Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 7

Ming Ying was already feeling guilty, and she flinched at those words.

She tried her best to feign ignorance, deliberately asking with a blank expression, “Where have I been disobedient?”

Strange, she was sure she hadn’t left any traces this time.

Since the bedroom wasn’t in disarray, Fu Anyu didn’t expose her lie. She stood up, walked over to the television, picked up the remote control, and turned it on.

“If you’re bored, you’re allowed to watch TV to pass the time,” Fu Anyu said. Noticing Ming Ying’s confused expression, she turned and added, “Do you know how to use the remote?”

Ming Ying glanced at the “button controller” in her hand and shook her head repeatedly, afraid that Fu Anyu might discover she had used this magical tool before.

So, Fu Anyu sat back down by the dog bed, took Ming Ying’s paw, and placed it on the remote control.

Ming Ying instinctively glanced at the back of Fu Anyu’s hand. Yesterday, during her struggle, she had scratched this woman, but in just one day, the wound had almost completely healed.

As she was lost in thought, Fu Anyu began teaching her how to change channels, adjust the volume, and turn the television on and off.

Only then did Ming Ying learn the specific names for the “black brick” and “button controller” in the human world, as well as the actual functions of the “buttons” on the remote. She immediately became intrigued and started experimenting.

Although she didn’t understand the human world’s language or objects, she was quick to adapt and learn. After Fu Anyu’s concise explanation, she could already use the remote to freely switch to the scenes she wanted to watch.

Once she finished teaching the remote’s functions, Fu Anyu sat down at the desk, opened her laptop, and began working on documents.

Ming Ying lay in her little nest, engrossed in watching TV while also learning the human world’s language.

Earlier that afternoon, she had noticed that whenever someone spoke on TV, a line of text would appear at the bottom of the screen, matching what was being said. So, she began following along to learn the characters.

However, she hadn’t been watching for long when a crisp tapping sound disrupted her concentration. Annoyed, she traced the sound to Fu Anyu and couldn’t help asking, “What are you tapping?”

“The keyboard,” Fu Anyu replied, her hands still flying swiftly across the keys.

Ming Ying wanted to ask what a “keyboard” was, but she sensed that Fu Anyu seemed busy and probably didn’t have time to chat. So, she didn’t press further and shifted her gaze back to the TV, turning up the volume a bit to hear the characters on screen more clearly.

That awful woman’s keyboard tapping was too loud, it not only drowned out the voices on TV but also disrupted her focus on learning.

Just as she was getting absorbed in her studies after adjusting the volume, Ming Ying suddenly heard Fu Anyu call her by her full name, her tone tinged with annoyance. She had no choice but to look over.

“Turn the volume down,” Fu Anyu said, frowning as she looked at her.

“But if it’s too quiet, I can’t hear clearly,” Ming Ying explained. “I’m trying to learn the characters from them…”

“Learn the characters?” Fu Anyu glanced at the TV. “You don’t know how to read?”

“Y-yes,” Ming Ying lied, turning her face away. “I’m a fox from the deep mountains. I don’t know how to read.”

Fu Anyu fell silent for a moment, then took out her phone, typed a line of traditional Chinese characters, enlarged the text, and held it in front of Ming Ying. “Read it.”

“‘Do you recognize characters like these?'” Ming Ying obediently read it aloud before suddenly realizing something was wrong.

“How long has it been since you last came down the mountain?” Fu Anyu asked knowingly, putting her phone away.

Meeting her gaze, Ming Ying shrank back and answered softly, “I’ve been on the mountain ever since I can remember.”

She thought to herself that this couldn’t really be considered a lie, she truly hadn’t left the royal city since she could remember. It was only after a recent argument with her mother that she had stormed off in a fit of anger.

Fu Anyu nodded but didn’t press further. Instead, she put on her wireless earphones and continued typing on her keyboard.

Ming Ying was baffled. After waiting a while without hearing a word from her, she turned her attention back to the television.

This time, Fu Anyu didn’t ask her to lower the volume again.

But before long, Fu Anyu came over with a thick folder and placed it beside her.

“What’s this?” Ming Ying withdrew her gaze and asked curiously.

“If you want to learn to read, you can look at this,” Fu Anyu explained unhurriedly as she opened the folder. “The characters are aligned top to bottom, they’re not hard to recognize.”

Ming Ying examined the “book” carefully and found that the characters she was familiar with were printed clearly on the white paper alongside simplified versions below. However, they were all arranged horizontally, quite different from the books she usually read.

Still, just as the “bad woman” had said, the characters weren’t difficult to recognize. The more Ming Ying looked, the more intrigued she became. This was much faster than learning from the people on television.

After a while, she couldn’t resist asking Fu Anyu, “Why are you showing me this?”

“The more you learn to read, the less trouble you’ll cause,” Fu Anyu replied expressionlessly.

“…” Ming Ying felt slighted and let out a soft, displeased huff. She promptly turned off the TV and threw herself into learning the characters.

Ming Ying tended to get hungry more easily when she concentrated on studying. Fortunately, just as she began to feel puckish, she saw the elderly woman from noon arrive with dinner.

After the housekeeper left, Fu Anyu lifted the lid of the bowl, and the aroma of roast chicken instantly filled the air.

Ming Ying couldn’t help but swallow her saliva and hurried over to the low dining table, craning her neck to look.

She didn’t see the bowl full of brown grains from lunch, but she noticed an extra clean, empty bowl on the tray. Sitting up straight, she waited eagerly for her dinner.

