“I think I’ve caught another cold,” Su Mumu said.
“Did your cold come back?” Jiang Mengxin asked with concern. “Then I’ll bring some cold medicine over tomorrow.”
“Mm…” Su Mumu was listless, her eyelids becoming heavy. ‘Oh no… I’m so sleepy.’
“In that case, get some rest early, Mumu. Let’s leave it at that for tonight,” Jiang Mengxin urged. “Make sure to cover yourself with the blanket.”
“I know…” Su Mumu closed her eyes.
Immediately after, the busy signal of the phone rang out as Jiang Mengxin hung up.
‘I can’t do this… I’m really sleepy.’
‘I don’t think I can hold on… let me, let me sleep for a while.’
Su Mumu relaxed completely and soon began to snore.
The clock on the wall ticked away, and the cold wind howled outside the window.
Before long, the lid of the pill furnace on the stove began to rattle and lift, but Su Mumu was completely unaware.
***
A long time passed.
The room was filled with thick, choking smoke.
Under the bed, the snow cat irritably scrambled out. It leaped onto the mattress and began pawing at a pair of white, fluffy fox ears sticking out from the covers.
“Meow—! Meow-wu~~”
“Don’t mess with me… don’t pull on my ears,” Su Mumu muttered groggily.
“Meow, meow, meow!” The cat’s paws worked harder.
“…I told you not to pull.” Su Mumu opened her eyes. What met her gaze was a blackened ceiling shrouded in rolling black smoke.
‘This… what is this!?’
Su Mumu instantly bolted upright. Like she was running for her life, she rushed to the stove and extinguished the firewood.
Inside the pill furnace was nothing but charred remains.
‘Damn it, this transformation wind-up is way too ridiculous,’ Su Mumu fretted.
“Meow~~”
The snow cat rubbed against Su Mumu’s ankle, stood up clumsily, and crawled against her calf to act spoiled.
“Little one, it’s all thanks to you.” Su Mumu squatted down and pulled the snow cat into her arms. For some reason, this little guy had become exceptionally clingy.
Its small pink tongue licked her repeatedly, making Su Mumu’s cheeks itch.
“Alright, alright, why are you so clingy?”
“Meow~~” The snow cat rolled over to show its belly in Su Mumu’s arms.
“Hmm… maybe I should give you a name?” Su Mumu whispered.
“Meow!”
“You’re a chubby little thing with a coat of bright white fur… I’ll call you Tangyuan!” Su Mumu said with a bright smile.
“Meow, meow, meow~~” Tangyuan nodded with surprising intelligence.
“Okay, okay, you go down first. I have to hurry and restart the alchemy. It’s almost dawn…”
After that, Tangyuan jumped to the floor and disappeared in a flash.
The recipe for the Xiao Yao pill was very simple, and the heat didn’t need much control.
About fifteen minutes later, it was finally finished. With her previous experience, this time she produced a total of five pills. Su Mumu let out a satisfied smile.
‘No time to lose, let’s take one now!’
Then she carefully wrapped the remaining four and put them in a drawer.
Just in case of an emergency.
*Whew!* Now I can relax.
Once she relaxed, Su Mumu realized how cold it was. Outside the window, in the pitch-black night, it seemed like bits of white dust were fluttering violently.
‘It’s snowing… no wonder the temperature dropped again.’
In this kind of weather, it was much more comfortable under the covers… warm, cozy, and soft.
Wait… soft?
Su Mumu lifted the blanket in surprise. Sure enough, Tangyuan was lying on her stomach.
“You rascal… you’ll shed hair if you sleep on the bed.”
“Meow, meow, meow~~!”
“I can’t understand what you’re saying!” Su Mumu said helplessly. “Fine, just this once, considering you saved the day!”
Tangyuan closed its spiritual eyes.
Su Mumu picked up her phone by the pillow and started looking through various information and records.
She didn’t know if the information was being blocked or if her search methods were wrong. She couldn’t find a single piece of news about a member of the human race suddenly turning into the yao race…
After half an hour of effort, Su Mumu gave up.
‘It seems I’ll have to find another way to understand this…’
‘Since it’s come to this, let’s sleep for now.’
***
The morning sun hung high in the sky.
