Married the Second Generation Fox Demon with a Baby in a Flash Marriage - Chapter 3

“I will become beautiful. Yes, I will. I’m going to lose weight, and I’m starting by skipping midnight snacks tonight!” Hu Mengmeng declared, pumping a fist. Her round face was dead serious, which only made the sight more comical.

Su Mingli shook her head and went to shower. Not long after, a knock came at the door. Hu Mengmeng checked the peephole and pulled it open.

Standing there was a girl with long hair leaning on a crutch. She had a delicate face, her long straight hair tied into twin ponytails. With sparse bangs and a clean, unadorned look, she wore a long floral dress that made her appear pure and introverted. This was Hu Mengmeng’s best friend, Tao Tao, who lived in the same building.

Tao Tao had a bad leg due to a developmental defect and needed a crutch to walk. To hide her legs, she almost always wore long skirts.

Their friendship spanned over five years. Since Hu Mengmeng moved here in middle school, she had accompanied Tao Tao to school every day. When they were running late, Hu Mengmeng would carry Tao Tao on her back; once she learned to ride a bike, she’d carry her on the back of that. The entire neighborhood knew they were inseparable.

“Tao Tao, what are you doing here?” Hu Mengmeng asked, helping her inside.

Standing together, the contrast was stark. Tao Tao was slender—weighing less than half of what Hu Mengmeng did—and quite petite. Due to her mobility issues and social anxiety, she avoided crowded places, only opening up when she was with Hu Mengmeng.

“I was curious! How did the birthday party go?” Tao Tao asked, her gaze gentle. She knew Hu Mengmeng’s little secrets; in fact, she had helped her pick out the “slimming” outfit and applied her makeup earlier. Seeing the lights on, she’d come over to check in.

“Don’t even ask!” Hu Mengmeng sighed. She sat Tao Tao down and recounted the disaster, her sorrow rising again as she spoke. She decided to keep the “fox spirit” story a secret, though; it felt a bit too embarrassing for her mother.

As Tao Tao sat, her skirt clung to her legs, revealing one healthy leg and one withered, underdeveloped one.

“You did her class duties for a year and brought her breakfast so many times… even if she doesn’t like you back, she could at least be a friend. That’s so cruel!” Tao Tao pulled at Hu Mengmeng’s hand. “Don’t be sad. I brought you your favorite fried lotus root slices and crispy chicken.”

Tao Tao always brought snacks. She knew the best way to comfort Hu Mengmeng was through her stomach—food usually made her forget her troubles instantly.

“Tao Tao, you’re the best!” Hu Mengmeng’s eyes lit up, her promise to skip snacks vanishing instantly. She opened the container, swallowed hard, but then hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Tao Tao asked.

“I can’t eat the lotus root,” Hu Mengmeng said solemnly.

“Why not? You love it.”

“In Chinese, ‘eating lotus root’ (chi ou) sounds like ‘being ugly’ (chou). From now on, I want to be beautiful, and that starts with not being chou!” Hu Mengmeng declared, before taking a massive, defiant bite of a piece of crispy chicken instead.

“What on earth is inside that head of yours?” Su Mingli emerged from the bathroom drying her hair. Hearing the pun, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she just walked over and swatted the back of her daughter’s head.

“Auntie, Mengmeng is funny. It’s like a tongue twister,” Tao Tao giggled.

“Lose some weight and stop with the midnight snacks. You’ll be a college student in September,” Su Mingli warned. “Didn’t you just say you were done with night snacks?”

“I only ate a little at five PM and didn’t eat anything at the party. I’m starving! Tao Tao says being too hungry makes you sick,” Hu Mengmeng grumbled.

“Tao Tao is kind to you and doesn’t mind your weight, but others do. Think about what people said today. Tomorrow, you’re getting up early to work at the shop, or you can earn your own college allowance!” Su Mingli commanded.

“Mom, no!”

“Auntie, I think Mengmeng is cute the way she is,” Tao Tao said softly. “Being able to eat is a blessing. My appetite is poor and I’m too thin—it’s not healthy.”

“Tao Tao, look at her—how is this ‘cute’? Stop coddling her,” Su Mingli said, her voice softening as she turned to Tao Tao. “You keep the good food for yourself. Look how thin you are. Is your dad back yet? The storm is quite loud; are you scared? Stay a while longer and play with Mengmeng.”

In Su Mingli’s eyes, her daughter was a sturdy, silly “tomboy,” while Tao Tao was a fragile, delicate girl who needed gentleness.

“My dad is working overtime again. I’m used to it,” Tao Tao whispered.

“Mom, I suspect Tao Tao is your real daughter and I was picked up from a dumpster,” Hu Mengmeng lamented.

“I’ll make you both some juice. I need to head to the shop to prep the dough for tomorrow. Tao Tao, keep her company,” Su Mingli ignored her daughter, made the juice, and left.

