Chapter 174: Tear! Tear It All Apart!

"Xiao'an, come here! I'm giving you your salary!"

When Yu Zhenghong returned from the meeting, Yu Xueqing received a thousand yuan in cash from her parents via WeChat transfer, then shouted upstairs.

Under the watchful eyes of her parents, Mo Yiqing, and the livestream audience, Yu Xueqing wore a solemn expression and, in front of An Sheng, split his salary: five hundred yuan for next month's meal allowance, the other five hundred yuan deposited into the piggy bank.

【Ding! Host, please comply with livestream regulations: do not display large amounts of cash to show off wealth. You have violated livestream rules. Now】

As Yu Xueqing settled the bill for the little fox, an AI moderation violation notice suddenly popped up on the livestream screen—the channel was banned again.

But this time, before the notice displayed any stream-cut penalty or ban, the violation alert vanished on its own.

Yu Xueqing stared blankly at the livestream, then at the piggy bank in her hand.

"So am I allowed to show it or not?"

【You can show it! But only a small amount—otherwise, you risk being flagged for wealth display.】

Across the livestream chat, the top donor, Su Mou, sent a barrage of car emojis, and two sports cars flashed across the screen.

Then two more sports cars flashed across the chat.

【Little fox is so cute! The kid's so thin, you couldn't even weigh him on a scale. Buy him some good food! If he keeps starving, I'm worried he'll start biting people.】

Su Mou's chat message, accompanied by car donations, slowly drifted across the screen.

Seeing the top donor's gifts, Yu Xueqing raised an eyebrow.

In her livestream, this top donor was an extremely odd person.

Every time she streamed, he sent two sports cars—never asked for any WeChat or QQ number—his only request: feed the little fox some good meals!

The top donor is a fox fanatic. Hmm.

While Yu Xueqing livestreamed with the little fox, as usual, she triggered another bizarre stream-cut keyword.

But this time, the livestream was stubbornly stable—no matter how many stream-cut notices popped up, the screen never went black, holding firm like a god who'd swallowed two tablets of Sildenafil.

Someone powerful must be pulling strings behind the scenes.

An Sheng thought for a moment, glanced at Su Mou's ID, and suspected Su Qiyuan and Bai Tao had done something.

Yu Xueqing gave a strange look at the little fox, who was now flicking his tail wildly in the livestream and boasting to the audience.

"Something feels off today."

………………

Since Yu Zhenghong and Chen Peipei were sleeping at the old house, An Sheng didn't go out shopping, and Mo Yiqing didn't sneak upstairs to admire the view alone—the three of them, An Sheng, Aqing, and Mo Yiqing, went to bed early and quietly.

3: 0 a. .

A knock came at Yu Xueqing's door; the two people and the fox inside woke up.

Aqing, experienced, called out: "Coming!"

An Sheng, as usual, got up from bed; only Mo Yiqing still looked dazed.

"Mo Mo, get up quick! We're going to offer incense—if we're late, we'll have to study geometric distribution!"

Yu Xueqing rose from bed and hurriedly tugged at Mo Yiqing, who wasn't fully awake.

Moments after the knocking stopped, firecrackers erupted all along the streets and alleys; flames and smoke rose from the village, forming layers of mist.

Yu Xueqing covered her own ears and then covered An Sheng's.

Yu Zhenghong lit the firecrackers hanging in the courtyard.

The explosions and white smoke spread into the first-floor rooms.

"Peipei, Aqing, hurry up! I'm heading to the ancestral hall first!"

After setting off the firecrackers, Yu Zhenghong ran straight toward the ancestral hall without looking back, eager to claim the first incense.

"So, what's going on?" Mo Yiqing yawned widely and asked Aqing.

"It's a bit hard to explain—think of it as our Changxizhen's unique KPI: whoever reaches the ancestral hall first gets to participate in the deity invocation."

Yu Xueqing paused, then Chen Peipei added: "It's not that mystical. Simply put, besides welcoming the deity, the real point is to show yourself to the village elders and wealthy hometown folks—someday, you might need their help."

"Hurry up and put on your shoes—we don't need to rush, but being late is uncomfortable."

"Aren't you joining?" Mo Yiqing glanced at Aqing curiously. "Shouldn't all local villagers be able to join this event?"

Hearing this, Yu Xueqing's expression stiffened slightly. She politely waved her hand: "Women can technically join, but we usually don't. Or rather, we join after the deity welcoming ends."

"If we push in, our milk foam would get crushed."

"Milk foam?"

Mo Yiqing, from Chancheng, had similar customs in her hometown but had never witnessed such a deity welcoming—so the phrase "milk foam crushed" confused her.

"The deity welcoming isn't even worth watching—the real show is when the ancestral teams from different villages collide." The little fox winked at Mo Yiqing and made a soft cooing sound.

Soon after, Mo Yiqing understood why Aqing said the deity welcoming wasn't suitable for women.

Throughout the village, strong young men dressed in uniform attire stood in the ancestral hall, lifting the official deity statues onto sedan chairs—eight men per group, carrying hundreds of pounds of statues, drenched in firecracker sparks and smoke, racing swiftly through the streets like morning mist.

"Fuli Master, onto the sedan! No time to explain now!"

An Sheng, carried by Aqing, slowly arrived at the ancestral hall with everyone else.

But before An Sheng could even reach the prepared banquet table to sip a bowl of hot soup,

Old Chen rushed over, whispered two words to Chen Peipei and Aqing, then snatched up An Sheng and ran out.

With Yu Xueqing's face full of confusion, Old Chen tossed the little fox onto a sedan chair, and the villagers—including Yu Zhenghong—lifted the fox and ran.

"Phew! Just made it."

Old Chen wiped sweat from his brow and sighed in relief.

"Village chief?"

Yu Xueqing stared at Old Chen, baffled.

"Haha…" Old Chen chuckled awkwardly. "Remember those naughty kids? Back then, Fuli Master got rewarded for reporting them and sat on the deity platform. I thought that was the end of it."

"But the village elders said Fuli Master had merit and spirit—he can't just be left like that. He must be worshipped as a deity."

If it were any other animal, Old Chen would've scoffed and dismissed it outright.

But if it was Fuli Master, Old Chen's confidence wavered when he tried to object.

After all, other animals having spirit just meant they were a bit smarter and more human-like.

But Fuli Master was a real three-tailed fox—three fluffy tails that haunted Old Chen's dreams, showing the fox riding on people's heads, wielding a Gatling gun, shouting "Giddyup! Giddyup! Giddyup!"

Since Old Chen didn't object strongly enough, the village elders officially decided it.

"This won't do! There'll be fighting soon!" Yu Xueqing gasped in alarm, dumped her phone and keys into her mother's hands, and sprinted after them to protect her little fox—afraid he'd be launched into the sky by another village's procession.

"I'm going to watch too!"

Mo Yiqing raised her phone, ready to record today's events and share them with her friends.

………………

"Giddyup! Smash into them!"

Sitting on the sedan chair, gripping the handles, An Sheng grinned happily, cooing to himself.

"If we lose, it's fine! Fuli Master's got a stick! I'll give you backup—guaranteeing that whoever gets hit by the stick becomes a grandchild! We'll scatter those outsiders!"

(End of Chapter)