Chapter 3
What would someone who is reluctant to throw away the rice stuck to the bottom of the pot after cooking rice at noon and then adds water to cook it into porridge at night do if they found their pet repeatedly throwing away its bowl and wasting food?
Feeling sad, angry, wanting to beat him up, or even angrily grabbing his tail and throwing him out.
Even if Xu Qingzhou has a good temper, it's still possible that he'll give him a couple of slaps, or at the very least, he'll punish him by not letting him eat, or he'll pretend to be angry and pat his butt a few times as a warning.
In the brief twenty seconds of eye contact with Xu Qingzhou, Chi Jun had already quickly imagined several possible scenarios, arranged from most serious to least serious.
Given that each level was a far cry from "getting rid of him," Chi Jun patiently comforted himself:
It's okay, there's plenty of time. Even a good temper will eventually wear down.
To his utter surprise, Xu Qingzhou neither threw him out nor beat him up.
Five minutes later, a bowl of sweet, fragrant, and smooth "boiled egg in hot water" was served to him.
Chi Jun: "..."
Boiling water with an egg is probably the food that left the deepest impression on Chi Jun since he came to the human world, and that he has the strongest feelings for.
He still remembers the first time he ate it; it was made by the old lady—Xu Qingzhou's grandmother.
At the time, he was on the verge of death, half-dead. It was the old lady who slowly pulled him back from the brink of death by making him bowl after bowl of "boiling water with eggs".
However, after he gradually regained consciousness, Xu Meiling made a huge scene by cursing and yelling because "eggs are wasted on animals." After that, Chi Jun could only eat swill.
Perhaps it was because this bowl of "poached egg" had once saved his life and held a special meaning for him, or perhaps it was the added memory that gave it layers upon layers of deliciousness.
In short, faced with this long-awaited bowl of boiled egg, Chi Jun moved his hand, but hesitated in his heart.
But as it turns out, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
"Clang—"
As the bowl was overturned again, egg drop soup spilled all over the floor.
Xu Qingzhou frowned, and a different emotion finally surfaced in his eyes.
She stared at Chi Jun silently for a while, then expressionlessly lifted him up and shoved him heavily into the tattered cardboard box.
Chi Jun's buttocks were numb from the shock, and he couldn't help but grin. But the next moment, he caught sight of Xu Qingzhou's teary, red eyes, and his lips froze. He felt a strange tightness in his chest.
*
Xu Qingzhou tossed the fox back into the tattered cardboard box and didn't look at it again. He cleaned up the floor, then sat alone at the table and finished his dinner.
After all that commotion, it was almost dark outside.
Xu Qingzhou washed the pots and pans, grabbed his keys, and went out.
Autumn officially began a few days ago. Daytime temperatures were similar, but the evening breeze was noticeably cooler. Commuters crowded the roads, honking incessantly. Across the street in the alley, colorful vendors lined both sides of the road, selling everything from flatbread and chive pancakes to tofu and oden…
Xu Qingzhou stood on the street, gazing at the dazzling street scene.
She came out in anger, but now, standing on this bustling street, she felt a sense of confusion, as if she had nowhere to go and didn't know what to do.
"Excuse me, excuse me."
Suddenly, I heard an old man shouting from behind me.
Xu Qingzhou subconsciously moved to the side, turned around, and saw an old man in his fifties jump off his stall, hold the handlebars of the tricycle, and reverse the fried chicken strip stall under the corner street lamp.
The old man was very quick and efficient, finishing the preparations in no time. Seeing Xu Qingzhou still standing beside him out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but glance at her a few more times and asked:
"Little girl, would you like to buy some chicken strips?"
Xu Qingzhou paused for a moment, then shook his head.
Perhaps the stall owner thought she was standing too close and getting in his way while he was doing business.
She instinctively turned to leave, but then a clear, familiar child's voice came from her.
"elder sister!"
Xu Qingzhou looked up.
It was Sister Qin Jia who brought out the two twins.
"Have you eaten yet?" Xu Qinjia asked her.
Xu Qingzhou forced a smile and nodded.
"Looking to buy chicken strips?"
Xu Qingzhou shook his head.
