Chapter 1: What, My Mom Is a White Fox?

Chen Yan sat in the waiting hall of Jin Ling Railway Station, holding a backpack in his arms, staring blankly at the advertisement boards above the hall in a daze.

People came and went around him, travelers in a hurry; no one would notice this young man sitting on a chair, lost in thought.

Actually, this morning, Chen Yan had just resigned from his company—well, not exactly. To be precise, he hadn't survived the probation period and had simply packed up and left.

The autumn recruitment season for this year's graduates was exceptionally brutal, so although this job involved more work than a cow or horse and paid less than chicken feed, a few months ago, the freshly graduated Chen Yan had helplessly accepted it.

The probation period was three months, with half the salary.

Who would have thought that after enduring three months of beast-like life, fetching express deliveries and takeout for the department leader every day while doubling as a bag-carrying lackey, frequently working overtime and pulling all-nighters, and occasionally stepping in as the "scapegoat intern" whenever things went wrong in the department, he would discover that this leader wasn't even human.

Well, in today's workplace, it seems there aren't many leaders who can even be called human.

Here's what happened: this morning, Chen Yan had just gone downstairs at the company to buy coffee for the leader—an old woman who, to save a few yuan in delivery fees, often ordered others to fetch it in person.

Before returning to the office, Chen Yan received a call from someone in his home village, saying that Chen Yan's grandmother was ill and, if convenient, asking Chen Yan to return and check on her.

When Chen Yan asked the leader for leave, that old woman, while drinking the iced Americano Chen Yan had bought for her, impatiently said, "Oh, why get sick now and not earlier? Why pick the busiest time at the end of the month to fall ill?"

Those words caused Chen Yan, who had already endured three months of living like a cow and horse and three months of forced smiles, to explode directly.

That cup of takeout coffee he had personally bought for the old woman was snatched from her and splashed straight onto the old woman's head!

Then, Chen Yan turned around, walked out of the office, and returned to his own workstation.

The old woman chased out of the office and, in front of the dozen or so colleagues in the office, unleashed a torrent of curses at Chen Yan.

In full view of everyone, Chen Yan suddenly turned around, a shy and gentle smile appearing on his young face; without anger or heat, he politely replied with two sentences.

"Amanda, I really don't like women more than ten years older than me, so even if you promise me a promotion, I truly cannot accept you. I'm really sorry, ha~~"

As soon as those two words were spoken, more than a dozen colleagues in the department's eyes instantly lit up, immediately transforming into a crowd of gossip-eaters.

For a moment, looking at this handsome young intern, then at the thirty-eight-year-old middle-aged girl Amanda... one by one, their mouths and eyes gaped wide open, screaming "WTF!" in their hearts!

Hey hey hey! I heard Amanda's husband is actually the deputy general manager of the branch company!

WTF, this woman has some serious guts!

Among them, a few of the company's gossip-world celebrities had already thought up in their minds exactly who they would share this scoop with!

The old woman, furious and stamping her feet, had just said one sentence: "You're talking nonsense and slandering..."

Chen Yan had already bowed with a smile, then grabbed his bag and bolted; he left the company, immediately hailed a ride-hailing car, and headed straight for the railway station.

It wasn't some post-00s generation cleaning up the workplace; it was simply a young man who had been bullied until he could no longer endure it.

Now sitting in the waiting hall of the railway station, Chen Yan's mind didn't care at all about the company's bullshit; as for that middle-aged fairy named Amanda, he had stopped thinking about her entirely.

No good... listen to my Old Grandma's words, just go back to the countryside and inherit her legacy?

The grandmother in his hometown, the elderly person Chen Yan referred to as "my Old Grandma," had raised Chen Yan for twenty years, starting from when he was two years old.

To be precise, Chen Yan was picked up by the Old Grandma.

How he was picked up, or from where, the Old Grandma had never made clear over all these years.

Well, actually, there were too many versions, and the Old Grandma herself always ate the settings!

When Chen Yan asked at the age of six, the Old Grandma said she had found Chen Yan in a trash can outside the obstetrics and gynecology department of the county hospital.

