Chapter 90 The Red Fox Burns Like a Fire
"Chang Xile! I'll count to three. If you don't get up, I'll come in and punish you!" Ms. Tang Shixin's majestic words rang out outside the two doors.
This mountain-like roar only made Chang Xile turn over with difficulty in her bed. In her dream, she had already brushed her teeth, washed her face, and changed her clothes.
But before Tang Shixin unlocked the door, she sat up from the bed with a blanket wrapped around her. Her hair was messy, and she smiled sweetly with her eyes curved: "Good morning~"
As the saying goes, you shouldn't hit someone who smiles at you. Tang Shixin opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and immediately turned around and walked out. "I'm going to be late for work. Your dad has prepared breakfast on the table. Remember to eat it!"
If she looked more closely, she would see a large fantasy novel spread out beside Chang Xile's pillow - the book that kept the girl up all night.
"Okay! I understand--" Chang Xile agreed with a long tone.
With the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and the whirring of a car starting outside, everything returned to silence. Chang Xile blinked her increasingly heavy eyelids and fell back into a warm dream.
In her dream, she was already sitting at the dining table drinking hot milk.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Knock, knock, knock."
The knocking on the door continued, as if it would last until the mountains were gone and the sky and earth merged if no one responded.
Chang Xile closed his eyes in pain, rolled over, and howled again: "Mom—I'm getting dressed!"
But there was no response, only the knocking continued.
Wait, is Ms. Tang's wake-up call policy really that gentle? Usually, when she opens her voice, even the blue-feathered bird in the nest on the air conditioner's outdoor unit can't match it.
Chang Xile regained consciousness. She opened her eyes and realized the knock wasn't coming from the bedroom door. In fact, it wasn't a knock on the door, but a knock on the window.
She shook her head, thinking: Are you crazy? This is the fourth floor.
She staggered to the desk and opened the window with both hands. A cool sea breeze woke her up.
Ping'an stood outside the windowsill, licking his front paws gracefully. That persistent and prolonged knock on the window had been caused by this.
"It's you. Good morning." Chang Xile yawned and walked slowly towards the bed as usual.
Ping An always comes to visit; he's her only friend in Yangcheng. Why not call him a pet? Because Ping An doesn't live with her, nor does she rely on him for support; he simply comes to visit. Sometimes, like today, he even provides morning wake-up service.
But Ping'an's wake-up call had no deterrent effect. In Chang Xile's heart, Tang Shixin was greater than her and greater than Ping'an. Ping'an's arrival alone was not enough for her to "pretend to get up."
However, Ping'an jumped in, landed on the ground, and without a word, pushed Chang Xile's calf, driving her towards the outside of the bedroom.
Chang Xile didn't care about it. She walked around Ping'an and fell back onto the bed.
I'm so sleepy...
But a certain cat kept meowing in Chang Xile's ear, and it kept nudging her body to prevent her from sleeping in.
Chang Xile narrowed his eyes, raised his hand and hugged Ping'an in his arms, holding its head to prevent it from doing anything weird.
The little white cat struggled for a while but to no avail, and its eyes became helpless as it looked at Chang Xile.
Should I use that method...?
No, it would scare her.
After about ten seconds, Chang Xile's breathing was about to become steady and long again.
"Xi Le, you are resting at home only because your health is not good."
"But that doesn't mean you're any different from other kids." A calm male voice echoed in Chang Xile's ears. "You need to eat on time, get enough sleep, exercise, and acquire knowledge. None of these can be neglected."
"Now, get up and have breakfast, then take a walk to wake yourself up."
Chang Xile opened her eyes and looked around the room. The bedroom was empty, with no one else there.
She released her grip on Ping An, climbed up, and went to the window to look downstairs. Her parents' cars had left, leaving the parking spaces empty, meaning they had all gone to work.
She rubbed her eyes and murmured, "Is this a dream?"
Chang Xile sighed deeply, finally awake. She went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, then to the cloakroom to change. Ping An followed her and lay down by the cloakroom door.
After Chang Xile changed into her sportswear, she opened the door, nudged Ping An's body with her toes, and then walked downstairs. Ping An stood up, flicked his tail, and followed her.
It had only been about ten or twenty minutes since Tang Shixin had called her to get up. Chang Xile picked up the newspaper her father had left behind from breakfast and began to read while drinking milk, picking out her favorite joke section.
She casually peeled a sausage, broke off a piece, put it in her hand, and offered it to Ping'an's mouth. This kitten was different from other kittens. It wouldn't even look at the food thrown on the ground. Even before feeding it snacks, it had to wash its hands thoroughly before it would take a few bites as if it was a reward.
Chang Xile accepted this well, and was even a little proud of Ping An's little attention to detail - look, it's different from your ordinary cats!
Ping An lay at the dining table, hesitating for a moment before lowering his head to eat something from her hand. Then he waited for Chang Xile to finish breakfast, to ensure that the child did not fall asleep again while eating.
After a while, it stood up and looked straight at the section in the upper left corner of the newspaper.