"My two little ones have already eaten, but they insist on coming to buy chicken strips. I couldn't resist their pestering."
As she spoke, Xu Qinjia glanced at the stall owner who was lighting a fire not far away, winked at Xu Qingzhou, and whispered, "To be honest, I'm also a little craving. No matter how healthy the food at home is, you still have to eat some junk food to satisfy your cravings."
Although she is a mother of two, Xu Qinjia is only 25 years old.
Xu Qingzhou was amused by her playful manner and couldn't help but smile.
"Master, fry 10 yuan's worth of chicken strips."
"Okay."
The old man deftly weighed the chicken strips and put them into the oil. With the oil bubbling in the fryer, the aroma of the chicken strips wafted over.
Xu Qinjia turned around and glanced again at Xu Qingzhou, who was staring at the oil pan, seemingly lost in thought.
"Hey, you didn't bring the fox out?"
Thinking of the fox she was currently keeping locked up at home, Xu Qingzhou felt a slight embarrassment and shook her head.
"To be honest, your fox is really smart. I was stunned when I saw it sitting at the table eating like a human last time. You're so lucky to have found this precious fox."
yes.
She was so lucky to find a fox that was lively, intelligent, and intelligent, who could play with her and even eat at the table by itself.
Although it was a bit "naughty" tonight, even an adult like Sister Qin Jia can't help but want to try junk food outside after eating too much home-cooked meals. The fox was tired of eating the same monotonous dishes over and over again, so what's wrong with it throwing a little tantrum and wanting to eat something different?
Thinking of this, Xu Qingzhou sighed softly.
Xu Qinjia, who was next to her, suddenly nudged her arm gently: "You should have some too, their chicken strips are delicious."
Upon hearing this, the old man who was busy sprinkling powder behind the stall immediately chimed in, "Yes, no one who has ever eaten my chicken strips has ever said they're bad. Young lady, would you like some?"
Under the simultaneous gaze of several eyes, Xu Qingzhou pursed her lips shyly, then, with a slightly flushed face, raised her right hand to the old man and made a "five" gesture.
Five dollars? Okay!
*
After the chicken strips were fried, Xu Qingzhou returned to the compound with Xu Qinjia and her two daughters.
The distance from the chicken strip stall to the rental courtyard was about two hundred meters. While walking, the twins had already eaten most of the ten yuan worth of chicken strips, while Xu Qingzhou's portion of chicken strips was still clutched in his hand, without eating a single bite.
Upon reaching the second floor, they parted ways.
As Xu Qingzhou walked down the corridor to the door of the small taxi, a faint sense of apology lingered in his heart as he took out his key to open the door.
So much time has passed, the fox must be starving.
She really shouldn't have been so fierce to the fox.
The moment I pushed open the door and turned on the light.
The moment their gazes met precisely in mid-air, Xu Qingzhou was taken aback.
The fox was standing by the wall near the cupboard, looking extremely hungry. It was holding a yam with its skin scratched off in its paws and was munching on it with gusto.
But this flustered, red-faced state of eating froze the moment his eyes met Xu Qingzhou's.
A soft, muffled thud was heard.
The yam fell to the ground, and a long strand was pulled from the fox's mouth.
Silent, yet with an extremely strong presence.
"..."
"..."
Xu Qingzhou felt that he was probably possessed.
At that moment, she actually glimpsed an emotion called "awkwardness" on the fox's face. She couldn't help but reflect on whether she usually treated foxes like "children" too much, to the point that she would involuntarily imagine many things about foxes at such moments.
Whether it was just his imagination or not, Xu Qingzhou was infected by this "awkwardness".
She stood at the doorway, holding chicken strips in one hand and supporting herself on the door with the other, her face showing a sense of unease and awkwardness, as if she were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Just as she was silently considering whether to pretend she hadn't seen anything, close the door, go for a walk, and come back, the fox moved again.
As if it hadn't sensed anything, it calmly tore off the string of hairs from its mouth, calmly walked towards the cardboard box right under Xu Qingzhou's nose, and then leaped into the box, plopped down, and lay there with its eyes closed, motionless.
For some reason, seeing the fox "calmly playing dead," the embarrassment vanished instantly, replaced by—
Xu Qingzhou really wanted to laugh.
