My Supernatural Exes Are Desperate to Win Me Back - Chapter 5 - Adoption

Although Xie Yi heard Xu Xining calling the Forestry Bureau, he was too preoccupied reminiscing about his romantic history to listen intently.

Besides, for the last eight hundred years, people had consistently chosen him.

Rather than believe he could be abandoned, he preferred to believe that Xu Xining was a demon in disguise.

What was even more unbelievable than that happened next!

A female employee from the Forestry Bureau bent down to grab Xie Yi first.

Xie Yi could have sent her flying with a kick, but he feared that Xu Xining would notice his overly agile movements. Moreover, he adhered to a principle of not hitting women, so he just struggled and turned back to glare at Xu Xining:

-Your mother, you want to send him away?!

Such a beautiful fox, and she actually has the heart to hand it over to the state?!!!

Standing by, Xu Xining looked on with an innocent and sweet demeanor, heartlessly waving goodbye: “Farewell, brother fox.”

The woman was about to put the fox into a cage when, unable to hold back any longer, she burst into tears: “Ah!”

Xu Xining was startled.

The woman hugged the fox and kissed it repeatedly: “So cute!!! How can this fox look so lovable?!”

The two men nearby were also smitten: “I’d say, this fox doesn’t even look wild, it must be show-quality.”

“Look at these claws, how pretty, and this fur, how beautiful! It’s like something out of a cartoon!”

“I can’t bear to put it in a cage, it’s so cold out, I’ll just carry it,” the woman pleaded.

“That’s not according to the rules, after all, it is a wild animal, it might attack people… I’m a man, let me carry it.”

“Get lost, I’m taller, I’m six feet.”

“Go to hell with your six feet, why don’t you engrave that on your tombstone.”

Xu Xining: “……”

She watched as the three people began frantically petting the fox, utterly besotted.

Hello? Aren’t you professionals? Haven’t you seen a fox before? Restrain yourselves a bit, hey!!!

The fox snarled softly, its tail swatting away the hands of the two men.

The three finally seemed to snap out of it, the woman realizing her own overreaction, coughed a few times, and said solemnly: “Do you see this fox, doesn’t it look a bit like… the Red Fox of Mount Tu?”

The other two men immediately looked startled, then turned to examine the fox’s face and paw shapes, their expressions growing more serious.

Xu Xining asked, “What’s the Red Fox of Mount Tu?”

“A nationally protected species,” one man explained. “The wild Red Fox of Mount Tu was considered functionally extinct after 1921, and completely disappeared from our territory around 1930. The last sighting was in the southwest Mang Mountains. If this really is a wild Red Fox of Mount Tu, then…”

“Is there a reward?” Xu Xining’s eyes gleamed.

“Cough, no reward, but we can issue a personal commendation for you.”

“Commendation?”

“That’s just verbal praise.”

“Then never mind,” Xu Xining saluted solemnly, “I do good deeds without expecting anything in return.”

They walked away with the fox.

Xie Yi’s ears drooped as he stared fixedly at Xu Xining, his gaze misty like the fog over a river, more forlorn than a woman gazing into the distance in a poem.

Sorrow and reluctance hooked out one’s heart as if one would willingly entrust their life to him.

Suddenly, Xu Xining called out, “Wait!”

Xie Yi suppressed a triumphant smile.

Can’t bear it, huh? Regretting it, huh? Changed your mind at the last minute, huh?

Xu Xining dashed into the kitchen, grabbed a carrot, caught up, and stuffed it near the fox’s mouth, cheerfully saying: “Big brother big brother big brother, take this for the road, since it’s touched your saliva I can’t eat it anyway.”

Xie Yi: …

Eat your damn carrots! I’ve said I hated carrots all my life!!!

The next morning, golden sunlight streamed through the bedroom curtains, and the alarm clock stubbornly rang for the tenth time.

Xu Xining woke from her sleep, grabbed her phone, jumped up, brushed her teeth, washed her face, changed clothes, grabbed bread and yogurt for breakfast.

A new day, a new race against time.

Today she had a morning meeting, and if she was late, that menopausal editor would make all sorts of sarcastic remarks, implying she was wasting everyone’s time and deserved to die, yet when she herself ranted, she didn’t seem to notice the time crunch, talking endlessly.

Xu Xining hopped on one foot to pull on her shoes and grabbed her crossbody bag, pushing the door open with a force.

The cold wind hit her face, and sitting outside the door was a grinning fiery red fox, lazily wagging its tail.

Xu Xining looked at it, and it looked back at her.

Xie Yi: “Mew~”

Xu Xining’s mind exploded with a bang.

Why is this thing back? Does it have autopilot? Did it develop feelings after staying one night? Is it some kind of game NPC that respawns in the same spot the next day?

The Forestry Bureau guys looked unreliable and actually proved to be even more so!

In a hurry to get to work, there’s no time, a nationally protected animal can’t just wander around, right?

She had at least received verbal praise as an outstanding youth!

Xu Xining forcibly pulled off the Lemon Doll from her crossbody bag, made a few “chomp chomp chomp” sounds in front of Xie Yi, then threw it forcefully into the house: “Go Pikachu!”

