What! How could someone not know their parents’ lineage? He even knew his own parents were foxes.
These parents are truly irresponsible.
[Fox Doesn’t Eat Pears: Were they worried the child wouldn’t be able to accept it?]
[Boss: No, his mother passed away before he was old enough to understand.]
Ning Qi’an: I am such a jerk.
He felt ashamed of his previous thoughts.
[Fox Doesn’t Eat Pears: Then, Uncle Qin, what do you want me to do?]
After the wave of shame, he slowly typed his question.
A voice call popped up immediately.
A moment later, Ning Qi’an hung up, collapsing onto his cloud-like bed, feeling a bit floaty.
Reflecting on the plan Qin Yuan had proposed, he actually found himself agreeing with it.
Fine, it’s just selling my body a little. I hope Mom and Dad’s spirits won’t hold it against me.
Before he could even ask his parents for their opinion, Qin Yuan sent over a transfer.
Staring at the orange rectangular bar, Ning Qi’an rubbed his eyes in disbelief, his fingers tentatively counting the zeros.
“My God, how much money is four ‘0’s?”
Recalling the math tutorials from the Demon Bureau, Ning Qi’an arrived at a number.
“Eighty thousand?!”
His hands trembled as he typed.
[Fox Doesn’t Eat Pears: Is this the payment?]
[Boss: A meeting gift. It’s a bit meager, so please don’t mind. I reached my daily limit today.]
Wealthy families really are different. A “meeting gift” is dozens of times higher than his monthly salary.
He automatically ignored the latter part of the message, fearing the blow to his self-esteem.
Ning Qi’an immediately pledged his loyalty, ready to hug that thigh tight.
[Fox Doesn’t Eat Pears: Thank you, Uncle Qin! I guarantee I will complete the mission!]
He waited for over ten minutes, but Qin Yuan didn’t reply. His excitement settled down. He plugged his phone in to charge and changed the contact name from “Boss” to “Uncle Qin.”
He rolled over, turned off his alarm for the next day (Qin Yuan would be sending someone to pick him up in the afternoon, and he wouldn’t need to go to the Yongfeng Hotel for now), thought about the balance in his WeChat, yawned happily, pulled up the quilt, and turned off the lights. He’d be a high-spirited fox again when he woke up.
“Beep—Fingerprint verification successful. Welcome home.”
After the electronic voice sounded, the heavy door clicked and automatically swung open. Qin Suihi kicked off his leather shoes, stepped into some fluffy slippers, and walked inside.
He casually tore off the tie that had bound him all day and unbuttoned two buttons, finally feeling like he could breathe normally.
Qin Suihi filled a glass with warm water and drank it with half-closed eyes.
A person needs eight glasses of water a day; he had been busy all day and was still two glasses short.
As the glass emptied, before the water had even gone down his throat, he caught a glimpse of something reddish-brown in the bottom left corner. Qin Suihi was startled, but maintaining the dignity of a CEO, he managed to swallow the water in a panic without spitting it out.
Scared me to death. I thought it was a ghost.
He lightly nudged the reddish-brown object with his foot and frowned. “Go play somewhere else. Being cute won’t work.”
The object didn’t leave; it sat at his feet, tilting its head and desperately showing off those “cartoon-sized” big eyes, letting out a soft whimper.
It was a fox.
A fox his old man had inexplicably raised, then inexplicably sent to him to raise under the “noble” pretext of “getting to know each other to build a bond.”
Qin Suihi had never seen a fox that could stack so many buffs.
The old man hadn’t given it a name, and Qin Suihi was too lazy to come up with one, so he just called it “Fox.” Luckily, the fox seemed to have some human sense; it would come when called “Fox,” though it always looked sullen, as if someone owed it millions.
Ning Qi’an: Isn’t it supposed to be intelligent? Also, don’t I have a name? Why call me ‘Fox’ all the time? Does he call Qin Sui’an ‘Hey, human’ too? Does that sound reasonable?
All his complaints turned into a “Yip” filled with complex emotions, but the man only thought he was being cute.
