Chapter 162: Yu Xueqing

"Hey! Friend, mind letting me through? I always get bumped into when walking in the middle. Oh, and could you press the elevator button for the third floor, thanks!"

An Sheng walked out of the CEO's office and entered the sixth-floor office.

The staff of Hailinglong Club weren't at their desks—they had all rushed to the windows, staring toward the back parking lot, discussing the safe that had crashed down there.

That massive safe had landed with such force it triggered alarm sirens from the luxury cars in the parking lot.

It was impossible not to draw attention.

The onlookers weren't just on the sixth floor—even those getting deep-tissue massages on the fifth floor and playing cards on the fourth had all rushed to the windows, tiptoeing and stretching their necks to debate whether the power outage and tremor were connected.

The culprit behind the power outage and shaking now crouched by the elevator door, lifting his fox head to stare at the floor display, swishing his tail.

Beside him, another staff member waiting for the elevator, spotting the cute creature, crouched down and gently scratched under the little fox's chin.

"Little Fuli, whose fox are you? Want to come home with me?"

"Ying ying." An Sheng looked at the young woman beside him—clearly fresh out of college—and gave two polite, soft yips while lifting a paw to decline: "Sis, we don't fall for that."

"You ignored me when I asked you to press the elevator button, all glued to your phone. Now you won't even give me a single meat stick, yet you think you can just trick a fox into going home with you? What kind of fairy tale is this?"

"A little petting's fine, but don't rub too long—otherwise, Yu Xueqing will smell it on me when I get home."

The little fox politely declined the advances, skirting along the wall to avoid the frantic crowd gawking, and returned to his private room. Lao Chen and Yu Zhenghong, wearing noise-canceling headphones, slept like logs on the massage chairs, completely unaffected by the outside chaos.

Lao Chen had gone up the mountain to pick tea leaves, then returned to help process them; Yu Zhenghong had no experience at all, running back and forth between administrative departments, clocking over fifty thousand steps in daily walks.

"Ying ying ying!"

An Sheng leapt onto the table, trying to wake Yu Zhenghong and Lao Chen to head home—it was already past one, and if they waited any longer, no one would be around to bathe him tonight.

But then An Sheng happened to glance at Yu Zhenghong's phone screen on the table.

There were two missed calls, both from a WeChat contact labeled Chen Peipei, who had sent five or six consecutive messages.

The last WeChat message contained no substance—just a smiling emoji.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Someone's probably not sleeping tonight."

Out of concern for driving safety, the little fox placed his paw on the phone screen and swiped left, clearing the WeChat notifications and missed call alerts from the lock screen.

Old Lao's still driving later—he just woke up. He shouldn't see these messages now; they might distract him while driving.

"Ying ying ying!"

An Sheng removed Yu Zhenghong's headphones and patted Lao Lao, who was sleeping like a dead pig.

"Huh?"

Yu Zhenghong woke up, looking dazed, his eyes wandering blankly around the room as if suddenly remembering something.

"Man, expensive places really are different—I fell asleep without noticing." Yu Zhenghong picked up his phone, checked the time, hesitated slightly, then glanced at Fuli Lao Ye sitting on the table, and shook awake the sleeping Lao Chen: "Village Chief, time to head home."

In the past, Yu Zhenghong would've added another hour and kept sleeping the moment he saw the time.

But seeing Fuli Lao Ye eager to go home, he abandoned the idea of extending the session.

"Huh?"

Lao Chen woke up groggily, yawning: "Alright, let's go home! You can just stay at my place tonight—perfect chance to chat with the tea master about the tea leaves. We've started drying them now."

"Alright."

Yu Zhenghong packed up, took the little fox, and headed to the Hailinglong reception desk to settle the bill.

But as they stepped outside, both Lao Chen and Yu Zhenghong sensed something was off.

Everyone seemed to be talking about the power outage and tremors.

"Typhoon?"

Yu Zhenghong approached the front desk, handed over the VIP card Lao Chen had given him earlier, opened WeChat Pay, and prepared to pay before heading to Lao Chen's place for the night.

"Sir, your bill has been waived," the cashier said with a beaming smile, respectfully returning the VIP card and receipt to Yu Zhenghong.

"Four thousand yuan waived?"

Yu Zhenghong's expression turned strange. He subtly glanced at the VIP card and receipt in his hand, then at Lao Chen, who had already retreated far away as if avoiding suspicion, and silently whistled in his mind: "Our Village Chief really is something else."

"Whoever gave this VIP card to the Village Chief must be some big-shot businessman from Jiule City, or—cough cough cough—"

Yu Zhenghong tucked the receipt away, grabbed Fuli Lao Ye, and headed for the exit.

Lao Chen asked how much he'd paid, saying he'd transfer the amount via WeChat, including the fox's share.

Yu Zhenghong waved his hands frantically and quietly told Lao Chen about the free bill thanks to the VIP card.

Lao Chen froze, his face full of question marks.

Waived? A VIP discount card could waive the entire bill? Something's off here.

Are you sure this isn't just some favor-trading nonsense?

Yu Zhenghong pulled out the receipt—the line across it clearly showed all charges as zero yuan.

…………

Yu Zhenghong drove his pickup truck from the city back to Zhangxizhen.

Seeing the second-floor lights still on at home, he didn't go in. He set the little fox down in the courtyard, watched him slip through the window gap, then closed the door and took Lao Chen home, staying overnight at his place.

"Ying ying?"

An Sheng returned to his room and immediately saw Yu Xueqing lying on her side, her phone screen lit up, playing a course on traffic generation and how to avoid bans and forbidden keywords.

Yu Xueqing had fallen asleep watching the online class. An Sheng quietly climbed onto the bed, paused the video, turned off the bright screen, and turned to leave.

"Pity… Yu Xueqing's asleep. Otherwise, I'd have loved to chat with her, venting about Hailinglong's insane prices and ridiculous operations."

"Whoever pets a fox and then makes the fox pay for it? Am I begging on my knees now?"

Seeing Yu Xueqing asleep, An Sheng dashed upstairs, determined to ask Mo Yiqing for a favor—he could move his paws nimbly now, but he absolutely didn't want to sit in the bathroom and painstakingly comb through every strand of fur. He wanted Mo Yiqing to bathe him.

As for embarrassment—he had zero psychological burden about it.

You want to pet your fox whenever you're home, but you don't want to wash it clean? Where's the logic? Come out and bathe me already!

"Ying ying ying!"

An Sheng yipped loudly outside Mo Yiqing's temporary gym room.

"Huh?"

The lock clicked open. Mo Yiqing, dressed in a black lace home set, her skin flushed, her pale legs glistening with dewy sweat, opened the bedroom door, crouched down in confusion, and stared at the little fox—who'd returned home far earlier than usual.

Mo Yiqing, still steaming with heat, extended her damp arm and smiled:

"What? Little fox, you want to work out too?"

(End of Chapter)