In Lu Qingjiu's imagination, the White Moon Fox should be a fox spirit with an immortal appearance, who disdains to eat worldly things and disdains to participate in worldly disputes.
After living with Bai Yuehu for a while, Lu Qingjiu discovered that Bai Yuehu didn't want to get involved in things mostly because she was lazy, and now, there was another reason... poverty.
Too lazy to earn human currency, the White Moon Fox has nothing. With nothing to her, she can't even afford soup dumplings. Every day, she can only eat geckos and stingrays, leading a miserable life without a hot meal.
This… should I say that Bai Yuehu is miserable? After Lu Qingjiu figured it out, her emotions immediately became complicated. The manta ray, a delicacy that only existed in myths and that ordinary people would never get to taste, had become something despised by Bai Yuehu. And rightly so, no matter how delicious something is, after eating it for hundreds or thousands of years, it would probably become bland.
Looking at Bai Yuehu, whose hair had been cut short and who was sitting in the rocking chair and rocking again, Lu Qingjiu remembered a sentence Zhu Miaomiao often joked about - I could have lived a happy life, but it was my lack of money that ruined me.
As he thought about it, Lu Qingjiu couldn't help but laughed softly. Bai Yuehu heard the laughter and turned to look at Lu Qingjiu: "What are you laughing at?"
Lu Qingjiu concealed his smile: "It's okay, I just wanted to ask you what you want to eat tonight?"
Bai Yuehu said, "It's all fine."
Lu Qingjiu thought of their encounter and said, “Do you want to eat xiaolongbao? If you want, I’ll go to town and buy it for you.”
Bai Yuehu was always very casual about delicious food, so he said, "Anything is fine."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Okay, I'll make some porridge first, and you can help me light the fire. Yin Xun, come with me."
Yin Xun, who had been very quiet since returning, nodded in agreement.
The two went out and found a small truck. Yin Xun got in the car but felt a little uneasy. Lu Qingjiu said, "What's wrong with you?"
Yin Xun pointed at the seat under his butt and said, "This is a slug. What part of it are we sitting on?"
Lu Qingjiu was at a loss for words when she heard this, and could only comfort Yin Xun with a few words, saying that slugs don't have hands or feet, so every part of them is similar. However, Lu Qingjiu also noticed that Yin Xun's condition was a little off after seeing the White Moon Fox on the mountain. When Lu Qingjiu asked him what was wrong, he refused to say, and only gave a few perfunctory words. Lu Qingjiu had no choice but to let him go.
Yin Xun is a very nervous person, he will probably be fine in two days.
The bun shop in the town is open from morning to eight o'clock in the evening. It doesn't sell anything else but xiaolongbao (small dumplings). Because they taste so good, some people even come from the city just to eat their buns.
However, Lu Qingjiu had only eaten it once, and that was the time when he treated Bai Yuehu to a meal.
"Why did you suddenly think of coming here to buy him buns?" Yin Xun twisted and turned in the pickup truck.
"Isn't it because you feel uncomfortable at home?" Lu Qingjiu held the steering wheel and looked ahead. "I asked you something, but you refused to tell me."
Yin Xun scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed: "It's not that I don't want to say it, it's just that I can't describe the feeling. It's like... it's my body's most instinctive reaction." When he saw the White Moon Fox in a black robe, an inexplicable fear arose deep in his heart. This fear came so suddenly that even he himself couldn't find the source, let alone how to explain it to Lu Qingjiu.
Lu Qingjiu didn't force it, shrugged, and simply brought up the topic that made Yin Xun uncomfortable.
After they drove to the town, they went straight to the bun shop. When the owner heard Lu Qingjiu said he wanted two hundred buns, he smiled and asked Lu Qingjiu to come back in an hour to get them.
After Lu Qingjiu paid the bill, he and Yin Xun went to a teahouse nearby, ordered two bowls of tea, sat down to rest and chat.
"Ah, actually, you're the richest person in this family." Yin Xun and Lu Qingjiu said, "To be honest, Bai Yuehu and I are about the same, we're both terribly poor..."