Ning Qi’an: Damn it.
He had learned that phrase from Luo Haitang.
Thinking back to their first meeting—the lights, the clothes, the atmosphere—it left an indelible mark on him.
When he was first sent to Qin Sui’an by Uncle Qin, seeing him again, he stared at Qin Suihi’s face in a daze, secretly thinking, “What a coincidence.”
After spending a day together, Ning Qi’an realized profoundly what “you can’t judge a book by its cover” meant.
What did he mean by “being cute won’t work”? Was he being cute? He was protesting!
Take now, for example. Qin Suihi was getting ready to shower. Before going in, he didn’t forget to grab Ning Qi’an by the scruff of the neck, stroke his smooth, oily fur, and mutter, “Quite thick.”
Qin Suihi’s hand moved slowly from his back to his underside, his fingers sliding into the snow-white fur, moving all the way down… until he bumped into two little bells.
Ning Qi’an panicked: Where are you touching, you pervert? Let me go!
“So it’s a male.”
Qin Suihi dropped that single sentence, fulfilled Ning Qi’an’s “wish” by tossing him onto the balcony, and closed the door, leaving him to spend the long night in the cold wind after being poked.
Ning Qi’an: … Money is hard to earn, and people are hard to serve.
He skillfully curled up in the corner.
Fine, no bed? I’ll use my feet as a bed. No blanket? I have my tail. It’s NOT cold at all!
Ning Qi’an hypnotized himself, burying his head in his tail. He had been living like this for two days.
It’s fine, it’s fine, just push through it.
When the time comes, I’ll make Qin Suihi sleep outside for a night too.
Ning Qi’an snorted, barely managing to drift off to sleep. In his dreams, he was tall and majestic; the pitiful human was squatting at his feet massaging him, and at night, he locked the human on the balcony while he lay comfortably on the bed watching short videos.
Ah, what a beautiful life.
Imagination is beautiful, but reality is skinny.
Ning Qi’an glared at the beef in his bowl that still had blood streaks, then looked at Qin Suihi, who was gracefully cutting a piece of boiled chicken breast with a knife and fork at the table. He was furious.
“I want cooked food! I hate raw food, especially when it has blood in it!”
From the time Ning Qi’an was born, the food his parents and siblings ate was always cooked. He had never gnawed on raw meat. How was he supposed to eat this?
A thousand words turned into a few fox yips. Qin Suian put down his knife and fork, glanced at the untouched beef, and said, “You won’t even eat imported Australian steak. You’re really picky.”
Ning Qi’an screamed helplessly: “I’ll eat it! Cook it for me! Even my mom never fed me raw meat!”
Seeing that communication failed, Ning Qi’an pulled out his survival skill.
The reddish-brown fox crouched, pushed off its hind legs, leaped onto the dining table, and rushed toward the small piece of boiled chicken breast with lightning speed.
Unfortunately, Qin Suihi wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice. It had happened yesterday, so today he was determined to put an end to this bad habit.
He backhanded the plate of chicken breast and held it above his head, looked down at the puffed-up fox, and lifted the fox by the scruff of its neck with one hand, dropping it to the floor.
“If you get on the table again, you’re getting neutered.”
Neutered…
Ning Qi’an cowered instantly.
What a terrifying term. How did humans invent such a technique?
Ning Qi’an shivered and covered his lower half with his tail.
“Good.”
Seeing this, a smile appeared in the corner of Qin Suihi’s eyes. As he leisurely finished the last leaf of lettuce on his plate, he pulled out his phone to search. The answers popped up quickly, a mixed bag, but Qin Suihi scanned them and got the gist.
Foxes like to eat birds and mice.
He couldn’t possibly feed it mice, but the former was acceptable.
Qin Suihi looked thoughtfully at the chicken breast on the plate and realized.
So it likes chicken. He would prepare chicken for the fox tomorrow.
He took another plate of boiled chicken breast out of the pot, placed it with the plate in front of Ning Qi’an, tidied up the table, straightened his clothes, and headed to the company.
