Chapter 1: May, But I Want a Coke

Xia Dong District, Zhangxizhen.

Mid-July.

"Qing, shove the pork into my mouth! Don't pity my delicate beauty—remember to add extra ice to the cola!"

Inside the four-story self-built house, Yu Yu Xueqing leaned against the kitchen cabinet, smiling as she replied to WeChat; steam carrying the aroma of meat rose from the soup pot on the gas stove.

On the non-slip mat before the kitchen door, a white fox, shoulder-high at just over twenty centimeters, rolled onto its round belly and wriggled its waist.

Its snow-white, fluffy tail swayed rhythmically with each twist of its waist.

"Come on, Qing! Don't suppress your inner craving for fluffy fox fur! Come! Bring your icy cola and wasabi-flavored chips to please An, and earn the fox!"

"I know you understand me! So, bring me a bottle of lime-flavored iced cola!"

The white fox rolled and thrashed on the kitchen floor, its wolfish and tigerish words dissolving into clear, melodic whimpers—like a skylark singing, or the joyful laughter of an innocent child.

An Sheng had cast the "Fox Seduction Technique" he'd learned from the musical notes days ago, attempting to tame his caretaker.

As a North Asian albino red fox, he was born already at the second-year level, ideally positioned at the peak of keyboard mastery.

But An Sheng was no ordinary fox—he clearly remembered his past life as a human, a female lead in Peking opera who'd just completed his life's journey before dying suddenly.

In his past life, An Sheng hadn't studied hard; after graduating from a third-rate university, he found no good job and resorted to "study hard, gamble everything," throwing himself into sales for a decade.

After years of struggle and favorable market conditions, he bought a house and upgraded his car in the big city, ready to enter emperor-mode and pick a girl to marry.

But after one drinking session ended and he fell asleep, he woke up reborn inside a fox's belly.

Life as a fox wasn't easy for An Sheng.

His fox father, illiterate, saw An Sheng's different fur color and fled that very night.

His fox mother, upon seeing him walk, vanished into the vast night mountains, just like his father.

After immense effort, An Sheng finally reached Zhangxizhen, a town steeped in Taoist and fox immortal culture, planning to emulate his past-life internet-famous wolf and beg for survival through cuteness.

Though egg yolk pies aren't healthy, they're just that delicious!

Even if you go a hundred steps back, egg yolk pies are still tastier than field mice, aren't they?

And An Sheng was truly fed up with those bamboo rats someone had released—each one fat and plump.

They didn't know what predators or fear were; they'd even bite foxes on sight.

"Ying ying ying—"

"Hungry. Want something tasty."

"Master~ Can I have something delicious, please?"

Amid the continuous whimpering from the white scarf-like fur, Yu Yu Xueqing finally tore her attention from her phone screen and looked toward the rolling fox.

Though the fox's whimpers sounded identical, in Yu Yu Xueqing's mind, they translated into entirely different meanings.

It was a natural ability she was born with—the power to grasp the general meaning behind animal sounds.

Though the superpower was useless, when Yu Yu Xueqing was in elementary school,

it had saved her from being chased by vicious dogs.

"Just hold on a bit! The meat's still boiling—eat it now and you'll burn your snout."

Yu Yu Xueqing scooped the meat out of the pot into a ceramic dog bowl to cool, then smiled warmly as she stroked the fox's round chin, opening her WeChat camera.

She posted a photo of herself driving her "private car" in the group chat of her four-person dorm.

Last year, the scenic spot in Xia Dong District had featured Arctic foxes, making the adorable foxes instantly famous across Dajiangnanbei.

Her three dorm mates had all gone—but Yu Yu Xueqing couldn't go last year due to family matters, and she'd envied her roommates who got to pet those fat foxes.

But today was different—she could pet a fox right at home!

And in the half-month since adopting Xiao An,

Yu Yu Xueqing discovered how many scammers there were online—they claimed foxes were ultimate shedders,

smelly due to scent glands, and that fox poop was bigger than human poop.

But after actually raising one, she realized:

Arctic foxes don't shed!

She'd checked thoroughly on her family and clothes—no white fox hairs anywhere!

And Xiao An had no odor at all—instead, he carried a faint hint of fruitwood honey fragrance, which she'd even Googled.

Google said fragrance and stench were the same origin—stench was merely fragrance concentrated to an extreme.

Most importantly, Xiao An went outside to the courtyard to relieve himself—no need for her to worry at all!

Who could have imagined such a treasure was picked up on the road?

Yu Yu Xueqing still remembered: half a month ago, as a third-year college student, she'd just finished summer break and returned home with her suitcase when she spotted Xiao An by the roadside.

He was beside a trash bin, under withered vines and an old tree, a starving Xiao An gnawing at a Spring Festival couplet.

When she saw him, his mouth held the character " An " from the phrase " wishing you peace and safety," his eyes full of pitiful pleading.

He might as well have written "pitiful, weak, hungry" right on his forehead.

Yu Yu Xueqing instantly recognized the fox eating garbage as an Arctic fox—also called a blue fox—one of the premium materials for luxury fur coats, hats, and scarves.

This Arctic fox was likely a top-tier fur source that had escaped from some breeding farm!

Just because they locked eyes across the sea of people, Yu Yu Xueqing decided she would save this nearly shattered creature.

After returning home, Yu Yu Xueqing, despite exhaustion, followed local custom and took two stainless steel bowls from the disinfecting cabinet to serve as food and water bowls for the Arctic fox.

The durability of the stainless steel bowls symbolized Yu Yu Xueqing's determination to raise him.

But the Arctic fox clearly resisted the stainless steel bowls, and his whimpers expressed fear.

The bowls must have triggered traumatic memories from his time in the breeding farm.

He'd lived in rusted stainless steel cages, eaten slop from stainless steel bowls, and been punished with solid stainless steel rods.

"Ceramic bowls feel safer—at least I won't have to worry about livestock or wild kids sending my food bowl flying during the New Year!"

Though he didn't get the iced cola, An Sheng still looked satisfied—he now had fresh meat.

As for how he knew that during the New Year, livestock would come to blow up dog bowls and kids would kick them—

because as a pup, he'd been bitten by dogs, and his greatest seasonal joy was kicking dog bowls.

Others used firecrackers to blow up dog bowls; An Sheng, as a pup, used torpedoes—thick as his arm—and continuous fireworks to bombard the bowls.

Now reborn as a fox of the canine family, he naturally had to avoid such idiotic beasts.

After all, no rural dog ever escaped the fate of its bowl being launched into the sky.

By choosing ceramic bowls, An Sheng could directly end this cycle of fate.

"Xiao An, I have to go out for a while—stay home and behave, okay?"

After cooking for An Sheng, Yu Yu Xueqing received a call from her father—he'd be heading to the tea mountain and wouldn't be back until after dinner.

So, after securing all doors and windows, she specifically reminded Xiao An, then mounted her electric bike and left.

But the farewell reminder triggered a strange change in An Sheng.

【Hope Xiao An stays quietly at home and doesn't go out—Yu Yu Xueqing, worried about the lock, fervently prayed to the Fox Elder.】

【Wish fulfilled: Xiao An stays at home (if you fix the lock first and also plug up the old dog hole, Yu Yu Xueqing will be overjoyed and reward you handsomely).】

"Fox Elder, learn to distinguish F from H!"

In Xia Dong region, the local dialect confuses "H" and "F"—in Zhangxizhen, "fox" is often mispronounced as "Lord Fuli."

An Sheng grumbled, then went back to eating heartily.

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(End of Chapter)