Chapter 39: Qing’s Second Bloom

"Hey! Xiao An—"

Just as he turned over on the sofa, intending to continue his nap, Ansheng suddenly felt a jolt to his rear, sending ripples through his fluffy fox fur.

Dazed, Ansheng lifted his head and looked up at Yu Xueqing, who was sitting in front of the sofa, having just swatted his little bottom.

*Ah Qing... what's wrong?*

"Where did you run off to last night?"

Yu Xueqing lifted her shirt and waved it in front of Ansheng. Her pajamas were simple—just a plain, loose-fitting cotton T-shirt and a pair of matching anti-exposure shorts. But now, the plain fabric was covered in tiny fox paw prints.

The beige garment was dotted with yellow mud-caked plum blossom prints, especially around the chest and collar area. Yu Xueqing glared at Ansheng, looking thoroughly annoyed.

Due to the tea plantation economy in Changxi Town, the roads had been paved with concrete, and more recently, asphalt. If Xiao An had been playing anywhere near the house, it would have been impossible for him to end up with such muddy paws.

"Ying?"

Ansheng tilted his head, letting out a confused, sleepy whimper.

"Hmph! Don't think you can get away with just acting cute! The fox's crimes must be punished by all!"

With a fierce expression, Yu Xueqing scooped up the fox and headed to the bathroom. She placed him in a red basin, lathered him with shower gel, and began to scrub. She was particularly meticulous about cleaning the mud out from between his tiny toe beans.

"Ying, ying, ying—"

Ansheng wore a look of pure bliss, enjoying the complimentary massage service provided by Ah Qing.

Once the "imported goods" were squeaky clean, Yu Xueqing gave a triumphant huff, pushed Ansheng out of the bathroom, and told him to go dry off by himself. No creature with fur likes taking a bath. Yu Xueqing had scrubbed the fox vigorously, trusting that Xiao An would learn his lesson and remember today the next time he felt like playing in the mud.

After washing the little fox, Yu Xueqing took a shower herself. Once she had scrubbed away the dirt and grime, she patted the fox’s head, kissed his forehead, and instructed him to keep a close watch on the house before heading out to purchase the day's groceries.

"Ying—"

Ansheng crouched in the courtyard under the sun, lazily yawning while letting his high-quality fox fur air-dry.

"Sleep at two, wake at eight; we'll be drinking rice porridge in the ICU together," he muttered with a long yawn. Clearly, his circadian rhythm was a mess, leaving him a bit drowsy.

He usually slept at three and woke at eleven; being woken up by Yu Xueqing for a bath had left him severely sleep-deprived. Still, since he was already awake, he didn't return to the sofa.

Ansheng trotted back inside, whimpering, and grabbed an empty cola bottle. After filling it with water at the courtyard faucet, he dragged it over to a parched flower bed. He approached a sealed-up dog hole and looked at the only green sprout growing in the dry soil.

Ansheng poured half the bottle over the sprout, then, looking quite satisfied, spread his legs and took a leak on it. After finishing his morning relief, he stepped back a bit and poured the remaining half of the water onto the sprout.

While animal urine contains nutrients beneficial to plants, it cannot be applied directly, especially to young seedlings, as it can cause "fertilizer burn" and kill the plant. Organic fertilizer requires fermentation before it can be applied. Of course, Ansheng wouldn't dare keep fermentation tools in Ah Qing’s house. If she discovered them and started thinking of him as a "dirty little fox," he feared a furious Ah Qing might use the fertilizing scoop to bash his head in.

Composting at home was out of the question, but he couldn't bear to let this sprout wither. Having farmed in his past life, he knew that if composting wasn't an option, organic fertilizer could be diluted with water or mixed with soil to prevent burning or altering the soil's pH.

Mixing urine with soil... that wasn't realistic. Diluting it with water was much better.

Once he finished watering the sprout, his fur was nearly dry. The fox strolled back into the house and slipped into Yu Xueqing’s room to browse on his phone. Ah Qing had many phones, and as a fox, Ansheng had been assigned one to watch *Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf*. Ah Qing hoped that a fox living in the city could still experience the pastoral life.

However, Ansheng usually didn't watch *Pleasant Goat*. He preferred chatting and posturing as a "degenerate" in his Penguin groups, occasionally opening small windows to watch movie recaps.

*National Can't Fly (Ansheng’s ID): [Please, I need the links to this month's new anime... extreme thirst.jpg]*

*My Tiga is in Xiabei: [Show us yours.]*

*Ferocious Sphincter Clamping the Heartless: [Show us yours.]*

*National Can't Fly: [???]*

This was an agricultural forum group. Ansheng had infiltrated it disguised as a degenerate to brag and act cool. For some reason, after a week, the group members unanimously decided that in reality, Ansheng must be a fair-skinned, beautiful person with long legs—thus, he became the group mascot.

There were no lewd pictures to be found. If asked, he’d just reply with "KKP" (show us yours). Even after Ansheng posted a selfie to prove his innocence, the group members kept murmuring that his emojis were so cute he must be a rugged, foot-picking man in real life.

...

As time passed, Yu Xueqing stayed in her room, while Ansheng watched *Pleasant Goat* with great enthusiasm. When Yu Xueqing wasn't around, he’d open TikTok to watch "seductive fox" videos, learning skills sentence by sentence.

"Xiao An, stop watching *Pleasant Goat*. You can't eat the little fat sheep in there anyway."

Yu Xueqing scooped Ansheng up, pressed him against her cheek, and rubbed her face against the fox's tummy, taking a deep breath of his "vitality" before heading off to start her livestream.

"Come on! Let’s go to the living room and turn on the AC."

"Ying, ying, ying?"

Ansheng looked at Yu Xueqing, puzzled as to why she was dragging him along for her livestream sales. Today was only her second day, and her sales pitch was painfully clumsy. Yu Zhenghong had even messaged her last night, telling her to practice for a few more days to get a feel for the rhythm. He promised to drop some "TikTok Number Ones" later to boost her traffic and get her some exposure.

"Alright!"

Yu Xueqing sat at the spot cleared off in the dining room, looking at her 60,000-yuan broadcasting equipment. She looked at the livestream room, which currently had zero viewers, with full confidence: "Today is also a day full of hope! Ah Qing’s sales are bound to explode!"

"So... Ah Qing, is this why you put me under the table?"

Ansheng sat crouched under the table, his body pinned between Yu Xueqing’s legs. His fluffy tail happened to cover her feet.

"Ying, ying, ying?"

*Master~ Is this part of the hunt?*

*Master~ Do you want me to keep watch and guard the perimeter for you while you go to the bathroom?*