Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 27

Since she intended to spend more time with Fu Anyu before leaving, Ming Ying felt she shouldn’t be the so-called “conversation killer.”

This was Fu Anyu’s home, and if Fu Anyu was willing to take the initiative to show her around, she should actively cooperate.

The little fox was in a good mood and naturally hoped to see Fu Anyu happy as well.

Fu Anyu didn’t know that while she was away, the fox had already sat on the swing by herself, swinging so high that she nearly frightened Du Yunxin. When she placed the fox on the seat, she even used her spiritual power to create a barrier around it before gently pushing the seat to set the swing in motion.

She didn’t push too hard at first. After lying obediently for a while, Ming Ying couldn’t help but want to use her own spiritual power to swing higher. But she couldn’t give herself away, so she subtly urged Fu Anyu instead: “I like it higher, can we go a little higher?”

Fu Anyu didn’t respond, but the swing indeed began to swing higher and higher.

Ming Ying lay on the seat, her three tails spread out behind her. When she felt the swing had reached a height where Fu Anyu wouldn’t immediately notice anything unusual, she flicked her tails in the air, indirectly giving the swing an extra push.

She truly loved the feeling of swinging high up. With Fu Anyu there to protect her, even the last bit of hesitation vanished, and she lost herself in the joy of swinging freely.

By the time Ming Ying came back to her senses and gradually brought the swing back to its original position, reluctantly hopping off, she suddenly noticed an intense gaze fixed on her.

She instinctively looked up and saw Fu Anyu watching her with an amused, almost teasing expression.

“Afraid to swing alone?” Fu Anyu asked.

Only then did Ming Ying realize she had gotten too carried away and forgotten she was supposed to be “cooperating” with Fu Anyu’s tour of the backyard as a first-time visitor. Thinking quickly, she hurriedly said, “Well, you’re here with me, aren’t you?”

Fu Anyu narrowed her eyes slightly.

Just as Ming Ying was wondering what else she could say to smooth things over, she suddenly felt a shadow fall over her. Looking up, she was scooped into Fu Anyu’s arms.

She thought Fu Anyu was going to carry her elsewhere for the tour, but instead, Fu Anyu sat down on the swing, placed Ming Ying on her lap, and lightly pushed off with the tip of her foot, setting the swing swaying back and forth.

Realizing what Fu Anyu was doing, Ming Ying’s mind went completely blank.

Why was Fu Anyu swinging with her on her lap?!

As the swing moved, scenes from The Ice-Queen CEO’s Fierce Love flooded Ming Ying’s memory one after another. Terrified, she shrank into Fu Anyu’s embrace, occasionally glancing downward as if wanting to jump off.

But then it occurred to her, they were just swinging together. What did that have to do with that novel?!

Once she sorted out her thoughts, Ming Ying felt she had truly been bewitched by that book, to the point where even swinging could trigger wild associations. Calming down, she no longer panicked. Instead, she sat up properly on Fu Anyu’s lap, even letting her tails sway freely in the wind.

“You’re only brave enough to swing alone, aren’t you?” Fu Anyu asked after a while.

“First time’s unfamiliar, second time’s comfortable, I’m brave enough now,” Ming Ying declared confidently, tilting her head up.

Fu Anyu smiled faintly and patted her head. Then, as the swing reached its peak mid-air, she suddenly leaped off.

Ming Ying tumbled into her arms, feeling the wind rush against her face, carrying the rich scent of jasmine. She was utterly startled.

She never expected Fu Anyu to be so bold, daring to jump straight off a swing that was swinging so high!

She instinctively looked down, watching as water spiritual energy gathered in the air, forming one thin disc after another. Fu Anyu held her as she stepped onto these “discs,” leaping down level by level like descending a staircase, her footsteps light and graceful.

“Was that fun?” Fu Anyu asked as soon as they landed.

Ming Ying glanced at her in surprise but nodded sincerely. “Yes, it was fun.”

Seeing the slight curve at the corner of Fu Anyu’s lips, Ming Ying couldn’t quite figure out whether Fu Anyu had suddenly been seized by a playful impulse or was simply indulging her. Yet she could clearly sense that, despite the lack of expression on her face, Fu Anyu was happy at that moment.

Afterward, Fu Anyu carried her over to the jasmine bushes and began picking the flowers. Fu Anyu was quiet while gathering jasmine, neither speaking nor making sudden movements. Ming Ying noticed how she gently plucked the blossoms, unlike Du Yunxin, who was much rougher, plucking the flowers with an audible “snap.”

“Do you like jasmine?” Fu Anyu suddenly asked.

“I do,” Ming Ying nodded, only to feel a slight weight settle on her head. Without even touching it, she knew Fu Anyu had placed a petal there.

Ming Ying wasn’t particularly fond of having things placed on her head while in her fox form, it made her look rather foolish, a trick one of her mischievous older brothers had often played on her as a child. But since she had just said she liked jasmine, shaking it off now would seem, inappropriate?

So, she stiffened her neck, holding perfectly still like a fake fox statue.

Since she didn’t move, Fu Anyu continued to carry her as they strolled among the jasmine bushes, though she didn’t place a second flower on Ming Ying’s head. Perhaps she had noticed Ming Ying’s discomfort.

“Why do you keep holding me?” Ming Ying couldn’t help but ask after a while.