Lu Qingjiu said: "You are poor too? Aren't you a mountain god?"
Yin Xun said, "Stop talking. I couldn't even afford a hot meal before you came."
Lu Qingjiu: "..." How do you two live your lives?
The two were talking when a man walked straight towards them on the side of the road. After walking opposite them, he sat down opposite Lu Qingjiu without any hesitation.
This man looked very young, probably in his twenties. He was quite handsome, but his cold and arrogant temperament made people feel uncomfortable.
Seeing this man stop talking, Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes. It was obvious that they didn't know this man.
"What's your name?" The young man looked at Yin Xun with a somewhat stiff tone and unfriendly eyes.
Yin Xun was stunned by the aggressive questioning: "Who are you? I don't know you, do I?"
"Police." The young man took out his ID from his pocket and waved it in front of the two men.
The ID did show that the young man was a police officer named Pang Ziqi. However, he had come to them so inexplicably and with such a bad attitude that it was difficult for Lu Qingjiu to have any good feelings towards him. His tone turned cold: "Officer Pang, we didn't do anything, did we? I don't know what your attitude means?"
Pang Ziqi glanced at Lu Qingjiu, ignored his words, and reached out to point at the table in front of Yin Xun: "I'm asking you, what's your name?"
"Me?" Yin Xun was a little unhappy about being targeted by the police for no apparent reason. He said, "My name is Yin Xun. What can I do for you?"
"Where do you live?" Pang Ziqi asked again.
Yin Xun was irritated by his rude questioning. He slammed the table and said, "What do you mean by that tone? Are you interrogating a prisoner?"
Pang Ziqi laughed when Yin Xun yelled at him. He said, "Since you didn't do anything, why are you afraid to tell me where you live?"
Yin Xun: "Even if they're interrogating someone, they have to give a reason, right? Isn't it impolite to ask so suddenly?"
Pang Ziqi said: "I am just polite to people."
At first glance, his words sounded like an insult, but upon closer inspection, they seemed to have other meanings. Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun's expressions froze for a moment, and then Yin Xun glared at him and said angrily, "Officer Pang, how dare you talk like that? Are you calling me a non-human?"
Pang Ziqi was about to speak when a pair of hands appeared behind him and pressed on his shoulders. Then a helpless voice sounded. It was Lu Qingjiu's old acquaintance, the policeman Hu Shu: "Sorry, sorry, I disturbed you."
Hu Shu, dressed in casual clothes, stood behind Pang Ziqi with a wry smile: "This is our new colleague in the police station..."
"He said I'm not a human being." Yin Xun suppressed his guilty conscience and pretended to be angry.
"Oh, sorry, sorry, this kid is new here," Hu Shu said, "please don't bother with him."
Pang Ziqi unhappily shook off Hu Shu's hand and stood up, saying, "Who are you calling a kid?"
Hu Shu said, "You."
Pang Ziqi said, "You're not much older than me, are you?"
Hu Shu spread his hands: "One year older is still older."
Pang Ziqi seemed a little unhappy. He pointed at Lu Qingjiu and said, “Is this someone you know?”
"Yes." Hu Shu nodded. "The previous case was handled thanks to him."
When Pang Ziqi heard this, he looked Lu Qingjiu up and down with a scrutinizing gaze and said, "You live with him?" He was naturally referring to Yin Xun.
"We are from the same village." Lu Qingjiu replied.
"If you understand those things, you should know that the aura around you is not good." Pang Ziqi said shockingly.
"Not good? What do you mean?" Lu Qingjiu asked.
"A strong smell of a ferocious beast." Pang Ziqi glanced at Yin Xun when he mentioned the ferocious beast. "A beast is a beast. Even if it disguises itself as a human, once it is provoked, its ferocious nature will be revealed. It will be too late to regret it then."
Lu Qingjiu said: "You are very experienced."
Pang Ziqi sneered: "Experience is accumulated by the lives of our predecessors." He wanted to say something else, but saw Lu Qingjiu gesture to stop.
Lu Qingjiu's tone was gentle, but everyone could hear the determination in his words: "Officer Pang, thank you for your advice, but I know my own affairs very well. I don't need others to help me make decisions."
