So It Turns Out You’re a Fox Spirit (GL) - Chapter 35

Huang Chenchen wasn’t going home, so Le Xiaoyao had to go “solo.”

Airport.

“Are you really okay alone? Why don’t you come back with me, I’m serious!”

Fu Jin had answered “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine” N times, but Le Xiaoyao was still dragging her feet. Finally, she just asked, “Are you reluctant to leave me~” Le Xiaoyao was instantly speechless, again called out by her, “I… I’m just worried about you…”

Then she went through a large number of pointless reminders like eating on time before Le Xiaoyao finally turned around to board the plane.

“Xiaoyao.” Fu Jin took a step forward, then hugged her and whispered in her ear, “Then come back soon, I’ll wait for you.”

Hearing Fu Jin say she would wait for her, Le Xiaoyao’s body weakened again, “Mhm, very soon. Call me if anything happens… You can call me even if nothing happens.”

After a two-hour flight, she was finally home.

Once home, the scene abruptly changed. Seeing the crowd of relatives, Le Xiaoyao sighed that her family was truly large and prosperous~ She greeted all the elders in one go, then took out the New Year gifts and presented them one by one…

A swarm of rowdy kids rushed up, “Auntie~ Where’s my gift!”

The house exploded. Finally, Le Mom came out of the kitchen, holding a cleaver, which was quite scary. The rowdy kids snatched the gifts and quickly scattered. The Le family had a tradition of gathering for New Year’s Eve to make it lively, and also to gather all sorts of blind date information, which was Le Mom’s real purpose. Since Le Mom was a chef, she basically handled the New Year’s Eve dinner every year~

“Mom, I’m home.”

The first two sentences between mother and daughter could be civil, but after that, the conversation inevitably turned to marriage and having children, which Le Xiaoyao tried her best to avoid.

“Look how thin you are! You definitely haven’t been eating properly outside!” Le Mom’s eyes scanned Le Xiaoyao 360 degrees, as if assessing the extent of damage to an item. Le Xiaoyao cautiously took the cleaver from Le Mom’s hand and went to the kitchen to help, “Where’s Dad?”

“Gone to buy things.”

Looking at the large and small bowls stacked with ingredients in the kitchen, “Mom, next time let’s just eat out. It’s so tiring to cook at home.”

“Your Mom is a master chef, why would we need to go out? If you think I’m tired, then come back and help, come back and manage ‘Le Kaihuai’ (Le Family’s Delight)~”

Le Dad and Le Mom opened a farmhouse restaurant called Le Kaihuai in their hometown. With the development of the scenic area in recent years, the farmhouse restaurant has been popular, and business has been consistently good. Le Mom had been pondering over having Le Xiaoyao come back to focus on running the restaurant, and conveniently find a partner nearby and have a child. Wouldn’t that be more comfortable than struggling in those advertising companies?

As soon as Le Xiaoyao heard Le Mom mention the farmhouse restaurant, she immediately guessed the rest. She put down the knife and said, “I’m going to greet the uncles and aunties in the neighborhood. Mom, you keep busy~” In a flash, she ran off…

Le Mom was just about to say that she had found a good prospect recently and wanted her to meet him in a couple of days.

Finding a quiet moment, Le Xiaoyao went to the balcony and busied herself calling Fu Jin. If she couldn’t see her, hearing her voice was good too.

“Hello?”

Fu Jin’s voice made her feel comfortable just listening to it, “Have you eaten?”

On the other side, Fu Jin was taking out a plate of dumplings. These were what Le Xiaoyao had made for her before leaving. They had various flavors: shrimp and corn, mushroom and pork, chicken and bamboo shoots, chives and egg…

According to Le Xiaoyao, these dumplings could make up a whole New Year’s Eve dinner! Pan-fried, deep-fried, steamed, and boiled, those were four flavors, plus the different fillings would naturally result in different tastes. Fu Jin certainly didn’t have her skill. She just wanted to figure out how to cook them properly.

“Not yet, I’m about to boil the dumplings. Have you eaten?”

“I’m almost there. By the way, do you know how to cook them?”

“Theoretically, it should be no problem.”

Le Xiaoyao: “…”

Then, Le Xiaoyao patiently explained the boiling process step by step through the phone, enjoying it, because picturing Professor Fu’s clumsy look made her want to giggle silly.

“Xiaoyao, dinner is ready!” Le Mom didn’t know how many times she had called, but there was still no movement. “Le Xiaoyao, dinner is ready!”

By the time Le Xiaoyao finished the call, Fu Jin’s dumplings were cooked, and she hung up to eat them.

“…Hanging up so fast!” Le Xiaoyao grumbled. Turning around, she saw her older cousin standing behind her, startling her.

“Sis, why didn’t you make a sound!”

Her cousin looked speechless, “I called you so many times… You were just giggling silly. What’s up? Boyfriend?”

“Uh… no. I’m so hungry. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

At dinner, the concerns of the elders around the table were nothing more than academics, careers, marriage, and having children… After Le Xiaoyao smoothly reported her work situation, the topic naturally shifted to major life events.

“How old are you this year?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“When do you plan to get married?”

