Chapter 6
For Xu Qingzhou, this was an offer he had been eagerly anticipating.
If you had brought it up the day before, she would probably have gratefully agreed immediately.
However, after the incident at the market that morning, when Xu Qingzhou heard these words, it was as if some alarm bell had suddenly rung in her heart.
This premonition was inexplicable, yet hard to ignore.
So much so that just looking into Zhang Pengfei's eyes brought back that feeling of panic.
Xu Qingzhou shook her head: "Thank you, but no need."
Zhang Pengfei was unaware that Xu Qingzhou had already harbored this thought, but was now wary of him and therefore hadn't considered it. He assumed Xu Qingzhou was just being shy, and quickly followed up with more persuasion:
"Oh, it's alright. Anyway, our whole family loves this fox. You don't have to worry about it during the day when it's at our house. Our Niu Niu can even play with it. I'm not kidding you."
"It doesn't have to be kept indoors all day, which is good for the fox's physical and mental health."
"You can pick it up after school in the evening, it won't interfere with your studies at all."
To persuade Xu Qingzhou to agree, Zhang Pengfei listed several benefits of having the fox fostered at his home, from the fox's physical and mental health to reducing Xu Qingzhou's burden, displaying exceptional enthusiasm.
However, he didn't know that for someone like Xu Qingzhou who rarely felt kindness, extraordinary enthusiasm wouldn't reassure them; instead, it would only make them more suspicious of potential traps and more vigilant.
—Moreover, the incident at the market this morning is still fresh in my mind.
Xu Qingzhou smiled and refused again:
Thank you, but you really don't need to.
Zhang Pengfei still refused to give up.
He went on and on, but the more he talked, the more inexplicably flustered Xu Qingzhou felt. Even Zhang Pengfei's face seemed slick and cunning in his eyes, as if he were plotting something.
Xu Qingzhou refused for the third time.
After being rejected repeatedly, Zhang Pengfei grew anxious. Words he shouldn't have uttered at this moment slipped out without thinking: "Hey, if you don't trust me, you should at least trust your sister Qin Jia, right? She's so good to you—"
This time, Xu Qingzhou didn't write anything. Instead, he shook his head, turned around, went back to the table, and continued writing.
Seeing that she clearly didn't want to talk to him anymore, Zhang Pengfei felt a little embarrassed.
He opened and closed his mouth several times, finally muttering unhappily:
"I'm doing this for your own good, why are you treating me like a thief?"
Xu Qingzhou paused, pen in hand, without speaking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhang Pengfei turn and walk away with the fruit, muttering to himself, seemingly still expressing his dissatisfaction with her.
She made no further response.
He stopped writing only after everyone had completely gone far away, and looked thoughtfully at the fox huddled in the cardboard box.
A few minutes later, the soft sound of a pen being gently placed on the table rang out.
Xu Qingzhou stood up, went to the bedside to change her shoes, and took her keys.
As she was leaving, she turned to look at Chi Jun, seemingly hesitating whether to take the fox with her, but in the end, she closed the door and locked it herself.
As she turned to leave, she seemed uneasy and tugged at the lock a few more times to make sure it was securely locked before putting away the key and departing.
Chi Jun had no idea what Xu Qingzhou was going to do when she went out at this time.
He doesn't have time to care about these things right now.
At that moment, all he could think about was Zhang Pengfei's eager face.
Actually, when Zhang Pengfei was spouting his theory about foster care, Chi Jun really wanted to rush up and slap him across the face to shut him up, but he held back because he knew he would have to rely on him in the future and didn't want to cut off his own escape route.
If they had just waited two more days for Xu Qingzhou to start school, everything would have been possible. But Zhang Pengfei was so impatient that he couldn't help but offer to foster the child even when he was already suspected.
His actions made the already murky water even murkyer.
Chi Jun was a little annoyed.
Now he can only hope that Xu Qingzhou will be too busy to care about him after school starts, and that he can then play the victim and Zhang Pengfei will shamelessly try to maintain their relationship. Perhaps then there will still be room for maneuver.
It's okay.
They're all minor matters.
Chi Jun closed his eyes to comfort himself:
At worst, we can wait for Zhang Pengfei to become desperate and then steal from him; that would be more straightforward. If that guy really doesn't have the guts, he can just come to us himself, which isn't out of the question either.
