My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 12

The fish needed to be tested and researched. Whether Zhou Yan’s life could be saved depended on the Management Bureau’s research institute. The remaining matters had nothing to do with Jiang Lin. He would follow up on the aftermath, but there was no rush.

He let Lin Xiaoyang drive the car away. He himself took Bai Zhizhi back tothe courtyard, walking with him and letting him become more familiar with the world below the mountain.

Seeing a milk tea shop, thinking that young people nowadays really liked it, and maybe the little fox would like it too, he stopped and asked him, “Want to try milk tea? A blend of milk and tea. Many people like to drink it. It’s sweet.”

Bai Zhizhi looked at Jiang Lin. “Aren’t you angry?”

Jiang Lin smiled, his voice still gentle. “What would I be angry about? So you really did do it on purpose, right? You clearly could have found the fish in a more gentle way, but you insisted on making things this big.”

Bai Zhizhi gave a light humph. “You said to make some noise.”

Jiang Lin wasn’t angry, nor did he hold this against him. Instead he said, “I’m not angry. I even need to thank you.”

Now Bai Zhizhi was even more confused. “Thank me?”

Jiang Lin said, “If it weren’t for you, we might not have found out Zhou Yan’s cause of illness so quickly, and we might not have found the fish so quickly either. That fish is so big, it must have been raised for quite a long time. If it bred more and spread wider, and unknowing people ate it, like Zhou Yan, who knows how many people would die. So thank you, Zhizhi. Thank you for telling us what you knew. Thank you for saving us a lot of time and avoiding many detours. And thank you for your trust in us.”

He clearly could have just watched and said nothing. But he spoke up. Even if it was just a matter of one sentence, this proved that Bai Zhizhi didn’t have too much guard or hostility toward them. For this Jiang Lin felt it was a very good start.

Not to mention when the Xian Yu was causing chaos, Bai Zhizhi had also protected several people.

At the time although he had just rushed over from the back kitchen, he had also sensed spiritual energy fluctuations. Lin Xiaoyang’s spiritual energy he was very familiar with. That wasn’t Lin Xiaoyang’s aura. So the one who pulled people out of the water and protected them from being hit by the Xian Yu could only have been Bai Zhizhi.

A little fox who had no natural hostility toward other races, who despite being a bit mischievous had a soft and kind nature at his core, how could he be angry at him?

Bai Zhizhi had always responded to soft approaches but not hard ones. If Jiang Lin had blamed him and settled accounts with him, he would definitely have gotten angry and fought back. But with this kind of sincere attitude and thanks, it made his previous behavior seem somewhat willful.

Bai Zhizhi walked two steps forward, then turned around and handed Jiang Lin a pure white small porcelain jar. It was round and flat, about two fingers wide, quite mini and cute.

Jiang Lin reached out to take it. “What is this?”

Bai Zhizhi said, “Ointment. Just now someone shielded me and got injured on the face. Rub this and it will heal fast. Help me give it to him.”

Although he didn’t need anyone to protect him, that person had indeed been injured because of him. Bai Zhizhi had always been clear about gratitude and grievances.

Jiang Lin smiled and accepted it, responding, “Okay, I’ll help you give it to him.”

As for who that person was, he could just ask Team Leader Luo later who was injured in the shop at the time.

After walking two more steps, Bai Zhizhi stopped again and turned to look at Jiang Lin. “What about the milk tea?”

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “I’ll go buy it for you. Try the more popular classic flavor first. Later you can slowly try other flavors. The new phone has already been bought for you, back at the courtyard. In a couple days when your identity comes through I’ll register an account for you. Later when you want something you can buy it yourself.”

Bai Zhizhi said, “Account? Is that where money is managed? Is there money in the account?”

Jiang Lin said, “Um… I’ll give you monthly allowance. But there won’t be more than that. If you want more money, you can earn it yourself.”

Bai Zhizhi said, “How do I earn it?”

He couldn’t read a single character of these humans’ writing. Were they still thinking of having him sell himself at the zoo?

Jiang Lin said, “The information you provided about the Xian Yu and your help to us, I will apply for a bonus from the Management Bureau. It will be deposited into your account. Besides that there are many ways to earn money. No need to rush. After you slowly become familiar with this place you can always support yourself. For now I’m responsible for raising you. You focus on learning. Okay?”

Bai Zhizhi responded with a proud back of his head. He, the dignified little prince of the fox clan, needed to be raised by a mere human? What a joke!

Bai Zhizhi walked forward without looking back.

Jiang Lin called out from behind, “The milk tea is this way.”

Bai Zhizhi made an oh sound and followed him in a different direction.

Back at the courtyard, the people who worked outside during the day had pretty much all returned. They were sitting in the courtyard chatting. The atmosphere among the group was harmonious, as close as family.

Seeing someone return, everyone looked up. A flash of amazement passed through their eyes. They had long known a little fox had come to the courtyard, a demon who had cultivated into a spirit. Naturally his appearance was extraordinary compared to ordinary people. But only seeing him in person did they know how extraordinary.

When walking in from the dim alley, the moonlight falling on his body seemed like it had turned on a filter, making Bai Zhizhi appear cold and immortal like, beautiful to the point of being almost demonic. But his overall aura was clean and pure, without any trace of evil. Between his brows and eyes was also a natural born noble air, like a little prince who had accidentally wandered into the mortal world.

While the courtyard people were sizing up Bai Zhizhi, Bai Zhizhi was also observing them.

The person sitting next to Yue Zhihuan should be her brother Yue Yanting. He looked somewhat like Yue Zhihuan, with short cropped hair and wheat colored skin. Compared to sweet Yue Zhihuan, her brother looked more serious.