Xie Yi: …

Go to hell!

As the dignified Demon King, Xie Yi could not possibly be confined by the mere Forestry Bureau.

He performed a sleight of hand trick, swapping a regular Red Fox into the cage, while he himself, with a few words, confused the security guard, and walked out of the Forestry Bureau with great pomp.

He even found a glib Raccoon Spirit to pretend to be a Forestry Bureau employee and call Xu Xining.

Xu Xining was in a meeting when she received the call.

Her phone kept lighting up with notifications, and she flipped it over impatiently.

But editor Qin Minjin, with a gentle and considerate smile, teased: “Really busy, huh? Go take the call, what if it’s Xie Yi calling you?”

Xu Xining felt a chill.

Why, why are you so eager for my ex to call me?!

Xu Xining knew it wasn’t Xie Yi.

Firstly, Xie Yi’s caller ID was “Peacock Displaying Fart King.”

Secondly, because Xie Yi had called her too many times recently, she had blocked his number.

Xu Xining stepped out of the meeting room and answered the call.

On the other end, the Raccoon Spirit apologized profusely: “Hello Ms. Xu, the fox you found has been identified by experts as just a fox that escaped from a breeding farm, we’ve already sent our staff to return it to you.”

“What do you mean return it to me!” Xu Xining protested, “You just casually left it at my doorstep!”

“Sorry, dear…”

This “dear” was only half out when the Raccoon Spirit was interrupted by an overseer yelling, “Are you a Taobao¹ customer service representative?!”

The Raccoon Spirit covered the receiver and retorted, “I am a Taobao customer service representative!!”

Releasing the receiver, he smiled and corrected himself: “Sorry, Ms. Xu, it’s like this, our staff are swamped with work and made a small mistake.”

“But,” Xu Xining was puzzled, “didn’t you say it was a Red Fox of Mount Tu?”

“It’s not, it just looks like one, actually… uh…” the Raccoon Spirit’s CPU overheated, blurting out, “It mutated!”

“Mutated?”

“Yes, yes, yes, on the surface it looks like the Red Fox of Mount Tu, but actually, its genes are just regular fox, bred on a farm where they artificially inseminate and pump them full of hormones for a quick turnover, skinned and sold for money.”

The overseer whispered menacingly nearby: “I’m going to report this to His Highness.”

The Raccoon Spirit panicked: “You dare! If you tattle, I’ll tell His Highness about your life-long wish to be with him!”

The overseer, looking around angrily: “I have a wife! I warn you, don’t talk nonsense!!”

The Raccoon Spirit laughed wildly: “Hahaha, idiot! Your wife wants it too!!”

After hanging up, Xu Xining felt uneasy.

Lost things should be returned to their owners, she thought to call the nearest breeding farm to ask if they had lost a fox, but sending it back would mean it was skinned and sold for meat.

Sending it home was one thing, sending it to its death was another.

Though she had only fostered it for two days.

But humans are strange creatures, fully aware that huge numbers of farm chickens and ducks are mercilessly slaughtered every second, yet can joyfully eat chicken legs, but a chick bought for one yuan from a street vendor in front of the school, from the moment it’s held in the palm, it has a different meaning.

Alive, it would be awkwardly cherished, and dead, a child would cry for it.

There’s nothing irreplaceable in the world, it’s the time and love invested that makes it stand out among the multitudes.

Xu Xining thought, maybe she should just keep it.

After all, they had touched each other’s balls!

Xie Yi thus moved into Sakura Street openly.

Xu Xining hadn’t regarded it as her pet before, since it was going to be sent away eventually, better not to get too attached.

But now it was different!

Xu Xining petted the fox thoroughly.

She petted the base of his tail, his paw pads, and his soft fluffy belly, petting him until he seemed to melt like butter, weakly squinting at her with unbearable throaty sounds.

She even slipped her fingertips into his soft ear tufts, touching the sensitive down there.

The girl’s slender fingertips had a slight callus, the sensation like electricity, tingling through Xie Yi’s entire body.

The old Sea King was also capsized today, in his life no one dared to pet the Demon King like this.

Xie Yi wanted to escape but couldn’t, trembling slightly under her knee.

That spot shouldn’t be touched, damn it.

…

Xu Xining, satisfied with her petting, lifted the fox onto the table, squatted down to look into his eyes, and said very solemnly: “From now on, we are as close as brothers! Therefore, I must give you a name. This name must be straightforward, loud, auspicious, enlightening, dizzying, deafening!”

Dazed and weakened, Xie Yi was intimidated by her serious expression, thinking it must be a name befitting a king or a god.

“I must confess, I’ve done something unfair to you,” Xu Xining admitted, reflecting on her past actions. “When I first met you, I thought you looked a bit like Xie Yi.”

Xie Yi: I can forgive that.

“But I despise substitutes, absolutely hate them,” Xu Xining declared, raising her finger in earnest. “To make amends, I’ve decided to give you a name that’s completely opposite to Xie Yi.”

Xie Yi was puzzled.

What name could possibly be the opposite of “Xie Yi”?

Did “Xie Yi” even have an antonym?

