At lunchtime, Li Xiang prepared an especially lavish lunch to give the Little Fox a proper welcome.

’After all, it’s her first time here,’ he thought. ’She "married" into the family in such a rush, there wasn’t even a ceremony or a dowry.’

He made a large pot of Spirit Medicine Snake Porridge. Not only did he add an extra large "Spicy Strip," but he also tossed in a whole Tier One Spiritual Medicine. He didn’t skimp on the seasonings either, adding a wide variety: chicken bouillon, salt, thirteen-spice powder, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, vinegar, star anise, and fennel. He even threw in some of humanity’s "heavy hitters" developed by food science to target the taste buds. After all, the dog and the fox were bigger than the cats and had a higher tolerance for seasonings.

The portion for the mother cat and her five kittens was much "plainer" in comparison, with only a little salt and thirteen-spice powder. He served theirs first before adding the larger amounts of seasonings and the other ingredients.

It was the fox’s first time eating Spirit Medicine Snake Porridge. Setting aside the Spiritual Medicine—the Little Fire Fox was so Spiritual it knew it was good stuff with the first bite—what excited it even more was the food’s incredibly rich flavor. It had never eaten anything so fragrant and delicious. And it was steaming hot, too. The fox couldn’t help but let out soft chirps as it ate, glancing at Li Xiang several times with gratitude in its foxy eyes.

"Eat slowly, there’s more every day," Li Xiang said, recording with his phone off to the side. He chuckled to himself. ’Heh, after tasting this delicious Spirit Medicine Porridge, this little fox spirit probably won’t want to leave even if she originally planned to.’

Seeing the Little Fox eating so happily, Er Huang wagged his tail, his whole body shaking with joy. Ever since getting a "wife," the dog had this goofy, smitten look on his face. He looked like a total simp.

The Little Fox ate until its belly was round and full. It even let out a little burp, its face a picture of pure satisfaction.

It was the first time Li Xiang had ever seen an animal burp, and he was secretly amazed.

After he posted the video online, his fans flooded the comments. "Whoa, Brother Xiang, you’re raising a fox now?"

Li Xiang replied, "It just showed up at my house early this morning."

"A fox just came to you on its own? That’s awesome as hell."

"That fox hit the jackpot. Look at those eyes, that expression, it’s so vivid. That’s not a fox spirit, is it?"

"Aren’t individuals banned from raising foxes? Isn’t it a protected species?" one fan questioned.

Another fan replied, "You can keep common foxes, but... looking at Brother Xiang’s fox, it’s completely red. It’s probably a rare red fox breed. In that case, he’s basically asking for jail time!"

’Holy shit!’ That gave Li Xiang a huge scare. He thought about it for a moment and quickly deleted the video.

It had only been uploaded for about twenty minutes.

Even though it hadn’t been up for long, there was no guarantee someone hadn’t already reported it. After all, the internet is full of all kinds of people, especially the type who can’t stand to see others doing well and love to hit the "report" button.

In his WeChat fan group, fans were also asking, "Why’d you delete that fox video so quickly?"

"It already passed the content review, what’s there to be afraid of?"

In truth, with just over 1.6 million followers, Li Xiang was still a "small fry" on the grand scale of the internet. Plus, he was a rural lifestyle vlogger, not someone discussing military or political topics, so the review process for his content wasn’t very strict. As long as there were no major issues, his videos usually passed quickly. Sometimes he wasn’t even sure if they were reviewed at all.

Li Xiang offered a brief explanation, saying he wanted to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

He now had several WeChat fan groups. At first, when he didn’t have many followers, there was only one. Top Aunt and the coffee merchant from Yunnan Province were both in that first group. Later, as his follower count grew and the group hit its 500-member limit, he created a few more.

When that still wasn’t enough, he applied for a WeChat Work account, which allowed for groups of up to 2,000 people. You know, he had also officially registered a studio, making him a small or micro-enterprise eligible for certain tax benefits.

Someone suggested he use QQ groups, which could hold 3,000 people, but Li Xiang’s fanbase consisted mostly of adults who rarely used QQ.

When Luo Feifei saw this message, the corner of her mouth twitched, but she held her tongue. She actually did have a QQ account and had used it a lot before she became famous. After her rise to stardom, she rarely used it anymore. And even when she did, it was always on a side account.

When some villagers came over to visit and saw the Little Fox, they listened to Granny Li Xiang’s story about how it arrived and all clicked their tongues in amazement.

"Aren’t you afraid it’ll steal your chickens?" one villager asked worriedly.

Granny Li Xiang smiled. "This Little Fox is very Spiritual and smart. We haven’t lost a single chicken."

The villager laughed. "It probably knows the difference between one full meal and a lifetime of them."

If it stole a chicken, the village wouldn’t tolerate it anymore. But if it didn’t, it could freeload here every day without a care in the world. In the dead of winter, with the freezing weather, food was hard to find outside. Wasn’t a hot meal at a human’s house a much better deal? 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

As word spread, many people came to see the fox. Li Xiang told everyone, "It just showed up on its own. It might leave by itself in a few days."

’Anyway, it’s not like I’m actively keeping it,’ he reasoned. ’Even though I have high walls around my yard, I left the doggy door open. I haven’t chained it up, either. It has its foxy freedom.’

Fortunately, most of the people in the village were simple and down-to-earth. They had also all benefited from Li Xiang’s help, so no one reported him.

Besides, they were all counting on Li Xiang to promote and sell their agricultural products in the future. If anyone got his account banned or tried to give him a hard time, the whole village would curse their name.

Cutting off someone’s livelihood is like murdering their parents.

Li Xiang went to the backyard to work on his Big Red Bullhide War Drum.