After considering this possible escape route in his mind several times, Chi Jun finally calmed down.
Unexpectedly, this peace lasted for less than forty minutes before Xu Qingzhou returned.
She wasn't alone; two workers in dark blue overalls were following behind her.
The two workers carried several stainless steel objects of various sizes and worked vigorously by the door and windows. Half an hour later, they left behind several cold, hard security doors and windows with gaps so narrow that Chi Jun couldn't even squeeze through.
Chi Jun: "..."
He suddenly began to regret not slapping Zhang Pengfei a few times back then.
*
Xu Qingzhou's move was a decisive blow, cutting off Chi Jun's escape route.
Chi Jun was so angry that he almost couldn't eat dinner that night. He was also very uncooperative when taking a bath. He not only splashed water all over Xu Qingzhou's face, but also rolled around on the floor several times, getting water all over the floor, and then jumped onto the bed sheet and rubbed himself all over.
This behavior can be interpreted as: impotent rage.
But it's not just about venting anger.
After all, there was no hope for Zhang Pengfei at the moment, so Chi Jun could only look for a better option while returning to his old ways—causing trouble.
What if, before finding another way, the effect of his antics accumulates to a certain value, and Xu Qingzhou, already overwhelmed by her studies after the start of the semester, gets so angry that she grabs him by the tail and throws him out, telling him to get lost?
Anything is possible.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and on August 15th, Xu Qingzhou started school.
Chi Jun's understanding of the concept of "senior year of high school" in the human world came entirely from snippets of conversation between Xu Meiling and Zhang Pengfei, so he only had a vague impression of it—it was exhausting.
Now that Xu Qingzhou has officially entered his senior year of high school, this vague concept has quickly become clear and tangible as Xu Qingzhou's pace of life becomes increasingly intense.
Xu Qingzhou gets up at five o'clock every morning to make breakfast, and also prepares lunch for the fox and her at school. She gets home at six-thirty in the evening, puts down her schoolbag and immediately starts making dinner. By the time she finishes washing up, it's at least seven-thirty.
After that, she boiled water to bathe the fox, then went downstairs to bathe herself, and came back to wash and change her clothes.
She also had to juggle other chores from time to time, and by the time she finished everything, it was almost nine o'clock.
At this time, Chi Jun is usually already bored and lying in his bed, trying to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, Xu Qingzhou's night of studying for exams had just begun.
Chi Jun often woke up in the middle of the night to find Xu Qingzhou sitting at her small desk, writing furiously. Occasionally, she would look up at him, her eyes bloodshot from staying up all night. Sometimes, he would wake up to find her at the small dining table, diligently rolling out dough and making steamed buns.
Then I glanced at the clock on the wall—1:55 a.m.
The dough needs to be proofed a second time, and the buns are steamed one batch at a time.
Chi Jun had no idea how late she would have to stay up. He was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyelids open. As he buried his head to continue sleeping, only one thought vaguely popped into his mind:
This miserable Chengdu made him almost too heartless to even cause trouble.
On the contrary, Zhang Pengfei was persistent. Not only did he shamelessly ignore the "anti-theft iron door" that was obviously guarding against him, but he also took advantage of the little time Xu Qingzhou was at home each day to visit him, ask where to pay the water and electricity bills, borrow some daily necessities, and occasionally send Xu Qingzhou some buns and dumplings in Xu Qinjia's name.
When Xu Qingzhou was with him, she behaved politely and appropriately, with a smile on her face, answering his questions one by one and granting his requests.
She politely declined all the gifts Zhang Pengfei sent.
If she really couldn't refuse, she wouldn't just accept it. After finishing her homework late at night when everyone was sound asleep, she would carefully and quietly put the things back at Zhang Pengfei's doorstep, untouched.
In Chi Jun's eyes, Xu Qingzhou's attitude was already very clear.
He had long since given up hope on Zhang Pengfei, but with the thought that "doing something is better than doing nothing, and in case we stumble upon something by chance," he didn't bother with him and let him try anything as a last resort.
But as it turns out, without that luck, a dead horse is destined to remain a dead horse.
Zhang Pengfei is not a patient or mild-tempered person. After repeatedly hitting a wall, his patience finally ran out, and because he felt his self-esteem had been trampled on, his anger began to spiral out of control.