The two girls watched TV and chatted.

“Tao Tao, do you think I’ll really be pretty if I get thin?” Hu Mengmeng asked, still fixated on her appearance.

“You look good regardless,” Tao Tao said gently. “The person who likes you won’t change their mind just because of your weight.”

“But Xiaoya doesn’t like me like this. If I get thin and pretty, maybe she won’t hate me? My college is affiliated with hers. If I get pretty over the summer, I can go find her when school starts.”

Hu Mengmeng had been accepted into a third-tier college—the Tanshan College of Fengcheng University. While it carried the name of the prestigious top-ten university Lin Yuanya was attending, they were worlds apart in rank.

“She treated you like that and you still want to find her?” Tao Tao’s eyes widened.

“She’s actually very nice… it’s just my fault for being ugly…”

“Mengmeng, wake up! She doesn’t even see you as a friend. Even if she treated you better because you got pretty, that wouldn’t be genuine kindness,” Tao Tao argued.

“But isn’t that how it works? People like things that are ‘good’ or ‘pretty,'” Hu Mengmeng reasoned.

“You’re hopeless!” Tao Tao sighed.

“Tao Tao, Xiaoya was so good to me when we were little. She used to hug me and kiss me and call me cute. Back then, I was lost and crying for my mom. A man with a big black dog was bullying me, trying to take me away. She fought him off! The dog even bit her arm. She took me to her house, fed me, bathed me, and gave me pretty clothes. She even hung a little silver bell around my neck. But then she hid me in the bushes because her grandpa would be angry if he saw me. She gave me a bag of snacks and told me to wait… but right after she left, the police found me and took me to my mom. Tao Tao, it must be because I grew up fat and ugly that she hates me now. Once I’m pretty again, she’ll definitely like me.”

Hu Mengmeng rubbed the small silver bell hanging from her neck. It was her most prized possession. She had been so young when she got lost that most memories were a blur, but she remembered the “older sister” who saved her. When Lin Yuanya joined her class in senior year, Hu Mengmeng saw her dimples and the fact that she lived in the Fuxiang Villa district—the same place where Hu Mengmeng had been found years ago. She was convinced Lin Yuanya was her savior.

“Mengmeng, that was when you were four or five. Who knows if it’s even the same person? She doesn’t remember you. You need to stop being so stubborn,” Tao Tao said. She’d heard this story many times. Initially, she thought it was romantic, but after today, she felt Lin Yuanya had crossed a line.

“You think it’s easy to stop liking someone? Sigh, you’re still too young,” Hu Mengmeng sighed theatrically, taking a sip of juice.

“Hu Mengmeng! Your birthday is in July, mine is in March—I’m half a year older than you!” Tao Tao hit her with a pillow, and the two dissolved into laughter.

During the play-fight, the white silk cloth Su Mingli had given Hu Mengmeng slipped off the table and drifted to the floor. As Tao Tao’s skirt swept over it, the cloth vanished from sight.

Hu Mengmeng didn’t notice. Her mood had improved significantly. They discussed TV plots until 9:30 PM when Su Mingli returned. Hu Mengmeng then walked Tao Tao back to her apartment.

As they walked down the stairs, Tao Tao’s skirt clung to her legs. In the dim hallway light, an observant eye might have seen a faint, wispy black mist swirling around Tao Tao’s withered leg.

“You go on back, I can make it from here,” Tao Tao said at her door.

“Okay, be careful. Call me if you need anything.”

As Hu Mengmeng headed back upstairs, Tao Tao stood in the doorway watching her. Her eyes, usually clear and gentle, suddenly turned dark and murky.

“Hungry… hungry… hungry…” A garbled, raspy voice seemed to emerge from her throat. It was low and rough, muffled by the sound of the wind and rain.

Tao Tao’s shoulders shook with terror. She slammed the door, locked it, and stumbled to the kitchen on her crutch. She yanked a large container of food from the fridge and placed it on the floor next to her withered leg.

Beneath her skirt, something seemed to writhe and crawl along her calf, making sickening clicking noises. The food container trembled. Then, the sound of bones crunching and meat being chewed echoed through the empty room, blending with the storm outside. Tao Tao sat on the floor, pale and trembling, her eyes overflowing with tears and sheer, unadulterated horror.

At that same moment, in the storm-tossed night near the residential complex, the long box inside the black business van clicked open.

Ye Xinyu’s hand gripped a bronze longsword. Over a meter long, the blade shimmered with a hidden, dull light. Near the hilt, the seal-script characters for “Zhan Xie” (Evil-Slayer) were engraved.

Ye Xinyu raised her head. Her eyes flashed with a brilliant, sharp golden light as she stared intensely toward the apartment buildings.