Pang Ziqi stared at Lu Qingjiu for a moment and said coldly, “I hope so.”
Lu Qingjiu didn't want to say more to him, so she called Yin Xun and left. Pang Ziqi didn't try to keep them, but his unfriendly gaze never left her face, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Yin Xun was very unhappy after hearing what Pang Ziqi said. He muttered that Pang Ziqi didn't know how to speak. What kind of ferocious beast was it? He was just a pitiful, weak and poor mountain god...
Lu Qingjiu said helplessly: "Have you never thought that the ferocious beast Pang Ziqi was talking about is not you?"
Yin Xun reacted: "That's...wait, he's talking about the White Moon Fox?"
Lu Qingjiu: “Possibly.” The White Moon Fox is much more suitable to be called a ferocious beast than Yin Xun.
Yin Xun sighed: "Anyway, no matter what, I really hate this kind of people."
Lu Qingjiu didn't say anything. The two of them walked from the teahouse to the door of the bun shop, asked the boss to pack up the buns they bought, and took a few glances in the direction of the teahouse.
After they left, Pang Ziqi and Hu Shu sat back down where they had just been, seemingly arguing fiercely about something. Although they were a bit far apart, Lu Qingjiu still saw Hu Shu slamming the table in agitation, while Pang Ziqi was arguing with him.
Lu Qingjiu looked at it for a while, but felt that something seemed to be wrong.
Yin Xun was a non-human after all, and was more sensitive to these things than he was. He asked in confusion, "Hey, that's so strange. Who is that person next to Pang Ziqi?"
"What?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "Are you talking about Hu Shu?"
"No, it's not Hu Shu." Yin Xun said, "Look at the person standing behind him..."
Lu Qingjiu took a closer look and found that there was indeed a person standing not far behind Pang Ziqi. The person was a woman with long hair. She was wearing a turquoise skirt and holding a brown umbrella in her hand. The umbrella was very large and deep, just covering her face.
At first glance, the woman seemed to have nothing to do with Pang Ziqi, but if you looked closely, you would find that she seemed to be standing behind Pang Ziqi deliberately.
"What... is this?" Lu Qingjiu was a little surprised. This thing should not belong to the category of humans. In fact, if Yin Xun had not said it just now, he would not have noticed that there was someone standing behind Pang Ziqi.
"I don't know." Yin Xun took a look and said, "It doesn't look like a good thing..." This thing exudes an ominous aura, making people reluctant to get close.
Lu Qingjiu said: "...He didn't notice?"
Yin Xun said, "It seems not."
Perhaps the two people's gazes were too obvious, Pang Ziqi also felt their gaze. He stood up and glanced unfriendly in the direction of the bun shop, then got up and left. As he walked forward, the woman holding an umbrella standing behind him also moved forward with his steps. She seemed to have no feet, and when she walked on the ground, it was as if she was floating in the air. When Pang Ziqi moved fast, she moved fast, and when Pang Ziqi moved slow, she moved slow.
Lu Qingjiu looked a little creepy.
After Hu Shu sent Pang Ziqi away, he came over with a sigh and apologized to Lu Qingjiu again, explaining that Pang Ziqi was sent here on business and would only be here for a short time. Because of the special nature of his department, he was particularly arrogant, but he wasn't a particularly bad person...
As he was talking, he realized that Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun were distracted, and asked in surprise: "What are you two looking at?"
Yin Xun pulled Hu Shu over and pointed at Pang Ziqi, who was about to walk away: "Did you see anything?"
"What is that?" Hu Shu was confused.
"Just... weird people or something." Yin Xun asked.
"A strange person?" Hu Shu said, "I don't think there's anyone in this town stranger than Pang Ziqi."
Since he said that, he definitely couldn't see the woman in blue following Pang Ziqi. Lu Qingjiu said tactfully: "Then tell Pang Ziqi when you go back. I feel like there is something following him." He didn't dare to say it too clearly.
"Okay, but that's what his department does." Hu Shu waved his hand, "You don't have to worry too much."