After serving herself some rice, Fu Anyu put on disposable gloves, tore off two chicken legs, placed them in the empty bowl, and piled plenty of vegetables on top before setting the bowl under the table.

Ming Ying eagerly leaned in, grabbed a chicken leg with her teeth, and was about to eat when Fu Anyu suddenly said, “If you’re not well-behaved, you can’t have meat until you finish your vegetables.”

Ming Ying immediately perked up her ears, dropped the chicken leg, and retorted, “How exactly have I not been well-behaved?”

She wasn’t about to accept a false accusation!

The little fox’s self-righteous demeanor inexplicably made Fu Anyu feel like laughing. She deliberately countered, “Do you really think I don’t know?”

“W-what do you know…?” Ming Ying’s ears drooped at the question, and her voice lost its confidence.

She had a vague feeling that her actions that afternoon had been discovered by the “bad woman.” And the fact that the bad woman hadn’t brought it up until now was actually a way of saving face for her.

Before Fu Anyu could respond, Ming Ying guiltily lowered her head and started eating the vegetables.

Well, she had been too naive. Someone as powerful as this human would surely have set up numerous barriers in her room, it was just that Ming Ying, with her current lack of spiritual power, hadn’t detected them.

She gobbled up all the vegetables covering the meat in big mouthfuls, then snatched the chicken leg and began devouring it.

The chicken leg was generously seasoned and plump, incredibly fragrant. Ming Ying wolfed it down ravenously, even wishing she could chew the bones to pieces and swallow them.

Fu Anyu had just finished half a bowl of rice when she heard movement below. Looking down, she saw the fox wagging its tail coquettishly again. A slight smile touched her lips as she picked up an empty bowl, scooped a spoonful of rice into it, added a ladle of vegetable broth, mixed it thoroughly, then crouched down to feed the fox.

Ming Ying hastily retreated. “I can eat by myself!”

Being fed felt too strange, she wasn’t some newborn cub.

Fu Anyu paused for a moment, then set the bowl back in front of her while gently reminding, “Don’t waste food.”

Ming Ying: “…”

She suddenly recalled what had happened during lunch, she had accidentally spilled food on the floor, and the elderly woman who brought the meal had spent some time cleaning it up.

Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she silently lowered her head to eat, this time taking extra care not to spill anything.

After swallowing the last bite, Ming Ying gazed longingly at the roast chicken.

Fu Anyu, who happened to be eating meat at the time, noticed her expression and placed the shredded chicken she had prepared earlier into Ming Ying’s bowl.

She had dismantled an entire chicken, but most of the meat ended up in Ming Ying’s stomach.

When only clean bones remained on the plate, Ming Ying, still craving more, glanced at the vegetable dish and asked, “Can I have some more vegetables?”

She had never realized vegetables could taste so delicious, far better than what the chefs at her home could make!

Fu Anyu picked up some hand-torn cabbage and placed it in Ming Ying’s empty bowl. Watching her eat with such relish, leaving nothing behind, the corners of Fu Anyu’s lips lifted slightly. She casually took a tissue and wiped the fox’s mouth.

Ming Ying allowed her to clean her mouth, then contentedly returned to her little nest and lay down.

It seemed this “bad woman” wasn’t so hard to get along with. As long as she behaved and stayed in this room without making a mess, she could eat her fill every meal and even enjoy delicious meat.

Playing the obedient one was her specialty.

But just as she settled down, Fu Anyu came over, picked her up, and headed toward the bathroom.

Ming Ying was startled, realizing that Fu Anyu might have discovered she had been in the bathroom earlier. Too afraid to struggle, she froze in Fu Anyu’s arms, her four paws dangling in the air, unsure what to do.

Fu Anyu noticed her unease but said nothing. Once inside, she turned on the light and placed the fox in the bathtub.

“This is the bathroom,” she explained. “Once your leg injury heals, you can use the bathtub to bathe. But without my permission, you are not to touch any of the bottles or containers here.”

Ming Ying tried to stand up and lean against the edge of the bathtub but quickly realized how slippery it was. Getting out would indeed be quite a challenge.

“Turn this ‘mechanism’ outward to release water,” Fu Anyu said, placing her hand on the temperature control. “Red for hot water, blue for cold. Try using your spiritual energy to control it.”

Ming Ying gathered her spiritual energy, enveloped the mechanism Fu Anyu had mentioned, rotated it to the bottom of the red zone, and was about to turn it outward when Fu Anyu stopped her.

“Don’t stay in the bathtub before releasing the water,” she said, bending down to scoop up the fox. She then turned the hot water to its maximum, letting Ming Ying see the consequences of staying inside.

A cloud of steam rose, leaving Ming Ying stunned.

How could bathing water come out on its own? And it was hot?!

Was this not a hot spring?

“This is tap water,” Fu Anyu explained at the right moment. “The sink over there can also release tap water.”

Only then did Ming Ying understand. Seeing that the sink was empty, she used her spiritual energy to activate the mechanism there as well. Sure enough, water began flowing out continuously.

No wonder she hadn’t seen any attendants helping the wicked woman bathe in her chambers, it turned out the water in the human realm could come on its own.

After Fu Anyu turned off the water, Ming Ying suddenly remembered what she had just heard. She hurriedly pointed a paw at the bathtub and asked, “You said I could only bathe here after my injuries heal, so, what about before they do?”

Fox clans had always valued cleanliness. Even if she couldn’t take human form for the time being, she couldn’t bear the thought of going without bathing, not even for a day or two.

“I’ll bathe you,” Fu Anyu replied calmly.