So It Turns Out You’re a Fox Spirit (GL) - Chapter 24
Le Xiaoyao’s key chain dropped to the floor from her palm. She had originally wanted to give Huang Chenchen a surprise, but unexpectedly, she was surprised by her instead. She told her to go apologize to President Xu, so how did it turn out like this?!
Huang Chenchen got up in a fluster, feeling utterly mortified. Where would she put her face in the future? Le Xiaoyao would mock her for this forever! In the end, it was Xu Xuan who was the calm one. She sat up composedly and gently said, “Don’t call me President Xu after work.”
What is differential treatment? Xu Xuan, you two-faced woman! You act harmless in front of outsiders… Huang Chenchen swallowed the pineapple in her hand in one gulp, staring angrily at Xu Xuan’s back. Suddenly, she felt something was wrong. Since when did she become her “insider”…
Le Xiaoyao was also embarrassed. If she didn’t call her President Xu, what should she call her? Should she call her… Sister Xu? It felt too strange; President Xu was still more natural.
“Uh… President Xu, it’s time for dinner…” Huang Chenchen’s formerly “submissive” posture had somewhat lessened, but it still didn’t fit her usual fiery style.
Xu Xuan looked at Le Xiaoyao and said, “Then shall we go eat together?”
Le Xiaoyao naturally didn’t want to get involved in this strange situation and smiled as she shook her head to refuse, “Um… I just ate, you don’t need to mind me…”
Huang Chenchen actually wanted Le Xiaoyao to go. For one thing, her wallet was empty, so Le Xiaoyao could treat them. For another, if she was there, Xu Xuan would restrain herself a lot and wouldn’t boss her around like a servant!
“In that case, Big Pineapple, let’s go!”
Big Pineapple? Le Xiaoyao almost burst out laughing, especially seeing Big Sister Huang’s timid and subservient look. Finally, someone could subdue this little demon!
When Huang Chenchen reached the doorway, Le Xiaoyao mouthed the words, “What the hell?”
Big Sister Huang made a crying face and also mouthed her answer: “I’ll tell you when I get back.”
…
However, that night, Big Sister Huang didn’t return all night. Le Xiaoyao called to ask her, and she said she was with President Xu. It was fine that she didn’t come back; Le Xiaoyao simply commandeered her bed, spinning 360° without any pressure~
Because Huang Chenchen’s house was too far from Leader, Le Xiaoyao had to get up at six in the morning. When she was getting ready for work, she found Big Sister Huang “playing dead” on the sofa…
“Big Sister, did you sleep on the sofa all night?”
“Ah… Hmm?” Huang Chenchen opened her eyes groggily, looking utterly haggard, “Your sister just got back… that demon gave me two hours, I’m going back to take a shower, and then I have to go deliver breakfast…” Saying that, she dragged her feet like a zombie toward the bathroom…
“That demon? President Xu… is truly ruthless…”
As the end of the year was drawing nearer, Le Xiaoyao’s birthday was also approaching…
Once a woman passes 25, birthdays really aren’t something to celebrate. Those birthday wishes are essentially equivalent to: Congratulations, you’re a year older again~ Sure enough, even before her birthday, Le Mom called to remind her:
“Xiao Yao, how are you going to celebrate your birthday? After 27, you’ll be 28. When are you going to find a partner %&…”
It had been five years. Since Le Xiaoyao graduated, Le Mom had been using this sentence structure, merely substituting the numbers. Le Xiaoyao held the phone far away from her ear, “Mom, I know 27 comes after 26, and 28 comes after 27. Do you really think my math teacher was a P.E. teacher?”
“How did you know? Your elementary school P.E. teacher really did start teaching math!”
“…Alright, alright, I’m doing great here. Doesn’t Chenchen celebrate it with me? Don’t worry about it…”
“This child, I’m just worried you won’t get married!”
