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The Strongest Fox-Demon (44)
The strong in the demon world were respected. On the way to the capital, Bai You regarded Chu Xiang and Bai Yi as seniors, so naturally he had to take good care of them. Chu Xiang was obviously stronger than Bai Yi, so he approached her first and asked if there was anything he needed to do.
Just as Chu Xiang was about to refuse, something suddenly occurred to her. She looked at Bai You carefully while Li Yufeng tilted his head beside her and said, “What are you looking at? I’m prettier than him.”
Bai You took two steps back. As a snake demon, he still felt a little nervous in the face of a powerful demon hunter.
Chu Xiang shoved Li Yufeng away and said, “Stop making trouble. Grab a pheasant and roast it.” After she finished speaking, she looked at Bai You and smiled, “As for you, let me tell you something. My little sister is in need of care. If you can take good care of her, I will give you the best elixir. What do you think?”
The best elixirs were hard to come by. Even if you had good medicinal materials, you might not be able to find a competent alchemist. Bai You was proficient at medicine, yet he couldn’t even refine the best elixirs. He was naturally happy when he heard her proposal and immediately bowed in response. ” Thank you, Senior. I will definitely do my best.”
Li Yufeng was taking care of Chu Xiang, so there was no need for Bai You to butt in. Deep inside Bai You, however, he wondered why Bai Yi needed his care. Weren’t all demons free? Soon, he realized why Chu Xiang gave him such a task.
Bai Yi indeed needed his care in various aspects. For example, he found Zhuang Liu reprimanding her behind everyone’s back, so he pretended to walk around and looked at Zhuang Liu with a feigned surprise. Zhuang Liu didn’t want the Immortal Doctor to think she was rude and unruly, so she immediately made amends.
After several incidents of the like, Zhuang Liu did not dare to criticize Bai Yi no matter in front of or behind others. She feared that the Immortal Doctor would catch her in the act again and disdain her and in turn look down on her son. He was a big shot she couldn’t afford to offend.
Another example was during meals. Bai Yi, a “weak woman”, couldn’t often catch wild animals. The Zhuang mother and son couldn’t accept gifts from Li Yufeng and the others, and when this happened Bai Yi would roast a few sweet potatoes and mix them with wild vegetables as their meal.
When Bai You saw this, he called Li Yufeng and Zhuang Yulang to go hunting together. They could often catch enough hares or pheasants, even wild boars. They were three grown men. As soon as he proposed to go to the river to clean the wild animals, Zhuang Yulang naturally couldn’t refuse, so in the end all the meat they brought back was processed meat. Bai Yi only needed to roast it.
After Bai You praised Zhuang Liu for her delicious roasted meat, she was overjoyed and volunteered to take over the job of roasting meat and sweet potatoes. When Bai Yi intervened, she suspected that she was trying to steal her credit. In the end, she forbade her from helping.
With Bai You around, Bai Yi’s life became obviously easier. She herself suddenly felt much more relaxed. This rendered her dazed. Was she that exhausted before?
Contrast has always been too intuitive, and it was easier to grasp the problem when the contrast was glaring. When Bai Yi looked at the three men together, an ordinary person, a demon hunter, and a demon, she felt that…the halo over Zhuang Yulang seemingly dimmed. She had to admit that he was not as good as she thought. She didn’t know why but since Bai You calculated his fortune, he no longer treated her as sweetly as before. He seemed to be avoiding her a bit.
Bai Yi had always straightforward and couldn’t stand speculations the most. One day when Zhuang Liu was away, she asked, “Brother Zhuang, have you been unwell these days?”
Zhuang Yulang lowered his eyes, partly turned himself sideways and said, “No, thank you for your concern, Miss Bai.”
Bai Yi was somewhat upset. “Brother Zhuang, are you and I going to be so polite? What’s going on with you these days? Why are you avoiding me? Why are you sometimes treating me warmly and then coldly?”
Zhuang Yulang furtively looked around and whispered, “Miss Bai, walls have ears. Don’t spoil your reputation with such nonsense. Don’t think too much about it. I just want to concentrate on the imperial exam. Don’t make a problem out of it.”
Bai Yi partly believed it and partly didn’t. “Do you find it inconvenient because there are other people around?”
“Of course, yes. I’ll go back first. Before you and I confirm our relationship, you shouldn’t let others misunderstand, lest bad gossip gets out.” Zhuang Yulang was terribly shaken, and he went back after a few random excuses.
Bai You stepped out from behind a tree and asked Bai Yi in puzzlemen, “Senior, what are you struggling with?”
Bai Yi frowned and sighed. “I don’t know. I just seem to be mindful of my gains and losses and can’t feel happy. Maybe it’s because Brother Zhuang and I can’t be together in a right and proper manner.”
Bai You wondered, “Why can’t you be together uprightly? As long as he is willing and his mother agrees, you can get married immediately. Even if he must finish the exam before getting married, at least you can get engaged first.”
“Engaged?” Bai Yi repeated happily, hearing this process for the first time. “Right, we can get engaged first. However, his mother doesn’t like me. Will she object? Do parents have to give consent for a betrothal?”
“Yes, the so-called ‘the command of parents, the words of a match-maker are indispensable’,” Bai You informed pensively, “I can help you with this.”
“How?” Bai Yi couldn’t think of any way. Feeling that Bai You has rich knowledge, she looked at him with anticipation in her eyes.
Bai You smiled and said, “Did you forget what my job is? Since Zhuang Liu believes in my words, I can naturally get her to agree to let you marry him.”
An accurate fortune-teller was deemed a living immortal in the eyes of the common people. If the living immortal claimed that Bai Yi was Zhuang Yulang’s divine destiny, Zhuang Liu would naturally believe it. But she still couldn’t understand, “Immortal Doctor, you said Bai Yi and my son are a match made in heaven? How could this be possible? She is an orphan and has no relatives. W-What can she do to help Yulang?”
Bai You replied calmly, “This is what my divination shows. Miss Bai has a face that brings fortune to her husband, so she will bring good luck to you, the mother and son. If Mister Zhuang and Miss Bai get married, the Zhuang family will definitely be rich and auspicious in the future.”
“Really?” Zhuang Liu glanced at Bai Yi in the distance in disbelief, feeling completely bewildered. Could that orphan lady bring fortune to her husband? Then had she done wrong in itching to drive her away before?