6
The hot weather in the bathroom was always readily available. Turning it all the way up naturally meant the hottest water.
Unfortunately, Yun Li didn’t know that. The hot water poured directly down from above, scalding her so much that she nearly had her fur standing on end.
Soaked from the hot water, Yun Li heard someone enter and dashed over without thinking, throwing herself into the man’s arms without even looking up.
Lifting her head, her eyes brimming with tears, she whimpered. “Boo hoo, the water’s too hot, it’s burning me!”
Fu Qingheng hadn’t expected Yun Li inside to be completely naked. A flash of white caught his eye, and the next second, a soft, delicate body was in his arms. His heart stuttered.
Thump, thump, thump—it began racing uncontrollably.
Fu Qingheng’s body went rigid, not daring to move. His hands hung helplessly in the air, unsure of what to do.
The young girl in his arms had skin as fair as jade, except for the patch on her back, which was indeed scalded a raw red—so tender and delicate.
The thought that she was completely naked, her lithe figure pressed tightly against his body, with water droplets seeping through his clothes and transferring their heat along with her temperature, made his entire body burn with restlessness.
Could this woman be doing this on purpose?
Yun Li clung tightly to him, focused solely on her own grievance, completely unaware that holding a man like this might be inappropriate.
After all, as a little fox, she hadn’t yet awakened to matters of the heart and knew nothing of the boundaries between men and women.
She used to often run around without clothes, even joining her little friends to catch fish in the river.
But she forgot that back then, she was usually in her fox form—furry all over, with nothing really visible.
Fu Qingheng rushed in faster than anyone else, leaving Ding Zhen and Guo Ziyang exchanging glances.
Guo Ziyang looked utterly bewildered. That was a girl’s voice, and judging by the look of things, President Fu cared a lot about her.
Guo Ziyang tentatively called out, “President Fu?”
Fu Qingheng snapped back to reality and immediately barked, “Don’t come in!”
The two at the door instinctively withdrew their half-step inside, exchanging puzzled looks and communicating with their eyes.
Guo Ziyang: Do you know what’s going on?
Ding Zhen shook his head innocently: I didn’t go in, how would I know? Do you think I have X-ray vision or something?
What exactly was happening inside?
Fu Qingheng gritted his teeth, grabbed Yun Li’s wrist, and tried to push her away.
Her skin was as smooth as fine white jade. The man’s fingers stiffened, hesitated for a moment, then grabbed a nearby bath towel to wrap around the person in his arms.
At the same time, to be safe, he took off his own jacket and draped it over Yun Li’s shoulders.
Within ten seconds, Yun Li was bundled up tightly.
She looked up at Fu Qingheng. The man immediately stepped back, creating distance from her, as if she were some kind of man-eating monster.
Yun Li looked at him in confusion, pouting her pink lips. “Do you dislike me that much?”
As a cute little fox, she had always been adored by everyone she met—she had never been rejected before!
Her little fox pride wounded, she gazed at him with hurt, tear-filled eyes.
Of course, Fu Qingheng didn’t dislike her—he just couldn’t handle it at that moment.
This woman was absolutely doing this on purpose!
He kept a straight face. “What exactly happened?”
Mentioning this immediately diverted Little Yun Li’s attention.
She pointed angrily at the showerhead. “You humans… I mean, this thing—it almost scalded me to death!”
Luckily, she hadn’t been bathing in her original form, or her fur would have burned off.
Fu Qingheng stepped closer to take a look. The hot water was turned all the way up, gushing down from the showerhead in a loud cascade, steam rising and filling the entire bathroom.
“Didn’t you know you could turn it down a bit?”
“How was I supposed to know? I’ve never used it before!” Yun Li was particularly angry.
Human gadgets were so hard to use. She much preferred the stream at the back of the mountain, where she could bathe to her heart’s content.
Yun Li was wrapped in the bath towel and the man’s jacket, which covered her vital parts, but her long legs were left bare from the knees down.
Water droplets trickled down her slender, fair legs, and her two wet little feet splashed in the water.
If it weren’t for the innocent look she was giving him, Fu Qingheng would have genuinely thought she was trying to seduce him on purpose.
Taking a few deep breaths, Fu Qingheng turned and walked outside. Seeing this, Yun Li quickly followed.
Her wet feet slapped against the floor with a pat-pat-pat sound.
Fu Qingheng suddenly spun around. Yun Li, right behind him, couldn’t stop in time and with a dull thud, ran straight into the man’s back.
Yun Li rubbed her forehead and looked at Fu Qingheng with a pitiful expression, meeting his dark, deep eyes.
Fu Qingheng looked at her white bath towel, which was clearly slipping down, gritted his teeth, and said, “Put some clothes on before you come out!”
This woman had no sense of shame whatsoever!
Scolded by the man, Yun Li looked down at her attire. As a little fox, she didn’t see anything wrong with it.
But the man in front of her looked very fierce, as if her being unclothed was some unforgivable crime, avoiding her like she was a snake or scorpion.
She mumbled an “Oh” and went back into the bathroom, aggrieved. Grabbing the clothes the nurse had sent, she studied them for a good while before finally managing to put them on, albeit reluctantly.
Still feeling that the clothes were a bit strange, Yun Li put Fu Qingheng’s jacket back on over them and only then felt more comfortable.
Two unfamiliar strangers had appeared in the hospital room. Yun Li looked at them curiously.
