Chapter 3: Where Good Fate Exists, Ill-Fated Bonds Naturally Follow

“...”

Seeing the white fox greet him, Chen Fengshui’s face stiffened. He immediately turned around and didn’t dare to waste a moment, swiftly fleeing without looking back.

In fact, when An Sheng first arrived in Changxi Town, the first person she encountered was not Yu Xueqing, but Chen Fengshui.

After leaving the mountains, An Sheng chose to take the green train south to Changxi Town to scrounge for food.

This place was rich in Taoist culture and fox spirit legends, not to mention the pun story about the “Fortunate Fox Lord.”

For a fox like An Sheng, Changxi Town was an ideal place to live.

However, when An Sheng transferred onto a tricycle to enter the town, she happened to run into Chen Fengshui, who immediately spotted her lying on a fruit basket in the tricycle.

Chen Fengshui then contacted the Forestry Bureau to have An Sheng captured and taken away.

There were no breeding farms around Changxi Town — only a few tea mountains, some farmland, ponds, and a fish fryery.

Without breeding farms nearby, Chen Fengshui assumed the fox must be a wild animal.

It was well known that the legend of the Fortunate Fox Lord gave foxes a divine status here — as the saying goes, it’s easy to invite a god but hard to send one away.

Ordinary families wouldn’t dare to keep a fox as a pet.

Allowing an unknown wild animal into the village was risky — it might carry diseases or damage villagers’ property.

So, Chen Fengshui decisively reported the incident, asking the authorities to come and investigate.

An Sheng arrived by train and was later escorted out of Changxi Town, sitting in a metal cage on a pickup truck.

After the Forestry Bureau captured her and conducted routine inspections, they were surprised to discover that An Sheng was not a domesticated Arctic fox, but a genuine albino Northern summer red fox.

The Northern summer red fox only inhabited the Jing-Ji region; it was not found elsewhere in the Xia Kingdom.

The inspection results stunned the Forestry Bureau, who quickly alerted the Public Security Bureau about possible smuggling or poaching activities.

The Public Security Bureau then reviewed surveillance footage to trace An Sheng’s movements.

Later, even the security officers were baffled — the albino red fox had traveled alone by green train during the night to the Xia East region.

After a meeting, it was unanimously decided to send the albino red fox back to the Northern Xia region and let the local zoo handle the matter.

The Xia East district already had its own eastern subspecies of red fox, and their budget was limited, unable to care for a fox from another district.

For Chen Fengshui, An Sheng’s arrival was merely a minor incident outside his routine duties.

It wasn’t until a week later, when Old Chen saw An Sheng riding a big scooter, arriving back in Changxi Town from the coast and rivers, riding the winds and waves, that he stopped commenting.

That night, Old Chen brought over salted lion goose heads, Maotai liquor, and roast chicken to apologize.

Otherwise, he couldn’t explain why his household was harboring a nationally protected second-class animal.

He certainly couldn’t tell the security officers that the fox had become a spirit.

Even now, whenever Chen Fengshui recalls his second encounter with that fox, he still feels a lingering chill.

---

“Ah — the country really has improved. The green mountains and clear waters are flourishing, the foxes have become enlightened, they know they are protected animals and come into villages to scam people. Truly a bizarre twist of fate...”

“What the hell have I seen? I saw a fox sitting on a stool, fixing a door lock!”

“That bottle of Maotai, I didn’t even want to drink it...”

After leaving Yu Xueqing’s house, Chen Fengshui looked back and shook his head in disbelief.

He wanted to complain about being bullied by a fox in the village but didn’t know where to start — who would believe such a bizarre story?

Old Chen even worried that his wife might send him to a mental institution.

Imagine, a Northern Xia fox traveling thousands of miles to Changxi Town just to pick on you?

You’d have to be drinking fake liquor laced with industrial alcohol to dream up such nonsense!

Being scammed by a fox and unable to even mention it — Old Chen felt utterly frustrated.

He had worked the mountains and fields for fifty years and encountered all sorts of wild animals, but he had never seen one as wild as An Sheng.