With the debt repayment date fast approaching, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and, on a Saturday, stopped Xu Qingzhou, who had just returned from grocery shopping, on the road behind the compound.
"Xiao Xu, why don't you sell the fox to me?"
He got straight to the point, and the smile he was putting on was already stiffening as he was about to give way.
Xu Qingzhou didn't understand why Zhang Pengfei kept harping on the topic of foxes, and now he even proposed to buy them.
She instinctively didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she shook her head, picked up the groceries, and walked past Zhang Pengfei.
Zhang Pengfei turned around and chased after Xu Qingzhou, reaching out to pull him up.
Xu Qingzhou paused and looked at him.
Zhang Pengfei quickly let go, but didn't stop talking.
"Xiao Xu, don't be so quick to refuse. Listen to me. My family really likes this fox, so I was thinking of buying it."
“I know you might be reluctant, but you’re already so busy with your own situation, how could you possibly have time to take care of it? I’m doing this for my own sake, but also for your own good.”
Xu Qingzhou shook his head again and quickened his pace.
Seeing that she didn't seem to want to listen at all, Zhang Pengfei had no choice but to skip the "emotional appeal" step and try to persuade Xu Qingzhou directly with the price.
"Eight hundred! Is eight hundred okay?"
He reached out and blocked Xu Qingzhou's way: "This is enough for you to pay a year's rent, Xiao Xu."
The two of them happened to be at the corner of the stairs leading from the first floor to the second floor. With him blocking their way, Xu Qingzhou could only turn to look at him.
The man stared at her with his mouth slightly open, his eyes revealing an indescribable urgency and despair.
This emotion came straight from the bottom of my heart, it didn't seem like it was faked.
Xu Qingzhou couldn't help but feel a pang of pity, but as the fox was her only companion, she really didn't want to sell it, and would never sell it.
With a sigh, Xu Qingzhou took out paper and pen and wrote:
Sorry, I'm really not selling, regardless of the price.
After writing that sentence, she didn't look at Zhang Pengfei again and turned to continue walking up the stairs. Zhang Pengfei, however, seemed not to understand what she had written on the paper and continued to press her for an answer.
"Xiao Xu, are you not satisfied with this price? If not, we can discuss it further."
"How about this, a thousand yuan?"
"This price is really not low. You can't ask for too much, Xiao Xu. We're neighbors, we see each other all the time!"
...
"Thirteen thousand! Thirteen thousand it is!"
Xu Qingzhou ignored him and walked straight to the rented room.
Seeing her take out her keys to open the door, Zhang Pengfei also became anxious. He tried hard to suppress his anger, and his voice unconsciously carried a hint of gritted teeth:
"Eighteen thousand, eighteen thousand! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely no more than that, this is the highest price I've offered."
"I'm not trying to be mean, but for that price, I could buy a brand new fox online. A young lady like you shouldn't be so greedy. Besides, you found this fox; you don't even know what breed it is. It's not worth much anyway..."
He had previously said that the fox was too clever and couldn't be bought for that price when someone quoted him 2,000 at the market, but now he says that 1,800 is the highest price and the fox isn't worth much.
Xu Qingzhou wasn't interested in the price; he just found Zhang Pengfei's behavior strange and his speech unpleasant.
She stood inside the door, her gaze fixed straight on Zhang Pengfei.
The instant their eyes met, Zhang Pengfei thought things had taken a turn for the better, his expression changed instantly, and his eyes lit up. But the next second, Xu Qingzhou lowered his head and quickly wrote a line on the paper—
You can buy foxes online.
This statement is nine parts sincere advice and one part deliberate retort out of displeasure.
However, these words, when seen by Zhang Pengfei, who felt that his self-esteem had been trampled to pieces by Xu Qingzhou, instantly became a "perfect retort."
His smile froze. He stared at Xu Qingzhou for a few seconds, then suddenly kicked the door hard.
"Bang!"
Xu Qingzhou was startled and dropped the key in his hand to the ground.
Fortunately, the security door was already locked. She quickly grabbed the key and locked the wooden door from the inside.
Zhang Pengfei kicked the door again, and Xu Qingzhou's fingers went numb from the impact. She quickly took two steps back, only to hear the man's furious curses coming through the door.
Filled with hatred and malice, as if he wanted to pounce on her and tear her to pieces—
"Damn it, you're asking for it! Haven't I been giving you face?!"
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