Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 91

Ming Ying stared blankly as Fu Anyu seriously fiddled with an ahoge.

If this ahoge were stuck in her own hair, she wouldn’t have found it strange at all.

But the problem was, Fu Anyu, an ice-queen CEO, had stuck an ahoge in her own hair and was… was fiddling with it?!

The phrase “character collapse” instantly came to Ming Ying’s mind. But then she reconsidered, this wasn’t the first time Fu Anyu had “broken character” in front of her. Besides, novels and TV shows often said that if someone was willing to change for another person, it meant they cared about them.

So, she cooperatively flashed a bright smile and reached out to play with the ahoge as well, feeling her mood genuinely lift.

Fu Anyu rested her chin on her hands, smiling as she watched Ming Ying play with the ahoge.

“Will Fu Anyu turn dark if the ahoge is plucked?” Ming Ying recalled an anime trope and casually asked.

“Guess,” Fu Anyu replied without answering.

Ming Ying then plucked the ahoge and stuck it into her own hair.

Fu Anyu smiled without a word, maintaining her posture as she quietly watched Ming Ying play with the ahoge.

When the server pushed the food cart in, this was the scene she witnessed. For a moment, her eyes showed confusion.

“These are the dishes you ordered. Please confirm,” the server said as she placed the steaming hot and sour soup pot into the recess on the table. She then picked up a match from the cart and lit the alcohol block beneath the pot.

“Everything’s here, thank you,” Fu Anyu nodded to her. After the server left, she arranged the ingredients on the table one by one.

The soup was already hot, ready for cooking the food. Ming Ying poured all the potato slices into the pot to boil and then added the fish slices.

“Should we talk about something?” she asked, looking at Fu Anyu after finishing these tasks. “Though I’m not sure what to talk about.”

Fu Anyu’s past, her own past, they had already mentioned these to each other in daily conversations. Ming Ying remembered that when protagonists in TV shows sat down to eat, they would discuss each other’s work. However, she didn’t have a job yet, and Fu Anyu’s earlier promise to find her a painting teacher had been temporarily postponed due to team-building activities.

“How about we talk about the future you want?” Fu Anyu suggested.

Ming Ying was taken aback. “The future I want?”

Back in the royal city, she had never really thought about the future. Mainly because the future of every nine-tailed clan member was already predetermined. For the sake of bloodline continuation, no clan member could avoid this path.

And she had only escaped by sheer luck.

“I… I don’t have any ideas.” Thinking of this, Ming Ying couldn’t help but feel nervous, but she mustered the courage to speak. “According to tradition, when I reached a certain age, I was supposed to marry and bear children with my husband to ensure the continuation of the nine-tailed clan’s bloodline. But now,”

Seeing Fu Anyu listening attentively, she paused before continuing, “Apart from staying by your side, I can’t think of any other future. What about you?”

Ming Ying tossed the question back to Fu Anyu. She felt that Fu Anyu, as a far-sighted and well-organized CEO, would surely have more ideas than she did.

Unexpectedly, Fu Anyu said, “My thoughts are quite similar to yours.”

But not entirely identical. The little fox’s wish was to stay by her side, while her own wish was to keep the little fox by her side.

One was a beautiful aspiration, the other a desire for possession.

Fu Anyu recalled that last night in the car, Hu Xiuliu had asked her whether she would be willing to let the little fox return if they truly found the entrance to the demon realm.

Of course, she was unwilling. But if the little fox wanted to go back, she wouldn’t even need to ask, Fu Anyu would gladly accompany her to the demon realm and then decide together where they would stay.

This wasn’t the kind of decision a proper demon hunter or a proper CEO should make, but Fu Anyu didn’t see anything wrong with it.

For the past five years, she had been swept along by fate, forced to do things she never wanted to do in order to break free from its control. The endless work had numbed her, and even though she had achieved success in her career, she had gradually abandoned her true self.

Suddenly, she heard the little fox sigh, and the next moment, a piece of snow-white fish was placed in her bowl.

“Then you’ll have to start training me early,” Ming Ying said. “I don’t want to be a pretty face, and I don’t want you to be gossiped about by those buzzing flies because of my incompetence.”

Meeting the little fox’s determined gaze, Fu Anyu gave a faint smile.

“How are you incompetent?” she picked up the fish slice and slowly dipped it in the sauce. “Don’t underestimate yourself, you’re actually very capable. Whether it’s painting or fighting, you just lack experience.”

The little fox learned quickly, but she had been so pampered at home that she had never thought to pursue anything. Now that she had left her family behind and was trying to adapt to the human world as soon as possible, she had long set aside her playful nature.

Perhaps the little fox hadn’t noticed, but Fu Anyu saw it clearly.

“Really?” Ming Ying looked at her in surprise. “Don’t just praise me blindly.”

“You don’t even trust me?” Fu Anyu retorted.

“I do trust you, but…”

“If you trust me, then don’t think of yourself as a pretty face,” Fu Anyu said, then placed the fish slice in her mouth.

Ming Ying paused with her chopsticks, lowered her head, and murmured, “Mm.”

At first, their conversation was a bit reserved, but as time passed, both the human and the fox gradually opened up.

By the time they had eaten about half of their food, Fu Anyu opened a chilled can of beer and poured a small amount into a glass for Ming Ying.

“Have you ever had alcohol before?” she pushed the glass over. “If you’re curious, you can try it.”