After Lu Qingjiu inquired carefully, she found out that something had happened again and that's why the higher-ups had sent a special department over. Of course, because of the need for confidentiality, Hu Shu didn't tell them specifically what the matter was.
The three chatted for a while, and the buns were packed. Hu Shu helped them carry the buns to the car. He was wondering why they bought so many buns. Even if they were a family of three, it would take them several weeks to eat.
Lu Qingjiu smiled but said nothing. God knows this bun was only enough for Bai Yuehu to eat in one meal.
After returning home, Lu Qingjiu reheated the dumplings, cut some pickles and porridge, and the three of them ate. The taste of the dumplings hadn't changed at all, still with thin skin and large fillings. Every bite was filled with rich gravy, and the filling was firm and elastic. Even Lu Qingjiu could finish one in one bite.
While eating, Lu Qingjiu told what happened in the town today. He skipped some details and mainly talked about the woman following Pang Ziqi. He and Yin Xun were a little curious about what that woman was.
After listening to this, Bai Yuehu said that humans are really brave.
"What do you mean? Brave?" Lu Qingjiu didn't understand.
Bai Yuehu said, "Well, he touched something he shouldn't have touched."
"What is it that you shouldn't touch?" Yin Xun said, "Is it a curse?"
Bai Yuehu said, "I don't know about that, but he must be very clear about it." He obviously had no interest in Pang Ziqi's life or death.
Looking at Bai Yuehu's reaction, Lu Qingjiu realized one thing...that thing must not be delicious, otherwise Bai Yuehu's attitude would not be so cold.
"It's really scary to be followed by something like this." Yin Xun was still frightened, "And he seems to be unable to see..."
Lu Qingjiu said: “Yes.”
Although they were curious about this matter, they did not take it seriously and let it go.
There was less rain this year, and with plenty of sunshine, the fruits grew well. Yin Xun, who knew the mountain well, said there was a wild bayberry forest in the mountain, and the bayberries were almost ripe at this time. Yin Xun invited Lu Qingjiu to go up the mountain with him to pick some and eat them.
The bayberry season is very short, only about ten days. In addition, the flesh is not protected by the skin and is easily eaten by insects and birds. Therefore, wild bayberries are extremely rare. This piece of bayberry was specially preserved by Yin Xun.
Lu Qingjiu carried a basket and went up the mountain with Yin Xun. After walking through the dense jungle, they saw the bayberry forest that Yin Xun had mentioned.
The bayberry tree was not very tall, and fiery red bayberries hung on its emerald green branches. Some were ripe and turned into a beautiful purple-red color. Lu Qingjiu picked one, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and exclaimed, "So sweet."
"Yes, they are very sweet." Yin Xun said, "These trees are the result of my careful care every year..."
Lu Qingjiu asked, "Can you finish all this?"
Yin Xundao said, "If you can't finish it, take it down the mountain and sell it for money. Use the remaining money to buy some meat..."
Lu Qingjiu: “…” Why does it sound so miserable?
The two of them ate while picking, and they were almost full after picking a full basket. Bayberry is different from other fruits. It tastes sweet, but if you eat too much, your teeth will feel sour. Lu Qingjiu was okay, but Yin Xun's teeth were so soft after eating so much that he couldn't even eat dinner.
Lu Qingjiu found it really funny.
Bai Yuehu also liked bayberries. Lu Qingjiu washed them and placed them in a large bowl before him, letting him eat. Yin Xun watched with resentment from the side. He hadn't eaten enough, but his teeth were almost gone. Facing Yin Xun's gaze, Bai Yuehu ate calmly, not even giving him a glance.
Most of the dozens of pounds of bayberries picked ended up in Bai Yuehu's stomach. Lu Qingjiu also gave some to Li Xiaoyu's family next door, and the rest was made into bayberry jam.
Bayberries are great for making jam, similar to cherries. Because of their inherent moisture and sweetness, the canned fruit loses its sourness, leaving only its sweetness. In the summer, soaking them in water with some ice cubes is even better than sour plum soup. Summer was already mostly over, and with autumn just around the corner, Lu Qingjiu decided to go to town and buy some seeds for the fall.
