So It Turns Out You’re a Fox Spirit (GL) - Chapter 8

The bedroom was a mess, clothes scattered all over the floor…

Le Xiaoyao yawned, still half-asleep and groggy. She threw off the covers, got out of bed barefoot, and headed toward the bathroom without a stitch on.

Fu Jin had tidied Le Xiaoyao up last night; it was already three in the morning. She hadn’t expected that as soon as Le Xiaoyao finished showering, she would shamelessly strip off her clothes and flop onto her bed, asleep in a spread-eagle position…

“Ah… it hurts…”

Fu Jin, who was sleeping on the living room sofa, suddenly heard a painful cry from the bedroom. She hurried over and pushed the door open: “What happened?”

She saw Le Xiaoyao curled up in the corner, holding her forehead and wincing in pain, muttering, “…how did I end up in the bathroom…” It turned out that Le Xiaoyao had treated this place like her own home, thinking she could navigate blindly, and ended up smashing her head hard against the glass shower door…

Fu Jin didn’t even care whether Le Xiaoyao was dressed or not—after all, she had already seen everything last night! She bent down in front of her and tried to move her hand away from her forehead. “Let me see… is it serious?”

Wait—there’s someone else here? When Le Xiaoyao lifted her head slightly, she saw Fu Jin’s face up close and, despite the pain, hurriedly covered her chest.

“You… how are you at my place?!”

“At your place?” Fu Jin had anticipated this reaction. She regretted letting Le Xiaoyao sleep in her bed last night while she herself had to sleep on the sofa. She should have just thrown her on the floor! “Le Xiaoyao, look carefully, where are you?”

Am I dreaming? Le Xiaoyao looked at the unfamiliar room layout, unfamiliar curtains, even the wrinkled bed sheets were strange!

“I drank too much last night…” Le Xiaoyao, trying to recall despite her headache, thought. But hadn’t Sister Huang taken her away last night? She should have been at Huang Chenchen’s place. How did she end up at Fu Jin’s? “And then… how did I… how did I…”

Fu Jin was annoyed. Le Xiaoyao didn’t remember anything from last night! When had she ever been so considerate and attentive to someone else? Le Xiaoyao, this favor of yours must be repaid!

“You got drunk last night and called Eric. Eric heard you were alone and was worried, so he contacted me to pick you up.” Fu Jin got up and went to the wardrobe to find some clean clothes. “You wear this first; the underwear is new… not sure if it fits. Also… the towel on the left in the bathroom is the one you used last night.”

“…Thank you, and sorry for troubling you last night!”

Fu Jin said nothing and closed the door behind her as she left.

So cold! Le Xiaoyao was embarrassed, glancing down at her flat chest. Facing Fu Jin’s deadpan, serious expression, she had no room to retaliate… But there was no way she called Eric! She wouldn’t even dial 120 (emergency number) herself! Fu Jin made him seem like such a nice guy… wait, when did he get labeled as the bad guy?

While showering, Le Xiaoyao tried to recall last night. She had been upset over the Donghai project, so she drank and called Huang Chenchen… no… maybe she dialed the wrong number? Ah… she probably did. How embarrassing! Suddenly, her heart tightened as she remembered the last time she got drunk—she pulled Sister Huang and scolded Fu Jin all night… Could it have happened again last night?

The clothes fit reasonably well, although the bra was a size too big and made her chest look even more pronounced… but Le Xiaoyao still felt awkward. Only she knew how empty it really was inside…

“It’s already eleven!” Le Xiaoyao wailed inside but outwardly remained calm, quietly cursing that the company hadn’t called to chase her. She saw Fu Jin sitting calmly at the small round table by the floor-to-ceiling window, typing away at the computer. Oh right, it’s the weekend—no wonder Boss Zhou hadn’t blown up her phone yet!

Meanwhile, at Leader Company:

Zhou Yi (dialing): “Le Xiaoyao, are you trying to quit… you argued with Director Xu yesterday, and now you didn’t even show up today!”

Qin An (on call): “Boss… answer your phone… everyone’s busy to death and you just disappear!”

Xiao Yuan (on call): “Sister Xiaoyao, why aren’t you here… we need backup…”

…The whole team was in chaos.

Le Xiaoyao looked around—this was a typical small apartment, one bedroom, one living room. Small, but tastefully decorated and full of character.

Her phone? She searched the room twice but couldn’t find it anywhere…

“Don’t you have work today?” Fu Jin noticed her wandering around idly.

“Huh? Isn’t today the weekend?”

“Who told you it’s the weekend? It’s Friday.”

Friday? And she’s so calm! “Aren’t you going to work?” Le Xiaoyao thought. Ugh, Boss Zhou would rip her apart—or maybe even fire her! She tried to appear relaxed, but inside, she was panicking. “Uh… can you… lend me your phone? I don’t know where mine is…”

“No need…”

Seeing Fu Jin’s calm face, she realized she had hidden the phone. Just as she was about to ask, Fu Jin said four words:

“Broken. Threw it away.”

Broken? Thrown away? Fu Jin, you’re holding someone’s life in your hands! Still, she forced herself to remain calm. “Then… can I borrow your phone to make a call?”

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Fu Jin didn’t move, continuing to type on the computer.

“Could you get the delivery? Thanks.”

