"Master! You're back." Bai Yu wanted to rise back up but his large bloated belly restricted his movements, thus he could only crawl pathetically towards Li Meirong. Mortal food was far too addictive to him, he was unable to control his voracious appetite.
He looked up only to be pierced by Her Ladyship's frown and was stressed even further. Then, just when he thought the situation couldn't get any worse, he felt a pair of soft arms wrapping around him right underneath his armpits, steadily lifting him higher towards a sweet smelling female scent.
"Welcome back, Junior Sister! I hope everything went well for you?" Bao Li inquired as she clutched the guilt-ridden fox against her plump chest.
Bai Yu was sweating buckets now. Her Ladyship pointedly stared at him, furious.
'It's not my fault! Your subordinate grabbed me before I could even utter a word of protest…' Bai Yu silently lamented, too petrified to respond.
"It went better than I expected. Thank you for taking care of my troublesome Fox Spirit, Senior Sister Li. I am most grateful." Li Meirong said through gritted teeth. She kept her response particularly formal.
Bao Li nodded with a shaky laugh. "It's no problem at all. I really like your Fox. You're welcome to bring him over whenever you like!" She gave the fox in her arms an extra squeeze.
Bai Yu never thought the feel of a female's body pressing against him could be so torturous! He forced himself to snap out of his frozen state and quickly explain himself.
"Master, I-"
"You, be quiet. I see that what you've told me yesterday was all nonsense. Come on, we're going back home right now." Li Meirong snatched 'Snowball' from Bao Li's firm grip and held him tightly in her arms.
Bao Li's expression gradually switched from cheerfulness to obvious discontent. She wished she could somehow adopt Snowball from Li Meirong, however, her friend appeared to be quite attached to the adorable fox, and she didn't wish to do anything to harm their friendship.
Despite her loyalty, Bao Li couldn't control the urge to fondle Snowball and pinched his fluffy white ears while pouting in complaint. "You're so lucky! I can't believe you managed to get such a cute Spirit Beast from that dreadful forest. The other disciples only succeeded in contracting Spider Demons and other nasty critters."
"Hey, stop at it once! I say, mmhmph!" Bai Yu's feeble attempts to shove the assaulting dainty fingers away from his ears were useless on Bao Li. Before he was able to do anything further to protect his "purity", Her Ladyship draped her sleeve over him.
"Our encounter was definitely a fortunate situation. I wouldn't trade my Snowball for anything in the world." Li Meirong's voice was loud and clear, emphasizing her ownership. She moved backwards and covered Snowball's head with her arm, pushing Bao Li's wandering fingers away.
The Head Chef was definitely not a fool. She had lived Li Meirong's life a few times over by now. Sensing the rising hostility from her friend, she realized her Junior Sister had heard her from outside and misunderstood.
"Sister Meirong, I think of you as my friend and I don't want us to bicker. I will never think of stealing him from you, I only said what I did as a joke." Bao Li folded her arms together and kept her tone lighthearted as she explained herself.
Li Meirong sighed, irritated by her own rise of jealousy. The Head Chef had always been kind to her. She didn't want to ruin their camaraderie.
Realizing this, she met her friend's half smile with her own and apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to sound so ungrateful and I didn't think you'd actually want to steal Snowball. I don't know what came over me..."
"It's quite alright. I would probably act the same way if I were you! Snowball is a precious fox and I'm glad to see how much he's loved by you." Bao Li said, easing Li Meirong's feelings.
"I'll see you later at the kitchens." Li Meirong bobbed her head towards her friend in gratitude and departed with Snowball in her arms.
"..." Meanwhile, the sought after fox was dumbfounded into speechlessness.
For the first time in his life, Bai Yu had been fought over by two beautiful women. Sadly, his circumstances were terrible.
By the time he realized he was pressed against the danger zone, it was already far too late. Her Ladyship was holding him tightly in her arms. It was one thing to be embraced by an unattached female and another thing entirely to be pressed against His Lordship's wife.
How could he possibly explain himself to His Lordship?!
But the poor subordinate's troubles had not yet come to an end. Not only was he unable to escape Her Ladyship's grasp without scratching his way out, the final blow was waiting for him back inside Li Meirong's cabin, causing his heart leap right out of his chest.
As Bai Yu entered the cabin in Her Ladyship's unyielding embrace, they discovered the dreaded sight of His Lordship lying comfortably on the bed inside!
Did Bai Yu also forget to mention how his stomach had suddenly started aching?