Chapter 160: Chapter 158: The Proprietress’s Son

Wen Ying felt that twitching her lips would be rather unsightly, so she resisted the urge.

A fox that could write was already a wonder of the world. Why demand its handwriting be beautiful, too?

Plenty of people had handwriting that looked like a trail of ants.

Wen Ying quickly adjusted her attitude.

"Little White, if you enjoy writing, you should set aside some time to practice your calligraphy every day."

She thought she’d phrased it tactfully enough. There was no way it could have hurt Little White’s pride.

Little White, who had been writing, froze mid-stroke at Wen Ying’s words. RIIIP. A tear appeared in the paper.

Little White’s face was a mask of defiance!

’I want to refuse!’

’Can I refuse?’

’Why do I have to practice calligraphy even when I’m a fox?’

’I’m not human! Why should I have to study or practice writing?!’

’When I was a kit at home, my fox-dad and fox-mom were always making me learn this and that. I was so tired of it.’

’I’ve only been asleep for a few decades, haven’t I? Why do I have to practice writing again?’

’SOB SOB SOB... I just want to cry.’

’I really don’t like practicing my writing, and I don’t like studying. I just want to play!’

’I’m still so young! Why do I have to suffer like this?’

’Oh, whatever. I should just focus on repaying my debt first.’

Wen Ying squinted at the crooked characters but was eventually able to make them out. "You mean to say there was something causing trouble at the proprietress’s home back then? Her son didn’t actually want to leave? He was provoked? And he left in a fit of pique out of pure spite? The proprietress cared too much, which put her son under too much pressure?"

Although it was fragmented and the sentences were jumbled, Wen Ying grasped the general meaning.

It was likely all a misunderstanding—one that had lasted for many years.

"Little White, this troublemaker... it wasn’t you, was it?" Wen Ying asked, a sudden thought occurring to her as she stared at the little fox.

Little White looked bewildered. To be honest, it didn’t really remember what happened back then.

It had only truly woken up in the last couple of days.

Hearing its master’s question now, it felt a pang of guilt.

’Was it me?’

"Let’s not dwell on the past. We should look to the future. Go and get the proprietress."

Little White immediately dropped the ballpoint pen on the desk, took a leap, and—THUD—landed right on its backside on the floor.

It had forgotten that it hadn’t recovered its strength yet.

After rubbing its little rear with a tiny paw, Little White picked itself up and trotted out of the clinic with an air of resignation.

Wen Ying gazed at the boy in the photograph. The proprietress had said that in all these years, he had only contacted his family once.

Judging by his features, he wasn’t fated for a short life.

「Ten minutes later.」

The proprietress walked into the clinic, cradling Little White in her arms.

The first thing Little White did upon entering the clinic was to leap from the proprietress’s embrace and scamper over to Wen Ying.

"Little Ying, you were looking for me?"

The proprietress didn’t know why Wen Ying had summoned her, but when she saw her son’s photograph on the desk, she understood.

"You want to help me, don’t you?"

"Ma’am, that’s the plan, but I’ll need payment first."

"How much?"

"One thousand."

The proprietress paid the thousand via QR code without a moment’s hesitation. She already owed Wen Ying a favor, and she had also eaten that seemingly very effective piece of candy Wen Ying had given her.

She had even taken a piece of talisman paper.

Wen Ying had also helped her resolve the issue with the household god. After all, if she had been on her own, she would have been terrified of offending the household god. Even if she didn’t care about herself, she cared about the rest of the street.

With that in mind, the proprietress transferred another ten thousand yuan to Wen Ying. "Little Ying, please take this as payment for helping me before. Don’t refuse, or I won’t be able to rest easy."

Seeing that Wen Ying and the proprietress had things to discuss, Little White, who had been curled up in Wen Ying’s arms, slowly clambered out and sat squatting to one side as if it were part of the conversation.

The proprietress’s initial curiosity had faded. Now that she knew the Fox Immortal was with Wen Ying, her heart was completely at ease.

"Little Ying, about my son’s situation..." The proprietress had barely begun before her eyes started to well up.

Little White pulled a tissue from a nearby box, placed it in front of the proprietress, and then returned to its squatting position.

The proprietress let out a faint, wry smile. The situation was strangely amusing, though not in a funny, ha-ha way.

She just didn’t know how to describe her current feelings.

It was complicated.

The proprietress took out her phone and stared at the familiar number, one she looked at almost every day.

But she hadn’t dialed it in a year.

She remembered the last time she had tried; he had hung up on her three times.

Her text messages had also gone unanswered.

"Ma’am, don’t be sad. He’s okay."

The proprietress nodded with a bitter smile. Her son’s safety was her greatest joy.

Having been paid, Wen Ying turned to the proprietress and got to work. "Ma’am, back when he left, how much money did he take from home?"

"A little over twenty thousand, I think. It was his first time away from home, and I was afraid something would happen when I wasn’t there for him, so I had him take all our savings."

"Did you have high hopes for him back then? The kind where you hoped he’d become a great man."

Hearing that phrase, a pang of pain seemed to spread through the proprietress’s heart. "It’s all my fault. As long as he’s safe and sound, as long as he comes home, that’s all that matters. Why did I need him to be exceptional? But I never hit or scolded him, nor did I ever subject him to what people online call ’emotional abuse.’ Maybe my worrying just became a psychological burden for him."

The proprietress said a great deal more, with Wen Ying and Little White as her audience.

When she was finished, Wen Ying said, "Ma’am, why don’t you give him a call now?"

"He won’t answer... He must hate me..."

"Why not try?"

The proprietress keyed in the familiar string of digits. She didn’t hold out much hope; after all, she had almost gotten used to the disappointment.

But then the ringing tone suddenly vanished. The other end of the line was quiet. It was a listening silence.

The silence of a connected call.

The proprietress instantly broke down, tears streaming down her face.

"Junjun, are... are you okay?"

They were supposed to be the closest of family, yet the words that came out sounded like they were for a stranger.

A silence stretched for several seconds from the other end. "Mom."

"I’m here! Do you have enough money? You have to tell me if you’re running low. And if you need my help with anything, you have to tell me, understand?"

"Mom, I have a girlfriend."

Hearing this, the proprietress suddenly fell silent. The atmosphere seemed to freeze.

The feeling was incredibly complex.

"I want to bring her home to meet you," her son said, breaking the silence.

"Yes, yes, of course! When are you coming back? I’ll get everything ready. What does your girlfriend like to eat? Does she have any special habits? I’ll prepare everything in advance."

It was the image of countless mothers across the world, loving their sons with a humble heart.

The other end fell silent again. Wen Ying watched as the proprietress’s knuckles turned white from how tightly she was gripping her phone. She was clearly terrified of saying the wrong thing and not seeing her son for years to come.

But after two minutes of silence, she heard the most beautiful word in the world. "Okay."

Wen Ying and Little White sat quietly to the side, watching the proprietress’s tear-streaked, smiling face.

When the proprietress hung up the phone—