Xu Xining placed her hand on his head, as solemn as if she were announcing the birth of a new life: “Brother Fox, from today onwards, you shall be called-”

She gazed ahead, enunciating with force: “-Good, Man!!!”

Good!

Man!!

The words echoed like a mighty bell in Xie Yi’s ears, indeed enlightening, indeed dizzying, indeed deafening!

You think I’m the opposite of a good man!

Why am I not a good man?!

You’re the good man! Your whole family is the good man!!!

In protest, the fox began to dart around the room, rolling on the floor, voicing his frustration and fury.

Xu Xining watched, delighted: “Look, the kid’s gone crazy with joy.”

Meanwhile, outside on a dark, unmonitored street, a shadow darted across the exposed concrete slabs of an abandoned building.

Several figures followed in a flanking formation, like hunters trained to pursue wild beasts.

The hunters were swift, but the prey was fiercer, faster than lightning.

This Exotic Species Management Bureau’s pursuit team had been chasing the suspect for a whole week.

The suspect, Wei Cheng, a Golden Eagle Monster, had no other skills but was incredibly fast, easily reaching speeds of 300 km/h.

He brazenly stole phones and wallets from passersby, sometimes even taking upskirt photos of girls to sell online.

He was so fast that girls often thought it was just a warm breeze passing by, but he had already succeeded.

Wei Cheng, relying on his talent, had left his pursuers far behind.

The Aberration Management Bureau’s Execution Department only employed humans, but how could mere humans catch him?

Wei Cheng sneered: “A bunch of turtles, trying to catch me…”

His laughter still lingered on his face when suddenly everything went dark.

Under the moonlight, a figure swooped down like a hawk, swift and fierce, with an aura of menace!

The killing intent was like the icy mountain of the far north collapsing in an instant.

He had jumped directly from the top of the abandoned building, a height of ten floors that would be fatal for an ordinary person!

The man grabbed Wei Cheng’s hair and slammed him to the ground!

The impact was so brutal that Wei Cheng was left bloodied, and the man picked him up, tearing off his wings with a gesture akin to ripping duck wings…

Wings are connected to the heart, and Wei Cheng’s scream was as piercing as a pig being slaughtered.

Sweating profusely, he turned his head, lips trembling, cursing: “Damn! Damn! Damn!!! Who the hell are you?! How dare you do this to me! How dare you harm me!!! I’ll sue you!!! You, you, you deliberately hurt me! Just wait to be locked up!!”

The Execution Department had to follow basic laws; Wei Cheng was guilty of theft, invasion of privacy, and distributing obscene materials. Though a criminal, his crimes weren’t punishable by death.

Who arrests someone and immediately breaks their legs?!

Under the moonlight, the man’s face appeared surprisingly young, like a college student caught between calm and indifference.

He held Wei Cheng’s head, expressionless, stating: “On October 3rd last year, you secretly photographed Huai River High School student Chen Jingwen’s private parts at Hanyu Bathhouse and uploaded them online. A month later, her boyfriend, classmates, teachers, parents, and relatives all saw the photo. On January 9th, at 3 a.m., Chen Jingwen jumped from this abandoned building to commit suicide.”

The young man pressed his head against the exposed steel pipe: “Right here.”

“So what?!” Wei Cheng grimaced in pain, twisting his head in frustration. “It’s just a photo! It’s not like I killed her! She chose to die! What could I do if she couldn’t handle it?! It’s not like she’s the only one! She must have had mental issues herself!”

The young man said, “So that’s what you think.”

Wei Cheng sneered: “You deliberately hurt me! You’ll end up in jail longer than me! I’ll be out before you! What can you do about it?! Who do you think you are? A revenge angel? I spit on that!!”

The young man released his grip, and Wei Cheng was puzzled, thinking he had regretted his actions.

In the next moment, like silent lightning cutting through the night sky, a flash of a blade.

It was too fast; Wei Cheng, always proud of his speed, couldn’t even see the young man’s strike, only feeling a slight gleam before him.

The next moment, the wind passed through his neck.

Wei Cheng hung like a rag on the steel bars, dead.

The young man paused, saying, “Not a revenge angel, but Zhan Xingye, S-Class Execution Team Leader of the Bureau, ID 203751.”

After introducing himself, Zhan Xingye calmly sat on the suspended steel bars, pulling out his phone from his pocket, the corpse swaying beside him in the wind.

A message from Xu Xining appeared on WeChat.

Lock Heart and Love: [Friend! Don’t forget to see Old Xu at Li Hua Lane tomorrow at six!]

Zhan Xingye stared at it for a while, nervously cracking his fingers.

He typed “Anyway, it’s on the way, let’s go together,” then deleted it.

Typed “Are you leaving from the office or home,” then deleted it.

Typed “Okay, take care on the way,” then deleted it.

He stared blankly at the screen, the phone’s light illuminating his face in the dark night.

Potted Plant: [Okay.]

Footnote:

1. Taobao(淘宝): Taobao is China’s largest shopping website, and its customer service often uses an overly enthusiastic term “qin,” which is similar to calling you “dear” or “sweetie.