“…”
In short, every time Le Xiaoyao talked to Le Mom, she felt like she was traveling at the speed of light on the road to her thirties. And the fact was almost the same; it wouldn’t be long before she was truly thirty…
Regarding a partner, it was a lie to say Le Mom wasn’t worried. Not only did her precious daughter not actively look, but when she arranged blind dates for her, Le Xiaoyao would say in the person’s face that they were short, ugly, and poor. How could the person save face? Because of this, Le Xiaoyao was on the black list for blind dates; her mouth was just that venomous… Le Mom was also perplexed. Since when did her daughter become such a gold digger?
Le Xiaoyao was also very frustrated about this matter. She didn’t want to force relationships. She had dated a few before, but they all ended inconclusively. Some even broke up in less than two months. So later, she simply stopped looking. She enjoyed the peace of being alone. But how could she explain to her family? Could they understand if she said she didn’t have “feelings”? Judging by Le Mom’s reaction, the answer was clearly no…
These past few days, Huang Chenchen had been busier when not working than when she was. She had directly become Xu Xuan’s little attendant, leaving early and returning late, or simply not coming home at all, only returning in the morning to take a shower.
“What have you and President Xu been up to?” Le Xiaoyao was curious and couldn’t help but ask.
“What could we be doing! Torturing me… torturing me all day long, that little demon!”
That sounded very suggestive! The moment Huang Chenchen saw Le Xiaoyao’s expression, she knew what was going through her mind, “Hey! You need to be more positive! Be more innocent!”
“Alright, I’ll be more positive!” Le Xiaoyao put her hands under her chin, making a shape like a small flower, and blinked her eyes, “Big Sister Huang~ Let’s have dinner together on Saturday night! My treat~”
“Saturday won’t work! That little demon wants %&#…”
She actually forgot her own birthday! Le Xiaoyao was displeased. Big Sister Huang had remembered for so many years, but now it felt like she only had Xu Xuan in her eyes, constantly saying “that little demon” this and “that little demon” that. If people didn’t know, they would think they were flirting.
Huang Chenchen suddenly grinned slyly and pinched Le Xiaoyao’s face, “Little fool… are you sad? Saturday is your birthday. You’re a year older and still a single dog. I must be the first one to congratulate you! So, how about Friday? I fought hard to get this time off~ Little sister!”
Le Xiaoyao kept a straight face and only spoke after a while: “Your treat.”
“It must be Big Sister’s treat. I know a place that has exceptionally good Spanish seafood paella. I’ll make sure you eat until you want to throw up, how about it!”
“Deal!”
But Saturday was still lonely… Although she didn’t want to celebrate her birthday much, being alone was still quite tragic… Especially for Le Xiaoyao. She loved to cook, but she couldn’t stand eating alone. Life was actually quite fair. While you enjoy the freedom of being alone, you also have to bear the loneliness of being alone.
“Hey~ Are you free on Saturday night?”
“Yes.” Fu Jin stopped what she was working on.
“I want to invite you to dinner.”
“Mmm.”
She answered very softly and gently. Le Xiaoyao hung up the phone, still immersed in the feeling. These short conversations with Fu Jin, although somewhat bland as water, felt very warm, as if they were the kind of unspoken understanding one would have after knowing someone for a very long time… But could there be such an understanding between her and Fu Jin?
Just as Fu Jin put down her phone, “Eric” called.
“Xiao Jin, are you free on Saturday night?” Gu Jiejun had just walked out of the jewelry store when he called Fu Jin. He was clutching a delicate little red box in his hand.
A unique diamond ring, a romantic proposal. No girl would dislike it, right~
“Is there something?”
“Something important. Let’s have dinner together!”
“Sorry, I’m not free on Saturday.”
“Then… how about Friday night? It’s really important, you must come!”
Fu Jin hesitated for a moment, “Okay.”
The 27th birthday, unexpectedly, spent all alone? This was the first time in Le Xiaoyao’s life.
