Chapter 67: The Gift

Gift: Picking Up a Wolf and Bringing It Home

Ji Yingran snapped back to reality.

She hastily withdrew her hand, lay flat on her back, and stared up at the ceiling, steadying her breath to calm the strange, unfamiliar sensation that had flickered through her in that instant.

After a long while, her emotions finally settled, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

Ji Yingran rolled onto her side to face her again. She didn’t reach out to touch, and no odd feelings stirred this time. She simply gazed quietly at her sleeping face.

This wolf was at her most well-behaved when asleep. Awake, that mouth of hers never let up, always finding new ways to hurl insults.

For all the wolf’s many shortcomings, they didn’t prevent Ji Yingran’s gaze from softening once more.

Swish.

A pair of golden, eerie pupils snapped open.

Ji Yingran jumped in surprise. She steadied herself and smiled. “Awake, huh?”

Before the words had even faded, Mu Ci’s forehead slammed into hers. Ji Yingran hissed in pain.

Mu Ci sat bolt upright with a sharp “Tch.”

Ji Yingran clutched her throbbing forehead, staring at her in speechless exasperation.

She had no clue why this wolf always pulled such bizarre stunts, headbutting people the moment she opened her eyes.

She really was the most obedient when asleep—one awakening, and she went feral, always stirring up trouble just to rile people.

Ji Yingran pointed at her reddened forehead. “Got a reason for that? Why headbutt me the second you wake up?”

Mu Ci had already slid off the bed. She offered no explanation, just one retort: “Stupid two-legged beast.”

Ji Yingran’s mouth twitched. Whatever. No use holding grudges with her. If she argued over every little thing with this wolf, she’d never have a moment’s peace.

Bzzz.

Her phone vibrated on the bedside table.

Ji Yingran grabbed it and unlocked the screen. A string of texts from her childhood friend.

[Big news! Big news!]

[I told you yesterday it was Xiao Qi spreading those rumors. Guess what happened today?]

[Today I ran into her at the hospital. Guess why she was there.]

Ji Yingran’s brows furrowed slightly. She typed back right away: [You went to the hospital? Are you sick?]

Her childhood friend: [Nah, just a checkup.]

[You’re missing the point! We’re talking Xiao Qi. Saw her at the hospital today—holy crap, scared me half to death. Her whole mouth was rotted out, like festering decay. Terrifying…]

[I say it’s karma! Serves her right for trash-talking behind backs. Rotted mouth now—poetic justice!]

Ji Yingran didn’t reply at once. Instead, she glanced at Mu Ci, who was wandering aimlessly around the room.

Mu Ci poked around curiously, peering here and there, touching left and right, punctuating it all with the occasional disdainful “Tsk.”

Ji Yingran remembered yesterday at the oceanarium entrance. They’d bumped into Xiao Qi, and Mu Ci had said she wasn’t a good person.

Ji Yingran didn’t buy that Xiao Qi’s mouth had rotted from mere rumor-mongering. If every evil deed brought instant retribution, the world wouldn’t have any villains left.

No karma, then. A sudden case of rotting mouth left only one possibility…

Ji Yingran’s gaze settled on Mu Ci and stayed there.

The phone buzzed again. More from her childhood friend.

[Why the silence?]

[No way you’re going all soft-hearted on me. You pitying her?]

[Sis, my dear sis, snap out of it. She was out there slandering you—if you feel sorry for her, I’ll think you’ve lost it.]

[Slap.jpg.]

Ji Yingran pulled her thoughts together: [No worries. I’m not that forgiving—wouldn’t dream of pitying her.]

Her childhood friend: [Good. Remember our first run-in with her? She stood up for her friend back then and said rumormongers’ mouths would rot. Now look—hers did. Total boomerang. I actually thought she was one of the good ones; never suspected her. So ironic.]

Ji Yingran: [Yeah, total irony.]

Ji Yingran fired off a few more replies, then set the phone aside. By now, Mu Ci’s prowling had led her to the stash of candies.

She attacked them like a whirlwind, cramming over a dozen into her mouth until her cheeks bulged like a chipmunk’s.

“Tasty?”

“Not tasty. Gross.”

The answer Ji Yingran had expected.

“Wolfie, thank you.”

“Who’s a wolf?”

Expected again.

Ji Yingran went on, “Next time something like this comes up, let me handle it. Plenty of problems I should tackle myself—you can’t keep jumping in to solve them for me.”

Mu Ci’s candy-munching paused for a beat. She said nothing, leaving it unclear if the words had sunk in, then resumed shoveling them in.