Ning Qi’an had tears in his eyes as he buried his head in the food: Great, this guy finally took the right medicine. Though, how is this meat so bland?
Qin Suihi, who followed a strict diet and went for morning runs every day: My nose is so itchy, I feel like I’m going to sneeze.
Ah, held it in.
“Good morning, Young Master Qin. The shareholders are already in the conference room, and Chairman Qin is there too. This is your first time attending a shareholders’ meeting. Here is the information on each shareholder’s stake; please take a look.”
Secretary Chen, one of the two major secretaries of Tianqin, had already organized the shareholder information and handed it to him. Qin Suihi gave him an appreciative look and opened the file to read while walking.
By the time he reached the door of the conference room, Qin Suihi had roughly finished reading. Someone waiting at the door saw him from afar and opened the door in advance.
The conference room was already filled with several brilliant, broad-minded shareholders, with only one seat left beside his father, who was fifty years old but still dashing.
Qin Suihi consciously put on a smile, passed by the other smiling shareholders, and sat in the only remaining seat.
“You were almost late today. Reason.”
Qin Yuan didn’t look sideways; on the surface, he was ice-cold, but in reality, his voice was several decibels lower.
Qin Suihi smiled: “Your fox has hit its rebellious phase.”
Qin Yuan frowned slightly: “Rebellious phase? That shouldn’t be; it’s long past that age.”
“Oh, forgot to mention.” Qin Yuan seemed to recall something and said, “It eats cooked food. Also, treat it well—treat it like a human.”
No wonder it wouldn’t eat the meat when I fed the fox. Turns out its palate was spoiled.
And “treat it like a human”? Got it. Tomorrow, I’ll become sworn brothers with the fox.
Qin Suihi’s smile contained four parts helplessness, three parts mockery, and three parts indifference. He said, “Understood.”
Qin Yuan glanced at him and said, “Act normal, otherwise I’m canceling your last credit card.”
Having his lifeline pinched, the corners of Qin Suihi’s mouth dropped, instantly turning into the standard Qin family expressionless face.
Haha, you don’t get it, right? This is the helplessness of Young Master Qin.
Back when he wasn’t “Young Master Qin,” he was Qin the Playboy, popular at every bar. Who would have thought that after a sudden change, he would turn from a playboy into a young executive? His credit cards were restricted, he was dragged in to take over the company, and from then on, he sealed his heart, learned the consistent coldness of the Qin family.
How fickle life is.
Qin Suihi thought silently.
Something seemed to be kicking his lower leg. Qin Yuan lowered his voice and said, “Introduce yourself.”
It was his father’s foot.
Qin Suihi looked coldly at a shareholder on his left and said, “Hello, President Chu.”
President Chu’s smile stiffened.
Did I offend the young executive somewhere? Why does his gaze look like he wants to kill me?
Another blow to his lower leg. Qin Suihi caught the signal, pulled a very sincere smile, and said to the stunned President Chu again: “Hello, President Chu. Please guide me in the future.”
President Chu: Why did it turn from rain to sunshine?
He touched his shiny, brilliant head, accidentally knocking off a hair, making his already sparse hair even worse off. But he didn’t notice, laughing: “What are you talking about? Seeing you today, Suihi is truly a talent. I remember when you were this big, I even held you.”
Qin Suihi stared at the inconspicuous hair on his shoulder, distracted, and said: “Really? What a coincidence.”
Qin Yuan: Why does that sound familiar?
Not all shareholders had held Qin Suihi, but after everyone got to know each other harmoniously and friendly, the meeting officially began.
When it came to business, Qin Suihi focused his mind and listened carefully to Secretary Chen’s report, though he was a bit hungry since he had only eaten half his breakfast.
Two hours later, as the meeting drew to a close, in front of all the shareholders, Qin Yuan handed him a project.
“Let Little Li follow you, and go take a look at this piece of land.”
Qin Suihi looked at the beach and sea projected on the wall and replied: “Okay, I understand.”