Since she was idle anyway, Le Xiaoyao went online to see if she could find a suitable apartment. It was inconvenient to always stay at Big Sister Huang’s place, especially for work, when she was barely able to wake up at six every day. Speaking of Huang Chenchen, she didn’t come home last night either! Today, she couldn’t even see a shadow of her…
Her phone kept ringing from time to time, all birthday wishes, but why did it feel even more desolate at this moment? Finally, someone called…
“Xiao Yao Zi, happy birthday~” Zhou Yi’s voice came through the phone.
Le Xiaoyao didn’t even need to think, she replied directly, “I also wish you success in your blind date!”
“How did you know I’m going on a blind date?”
Did he even need to ask? Young Master Zhou was either on a blind date or on his way to a blind date. Le Xiaoyao regretted it. She really shouldn’t have established such a deep revolutionary friendship with him in the first place. He was too dishonest and unprincipled!
By noon, although Le Xiaoyao didn’t have much of an appetite alone, her stomach shamelessly growled. So she changed her clothes and went to the convenience store downstairs to buy cup noodles to eat, plus a hot dog and a tea egg as a bonus meal~ She was eating instant noodles while browsing aimlessly online, a standard homebody life. Unknowingly, she clicked into the company forum to see if there was any recent gossip~
She saw a hot post: Digging up the company’s beauties with high attractiveness. Le Xiaoyao was already used to these kinds of posts. After all the digging, it was only those few people. President Xu was naturally ranked first, and she usually squeezed in too… But the picture accompanying this post? It seemed a little familiar…
Clicking on the enlarged picture, Le Xiaoyao was stunned. It was actually a picture of her and Fu Jin embracing! It was that day during the lecture, yes, that’s right, Fu Jin was wearing a white cheongsam, and she was wearing a baseball jacket. Who took this picture?! The photography skills were pretty good! Le Xiaoyao couldn’t help but right-click—Save Image As.
The comments below also exploded:
Praise for the picture that established the thread!
This female professor is so young, only 24, right…
The one wearing the hat is from the design department, right? Looks familiar, seeking more information.
Above, the one wearing the hat is from Design Team One, you’re welcome.
The overwhelming sense of a CP…
…
Le Xiaoyao read until her and Fu Jin’s information was completely dug up. What a terrifying group of people… She looked at the poster’s alternate account; it was a newly registered one. She was sure that this was definitely the side account of some idle person in the design department! Only people from the design department attended the lecture that day. She quickly flipped through three hundred replies, lying on the bed, her stomach almost aching from laughter. The imagination of this group of people was too frightening. They could write a short novel just by looking at a picture…
“…If you really like her, stop being a coward, and be clear about everything…” Le Xiaoyao suddenly recalled Huang Chenchen’s words, and her original smile froze on her face. Then she buried her head in the pillow, her heart twisted into a pretzel.
Clearly very worried, yet she still had to pretend to be calm; clearly very concerned, yet she still had to act as if she didn’t care; clearly very sad, yet she still forced a smile.
Yesterday, watching Fu Jin leave alone, Le Xiaoyao almost said, I’ll go with you. Now that she thought about it, why didn’t she shamelessly follow Fu Jin into the car at that time? She should have shamelessly followed her. Even as a friend, this was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?
She tossed and turned in bed for another hour, “heartbreak” wasn’t an exaggeration to describe it. Huang Chenchen’s words were like magic, constantly circling in Le Xiaoyao’s mind, “Be clear about everything… Be clear about everything… Be clear about everything…”
Le Xiaoyao took out her phone, took a deep breath. She found that every time she called Fu Jin, she was more nervous than calling 911. Especially with the ringing “du, du” sounds, she didn’t know when the call would connect, like waiting for a verdict…
Fu Jin answered, but didn’t speak. Le Xiaoyao was waiting for her to make the first sound, but the result was—silence.
“Fu Jin… can I have dinner with you tonight? I have something… I need to talk to you about. It’s very important.” This was Le Xiaoyao’s limit. She had mentally prepared for over an hour before gathering the courage to say those words. The other party gave her three seconds of blank time, then a somewhat hoarse voice came through…
“Mmm, where?”