Chang Xile put the newspaper aside. After finishing the last bite of the fried egg, she turned around and saw Ping'an standing on the newspaper and looking down at something.
She couldn't help laughing and jokingly said, "Ping An, can you read?"
Chang Xile leaned forward to read. She knew only a few words herself, and even when reading novels she had to look up words in a dictionary. She was now reading the newspaper word for word, very slowly.
"Mr. Li, from Yuancai Community in the west of Yangcheng, disappeared on November 20th. His wife said he had been drunk and mad before his disappearance, claiming he had met a talking fox. ... Asking for a title? ... Feudal superstition." Chang Xile's reading became halting, and she muttered to herself in confusion, "Hey... I recognize these characters individually, but why can't I understand them when they're put together?"
Ping An put his front paws forward and lay down on the page, blocking out a large area of words. He blinked innocently at Chang Xile and meowed.
The little girl was easily distracted. She stared at Ping An for a moment before bursting out laughing. Holding onto the table, she sighed, "Oh... Ping An, I wish you could talk and chat with me."
After finishing her meal, she stood up and put the dishes in the sink. In the past, Dad was responsible for cooking, Mom was responsible for waking Sheung Hee-le, and Sheung Hee-le was responsible for washing the dishes. But Sheung Hee-le had just had a fever, and Mom had told her not to touch water, but to just soak the dishes in the sink.
Chang Xile washed her hands under the tap, shook them clean, then turned to Ping An, extended her hand, and asked, "Dear Ping An, may I invite you to take a walk with me?"
Ping'an glanced at the undried water droplets on her fingertips, then looked at his beautiful pure white hair. He ignored her, turned around, jumped off the dining table, and walked towards the door.
"Tsk." Chang Xile pursed his lips and walked to the shoe cabinet at the door and picked out a pair of his usual sneakers.
Chang Xile’s previous daily exercise was to ride a bike around the coastal road, but today with Ping An around, she decided to change her route and go hiking.
The mountain near her home, the one Chang Xile looked out her bedroom window, had long been developed, with a long flight of stairs leading up from the base. Chang Xile planned to walk up and down the mountain; that would probably be enough exercise for her for the day.
Ping An looked small, yet very agile. He walked ahead, sometimes almost hidden in the foliage. But if Chang Xile took a few more steps, he would find it staying where it was, waiting for him.
A light sweat had formed on Chang Xile's forehead. The smartwatch on her wrist began beeping, indicating that her heart rate was too high. She found a man-made stone bench on the staircase platform and sat down, waving her hands and saying, "Rest for a while! My heart rate is off the charts!"
She hadn't exercised for so long that she could even hear the thumping of her heart in her chest.
Ping An looked at her helplessly, and then a gust of wind blew through the branches of the tree, making a rustling sound. Its pointed ears suddenly moved, and then it stood up and chased in a certain direction.
Chang Xile watched Ping'an's figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, and suddenly realized: Hey, why was she expecting a cat to understand what she said?
Kittens are very active, so it's unusual for them to wait for her. It's their nature to just rush forward.
She shook her head. There was only one way to the mountain anyway, and they would meet in the end.
After Chang Xile felt her heart fall back into her chest and her breathing became steady, she stood up again and gathered her strength to continue walking towards the top of the mountain.
She walked on for a long time, but didn't see Ping An. After a while, Chang Xile suddenly heard movement in the bushes to her right. A pointed ear emerged from the trees and then disappeared.
"Is that you, Ping An?" Chang Xile frowned and stepped on the unmaintained mud ground. She pushed aside the leaves and walked towards the direction of the sound.
Although the rustling of leaves occasionally occurred, it always occurred just when Chang Xile was about to give up. She was so focused on finding peace that she unknowingly walked deep into the woods.
When two large trees intertwined, leaving only a gap at the bottom about knee-high, Chang Xile, still a young girl, ducked down and easily slipped through the gap. Suddenly, the view opened up: a clearing surrounded by red maple trees. At the end of the clearing, a fox lay.
Its hair was as red as fire, and when the wind blew it looked as if flames were burning in the forest.
"Ah..." Chang Xile was stunned. She had only seen foxes in books before and had never seen one in person.
The red fox slowly turned its head and stared quietly at Chang Xile's heart.
Chang Xile rubbed his eyes and thought: Could this be another dream?
Because she seemed to see the fox smile. Then, it opened its mouth and asked, "Little girl, will you give me your heart? I can give you everything you want."
Her heartbeat began to pound again, and the watch on her wrist began to beep. This was because her heart rate suddenly rose to an abnormal level even when she was at rest.
The red fox smiled and murmured, "Like a fiery red apple, so beautiful."
It was a dream, absolutely a dream, Chang Xile told herself. She felt her legs go weak, and when she tried to step back, she just staggered backwards.
But she didn't kneel on the ground like in her previous dreams. Instead, she was supported by a pair of strong hands. She turned around and saw a tall, white-haired boy standing behind her, staring coldly at the red fox.
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