Besides Yue Zhihuan and Wu Yue, there were also two more girls in the courtyard at night. One was called Ye Nian, the other Xie Zhihua. Ye Nian had short hair, sharp and bold features, a cool expression, but in her hands she held a bunch of colorful fuzzy fabric strips making cat teaser wands.

The other girl Xie Zhihua had long hair in a ponytail, a gentle and grand appearance. Seeing the people coming in from outside, she first smiled warmly and softly, then took the initiative to greet them. “You’re back. This is Zhizhi, right? Sister Yue told us all about it. Welcome Zhizhi to the East City Courtyard.”

Jiang Lin smiled and glanced sideways at Bai Zhizhi. “Everyone get to know each other. Zhizhi, these are the team members I told you about before. Pretty much everyone is here.”

Just as Jiang Lin finished speaking, someone came from the back courtyard carrying two baskets of fruit. Walking in front, steady and refined, was Qiu Yan, who counted as the courtyard’s strategist, with a better brain.

Walking behind Qiu Yan was someone who looked like he had combat ability at first glance. Tall and well built, not overly muscular, but still looking quite powerful. His name was Ren Daoan, the person in the courtyard with the highest cultivation besides Jiang Lin.

Everyone waved at Bai Zhizhi. “Welcome, welcome. The courtyard has gained another member.”

Ren Daoan picked out the most beautiful looking peach from the basket and handed it to Bai Zhizhi. “Very sweet. Try it.”

Bai Zhizhi accepted it. “Thank you.”

Before Jiang Lin returned, Wu Yue had already told them about the new little fox demon.

She said this fox demon was different from the ones caught before. This fox demon might have come from a great demon’s cave dwelling. His words and actions didn’t carry any beastliness at all. He had clearly been well raised and educated. She told them to know their boundaries when getting along with Bai Zhizhi, and not to treat him like some naturally born and raised silly fox.

At this moment, with just one glance they knew what Wu Yue meant by different. If this person hadn’t been personally caught by Brother Jiang, they couldn’t tell there was any demonic nature on him at all. No wonder Brother Jiang wanted to keep him under watch.

Before Jiang Lin could sit down, Wu Yue came out from the living room and asked, “What was the deal with the monster fish at Fulu Residence? Is it a ferocious beast?”

This matter wasn’t just still trending online. The internal management chat groups were also heatedly discussing it. A red scaled, slender, never before seen fish, and grown beyond ordinary size. Such a large species, they had only seen them in energy fields. Energy fields were almost all ferocious beasts. The bigger, the more ferocious.

Jiang Lin said, “It’s not a ferocious beast. But that fish indeed had some cultivation. Its attacks carried spiritual energy. As for what exactly it is, let’s wait for the research institute’s results.”

Bai Zhizhi sat obediently to the side eating a peach. The peach flavor here wasn’t too different from Qingqiu. It just had no spiritual energy, and the taste wasn’t as fresh and sweet as Qingqiu’s fruit. But after drinking the slightly sticky milk tea, eating some fruit to clear that stickiness was just right.

Yue Zhihuan took a box from the living room dining table, then sat down next to Bai Zhizhi, motioning for him to open the box.

Bai Zhizhi opened the box and saw a phone just like Jiang Lin’s. Yue Zhihuan smiled and took out a pile of things from the side. Phone cases, phone charms, fuzzy ones, resin ones, and crocheted ones. They were all various fox patterns. She also gestured happily toward him.

Jiang Lin translated for her. “Huanhuan says this is your phone. She also bought you phone cases and charms. She specially picked fox themed ones. She asks if you like them.”

Bai Zhizhi looked at the pile of things in his hand, then smiled back at Yue Zhihuan. “Thank you. I like them very much.”

The heart that loves beauty exists in everyone. Being smiled at by Bai Zhizhi like this, Yue Zhihuan was almost dazzled by the beauty. She hurriedly moved a bit closer to him, put the phone case on for him, and taught him how to turn it on and use it.

Yue Yanting, sitting behind Yue Zhihuan, glanced at Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin nodded toward him, signaling he didn’t need to worry. Although Bai Zhizhi was a demon, he wasn’t a demon with strong uncontrollable demonic nature. There was no need to constantly guard against him hurting people.

Seeing Jiang Lin signal him to relax, Yue Yanting put his heart at ease.

Bai Zhizhi had just downloaded the match three game when Lin Xiaoyang returned. As soon as he came back he gulped down a big mouthful of water, then let out a heavy sigh. “Zhou Yan was sent to the research institute’s affiliated hospital. Let’s see if he can scrape back a life.”

Bai Zhizhi, who was waiting to log into the game, shook his head. He couldn’t scrape it back.

Jiang Lin said, “Did you check on Zhou Yan’s classmates?”

Lin Xiaoyang said, “Zhou Yan’s sister gave me their phone numbers. I contacted them. Three classmates. Two have symptoms, but not as severe as Zhou Yan. And one is currently holding a funeral. Died this afternoon. The body hasn’t been cremated yet. I’ve already told the Management Bureau the situation. They will send people to take the deceased’s body away for investigation.”

Hearing that someone had died, Yue Zhihuan couldn’t help but gesture toward him. “Is there really no way at all?”

Lin Xiaoyang had told her about this case, saying Zhou Yan was very young and didn’t know what he had provoked to become like this. She had thought he was contaminated by evil spirits. She didn’t expect it was from eating a strange fish.

Lin Xiaoyang rubbed Yue Zhihuan’s head. “Be careful eating anything from now on. This person brought disaster on himself because of greed for tasty food. Especially unknown meats and wild game, absolutely don’t touch them. Remember?”

Yue Zhihuan slapped away his paw and counterattacked angrily. Lin Xiaoyang was even a year younger than her. Rubbing her head, he really had no respect for elders!