Pretending To Be A Boss

"It could actually taste better, but you chose the least delicious method. Come, give me the fish. I'll show you how to eat it."

Tang Xiaojiu reluctantly struggled, battled with her conscience, and finally, obediently handed over the fish.

To prevent Tang Xiaojiu from drooling along the way, Tang Xian put the fish into his carry bag and took her to his treehouse.

Without delay, Tang Xian began cooking the fish.

With wealth abound, one still only eats three meals a day. When it comes to eating, one must be particular—even if most of life requires compromise, at least under the existing conditions one should live as comfortably as possible.

Lacking enough side ingredients, he couldn't make a complex fish dish and decided to make a milky phosphorus fish soup.

"I should plant a vegetable garden here in the future."

Tang Xian initially wanted to add some chopped green onions but then realized he didn't have any.

Relying on a furnace for conversion, it inevitably had a fast-food quality which differed from naturally grown produce.

Without stopping his hands, Tang Xiaojiu midway, lured by the aroma, couldn't resist anymore and came in to urge him:

"Tang Xian, is it ready yet?"

Tang Xian vaguely heard the sound of swallowing.

"It will take a little while longer."

"How long is a little while?"

Tang Xian stopped talking. Cooking is a serious matter.

Especially since this bowl of milky fish soup had a special meaning to Tang Xian.

Tang Xiaojiu felt that her fox life had never been so agonizing. Those little fish that smelled fishy, how had they changed flavor in Tang Xian's hands?

It really smelled good, slurp.

After a long wait, Tang Xian took out a bowl and soup spoon, specifically choosing the parts with the fewest bones for Tang Xiaojiu.

Then he filled it with some garnishes.

A bowl of fish soup that he was quite satisfied with was ready. After putting in the spoon, a utensil so simple and easy to use, he said:

"Come in."

Efficiently, Tang Xiaojiu came in. Tang Xian pointed at Tang Xiaojiu's large bowl and then at his own small bowl before starting to eat the fish soup.

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If Dong Ran were here, she would probably sigh about the difference between humans and foxes, favoring the fox over the human. After all, when Dong Ran was present, Tang Xian always had the large bowl, Dong Ran the small one.

The little girl, although only just over five years old, unexpectedly understood Tang Xian's kindness.

"Tang Xian, your bowl is so small. Is it enough for you?" Tang Xiaojiu said.

Tang Xian was surprised, this girl was quite considerate and said, "It's enough for me."

"Oh, if it's enough for you, could you give me some more? It's really delicious."

Tang Xian: "..."

...

...

In the end, the milky phosphorus fish soup was not made in vain; one bowl of fish soup later, the little girl's fondness for him quickly soared.

It even surpassed Qing JiuYu's.

Food lovers can fall for the one providing the food through the food itself. The principle can be traced back to ancient times when people used candy to lure little girls.

Tang Xiaojiu was like a blank sheet of paper, not only innocent but also easily deceived, the kind you could trick away with just two fish.

Therefore, it was necessary for him to raise Tang Xiaojiu's discernment regarding food.

The sky slowly darkened.

Tang Xian originally wanted to send Tang Xiaojiu back to the fox den, but Tang Xiaojiu did not want to go back.

"Tang Xian, can I sleep here tonight?" she asked.

"Why don't you want to go back?"

"They don't like me. Qing left, and I'm scared."

"Those tri-tailed foxes?"

Tang Xiaojiu nodded, seeming a bit wronged.

It was then that Tang Xian realized Tang Xiaojiu might not be a normal nine-tailed fox; otherwise, how could those tri-tailed foxes dare to show disdain towards her?

He couldn't understand fox expressions.

But thinking back, when he entered the fox den, the expressions of those foxes... may have been... not just unfriendly towards him.

Tang Xian was beginning to understand why Qing JiuYu entrusted Tang Xiaojiu to an outsider.

He nodded and said, "I'll go make some late-night snacks."

"What's a late-night snack?"

"It's delicious."

"Yeah, yeah, I love midnight snacks."

...

...

In the next two days, which were Tang Xian's last two days of surviving the full seven days in the mining area, Tang Xiaojiu followed him around.