She tried her best to hold back, intending to leave for a while to let the fox digest on its own. But then she thought about how hungry it was and had even eaten yams. After hesitating for a moment, Xu Qingzhou still gritted her teeth and walked forward, squatting down in front of the fox.
A shadow suddenly fell in front of us.
Chi Jun's eyelids twitched involuntarily, but he still pretended to be dead and remained motionless.
Just now, he deeply understood the meaning of the saying, "When you're down on your luck, even drinking cold water can cause you to choke."
Actually, when Xu Qingzhou left after finishing his meal, he felt a little happy, but his happiness was short-lived, interrupted by the rumbling in his stomach.
Hunger? Chi Jun isn't afraid.
But he was afraid of low blood sugar.
Back when he was at Xu Meiling's house, he suffered from hypoglycemia three times in one month. He knew better than anyone how damaging hypoglycemia could be to his hard-won health. Just in case, he immediately ran around the house looking for something to eat.
Unfortunately, Xu Qingzhou is very stingy. He can't even bear to buy meat, so how could he possibly stock up on snacks at home?
Chi Jun searched frantically, but only found a bag of rice, two potatoes, a bunch of green vegetables, and a yam.
After weighing his options for a few seconds, Chi Jun started working on the yam.
While eating, he was still thankful that Xu Qingzhou wasn't there. Otherwise, seeing him spill three bowls of rice and now munching on yams like a starving ghost, Xu Qingzhou would probably be secretly gloating and laughing at him.
But before he could even take two bites, Xu Qingzhou caught him red-handed.
Right now, Chi Jun really wants to find a hole to crawl into.
*
In a quiet little house, Xu Qingzhou squatted down in front of the fox, opened the bag, and let the aroma of the fried chicken strips fill the fox's nose.
But after a while, the fox closed its eyes and remained motionless.
The feeling of "the fox being embarrassed" became even stronger.
Xu Qingzhou thought for a moment, then simply put the bag of chicken fillets on the ground and pretended to be busy. He went outside to boil two kettles of water, but as he walked around observing, he saw that the fox still didn't intend to touch the bag.
Xu Qingzhou sighed.
It seems the only option is to appease them.
She walked up to the cardboard box, squatted down, poked a chicken strip with a toothpick, and held it up to the fox's nose.
The aroma suddenly drew near.
The fox's nose twitched slightly.
He didn't even lift his eyelids.
Helpless, Xu Qingzhou simply touched the chicken strip to the fox's mouth.
Unexpectedly, the fox simply turned around and faced away from her with its rear end.
"..."
So stubborn, huh?
Xu Qingzhou then changed direction and continued to feed the chicken strips towards the fox's mouth.
Chi Jun changed his position again, stubbornly turning his back to her.
Turn it over again, change it again.
Turn it over again, change it again.
After repeating this several times, Chi Jun got annoyed, unaware that Xu Qingzhou, behind him, had another thought popping into her head: This butt looks really nice to rub...
Xu Qingzhou knew this thought was too inappropriate, but there was nothing she could do. The little fox's bottom was swaying back and forth in front of her, inexplicably funny, cute, and... tempting.
Xu Qingzhou pursed his lips, his fingers hesitating, stretching out and retracting, stretching out and retracting again, until finally he couldn't resist and gently poked the fox's buttocks.
Unexpectedly, this poke seemed to have triggered some kind of switch.
The fox suddenly jumped out of its den, growled fiercely at her, and without saying a word, stretched its neck, snatched the whole bag of chicken strips from her hand, took it back to its den, and began to eat it with a straight face.
Xu Qingzhou: "..."
Well... okay.
*
After this incident, Chi Jun's "mischief" plan has completely eliminated the "food" component.
It wasn't that he was afraid of hurting Xu Qingzhou's feelings; it was simply that he didn't want to risk low blood sugar again. Besides, the fact that Xu Qingzhou could swallow his anger and buy him a bag of fried chicken strips after he spilled three bowls of rice in a row precisely showed that this approach was not viable.
But it doesn't matter, there are plenty of ways to cause trouble.
Besides the ideas Chi Jun came up with himself, the male ghost also diligently offered him a bunch of bad suggestions.
