheng's head embedded against Ah Qing's chest, a question mark seemed to pop up above her head all of a sudden.
"Ah Qing.... don't be like this, your down jacket is making it hard for me to breathe."
"Oh, sorry, I just got home, focused on finding you and forgot to change clothes."
Ah Qing was taken aback, gently removing the little fox's head and looking at him sincerely:
"In any case, I'm really happy that Xiaolan is willing to share her secret with me....."
"I heard from Momo and the others that you're quite familiar with the Xia Country's Security Bureau. If you didn't want to, Momo and the others wouldn't have told me..."
Though Ah Qing wasn't very worldly, she did understand a little about institutions of power. When they said something was confidential, if you failed to comply, getting jailed was lenient.
Even if the Security Bureau wasn't a military entity, it should belong to the same system, and operate similarly.
If Momo and the others could tell me, then it means there's someone who wanted me to know about it.
Or it means the little fox could stop them.
"Shall I tell you my bank card's password?" Ah Qing pondered her own secrets, feeling there wasn't much to them, then proposed to the little fox:
"Let's swap secrets, so no one can secretly hide anything from each other in the future...."
"What do I need your bank card password for? Do you expect a fox to operate an ATM?" Ansheng rolled her eyes and poked Ah Qing's cheek, bearing an amused smile.
There's a certain clumsy kind of care there, but it's very heartwarming to know someone is thinking about and worried about you.
"Ah Qing, go grab two McDonald's ice creams, let's sneakily eat them without letting Momo and the others know!"
"Sure! But..."
Ah Qing saw that the little fox had returned to her usual unbothered swagger, smiled and agreed to get McDonald's ice cream as requested.
Just.
Before leaving, Ah Qing seemed to have a thought, extended her palm toward the little fox, and opened it.
"Huh?"
Seeing the palm extended towards him, the little fox's face displayed a hint of confusion. Tentatively reaching out, he placed his paw in Ah Qing's hand: "Do you... want to shake hands?"
"Uh..... though that's fine, but what I meant to ask is, where's my Transformation Potion to become a Fox Lady?"
Ah Qing was surprised, seeing Xiaolan willing to shake hands made her happy. Normally, the little fox would already kick out her hind legs, letting her pet lazily. Still, Ah Qing asked with a puffed-up cheek.
A Transformation Potion to become a Fox Lady?
Momo has turned into a Fox Lady in front of me! I want it too!
I'm so envious I could burst!
Ansheng: "......." Special transformation potion, my goodness.