A thin layer of snow covered the courtyard. In such cold weather, being under the covers was like heaven on earth.
Su Mumu really didn’t want to get out of bed.
But she had no choice; her phone on the nightstand started ringing.
Su Mumu answered the call without even opening her eyes. “Hello…”
“Is Mumu still sleeping? It’s almost noon. What do you want to eat? I’ll pick something up on my way,” Jiang Mengxin said.
“I want… roast chicken, fried chicken, shredded chicken…” Su Mumu mumbled like she was talking in her sleep.
“You want to eat chicken? Alright, I’ll be at your place in ten minutes,” Jiang Mengxin instructed.
“I know…”
Su Mumu sat up, rubbing her bleary eyes and yawning.
She reached out and felt her head and her backside.
…She had returned to her human form.
“Are you still sleeping?” Su Mumu pulled back the quilt. “I’m awake, so you aren’t allowed to sleep either!”
“…Meow-wu.” Tangyuan gave her a pitiful look.
The corner of Su Mumu’s mouth twitched. She tucked the blanket in, got out of bed, and changed her clothes.
By the time she was mostly ready, Jiang Mengxin had arrived.
*Click.*
With the slight sound of a key turning, the door slowly swung open.
“The Eldest Miss has arrived!”
Jiang Mengxin’s voice arrived before she did. By the time the door was fully open, her smile was perfectly in place.
“Did Mumu miss me?”
“Boohoo.” Su Mumu wiped away nonexistent tears. “I missed Xinxin so much, I couldn’t even sleep well last night.”
“So fake~~” Jiang Mengxin remarked as she placed a bag of food on the table. “Eat, eat.”
“Yay! Jiang Mengxin is the GOAT!” Su Mumu clapped her hands.
Neither of them had particularly large appetites.
So, when they finished the meal, there was still some rice left at the bottom of the bowls.
Jiang Mengxin chatted idly. “Speaking of which… Mumu, didn’t you used to love eating fish? Why the sudden change in diet today?”
Su Mumu yawned and squinted. “I don’t know… I just suddenly felt like eating it.”
Jiang Mengxin muttered thoughtfully, “Did you evolve from a fish into a… fox?”
—Fox.
Once those two words were spoken, Su Mumu could clearly feel the atmosphere in the room become a bit strange.
Su Mumu pretended to keep yawning.
But her heart was shaken.
Jiang Mengxin’s words…
‘It’s true. Why did I… suddenly want to eat chicken so much?’
‘It’s as if I really am some kind of fox.’
‘No way…?’
‘It’s just a coincidence, right?’
‘I just happened to want to change my taste today! Su Mumu, don’t scare yourself!’
“By the way, where’s that Haji?” Jiang Mengxin snapped back to the present.
“It’s… sleeping in the blankets!” Su Mumu said, breaking into a cold sweat. “It’s too clingy, always acting spoiled… I really can’t do anything about it.”
Jiang Mengxin was eager to see it. “That’s great. I want to hold it too.”
“It’s asleep.” Su Mumu raised an eyebrow and gave her a mysterious smile.
“I’ll go check it out~~” Jiang Mengxin understood the signal.
She quietly approached the bed and lifted the blanket.
Tangyuan was curled into a ball, looking lazy and cute. Jiang Mengxin’s heart instantly melted. She couldn’t wait to reach out and touch it.
But Tangyuan was startled awake. “Meow!!!”
It turned into a white flash, leaped off the bed, and ducked underneath it.
The speed was so fast that it left Jiang Mengxin dumbfounded. “It runs so fast…”
“Hahaha.” Su Mumu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Fine, Mumu is even mocking me now…” Jiang Mengxin sat on the edge of the bed with her arms crossed, pouting.
“It’s only natural. My apologies, my apologies.” Su Mumu stood up and walked toward the bathroom. Her hands were too greasy; she needed to wash them.
Jiang Mengxin looked at the bed and whispered, “It’s covered in cat hair…”
She gently patted the bed with her hand, trying to brush the fur away.
Right then, deeper inside the bedding, there was a slender, snow-white, long, and straight hair. In the morning light streaming through the window, it looked exceptionally eye-catching.
“What is this…?” Jiang Mengxin asked, puzzled. She reached out and picked up the long, snow-white hair.
In an instant, her expression froze.