Farming was originally very seasonal, and many crops needed to be planted in advance. However, because Bai Yuehu had taken on the farming task, Lu Qingjiu was relieved of a lot of worry. He only needed to provide Bai Yuehu with seeds, and after a while, he would get the corresponding crops. Sometimes, when Lu Qingjiu passed by the village entrance and met some aunties and chatted with them, he would hear the aunties praising Bai Yuehu for being a good farmer. They also said that although the young man looked delicate, he was very efficient at his work. They also asked Bai Yuehu if he had been farming for many years, otherwise why was he so skilled in plowing the fields? Other families used oxen, but he could plow the fields himself...
After hearing what the aunt said, Lu Qingjiu felt a mixture of emotions. He thought that other vixens were just having romantic encounters, but his vixen was different from other coquettish and slutty women. She put all her energy into the fields. So when he got home, he felt pity for her and stewed a big pot of beef in the evening.
Yin Xun was still asking in confusion if there was anything good happening at home, but he saw Lu Qingjiu looking at him and Bai Yuehu with loving eyes, then he picked up a piece of beef with chopsticks for each of them and asked them to eat more.
Yin Xun: “…” What exactly happened?
After Lu Qingjiu finished his meal, he asked Yin Xun to wash the dishes and said that he was going to the town to buy some seeds and spices. He planned to braise some chicken feet and beef as snacks in the evening, but the braised ingredients at home were almost used up.
"Go ahead." Yin Xun said, "Come back soon."
Lu Qingjiu nodded in agreement. He walked to the side of the van with his backpack on his back, opened the hood of the van, stuffed a handful of marshmallows into it, then patted the van's head and said, "Thank you for your hard work. We have to go to town again."
The pickup truck honked happily twice and this time went a little faster down the mountain.
Lu Qingjiu set out at noon. He planned to buy seeds and spices and go back directly, preferably early so that he could eat braised chicken feet in the evening.
Lu Qingjiu parked the car and went to the seed store to buy some seeds for the fall. As he was checking out the storekeeper after selecting the seeds, he noticed a familiar figure walking down the street.
Lu Qingjiu turned his head and saw Pang Ziqi, who had been unfriendly to them before. When he saw Pang Ziqi's appearance clearly, his eyes widened instantly, and a look of horror appeared in his pupils.
"What's wrong?" The seed shop owner asked with some confusion when he saw that Lu Qingjiu looked strange.
"...No, it's okay." Lu Qingjiu shook his head.
"Do you know this new policeman?" The seed shop owner thought Lu Qingjiu and Pang Ziqi had a feud. He said, "He has a bad temper, but he's okay at his job. I heard he was transferred from higher up, and he won't be here long..."
Lu Qingjiu said, “Oh…” He responded vaguely, but the fear in his eyes did not diminish.
Although Pang Ziqi still looked the same as he had seen some time ago, the woman behind him had changed. The woman holding the umbrella was now standing behind Pang Ziqi, her head resting on Pang Ziqi's shoulder, and the umbrella in her hand also covered the tops of their heads. This time, Lu Qingjiu saw the woman's face clearly. It was not a human face at all. There were no pupils in her eyes, only whites. Two small snakes, one red and one green, spitting out their tongues, hung from her left and right ears. The snakes had black eyes and were staring at Pang Ziqi with vicious eyes.
Lu Qingjiu's scalp tingled as he watched. Just as he was about to look away, he discovered that the woman had noticed him at some point. She tilted her head towards him and looked over.
Lu Qingjiu felt a chill on his back when she stared at him with her eyes that showed only the whites of her eyes. He pretended not to see the woman and casually looked away. However, the vicious gaze did not disappear until Pang Ziqi, who was patrolling the street, disappeared around the corner.
What on earth was that thing? What had Pang Ziqi done to him? Lu Qingjiu thought with lingering fear, that thing looked like something that was hard to deal with. If Bai Yuehu was right, Pang Ziqi was probably in trouble...
The author has something to say:
Lu Qingjiu: What brought us together? Is it love?
White Moon Fox: It’s poverty.
Lu Qingjiu: ...
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