"Master Fox... What happened?"
The hotel elevator, due to unknown reasons, fell into a complete standstill. Lin Ying and Lin Bingyun ran out from the staircase, each holding a mop they had just found in the cleaning room to wipe water stains.
As Lin Ying walked out of the stairwell, she saw Master Fox being unusually obedient, sitting with his two small feet splayed out on the wet floor, sipping a cola, with the tips of his four fluffy tails curling up like little question marks.
And in front of Master Fox, lay a beast-eared maiden, clutching the back of her head with both arms, rolling all over the place.
"The fountain pool water has additives, super slippery. The big kitty over there hit the back of her head on a piece of the fountain when struggling to get up."
Ansheng saw Lin Ying approaching, smiled, raised his arm, and waved at her, explaining the situation.
Lin Ying glanced at that beast-eared maiden, a strange look flickered in her eyes for a moment, but she quickly withdrew her gaze and pressed the mop used for wiping water stains against the ground, pushing forward vigorously and clearing the sewage, advancing over thirty meters.
Lin Ying took hold of the little fox's paw, dragged him out of the puddle, supported his chest with one hand, and walked straight out of the waterlogged area.
Lin Ying handed Master Fox over to Housekeeper Lin, asking the housekeeper to wash his bottom with clean water.
Lin Ying returned, pushed away the slightly sticky spring water, and dragged Wang Qiqi out.
Wang Qiqi expressed her gratitude, then asked Lin Ying, "Are you... Chairman Lin Ying, Master Fox's night guardian?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Ying whispered to herself, feeling a little touched, but her expression didn't change much. She just nodded slightly in affirmation.
"Master Fox said... he's here to study?"
Wang Qiqi sat on the ground, her gaze turned to Master Fox, who was washing himself with bottled water.
Lin Ying nodded, saying, "His other guardian is a student, currently studying in the fourth year at Xinxing Agricultural Science College's Chang'an City Campus. However, your college seems to not allow pets..."
"Ah Qing left him at home, and then the sulking Master Fox found me. I brought him here to Chang'an to buy property and handle enrollment procedures."
As Lin Ying spoke, she glanced at Wang Qiqi.
Although Lin Ying wasn't fully informed about Xia Country's secret research institutions, due to her experience visiting Dongxiang Research Institute, she had some understanding of the Security Bureau.
Most of the young comrades in the Security Bureau, aside from a few special recruits with exceptional talent, were from three experimental colleges, with most woodcutters and forest rangers hailing from the [Xinxing Agricultural Science College].
Bai Tao also graduated from the College of Agriculture. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
However, she graduated from the Beast Taming Sacred Sect, originally planning to become a veterinarian, but somehow ended up as a forest ranger.
"...Xinxing Agricultural Science College?"
Upon hearing Lin Ying mention her alma mater, Wang Qiqi was slightly taken aback, looking at Master Fox with a surprised expression.
"In this year's batch of fourth-year freshmen, there's really an extraordinary little guy."
"With such a working saint physique, why worry about not getting promoted..."
Master Fox inherently possessed a societal specialization, high combat ability, and hostility towards fierce spirit beasts, making him the dream spirit beast in the woodcutter community.
With a Master Fox in tow, even with minimal scientific research aptitude, after three to five years working in the field, one could smoothly transition to an office role, overseeing the safety and spirit beast management of a core research institution.
After a brief amazement, Wang Qiqi immediately realized Master Fox's working saint physique attribute.
After washing off the grime, Master Fox jumped off the table, grabbing a stun gun, and sprinted out of the hotel.
Seeing Master Fox's strange actions, Wang Qiqi looked at Master Fox's guardian.
"The reason Master Fox is called 'Master' is because he has a consciousness to protect his territory."
Lin Ying spoke unhurriedly, "When Master Fox encounters other spirit beasts, he will first judge their intentions. If they're harmless to humans, he'll step up and smile to greet them..."
"But if Master Fox senses malice, he might employ some violent means, crushing the opponent's dreams of becoming a spirit beast overlord, making them dare not harbor ambitions..."
Wang Qiqi looked at Lin Ying, then at the departing back of Master Fox. After a brief reflection, her eyes widened as she realized something.
Wang Qiqi widened her eyes, quickly got up from the ground, and chased after Master Fox.
"Stop! You guys don't fight, from now on we're colleagues who see each other often!"
Although Master Fox was fast, the speed of Wang Qiqi, who had completed her transformation into a leopard maiden, was outrageously fast, catching up with Master Fox in an instant as he crossed the road.
Ansheng glanced sideways at Wang Qiqi, puzzled, and murmured a couple of sounds:
"What colleague? I'm just an unremarkable second-grade fox of the nation, no need to work."
"Hear me out first..."
Wang Qiqi blocked Master Fox's path, introducing herself: "My name is Wang Qiqi, a 2021 graduate of Xinxing Agricultural Science College. Hmm... I'm your guardian Ah Qing's senior."
"You look like someone who dangles with a candy stick every day in the park, luring kids into the woods to see something shady..."
Ansheng stepped back a few paces, squatted on the bike lane by the roadside, looked at Wang Qiqi, who introduced herself as Ah Qing's senior, and remarked sarcastically.
If he hadn't known the background, knowing that this leopard maiden worked as a woodcutter, and even had stalker-shaming notes written on her leggings, Ansheng would first think that this leopard maiden seemed quite unreliable.
Who starts trying to establish relationships upon first meeting by introducing themselves?
It's either a scam or someone trying to lure me into buying a house.
"Me? A goldfish man?"
Wang Qiqi widened her eyes, took a sharp breath, and looked at Master Fox.
"How could a fox insult a young maiden as a goldfish man? I'm super charismatic, alright!"
"No, we shouldn't be discussing irrelevant privacy issues now."
"The reason I said we might be colleagues in the future is because, aside from normal plant knowledge, Xinxing Agricultural Science College offers a wealth of courses on spirit plants and spirit beasts."
"Graduates from Xinxing Agricultural Science College primarily work for the Security Bureau, though separated into different groups and projects across various locations."
"But we all fall under the Security Bureau's jurisdiction, right?"
Ansheng paused for a moment and nodded.
"So, a golden leopard isn't a vicious beast, and it's okay for us to be colleagues, right?" Wang Qiqi said.
It turns out... the new Xinxing Agricultural Science College is really, really new.
Ah Qing's boarded the wrong ship!
No way, tonight, I need to fly to Zen City overnight, whip up a couple of dishes to get Ah Qing drunk, and persuade her to transfer schools... Ansheng silently complained to himself.
As soon as security was mentioned.
Ansheng immediately thought of woodcutters tying convicts to car bumpers to fly kites, or forest ranger Su Qiyuan's hemorrhoids being as large as a fist.
Master Fox, covering his head, tried to shake off the horrifying image of Ah Qing with hemorrhoids, trembling, raising his hand, and pleading for help to buy hemorrhoid suppositories.
Hemorrhoid suppositories...
Ansheng had bought them for a colleague in his past life, and the female pharmacist at the drugstore gave him a very odd look.
When inquiring how to use the hemorrhoid suppository from his colleague, Ansheng was shocked to his core, subconsciously tossing away the oily pen he'd just swiped from the desk.
If a fox went to buy hemorrhoid suppositories.
I dare not imagine, Ansheng simply dared not imagine.