At the age of eight, the Old Grandma's version was that she had once gone to a dilapidated temple on the mountain and found Chen Yan under a big tree behind the temple.

At the age of eleven, the Old Grandma's version changed again: on a night of wind and snow, a young, beautiful, and desperate woman, holding Chen Yan in a swaddling cloth, had begged at the Old Grandma's door, left the child and two hundred yuan, and then departed.

At the age of fifteen, the Old Grandma changed her story, saying that actually Chen Yan was someone she had rescued from a human trafficker.

At eighteen...

Well, the version told at eighteen was the most magical:

The Old Grandma said that on a night of wind and snow, a young, beautiful, and desperate woman, holding Chen Yan in a swaddling cloth, had begged at the Old Grandma's door...

Wait a minute! Isn't this version the same as the one from when he was eleven?

Don't rush; the Old Grandma added one final sentence.

"And then, that woman whooshed, turned into a snow-white fox, hopped three times and jumped twice, and burrowed into the snow pile, disappearing into the mountains."

Just ask you, isn't that amazing!!

Back then, eighteen-year-old Chen Yan, hearing this, was so angry his stomach hurt!

Turned into a white fox?

Why don't you say my mom turned into an Ultraman?!

`

Such a magical Old Grandma, of course, also had a profession that was extremely awesome, extremely powerful, and also extremely cool in the local area.

She was the most powerful...

Spirit Medium.

Yes, literally.

Spirit Medium.

When not busy, she would look at feng shui for people and select gravesites.

Or take a peach wood sword, burn a talisman, and exorcise evil spirits or break disasters.

If any family had a funeral, the Old Grandma could even go and wail at the mourning.

The kind where she would throw herself in front of the spirit hall, facing a room full of filial sons and virtuous grandchildren...

With a single howl, she could wail it out right in front of you!

That was truly tears streaming down with the voice!

No shame.

One wailing session, eighty yuan!

In the Old Grandma's words, this was called skill... no, wrong.

This is called: money never weighs you down!

Chen Yan didn't know how the Old Grandma charmed people; anyway, since he could remember, the villagers' evaluation of the Old Grandma was: This Old Grandma is quite a character!

A few months ago, after Chen Yan graduated from university, he once couldn't find a job, and the Old Grandma had called to tell Chen Yan to come home.

The meaning was to let Chen Yan inherit the Old Grandma's mantle.

Since he couldn't find a job that suited him in the big city, he might as well return to the countryside and become a future-filled...

Shaman!

Actually... at that time, Chen Yan had really considered it seriously.

No joke, okay.

Jobs are so hard to find now; I heard that for a monthly salary of four thousand during autumn recruitment, a whole bunch of 985 graduates are fighting crazily for it.

Chen Yan has self-awareness.

Apart from having a face comparable to a young Louis Koo and a peak Daniel Wu (in his own opinion).

A non-key undergraduate university really offers little competitiveness.

Actually, Chen Yan's personality is quite easygoing; he can accept whatever happens.

At most, there is a tiny bit of dark humor deep inside.

For example, when watching a drama to eat with, if he sees a certain character in the drama die...

He will definitely drag the progress bar back to see if the actor playing the dead person in the screen is secretly blinking or breathing.

In daily conduct, he also follows the principle of being kind to others—unless you step on his sore spot and push him to the brink.

The Old Grandma is Chen Yan's sore spot; she cannot be stepped on.

Twenty-two-year-old Chen Yan fought only once in all these years: when he was young, a group of half-grown children at the village entrance were playing around, and someone spoke shamelessly, saying that when the Old Grandma performed rituals, she wore colorful clothes with messy hair "like an old female ghost."

At that time, Chen Yan immediately got angry; usually a cheerful person, he picked up his fists and beat two boys half a head taller than him until they cried for their mothers and fathers, and one of them he even kicked into the river.

So, if the Old Grandma intends for Chen Yan to go back and be a charlatan, Chen Yan himself is not resistant.

However... going back to be a charlatan seems to have an additional condition.

I heard that once he returns, the village matchmaker will come to the door to introduce him to a blind date!

