A Nine-Tailed White Fox Is My Wife From A Previous Life (Lily Futa) - Chapter 1

Before starting kindergarten, Ye Fenglin thought she was no different from other girls. It wasn’t until the day before kindergarten started that she sat swinging her little legs between her parents, watching them speak to the principal with grave expressions. They repeatedly begged the teachers to take good care of her and never tell anyone her secret. Only then did she realize she was different from other girls.

Ye Fenglin had always been a shy child. After starting school, she sat quietly in the corner and became the teacher’s favorite easy-to-manage kid. Because of her parents’ instructions, the teachers paid extra attention to her. But children are the best at forming cliques and excluding others. Just half a month after enrollment, Ye Fenglin keenly noticed she had been isolated.

Worse still, she accidentally wet her pants in class in front of everyone.

Listening to the laughter around her, little Ye Fenglin’s cheeks burned. She couldn’t lift her head. The tears she had held back finally burst the moment she was carried into the infirmary, falling like strings of pearls without stopping.

Why am I different from everyone else?

“Teacher… sob… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay… Fenglin, don’t cry.”

Teacher Wang, who was taking care of Ye Fenglin, was a woman in her thirties. She wet a towel, wrung it out, and carefully wiped Ye Fenglin clean with practiced movements. But before she could help Ye Fenglin change her pants, Teacher Chen, who was temporarily in charge of the class, suddenly rushed in panic.

“Teacher Wang, Gu Yanpo is missing. Teacher Zhang and I have searched several places and couldn’t find her. You’re the only one left—have you seen her?”

“Gu Yanpo? I haven’t seen her. Are you sure you checked everywhere else?”

“I’m sure… Ah! I just remembered, we haven’t checked the second-floor bathroom yet. You take care of this child first, I’ll go look again.”

Teacher Chen left briskly. Teacher Wang turned back and saw Ye Fenglin clutching tightly between her legs. She couldn’t help rubbing the girl’s head and smiling. “Don’t be nervous. Teacher Chen has already left. No one will see…”

“Ah!”

Teacher Wang’s unfinished comforting words were interrupted by a sharp scream from the corner.

“Teacher, why does she have this?”

The owner of the voice was the “missing” Gu Yanpo.

Teacher Wang was startled. Of course she wouldn’t answer. She spoke in circles trying to send Gu Yanpo away. The child’s mind jumped around anyway, and soon she hopped off happily.

After this little episode, Ye Fenglin finally changed into clean pants.

Accompanied by Teacher Wang, she returned to the classroom anxiously. As soon as she entered, she noticed the eye-catching figure standing at the front of the classroom—Gu Yanpo.

She was still smiling brightly, as if she hadn’t reflected at all.

Ye Fenglin naively thought the matter would end there. But during noon nap that day, as soon as she turned over, she saw Gu Yanpo’s face.

“You…!”

“Shh!” Gu Yanpo covered Ye Fenglin’s mouth, glanced toward Teacher Wang’s direction, and lowered her voice. “What is that thing of yours? I didn’t see wrong, right?”

Ye Fenglin broke into a cold sweat under Gu Yanpo’s gaze and didn’t dare blink.

In the morning with the teacher nearby, she could stay calm. But now the teacher was at the other end of the classroom and there were other classmates around. If Gu Yanpo shouted, her secret would be known to everyone.

Everyone rejects what’s different and isolates people they don’t like. She understood that.

Still, Ye Fenglin mustered her courage and squeezed out a few words, trying to muddle through.

“You… you saw wrong… mm!”

She grabbed the hand curiously rubbing and kneading between her legs. Gu Yanpo, who was so close their faces were almost touching, had eyes sparkling with excitement and flushed red cheeks.

The hand under the blanket gently pinched again.

“I didn’t see wrong!”

“Time to sleep!”

Teacher Chen was drawn over by the noise. Ye Fenglin quickly closed her eyes and prayed in her heart that Gu Yanpo wouldn’t reveal her secret.

Her nerves were stretched too tight, so she didn’t even know when she fell asleep afterward.

Fortunately, although Gu Yanpo was naughty, her mouth was tight.

From that day on, Gu Yanpo stuck to Ye Fenglin every single day—eating together, sleeping together, and even following her right outside the toilet door when she went to pee. Children are always curious about unusual things. Questions like “Why do you have that?”, “Are you a girl?”, “Do you pee standing up or squatting?” were asked over and over.

Gu Yanpo asked many times.

Ye Fenglin originally thought that once the novelty wore off, Gu Yanpo would stop pestering her. But neither of them expected this sinful connection to last so long. They even became friends because of it.

The two lived in the same neighborhood, so after kindergarten they naturally attended the same elementary school and the same junior high.

Compared to her mischievous childhood, Gu Yanpo had become much steadier, but she remained bold and generous. With excellent grades, she gained many friends.

Ye Fenglin, however, became even more introverted and sensitive. She was afraid others would discover her difference. She always walked with her head down, didn’t dare look people in the face when speaking, and her voice was soft and thin, often making it hard for others to hear her clearly. Over time, no one wanted to interact with her.