“It’s time to have children…”

“I think so-and-so’s child from such-and-such family is a perfect match for our Xiaoyao…”

“…”

Explosion, explosion, Le Xiaoyao’s head was about to explode. Listening was annoying, but silently picking food was impolite. Le Mom was very satisfied with the entire family’s “marriage urging” at this moment. Let’s see how long Le Xiaoyao could avoid it.

Big Sister Huang really had foresight. Coming back this time was pure suffering.

After dinner, the elders naturally couldn’t miss the terrible Spring Festival Gala. They watched it with great delight, clapping their hands in approval. Occasionally hearing topics like “leftover women” and “unmarried individuals,” each of them had to line up to lecture Le Xiaoyao. Le Xiaoyao was now truly “meat on a cutting board, to be carved by others.”

Amidst the sound of cracking melon seeds, the several “aunties” in the family started chatting, and the topic eventually drifted to other people’s families.

“I heard so-and-so’s child from such-and-such family isn’t married yet, the same age as Xiaoyao~”

Le Mom quickly corrected, “She’s older than our Xiaoyao!” Le Mom was afraid of others saying Le Xiaoyao was so old and still unmarried.

“Mom, is one month older considered older?”

Le Mom’s attitude was unquestionable, “That’s still older!”

“I heard that the reason she isn’t getting married is… is… lesbian, she likes women! Kids these days are really a handful.”

“Cough!” Le Xiaoyao almost choked on a melon seed kernel. These aunts and relatives were simply too闲 (idle). This was her private life, private life! Le Mom patted Le Xiaoyao’s back, “You’re so careless even when eating…”

Le Xiaoyao felt she couldn’t stay in the room anymore, so she changed her clothes, put on a scarf, fully geared up, and went out for a walk to get some air~

It was snowing. It hadn’t snowed here for a long time. Le Xiaoyao exhaled heavily, letting out a cloud of white mist. Had she really thought it through? Thought about being with Fu Jin? But what did Fu Jin think? She hadn’t said anything all these days…

Unable to resist, she dialed Fu Jin’s number again, “It’s snowing. How about your side?”

Fu Jin stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, pulling back the curtain a little. The snow was falling heavily, like goose feathers, “It’s snowing here too.”

Le Xiaoyao’s nose was red from the cold, and her feet were so frozen she could barely feel them. She stamped her feet on the ground a few times, “Fu Jin, do you… like me?”

She had wanted to ask this question for a long time but never spoke it. Now, she finally had the courage to say it…

Fu Jin paused, then smiled and said, “I like you.” Like you, the kind of like that wants to spend a lifetime with you.

Receiving an affirmative answer, Le Xiaoyao wasn’t overly joyful. Why did she only manage to ask the innocuous question “Do you like me?” after gathering so much courage? One could say they liked even a cat or a dog, couldn’t they?

Le Xiaoyao pounded her head. Should she ask, “Do you love me?” She couldn’t utter such cheesy words a second time. “I’m…” She faced a wall, looking down at her toes, kicking the wall occasionally, “I…”

If she kicked any more, her shoes would be worn out, but Le Xiaoyao still couldn’t say it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I said… don’t get cold. It’s cold.” Le Xiaoyao sniffed again.

“I know. You too.”

Fu Jin, is the “like” you speak of the kind of like that wants to spend a lifetime with me?

At 28, she was long past the age of impulsiveness. Le Xiaoyao knew exactly what she was doing. Being together wasn’t just about a momentary rush. Even the most earth-shattering love would eventually settle into a peaceful routine. The togetherness she wanted was one that could enter each other’s lives, withstand the test of time. Companionship was a lifelong commitment.

After visiting a few relatives, the main theme of the Spring Festival followed—blind dates. Reportedly, during the Spring Festival, young talents working in various places gathered. This was a rare opportunity, only happening once a year. Therefore, Le Mom prepared extensively for this battle. Finally, she even organized the blind date candidates into a Word document for Le Xiaoyao to conveniently select from.

When Le Xiaoyao looked at the exaggerated document, she felt sorry for her mother. A computer illiterate went through so much trouble for her daughter’s lifelong happiness~ Just for this, she had to at least go through the motions.

“You… why are you just getting up? Hurry up and put on makeup, quick, quick! That boy today is good, a promising one~ Don’t you dare embarrass your mother…”

A boy? 35-year-old… an old boy? Le Xiaoyao didn’t know what to say. Lazily, she casually applied a bit of makeup and deliberately put on a particularly neutral jacket.

“You’re going to wear this? Can’t you be… a little more ladylike… Oh, don’t rush me to death. Hurry up and change, or it’ll be too late…”

Le Mom’s impatience made Le Xiaoyao feel like it was a supermarket clearance sale? First come, first served! “Mom, a 35-year-old without a partner, coming out for a blind date, how good can he be?”

“You have the nerve to talk about others? What about yourself! Go, go, go… or it really will be gone.”

…

In these two or three days, Le Xiaoyao had already dated up to candidate number six. Anyway, her reasons were always: Too short, like Wu Dalang; too tall, creepy; too fat, disgusting; too thin, a walking skeleton; too ugly, no appetite; too handsome, will be a playboy; rich, unreliable; poor, only the northwest wind…

She finally found one who was neither too tall nor too short, neither too fat nor too thin, neither too handsome nor too ugly, neither too poor nor too rich…

Le Xiaoyao: “No, this person has no personality whatsoever.”