Pei Chiyao was stunned in place.
When he reacted, he grabbed Zhi Yao's wrist and said, "Say that again."
Zhi Yao tilted her head. "I really like you. Other than my mother, you're the first person who has been so nice to me."
She buried her head again and nudged Pei Chiyao's chest with her nose.
Pei Chiyao gently patted Zhi Yao's back. "From now on, you can only say this sentence to me and only to me, understand?"
Zhi Yao seemed to vaguely understand as she nodded.
Seeing the girl's confused appearance and her still messy dress, Pei Chiyao got up and went to the wardrobe to take out one of his shirts and handed it to the girl. "Wear this first."
The tailored women's clothes purchased by the housekeeper were good-looking but too complicated to wear and not very suitable for Zhi Yao.
So he first took out his own clothes for Zhi Yao to wear.
Zhi Yao was about to take off her dress in front of Pei Chiyao. When she raised her hand, she realized something was wrong.
"I...I'll go change inside."
"Go ahead. Call me if you need anything."
His shirt was very long on Zhi Yao, completely covering her thighs. It could be worn as a shirt dress.
The girl lowered her head and smelled the nice sandalwood scent on the shirt, extremely delighted.
She liked being wrapped in Pei Chiyao's scent. It gave her a great sense of security.
Zhi Yao opened the bathroom door and came out, shaking her head. "Pei Chiyao, I like your clothes! Can I wear your clothes from now on?"
She felt this was much more comfortable than the dress.
The little fox didn't know that wearing a man's clothes was such an intimate thing to do.
But Pei Chiyao was very clear what this meant.
He went up and rolled up her sleeves. "Of course."
...
After taking care of everything, Zhi Yao felt very hungry.
She quickly looked up at Pei Chiyao and said, "I'm so hungry!"
The servants had already prepared dinner. To avoid scaring Zhi Yao, Pei Chiyao had let them leave after making dinner.
Seeing the sumptuous meal on the table, Zhi Yao immediately picked up the two thin, long things.
She had seen Pei Chiyao always using these two things to eat!
She curiously picked up the chopsticks, but to her surprise, the two chopsticks fought wildly in Zhi Yao's hand.
Not only could she pick up nothing, they even dropped straight to the ground.
She glared angrily at the disobedient chopsticks, baring her teeth, "Humph! If you keep being disobedient, I'll throw you away!"
Her ferocious look made Pei Chiyao laugh out loud.
He silently laughed and began teaching Zhi Yao how to use chopsticks hand in hand.
But no matter how hard Zhi Yao tried, she couldn't get the hang of it. She was already starving.
"I want to eat. Can I learn this later?" The girl looked longingly at the sumptuous feast on the table. She really couldn't stand it any longer.
She was afraid her saliva would start dripping out the next second.
If Zhi Yao was his daughter, he would have insisted she learned it. But Zhi Yao was not.
Pei Chiyao could never bear to be harsh with her.
Seeing Pei Chiyao didn't reply, she immediately let go of the chopsticks. Bending over, she moved towards the plate in front of her and opened her mouth, about to stick out her tongue to lick the plate.
But before her tongue could touch the plate, Pei Chiyao grabbed her and pulled her tongue back.
The girl almost got to eat. She immediately turned around and looked at Pei Chiyao aggrievedly, "Why won't you let me eat!"
"Come over here."
Pei Chiyao patted his lap. "Sit down. I'll feed you."
So that was it!
She instantly felt better. Sitting down heavily on Pei Chiyao's lap.
Pei Chiyao picked up morsels with chopsticks and fed them into Zhi Yao's mouth.
The little fox's two fair, tender legs swung leisurely in mid-air as she ate the delicious food, squinting her eyes in comfort. Her big fluffy tail behind her also swung to and fro.
After eating half-full, Pei Chiyao finally asked, "When you were human before, how did you eat?"
Zhi Yao swallowed the piece of fish in her mouth and said, "Just like before!"
The fat woman never ate with her. She always ordered takeout to the hotel.
Anyway, with no one else around, she would just lick up the food.
Pei Chiyao: "..."
"From now on, don't eat like that in front of others, you hear me?"
Zhi Yao looked at Pei Chiyao puzzled, "Why? We little foxes don't need chopsticks. Too much trouble."
Licking is so convenient!
It's just her fur would get dirty!
If you asked Zhi Yao, she still liked best being fed by Pei Chiyao!
No need to exert any effort herself, and no need to worry about getting dirty either.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but tug Pei Chiyao's sleeve, asking him to strike a deal, "Or else, you can keep feeding me from now on, okay?"
Zhi Yao's dependence on him was obvious.
Pei Chiyao enjoyed this reliance, but he knew that since she wanted to be human, there were some things Zhi Yao had to learn to do herself.
"Yao Yao, these are the basics. You must learn them yourself."
Just as the girl was about to coax and cajole, the next second, she suddenly felt dizzy.
The white shirt suddenly dropped to the ground. A white fox lay curled up on Pei Chiyao's lap. Bewilderment filled its golden eyes.
She had turned back again.
Zhi Yao: "..."
Pei Chiyao: "..."
A little unexpected, but also within reason.
Pei Chiyao took a deep breath and pressed his eyebrows.
Zhi Yao raised her soft paws, "I...I turned back again?"
Pei Chiyao raised his wrist to check the time.
This time, Zhi Yao had remained human for seven hours.
He poked the little fox's soft nose, "It's because you're too lazy to properly learn to be human. This is punishment for you."
Zhi Yao was instantly frightened. "R-really?"
Her legs shivered as her golden eyes grew misty. She was clearly very scared. "I'm wrong. I don't want to be a fox for the rest of my life!"
"Next time, will you dress yourself and feed yourself?"
Zhi Yao nodded with teary eyes, "Yes..."
She sobbed aggrievedly, "Will there be a next time?"
Pei Chiyao didn't reply. Suddenly, he noticed something.
He abruptly picked up the jade pendant around Zhi Yao's neck. Was he mistaken? He felt like the color of the jade pendant had faded a lot...
He picked up the little fox and returned to the bedroom.
Sure enough, the various jade wares in the bedroom had also faded significantly in color. These were all top grade natural jade containing innate spiritual energy.
The fading color meant that the spiritual energy had weakened.
As for where the spiritual energy had gone...
He looked down at the listless little thing in his arms.
The answer was self-evident.