He even lost a bottle of Maotai aged twelve years over this.

After all, foxes hold grudges; if he didn’t handle this properly, Old Chen feared the fox might assassinate him.

A nationally protected second-class animal!

Times had changed, technology had advanced, and new protection laws had been established.

In short, Old Chen was cautious, frustrated, wanted revenge, but was afraid of going to jail.

...

“Old Chen, the more you shout, the faster you run. I was just going to borrow a bottle of WD-40 lubricant.”

Seeing Chen Fengshui run far away, An Sheng scratched her triangular fox ears and sighed.

In the entire town, besides Yu Xueqing, who knew she understood humans, only Old Chen knew she had become a spirit.

But she seemed to have scared Old Chen earlier; now he took a wide detour whenever he saw her...

When she returned to Changxi Town, An Sheng hadn’t done much — she just clung to Old Chen’s pant leg, lying stiffly on the ground, sticking her long tongue out as if about to die.

Then, she followed Old Chen home, hoping to scrounge a meal.

Old Chen knew she was a nationally protected second-class animal and a spirit; if he didn’t feed her, where else could she get a feast?

Unfortunately, Old Chen wasn’t very generous; after one meal, there was no second.

So she had to hunt mountain chickens in the village, which got her into a fight with the local bully, the spectacled king cobra.

“If there’s no WD-40, pencil graphite will do for now.”

An Sheng whimpered softly, then turned and dashed up the courtyard wall.

Foxes, also known as forest spirits, have climbing abilities — some fierce foxes can build nests seven or eight meters high in trees.

A mere two-meter wall was no challenge for An Sheng.

---

She walked along the wall to the neighboring house and looked into the opposite courtyard.

Inside, there were scattered farming tools, several motorcycles smeared with yellow mud, and a lean Labrador lying motionless on the ground, exuding a gloomy aura.

Gas cylinder-sized Labradors were common, but a Labrador as thin and dry as a stick was rare.

“Woof—”

An Sheng lay on the wall, suddenly barking a greeting to the thin Labrador.

“Woof...”

Named Laifu, the Labrador lay in the shade of a greenhouse, faintly raising its head to look at the white fox greeting it, sighing deeply and responding weakly.

Laifu then flopped back onto the ground. The dog food in the stainless steel bowl beside it remained untouched.

“Don’t be sad. It’s just that you lost two puppies, right? Out with the old, in with the new!”

An Sheng leapt across the alley between two houses, landing in the next yard. Filled with pity, she reached out to pat Laifu’s head, so gaunt that the bones at the back of its skull were visible.

Laifu wasn’t lacking food or water; its owner often fed it treats.

Its emaciation all stemmed from an incident two weeks ago.

Laifu’s yard wall was low and barely a barrier, so it often climbed out to hunt wild game to fatten itself up.

But as the saying goes, “You can’t go to the riverbank without getting your shoes wet.”

Two weeks ago, while out foraging, An Sheng had just arrived at Yu Xueqing’s home.

She witnessed Laifu run and leap, attempting to jump back home, but perhaps from overeating or slipping, its upper body made it inside the house while its two testicles got stuck in the door gap.

The 80-plus-kilogram Labrador was hanging from the door by only its two testicles.

An Sheng’s eyes twitched at the sight, as Laifu’s pitiful screams echoed throughout the town.

The entire household rushed out, and Yu Xueqing also came to help.

Sadly, the two testicles couldn’t bear Laifu’s weight and shattered immediately.

After leaving the pet hospital, Laifu seemed to understand it had lost its mating rights and had been melancholy ever since.

“Ah, Brother Fu, don’t be down. Have something to eat. I’m just here to borrow some lubricant...”

After barking twice, An Sheng turned and went into Laifu’s house to look for something to use as lubricant.

Repairing the door lock, plugging dog holes, and guarding the house — two hours passed, and she still hadn’t finished.

She was beginning to worry that Yu Xueqing would come back and check.

If she’d known Old Chen would pass by, An Sheng would have just sat by the door watching videos, waiting to catch Old Chen to help.

“Yip...”

An Sheng sighed. Fate and timing were against her!