Thankfully, her childhood friend Gu Yanpo dragged her to eat together and go to and from school every day, giving her school life something to look forward to.

“Fenglin, you know? You’re really pretty and tall. If you were just a bit more proactive, lots of people would want to play with you!”

“N-no… I can’t do that.”

How could Yanpo understand? She wouldn’t understand.

Ye Fenglin secretly thought in her heart: Having Yanpo by her side was enough—one friend who would keep her secret and never abandon her.

Her only friend.

But everything changed after entering high school.

The high school class assignments came out. Unfortunately, after twelve years as classmates, Ye Fenglin and Gu Yanpo were separated this time—one in Class 3, the other in Class 4.

High school required mandatory boarding unless there was a hospital certificate. Ye Fenglin naturally couldn’t produce any strong proof, so she had to arrange her dorm room with her parents, anxiously thinking about how to hide her secret.

She also worried about how to build good relationships with her roommates.

Strangely, until lights-out at night, no second person entered the dorm. The next day when she asked the teacher, she learned her roommate either lived at home or simply hadn’t reported in.

She spent a lonely week until Sunday when she returned to school and saw the dorm light on from outside.

Roommate?

Ye Fenglin’s nerves suddenly tightened and her body involuntarily shrank. She wondered if the other person would be easy to get along with. She awkwardly tidied the stray hair on her forehead and pushed the door open.

“H-hello, I’m Ye Fenglin, bed number one…”

Her voice was very low, and the short sentence came out stuttering. She didn’t know if the other person had heard clearly.

Ye Fenglin stood there awkwardly fidgeting with her fingers. No response came from her roommate. She swung her hands back and forth, not daring to look at her roommate’s face, then pulled her suitcase and walked to her bed with her head down. She took out her clothes and towels and arranged them neatly.

Taking this chance, she secretly glanced at the roommate on the opposite bed, wanting to see what she looked like. Unexpectedly, their eyes met directly.

Such beautiful eyes.

“Ah, s-sorry…”

Ye Fenglin hurriedly looked away, so embarrassed she wanted to sink into the ground.

Clear laughter came from behind, giggling nonstop.

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

The voice sounded mature beyond her age.

“I-I…”

Why? Ye Fenglin’s mind went blank. She was so anxious she didn’t know how to answer. She had always been like this since childhood—constantly saying “sorry” when interacting with others.

Some people felt too much pressure and gradually drifted away from her.

“Hehe…”

The laughter came closer. Ye Fenglin could feel her roommate standing right behind her now. She subconsciously turned around, but the movement was too fast and she nearly bumped into the other girl’s nose.

“Sorry—”

“Wait,” Ye Fenglin’s mouth was covered. The palm was warm and carried a faint fragrance, either hand cream or perfume. “Don’t say sorry again. I haven’t introduced myself yet, right? My name is Tu Wanxi, ‘Tu’ from Mount Tu. And you?”

Tu Wanxi withdrew her hand and smiled gently at Ye Fenglin. “Sorry, it was just a reflex…”

“N-no, it’s fine,” Ye Fenglin shook her head vigorously like a rattle drum. “I’m Ye Fenglin. Nice to meet you…”

She nodded toward Tu Wanxi.

So Tu Wanxi hadn’t been ignoring her on purpose—she just hadn’t heard clearly.

Thinking this, Ye Fenglin felt much better and less anxious. She lifted her chin a little to look at Tu Wanxi again. The other girl was still smiling, her clear black-and-white eyes seriously watching her.

“Ye Fenglin is a really nice name,” Tu Wanxi looked away and sat down on her freshly made bed. “I used to have a really close friend who was also surnamed Ye. You two look quite alike.”

Ye Fenglin blinked in confusion, not knowing how to respond. How did the topic suddenly turn to her? What should she say? If it were Yanpo, what would she say?

“Where… where do we look alike?”

“Where do you look alike?”

Tu Wanxi showed a very surprised expression, then rested her chin on her hand and thought.

“Let me think. First, from the outside…”

She scanned Ye Fenglin from head to toe as if the question was extremely tricky. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

“It’s…”

Tu Wanxi deliberately kept her in suspense, dragging out the last syllable. Ye Fenglin unconsciously stared at Tu Wanxi’s lips, even forgetting to breathe.

“What is it?”

“Secret!” Tu Wanxi pressed her index finger to her lips and winked at Ye Fenglin. “I’ll tell you later when there’s a chance.”

Ye Fenglin was left dazed by the sudden twists. Why did it always feel like her emotions were being led by Tu Wanxi?

Tu Wanxi probably didn’t mean it, right?

Ye Fenglin was extremely curious. That night, she fell into a drowsy sleep full of questions.

She didn’t know how long she had slept when she was woken by movement in the dorm. “Mmm…” She hummed a few times before realizing she wasn’t the only one in the room today.

Tu Wanxi must be going to the bathroom. Ye Fenglin turned over, pulled the blanket higher, and planned to go back to sleep.

She didn’t notice at all that the strange noise stopped abruptly with her movement—until footsteps sounded, not heading toward the toilet, but coming straight toward her.