She had meant to say, “I can walk on my own now,” but before the words could leave her mouth, Fu Anyu replied, “The ground is dirty. I don’t want to spend extra time washing your paws.”

Ming Ying: “…”

She silently swallowed the words she had been about to say.

Soon, it was mealtime. As Fu Anyu carried her back toward the house, Ming Ying inexplicably felt that Fu Anyu’s steps were much lighter than before.

It suddenly struck her that when Fu Anyu had carried her to the backyard earlier, her footsteps had seemed heavier than usual. At the time, however, Ming Ying had been too flustered and dizzy with shyness to notice anything amiss. Reflecting on it now, she realized Fu Anyu must have been in a poor mood earlier.

Could it be… that Fu Anyu wasn’t just playing with her or showing her around, but also unwinding herself? Or perhaps, by focusing on entertaining Ming Ying, she was masking her own need to relax?

Ming Ying carefully reconsidered the details of their interaction, and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to fit.

After spending these past few days together, she had come to see Fu Anyu as someone who was far from straightforward—extremely reserved, as if wearing an expressionless mask.

As her mother would say, children who are too skilled at hiding their emotions are easily hurt.

But no sooner had this thought crossed her mind than Ming Ying immediately suppressed the wave of sympathy that followed.

She had already been rebuffed once and understood perfectly well that Fu Anyu didn’t need pity. Even if she was in a bad mood today, all it took was carrying Ming Ying around the backyard for a while to ease her spirits.

Besides, she and Fu Anyu weren’t close, they might not even be considered friends. Although Ming Ying hadn’t yet figured out the exact nature of their relationship, she knew she mustn’t overstep her bounds.

She still thought of it as just comforting her younger sister. When her sister came to her feeling unhappy, she would simply spend more effort keeping her company, after all, she didn’t have much else to do at the moment.

During dinner, Ming Ying proactively used her spiritual energy to form a hand-like apparition, picking up food for herself and feeding herself.

Now that her spiritual energy was abundant, she no longer had to eat as awkwardly as before.

“Is the spirit gathering going smoothly?” Fu Anyu asked as they were finishing the meal.

“Smoothly, no discomfort,” Ming Ying nodded, adding quietly, “But I still want to take human form more.”

Her current spiritual energy was already sufficient for transformation; all she lacked were the spiritual herbs and artifacts for protection and pain relief. She was particularly afraid of pain when it struck, aside from resisting the agony, she could hardly focus on anything else.

Ming Ying also knew that Fu Anyu had been too busy recently to guard her during the transformation, so she just murmured her grievance softly before continuing to eat, not pressing the topic further.

After dinner, she returned to the guest room intending to read for a while before bathing. But as soon as she settled into her nest, she saw Fu Anyu appear at the doorway.

Ming Ying blinked in confusion and, seeing Fu Anyu approach, couldn’t help saying, “I was planning to bathe a bit later.”

“Will you be gathering spirit energy tonight?” Fu Anyu came closer, crouching down to ask.

“Probably not. I want to read tonight,” Ming Ying shook her head. “Who knows how long I’ll still be in the human realm? There’s so much I don’t recognize yet, I should read more.”

“That’s fine too.” Fu Anyu nodded, stood up, and was about to leave.

Ming Ying was taken aback and quickly called out to stop her: “Did you have something to tell me?”

“Since you already have plans, I won’t disturb you.” Fu Anyu left without looking back.

Watching her go, Ming Ying felt like she might have missed something. But since Fu Anyu left without saying anything more, it probably wasn’t anything important.

Soon, dusk fell. Ming Ying flicked a wisp of spiritual energy to hit the overhead light switch, leaped onto the bed, and settled in front of the tablet to read. When she felt sleepy, she got down to find Fu Anyu for her bath.

But as soon as she entered the bedroom, she saw Fu Anyu sitting upright on the bed in a meditative posture, eyes tightly shut, with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously flowing toward her.

Ming Ying was stunned at first, but she quickly realized Fu Anyu must be replenishing her spiritual energy. Back when Ming Ying had failed her transformation, Fu Anyu had channeled too much spiritual energy into her to ease the pain, even causing her third tail to manifest.

After waiting a few minutes with no movement from Fu Anyu, Ming Ying figured the spirit gathering would take a while longer and decided not to disturb her. She went to the bathroom alone, turned on the light, ran the water, adjusted the temperature, and hopped into the tub to soak.

The bath gel specially made for demon kind was placed in the tub’s storage box. After soaking for a bit, Ming Ying used her spiritual energy to bring the bottle down, imitating Fu Anyu’s motions by squeezing it firmly onto her paw, then adding a little water to lather it up.

But as soon as she rubbed, bubbles began endlessly foaming up. Soon, the water around the little fox was covered in fine bubbles, and the originally faint milky scent became intensely strong, making Ming Ying sneeze repeatedly. She tried to scramble out but kept slipping, unable to climb out of the tub.

Ming Ying struggled to keep herself afloat. She remembered Fu Anyu had said this milk-scented bath gel must not be ingested, so she tilted her head back to keep her mouth away from the foam, all while paddling downward in the tub, searching for the drain.

However, after struggling for a while, she still couldn’t find the right position. Instead, she was overwhelmed by the steam and found it hard to breathe. In her discomfort, she finally remembered how to escape. She hurriedly used her spiritual power to cushion her feet and was about to float out of the bathtub when she looked up and saw Fu Anyu open the door and stride toward her.