Chapter 1
When Chi Jun opened his eyes, the rain had stopped.
The sycamore leaves drooped listlessly, and the air was filled with mist, making the whole city feel as if it were in a stuffy, airless steamer.
Slightly slow to react, Chi Jun stared blankly at the leaves for a while before realizing that he was in an unfamiliar environment again.
He used "again" because he vaguely remembered that before this sleep, he was still huddled in that cramped and shabby hotel room, where the only window was greasy from the cooking fumes from downstairs. The room faced the street, and during the day, there was constant noise from various horns, which only subsided slightly at night.
The walls of the room in front of us are made of cement, simple yet clean. Besides an iron bed in the corner, there is a cupboard, a desk, a dining table and chairs.
An old, yellow light bulb hung from the ceiling, its thin cord extending all the way to the iron post at the head of the bed.
A very thin and long hand grasped the string and pulled it gently.
Click—
The light bulb lit up immediately.
Xu Qingzhou squatted by the bed with a broom in hand, carefully sweeping under the bed in the dim light.
She wore a low ponytail, and her delicate face beneath her bangs appeared somewhat pale. Her arms, thin as bamboo poles, extended from the sleeves of her blue and white school uniform.
Chi Jun had doubted countless times that these arms could break with the slightest bend, but in fact, they were not only strong and flexible, but also very skillful and powerful when doing work.
A thick layer of dust had accumulated under the bed. A few quick sweeps with a broom brought out a torrent of dust.
Chi Jun's nose itched from the choking, so he silently dragged his tail and moved to a spot, lying down in the corridor.
Xu Qingzhou sneezed several times in a row. Turning his head, he saw it drooping its eyebrows and curled up under the eaves. He slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth and a faint smile appeared on his face.
She could still laugh.
Chi Jun twitched the corner of his mouth, unable to tell whether she was blindly optimistic or simply carefree.
About a week ago, Xu Qingzhou's grandmother passed away due to illness.
The old lady's illness came on suddenly and progressed rapidly. Her son and daughter-in-law gave up treatment on the grounds of lack of money. From the onset of the illness to her death, it only took one month.
The funeral ended at noon on the third day after the old lady's death. That afternoon, Xu Qingzhou was "sent" out by his aunt.
It was pouring rain at the time, less than five hours after the old lady's burial. Xu Meiling, who was hiding under the porch, put away the undisguised disgust she usually showed when facing Xu Qingzhou and was unusually gentle.
"Qingzhou, your uncle and I have taken good care of you for three years, which is enough to repay your parents. We originally wanted to support you until you went to university, but the competition for the college entrance examination is getting fiercer every year. You will be a senior in high school after this summer, and your uncle and aunt really don't want to delay you."
“You know Linlin, she’s always yelling and screaming. I’m worried she’ll affect your studies.”
Xu Meiling spoke at length, her words revealing her reluctance to part with Xu Qingzhou. However, no matter how eloquent her words were, the coldness in her eyes was hard to conceal.
Xu Qingzhou stood outside the door, head bowed and eyes downcast, as always silent.
She has always been like this, but in the current situation, this reaction, in the eyes of a guilty person, naturally carries a subtle mockery, as if she has already seen through everything and is too lazy to even expose it.
Xu Meiling's hypocritical mask finally couldn't hold up any longer, so she abruptly took it off, stuffed the bulging old schoolbag from her arms into Xu Qingzhou's arms, closed the door, and completely pushed her out of this house.
Xu Qingzhou thus became an orphan completely.
Chi Jun didn't know much about what happened after that.
He was physically weak, and the three days of funeral had left him with little to eat, causing his hard-won physical recovery to vanish all at once. At that moment, he lay dazed in Xu Qingzhou's arms, his barely conscious mind only lasting until Xu Meiling tossed the bag to Xu Qingzhou before fading into a coma.
When he woke up again, he had already followed Xu Qingzhou and checked into a hotel on a street.
The hotel stands facing the street, its windows and walls filthy from the fumes of the small restaurants downstairs. The noise of cars outside only subsides slightly at night.
To be honest, Chi Jun was a little surprised.
It wasn't that the environment was too bad, but that Xu Qingzhou actually came out on his own without saying a word.