People in the countryside marry early; for a twenty-two-year-old man like Chen Yan, many have already become fathers, so it is normal for Chen Yan to be dragged to a blind date.

He has actually seen two, just during the summer vacation before.

One of them, who was considered the most good-looking, came with her father.

The girl's father looked with dark skin, a tiger's back and a bear's waist, broad shoulders and thick waist, truly a hero who could run horses on his arms!

Then looking at the girl...

Whoa~~! (in Boss Guo's tone)

She was carved from the same mold as her father!

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Just like that, a college graduate, working as a teacher without tenure at a certain primary school in the county, actually thought she was among the immortals.

She opened with a bride price of one hundred and eighty-eight thousand. Plus handing over future wages and adding her name to the house in the city.

At that time, Chen Yan just wanted to take his leave.

The matchmaker kept saying: Oh my, being a teacher is great! Two holidays a year, and later when you have children, you can educate your own children well yourself.

Children?

No thanks!

Looking at this person's appearance, Chen Yan simply could not generate any interest in going through the 【process of creating children】 with her.

This marriage, not even a dog would marry!

In the end, it was the Old Grandma who dragged Chen Yan home, pointing right at the matchmaker's nose, and scolding her like that!

Two and a half hours on the high-speed rail, then transferring to a one-hour long-distance bus, and finally walking three li.

Finally, when he walked to the familiar village entrance...

Walking into the familiar village road, looking at the small rural buildings on both sides, watching chickens and earth dogs running back and forth as if no one else existed.

Chen Yan suddenly felt a nervousness upon returning home.

Sigh... that superstitious Old Grandma, who always pretended to be a spirit...

How is she exactly?

She probably can't sit cross-legged and tell Chen Yan the story of Zhong Kui catching ghosts anymore, right?

She definitely can't use her full-throated voice to call souls and perform the shaman dance anymore, right?

What scene will I see?

An old person lying in bed, on the verge of death, with a face full of sickness, haggard and aged?

Walking into his own courtyard, Chen Yan couldn't help but slow his steps.

His eyes felt a bit hot.

Instantly, all the Old Grandma's kindness suddenly surged into his heart.

The Old Grandma's stir-fried pork with edamame, fanning away mosquitoes for him with a fan in summer... and when eating watermelon in summer, smilingly watching him gnaw down the sweetest piece in the middle...

His hand was already on the door of his own house, and his ears were buzzing—probably a hallucination.

Taking a deep breath, with tears about to flow out, Chen Yan gently pushed the door open.

And then...

He froze.

In his own main hall, on the wall facing the door, hung a New Year's picture bought last Spring Festival and still not torn down.

On the New Year's picture, a dragon son and dragon daughter with tiger-like heads held golden ingots, standing on either side, while in the center was the smiling portrait of the current dynasty's founding emperor...

Don't laugh; in the countryside, many New Year's pictures come with this standard setup.

Beside the main door lay a broken bamboo hat, and to the left sat half a sack of corn.

And in the middle...

A square table covered with a red tablecloth. Four elderly people were locked in an intense game!

In the seat of honor sat an Old Grandma, her face flushed with vitality, her silver hair piled high in a large bun at the back of her head, wearing cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles. In one hand she held a tobacco pipe, and in the other, an object. Her fingers rubbed the object back and forth.

Her eyes were half-closed, as if she were sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon.

Then, the object she held in her right hand was slammed onto the exact center of the table.

"Eight of Wans!"

She then pushed the tiles in front of her forward.

"Self-drawn! I win, I win!! Pay up! Don't run! Finally caught a big hand!"

The Old Grandma laughed so hard her teeth were all that showed.

Thud.

The bag in Chen Yan's hand dropped to the floor.

A serious illness?

Chen Yan's first reaction was: Am I being tricked?!

"Old Grandma, put an end to your magic!"

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【The first chapter of the new book is out!

Please give your support, new and old readers!

And thank you to all the old readers who have always indulged and spoiled me.

I'm not young anymore; I only have one or two more stories I want to write for you.

I won't be a nuisance to you for many more years.

Please collect and recommend.】

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