Having a curious little girl trailing behind him gave him an unprecedented experience.

He was reminded of his own childhood when he used to bombard his parents with endless questions and couldn't help feeling sentimental.

The idea of teaching Tang Xiaojiu human knowledge and concepts came to mind.

Raising a nine-tailed fox with human methods would probably be an interesting experience.

Tang Xiaojiu was completely won over by that bowl of fish soup.

Wherever Tang Xian went, she would follow.

On the last day, the dumb bird came, and Tang Xian gave it a name, calling it Tang Gazi. At first, he said it was easier to communicate with a human name.

But by giving it the Tang name, Tang Xian's intention was clear.

He could only hear the voices of boss-level creatures and was unable to understand the language of ordinary creatures, so having a translator was useful.

However, he had to take the time to explain to Tang Xiaojiu that this bird was not for eating. He stressed this important point three times, and the little girl looked at Tang Gazi with disappointment.

How could there be birds that one can't eat? That seemed utterly unreasonable.

Tang Gazi was very afraid of Tang Xiaojiu, but it still didn't leave Tang Xian.

After flying for more than a day, it finally found YiSu Canyon and saw glow mushrooms, and now it was waiting for Tang Xian to take it on a journey of vengeance.

Tang Xian really hadn't been calculating on purpose.

After all, Qing JiuYu had entrusted Tang Xiaojiu to him, which was something he couldn't have expected.

As long as he had glow mushrooms, Tang Xian could drive away the cat-eared bats. But his real purpose was to win over Tang Gazi.

So Tang Xian turned and asked Tang Xiaojiu, who was still drooling over the bird,

"Do you want to eat bird meat?"

"Tang Xian! What are you going to do, Gazi! I don't taste good!" Upon hearing this, Tang Gazi got excited.

"Shut up, I wasn't talking about you," Tang Xian scolded the silly bird with a glare.

"Can bird meat also be made into soup, Brother Tang Xian?"

"Yes, the taste is even more delicious, but it's also good just to eat it like that."

"Then let's go eat bird meat!"

"We'll eat fish meat tonight, I have to get through this night. If I can survive tonight, I'll take you to eat bird meat."

"Have to wait another night?" Tang Xiaojiu found life as a fox to be very tough.

Tang Xian then said to Tang Gazi:

"Do those cat-eared bats often bully you and ridicule you?"

"Yes, Gazi, they're despicable!"

"The cultivation of glow mushrooms will take a few more days, but just driving them away is not enough revenge. How about I take Tang Xiaojiu with me and we'll burn that damned group of cat-eared bats and, by the way, we can eat bat meat."

Tang Xian smiled and said, "Ordinary bat meat contains deadly poison, but the human cookbook still has the correct way to cook bats. And although the cat-eared bats bear the bat name, they're not like bats at all; they are real birds that just have disgusting rat-like faces, similar to bats. Their meat is even more delicious."

Upon hearing this, both the fox and the bird swallowed their saliva.

Thus, human, fox, and bird reached a consensus: Tang Gazi would lead the way, Tang Xiaojiu would be in charge of lighting the fire.

When the sun rose the next day, Tang Xian was ready to set out with a bird and a fox.

But first, he had to get through the night.

Though in the seven-day period, by just returning to reality for ten hours, one could go back to the mining area for another seven days.

But this kind of interruption felt very uncomfortable.

Tang Xian had seen some cases in textbooks about people who died after staying the full seven days. Their life force would rapidly decline within minutes, as if some invisible rule was forcibly expelling humans.

He didn't originally think he was special. It was just a bit regrettable.

It wasn't until he encountered the Cerberus and received strange resistance prompts in his sea of consciousness that he began to believe he had special potential.

With less than an hour left until the seven days were up, he took out the portable transport rift, fully prepared for any scenario.

As soon as Tang Xiaojiu knew Tang Gazi was going to take her to eat a bunch of birds, she had already considered Tang Gazi a friend.

Tang Xiaojiu slept at the edge of the wooden hut, and Tang Gazi slept next to her little head. Their friendship was determined by their shared taste in food.

Tang Xian hadn't slept at all, his eyes wide open, waiting for the last second to arrive.