Guo Ziyang and Ding Zhen were also sizing up Yun Li, a hint of amazement flashing in their eyes before they exchanged a knowing glance.
There was no denying that Yun Li was stunningly beautiful. No wonder Fu Qingheng had fallen for her at first sight.
Who could resist that?
Yun Li was still wearing Fu Qingheng’s jacket. Ding Zhen raised an eyebrow at Fu Qingheng and mouthed silently, “What were you two doing in there?”
Fu Qingheng ignored him completely. His gaze fell on Yun Li, and seeing her still wearing his jacket, his heart felt a surge of warmth.
This woman…
Then his expression cooled again. Fu Qingheng asked, “What’s your name?”
Yun Li replied, “My name is Yun Li.”
Yun Li?
He quickly ran through his memory. His recollection had always been excellent, and he was certain he didn’t recognize that name nor the woman standing before him.
“Where do you live?”
Asking where she lived right off the bat—could this guy have figured something out?
She couldn’t reveal her identity, nor could she tell him where she lived. Yun Li suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “I—I don’t remember!”
“You don’t remember?”
Yun Li nodded emphatically. “Mm-hmm.”
“What about your family, then?”
When this was brought up, Yun Li bit her lip in grievance. Her parents had heartlessly abandoned her to go off and enjoy their couple time. As for her brothers, she had no idea where they were either. Her phone was broken, so she couldn’t reach them.
“I don’t remember that either!”
“Then what do you remember?”
Yun Li pretended to think carefully. “I don’t remember anything!”
She didn’t remember anything at all?
Was this amnesia?
Fu Qingheng turned to look at Ding Zhen. Ding Zhen glanced at Yun Li. “You really don’t remember anything?”
He had reviewed the test reports. There were no signs of head trauma on Yun Li’s body, so she shouldn’t have been knocked into amnesia.
Yun Li nodded. “I remember my name is Yun Li.”
Ding Zhen: “…”
Ding Zhen had the doctors run another full examination on Yun Li. The results came back normal.
Fu Qingheng asked, “Could her amnesia be fake?”
Ding Zhen sighed. “The human brain is very complex. It’s possible that even a simple impact could cause amnesia. Although it doesn’t show up on the reports… but—”
Ding Zhen trailed off mid-sentence, interrupted by Fu Qingheng, who said coldly, “In plain language.”
“In plain language: there are too many possible causes of amnesia. The girl might genuinely have amnesia, or she might be faking it, trying to latch onto you.”
Last night, Yun Li had been covered in dirt and grime, so it was hard to tell she was actually a little beauty.
Ding Zhen glanced at Fu Qingheng beside him, then looked at Yun Li. If these two got together, it was hard to say who would actually be taking advantage of whom.
After finishing her examinations, Yun Li curled up on the sofa, cross-legged, rummaging through her belongings.
All her treasures were still there. The note Yun Che had left for her was also there.
As long as she showed that note around and asked, she could find out where her brother lived.
Excited, Yun Li unfolded the crumpled, smeared paper ball. The note had been soaked by the rain, and the writing on it was blurry and blackened—completely illegible.
Now she was really in trouble. She was lost, couldn’t find her brothers—what was she going to do?
Yun Li felt like crying.
Suddenly, the hospital room door opened, and Fu Qingheng and Ding Zhen walked in.
She quickly hid her treasures behind her back, staring at the two men warily.
Yun Li hid them clumsily. Fu Qingheng noticed her little movement. “Is there anything else you have on you?”
There had been, but now there wasn’t.
“No!” She couldn’t exactly tell him where her real home was, could she?
“Then what do you plan to do next?”
Exactly—she was worried about that too!
Yun Li was truly troubled. She couldn’t use her magic in the human realm. If she ran into another situation like last night, wouldn’t she end up as a drenched little fox again?
She took such good care of her fox fur normally—it was so soft and smooth to the touch.
As she mulled it over, Yun Li remembered the survival advice Lailai had taught her.
To survive in the human world, you had to be thick-skinned.
Lailai, such an aloof little lion, had turned into a kitten to make a living under human care. She’d chosen a human who looked wealthy, rolled her chubby little body around, meowed cutely, and smoothly moved into that human’s home.
Although Yun Li still didn’t know exactly what a “poop scooper” was, Lailai had emphasized that she had to find someone who looked very rich, so they could afford to take care of her.
Yun Li’s gaze darted back and forth between Ding Zhen and Fu Qingheng. Which of these two was richer?
This was really a dilemma for a little fox.
Oh well, she’d just use the “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” method.
After silently chanting in her heart, her gaze finally landed on Ding Zhen. This man in white didn’t look particularly wealthy.
So, she eliminated him.
Alright then, she’d choose this one as her poop scooper!
As she ran toward Fu Qingheng and grabbed his arm, Yun Li’s mind raced. “You saved me. Could you take me in? I’ll repay you!”
She had thought it through carefully. This man was a good person. Last night, he’d brought her to such a nice place, let her sleep, fed her—he must be rich.
If she stuck with him from now on, she’d definitely be eating big chicken legs.
Ding Zhen glanced at Fu Qingheng and mouthed silently: So, it’s not about conning him for money—she wants to con him into taking her in.
Fu Qingheng ignored him and pulled his arm free. “How exactly do you plan to repay me?”
“With myself?”
**