“What’s wrong with your voice? Are you sick!”
“A bit of a cough, not serious. Later at…” Although she kept saying it wasn’t serious, Fu Jin’s breathing was very weak. She had caught a cold last night and felt dizzy. She didn’t expect it to get worse after waking up this morning.
Her voice was already this hoarse, and she still said it wasn’t serious. Did this woman think she could bear everything alone? Le Xiaoyao directly interrupted her words, “Did you go to the hospital? Did you take any medicine? Forget it… it’s useless to ask. Just lie in bed, I’m coming over now!”
Le Xiaoyao had been living alone for five years, and she clearly understood what it felt like to be sick with no one to take care of her.
Although it was only five in the afternoon, night had already fallen, and outside was a gloomy gray, perhaps because of the overcast weather. Le Xiaoyao stopped her car at a supermarket. She remembered that when she used to cough, her family would always boil radish soup, so she decided to buy a few white radishes at the supermarket. She also thought about Fu Jin’s kitchen. Although the cooking utensils were all there, she estimated they hadn’t been used much, so she simply bought various seasonings as well~ In the end, when Le Xiaoyao came out, her hands were carrying various plastic bags, looking every bit like a housewife.
Ding dong~ Le Xiaoyao couldn’t free up her hands at all. She looked around, saw no one, and simply used her head to press the doorbell…
Fu Jin was sending an email. When she heard the doorbell ring, she knew it was Le Xiaoyao and dragged her heavy steps to open the door.
As the door opened, Fu Jin’s somewhat pale cheeks came into Le Xiaoyao’s sight. Her lips had no color at all, and without makeup, she looked a bit haggard. Le Xiaoyao glanced at the small round table in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, where the laptop was open, “Didn’t I tell you to lie in bed? Why are you still working?”
“Cough cough… Oh, just sending an email.” Fu Jin coughed a few more times.
“Sending emails is still work!” Le Xiaoyao carried all the bags into the kitchen. Sure enough, apart from the cold cooking utensils, there was nothing edible to be found in the kitchen. She meticulously arranged the necessary kitchen items she had bought one by one. Now it looked like a kitchen!
Fu Jin saw her busy in the kitchen from the moment she entered and felt a little sorry, so she poured her a cup of hot tea, “You should take a break.”
“Oh, right, I’m having dinner at your place tonight, you don’t mind, right! Don’t worry, I won’t just eat for free… I can cook!” Only then did Le Xiaoyao realize that she had brought things in without Fu Jin’s permission. Was it still in time to ask now?
Unexpectedly, Fu Jin asked seriously, “If I can’t cook, does that mean I’m an idiot?”
“…”
Le Xiaoyao took the teacup from Fu Jin’s hand and set it aside. She took a step closer and said to her, “Open your mouth… Ah~”
“Ah?”
“Let me see how serious it is.”
Fu Jin slightly opened her mouth. Was that even open? Only a few teeth were visible, and the tongue couldn’t be seen.
“Open wider!”
Fu Jin slightly opened a little more.
“There’s no one else here, it won’t affect your goddess image.” Le Xiaoyao remembered the embarrassing state Fu Jin captured when she was secretly taking pictures of her eating skewers last time, “Besides, I won’t take pictures, I promise not to tell anyone, and I won’t use this to threaten you~ Is that okay… Ah~”
Fu Jin finally couldn’t help but laugh, and shamelessly added, “If you dare to threaten me, I’ll release that picture of you.”
“Alright, alright, whatever you want~ Open your mouth, be obedient.” Le Xiaoyao didn’t realize that she had inadvertently brought in the way she usually communicated with Big Sister Huang. It was Fu Jin who paused slightly, and only then said “Ah”…
Le Xiaoyao gently lifted her chin and looked inside, but she was amused by Fu Jin’s “Ah,” because it was a bit hoarse, the sound was completely different from usual, and it was inexplicably humorous. She couldn’t hold back her laugh, “Pfft…”
“What are you laughing at?”