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The Strongest Fox-Demon (22)
Bai Yi had already started to waver but she was just stubborn. Chu Xiang noticed that there were no longer stars in her eyes when she looked at Zhuang Yulang, which was a good sign. They had a lot of good times to look forward to, and it was not worth wasting them on a man like Zhuang Yulang.
Bai Yi didn’t want to keep watching any more, so she tugged at Chu Xiang’s sleeve and said, [Let’s go, let’s get revenge! Go early and return early. Maybe we can also find the precious treasures that those Daoist masters have.]
[Let’s go.] Chu Xiang disappeared outside the Zhung residence’s wall, followed closely by Bai Yi and Li Yufeng.
Zhuang Yulang had already washed his face and went into his room to review. Zhuang Liu felt upset. She had this persistent feeling that her son was not as obedient as he used to be now that he was getting older.
She made breakfast and brought it in for her son. Zhuang Yulang didn’t speak. He quickly finished his meal and gave her the empty bowl and then continued to study, as if doing it in spite. Didn’t she order him to study? Then he would keep reading.
Zhuang Liu sighed. She carefully folded the clothes that had been washed and dried the day before, carried them to her employer, intending to pick up another day’s worth of laundry. For some reason this time, she felt that walking was not as easy as before. It was as if her load suddenly became heavier.
Unbeknownst to her, Bai Yi used to love someone on account of another. Hence, she made it a point to specially take care of her every day so she wouldn’t be dog-tired, lest Zhuang Yulang would be distressed. Bai Yi wasn’t present today, so everything in the Zhuang house naturally returned to normal. Zhuang Liu in turn couldn’t adapt to it.
She struggled on her way back with a large basin of clothes and met a maid when she walked into an alley. The maid directly blocked her way and said with a smile, “Look, you’re Scholar Zhuang’s mother, right? Scholar Zhuang helped my lady before, and she wanted to thank him. However, in the end, it is inconvenient to do so between a man and a woman, so our lady did not come. Nonetheless, my lady asked me to ask you, is your little fox for sale? You can name the price.”
Zhuang Liu was stunned. “Huh? The little fox? Your lady wants to buy it?”
The maid nodded. “Yes. Our Young Miss plans to buy that little fox, so that your family doesn’t have to worry about taking care of that little creature. Scholar Zhuang is about to take the preliminary round of imperial examinations, isn’t he? Our Miss will take good care of it. In the future, when Scholar Zhuang gets the stop spot and passes the exam with flying colors, then he can find some servants to take care of the little fox. Only then will he have the leisure to appreciate it, right?”
Zhuang Liu was very tempted, but those foxes escaped. She had no idea where they had gone. How could she deliver it?
She faltered and wanted to tell the truth, but the maid misunderstood her. She smiled and gave her ten taels and said smilingly, “This is the deposit, and I will give you fifty tales after you deliver the fox. Please consider it carefully. It is also for the sake of Scholar Zhuang. Besides, this is not about dealing with the fox, but just to let our Miss keep it. Rest assured that our servants will take good care of it. Even if you repent in the future, you can still take the little fox back. After all, our Miss mainly wants to repay Scholar Zhuang’s kindness and solve his troubles.”
Zhuang Liu’s eyes were fixed on the ten taels of silver and would not move.
Ten taels of silver! Ten taels! She usually washed clothes laboriously but never made much money but now she could sell a fox for sixty taels! She subconsciously asked, “What if there are two foxes? One red and one white, how much will you pay for them?”
The maid expressed her scorn inwardly but she said on the surface, “I will have to go back and ask my lady about this. My lady also did not know that you have another fox.”
Zhuang Liu nodded again and again. “Okay, then please ask, ask carefully. Those two foxes are very obedient and sensible. You have seen the snow-white one, and there’s the fiery red one, which is even more beautiful!”
“Okay, then I’ll go back and ask Miss. I’ll find you after I talk to her.” The maid felt that she had nothing else to say to a money-grubbing woman, so she just went back and asked for clarification before returning to her.
After the maid left, Zhuang Liu hurriedly hid the money and returned home calmly. This time she didn’t tell Zhuang Yulang about the matter but secretly hid the silver, and then searched for the two foxes inside and outside the house, not even sparing a single fox hair, just to find out where they escaped to. As long as she could find them back, there would be an additional 120 taels, enough for them to spend for a long, long time!
As soon as the maid told Miss Jiang about the red fox, she frowned and said, “Does that scholar like foxes? Why is he keeping two? Humph, two it is then. Just hurry up and get that little beast back. It was all to blame for my public humiliation that day! If it hadn’t scratched my skirt, how could I have gotten into that palanquin? How could I have rolled out of it? I must kill it!”
Bai Yi sneezed heavily. Chu Xiang looked at her suspiciously. “What’s wrong? Do you have a cold?”
Bai Yi smiled in bewilderment. “How could that be? I’m fine.”
Li Yufeng quipped, “Maybe someone is thinking about you. That’s what happens when someone is blathering about you.”
Bai Yi immediately felt better, “It must be Benefactor who is talking about me. No one else wants me to go back except him.”
Chu Xiang squatted on the ground to observe the traces of the Daoist masters. She got up and said, “Then we’d better move quickly. We can go back in time for dinner after finishing them, and then you can play with your benefactor again.”