Ji Yingran shook her head with a smile and headed to the desk. She pulled open the drawer and fished out an old phone.

Mu Ci having no phone was a real hassle. She vanished without warning, and tracking her down was a headache every time.

Ji Yingran had planned to buy her a new one yesterday, but once they hit Snack Street, Mu Ci had planted herself and refused to budge. They ended up eating straight through till dusk.

By evening, the idea had slipped Ji Yingran’s mind. For now, the old phone would have to do.

She pressed the power button. It chimed to life, screen glowing bright. Functions checked out; it worked fine.

Ji Yingran held it out to the wolf, who was still stuffing her face. “Ease up on the candy. Here, take this.”

With her cheeks puffed out, Mu Ci eyed the phone, then Ji Yingran.

“Know how to use a phone? If not, I can show you.”

“A gift for me?”

Ji Yingran blinked. “Not exactly a gift—just an old spare. Use it meantime. Mainly so I can get hold of you.”

Mu Ci sneered. “You’re so clingy with the wolf. Still scared of losing track?”

Ji Yingran rolled her eyes. “Cut the nonsense. I’ll show you the basics—calls in and out. Don’t care about the rest.”

She started to demonstrate dialing when the phone vanished from her hand.

Mu Ci toyed with it top and bottom. “A gift? Lame gift. Ugly as sin. Doesn’t qualify.”

Her mouth ran with complaints, but she wasted no time pocketing it.

Ji Yingran reached out. “Hang on—I haven’t shown you how it works yet.”

Mu Ci shot her a fierce look. “What? Gift’s given—now you want it back?!”

Ji Yingran: “…”

Fine, fine. This wolf could speak human words and even drop the odd nugget of wisdom now and then, but most of the time, reasoning with her was hopeless!

Ji Yingran handed over the old phone’s charger too. Mu Ci snatched it and stuffed it in her pocket.

“Another gift? Sending two now? I’ll deign to accept, but heads-up: doesn’t score you points. You’re still unqualified.”

“That’s the charger that goes with it. Know how to plug it in?”

Mu Ci ignored her entirely and returned to her candy rampage.

She polished off the whole box in minutes. Ji Yingran half-expected her to give herself diabetes.

With the loot devoured, Mu Ci made for the door with a swagger.

Ji Yingran lunged to grab her arm. “No—you can’t go out the front! Mom’s probably right outside. You can’t run into her. Can’t you just teleport back like always?”

Would Mu Ci play along? Of course not—that wouldn’t be wolf-like at all.

She shook off the hand and bolted for the door.

Ji Yingran chased after her in a panic, but the wolf was lightning-fast. She zipped out of sight before Ji Yingran could catch up.

Worse, Ji Yingran nearly collided head-on with Lady Ou.

Lady Ou was combing her hair and eyed Ji Yingran’s frantic dash from the room with puzzlement.

“What’s going on?”

“N-Nothing, Mom! Did you… see anything just now?”

Lady Ou’s comb paused mid-stroke. “See what? You saying we’ve got ghosts in the house?”

Ji Yingran let out a breath of relief. Looked like she hadn’t spotted anything.

This wolf was something else—Ji Yingran had explicitly told her not to use the front door, but she never listened. Sooner or later, she’d get caught red-handed.

She really ought to find a moment to level with Lady Ou, give her a heads-up. Better safe than sorry, or that white hair would give her a real fright one day…

“You’ve been off since yesterday, acting all sneaky,” Lady Ou said, scrutinizing her up and down before glancing toward the room.

“There were weird noises from your room last night, off and on. Be straight with me—is something stashed in there?”

“Don’t tell me you picked up another cat. We’ve already got three cats and a dog—might as well open a zoo. You and your troublemaking ways.”

Ji Yingran muttered under her breath, “No cat… but I did pick up a wolf.”

Just then, a white shadow flickered past the window.

Lady Ou rubbed her eyes. “What was that? You see it?”

Of course Ji Yingran had seen it. She’d thought the wolf was long gone, but there she was, still lurking in the yard.

“Nope. Nothing there.” Ji Yingran lied without batting an eye.

“No? Could I have been seeing things? Why do I feel like…” Lady Ou’s face filled with suspicion.

However, in the next second, the White Shadow flashed past outside the window once more.

“Did you see that? Did you see it? This time I’m sure I’m not imagining things. There’s definitely something out there!”

Lady Ou snatched up the broom beside her to use as a weapon. She peered warily out the window.

In the next instant, the White Shadow appeared outside the window again.