Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Shen Qingyi and Professor Hu only had a nodding acquaintance.

Professor Hu was a history professor at a local university who was very interested in second-hand books. He often scoured the internet or antique shops for rare and valuable books.

Unlike Shen Qingyi, he primarily favored historical documents and ancient texts, while Shen Qingyi’s purchases were purely for self-amusement—she collected whatever book caught her eye.

Shen Qingyi looked at the text, wondering what kind of “good book” Professor Hu was referring to.

“Yiyi?”

Shan Ling was drinking fruit tea. Seeing Shen Qingyi slightly spaced out, she reached out and waved her hand in front of her: “What’s wrong? You were fine just now. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” Shen Qingyi pulled her gaze away from the phone screen, looked at Shan Ling, and smiled, “Since we’re out, let’s not go home so early. Come with me to a place.”

“Where are we going?” Shan Ling asked curiously.

“To a professor’s house. He just sent me a message. Since we have nothing to do, I thought I’d take you to visit,” Shen Qingyi started tidying up her belongings, replied to Professor Hu’s messages, and confirmed that he was currently home and welcomed Shen Qingyi and her friend at any time.

The two left the restaurant and bought some roasted chestnuts from a shop they passed.

Shen Qingyi had discovered a little secret: Shan Ling loved to eat grains, seeds, and fruits. Probably due to her nature, Shan Ling couldn’t get enough of fruit, and their home was basically stocked with all kinds of them.

And sugar-roasted chestnuts were Shan Ling’s favorite snack.

Holding a bag of freshly roasted, piping hot sugar-roasted chestnuts, Shen Qingyi also bought a roasted chicken from a nearby shop.

Shan Ling ate the chestnuts while looking at the poor roasted chicken and blinked.

Although she could eat chicken, she didn’t particularly like it. Although they were different species, these were domesticated livestock used for food, and Shan Ling couldn’t tell people not to eat them.

However, she was curious why Shen Qingyi was bringing a box of roasted chicken when people usually brought fruits, cigarettes, and alcohol as gifts.

Sitting in the car, Shen Qingyi turned on the navigation.

“…Beginning navigation. The destination is 37 kilometers away.”

So far.

Shan Ling peeled a round chestnut and handed it to Shen Qingyi’s mouth. After watching her eat it, she asked, “Are we going to the suburbs?”

Forty kilometers meant they had to leave the city, regardless of the direction.

“Yes,” Shen Qingyi said. “Professor Hu’s house is a mountainside villa in the suburbs. It’s very quiet, and the scenery is lovely, but it’s quite far from the city center. He generally doesn’t come into the city much.”

“Sounds like a reclusive master hiding from the world,” Shan Ling put a peeled chestnut into her own mouth.

Shen Qingyi chuckled softly, saying, “Actually, I don’t know much about Professor Hu. I only know he’s a history professor at the university. He must be in his fifties or sixties. I first met him when I was in college.”

Shan Ling nodded upon hearing this. She inhaled the fragrant roasted chicken smell filling the car cabin, feeling a little tempted to drool, and quickly peeled and ate a few more chestnuts.

Shen Qingyi couldn’t help but laugh at her expression: “If you want to eat it, we can buy another one on the way back.”

Shan Ling hesitated for a second, then happily said, “Okay, then we’ll buy another one to try on the way back! It smells so good!”

During the rest of the drive, Shen Qingyi also told Shan Ling a few more things about Professor Hu.

Professor Hu was a very kind person. Besides being a history professor, he was also the president of the local Calligraphy Association and held various honorary memberships and leadership positions. He had a high social status, so Shen Qingyi warned Shan Ling not to run around and to stick close to her.

After leaving the city, the traffic eased up. Shen Qingyi drove steadily and soon approached the navigation endpoint.

Shan Ling leaned against the window, watching the dense woods on both sides of the road. Many birds were perched on the branches, chatting. Occasionally, when a car passed, they would turn their heads to look at them.

In addition to the dense woods along the road, Shan Ling also saw a large lake, which appeared to be artificial. In the center of the lake was an extended pavilion, and a small gazebo on the water, reflecting the water and the mountains, looked quite picturesque.

The car drove on the road, but the small gazebo in the center of the lake seemed to remain in the same spot, filling Shan Ling with envy.

The scenery here was beautiful and far from the city center, making it a very pleasant place to live.

“This place looks a lot like my village,” Shan Ling said to Shen Qingyi after a row of towering cypress trees obscured the lake surface. “There’s also a lake this big in our village, where they raise fish. The banks are full of lotus flowers. The scenery is especially beautiful every summer.”

Shen Qingyi glanced at the passing scenery and smiled gently, saying, “Then your home must be a very beautiful little village.”

“Mm,” Shan Ling nodded. “My home is very beautiful. We’ll go back together sometime, and I’ll take you to pick lotus pods.”

“Alright,” Shen Qingyi agreed casually. She told Shan Ling, “Do you see the villas ahead? That’s Professor Hu’s house.”

Shan Ling followed Shen Qingyi’s gaze and saw several villas nestled beneath a lush green mountain in the distance. The villas were quite far apart, and the surrounding straight cypress trees formed natural screens between them.

The car drove into the community and continued for a few minutes before stopping in front of one of the villas.

Perhaps because of the distance from the city, the villas here were built to be very tall, and the yards were spacious.