It wasn't unheard of for Xu Qingzhou to be kicked out of her home before. In the month and a half since she took Chi Jun in, she had seen him do so at least twice. But each time, Xu Qingzhou would give in and admit defeat. In the end, her uncle, who had just had a fight with his wife, would open the door and pull her back in with a dark face.
Chi Jun didn't know if Xu Qingzhou had begged for mercy that day, but one thing was clear: for the next few days, the girl stayed in a hotel and showed no intention of going back to Xu Meiling's house.
And her uncle, who seemed to value loyalty more, also "tacitly" never appeared again.
Fortunately, no matter how difficult and tortuous the process of finding a place to live was, at least now I finally have a place to stay.
Chi Jun's gaze lingered on the small, yet fully equipped, rented room, which even had a makeshift cooking table set up in the hallway outside.
Although life ahead is still predictably miserable, at least I won't have to worry about being kicked by Xu Meiling when I sleep.
He was quite satisfied.
Xu Qingzhou worked efficiently and skillfully, and within an hour he had cleaned and tidied the house inside and out.
She cooked some vegetable noodles for lunch, probably to celebrate finding shelter, and even placed a poached egg on top as a kind of ritual.
Having lived at Xu Meiling's house for over a month, Chi Jun had already gotten used to eating swill.
Right now, he's huddled in the tattered cardboard box that Xu Qingzhou made for him, idly waiting to eat what she left behind.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qingzhou served two bowls of noodles, placing one on the table.
The second bowl—
It was placed in front of him.
Chi Jun stared at the bowl of noodles, first stunned, then looking up at Xu Qingzhou uncertainly.
The little girl smiled at him, held the bowl to his lips in a slight gesture, and then put it back on the ground.
It seems it really was for him.
Regardless of whether Xu Qingzhou had acted impulsively or not, the opportunity was too good to pass up, so Chi Jun immediately jumped out of the tattered cardboard box and started eating the bowl of noodles with gusto.
Actually, it was just a very ordinary bowl of noodles, but Chi Jun had been eating swill for more than a month and was sometimes full and sometimes hungry. When he put this bowl of warm and clean noodles into his mouth, it was fresh and fragrant, like the most delicious food in the world.
Chi Jun ate with great joy, not only not rejecting Xu Qingzhou's affectionate caresses, but also digging his paws into the bowl more enthusiastically than a dog, even overturning the bowl in his excitement.
Fortunately, I finished most of the bowl of noodles; only some soup was spilled.
Xu Qingzhou had a good temper, and he wasn't upset at all when his bowl was knocked over. He patted his head, cleaned up the floor, and then went back to the table to eat his own bowl of noodles.
*
The courtyard of rental houses was quiet and peaceful in the afternoon, and the small rental rooms were shaded and relatively cool.
After the meal, Xu Qingzhou washed the pots, pans, and chopsticks, then grabbed his keys and left.
After eating and drinking his fill, Chi Junze lay comfortably on the ground, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds through the lattice window.
This is a large rental compound surrounded by three sides (east, west, and north) and a low-lying carport on the south side. The compound has three floors, with about twelve households on each floor. The room that Xu Qingzhou rented was at the end of the south-facing corridor on the second floor.
Although there are other tenants in the courtyard at this time, the courtyard is surrounded by lush green trees and is far from the street, so it is relatively quiet overall.
The afternoon breeze, carrying the chirping of cicadas, weaves through the green leaves of midsummer, rustling them softly.
Chi Jun lay there for only a short while before drifting off to sleep, like a small boat slipping into the water.
He was only half asleep when a sudden gust of cold wind swept over him, and Chi Jun instinctively jolted awake.
A pale, eerie face peered through the peeling paint on the wooden door.
The face looked at him with a grin and said:
"I knew you'd be here!"
Chi Jun: "..."
The male ghost stretched his neck forward, and his entire body passed through the doorway, curiously examining the small rented room:
"My goodness, that little mute has really stood up for himself this time, he's even rented a place already?"
Chi Jun ignored him.
He knew the male ghost was a chatterbox, and if he wanted to sleep he had to pretend to be dead, so he simply closed his eyes and didn't move at all the time.