Never try to be calmer than Fu Jin, especially Le Xiaoyao, the pseudo-calm girl. She nearly collapsed carrying the heavy delivery inside.

“So much?!” Le Xiaoyao groaned as she placed the heavy food on the table. “Here, your food.” Seeing Fu Jin still unmoving, she thought, “Is she going to make me serve it?”

Fu Jin looked at the time casually. “It’s this late, just eat whatever you like.”

“Stop standing there! Wash your hands and eat…”

What’s with the sudden intensity? Just a few days ago, she was polite. Le Xiaoyao began to worry she had really done something wrong last night. But even if she hadn’t done anything, just coming over drunk should be enough to annoy her.

Le Xiaoyao laid out the food on the table—eight dishes and one soup: squirrel-shaped fish, spicy boiled pork slices, sweet and sour ribs, cumin lamb chops… so overwhelming! Sweet, salty, spicy… like all eight cuisines combined. Who eats like this? Crazy taste!

Looking at the table, Le Xiaoyao asked, “Fu Jin…”

“Mm.”

“Do you usually eat like this ‘casually’?”

“I don’t often eat at home. Why?”

“Ha… nothing. You have quite the range of tastes.”

Le Xiaoyao took a bite and stayed quiet. After a while, Fu Jin put down her chopsticks, having taken only a bite of each dish; much of the rice was left. Le Xiaoyao guessed she didn’t need to diet, but maybe she was mad at her?

“Are you… angry?”

Fu Jin didn’t even know why she would be mad. Le Xiaoyao, now sober, was less predictable than drunk. She had called her name drunkenly last night, but now she had forgotten everything… Le Xiaoyao, you really can take a lot…

Seeing Fu Jin silent and expressionless, Le Xiaoyao panicked. “Did I say something to you?”

“You didn’t say anything. I’m not angry. Old classmates help each other, that’s normal.”

Le Xiaoyao thought it sounded like an angry statement, but judging by Fu Jin’s demeanor, she was serious. Yes, the word “old classmates” was enough to define their relationship.

After all, taking favors makes one indebted. Le Xiaoyao, eating and taking, naturally felt embarrassed and cleaned up the table herself after the meal.

After eating, Fu Jin sat on the sofa, watching TV and eating fruit.

“Fu Jin…”

Le Xiaoyao called her name lightly, tone flat, unlike the soft, tender voice from last night. Thinking of this, Fu Jin was somewhat annoyed. “Just say it.”

“Can I borrow your phone to make a call? Thanks.”

Was it necessary to be so polite? Fu Jin placed the phone on the coffee table in front of her, didn’t look at her, and continued eating her fruit.

Le Xiaoyao quickly dialed.

Zhou Yi’s phone had been off all morning. After asking Huang Chenchen, who was out reporting news, he learned nothing. Initially, he was angry that Le Xiaoyao was slacking during a critical time, but then that anger shifted to concern…

Everyone was looking for Le Xiaoyao like crazy, almost to the point of calling the police!

She made the call and was surprised—no scolding from Boss Zhou.

“…Do you know I was really worried about you?” Zhou Yi exploded, spewing a bunch of words that could melt a young girl’s heart. Le Xiaoyao didn’t buy it.

“Alright, alright, stop nagging. I’ll come right away!”

Fu Jin wasn’t trying to eavesdrop; it’s just that Zhou Yi’s outburst was so intense, especially the line: “Do you know I was really worried about you?”

“Someone seems very concerned…” Fu Jin absentmindedly switched channels—sometimes sports, sometimes cooking.

Le Xiaoyao laughed and returned the phone. “That’s Zhou Yi, an old classmate—you know him!” Realizing so many people cared, she couldn’t help smiling…

Fu Jin noticed. Oh, you Le Xiaoyao! Last night I picked you up, changed your clothes, ordered eight dishes for you—today you don’t even give me a good face, but you get all happy making a phone call!

The more Le Xiaoyao laughed, the more annoyed Fu Jin became.

“So, you’re close with him. You even remember his number well.”

Hearing this, Le Xiaoyao thought of the phone number incident. “You too, right? That Eric…”

“I said, that’s because he’s… special.”

Le Xiaoyao shouldn’t have been arguing about phone numbers with her, but today she just blurted out: “Boyfriend?”

Fu Jin’s gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds. Then she found Gu Jiejun’s number on her phone, pushed it close to Le Xiaoyao’s face, almost touching it. “If you’re not an idiot, one look is enough to remember it!”

Le Xiaoyao leaned back two steps, eyes too close to the screen to see clearly…

“13838383838…”

She couldn’t help laughing, clutching her stomach. “It… really is a number like this…” Now she understood why Fu Jin kept emphasizing Eric was special. “The number itself is special!”

“Otherwise, what did you think was special? His identity?” Fu Jin’s eyes gleamed mischievously…

Le Xiaoyao stopped laughing. “No. By the way… I’ll wash your clothes and bring them back, and get new bed sheets and a comforter… Really, thank you for last night! Sorry for bothering you…”

“No need… you can go!”

Inside the wardrobe, Fu Jin saw Le Xiaoyao’s baseball jacket. So, their connection was really just a few pieces of clothing… Her gaze darkened—why couldn’t she be like five years ago? Why did she feel the urge to hold onto something?