Shen Qingyi parked the car, then took Shan Ling out. Carrying the last-minute gift, they walked toward the person standing nearby.

Shan Ling was still casually observing her surroundings. She found it strange. She had seen all kinds of birds on the road, but upon arriving here, she hadn’t seen a single one.

Just as Shan Ling found this odd, she heard an aged voice greet the two of them.

“Miss Shen, it’s been a long time. You’re still as young and beautiful as ever.” Professor Hu squinted slightly, casually glanced at Shan Ling, and chuckled, “I heard something happened to your shop. Was no one hurt?”

Shen Qingyi smiled slightly: “No, thank you for your concern.”

She told Professor Hu, “This is my girlfriend. I hope you don’t mind me bringing family along?”

Professor Hu looked at Shan Ling and chuckled softly: “Of course not.”

Shen Qingyi told Shan Ling, “This is Professor Hu, the one I told you about.”

Shan Ling felt her vision go momentarily dark. She saw the elderly man in front of her wearing a brown casual loungewear set, black velvet trousers, and a brown long trench coat. He leaned on a cane, but although Professor Hu looked aged, his body seemed quite robust. The cane looked more like a decoration than an aid for walking.

Professor Hu’s tone and demeanor were very amiable, yet this professor made Shan Ling break out in a cold sweat. She even wanted to instantly transform into her original form and fly away, unable to stay in this place for another second.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingyi asked with concern, noticing Shan Ling’s pale face.

Shan Ling shivered, whimpered, and hid behind Shen Qingyi, whispering as she hid, “Wuwuwu, fox, it’s a fox…”

She finally understood why there were birds everywhere else but none near Professor Hu’s house.

And Shen Qingyi even bought him roasted chicken—it was all traceable!

Because this Professor Hu was a fox!

He definitely eats birds. He definitely eats birds!

Shan Ling was terrified. She was timid to begin with, so much so that a cat scared her silly. A fox was infinitely worse.

“Haha,” Professor Hu laughed at her appearance. If it weren’t inappropriate, Shan Ling felt she could almost see him wagging his tail proudly.

“Don’t worry, little girl,” Professor Hu said cheerfully, leaning on his cane. “This is a society ruled by law now. We are all law-abiding citizens. You are safe.”

Shan Ling still shivered at his words. That sentence would be credible coming from anyone else, but not from a fox.

Shen Qingyi felt strange, especially about the phrase Shan Ling had just used, which confused her even more.

Fox?

Professor Hu?

Shen Qingyi froze. After learning that Shan Ling was a little mountain sparrow, her perception of the world had changed drastically, and she had become aware of things she didn’t know before.

But she hadn’t expected to encounter another sprite so soon?

And, what’s more, it was a professor she had known for many years.

Professor Hu looked happily at Shan Ling, then at Shen Qingyi, and chuckled softly: “It looks like Miss Shen knows quite a bit now. Since we’ve known each other for so long, let me reintroduce myself.”

“I am the history professor and association president you know, and also a member of a branch of the Fox Clan,” Professor Hu leaned on his cane and told Shen Qingyi, “Due to family background, we are all very interested in history, which is why I chose to become a history professor.”

He looked at Shan Ling, his expression softening: “Although your Mountain Sparrow clan is small, I won’t hurt you. It’s the 21st century. No one needs to do that. Living in harmony and helping each other is surely more meaningful than being hostile.”

Shan Ling heard this but still didn’t dare to poke her head out. She only peeked at him from behind Shen Qingyi’s waist before shrinking back again.

No, no. Even though he said that, a fox is still very scary!

Shen Qingyi finally realized the situation she was in.

“Wait a moment,” Shen Qingyi protected Shan Ling, looking at the elderly man in front of her, and asked, “Professor Hu, can you tell that Shan Ling is…”

“Of course,” Professor Hu smiled amiably. “Since we are the same, we can naturally tell what the other person is at a glance. Otherwise, why would the little girl be shaking all over just by seeing me?”

Professor Hu ‘haha’ laughed twice, then touched his gray hair and said, “Fine, I won’t force her. If the little girl is too afraid of me, she can wait outside. I’ll talk to Miss Shen about a few things and let her go quickly.”

But Shan Ling wouldn’t dare let Shen Qingyi go in alone. She immediately tugged at her sleeve, looking at her with a worried expression.

Shen Qingyi also looked back at her and comforted her, “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve known Professor Hu for many years. He shouldn’t harm me.”

Shan Ling shook her head. She glanced at Professor Hu standing at the villa entrance, then at Shen Qingyi, and finally made up her mind, telling Professor Hu, “I want to go in with Yiyi.”

Professor Hu looked at her happily, his eyes curved in a smile: “Good. Then come in. I happen to have a student visiting me. I’ll have her make you some tea.”

Only after Professor Hu turned and entered the house did Shen Qingyi say to Shan Ling, “If you’re really scared, wait for me in the car. I’ll be out very soon.”

“No way,” Shan Ling held Shen Qingyi’s hand, leaned into her ear, and whispered, “Foxes are very cunning. I’m afraid you’ll be tricked.”

Shen Qingyi was somewhat exasperated but found it amusing. She had never been tricked by Professor Hu before she knew he was a fox. However, the little mountain sparrow was rarely this worried about her, and Shen Qingyi felt particularly cherished. She tightly held Shan Ling’s hand and nodded.

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