Sure enough, for the next five minutes, the male ghost kept rambling on and on. He started by lamenting that Xu Qingzhou was renting a room by herself, then talked about his worries about Xu Qingzhou living alone, and his memories of her suffering over the past three years. Then, he changed the subject and expressed his relief that the girl had finally escaped Xu Meiling's clutches and gave his outlook on her future.
Chi Jun's ears were practically calloused from listening to this, and seeing that the male ghost showed no sign of stopping, he couldn't take it anymore. Just as he was about to tell him to shut up, a gust of cold wind suddenly swept in, carrying with it the male ghost's deliberately lowered, mysterious voice—
"Dude, the fact that the little mute was kicked out of his house is actually a good thing for you."
Chi Jun's ears twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
As he had expected, the "good thing" the male ghost spoke of was simply that Xu Qingzhou was now all alone, penniless, jobless, and still in school, struggling even to take care of himself, let alone burdened by him. Therefore, for now, giving him up was the best solution for Xu Qingzhou's life.
Despite having already anticipated this, when the male ghost excitedly said, "She can barely support herself, so of course she'll have to abandon you or sell you. Don't you think that's a good thing?"
Fearing that Chi Jun might feel uncomfortable hearing this, the male ghost added a reassuring remark:
"Well, that's normal. Everyone looks out for themselves, right?"
However, after the incident more than a month ago, probably no one understands the meaning of this sentence more deeply than Chi Jun.
Chi Jun remained expressionless for a long time, but after a few seconds, he couldn't help but let a hint of mockery flash in his eyes.
More than a month ago, those old foxes destroyed his spiritual power and slapped him into the human world.
At that time, he was heartbroken and had long lost the will to live. He lay by the trash can for a day and a night in a daze before Xu Qingzhou picked him up and pulled him back from the brink of death with a bunch of random tinkering.
Some foxes died, yet they still live on;
Some foxes, however, live on but suffer a fate worse than death because they can only eat rotten swill three times a day.
After eating swill at Xu Meiling's house for a week, Chi Jun finally regained some strength and was able to walk, then ran away without looking back.
However, their escape attempt failed that same day.
Because those old foxes cast a spell on him: anyone who receives a life-saving grace must stay with their benefactor for the rest of their life unless the benefactor releases them voluntarily, euphemistically called "repaying the debt of gratitude."
Those old foxes used this opportunity to push Xu Qingzhou out, trapping him under the guise of being his "benefactor."
This broken curse was abandoned by the fox clan long ago because it was absurd. It was so ancient and outdated that Chi Jun couldn't even make a connection to it. After running away several times in a daze and suffering a few times, Chi Jun finally realized what it was all about.
If the punishment for violating the rules hadn't actually matched his symptoms when he escaped that day, Chi Jun would have found it hard to believe that those old foxes would resort to such absurd and ridiculous "old-fashioned" methods to trap him.
He couldn't tell for a moment whether they looked down on him or thought too highly of him.
With his heart pounding, Chi Jun closed his eyes again, but found it hard to fall asleep.
His thoughts were interrupted when Xu Qingzhou returned carrying bags of daily necessities to tidy up. He glanced at the items absentmindedly for a while before finally managing to fall asleep amidst the rustling sounds of tidying up.
However, I was restless before going to sleep, and my sleep was both light and exhausting.
At six o'clock in the evening, Chi Jun was awakened by a loud noise coming from something in the yard. He opened his eyes and saw two dishes being served.
He happened to be hungry, so he got up from the ground, walked naturally to the table, and jumped onto the chair to squat down.
It held the bowl of porridge in front of it with both paws and lowered its head to eat.
The slurping sound filled the small taxi. As Chi Jun ate, he felt the bowl slipping from his hands. Frustrated, he used more force, only realizing a beat later:
oh.
He has now been exposed for what he truly was.
It has no hands, only claws.
I ate two more bites, just to make do.
The sluggish brain gradually regained its clarity.
Suddenly realizing something, he froze, his drooping eyelids widening instantly. Chi Jun glanced at the two simple vegetarian dishes on the table, then looked around the bare, empty room, before finally slowly raising his head—
He met Xu Qingzhou's bewildered and astonished eyes.
"..."
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