Over the next few days, Chi Jun launched a new round of "creative offensives" against Xu Qingzhou, such as:
While Xu Qingzhou was sleeping, he suddenly jumped up and swept his tail across her face in a 360° spiral motion, leaving her covered in a mess. Then he jumped off the bed and ran away.
When Xu Qingzhou was studying, he would lie on the test paper and refuse to move no matter what. Even if you pulled him away by the tail, he would immediately lie back down, sticking to it like a dog skin plaster.
During the day, when Xu Qingzhou was walking, Chi Jun deliberately circled around her feet, almost tripping her. When he took a shower, he splashed water all over her and jumped onto the freshly washed sheets, leaving a bunch of black footprints. This forced Xu Qingzhou to change and wash the sheets every day, and chase after him to catch him. She even accidentally bumped her head on the corner of a table and got a bump.
Unfortunately, despite having many methods, the results were minimal after several days.
One day, Chi Jun hardened his heart and, while Xu Qingzhou was packing her schoolbag, rushed up and frantically rummaged through her summer homework. Not satisfied with that, he casually tossed the tattered notebook downstairs with a flourish.
The notebooks, torn to shreds like rags, fell one after another, landing with a "thud" in the muddy ground after the rain, splashing mud and water everywhere, their deaths gruesome.
Xu Qingzhou's expression was also very tragic.
But in the end, the tragedy did not translate into tangible anger as Chi Jun had hoped.
Xu Qingzhou was like a gentle, calm pool of water, only creating a faint ripple the moment a pebble was thrown in, before quickly and profoundly dissolving everything, as if nothing had happened.
Chi Jun: "..."
Does this person have no heart?
But soon, after observing, Chi Jun discovered that Xu Qingzhou had also changed somewhat.
For example, after Chi Jun acts up, she will express her concern and love for him with even more doting actions, as if in her eyes, all of Chi Jun's behavior is just a neglected child deliberately trying to gain attention.
Chi Jun: "..."
It would be better to have no heart at all.
*
As the days went by, Chi Jun's antics remained at a "bottleneck."
Xu Qingzhou will be starting school soon.
Thinking that once school starts, there will be even fewer opportunities to spend time alone with her, Chi Jun's mood has been as gloomy and depressed as the continuous rainy days outside.
He was almost considering the worst possible move—tearing up all of Xu Qingzhou's savings that he had sewn into the quilt. As he hesitated, he wondered if fate was favoring him or Xu Qingzhou, as it sent Chi Jun over.
That noon, Xu Qingzhou unusually bought a few chicken legs from the market. Before cooking, he picked up a chicken leg and teased Chi Jun.
Chi Jun was lying in the corridor, basking in the rare sunshine and feeling drowsy. When he looked up and saw Xu Qingzhou's smug little expression, he first snorted in his heart, then jumped up, snatched the chicken leg in his mouth with lightning speed, and ran away.
Xu Qingzhou was stunned. He only realized what was happening after the fox had darted five meters away, and then he quickly chased after it.
Actually, for a fox like Chi Jun who could already transform into human form, he had long lost interest in raw chicken. The reason he was running away with a chicken leg in his mouth was to annoy Xu Qingzhou.
Unexpectedly, just as he sprinted to the stairwell and was about to turn around and rush downstairs, a large wooden plank suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Chi Jun couldn't dodge in time and almost crashed into it.
The car slammed on the brakes and rolled twice on the ground before being stopped by a pair of feet.
Xu Qingzhou caught up at this moment.
She was afraid the fox would get sick from eating raw meat, so she picked up Chi Jun and tried to pull the chicken leg out of his mouth. Chi Jun barked and fiercely bit the chicken leg, refusing to give it up. He even deliberately swung the chicken leg at her face while still holding it in his mouth.
Xu Qingzhou was unable to dodge in time and was hit in the face several times by the chicken leg. Instinctively, he tilted his head back to avoid the chicken leg attack and tried harder to snatch the leg from the fox's mouth. However, the fox held on tightly, and the two struggled back and forth, and it looked like they were at a stalemate.
Just then, a "pfft" of laughter suddenly came from behind the wooden board.
Then a male voice came:
"You must be Xiao Xu?"
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