70: Chapter 70 A New Year with Family

As Bai Muxue, having finished her bath, carried the Spirit Fox back to her room to change, the Spirit Fox, which was using its Mental Energy to control the hairdryer, looked at Bai Muxue.

"Ying."

[Mu Xue, I felt that you were clearly angry yesterday, so why weren't you angry when he came? It's like you had a lot of things you didn't say.]

Bai Muxue, who had finished changing and was drying her hair with a towel while waiting for the Spirit Fox to finish with the hairdryer, paused slightly. A hint of contemplation appeared in her eyes, and then she turned to look at the Spirit Fox with a faint, enigmatic smile.

"Hmm... I don't know. But Xiao Bai, haven't you always wanted to become even bigger and stronger than Da Hei?"

"Then why weren't you angry yesterday? And why did you look back at Da Hei when you left?"

Spirit Fox: ?

Watching her Xiao Bai stand there in a daze, eyes wide with disbelief, Bai Muxue shook her head with a smile. "Besides, he has a name. It's not 'him,' it's Qin Ding."

"And as for Da Hei, I've always thought of this mischievous little black dog as my younger brother since we were young."

The Spirit Fox, a mental-type creature whose brain was already quite sharp, didn't know what to say after hearing Bai Muxue's words and fell silent.

However, why hadn't it attacked that big black dog yesterday? When the dog had opened its mouth and leaned in, it felt like it was going to eat it...

Seeing the Spirit Fox looking like it was questioning its life, its Mental Energy control over the hairdryer slipping, Bai Muxue chuckled, snatched the hairdryer, and began using it herself.

"By the way, Xiao Bai, you're already a high-level spirit beast. I need to hurry up and raise my Mental Energy to the second rank, otherwise, I'm afraid I'll hold you back."

This statement immediately brought the Spirit Fox back from its self-doubt. Almost subconsciously, it thought of the figure who was always the first to step forward during the Class Competition.

A sentence slipped out almost involuntarily.

"Ying."

[Mu Xue, don't you still have Qin Ding? He will definitely stand in front of you.]

Bai Muxue froze for a moment. She didn't speak, instead softly humming a beautiful tune. The Spirit Fox became interested, and seeing this, Bai Muxue began to explain.

"This was from Aunt Shen, who is also Qin Ding's mother. When we were young, she often hummed it for me, Da Hei, and Qin Ding to listen to. However..."

Her voice trailed off, and a look of nostalgia and slight sadness appeared in Bai Muxue's eyes. "But it's still not as good as Aunt Shen. This tune… Aunt Shen hummed it better."

"Let's not think about that for now. Let's train our Mental Energy, otherwise, if any accidents happen, it will be troublesome."

Time flew by for a few days, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the New Year arrived.

Early in the morning, before dawn, Qin Ding, who was cultivating in his bedroom, was woken up by the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers.

Opening his eyes, he saw the dim sky outside the window, but Qin Ding knew that today was New Year's Day.

Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Ding rolled out of bed, went over to the doghouse, and kicked the Earth Dog awake.

"Earth Dog, Earth Dog, wake up! Stop sleeping. It's New Year's today, and we're going to spend the whole day at Aunt Zhao's house."

The Earth Dog, originally groggy and drooling with sleep, brightened up significantly upon hearing the latter part of Qin Ding's words.

"Awoo?"

[Is it New Year's? Great, New Year's is great! Boss, wash me up. I haven't seen that little fox in a few days, and I kind of miss it.]

Qin Ding's brows instantly furrowed. He stared intently at the Earth Dog, which had immediately gotten up from the doghouse and was walking toward the bathroom with great self-awareness, and slowly revealed a slightly eerie smile.

"Interesting, this is quite interesting..."

Before long, the freshly washed Da Hei even walked ahead of Qin Ding, looking somewhat impatient. Qin Ding didn't say anything and made no indication of his thoughts, simply following behind Da Hei, even letting Da Hei enter first after opening the door.

Upon opening the door, Qin Ding smelled a familiar scent. It was a custom New Year's food in Chang City called "Geng," made with glutinous rice flour, wood ear mushrooms, meat, shiitake mushrooms, and other ingredients.

"Is that Xiao Ding? The Geng is ready, come in, come in!"

Zhao Min, who was carrying a large pot of Geng to the dining table, looked at Qin Ding as he entered with a kind smile on her face. Around her neck, she was wearing the Blood Pig core necklace that Qin Ding had given her.

"Xiao Ding, the Amber-Blood necklace you gave me—the more I look at it, the more I like it. Is it expensive? How come I've never heard of it?"

Amber-Blood... necklace?

Almost subconsciously, Qin Ding turned his head to look at Bai Muxue, who was sitting there calmly drinking Geng.

"Um, as long as you like it, Auntie. It wasn't expensive, I bought it with my school scholarship."

Aunt Zhao didn't say anything after hearing this, just kept nodding with a smile, though her eyes were slowly turning red.

"Of course Auntie believes in Xiao Ding. Our Xiao Ding is very outstanding."

Whether intentional or unintentional, Zhao Min seemed to glance at Bai Muxue when she said this.

Because of the Spirit Fox, Bai Muxue's perception had skyrocketed, and she could clearly feel her mother's gaze. Combined with what had just been said, her ears turned a little red, and she remained silent.

Slurp slurp, slurp slurp...

Qin Ding: ?

Bai Muxue: ... Pfft!

Qin Ding's smile froze, Bai Muxue almost spat out the Geng she was drinking, and Zhao Min, being the elder, laughed until she couldn't close her mouth.

"Da Hei, this child, is still the same as when it was little, drinking Geng so impatiently."

Hearing this, Qin Ding suppressed his inner thoughts. He figured he had miscalculated one part; he would deal with it when they got back.

"By the way, Aunt Zhao, I have some meat here that I got from school during the Class Competition. You can cook some for Mu Xue and Xiao Bai to eat. If humans are going to eat it, make sure it's cooked thoroughly."

"During the Class Competition?"

Zhao Min was stunned at first, but after realizing what he meant, she didn't refuse and nodded with a smile. The look she gave Qin Ding was one of relief, like watching a child she had raised with her own hands gradually becoming outstanding.

Bai Muxue understood the subtext of Qin Ding's words. She subconsciously looked at Qin Ding's hand, which was making a 'two' gesture, shaking it up and down twice.

Two, shaking twice... Level 20 spirit beast meat??

No wonder he said to cook it thoroughly if humans were going to eat it. Wasn't that to let more of the spiritual energy contained in the meat dissipate?

He was afraid her mother's body wouldn't be able to handle it.

The three of them ate and chatted at the table, while Da Hei and the Spirit Fox were on the floor at the end of the table, whispering about something.

"Woo..."

[The Geng is delicious, but it lacks a lot of nutrition. I'll ask my Boss to get you some high-quality meat later. You'll definitely grow after eating it...]

Da Hei was whispering secretively to the Spirit Fox. It was obvious that it had also set its sights on the Emerald-horned Deer meat and intended to secure a portion for the Spirit Fox.

After all, there was still so much Scaly Python meat left, and it hadn't even finished eating it all, let alone the fact that there was such a large deer; sharing some with the little fox wouldn't be a problem.

The little fox was also Big Sister's beast; the Boss would definitely support it.

Little did it know that Da Hei's little actions, due to its messy eating habits, had already drawn the full attention of Qin Ding and Bai Muxue.

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This chapter is a slice-of-life segment; it's time to start the plot for the next semester.