Ming Ying had never drunk alcohol before. She picked up the glass, staring at the pale yellow liquid fizzing with white foam, feeling inexplicably nervous.

She remembered that in novels and TV shows, people often revealed their true feelings or did strange things after drinking, so she shared her concerns with Fu Anyu.

“Beer has a low alcohol content, so it’s not easy to get drunk,” Fu Anyu reassured her. “Even if you do get drunk, you don’t need to worry about anything happening.”

She poured herself a full glass of beer, raised it to her lips, and said leisurely, “After all, I won’t take advantage of you while drunk. And you… don’t have any experience in that area, do you?”

“I don’t, but I…” Ming Ying’s face flushed without her realizing it. “I’m a demon, and a fox demon at that…”

“I believe in your self-control,” Fu Anyu said, then tilted her glass and drank half of it in one go. Swirling the remaining beer in her hand, she added, “Even if you lack self-restraint, I don’t think I’d be unable to handle you.”

Ming Ying thought it made sense. Fu Anyu was a demon hunter, and she herself was still wearing the spirit-control device Fu Anyu had given her. No matter what happened, Fu Anyu would surely have a solution. Reassured, she tilted her head back and drank the shallow layer of beer in one go.

But the taste of the beer nearly made her spit it out on the spot.

“Cough, cough! So bitter!” Ming Ying couldn’t help but cough, quickly picking up a piece of gluten and stuffing it into her mouth without caring if it was hot, just to wash away the lingering taste of the beer.

Now she understood why people said, “Bitter wine goes down the throat, pain strikes the heart.”

Alcohol really was bitter! Bitter and astringent!

“Do you have cola, Sprite, or orange juice? Milk or coconut water would work too,” she asked Fu Anyu with a frown, scooping soup to rinse her cup after swallowing the gluten. “I don’t want to drink alcohol. If you want to toast, I can fill a cup with cola and clink glasses with you.”

“I do,” Fu Anyu replied, taking a can of chilled cola from the small fridge on the dining cart and pouring it into the cup Ming Ying handed her. “I have all the drinks you like.”

“Then I’ll just drink cola,” Ming Ying said, immediately breaking into a smile, though she soon grew serious again and warned Fu Anyu, “You’re not allowed to drink too much. I’m afraid you’ll get drunk.”

Just in case, she quickly took out her phone, snapped a photo, and sent a message to Xiao Du.

[Ying Luo: Fu Anyu is drinking, just letting you know, [Fu Anyu and her wine glass.jpg]]

“Don’t worry,” Fu Anyu said with a laugh, holding her wine glass. “I’m used to social events, and I have water spiritual power in my body. My alcohol tolerance isn’t as bad as you think.”

“It’s not that I’m afraid you’ll be too drunk to get up, I’m afraid you’ll…” Ming Ying set her phone down, holding her full cup of cola, too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

“Are you not afraid of me when I’m sober?” Fu Anyu asked, puzzled.

Ming Ying hadn’t expected such a response and widened her eyes in surprise.

Come to think of it, she really hadn’t considered that. Mostly because the impression Fu Anyu gave her was completely different from the CEOs in novels.

In her eyes, Fu Anyu wasn’t domineering, overbearing, or even particularly aloof. Compared to a CEO, she seemed more like an easygoing older sister, never putting on an unapproachable, superior air, unless it was toward strangers or demons.

Because of this, Ming Ying had never been on guard against Fu Anyu and didn’t believe Fu Anyu would ever force her to do anything.

As long as she didn’t want to, Fu Anyu wouldn’t force her.

But, if Fu Anyu really wanted to do something irrational to her, she wouldn’t stop her.

While she was afraid, she was also secretly hoping for something unexpected to happen.

In response to Fu Anyu’s question, Ming Ying thought for a moment and nodded firmly.

“I don’t need to be afraid of you,” she said. “You’re not scary at all.”

With that, Ming Ying proactively raised her cup, clinked it against Fu Anyu’s wine glass, and then drank it all in one go.

The sensation of the fizz traveling from her mouth down to her stomach was immensely satisfying, making her squint her eyes contentedly, completely oblivious to the change in Fu Anyu’s expression.

After the satisfying meal, the human and the fox left the hot pot restaurant. It was already 4 p.m.

Ming Ying checked her phone, surprised that shopping and eating hot pot had taken so much time. She tugged Fu Anyu along, heading to the parking lot to find Chen Yanxue, eager to get home early.

Only after the joy subsided did she remember that Fu Anyu hadn’t been in a good state since morning. Although she had transferred spiritual energy to her, recovery still required rest, and she didn’t think Fu Anyu had rested enough.

She recalled that Fu Anyu hadn’t drunk much, just two cans of beer, but as they walked together, she noticed Fu Anyu’s steps were unsteady, and she was unusually quiet, almost as if she were drunk.

“Are you okay?” Passing by a bus stop, Ming Ying couldn’t help but stop and look up to ask, “Should we wait here and call Xiao Chen to bring the car over?”

But then she saw Fu Anyu’s eyes slightly reddening. Before she could ask anything else, Fu Anyu’s free hand, the one not holding hers, reached out and pressed against the advertisement board behind her.

Ming Ying: !!!

Shocked, she had no time to think, only knowing that this gesture hinted at triggering uncontrollable consequences. She quickly raised a hand to cover Fu Anyu’s mouth and whispered rapidly, “This is a public place, don’t get worked up! I’ll call Xiao Chen right now!”